• Biomaterials and Biomechanics in Bioengineering
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.97-109
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• 2015

A series of amphiphilic graft copolymers were synthesized by varying the number of graft chains and graft chain lengths. The polarity of the hydrophobic graft chain on the copolymers was varied their solution properties. The glass transition temperature of the copolymers was in the low-temperature region, because of the amorphous nature of poly (trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC). The surface morphology of the lyophilized colloid gel had a bundle structure, which was derived from the combination of poly(N-hydroxyethylacrylamide)( poly(HEAA)) and PTMC. The solution properties were evaluated using dynamic light scattering and fluorescence measurements. The particle size of the graft copolymers was about 30-300 nm. The graft copolymers with a higher number of repeating units attributed to the TMC (trimethylene carbonate) component and with a lower macromonomer ratio showed high thermal stability. The critical association concentration was estimated to be between $2.2{\times}10^{-3}$ and $8.9{\times}10^{-2}mg/mL$, using the pyrene-based fluorescence probe technique. These results showed that the hydrophobic chain of the graft copolymer having a long PTMC segment had a low polarity, dependent on the number of repeating units of TMC and the macromonomer composition ratio. These results demonstrated that a higher number of repeating units of TMC, with a lower macromonomer composition, was preferable for molecular encapsulation.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.185-197
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• 2014

Efficient defluorination of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was achieved by integrating UV irradiation and $Fe^{2+}$ activation of persulfate ($S_2O{_8}^{2-}$). It was found that the UV-$Fe^{2+}$, $Fe^{2+}-S_2O{_8}^{2-}$, and UV-$S_2O{_8}^{2-}$ processes caused defluorination efficiency of 6.4%, 1.6% and 23.2% for PFOA at pH 5.0 within 5 h, respectively, but a combined system of UV-$Fe^{2+}-S_2O{_8}^{2-}$ dramatically promoted the defluorination efficiency up to 63.3%. The beneficial synergistic behavior between $Fe^{2+}-S_2O{_8}^{2-}$ and UV-$S_2O{_8}^{2-}$ was demonstrated to be dependent on $Fe^{2+}$ dosage, initial $S_2O{_8}^{2-}$ concentration, and solution pH. The decomposition of PFOA resulted in generation of shorter-chain perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs), formic acid and fluoride ions. The generated PFCAs intermediates could be further defluorinated by adding supplementary $Fe^{2+}$ and, $S_2O{_8}^{2-}$ and re-adjusting solution pH in later reaction stage. The much enhanced PFOA defluorination in the UV-$Fe^{2+}-S_2O{_8}^{2-}$ system was attributed to the fact that the simultaneous employment of UV light and $Fe^{2+}$ not only greatly enhanced the activation of $S_2O{_8}^{2-}$ to form strong oxidizing sulfate radicals ($SO{_4}^{\cdot-}$), but also provided an additional decarboxylation pathway caused by electron transfer from PFOA to in situ generated $Fe^{3+}$.

• The Journal of Traditional Korean Medicine
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.77-82
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• 2006

Lavandula vera is indispensable member of the herb family, used for perfumes and potpourri. Androgens have profound effects on the physiology of the sebaceous gland. Sebum is secreted due to the effect of androgen, which starts to be secreted at puberty. Using the human sebocyte cell line SZ95. the author investigated the inhibitory effect of Lavandula vera on the lipid production. Light microscopic finding were examined numerous cytoplasmic lipid droplets SZ95 cells by Oil red staining and lipid droplets were increased markedly by testosterone. On the other hand, combined treatment with Lavandula vera and testosterone resulted in a lower lipid droplets than with testosterone alone in a dose-dependent manner. These findings indicate that Lavandula vera acts antagonistically to testosterone and inhibits the lipid synthesis of SZ95 cells at the cellular level.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.331-340
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• 2021

