• Bulletin of the Korean Mathematical Society
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.671-682
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• 1999

Using a base-point free version of the infinite symmetric product we define a fibrewise infinite symmetric product for any fibration $E\;\longrightarrow\;B$. The construction works for any commutative ring R with unit and is denoted by $R_f(E)\;l\ongrightarrow\;B$. For any pointed space B let $G_I(B)\;\longrightarrow\;B$ be the i-th Ganea fibration. Defining $M_R-cat(B):= inf{i\midR_f(G_i(B))\longrihghtarrow\;B$ admits a section} we obtain an approximation to the Lusternik-Schnirelmann category of B which satisfies .g.a product formula. In particular, if B is a 1-connected rational space of finite rational type, then $M_Q$-cat(B) coincides with the well-known (purely algebraically defined) M-category of B which in fact is equal to cat (B) by a result of K.Hess. All the constructions more generally apply to the Ganea category of maps.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.261-267
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• 2005

Alcohol metabolizing and antioxidant activity of Mentha species were investigated in rat liver. Fifty six Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into seven groups such as normal (ethanol excluded), negative control (40% ethanol (10 g/kg of body weight/day) fed), positive control (1 g Silymarin/kg of body weight/day with ethanol fed), two Mentha viridis extracts (0.2 g & 1 g M. viridis methanol ext./kg of body weight/day with ethanol fed) and two M piperita extracts (0.2 g & 1 g M. piperita methanol ext./kg of body weight/day with ethanol fed) groups. After 2 weeks, rats were sacrificed under ether. The activities of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), catalase (CAT), manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GAH-px) and the content ofthiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) in the rat livers and the activity of glutamate pyruvate transferase (GPT) in serum were evaluated. From the analyses, 1 g M. viridis and 0.2 g M. piperita administrated groups showed higher ADH and ALDH activity than the other groups. Groups fed with 0.2 g and 1 g M. viridis ext. and 0.2 g M. piperita ext. showed higher CAT activity than the other groups. All the Mentha extract fed groups exhibited more effective in recovering Mn-SOD, GSH-px and GPT acitivities to a similar degree of normal group. TBARS contents of two M. viridis ext. fed group and 0.2 g M. piperita ext. fed group were higher than those of the other groups. M. viridis extract fed groups showed more effective in CAT and Mn-SOD activities than M. piperita extract groups at p < 0.05. Finally, it is concluded that both Mentha species have alcohol metabolizing and antioxidant activity and M viridis is more effective than M. piperita.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.294-301
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• 2004

Effects of superoxide dismutase(SOD), catalase(CAT), and such other proteins as bovine serum albumin(BSA), ovalbumin, lysozyme, and v-globulin on the autoxidation rates of L-ascorbic acid(AsA) in the absence of heavy metal ions and in the presence of Fe(III) or Cu(II) ions in water were examined. AsA was dissolved in a ultra-refined water at a concentration of 50 ${\mu}$M and 5 ${\mu}$M Fe(III) or 0.1 ${\mu}$M Cu(II) were added, and a oxygen gas was bubbled through the solution at a flow rate of 200 ml/min at 35$^{\circ}C$. The amount of remaining AsA in the reaction mixture was determined by using a UV spectrophotometer(at 265 nm). It was found that the Cu(II) at a concentration of 0.1 ${\mu}$M had a more accelerated for the autoxidation of AsA than Fe(III) at 5 ${\mu}$M. Moreover, it was confirmed that the ratio of remaining AsA was significantly larger in the presence of SOD, CAT, BSA, ovalbumin, lysozyme, and v-globulin than in the absence of proteins. The stabilization of AsA by various proteins were confirmed during the autoxidation of AsA in the presence of Fe(III) or Cu(II) in water. It was suggested that the non-enzymatic effects of SOD, CAT and some other proteins might be involves in the stabilization of AsA.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.791-796
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• 2014

