• Journal of Photoscience
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.41-43
• /
• 2002

In photoreceptor cells, light activates visual pigments consisting of a chromophore (retinal) and a protein moiety (opsin). Activated visual pigments trigger an enzymatic cascade, called phototransduction cascade, in which more than ten phototransduction proteins are participating. Two types of vertebrate photoreceptor cells, rods and cones, play roles in twilight and daylight vision, respectively. Cones are further classified into several subtypes based on their morphology and spectral sensitivity. Though the diversities of vertebrate photoreceptor cells are crucial for color discrimination and detection of light over a wider range of intensities, the molecular mechanism to characterize the photoreceptor types remains unclear. We investigated the amino acid sequences of about 50 vertebrate opsins, and found that these sequences can be classified into five fundamental subfamilies. Clear relationships were found between these subfamilies and their characteristic spectral sensitivities. In addition to opsins, we studied other phototransduction proteins. The amino acid sequences of phototransduction proteins can be classified into a few subfamilies. Even though their spectral sensitivity is considerably different, cones fundamentally share the phototransduction protein isoforms which are different from those found in rods. It is suggested that the difference in phototransduction proteins between rods and cones is responsible for their sensitivity to light. Isoforms and their selective expression may characterize individual photoreceptor cells, thus providing us with physiological functions such as color vision and daylight/twilight visions.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea TC
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.10-23
• /
• 2009

In this paper we propose a novel mobile terminal software architecture supporting energy efficient handover operation in heterogeneous networks. Since the legacy proposals for L3 handover are mostly dependent on IETF Mobile IP which has some problems in movement detection mechanism and no considerations on nested heterogeneous network environment as a result they make serious overload on networks and terminals by performing unnecessary handover in such network environments. The proposed architecture has terminal-oriented network selection and switching architecture where a mobile terminal periodically monitors network status and selects the optimum network, and reduces energy consumption by making L3 handover of Mobile IP to the finally selected network. The network selection method first picks up some candidate networks by considering a terminal speed and power consumption estimation, and determines the final target handover network among the candidates after evaluating multiple factors including QoS required by a terminal, network status, user preference and terminal battery status. Finally we verify the functionality and performance of the energy efficient vertical handover architecture by means of adopting it into a real mobile terminal.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.60.2-60.2
• /
• 2015

Since its detection in 1980, the $8-{\mu}m$ north-polar brightening of $CH_4$ on Juptier has not moved from $180^{\circ}$ (SysIII) longitude. The $8-{\mu}m$ $CH_4$ brightening is mostly thermal and very similar to that of $13-{\mu}m$ $C_2H_2$ emissions, but the morphology of these hydrocarbon north-polar brightenings are very different from that of the $3-{\mu}m$ $H_3{^+}$ auroral oval suggesting a significantly different excitation process yet unknown heating mechanism. Recently, Kim et al. (submitted to Icarus, 2015) found that that the center of the $3-{\mu}m$ $CH_4$ northern bright spot is located at ${\sim}200^{\circ}$ (SysIII) longitude, which is ${\sim}20^{\circ}$ west from the center of the $8-{\mu}m$ north-polar bright spot, and it does not coincide with the $3-{\mu}m$ $H_3{^+}$ bright spot. They found significantly high temperatures (500 ~ 850K) from $CH_4$ rotational lines on the $3-{\mu}m$ bright spot above the $1-{\mu}bar$ pressure level, while we find cooler temperatures (<350K) over the the $8-{\mu}m$ spot. They also found that the upper states of the $3-{\mu}m$ $CH_4$ bands are mostly populated by non-thermal excitations, such as auroral particle precipitations and/or Joule heatings in contrast to the $8-{\mu}m$ thermal emission. This finding indicates that the $10-{\mu}m$ hydrocarbon brightening is confined to low altitudes below the $1-{\mu}bar$ level eliminating the long-suggested possibility of direct auroral bombardments while opening a new possibility of dynamical origin for the $10-{\mu}m$ brightening.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.11 no.12
• /
• pp.319-326
• /
• 2013

