• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.285-294
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• 2011

The abatement of methane emission from ruminants is an important global issue due to its contribution to greenhouse gas with carbon dioxide. Methane is generated in the rumen by methanogens (archaea) that utilize metabolic hydrogen ($H_2$) to reduce carbon dioxide, and is a significant electron sink in the rumen ecosystem. Therefore, the competition for hydrogen used for methanogenesis with alternative reductions of rumen microbes should be an effective option to reduce rumen methanogenesis. Some methanogens parasitically survive on the surface of ciliate protozoa, so that defaunation or decrease in protozoa number might contribute to abate methanogenesis. The most important issue for mitigation of rumen methanogenesis with manipulators is to secure safety for animals and their products and the environment. In this respect, prophylactic effects of probiotics, prebiotics and miscellaneous compounds to mitigate rumen methanogenesis have been developed instead of antibiotics, ionophores such as monensin, and lasalocid in Japan. Nitrate suppresses rumen methanogenesis by its reducing reaction in the rumen. However, excess intake of nitrate causes intoxication due to nitrite accumulation, which induces methemoglobinemia. The nitrite accumulation is attributed to a relatively higher rate of nitrate reduction to nitrite than nitrite to ammonia via nitroxyl and hydroxylamine. The in vitro and in vivo trials have been conducted to clarify the prophylactic effects of L-cysteine, some strains of lactic acid bacteria and yeast and/or ${\beta}$1-4 galactooligosaccharide on nitrate-nitrite intoxication and methanogenesis. The administration of nitrate with ${\beta}$1-4 galacto-oligosaccharide, Candida kefyr, and Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis were suggested to possibly control rumen methanogenesis and prevent nitrite formation in the rumen. For prebiotics, nisin which is a bacteriocin produced by Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis has been demonstrated to abate rumen methanogenesis in the same manner as monensin. A protein resistant anti-microbe (PRA) has been isolated from Lactobacillus plantarum as a manipulator to mitigate rumen methanogenesis. Recently, hydrogen peroxide was identified as a part of the manipulating effect of PRA on rumen methanogenesis. The suppressing effects of secondary metabolites from plants such as saponin and tannin on rumen methanogenesis have been examined. Especially, yucca schidigera extract, sarsaponin (steroidal glycosides), can suppress rumen methanogenesis thereby improving protein utilization efficiency. The cashew nutshell liquid (CNSL), or cashew shell oil, which is a natural resin found in the honeycomb structure of the cashew nutshell has been found to mitigate rumen methanogenesis. In an attempt to seek manipulators in the section on methane belching from ruminants, the arrangement of an inventory of mitigation technologies available for the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) in the Kyoto mechanism has been advancing to target ruminant livestock in Asian and Pacific regions.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.8893-8900
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• 2014

Dysregulated expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been shown to be closely associated with tumor development, progression, and carcinogenesis. However, their clinical implications for gastric cancer remain elusive. To investigate the hypothesis that genome-wide alternations of miRNAs differentiate gastric cancer tissues from those matched adjacent non-tumor tissues (ANTTs), miRNA arrays were employed to examine miRNA expression profiles for the 5-pair discovery stage, and the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRTPCR) was applied to validate candidate miRNAs for 48-pair validation stage. Furthermore, the relationship between altered miRNA and clinicopathological features and prognosis of gastric cancer was explored. Among a total of 1,146 miRNAs analyzed, 16 miRNAs were found to be significantly different expressed in tissues from gastric cancer compared to ANTTs (p<0.05). qRT-PCR further confirmed the variation in expression of miR-193b and miR-196a in the validation stage. Down-expression of miR-193b was significantly correlated with Lauren type, differentiation, UICC stage, invasion, and metastasis of gastric cancer (p<0.05), while over-expression of miR-196a was significantly associated with poor differentiation (p=0.022). Moreover, binary logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the UICC stage was a significant risk factor for down-expression of miR-193b (adjusted OR=8.69; 95%CI=1.06-56.91; p=0.043). Additionally, Kaplan-Meier survival curves indicated that patients with a high fold-change of down-regulated miR-193b had a significantly shorter survival time (n=19; median survival=29 months) compared to patients with a low fold-change of down-regulated miR-193b (n=29; median survival=54 months) (p=0.001). Overall survival time of patients with a low fold-change of up-regulated miR-196a (n=27; median survival=52 months) was significantly longer than that of patients with a high fold-change of up-regulated miR-196a (n=21; median survival=46 months) (p=0.003). Hence, miR-193b and miR-196a may be applied as novel and promising prognostic markers in gastric cancer.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.142-147
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• 2008