Cryopreservation of epididymal sperm is an effective technique to preserve genetic materials of domestic cats and wild felids when they unexpectedly die. However, this technique inevitably causes detrimental changes of cryopreserved-thawed spermatozoa, for example, by physical damage and excessive oxidative stress. L-carnitine is an antioxidant that has been used to improve sperm motility in humans and domestic animals. This study aimed to investigate the effects of L-carnitine on cat epididymal sperm quality following cryopreservation and thawing. After routine castration, cauda epididymides were collected from 60 cat testes. The epididymal spermatozoa from 3 cauda epididymides were pooled as 1 replicate. Spermatozoa samples (16 replicates) were examined for spermatozoa quality and then randomly divided into 4 groups: 0 mM L-carnitine (control), 12.5 mM, 25 mM and 50 mM L-carnitine. The sperm aliquots were then equilibrated and conventionally frozen. After thawing, sperm motility, plasma membrane integrity, DNA integrity and acrosome integrity were evaluated. The 25 mM L-carnitine significantly improved sperm motility compared with a control group (p<0.05), although this was not significantly different among other concentrations. In conclusion, supplementation of 25 mM L-carnitine in freezing extender improves cauda epididymal spermatozoa motility. The effects of L-carnitine on the levels of oxidative stress during freezing and thawing remains to be examined.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.38-47
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• 2017

Purpose: This study was undertaken to examine the relationship between airflow obstruction and subjective health status reported by stable patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) residing in the community. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with 78 stable COPD patients aged 69.7 years old on average and selected by a convenient sampling from an outpatient department of pulmonology in tertiary hospitals. They completed a constructed questionnaire including general characteristics, smoking history, dyspnea by modified medical research council (mMRC) scale, and health status by COPD assessment test (CAT). Anthropometric measurements were performed for body mass index (BMI) and pulse oxymetry for $O_2$ saturation (Sat $O_2$). Medical records were reviewed to obtain disease-related characteristics including duration of the disease, cardiovascular comorbidity, and forced expiratory volume in 1 second ($FEV_1$). Data were analyzed using PASW statistics 20.0. Results: Mean $FEV_1%$ and CAT scores were 55.11% and 17.73, respectively. Those in the lower stage of mMRC showed significantly higher $FEV_1$ and lower CAT. $FEV_1$ and CAT showed significant negative correlations; age and BMI with $FEV_1$, and Sat $O_2$ with CAT. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the less airway obstruction was, the better health status was, and provide the support for using subjective measures in clinical practices for COPD patients.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.577-586
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• 2019

The engineered Aspergillus oryzae has a high NADPH demand for xylose utilization and overproduction of target metabolites. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH, E.C. 1.1.1.49) is one of two key enzymes in the oxidative part of the pentose phosphate pathway, and is also the main enzyme involved in NADPH regeneration. The open reading frame and cDNA of the putative A. oryzae G6PDH (AoG6PDH) were obtained, followed by heterogeneous expression in Escherichia coli and purification as a his6-tagged protein. The purified protein was characterized to be in possession of G6PDH activity with a molecular mass of 118.0 kDa. The enzyme displayed maximal activity at pH 7.5 and the optimal temperature was $50^{\circ}C$. This enzyme also had a half-life of 33.3 min at $40^{\circ}C$. Kinetics assay showed that AoG6PDH was strictly dependent on $NADP^+$ ($K_m=6.3{\mu}M$, $k_{cat}=1000.0s^{-1}$, $k_{cat}/K_m=158.7s^{-1}{\cdot}{\mu}M^{-1}$) as cofactor. The $K_m$ and $k_{cat}/K_m$ values of glucose-6-phosphate were $109.7s^{-1}{\cdot}{\mu}M^{-1}$ and $9.1s^{-1}{\cdot}{\mu}M^{-1}$ respectively. Initial velocity and product inhibition analyses indicated the catalytic reaction followed a two-substrate, steady-state, ordered BiBi mechanism, where $NADP^+$ was the first substrate bound to the enzyme and NADPH was the second product released from the catalytic complex. The established kinetic model could be applied in further regulation of the pentose phosphate pathway and NADPH regeneration of A. oryzae to improve its xylose utilization and yields of valued metabolites.

