• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.94-100
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• 2022

Chronic infection by hepatitis B virus (HBV) greatly increases the risk for liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The outcome of HBV infection is shaped by the complex interplay of the mode of transmission, host genetic factors, viral genotype, adaptive mutations, and environmental factors. The pregenomic RNA transcription of HBV for their replication is regulated by the core promoter activation. Core promoter mutations have been the reason for acute liver failure and are associated with HCC development. We obtained HBV genes from a patient in Myanmar who was infected with HBV and identified gene variations in the core promoter region. For measuring the relative transactivation activity of the core promoter, we prepared the core-promoter reporter construct. Among the gene variations of the core promoter, the mutations of C1731T and G1806A were associated with increase in the transactivation of the HBV core promoter. Through computer analysis for searching for a tentative transcription factor binding site, we showed that the mutations of C1713T and G1806A newly created C/EBPβ and XBP1-responsive elements of the core promoter, respectively. The ectopic expression of C/EBPβ largely increased the HBV core promoter containing the C1713T mutation and that of XBP1 activated the M95 promoter containing the G1806A mutation. Our efforts to treat and prevent HBV infections are hampered by the emergence of drug-resistant mutations and vaccine-escape mutations. Our results provide the biological properties and clinical significance of specific HBV core promoter mutations.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.22-27
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• 2021

Propionic acidemia (PA) is an inherited autosomal recessive disorder, due to the deficiency of propionyl-CoA carboxylase (PCC). PCC is the enzyme which catalyzes the conversion of propionyl-CoA to D-methylmalonyl-CoA, and it is critical for the metabolism of amino acids, odd-chain fatty acids, and side chains of cholesterol. The clinical manifestations present mostly at the neonatal period with life-threatening metabolic acidosis and hyperammonemia. Here, we described a case of a 16-year-old Korean boy with late-onset PA who presented with embolic cerebral infarction due to dilated cardiomyopathy (DCMP) with left ventricular noncompaction. And he has family history of sudden cardiac death, so we performed metabolic screening and genetic tests. Elevated levels of 3-hydroxypropionic acid, methylcitric acid and propionylglycerine were detected in urine. Plasma acylcarnitine profile showed elevated propionylcarnitine (C3). Diagnosis of PA was confirmed by genetic analysis, which revealed compound heterozygous mutations, c.[1151T>G] (p.[Phe384Cys]) and c.[1228C>T] (p.[Arg410Trp]) in PCCB gene. His heart function is in improving state and the results of biochemical analysis are stable with heart failure medication and metabolic managements. We present a case of patient without episodes of metabolic decompensation who manifests DCMP as the first symptom of PA.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.221-226
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• 2023

Can art really change the way people understand and interact with nature in order to reduce the possibility that ecological disasters will continue to expand due to failure to correct human actions that damage the global environment? What is the artistic methodology to realize environmental justice and sustainability of life on Earth? This paper seeks to find answers to these questions. Finding ways to look at, feel, understand, and act for the global environment, that is, the process of considering the way of orientation toward the global environment will lead to critical thinking of the history in which human centered behaviors treated nature as a resource for exploitation rather than a source of life. Therefore, this paper pays attention to the ecological art of The Harrison Studio, which is called the 'pioneer of the environmental art movement'. In the main body, The Harrison Studio's major projects are analyzed to find ecological implications and aesthetic strategies. In particular, their dialogical methodologies are demonstrated in detail. To this end, the significance of various collaborative practices of The Harrison Studio is explained. The Harrison Studio contributed to expanding the scope of practical experience and understanding of the value of eological art. They have the power to look back on the direction of ecological consciousness by constantly producing mutually connected and overlapping epistemic dimensions without being limited to any uniform rules of exchange.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.161-169
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• 2023

Due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, innovation in various technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data (Big Data), and cloud (Cloud) is accelerating, and data is considered an important asset. With the innovation of these technologies, various efforts are being made to lead technological innovation in the field of defense science and technology. In Korea, the government also announced the "Defense Innovation 4.0 Plan," which consists of five key points and 16 tasks to foster advanced science and technology forces in March 2023. The plan also includes the establishment of a Condition-Based Maintenance system (CBM+) to improve the operability and availability of weapons systems and reduce defense costs. Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) aims to secure the reliability and availability of the weapon system and analyze changes in equipment's state information to identify them as signs of failure and defects, and CBM+ is a concept that adds Remaining Useful Life prediction technology to the existing CBM concept [1]. In order to establish a CBM+ system for the weapon system, sensors are installed and sensor data are required to obtain condition information of the weapon system. In this paper, we propose a sensor data metadata schema to efficiently and effectively manage sensor data collected from sensors installed in various weapons systems.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.45.1-45.22
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• 2023