Objective : Evidence from recent studies supports the role of genetic factors in the development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The primary aim of this study is to investigate the association between the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) TaqI A polymorphism and PTSD. The second aim is to examine the association between the DRD2 TaqI A polymorphism and clinical symptoms in patients with PTSD. Methods : We recruited 189 Vietnam veterans for participation in this study, among whom 99 were PTSD patients and 90 were control subjects. The presence of the DRD2 TaqI A polymorphism was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Several standardized research scales were used in the clinical assessment of PTSD, including the Combat Exposure Scale (CES), Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Clinical Global Impression (CGI). Results : There was no significant difference in the distribution of the DRD2 genotype, frequency and prevalence of the A1 allele, or the frequency of heterozygotes between the patients with PTSD and the controls. In the PTSD group, the patients with the A1 allele (A1A1, A1A2) scored higher on the CAPS-total (p=0.044), CAPS-avoidance symptoms (p=0.016) and BDI (p=0.024) than those without the A1 allele (A2A2). Conclusion : We could not find an association between the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) TaqI A polymorphism and PTSD. However, the A1 allele of DRD2 seemsto influence avoidance symptoms in patients with PTSD.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.75-80
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• 2015

The carbon dioxide($CO_2$) released while producing building materials is substantial and has been targeted as a leading contributor to global climate change. One of the most typical method to reducing $CO_2$ for building materials is the addition of slag and fly ash, like pozzolan material, while another method is reducing $CO_2$ production by carbon negative cement development. The MgO-based cement was from the low-temperature calcination of magnesite required less energy and emitted less $CO_2$ than the manufacturing of Portland cements. It is also believed that adding reactive MgO to Portland-pozzolan cements could improve their performance and also increase their capacity to absorb atmospheric $CO_2$. In this study, the basic research for magnesia cement using $MgCO_3$ and magnesium silicate ore (serpentine) as main starting materials, as well as silica fume, fly ash and blast furnace slag for the mineral admixture, were carried out for industrial waste material recycling. In order to increase the hydration activity, $MgCl_2$ was also added. To improve hydration activity, $MgCO_3$ and serpentinite were fired at $700^{\circ}C$ and autoclave treatment was conducted. In the case of $MgCO_3$ as starting material, hydration activity was the highest at firing temperature of $700^{\circ}C$. This $MgCO_3$ was completely transferred to MgO after firing. This occurred after the hydration reaction with water MgO was transferred completely to $Mg(OH)_2$ as a hydration product. In the case of using only $MgCO_3$, the compressive strength was 3.5MPa at 28 days. The addition of silica fume enhanced compressive strength to 5.5 MPa. In the composition of $MgCO_3$-serpentine, the addition of pozzolanic materials such as silica fume increased the compression strength. In particular, the addition of $MgCl_2$ compressive strength was increased to 80 MPa.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.60-65
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• 2014

Recently, lots of researches on alkali-activated slag (AAS) concrete have been carried out to resolve the environmental issues such as recycling by-products and global warming. AAS concrete would have high strength and high level of durability. On the other hand, it is known that large amount of shrinkage occurred in AAS concrete due to rapid alkaline reaction in the early age, and however, the related studies about autogenous shrinkage of high strength AAS mortar are relatively rare. In this study, fresh mortar properties such as flow and setting time, compressive strength and autogenous shrinkage of AAS mortar with W/B=0.40 to 0.50, were measured. AAS mortar was activated with sodium silicate (Ms=1.0) with 5, 6 and 7 % of $Na_2O$. Test results revealed that AAS morar shows larger autogenous shrinkage than OPC mortar and the lower W/B of AAS mortar, the greater autogenous shrinkage. Therefore, the application of appropriate curing and the use of shrinkage reduction admixture would be needed to reduce autogenous shrinkage of AAS mortar.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.826-833
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• 2017

The rising concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide is causing ocean acidification and global warming. The seahorse is an important species in marine ecosystems and fishery markets, however, their populations have recently decreased due to ocean acidification. As a result, we examined changes in the physiological responses of the spotted seahorse Hippocampus kuda when it was exposed to acidic sea water (pH 6.0, 6.5, and 7.0) and normal seawater (pH 8.0 as the control) over a period of 15 days. As the pH decreased, the seahorses' body weight and length also decreased. Components in body of ash, the crude lipids and crude proteins also differed significantly with changes in pH, due to stress caused by the seahorses' exposure to the acidic water conditions. The superoxide dismutase levels were significantly lower in the pH 6.0 and 6.5 groups than they were in the pH 7.0 and pH 8.0 groups. However, the catalase and glutathione levels were significantly higher in the acidic sea water groups. We suggest that decreasing the pH level of rearing water induces a stress response in H. kuda, damaging their ability to maintain their homeostasis and energy metabolism. Antioxidant enzymes are generally sensitive to acidic stress; in this study, the antioxidant activity was significantly affected by the pH level of the rearing water. These results indicate that physiological stress, induced by exposure to acidification, induces an antioxidant reaction, which can reduce general components in the body and the growth of H. kuda.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.34-41
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• 2015