The blast damage behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) structures exposed to unexpected extreme loading was investigated. To enhance the accuracy of numerical simulation for blast loading on RC structures with seven blast points, the calculation of blast loads using the Euler-flux-corrected-transport method, the proposed Euler-Lagrange coupling method for fluid-structure interaction, and the concrete dynamic damage constitutive model including the strain rate-dependent strength and failure models was implemented in the ANSYS-AUTODYN solver. In the analysis results, in the case of 20 kg TNT, only the slab member at three blast points showed moderate and light damage. In the case of 100 kg TNT, the slab and girder members at three blast points showed moderate damage, while the slab member at two blast points showed severe damage.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.811-823
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• 2021

Objective: Eggshell color is an important indicator of egg quality for consumers, especially for brown eggs. Various factors related to laying hens and their environment affect brown eggshell coloration. However, there have been no studies investigating hepatic functions of laying hens with variable intensity of brown eggshell color. Therefore, this study was aimed to identify potential factors affecting brown eggshell coloration in aged laying hens at the hepatic transcriptomic level. Methods: Five hundred 92-wk-old Hy-line Brown laying hens were screened to select laying hens with different intensity of brown eggshell color based on eggshell color fans. Based on eggshell color scores, hens with dark brown eggshells (DBE; eggshell color fan score = 14.8) and hens with light brown eggshells (LBE; eggshell color fan score = 9.7) were finally selected for the liver sampling. We performed RNA-seq analysis using the liver samples through the paired-end sequencing libraries. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) profiling was carried out to identify their biological meaning by bioinformatics. Results: A total of 290 DEGs were identified with 196 being up-regulated and 94 being down-regulated in DBE groups as compared to LBE groups. The Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) analysis revealed that these DEGs belong to several biological pathways including herpes simplex infection (toll-like receptor 3 [TLR3], cyclin-dependent kinase 1, etc.) and influenza A (TLR3, radical S-adenosyl methionine domain containing 2, myxovirus [influenza virus] resistance 1, etc.). Genes related to stress response (ceremide kinase like) and nutrient metabolism (phosphoenolpyruvate carboxy-kinase 1, methylmalonic aciduria [cobalamin deficiency] cblB type, glycine receptor alpha 2, solute carrier family 7 member 11, etc.) were also identified to be differentially expressed. Conclusion: The current results provide new insights regarding hepatic molecular functions related to different intensity of brown eggshell color in aged laying hens. These insights will contribute to future studies aiming to optimize brown eggshell coloration in aged laying hens.

• Genes and Genomics
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• v.40 no.12
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• pp.1383-1388
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• 2018

The development of therapeutic bacteriophages will provide several benefits based on an understanding the basic physiological dynamics of phage and bacteria interactions for therapeutic use in light of the results of antibiotic abuse. However, studies on bacteriophage therapeutics against microbes are very limited, because of lack of phage stability and an incomplete understanding of the physiological intracellular mechanisms of phage. The major objective of this investigation was to provide opportunity for development of a novel therapeutic treatment to control respiratory diseases in swine. The cytokine array system was used to identify the secreted cytokines/chemokines after Bordetella bronchiseptica infection into swine nasal turbinate cells (PT-K75). We also performed the real-time quantitative PCR method to investigate the gene expression regulated by B. bronchiseptica infection or bacteriophage treatment. We found that B. bronchiseptica infection of PT-K75 induces secretion of many cytokines/chemokines to regulate airway inflammation. Of them, secretion and expression of IL-$1{\beta}$ and IL-6 are increased in a dose-dependent manner. Interestingly, membrane-bound mucin production via expression of the Muc1 gene is increased in B. bronchiseptica-infected PT-K75 cells. However, cytokine production and Muc1 gene expression are dramatically inhibited by treatment with a specific B. bronchiseptica bacteriophage (Bor-BRP-1). The regulation of cytokine profiles in B. bronchiseptica-induced inflammation by B. bronchiseptica bacteriophage is essential for avoiding inappropriate inflammatory responses. The ability of bacteriophages to downregulate the immune response by inhibiting bacterial infection emphasizes the possibility of bacteriophage-based therapies as a novel anti-inflammatory therapeutic strategy in swine respiratory tracts.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.483-491
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• 2019

