• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.401-408
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• 1996

In general, the high temperature superconductors have two-dimensional anisotropic structures. It is important to investigate the dependence of the critical temperature on the dimensions of the electron's motion. The equation of state for electron gas is deduced which describes the electron's motion in superconductors using the kinetic theory of gas. And the critical temperatures of three, two, and one dimensional gases were calculated. According to these equations, restricting the dimension of the electron's motion induces the increase of the critical temperatures. This implies the possibility that the multi-critical temperature of some superconductors is caused by the change of the dimension related to the pathways of the electron.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.67-71
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• 2000

The wear behaviors of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene pins against titanium alloy and stainless steel disks moving in two different kinematic motion were investigated by conducting repeat pass rotational sliding and linear reciprocal sliding wear tests. Linear reciprocal motion wore more the polyethylene pin than did repeat pass rotational motion for both disk materials. It means that the repeated directional change of contact stresses generates more wear debris in polyethylene. For the linear reciprocal sliding tests, titanium alloy disks were damaged with some scratches after one million cycles but no surface damage was observed on the polyethylene pins. On the other hand, for the repeat pass rotational sliding tests, all titanium alloy disks were severely abraded on the entire region of sliding track. This phenomenon can be interpreted by that stress fatigue under repeated sliding contact initiated titanium oxide layer wear particles from disk surface, and these hard particles were embedded into polyethylene pin and then they severely abraded the disk surface. From these results it can be concluded that the kinematic motion in pin-on-disk wear tests play a crucial role on the wear behaviors of UHMWPE pins against titanium alloy and stainless steel disks.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.116-123
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• 2018

The sperm quality is determined by the kinetic characteristics and acrosome integrity of the sperm. In the previous studies, analysis of semen quality had large errors because those experiments by using microscope had been conducted by people. In recent years, the molecular biological methods have been newly developed to complement the previous techniques. The ZAR1 gene is known to be a gene that affects early embryonic development in vertebrates, but there is no study of the association with semen. In this study, we analyzed the association between the kinetic characteristics and ZAR1 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotype. To detect the SNPs, we performed sequencing using genomic DNA from the whole bloods of Duroc pigs. We identified an SNP in the ZAR1 gene g.2540T>C. ZAR1 SNP genotypeing in 105 pigs revealed that the major and minor alleles were T and C, respectively. After we analyzed the association between the kinetic characteristics of sperm and the ZAR1 SNP genotype, we found a significant association in MOT (p<0.01), VSL (p<0.05) of the kinetic characteristics in the Duroc boars. It was confirmed that the boars with T allele were lower in MOT and VSL than C allele. Therefore, pigs with C allele are judged to be better at the MOT and VSL of semen. Based on these results, ZAR1 SNP genotyping may be a useful molecular biomarker to improve semen quality by applying molecular breeding technology.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.11-16
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• 2004

Classification of esophageal motility disorders not yet finalized and is still ongoing as the new disorders are reported, and the existing classification is changed or removed. In terms of radiology, the primary peristalsis does not exist, and the lower end of the esophagus show the smooth, tapered, beak-like appearance. The esophageal motility disorder, which mostly occurs in the smooth muscle area, show the symptoms of reduction or loss (hypomotility) or abnormal increase (hypermotility) of peristalsis of the esophagus. It is important to understand the anatomy and physiology of the esophagus for the appropriate radiological method and diagnosis. Furthermore, the symptom of the patient and the manometry finding must be closely referred for the radiological diagnosis. The lower esophageal sphincter can be normally functioning and open completely as the food moves lower. Sperandio M et al. argues that the name diffuse esophageal spasm must be changed to distal esophageal spasm (DES) as most of the spasm occurs in the distal esophagus, composed of the smooth muscle. According to Ott et al., usefulness of barium method for diagnosing the esophageal motility disorder is Achalasia 95%, DES 71% and NEMD 46%, with the overall sensitivity of 56%. However, excluding the nutcracker esophagus or nonspecific disorder which cannot be diagnosed with the radiological methods, the sensitivity increases to 89%. Using videofluoroscopy and 5 time swallows, the average sensitivity was over 90%. In conclusion, the barium method is a simple primary testing method for esophageal motility test. Using not only the image but also the videofluoroscopy with good knowledge of the anatomy and physiology, it is believed that the method will yield the accurate diagnosis.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.83-91
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• 2012

Quorum sensing (QS) is a cell-to-cell communication system, which is used by many bacteria to regulate diverse gene expression in response to changes in population density. Bacteria recognize the differences in cell density by sensing the concentration of signal molecules such as N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHL) and autoinducer-2 (AI-2). In particular, QS plays a key role in biofilm formation, which is a specific bacterial group behavior. Biofilms are dense aggregates of packed microbial communities that grow on surfaces, and are embedded in a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). QS regulates biofilm dispersal as well as the production of EPS. In some bacteria, biofilm formations are regulated by c-di-GMP-mediated signaling as well as QS, thus the two signaling systems are mutually connected. Biofilms are one of the major virulence factors in pathogenic bacteria. In addition, they cause numerous problems in industrial fields, such as the biofouling of pipes, tanks and membrane bioreactors (MBR). Therefore, the interference of QS, referred to as quorum quenching (QQ) has received a great deal of attention. To inhibit biofilm formation, several strategies to disrupt bacterial QS have been reported, and many enzymes which can degrade or modify the signal molecule AHL have been studied. QQ enzymes, such as AHL-lactonase, AHL-acylase, and oxidoreductases may offer great potential for the effective control of biofilm formation and membrane biofouling in the future. This review describes the process of bacterial QS, biofilm formation, and the close relationship between them. Finally, QQ enzymes and their applications for the reduction of biofouling are also discussed.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 1999

