• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.1067-1072
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• 2013

Hiwi, a human homologue of the Piwi family, plays an important role in stem cell self-renewal and is overexpressed in various human tumors. This study aimed to determine whether an RNA interference-based strategy to suppress Hiwi expression could inhibit tumor growth in a xenograft mouse model. A rare population of $SSC^{lo}\;Alde^{br}$ cells was isolated and identified as lung cancer stem cells in our previous study. Plasmids containing U6 promoter-driven shRNAs against Hiwi or control plasmids were successfully established. The xenograft tumor model was generated by subcutaneously inoculating with lung cancer stem cell $SSC^{lo}\;Alde^{br}$ cells. After the tumor size reached about 8 mm in diameter, shRNA plasmids were injected into the mice via the tail vein three times a week for two weeks, then xenograft tumor growth was assessed. In nude mice, intravenously delivery of Hiwi shRNA plasmids significantly inhibited tumor growth compared to treatment with control scrambled shRNA plasmids or the vehicle PBS. No mice died during the experiment and no adverse events were observed in mice administered the plasmids. Moreover, delivery of Hiwi shRNA plasmids resulted in a significant suppressed expression of Hiwi and ALDH-1 in xenograft tumor samples, based on immunohistochemical analysis. Thus, shRNA-mediated Hiwi gene silencing in lung cancer stem cells by an effective in vivo gene delivery strategy appeared to be an effective therapeutic approach for lung cancer, and may provide some useful clues for RNAi gene therapy in solid cancers.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.33-43
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• 2015

GAM-1 and GAM-2, two themostable glucoamylases from Aspergillus niger B-30, possess different molecular masses, glycosylation, and thermal stability. In the present study, the effects of additives on the thermal inactivation of GAM-1 and GAM-2 were investigated. The half-lives of GAM-1 and GAM-2 at 70℃ were 45 and 216 min, respectively. Data obtained from fluorescence spectroscopy, circular dichroism spectroscopy, UV absorption spectroscopy, and dynamic light scattering demonstrated that during the thermal inactivation progress, combined with the loss of the helical structure and a majority of the tertiary structure, tryptophan residues were partially exposed and further led to glucoamylases aggregating. The thermal stability of GAM-1 and GAM-2 was largely improved in the presence of sorbitol and trehalose. Results from spectroscopy and Native-PAGE confirmed that sorbitol and trehalose maintained the native state of glucoamylases and prevented their thermal aggregation. The loss of hydrophobic bonding and helical structure was responsible for the decrease of glucoamylase activity. Additionally, sorbitol and trehalose significantly increased the substrate affinity and catalytic efficiency of the two glucoamylases. Our results display an insight into the thermal inactivation of glucoamylases and provide an important base for industrial applications of the thermally stable glucoamylases.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.1673-1682
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• 2013

Citrobacter sp. is a cause of significant opportunistic nosocomial infection and is frequently found in human and animal feces, soil, and sewage water, and even in industrial waste or putrefaction. Biofilm formation is an important virulence trait of Citrobacter sp. pathogens but the process and characteristics of this formation are unclear. Therefore, we employed in vitro assays to study the nutritional and environmental parameters that might influence biofilm formation of C. werkmanii BF-6 using 96-well microtiter plates. In addition, we detected the relative transcript levels of biofilm formation genes by RT-PCR. Our results indicated that the capacity of C. werkmanii BF-6 to form biofilms was affected by culture temperature, media, time, pH, and the osmotic agents glucose, sucrose, NaCl, and KCl. Confocal laser scanning microscopy results illustrated that the structure of biofilms and extracellular polysaccharide was influenced by 100 mM NaCl or 100 mM KCl. In addition, nine biofilm formation genes (bsmA, bssR, bssS, csgD, csgE, csgF, mrkA, mrkB, and mrkE) were found to contribute to planktonic and biofilm growth. Our data suggest that biofilm formation by C. werkmanii BF-6 is affected by nutritional and environmental factors, which could pave the way to the prevention and elimination of biofilm formation using proper strategies.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.297-311
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• 2016