There are many software reliability models that are based on the times of occurrences of errors in the debugging of software. Software error detection techniques known in advance, but influencing factors for considering the errors found automatically and learning factors, by prior experience, to find precisely the error factor setting up the testing manager are presented comparing the problem. It is shown that it is possible to do asymptotic likelihood inference for software reliability models based on infinite failure model and non-homogeneous Poisson Processes (NHPP). Statistical process control (SPC) can monitor the forecasting of software failure and thereby contribute significantly to the improvement of software reliability. Control charts are widely used for software process control in the software industry. In this paper, we proposed a control mechanism based on NHPP using mean value function of logarithmic hazard learning effects property.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.365-372
• /
• 1998

The method of measuring the nonlinear effect of ultrasonic waves is suggested as a new approach for the effective evaluation of material degradation. In sonic wave propagation, the existence of nonlinear effect can be demonstrated by the generation of higher order harmonic waves. So, at first, the mechanism of generating higher order harmonic components due to nonlinear effect was explained by using nonlinear elasticity. Next, we attempted to measure how much of the higher order harmonic component was generated in the degraded material. For this purpose, a measurement system mainly based on a high-powered nonlinear ultrasonic signal analysis system was constructed, and SS41 and SS45 specimen intentionally degraded by tensile load and fatigue load were tested. From the results, we confirmed that the measurement of nonlinear acoustic effect may be useful for the evaluation of material degradation.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.41 no.5
• /
• pp.256-265
• /
• 1997

A rapid and sequential method was studied, which can determine nitrite, nitrate and ammonium ion in soil or water samples with flow injection analysis. Geometric factors including injection volume, length of the reaction coil and flow rate of carrier solution were investigated prior to sample measurement. Nitrite was determined at 540 nm by Griess reaction producing azo dye between N-(1-naphthylethylenediamine dihydrochloride) and sulfanilamide. Nitrate was also measured under the help of reduction mechanism toward nitrite with hydrazine. Ammonium was analyzed at 440 nm with Nessler's reagent. At the optimum condition, the detection limit(S/N=3) has been shown 0.1 ㎍/mL N(NO2-), 0.4 ㎍/mL N(NO3-) and 0.3 ㎍/mL N(NH4+) respectively. The results measured by colorimetry, ion chromatography and FIA were compared showing 80%-125% reasonable match each other. Injection throughput rate could be performed better than 30 times per hour.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
• /
• v.20 no.7
• /
• pp.1290-1295
• /
• 2016

Recently, as mobile internet usage has been increasing rapidly, malware attacks through user's web browsers has been spreading in a way of social engineering or drive-by downloading. Existing defense mechanism against drive-by download attack mainly focused on final download sites and distribution paths. However, detection and prevention of injection sites to inject malicious code into the comprised websites have not been fully investigated. In this paper, for the purpose of improving defense mechanisms against these malware downloads attacks, we focus on detecting the injection site which is the key source of malware downloads spreading. As a result, in addition to the current URL blacklist techniques, we proposed the enhanced method which adds features of detecting the injection site to prevent the malware spreading. We empirically show that the proposed method can effectively minimize malware infections by blocking the source of the infection spreading, compared to other approaches of the URL blacklisting that directly uses the drive-by browser exploits.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.65-74
• /
• 2004

Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) is a heterogeneous group of inherited muscle disorders caused by the mutations of different genes encoding muscle proteins. In the past, when the molecular diagnostic techniques were not available, the subtypes of muscular dystrophies were classified by the pattern of muscle weakness and the mode of inheritance, and LGMD had been considered as a 'waste basket' of muscular dystrophy because many unrelated heterogeneous cases with 'limb-girdle' weakness were put into the category of LGMD. With the advent of molecular genetics at the end of the last century, it has been known that there are many subtypes of LGMD caused by the mutation of different genes, and now, LGMD is classified according to the results of the linkage analysis and the genes or proteins affected. Only small proportion (probably less than 10%) of LGMD is dominantly inherited, and autosomal dominant LGMD (AD-LGMD) consists of six subtypes (LGMD1A to 1F) so far. In autosomal recessive LGMD (AR-LGMD), more than 10 subtypes (LGMD2A to 2J) have been linked and most of the causative genes have been identified. Among AR-LGMDs, LGMD2A (calpain 3 deficiency), 2B (dysferlin deficiency), and sarcoglycanopathy (LGMD2C-2F) are major subtypes. The defective proteins in LGMDs are components of nuclear envelope, cytosol, sarcomere, or sarcolemma, and seem to play a different role in the pathogenesis of muscular dystrophy. It is notable that many causative genes of LGMDs are also responsible for other categories of muscular dystrophy or diseases affecting other tissue. However, by which mechanism they produce such a broad phenotypic variability is still unknown. The identification of mutation in the relevant gene is confirmative for the diagnosis, and is essential for genetic counseling and antenatal diagnosis of LGMD. Because many different genes are responsible for LGMD, differentiation of subtypes using immunohistochemistry and western blotting is the essential step toward the detection of mutation. For the effective research and medical care of the patients with muscular dystrophy in Korea, a research center with a medical facility supported by the government seems to be needed.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.14 no.1_2
• /
• pp.1-12
• /
• 1999

