• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.23-28
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• 1996

Hydrogenated amorphous carbon films were fabricated by low frequency(60Hz) Plasma enhanced Chemical vapor deposition(LF-PECVD) at room temperature. The LF_PECVD has a couple of advantages as follows: cheap, and the employment of low power density makes the damage of samples small. The a-C:H films deposited in this work were highly transparent(99%), highly resistance(109-1011${\Omega}$-cm), and very uniform. The samples were deposited by the decomposition of CH4 and H2 mixing gas in the pressure rate range of 1% to 30%. The deposition rates, optical gap, and hydrogen contents are increased with CH4 contents.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.63 no.7
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• pp.239-250
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• 2020

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading globally. Although its etiologic agent is discovered as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), there are many unsolved issues in COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. The causes of different clinical phenotypes and incubation periods among individuals, species specificity, and cytokine storm with lymphopenia as well as the mechanism of damage to organ cells are unknown. It has been suggested that in viral pneumonia, virus itself is not a direct cause of acute lung injury; rather, aberrant immune reactions of the host to the insults from viral infection are responsible. According to its epidemiological and clinical characteristics, SARS-CoV-2 may be a virus with low virulence in nature that has adapted to the human species. Current immunological concepts have limited ability to explain such unsolved issues, and a presumed immunopathogenesis of COVID-19 is presented under the protein-homeostasis-system hypothesis. Every disease, including COVID-19, has etiological substances controlled by the host immune system according to size and biochemical properties. Patients with severe pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2 show more severe hypercytokinemia with corresponding lymphocytopenia than patients with mild pneumonia; thus, early immunomodulator treatment, including corticosteroids, has been considered. However, current guidelines recommend their use only for patients with advanced pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome. Since the immunopathogenesis of pneumonia may be the same for all patients regardless of age or severity and the critical immune-mediated lung injury may begin in the early stage of the disease, early immunomodulator treatment, including corticosteroids and intravenous immunoglobulin, can help reduce morbidity and possibly mortality rates of older patients with underlying conditions.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.582-589
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• 2015

Several theories emphasize that aging is closely related to oxidative stress and disease. The formation of excess ROS can lead to DNA damage and the acceleration of aging. Vigna angularis is one of the important medicinal plants in Korea. We isolated vitexin from V. angularis and elucidated the lifespan-extending effect of vitexin using the Caenorhabditis elegans model system. Vitexin showed potent lifespan extensive activity and it elevated the survival rates of nematodes against the stressful environments including heat and oxidative conditions. In addition, our results showed that vitexin was able to elevate antioxidant enzyme activities of worms and reduce intracellular ROS accumulation in a dose-dependent manner. These studies demonstrated that the increased stress tolerance of vitexin-mediated nematode could be attributed to increased expressions of stress resistance proteins such as superoxide dismutase (SOD-3) and heat shock protein (HSP-16.2). In this work, we also studied whether vitexin-mediated longevity activity was associated with aging-related factors such as progeny, food intake, growth and movement. The data revealed that these factors were not affected by vitexin treatment except movement. Vitexin treatment improved the body movement of aged nematode, suggesting vitexin affects healthspan as well as lifespan of nematode. These results suggest that vitexin might be a probable candidate which could extend the human lifespan.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.11 no.1 s.38
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• pp.33-42
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• 1999

In the present study, crack initiation criteria, static failure and tensile mode fatigue behavior for a rail steel are evaluated to assure the railway vehicle's safety. The transverse fissure, which is the most critical damage in the rail, is initiated by the maximum shear stress and its location is subsurface. In addition, the possibility of transition from the shear mode to the mixed mode increases with increasing the length of subsurface crack. Because of the brittleness by the welding, the fracture toughness of the welded part is lower than of the base metal. For low ${\Delta}K$, the stage II fatigue crack growth rates of the welded part is slower than of the base metal but, for high ${\Delta}K$, this different behavior for fatigue crack growth rate is nearly diminished. These trends are more remarkable for low stress ratio, R=0.1. It is believed that this behavior is caused by the change of the microstructure which that of the welded part is coarser than of base metal.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.31-41
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• 2020