Based on the distributed fiber optic sensing (DFOS) technique, plastic optical fibers (POFs) are attractive candidates to measure deformations of geotechnical structures because they can withstand large strains before rupture. Understanding the mechanical interaction between an embedded POF and the surrounding soil or rock is a necessary step towards establishing an effective POF-based sensing system for geotechnical monitoring. This paper describes a first attempt to evaluate the feasibility of POF-based soil deformation monitoring considering the POF-soil interfacial properties. A series of pullout tests were performed under various confining pressures (CPs) on a jacketed polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) POF embedded in soil specimens. The test results were interpreted using a fiber-soil interaction model, and were compared with previous test data of silica optical fibers (SOFs). The results showed that the range of CP in this study did not induce plastic deformation of the POF; therefore, the POF-soil and the SOF-soil interfaces had similar behavior. CP was found to play an important role in controlling the fiber-soil interfacial bond and the fiber measurement range. Moreover, an expression was formulated to determine whether a POF would undergo plastic deformation when measuring soil deformation. The plasticity of POF may influence the reliability of measurements, especially for monitored geo-structures whose deformation would alternately increase and decrease. Taken together, these results indicate that in terms of the interfacial parameters studied here the POF is feasible for monitoring soil deformation as long as the plastic deformation issue is carefully addressed.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.136-143
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• 2015

Image deblurring by a deconvolution method requires accurate knowledge of the blur kernel. Existing point spread function (PSF) models in the literature corresponding to lens aberrations and defocus are either parameterized and spatially invariant or spatially varying but discretely defined. In this paper, a parameterized model is developed and presented for a PSF which is spatially varying due to lens aberrations and defocus in an imaging system. The model is established from the Seidel third-order aberration coefficient and the Hu moment. A skew normal Gauss model is selected for parameterized PSF geometry structure. The accuracy of the model is demonstrated with simulations and measurements for a defocused infrared camera and a single spherical lens digital camera. Compared with optical software Code V, the visual results of two optical systems validate our analysis and proposed method in size, shape and direction. Quantitative evaluation results reveal the excellent accuracy of the blur kernel model.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.157-184
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• 2000

Bromidrosis is a disease which is also called huchou[호격] in the oriental medicine. This disease produces an odor and a small amount of sweat from the axillary area. Prognosis of the disease could possibly get better with age. This can be explained by the fact that its symptoms begin usually when a person reaches puberty and as the person gets old, the symptoms reduce or disappear even when specific treatments are not applied. Although the disease is not lethal, many patients have difficulties in leading a normal and comfortable life, physically and psychologically with this in mind and some osbservations gained from the literature studies on the causes,symptoms, and treatments, I embarked on a study aimed at finding out the therapies. My study on the literature has produced the following results ; 1. In the oriental medicine, hu-chou[호격] means the characteric smell or odor produced from the fox. 2. The literature studies point out two causes in the oriental medicine. One is natural. The other is acquired. Acquired cases have the following causes: shi-re-nei-yun[濕熱內蘊]. xie-뱌-bu-huo[血氣不和], gan-qi-yu-jie[肝氣鬱結]. 3 There are two therapies in the oriental medicine. One is internal and the other external. out of the two, external therapies were mainly used according to the literature studies that I have consulted. 4. According to my study, the most frequently used herbal medicine was Alunitum(明 礬)(45 times), followed by Minium(密陀僧)(39 times) and Moschus(?香)(21 times respectively). 5. My study also found that bian-zheng[辨證] was not .rarely listed on old literatures. Therefore, old literatures did not clearly show how to root out the disease. They only taught now to alleviate the symptoms and remove the characteric odor.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.432-438
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• 2019

In the study of nuclear structure, the fast timing technique can be used to measure the lifetime of excited states. In the paper, we have developed a new fast timing system, which is made up of two $LaBr_3:Ce$ detectors and a set of waveform sampling system. The sampling system based on domino ring sampler version 4 chip (DRS4) can digitize and store the waveform information of detector signal, with a smaller volume and higher timing accuracy, and the waveform data are performed by means of digital waveform analysis methods. The coincidence time resolution of the fast timing system for two annihilation 511 keV ${\gamma}$ photon is 200ps (FWHM), the energy resolution is 3.5%@511 keV, and the energy linear response in the large dynamic range is perfect. Meanwhile, to verify the fast timing performance of the system, the $^{152}Gd-2_1^+$ state form ${\beta}^+$ decay of $^{152}Eu$ source is measured. The measured lifetime is $45.3({\pm}5.0)ps$, very close to the value of the National Nuclear Data Center (NNDC: $46.2({\pm}3.9)ps$). The experimental results indicate that the fast timing system is capable of measuring the lifetime of dozens of ps. Therefore, the system can be widely used in the research of the fast timing technology.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.99-111
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• 2022