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) involves persistent inflammation and fibrosis, leading to respiratory failure and even death. Adult tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) show potential in ILD therapeutics but obtaining an adequate quantity of cells for drug application is difficult. Daewoong Pharmaceutical's MSCs (DW-MSCs) derived from embryonic stem cells sustain a high proliferative capacity following long-term culture and expansion. The aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic potential of DW-MSCs in experimental mouse models of ILD. DW-MSCs were expanded up to 12 passages for in vivo application in bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis and collagen-induced connective tissue disease-ILD mouse models. We assessed lung inflammation and fibrosis, lung tissue immune cells, fibrosis-related gene/protein expression, apoptosis and mitochondrial function of alveolar epithelial cells, and mitochondrial transfer ability. Intravenous administration of DWMSCs consistently improved lung fibrosis and reduced inflammatory and fibrotic markers expression in both models across various disease stages. The therapeutic effect of DW-MSCs was comparable to that following daily oral administration of nintedanib or pirfenidone. Mechanistically, DW-MSCs exhibited immunomodulatory effects by reducing the number of B cells during the early phase and increasing the ratio of Tregs to Th17 cells during the late phase of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Furthermore, DW-MSCs exhibited anti-apoptotic effects, increased cell viability, and improved mitochondrial respiration in alveolar epithelial cells by transferring their mitochondria to alveolar epithelial cells. Our findings indicate the strong potential of DW-MSCs in the treatment of ILD owing to their high efficacy and immunomodulatory and anti-apoptotic effects.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.147-160
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• 2020

A stochastic probabilistic model for harbor structures such as rubble-mound breakwater has been formulated by using the generalized Wiener process considering the nonlinearity of damage drift and its nonlinear uncertainty, by which the damage path with real-time can be tracked, the residual useful lifetime at some age can also be analyzed properly. The formulated stochastic model can easily calculate the probability of failure with the passage of time through the probability density function of cumulative damage. In particular, the probability density functions of residual useful lifetime of the existing harbor structures can be derived, which can take into account the current age, its present damage state and the future damage process to be occurred. By using the maximum likelihood method and the least square method together, the involved parameters in the stochastic model can be estimated. In the calibration of the stochastic model presented in this paper, the present results are very well similar with the results of MCS about tracking of the damage paths as well as evaluating of the density functions of the cumulative damage and the residual useful lifetime. MTTF and MRL are also evaluated exactly. Meanwhile, the stochastic probabilistic model has been applied to the rubble-mound breakwater. The related parameters can be estimated by using the experimental data of the cumulative damages of armor units measured as a function of time. The theoretical results about the probability density function of cumulative damage and the probability of failure are very well agreed with MCS results such that the density functions of the cumulative damage tend to move to rightward and the amounts of its uncertainty are increased as the elapsed time goes on. Thus, the probabilities of failure with the elapsed time are also increased sharply. Finally, the behaviors of residual useful lifetime have been investigated with the elapsed age. It is concluded for rubble-mound breakwaters that the probability density functions of residual useful lifetime tends to have a longer tail in the right side rather than the left side because of the gradual increases of cumulative damage of armor units. Therefore, its MRLs are sharply decreased after some age. In this paper, the special attentions are paid to the relationship of MTTF and MRL and the elapsed age of the existing structure. In spite of that the sum of the elapsed age and MRL must be equal to MTTF deterministically, the large difference has been shown as the elapsed age is increased which is due to the uncertainty of cumulative damage to be occurred in the future.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.424-434
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• 2009

Statement of problem: Problems such as loosening and fractures of retained screws and fracture of implant fixture have been frequently reported in implant prosthesis. Purpose: Implant has weak mechanical properties against lateral loading compared to vertical occlusal loading, and therefore, stress analysis of implant fixture depending on its material and geometric features is needed. Material and methods: Total 28 of external hexed implants were divided into 7 of 4 groups; Group A (3i, FULL $OSSEOTITE^{(R)}$Implant), Group B (Nobelbiocare, $Br{\aa}nemark$ $System^{(R)}$Mk III Groovy RP), Group C (Neobiotec, $SinusQuick^{TM}$ EB), Group D (Osstem, US-II). The type III gold alloy prostheses were fabricated using adequate UCLA gold abutments. Fixture, abutment screw, and abutment were connected and cross-sectioned vertically. Hardness test was conducted using MXT-$\alpha$. For fatigue fracture test, with MTS 810, the specimens were loaded to the extent of 60-600 N until fracture occurred. The fracture pattern of abutment screw and fixture was observed under scanning electron microscope. A comparative study of stress distribution and fracture area of abutment screw and fixture was carried out through finite element analysis Results: 1. In Vicker's hardness test of abutment screw, the highest value was measured in group A and lowest value was measured in group D. 2. In all implant groups, implant fixture fractures occurred mainly at the 3-4th fixture thread valley where tensile stress was concentrated. When the fatigue life was compared, significant difference was found between the group A, B, C and D (P<.05). 3. The fracture patterns of group B and group D showed complex failure type, a fracture behavior including transverse and longitudinal failure patterns in both fixture and abutment screw. In Group A and C, however, the transverse failure of fixture was only observed. 4. The finite element analysis infers that a fatigue crack started at the fixture surface. Conclusion: The maximum tensile stress was found in the implant fixture at the level of cortical bone. The fatigue fracture occurred when the dead space of implant fixture coincides with jig surface where the maximum tensile stress was generated. To increase implant durability, prevention of surrounding bone resorption is important. However, if the bone resorption progresses to the level of dead space, the frequency of implant fracture would increase. Thus, proper management is needed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.158-169
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• 2019