Oxy-methane nonpremixed flames diluted with $CO_2$ were investigated to clarify impact of radiation heat loss and chemical effects of additional $CO_2$ to oxidizer stream on flame extinction. Flame stability maps were presented with functional dependencies of critical diluents mole fraction upon global strain rate at several oxidizer stream temperatures in $CH_4-O_2/N_2$, $CH_4-O_2/CO_2$, and $CH_4-O_2/CO_2/N_2$ counterflow flames. The effects of radiation heat loss on the critical diluent mole fractions for flame extinction are not significant even at low strain rate in nonpremixed $CH_4-O_2/N_2$ diffusion flame, whereas those are significant at low strain rate and are negligible at high strain rate (> $200s^{-1}$) in $CH_4-O_2/CO_2$ and $CH_4-O_2/CO_2/N_2$ counterflow flames. Chemical effects of additional $CO_2$ to oxidizer stream on the flame extinction curves were appreciable in both $CH_4-O_2/CO_2$ and $CH_4-O_2/CO_2/N_2$ flames. A scaling analysis based on asymptotic solution of stretched flame extinction was applied. A specific radical index, which could reflect the OH population in main reaction zone via controlling the mixture composition in the oxidizer stream, was identified to quantify the chemical kinetic contribution to flame extinction. A good correlation of predicted extinction limits to those calculated numerically were obtained via the ratio between radical indices and oxidizer Lewis numbers for the target and baseline flames. This offered an effective approach to estimate extinction strain rate of nonpremixed oxy-methane flames permitting air infiltration when the baseline flame was taken to nonpremixed $CH_4-O_2/N_2$ flame.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.5-19
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• 2016

This paper presents the results from three-dimensional finite element (FE) analysis undertaken to provide insight into the lateral behaviors of piled gravity base foundation (GBF) for offshore wind turbine. The piled GBF was originally developed to support the gravity based foundation in very soft clay soil. A GBF is supported by five piles in a cross arrangement to achieve additional vertical bearing capacity. This study considered four different cases including a) single pile, b) three-by-three group pile (with nine piles), c) cross-arrangement group pile (with five piles), and d) piled GBF. All the cases were installed in homogenous soft clay soil with undrained shear strength of 20 kPa. From the numerical results, p-y curves and thus P-multiplier was back-calculated. For the group pile cases, the group effect decreased with increasing the number of piles. Interestingly, for the piled GBF, the P-multipliers showed a unique trend, compared to the group pile cases. This study concluded that the global lateral behaviour of the piled GBF was influenced strongly by the interaction between GBF and contacted soil surface.

• Clean Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2014

$CO_2$ is generated by the combustion reaction, when getting the energy from fossil fuel. If the carbon dioxide emissions increases more, the global warming problem will become more serious. CCS (carbon capture storage) needs to be developed for the prevention of this. When liquefied $CO_2$ is transported, BOG (boil-off gas) is generated because of several problems. In the study, by injecting liquefied $CO_2$ in two tanks which contains $40m^3$each, the amount of BOG and its composition were measured during 30 days when generating pressure changes and external heat, loading, unloading. In result, 16,040 kg of BOG was generated and the composition has been found out to be 99.95% $CO_2$ and 0.05 % $N_2$. Also, we conducted simulation process for reliquefaction of generated BOG with vapor compression cycle using the PRO/II with PROVISION version 9.2. As a result, the refrigeration cycle of the total circulation flow rate was 42.07 kg/h and the condenser utility consumption was 48.85 kg/h.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.1-23
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• 2013

In this study, we try to investigate the spillover effects of volatility in international tourists arrivals between Korea and US, Japan, China by using the multivariate BEKK model from January 2005 to January 2013. In the results of this study, after the global financial crisis, we found a cointegration relationship and tourist arrivals of Japan were adjusted to recovery in the short term. Also tourists arrivals from China and Japan showed the long-term elasticity. In the conditional mean equation of a BEKK model, there were the spillover effects. And in the conditional variance equation, ARCH(${\epsilon}^2_t$) coefficients showed a strong influence on the arrivals of their own and the spillover effects and the asymmetric effects on the volatility of China and Japan arrivals. In GARCH(${\sigma}^2_t$) coefficients showed the asymmetric effects and the spillover effects of the conditional volatility among source arrivals. Therefore, we examined the asymmetric reaction of one-way or two-way tourist arrivals between source countries and Korea and the spillover effects related to tourists arrivals of source countries to Korea. We has confirmed a causal relationship between some of the tourists arrivals from source countries to korea.