Instability of bolted rock mass has been a major hazard in the underground coal mining industry for decades. Developing effective support guidelines requires understanding of complex bolted rock mass failure mechanisms. In this study, the dynamic failure behavior, mechanical behavior, and energy evolution of a laboratory-scale bolted specimens is studied by conducting laboratory static-dynamic coupled loading tests. The results showed that: (1) Under static-dynamic coupled loading, the stress-strain curve of the bolted rock mass has a significant impact velocity (strain rate) correlation, and the stress-strain curve shows rebound characteristics after the peak; (2) There is a critical strain rate in a rock mass under static-dynamic coupled loading, and it decreases exponentially with increasing pre-static load level. Bolting can significantly improve the critical strain rate of a rock mass; (3) Compared with a no-bolt rock mass, the dissipation energy ratio of the bolted rock mass decreases exponentially with increasing pre-static load level, the ultimate dynamic impact energy and dissipation energy of the bolted rock mass increase significantly, and the increasing index of the ratio of dissipation energy increases linearly with the pre-static load; (4) Based on laboratory testing and on-site microseismic and stress monitoring, a design method is proposed for a roadway bolt support against dynamic load disturbance, which provides guidance for the design of deep underground roadway anchorage supports. The research results provide new ideas for explaining the failure behavior of anchorage supports and adopting reasonable design and construction practices.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.73.1-73.10
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• 2020

Background: Bovine papilloma is a neoplastic disease caused by bovine papillomaviruses (BPVs), which were recently divided into 5 genera and at least 24 genotypes. Objectives: The complete genome sequence of BPV type 15 (BPV Aks-02), a novel putative BPV type from skin samples from infected cows in Southern Xinjiang China, was determined by collecting warty lesions, followed by DNA extraction and amplicon sequencing. Methods: DNA was analyzed initially by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using the degenerate primers FAP59 and FAP64. The complete genome sequences of the BPV Aks-02 were amplified by PCR using the amplification primers and sequencing primers. Sequence analysis and phylogenetic analysis were performed using bio-informatic software. Results: The nucleotide sequence of the L1 open reading frame (ORF) of BPV Aks-02 was 75% identity to the L1 ORF of BPV-9 reference strain from GenBank. The complete genome consisted of 7,189 base pairs (G + C content of 42.50%) that encoded 5 early (E8, E7, E1, E2, and E4) and 2 late (L1 and L2) genes. The E7 protein contained a consensus CX₂CX₂₉CX₂C zinc-binding domain and a LxCxE motif. Among the different members of this group, the percentages of the complete genome and ORFs (including 5 early and 2 late ORFs) sequence identity of BPV Aks-02 were closer to the genus Xipapillomavirus 1 of the Xipapillomavirus genus. Phylogenetic analysis and sequence similarities based on the L1 ORF of BPV Aks-02 revealed the same cluster. Conclusions: The results suggest that BPV type (BPV Aks-02) clustered with members of the Xipapillomavirus genus as BPV 15 and were closely related to Xipapillomavirus 1.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.397-408
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• 2023

Pipe pile walls are commonly used as retaining structures for excavation projects, particularly in densely populated coastal cities such as Hong Kong. Pipe pile walls are preferred in reclaimed land due to their cost-effectiveness and convenience for installation. However, the pre-bored piling techniques used to install pipe piles can cause significant ground disturbance, posing risks to nearby sensitive structures. This study reports a well-documented case history in a reclamation site, and it was found that pipe piling could induce ground settlement of up to 100 mm. Statutory design submissions in Hong Kong typically specify a ground settlement alarm level of 10 mm, which is significantly lower than the actual settlement observed in this study. In addition, lateral soil movement of approximately 70 mm was detected in the marine deposit. The lateral soil displacement in the marine deposit was found to be up to 3.4 and 3.1 times that of sand fill and CDG, respectively, mainly due to the relatively low stiffness of the marine deposit. Based on the monitoring data and site-investigation data, a 3D numerical analysis was established to back-analyze soil movements due to the installation of the pipe pile wall. The comparison between measured and computed results indicates that the equivalent ground loss ratio is 20%, 40%, and 20% for the fill, marine deposit and CDG, respectively. The maximum ground settlement increases with an increase in the ground loss ratio of the marine deposit, whereas the associated influence radius remains stationary at 1.2 times the pipe pile wall depth (H). The maximum ground settlement increases rapidly when the thickness of marine deposit is less than 0.32H, particularly for the ground loss ratio of larger than 40%. This study provides new insights into the pipe piling construction in reclamation sites.