• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Developmental Biology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.99-99
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• 2003

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) induces well-documented mitegenic and differentiating effects on murine and bovine preimplantation embryos. However, the effects of EGF on apoptosis and implantation-related gene expression in bovine embryos developing in vitro have not been evaluated. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of exogenous EGF in the presence and absence of BSA on the preimplantation development of bovine embryos. In addition, we measured cell number, apoptosis, and expression of apoptosis and implantation-related genes of the blastocysts that developed in these culture conditions. In vitro produced bovine embryos were randomly cultured in the same medium containing 0 or 10 ng/$m\ell$ EGF in the presence and absence of 0.8% BSA. More 2-cell embryos developed into blastocysts at day 7 when BSA was present than when BSA was absent. The addition of 10 ng/$m\ell$ EGF into the medium did not significantly increase the developmental rate and the cell numbers per blastocyst. However, addition of EGF in the presence of 0.8% BSA significantly reduced the degree of apoptosis in the blastocysts (P< 0.01). To investigate whether EGF modulates mRNA expression of apoptosis-related genes, mRNA was prepared from single blastocysts and each preparation was subjected to RT-PCR for Bcl-2 and Bax transcripts. EGF did not alter the relative abundance of Bax gene expression in the presence of BSA, but increase Bcl-2 (P < 0.01). The relative abundance of Interferon tau expression was increased by EGF treatment in the presence of BSA. These results suggest that EGF and BSA synergistically enhance Bcl-2 and interferone tau gene expression, which may result in a net increase in viability in bovine embryos.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2000

Background: Intraarticular local anesthetic injection has been therapeutically applied for pain control in various arthritis patients. However, little physiologic effects of local anesthetics on their tissue were known. This study was conducted to determine its effects on the cell proliferation and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) production of cultured fibroblast like synoviocytes (FLS) derived from synovial tissues of rheumatoid arthritis patients. Methods: Bupivacaine with varying concentrations 0 (control), 0.1, 0.25, 0.5% was applied to experimental cell groups growing as monolayers in culture plates for varying durations 0 (control), 30, 90, 180 seconds in the presence and absence of interleukin-$1\beta$. Results: No statistical significances were noted in thymidine incorporation between 0, 30, 90 and 180 seconds exposure groups with 0.5% bupivacaine after 1 day and 2 days. Thymidine incorporation between 0, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5% exposure groups 1 day and 2 days after 90 seconds exposure did not show any differences. After exposure to bupivacaine, there were statistically significant increases in MMP-1 (p=0.025) and MMP-3 productions (p=0.000) of FLS in the absence of IL-$1\beta$, but no differences among the groups in the presence of IL-$1\beta$. Conclusion: We concluded that in this short-term in vitro study, bupivacaine does not have injurious effect on cultured rheumatoid arthritic joint tissues. The long-term effect cannot be known from this investigation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.57 no.1 s.110
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• pp.50-65
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• 2007

Clothes and human body are inseparably related. Aesthetic consciousness of the body determines the form of clothing, reflecting the time and culture as well as the individual and society. Clothes can even reorganize the meaning of the body, while transcending their instrumental functions of protecting, expanding and deforming the body. Using 'body' to analyze the clothing form, my study develops a framework by which to classify the planarization of the body in Japanese avant-garde fashion. In order to inquire the formative style and aesthetic values expressed in Japanese avant-garde fashion, my study examines subjects from the discourse on the body to the fashion collections of the 20th and 21st century. The results of the study are as follows. Japanese avant-garde fashion focuses on a planarization of the body which questions the three dimensional construction of the body in more conventional clothing system. Un-structured, variable space posited between the body and clothes, participation of the wearer, attention to recent technology and material, and absence of gender identification characterizes the planarization of the body in Japanese avant-garde fashion. The absence of body in fashion stresses a will-to-form rather than mere bodily proportion and structure, which explores trans-extensity that goes beyond the boundary of the body Ultimately, planarization of the body betrays the correspondence between signifiant and signifie in sartorial convention. Aesthetic ideal of the body is visualized in the form of a dress. Some clothes prioritize the body, particularly the feminine bodily curves, while others focus on the clothing itself as abstract and sculptural forms. Fashion continues to explore forms and images that transcend the traditional representations of the clothed body. As a type of intimate architecture, fashion always mediates the dialogue between clothes and body, or fashion and figure. My study suggests a framework to analyze bodily representation in Japanese avant-garde fashion, focusing on the relationship between the clothes and body.