Recently, several new methods for the detection of genetic damages in vitro and in vivo based on molecular biological techniques were introduced according to the rapid progress in toxicology combined with cellular and molecular biology. Among these methods, mouse lymphoma thymidine kanase (tk) gene forward mutation assay, single cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay) and transgenic animal and cell line model as a target gene of lac I (Big Blue) and lac Z (Muta Mouse) gene mutation are newly introduced based on molecular toxicological approaches. The mouse lymphoma tk$\^$+/-/ gene assay (MOLY) using L5178Y tk$\^$+/-/ mouse lymphoma cell line is one of the mammalian forward mutation assays, and has many advantages and more sensitive than hprt assay. The target gene of MOLY is a heterozygous tk$\^$+/-/ gene located in 11 chromosome, so it is able to detect the wide range of genetic changes like point mutation, deletion, rearrangement, and mitotic recombination within tk gene or deletion of entire chromosome 11. The comet assay is a rapid, simple, visual and sensitive technique for measuring and analysing DNA breakages in mammalian cells, Also, transgenic animal and cell line models, which have exogenous DNA incorporated into their genome, carry recoverable shuttle vector containing reporter genes to assess endogenous effects or alteration in specific genes related to disease process, are powerful tools to study the mechanism of mutation in vivo and in vitro, respectively. Also in vivo acridine orange supravital staining micronucleus assay by using mouse peripheral reticulocytes was introduced as an alternative of bone marrow micronucleus assay. In this respect, there was an International workshop on genotoxicity procedure (IWGTP) supported by OECD and EMS (Environmental Mutagen Society) at Washington D. C. in March 25-26, 1999. The objective of IWGTP is to harmonize the testing procedures internationally, and to extend to finalization of OECD guideline, and to the agreement of new guidelines under the International Conference of Harmonization (ICH) for these methods mentioned above. Therefore, we introduce and review the principle, detailed procedure, and application of MOLY, comet assay, transgenic mutagenesis assay and supravital staining micronucleus assay.

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.161-166
• /
• 2009

Human erythropoietin(EPO) is a glycoprotein that enhances red blood cell production by stimulating proliferation and differentiation of erythroid progenitor cells in the bone marrow. Patients with chronic kidney disease(CKD) suffer from anemia caused by reduced production of EPO in the kidney. Recombinant human EPO protein has been used successfully for the treatment of anemia associated with CKD. Recently, attention has been paid to the development of side effect of EPO, pure red cell aplasia(PRCA), in some patients with CKD. PRCA is a rare disorder of erythropoiesis that leads to a severe anemia due to an almost complete cessation of red blood cell production. EPO-related PRCA is caused by the production of EPO-neutralizing antibodies(Abs) that eliminate the biological activity of EPO as well as endogenous EPO in patients undergoing therapy. Since 1988, almost 200 cases worldwide have been reported with Ab-positive PRCA after receiving EPO therapeutics. The underlying mechanisms of the breaking of immune tolerance to self-EPO have been investigated. Modification of formulation, organic compounds of container closures, and route of administration has been suggested for the possible mechanism of increased immunogenicity of EPO. A number of assays have been used to detect Abs specific to EPO. These assays are generally grouped into two major categories: binding Ab assays and neutralizing Ab assays(bioassays). There are several types of binding Ab assays, including radioimmunoprecipitation assay, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the BIAcore biosensor assay. In vitro cell-based bioassays have been utilized for the detection of neutralizing Abs. Finally, the recent experience with anti-EPO Abs may have considerable implications for the future development and approval of EPO preparations. Also, considering that millions of patients are being treated with EPO, clinicians need to be aware of signs and consequences of this rare but severe clinical case.