The aim of this study is to shed light on factors that influence securing of university research grants. For this purpose, this study emphasizes the role of management capability of industry-university cooperation foundation in securing research grants. We analyze whether the potential capabilities influence research grants using panel data from 194 universities during 2016 to 2018. The results obtained from the Driscoll & Kraay standard errors (DKSE) indicate that a number of variables including the portion of industry-university collaboration professors, academic performance of professors, and the number of paid researchers are positively associated with the amount of external research grant approved. However, the percentage of employees employed for less than two years is negatively related with securing external research grants. Once the dependent variable is measured by the total university research grants, the negative coefficient of employees with short-term career disappears. Instead, the percentage of employees who are in charge of research planning and management and the total number of employees involved in industry-university collaboration foundations are negatively related with the total university research grant amounts.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.86-94
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• 2019

Background: Ginseng is believed to have antitumor activity. Autophagy is largely a prosurvival cellular process that is activated in response to cellular stressors, including cytotoxic chemotherapy; therefore, agents that inhibit autophagy can be used as chemosensitizers in cancer treatment. We examined the ability of Korean Red Ginseng extract (RGE) to prevent autophagic flux and to make hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells become more sensitive to doxorubicin. Methods: The cytotoxic effects of total RGE or its saponin fraction (RGS) on HCC cells were examined by the lactate dehydrogenase assay in a dose- or time-dependent manner. The effect of RGE or RGS on autophagy was measured by analyzing microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B-light chain (LC)3-II expression and LC3 puncta formation in HCC cells. Late-stage autophagy suppression was tested using tandem-labeled green fluorescent protein (GFP)-monomeric red fluorescent protein (mRFP)-LC3. Results: RGE markedly increased the amount of LC3-II, but green and red puncta in tandem-labeled GFP-mRFP-LC3 remained colocalized over time, indicating that RGE inhibited autophagy at a late stage. Suppression of autophagy through knockdown of key ATG genes increased doxorubicin-induced cell death, suggesting that autophagy induced by doxorubicin has a protective function in HCC. Finally, RGE and RGS markedly sensitized HCC cells, (but not normal liver cells), to doxorubicin-induced cell death. Conclusion: Our data suggest that inhibition of late-stage autophagic flux by RGE is important for its potentiation of doxorubicin-induced cancer cell death. Therapy combining RGE with doxorubicin could serve as an effective strategy in the treatment of HCC.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.115-123
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• 2019

Among the environmental chemicals that may be able to disrupt the endocrine systems of animals and humans are polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a chemical class of considerable concern. PCB consists of two six-carbon rings linked by a single carbon bond, and theoretically, 209 congeners can form, depending on the number of chlorines and their location on the biphenyl rings. Furthermore, 3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB126) exposure also increases nitric oxide production and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells binding activity in chondrocytes, thus contributing as an initiator of chondrocyte apoptosis and resulting in thymic atrophy and immunosuppression. This study identified whether cardiac and immune abnormalities from PCB126 were caused by the Kv1.3 and Kv1.5 channels. PCB126 did not affect either the steady-state current or peak current of the Kv1.3 and Kv1.5 channels. However, PCB126 right-shifted the steady-state activation curves of human Kv1.3 channels. These results suggest that PCBs can affect the heart in a way that does not block voltage-dependent potassium channels including Kv1.3 and Kv1.5 directly.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.63 no.3
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• pp.151-159
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• 2019

The TADF properties for carbazol-dicyanobenzene, carbazol-diphenyl sulfone, carbazol-benzonitrile derivatives as OLED candidate materials are theoretically investigated using density functional theory (DFT) with $6-31G^{**}$, cc-pVDZ, and cc-pVTZ basis sets. The optimized geometries, harmonic vibrational frequencies, and HOMO-LUMO energy separations are predicted at the B3LYP/$6-31G^{**}$ level of theory. The harmonic vibrational frequencies of the molecules considered in this study show all real numbers implying true minima. The time dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations have been also applied to investigate the absorption and emission wavelength (${\lambda}_{max}$), energy differences (${\Delta}E_{ST}$) between excited singlet ($S_1$) and triplet ($T_1$) states of candidate materials.