• Title/Summary/Keyword: Biological Response

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Tolerance of Several Woody Plants to Sulphur Dioxide

  • Hwangbo, Jun-Kwon;Lee, Chang-Seok;Kim, Joon-Ho
    • Animal cells and systems
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    • v.4 no.4
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    • pp.337-340
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    • 2000
  • The photosynthetic and stomatal responses of several woody plants (Powlonia coreana, Firmiana simplex, Quercus acutissima Q. variabilis and Q. serrata) to SO$_2$ were investigated in order to understand their ecophysiological tolerance to $SO_2$ Of the plants, P, coreana showed the largest reduction in its photosynthesis in response to exposure of 0.4 ppm $SO_2$ for 20 h. Fumigation of 0.7 ppm $SO_2$ for 20 h caused complete leaf necrosis of P. coreana and f simplex, which made them unavailable for the measurement of photosynthesis. Q. variabilis exhibited the smallest reduction in photosynthesis following exposure of 0.7 ppm $SO_2$ for 20 h. Both stomatal- and non-stomatal inhibition of the plants by $SO_2$ were determined according to equations by lkeda et at. (1992). When exposed to 0.4 ppm $SO_2$ for 20 h, F. simplex and P. coreana showed the lowest stomatal and non-stomatal inhibition, respectively, while Q. variabilis and Q. serrata exhibited the lowest stomatal and non-stomatal inhibition, respectively, in response to 0.7 ppm $SO_2$ for 20 h. The data are discussed with regard to resistance mechanisms of other plants to $SO_2$ exposure and implications for restoration of declined Korean forests.

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Extraction of seven major compounds from Agastache rugosa (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) Kuntze: optimization study using response surface methodology

  • Yang Hee Jo;Seong Mi Lee;Doo-Young Kim;Yesu Song;Hocheol Kim;Mi Kyeong Lee;Sei-Ryang Oh;Hyung Won Ryu
    • Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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    • v.66
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    • pp.81-89
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    • 2023
  • The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the potential enhancement of the flavonoid contents from Agastache rugosa, which can be obtained as raw materials for functional products in the food medicine industry by identifying important factors for efficient preparation to save costs and time in terms of economic factors. For this reason, response surface methodology using Box-Behnken design was used to optimize the extraction conditions for the maximum yield of seven major compounds from A. rugosa. The optimum conditions were obtained with an ethanol concentration of 60.0%, a temperature of 50 ℃, and an extraction time of 33.6 min, meaning that the regression analysis fits the experimental data well. Under these conditions, the seven major compounds 1-7 had observed values of 2.169, 2.135, 0.697, 2.485, 0.105, 1.247, and 0.551%, respectively. These results show that the observed values are in good agreement with the predicted values in the regression model. This process for optimization study exhibited a basic protocol for obtaining stable ingredients from A. rugosa that are appropriate for the development of effective functional products.

Blood Eosinophil Counts in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Biomarker of Inhaled Corticosteroid Effects

  • Singh, Dave
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.83 no.3
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    • pp.185-194
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    • 2020
  • Blood eosinophil counts have emerged as a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) biomarker that predict the effects of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in clinical practice. Post-hoc and prospective analysis of randomized control trials have shown that higher blood eosinophil counts at the start of the study predict a greater response to ICS. COPD patients with frequent exacerbations (2 or more moderate exacerbations/yr) or a history of hospitalization have a greater response to ICS. Ex-smokers also appear to have a greater ICS response. Blood eosinophil counts can be combined with clinical information such as exacerbation history and smoking status to enable a precision medicine approach to the use of ICS. Higher blood eosinophil counts are associated with increased eosinophilic lung inflammation, and other biological features that may contribute to the increased ICS response observed. Emerging data indicates that lower blood eosinophil counts are associated with an increased risk of bacterial infection, suggesting complex relationships between eosinophils, ICS response, and the airway microbiome.

A Study on Nonlinear PID Controller Design Using a Cell-Mediated Immune Response (세포성 면역 반응을 이용한 비선형 PID 제어기 설계에 관한 연구)

  • Park Jin-Hyun;Choi Young-Kiu
    • The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers D
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    • v.52 no.5
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    • pp.259-267
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    • 2003
  • In this paper, we propose a nonlinear variable PID controller using a cell-mediated immune response. An immune feedback response is based on the functioning of biological T-cells. An immune feedback response and P-controller of conventional PID controllers resemble each other in role and mechanism. Therefore, we extend immune feedback mechanism to nonlinear PE controller. And in order to choose the optimal nonlinear PID controller games, we also propose the on-line tuning algorithm of nonlinear functions parameters in immune feedback mechanism. The trained parameters of nonlinear functions are adapted to the variations of the system parameters and any command velocity. And the adapted parameters obtained outputs of nonlinear functions with an optimal control performance. To verify performances of the proposed control systems, the speed control of nonlinear BC motor is performed. The simulation results show that the proposed control systems are effective in tracking a command velocity under system variations.