We investigated the effects of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress inhibitor and antioxidant treatments during the micromanipulation of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) on in vitro development of SCNT embryos. Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA), an ER stress inhibitor and vitamin C (Vit. C), an antioxidant, were treated by alone or in combination, then, the level of X-box binding protein 1 (Xbp1) splicing and the expressions of ER stress-associated genes, oxidative stress-related genes, and apoptotic genes were confirmed in the 1-cell and blastocyst stages. In the 1-cell stage, the levels of Xbp1 splicing were significantly decreased in TUDCA and Vit. C treatment groups compared to the control (p<0.05). In addition, the expression levels of most ER stress-associated genes and oxidative stress-related genes were significantly lower in all treatment groups than the control (p<0.05), and the transcript levels of apoptotic genes were also significantly lower in all treatment groups than the control (p<0.05). In the blastocyst stage, decreased expression of ER stress-, oxidative stress-, and apoptosis-related genes were observed only in some treatments. However, the blastocyst formation rates in TUDCA and Vit. C treatment groups (24.8% and 22.0%, respectively) and mean blastocyst cell number in all treatment groups (59.7±4.3 to 63.5±3.3) were significantly higher (p<0.05) than those of control. The results showed that the TUDCA or Vit. C treatment during micromanipulation inhibited both ER and oxidative stresses in the early stage of SCNT embryos, thereby reducing cell damage and promoting in vitro development.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.45-52
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• 2011

Since the most exclusive machines of the modern industries which require the nano precision rates are evolved from the machine tools, the design of the stable machine tool structure is very critical. Exclusive machines for the modern industries such as semiconductor, solar cell and LED have surface machining processes which are similar to the face cutting and grinding of conventional machine tools. This study was initiated to stabilize a milling machine structure and further to help design those exclusive machines which have similar machining mechanisms. The vibrations inherent to the machine tool structures hurt the precision machining as well as damage the longevity of the structures. There have been numerous researches in order to suppress the vibrations of machine tool structures using the extra modules such as actuators and dampers. In this paper, the dynamic properties are analyzed to obtain the natural frequencies and mode shapes of a machine tool structure which reflect the main reasons of the biggest vibrations under the given operating conditions. And the feasibility of improving the stability of the structure without using any additional apparatus has been investigated with minor design changes. The result of the study shows that simple changes based on proper system identification can considerably improve the stability of the machine tool structure.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.273-278
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• 2020

The milk fever and mastitis that occur during the colostrum period in dairy cattle cause great damage in the dairy industry by causing a rapid decline in the cattle's health and decreasing milk production. In order to prevent this, gradual milking (GM), calcium injection with gradual milking (CG), and calcium injection with complete milking (CC) methods are used. However, differences in effectiveness between these methods have not been established. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effects of each preventive method on milk fever and mastitis. The results of this study showed that while there was a significant negative correlation of GM with milk fever and mastitis (r = -0.657, p < 0.05), there was no correlation of CG and CC with milk fever and mastitis. The incidence of milk fever was significantly lower in CG and CC than in GM (p < 0.05) but no differences in the incidence of mastitis were observed between the three groups. No significant differences in the rate of recovery from milk fever and mastitis were observed between the three groups. The recurrence rate of milk fever was significantly higher in CG and CC than in GM (p < 0.05), though no differences in the recurrence rate of mastitis were observed. This study showed an inverse relationship between the incidence rates of milk fever and mastitis when calcium injection was not used during the colostrum period. When calcium injections were used, the incidence of milk fever was reduced without affecting the incidence of mastitis regardless of the milking method, but the recurrence rate of milk fever was increased. The results of this study would be useful for controlling blood calcium concentrations and establishing efficient milking strategy in order to effectively prevent milk fever and mastitis in dairy cattle during the colostrum period.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.116-121
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• 1984