• Atmosphere
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.321-330
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• 2012

Generation mechanisms of the three moderate-or-greater (MOG)-level clear-air turbulence (CAT) encounters over South Korea are investigated using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The cases are selected among the MOG-level CAT events occurred in Korea during 2002-2008 that are categorized into three different generation mechanisms (upper-level front and jet stream, anticyclonic flow, and mountain waves) in the previous study by Min et al. For the case at 0127 UTC 18 Jun 2003, strong vertical wind shear (0.025 $s^{-1}$) generates shearing instabilities below the enhanced upper-level jet core of the maximum wind speed exceeding 50 m $s^{-1}$, and it induces turbulence near the observed CAT event over mid Korea. For the case at 2330 UTC 22 Nov 2006, areas of the inertia instability represented by the negative absolute vorticity are formed in the anticyclonically sheared side of the jet stream, and turbulence is activated near the observed CAT event over southwest of Korea. For the case at 0450 UTC 16 Feb 2003, vertically propagating mountain waves locally trigger shearing instability (Ri < 0.25) near the area where the background Richardson number is sufficiently small (0.25 < Ri < 1), and it induces turbulence near the observed CAT over the Eastern mountainous region of South Korea.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2000

The genes involved in riboflavin synthesis (ribI, II, III, and IV) were found immediately downstream of luxG in the lux operon from Photobacterium species. The single stranded DNA containing the intergenic region of lux genes and rib genes from Photobacterium phosphoreum was fully protected by P. phosphoreum mRNA from the S1 nuclease mapping assay suggesting that a transcriptional terminator was not present in the region. In addition, the levels of riboflavin synthase activity in P. phosphoreum was increased during the development of bacterial bioluminescence in the same fashion as the luciferase and fatty acid reductase activities. Insertion of the Photobacterium leiognathi DNA extending from luxB to ribII, between a strong lux promoter and a reporter gene (chloramphenicol acetyltransferase, CAT) and transferred by conjugation into P. leiognathi, did not affect expression of reporter gene. Moreover the CAT gene was not expressed in an analogous construct missing the lux promoter indicating that a promoter was not present in this region. Based on the data here, it can be concluded that the lux genes and rib genes in Photobacterium species are under common regulation.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.53-57
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• 2011

The MuSI is known as a multiple stress resistant gene with several lines. A previous study using RT-PCR showed that the expression of MuSI gene in tobacco plant induced its tolerance to Cd stress. This study was conducted to examine the enhanced Cd tolerance of the MuSI transgenic tobacco plant through germination test and to understand the role of the involved antioxidant enzymes for the exhibited tolerance. Germination rate of MuSI transgenic tobacco was more than 10% higher than that of wild-type tobacco, and seedlings of MuSI transgenic tobacco grew up to 1.6 times larger and greener than seedlings of wild-type tobacco at 200 and 300 ${\mu}M$ Cd. From the third to the fifth day, CAT activities at 100 and 200 ${\mu}M$ Cd and APX activities at 100, 200 and 300 ${\mu}M$ Cd of MuSI transgenic tobacco were up to two times higher than those of wild-type tobacco. MuSI gene is shown to enhance the activities of antioxidant enzymes resulting in higher tolerance to oxidative stress compared with the control plant.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.77.3-78
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• 2003

We previously shown that sphingosylphosphorylcholine, a lysophosphatidic acid, produced contraction in isolated single cells of cat ilium. We investigated the mechanism of sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P)-induced contraction of circular smooth muscle cells in cat esophagus. S1P produced esophageal contraction in a dose dependent manner. The maximal contraction (l0$\^$-7/ M) induced at 1min. Pertusis toxin (PTX) inhibited contraction induced by S1P, suggesting that the contraction is mediated to a PTX-sensitive G-protein. (omitted)