Crystal Structure of the Pneumococcal Vancomycin-Resistance Response Regulator DNA-Binding Domain

  • Park, Sang-Sang;Lee, Sangho;Rhee, Dong-Kwon
    • Molecules and Cells
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    • v.44 no.3
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    • pp.179-185
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    • 2021
  • Vancomycin response regulator (VncR) is a pneumococcal response regulator of the VncRS two-component signal transduction system (TCS) of Streptococcus pneumoniae. VncRS regulates bacterial autolysis and vancomycin resistance. VncR contains two different functional domains, the N-terminal receiver domain and C-terminal effector domain. Here, we investigated VncR C-terminal DNA binding domain (VncRc) structure using a crystallization approach. Crystallization was performed using the micro-batch method. The crystals diffracted to a 1.964 Å resolution and belonged to space group P212121. The crystal unit-cell parameters were a = 25.71 Å, b = 52.97 Å, and c = 60.61 Å. The structure of VncRc had a helix-turn-helix motif highly similar to the response regulator PhoB of Escherichia coli. In isothermal titration calorimetry and size exclusion chromatography results, VncR formed a complex with VncS, a sensor histidine kinase of pneumococcal TCS. Determination of VncR structure will provide insight into the mechanism by how VncR binds to target genes.

Disaster and Safety Response Management on the Bioterrorism and Biological War (생물테러 및 생물학전의 재해안전 대응방안에 대한 고찰)

  • Wang, Soon Joo;Byun, Hyun Joo
    • Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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    • v.3 no.2
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    • pp.119-128
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    • 2007
  • A bioterrorism attack is the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, or other agents used to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plant. These agents are found in nature, but it is possible that they could be changed to increase their ability to cause disease, make them resistant to current medicines, or to increase their ability to be spread into the environment. Terrorists may use biological agents because these agents can be extremely difficult to detect and do not cause illness for several days. Some bioterrorism agents, like smallpox virus, can spread from person to person, like anthrax, can not. From these agents, we discussed the characteristics of biological agents and national safety regulation on the weapons of mass destruction including bioterrorism.

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Improved Cell Viability of Lactobacillus crispatus KLB46 by Stress Adaptation (Lactobacillus crispatus KLB46의 스트레스 전처리시 열 내성 증진효과)

  • Kwak, Dae-Yung;Kang, Chang-Ho;Jeon, HanEul;So, Jae-Seong
    • KSBB Journal
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    • v.29 no.2
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    • pp.81-86
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    • 2014
  • Lactobacilli, the dominant species of microorganisms in the vaginal flora of healthy women, play important roles to prevent bacterial vaginosis and other sexually transmitted diseases. In this study, we carried out studies on stress adaptation prior to various stress treatment. We found that heat or salt adapted KLB46 showed higher cell viability than non adapted upon heat stress at $60^{\circ}C$ for 20 min. When chloramphenicol was added during the adaptation process, heat tolerance was abolished. This result suggested that de novo protein synthesis was essential during adaptation.

Role of Serotonin in the Pathology and Treatment of Violence and Suicide (폭력과 자살의 병리와 치료에서 세로토닌의 역할)

  • Chung, In-Won
    • Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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    • v.4 no.2
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    • pp.188-193
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    • 1997
  • Along with psychosocial factors of suicide, biological backgrounds of suicide are explored by extensive works mostly on biological markers, neurobiological models, genetic bases, and relationships with aggression and violence. The biology of suicide confers on neurotransmitters in central nervous system exploring metabolites, receptor binding affinities, neuroendocrine challenge tests in brain, cerebrospinal fluid, blood and etc. The major concerns with suicide are focused mainly on serotonin system : low CSF 5-HIAA concentration, higher $5-HT_2$ receptor binding, and blunt prolactin response to fenfluramine. Postmortem study, in vivo study, genetic contributions, and some other issues such as suicidal methods, serum cholesterol, alcohol, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are reviewed and discussed.

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Metabolomics, a New Promising Technology for Toxicological Research

  • Kim, Kyu-Bong;Lee, Byung-Mu
    • Toxicological Research
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    • v.25 no.2
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    • pp.59-69
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    • 2009
  • Metabolomics which deals with the biological metabolite profile produced in the body and its relation to disease state is a relatively recent research area for drug discovery and biological sciences including toxicology and pharmacology. Metabolomics, based on analytical method and multivariate analysis, has been considered a promising technology because of its advantage over other toxicogenomic and toxicoproteomic approaches. The application of metabolomics includes the development of biomarkers associated with the pathogenesis of various diseases, alternative toxicity tests, high-throughput screening (HTS), and risk assessment, allowing the simultaneous acquisition of multiple biochemical parameters in biological samples. The metabolic profile of urine, in particular, often shows changes in response to exposure to xenobiotics or disease-induced stress, because of the biological system's attempt to maintain homeostasis. In this review, we focus on the most recent advances and applications of metabolomics in toxicological research.