• ALGAE
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.11-19
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• 2002

Twenty-nine culture strains belonging to the genus Alexandrium Halim (Dinophyceae) were established from water column or sediments in Korea. Seventeen isolates were identified as A. tamarense (Lebour) Balech, eight isolates as A. sp. cf. catenella and one as A. catenella (Whedon et Kofoid) Balech according to the presence or absence of a ventral pore, the shape of the posterior sulcal plate and the sulcal width. Three isolates were unable to be identified due to considerable distortion of thecal plates and lack of enough materials, but typical of A. tamarense and/or A. catenella. The overall cell shape of A. tamarense was usually longer than wide. The posterior sulcal plate was definitely longer than wide dorsoventrally, and sulcus extended posteriorly without apparent widening. They were distributed in three major coasts of Korea. In contrast, the cell shape of A. sp.cf. catenella was generally anterior-posteriorly flattened. The transversal axis of the posterior sulcal plate was always longer than the longitudinal, or both axes were nearly equal in length. Its sulcus was broader than that of A. tamarense and widened in the direction of antapex about 1.5 times. This morphotype existed in nearshore and offshore waters of the southern Korea sea. One of A. catenella isolates from Jinhae Bay showed no conspicuous differences with A. sp. cf. catenella except for the consistent absence of a ventral pore.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.66-71
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• 2001

An aerobic microbiological process was tested in 1.5 L stirred tank reactors for the treatment of dinitrotoluenes (DNTs)[e.g., 2.4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT), 2,6-dinitrotoluene (2,6-DNT)] in the test culture of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, which had previously characterized. Both 2,4-DNT and 2,6-DNT were completely degraded within 10 days and 14 days of incubation, respectively. Addition of the secondary carbon was essential to degrade DNTs, and little degradation was achieved in the absence of the secondary carbons. The effect of additional nitrogens on the degradation of DNTs was evaluated. Complete degradation of DNTs was observed in the absence of any additional nitrogens, whereas DNTs were partially degraded in the growth media with additional nitrogens. Both HPLC and GC-MS were used to detect and verify the residual DNTs and their intermediates. As the results, the HPLC and GC-MS chromatograms demonstrated that the both parent compounds, 2, 4-DNT and 2,6-DNT, and respective intermediates, 2-amino-4-nitrotoluene and 2-amino-6-nitrotoluene, could be successfully identified under the analytical conditions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.736-741
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• 2012

In this study, we analyzed the oxidative stress response of wblA ($\underline{w}$hi$\underline{B}$-$\underline{l}$ike gene $\underline{A}$, SCO3579), which was previously shown to be a global antibiotic down-regulator in Streptomyces coelicolor. Ever since a WblA ortholog named WhcA in Corynebacterium glutamicum was found to play a negative role in the oxidative stress response, S. coelicolor wblA has been proposed to have a similar effect. A wblA-deletion mutant exhibited a less sensitive response to oxidative stress induced by diamide present in solid plate culture. Using real-time RT-PCR analysis, we also compared the transcription levels of oxidative stress-related genes, including sodF, sodF2, sodN, trxB, and trxB2, between S. coelicolor wild type and a wblA-deletion mutant in the presence or absence of oxidative stress. Target genes were expressed higher in the wblA-deletion mutant compared with wild type, both in the absence and presence of oxidative stress. Moreover, expression of these target genes in S. coelicolor wild type was stimulated only in the presence of oxidative stress, suggesting that WblA plays a negative role in the oxidative stress response of S. coelicolor, similar to that of C. glutamicum WhcA, through the transcriptional regulation of oxidative stress-related genes.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.7 s.80
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• pp.1229-1234
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• 2006

This study investigated whether matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) can be modified in apoptotic smooth muscle cell (SMC) using the SMC that undergoes apoptotic death by expressing Fas-associated death domain containing protein (FADD) when they are grown without tetracycline in culture medium. In the absence of tetracycline, FADD-SMC lost adherence and showed the fragmentation of the nuclei. In proportion to duration of tetracycline removal, phosphorylated form of p38 MAPK and of ERK increased, whereas phosphorylation of protein kinase B (PKB) was not changed very much in response to tetracycline The levels of cyclin A and cyclin D were also decreased in a time dependent manner. Up-regulation of MMP-9 expression and activity was observed when the SMC were grown without tetracycline. Immunoreactivity of MMP-9 was detected from both attached and floating FADD-SMCs grown without tetracycline. An inhibitor of MAPK kinase, PD098059, and an inhibitor of p38 MAPK, SB203580, inhibited the up-regulation of MMP-9. Treatment of the SMC with a synthetic MMP inhibitor, BB94, attenuated death occurring in the absence of tetracycline. These results indicate that SMC undergoing death is able to up-regulate MMP-9 and that the enzyme can affect cell viability.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.25
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• pp.237-265
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• 2011