Because of bone resorption, wear of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene(UHMWPE) in total knee arthroplasty has been recognized as a major factor in long-term failure of knee implant. The surface damage and the following harmful wear debris of UHMWPE is largely related to contact stress. Most of the previous studies focused on the contact condition only at the articulating surface of UHMWPE. Recently, contact stress at the metal-backing interface has been implicated as one of major factors in UHMWPE wear. Therefore, the purpose of the is study is to investigate the effect of the contact stress for different thickness, conformity friction coefficient, and flexion degree of the UHMWPE component in total knee system, considering the contact conditions at both interfaces. In this study, a two-dimensional non-linear plane strain finite element model was developed. The results showed that the maximum value of von-Mises stress occurred below the articulating surface and the contact stress was lower for the more conforming models. All-polyethylene component showed lower stress distribution than the metal-backed component. With increased friction coefficient on the tibiofemoral contact surface, the maximum shear stress increased about twofold.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.136-142
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• 2005

Liquid crystalline poly(allylsulfone) networks having $SO_2$ in a main chain and mesogens in a side chain were synthesized and their gas permeability and permselectivity were determined. The monomer II having two allyl groups on the each end group was able to form polymer networks by polymerization reaction, while the monomer I having only one allyl group was not. Molecular motion of the poly(allylsulfone) networks were retarded with increasing the cross-linking density, and the segmental motion of networks was developed enough to show isotropic phase transition. Gas permeabilities of poly(II-5 $01/I-OCH_3$ 99) were 2.58 baller for $O_2$ and 18.4 barrer for $H_2$. It means that hydrogen gas are 7 times more permeable than oxygen. Its permselectivities were high as 23.9 for ${\alpha}(H_2/N_2)$. The permselectivity was increased with increasing the cross-linking density. For example, ${\alpha}(H_2/N_2)$ was 36.8 in poly(II-5 $10/I-OCH_3$ 90), which was shown to be the highest value among these poly(allylsulfone) networks.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.191-197
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• 2019

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that mainly affects motor system with clinical features such as bradykinesia, rigidity, tremor and abnormal posture. PD is characterized by the death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta, which is associated with accumulation of oxidative stress and dysregulation of intracellular signaling pathway. Quercetin-3-O-glucuronide (Q3GA), a major metabolite of quercetin, has been reported to have neuroprotective effects. In this study, we examined the neuroprotective effect of Q3GA against 1-methyl-4-phenyl pyridinium ($MPP^+$)-induced neurotoxicity of PD and the underlying molecular mechanisms in SH-SY5Y cells. MTT and LDH assay showed that Q3GA significantly decreased $MPP^+$-induced cell death, which is accompanied by a reduction in poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage. Furthermore, it attenuated $MPP^+$-induced intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) with the reduction of Bax/ Bcl-2 ratio. Moreover, Q3GA significantly increased the phosphorylation of Akt and cAMP response element binding protein (CREB), but it has no effects on the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). Taken together, these results demonstrate that Q3GA significantly attenuates $MPP^+$-induced neurotoxicity through ROS reduction and Akt/CREB signaling pathway in SH-SY5Y cells. Our findings suggest that Q3GA might be one of the potential candidates for the prevention and/or treatment of PD.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.50 no.9
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• pp.868-874
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• 2007

Purpose : We performed this study to investigate the perinatal and developmental features of the patients with congenital myotonic dystrophy (CDM) confirmed by the molecular genetic method and the clinical characteristics of their mother, and to identify the relation between the number of CTG repeats and the clinical severity.Methods : A retrospective review of the medical records and the results of the dystrophia myotonica protein kinase (DMPK) gene test was done for the patients who were confirmed as CDM through gene analysis from January 2001 to September 2006. Results : All of the eight patients (male 2, female 6) showed moderate to severe degree of perinatal distress and feeding difficulty associated with profound hypotonia. Three patients had the history of polyhydramnios and two patients had equinovarus deformity. The developmental milestones were delayed in all patients, which improved gradually with age. All of their mothers demonstrated myotonic symptoms and typical myopathic face. The number of CTG repeats in DMPK gene analysis ranged 1,000-2,083, and there was no significant correlation between the number of CTG repeats and the time of walking alone. Conclusion : All patients with CDM presented with severe hypotonia in perinatal period, and developmental delay thereafter, which were improved with age. All of their mothers manifested myotonic symptoms with typical myopathic face, and the identification of such features greatly contributed to the diagnosis of the patients. The number of CTG repeats had no significant influence on the motor development.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.728-735
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• 2005

In this study, relationships between student the cognitive affective characteristics and conceptual understanding from individual computer-assisted instruction were investigated. Tests regarding field dependence-independence, learning strategy, self-regulated ability, visual learning preference, goal orientation, self-efficacy on ability, and computer attitude were administered. After having been taught by means of a CAl program, a conception test on molecular motion was administered. It was found that student conceptual understanding was significantly related to field independence, learning strategy, self-regulated ability among the cognitive characteristics and visual learning preference, goal orientation, self-efficacy on ability among the affective characteristics. Multiple regression analysis of the cognitive characteristics on conceptual understanding found that field dependence-independence was the most significant predictor. Self-regulated ability and a deep learning strategy were also found to have predictive power. Lastly, analysis of the affective characteristics, visual learning preference and self-efficacy on ability exposed them to be significant predictors of student conceptual understanding.