A probabilistic model that can predict the residual useful lifetime of structure is formulated by using the gamma process which is one of the stochastic processes. The formulated stochastic model can take into account both the sampling uncertainty associated with damages measured up to now and the temporal uncertainty of cumulative damage over time. A method estimating several parameters of stochastic model is additionally proposed by introducing of the least square method and the method of moments, so that the age of a structure, the operational environment, and the evolution of damage with time can be considered. Some features related to the residual useful lifetime are firstly investigated into through the sensitivity analysis on parameters under a simple setting of single damage data measured at the current age. The stochastic model are then applied to the rubble-mound breakwater straightforwardly. The parameters of gamma process can be estimated for several experimental data on the damage processes of armor rocks of rubble-mound breakwater. The expected damage levels over time, which are numerically simulated with the estimated parameters, are in very good agreement with those from the flume testing. It has been found from various numerical calculations that the probabilities exceeding the failure limit are converged to the constraint that the model must be satisfied after lasting for a long time from now. Meanwhile, the expected residual useful lifetimes evaluated from the failure probabilities are seen to be different with respect to the behavior of damage history. As the coefficient of variation of cumulative damage is becoming large, in particular, it has been shown that the expected residual useful lifetimes have significant discrepancies from those of the deterministic regression model. This is mainly due to the effect of sampling and temporal uncertainties associated with damage, by which the first time to failure tends to be widely distributed. Therefore, the stochastic model presented in this paper for predicting the residual useful lifetime of structure can properly implement the probabilistic assessment on current damage state of structure as well as take account of the temporal uncertainty of future cumulative damage.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.240-246
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• 2018

Efferent and afferent sympathetic nerves are closely related to the development of hypertension and heart failure. Catheter-based renal sympathetic denervation (RDN) is implemented as a strategy to treat resistant hypertension. We investigated whether RDN procedure causes inflammatory damage on myocardium in the early phase of sympathetic denervation. Twenty-five female swine were divided into 3 groups: normal control (Normal, n=5), sham-operated control (Sham, n=5), and RDN groups (RDN, n=15). The RDN group was further subdivided into 3 subgroups according to the time of sacrifice: immediately (RDN-0, n=5), 1 week (RDN-1, n=5), and 2 weeks (RDN-2, n=5) after RDN. There were no significant changes in the clinical parameters between the normal control and sham-operated group using contrast-media. In the myocardium, inflammatory cytokines, $IL-1{\beta}$ and $TNF-{\alpha}$ increased at the first week, and then decreased at the second week after RDN. Anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10 increased immediately, and then decreased at the second week after RDN. Caspase-1 activity and apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (ASC) expression increased immediately after RDN until the second week. However, nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain, leucine rich repeat and pyrin domain containing protein 3 (NLRP3) expression did not show any significant differences among the groups. The RDN can cause acute myocardial inflammation through activation of caspase-1 and $IL-1{\beta}$. We should pay attention to protecting against early inflammatory myocardial damage after RDN.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.72-79
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• 2008

This study investigated the changes in textural characteristics that occurred by adding maltose syrup, dextrin, and sucrose to whole egg gels, by assessing coagulation after cooling. It also examined the optimal NaCl and sucrose concentrations for whole egg gels sensory evaluations, and then studied how the addition of sucrose effected gel formation and textural characteristics under optimal NaCl concentration. The additions of maltose syrup, dextrin, and sucrose, presented some color changes. The greater the addition of maltose syrup or dextrin, the lower the L, a, and b values of the whole egg gel and whole egg liquid, and ultimately the color turned dark bluish green. With increasing additions of sucrose, maltose syrup, and dextrin, the viscosity of the whole egg liquid increased slightly. In terms of the mechanical texture characteristic of the gel, the texture was most elastic with the 0.8% addition of sucrose, and hardness decreased by increasing the ratio of added sucrose. Increasing amounts of maltose syrup resulted in less hardness and SF. And for dextrin, the SF increased up to 2.5 and then decreased, and hardness decreased with increasing amounts of dextrin. Based on sensory evaluations, the 0.8% addition of NaCl was significantly preferred(p<0.05), in terms of salty taste. The overall preference scores indicated that the whole egg gel made with 0.3% sucrose and the optimal NaCl concentration(0.8%) was most preferred, and each sample was significant(p<0.05). Under the optimal 0.8% NaCl concentration increasing the sucrose concentration resulted in a darker egg gel color, in terms the L value. SF, NF, and hardness, which are mechanical texture parameters, were when 0.8% sucrose and the optimal NaCl concentration of 0.8% were added to whole egg liquid, in preparing the whole egg gel.