This thesis is to argue what is the meaning of the expression of cherry blossoms appearing in "Genjimonogatari(源氏物語)" in relation with the structure of Monogatari after checking each example. First we reviewed some examples of the works before "Genjimonogatari", and clarified that cherry blossoms were used as metaphorical expressions of a beautiful woman in waka(和歌), and that at the same time cherry blossoms functioned as the symbol of futility, anxiety together with beauty. Especially in "Kokinshu(古今集)" we identified that there increased the examples where the combination of the expression as falling cherry blossoms, and fog and cherry blossoms was done. In "Genjimonogatari" we examined the examples of cherry blossoms of Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and clarified that Murasakinoue(紫の上) was a woman with an ideal character in looks and inner personality through the diverse viewpoints of characters. In Monogatari of Kashiwagi(柏木) of Chapter 2, the scene where he peeped Onnasannomiya(女三宮) was composed by the combination of cherry blossoms and fog, and we pointed out that we could feel the anxiety, ominousness of the love of the couple through this scene. And the composition of these scenes was also repeated in Monogatari of Chapter 3, and we discussed through these examples that the figurative expressions of cherry blossoms were used about the object of the love not to be realized. Next, we checked that Yugiri(夕霧) who had observed Kashiwagi's love toward Onnasannomiya gave a figurative expression of Kashiwagi's wife Ochibanomiya(落葉の宮) as cherry blossoms. Although Genji(源氏) realized Onnasannomiya's immaturity, Kashiwagi compared her to "cherry blossoms", and Yoogiri compared the woman whom Kashiwagi recognized as "Ochiba(落葉)" to "cherry blossoms", through which we have read the twisted human relation and ironical structure of Chaper 2. Finally, we checked the examples of cherry blossoms in Ooigimi(大君), Nakanokimi(中君), Ukihune(浮舟) who were Ujijujo's heroines. Ooigimi and Nakanokimi were expressed as cherry blossoms by Kaoru(?) and Nioumiya(?宮) and were disclosed as their ideal women. In contrast, Ukihune had something to do with two men with no such figurative expression, so it was pointed out that the absence of such metaphorical expression clarified that the meaning of her existence was nothing but the meaning as a mesiudo(召人).

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.864-874
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• 2023

Natural killer (NK) cell dysfunctions against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a hypoxic environment. Many solid tumors are present in a hypoxic condition, which changes the effector function of various immune cells. The transcription of hypoxic-inducible factors (HIFs) in cancer cells make it possible to adapt to their hypoxic environment and to escape the immune surveillance of NK cells. Recently, the correlation between the transcription of HIF-1α and pro-inflammatory cytokines has been reported. Interleukin (IL)-6 is higher in cancers with a highly invasive ability, and is closely related to the metastasis of cancers. This study showed that the expression of HIF-1α in HCC cells was associated with the presence of IL-6 in the environment of HCC-NK cells. Blocking of IL-6 by antibody in the HCC-NK interaction changed the production of several cytokines including TGF-β, IL-1, IL-18 and IL-21. Interestingly, in a co-culture of HIF-1α-expressed HCC cells and NK cells, blocking of IL-6 increased the production of IL-21 in their supernatants. In addition, the absence of IL-6 significantly enhanced the cytotoxic ability and the expression of the activating receptors (NKG2D, NKp44, and NKG2C) in NK cells to HIF-1α-expressed HCC cells. These effects might be made by the decreased expression of HIF-1α in HCC cells through the inhibited phosphorylation of STAT3. In conclusion, the absence of IL-6 in the interaction of HIF-1α-expressed HCC cells and NK cells could enhance the antitumor activity of NK cells to HCC cells.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.701-717
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• 2017

Criticism is related with recognition activity which is interpreting and evaluating the text based on the particular criteria. It reflects the awareness system of a particular time-period in that it is a work of social meanings beyond individual impressions. However, the standards of criticism have changed, like the awareness system has changed as economy, culture or technology has evolved. The emergence of SNS has influenced the field of popular culture. It improves the role and participation of the public in criticism. Moreover, it breaks the previous paradigm of production and consumption in cultural industry. These changes bring not only the positive ones, such as improvement of diversity and freedom of criticism, but also the negative one, confusion of values due to the absence of criteria. This study mainly concerned debates and discourses of SNS on , a new song of IU, and focused on changes of aesthetic evaluations of culture performer, producer and audience. Especially, the authors tried to find out how such new technology has changed the criticism, and how it has influenced on our aesthetic consciousness.