These experiments were carried out to examine the effect of rapid thawing (500$^{\circ}C$/min) on the survival of 8-cell mouse embryos cooled slowly (0.5-1$^{\circ}C$/min) to precooling temperatures between -10 and 070$^{\circ}C$ before direct transfer ofembryos to -196$^{\circ}C$, and to compare the survival of embroys thawed slowly (20$^{\circ}C$/min) and rapidly (500$^{\circ}C$/min) after in vitro culture. In addition, the sensitivity of 8-cell mouse embroys to the rate of addition and removal of cryoprotectant at room temperauture, and the effect of developing stages on the survival of embryos frozen-thawed slowly were investigated. The results obtained were summarized as follows: 1. Embryos were survived in rapid thawing (500$^{\circ}C$/min) only when slow cooling was terminated at relatively high subzero teperaure (-20 to -60$^{\circ}C$). The highest survival rate(77.0%) in in vitro culture of embryos thawed rapidly was obtaeined after transfer to -196$^{\circ}C$ from -40$^{\circ}C$. 2. For the survival of embryos in slow thawing (20$^{\circ}C$/min.), slow cooling to lower subzero temperature (-50$^{\circ}C$ and below) was required before transfer of embryos to -196$^{\circ}C$. These results indicate that embryos transferred to -196$^{\circ}C$ from high subzero temprature contain much interacellular ice to damage them during slow warming but to permit survival of embryos after rapid warming. 3. The Survival rate (72.7%) of 8-cell mouse embryos after rapid addition and removal of cryoprotectant, DMSO at room temperature was similar to that (83.9%) after slow addition and removal of cryoprotectant at same temperature. 4. The survival rates of 1-, 2-, 4- and 8-cell embryos frozen-thawed slowly were 26.7, 76.4, 70.0 and 83.9%, respectively.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.81-87
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• 2008

Production of transgenic animals for studying specific gene has been limited due to a low efficiency, lack of skilled researchers and the need for expensive equipment. Currently, the boar spermatozoa as a vector to deliver exogenous DNA into the oocyte were used to improve the efficiency of transfection rate. In this study, we revealed that the optimal conditions for DNA uptake in spermatozoa by liposome were to 90 min of incubation, $17^{\circ}C$, $10^5$ spermatozoa, 4 ng/ml of exogenous DNA and 0.5% (v/v) liposome, without damage to fertility. In addition, the developmental rate to the blastocyst stage of embryo in control group was significantly higher than those embryos with exogenous DNA and liposome, whereas there were no significant differences in embryo development between the liposome and type of DNA. The transfection rates of embryo using treated spermatozoa with both liposome and circular DNA were higher than those using linear DNA. These findings raise the possibility thattreated spermatozoa with liposome/DNA complexes could be used in in vitro fertilization, and the exogenous DNA transferred into the oocytes. Taken together, we demonstrated that liposome a vector for the uptake of exogenous DNA in boar spermatozoa could improve the efficiency of sperm-mediated gene transfer in creating transgenic pig and the other domestic transgenic animals.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.51-55
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• 2011

To develop a health-aid preparation of Dioscorea batatas (DB), lactic acid fermentation was attempted using a mixed starter comprising of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus plantarum, Bifidobacterium longum. The anaerobic fermentation of a 10% DB flour suspension gave a uniform suspension of pH 3.65, containing $8{\times}10^6$ CFU/mL lactic acid bacteria. During the administration of the lactic acid fermented DB (FDB) and DB to trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis mouse model, histological lesions, morphological damage, and myeloperoxidase acitivity were significantly reduced at a dosage of 200 and 400 mg/kg/day. Dose-response (200 and 400 mg/kg/day) studies revealed that FDB pre-treatment of mice significantly ameliorated the appearance of diarrhoea and the disruption of colonic architecture. In FDB-pretreated mice, there was a significant reduction in the degree of both neutrophil infiltration (measured as decrease in myeloperoxidase activity) and weight loss rates. Theses findings suggest that FDB exerts beneficial effects in experimental colitis and may be useful in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.