• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.469-474
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• 2019

Fermentation of palm oil mill effluent (POME) produces biohydrogen in a mixture at a specific set condition. This research was conducted to purify the produced mixed biohydrogen via absorption and membrane techniques. Three different solvents, methyl ethanolamine (MEA), ammonia ($NH_3$) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) solutions, were used in absorption technique. The highest $H_2$ purity was found using 1M MEA solution with 5.0 ml/s feed mixed gas flow rate at 60 minutes absorption time. Meanwhile, the purified biohydrogen using a polysulfone membrane had the highest $H_2$ purity at 2~3 bar operating pressure. Upon testing with proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), the highest current and power produced at 100% $H_2$ were 1.66 A and 8.1 W, while the lowest were produced at 50/50 vol% $H_2/CO_2$ (0.32 A and 0.49 W). These results proved that both purification techniques have significant potential for $H_2$ purification efficiency.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.587-593
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• 2021

Infertility is a key issue affecting mood and behavior in men. Microorganisms are one of the primary etiological agents that may be associated with infertility. The objective of the present study was to identify bacterial causative agents from the semen of infertile subjects and determine the effect of bacterial infection on sperm quality, as well as determine the susceptibility of these bacteria to drugs. Forty semen samples from 30 infertile patients and 10 fertile individuals were collected. The pH, volume, motility, and concentration of semen were analyzed. The samples were processed and identified by biochemical testing using API identification kits. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern was determined using the disc diffusion method. Abnormal sperm quality was observed. The mean age of the individual and their sperm morphology, concentration, progressive motility, pH level, and pus cell content were 31.9 years, 2.7%, 10.4 million/ml, 27.3%, 8.3, and 5.7, respectively. Among the tested samples, oligoasthenozoospermia was found to show the highest occurrence, at 27/30 samples, followed by teratozoospermia, at 25/30 samples, and asthenozoospermia, at 22/30 samples. Of the tested infertile patients' sperm, 19, 6, and 5 isolates were identified as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, and Staphylococcus epidermidis, respectively. The results also revealed multi-drug resistance in the bacteria. Compared to that shown by the other tested antibiotics, amikacin showed higher activity against all isolated bacteria. However, the bacteria exhibited maximum resistance against gentamicin, cefotaxime, levofloxacin, and ampicillin. In conclusion, leukocytospermia and bacterial infections are possibly responsible for sperm abnormalities. Multi-drug resistant bacteria were detected. Gentamicin, cefotaxime, levofloxacin and ampicillin were shown the highest resistance, while amikacin was the most effective antimicrobial agent against the isolated bacteria.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.533-539
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• 2010

Stem cell-based therapy is under intensive investigation to treat acute renal failure (ARF). The purpose of this study was to evaluate available ARF models, and suggest a model appropriate to therapeutic evaluation of the stem cells in preclinical approach by determining the optimum concentration of nephrotoxic agents and duration of ischemia induction. Three different types of available acute kidney injury (AKI) animal models were analyzed using rats: Cisplatin (saline, 5 and 7.5 mg/kg, IP) or glycerol (saline, 8 and 10 ml/kg, IM)-induced nephrotoxicity as toxic models and ischemia-induced (sham, 35 and 45 minutes) nephropathy as an ischemic model. The relevance and applicability to investigate especially the regenerative ability of stem cells were evaluated regarding morphology, renal function and survival at this time point. In the point of renal function, 10 ml glycerol/kg and 7.5 mg cisplatin/kg model in toxic models and 45 min model in ischemia models showed significant decrease for the longer observation time compared to 8 ml glycerol/kg, 5 mg cisplatin/kg and the 35 min ischemia models, respectively. All groups were observed no mortality except 45 min-ischemia model with 50% survival. Histological significant alterations including cast formation in the tubular lumen, tubular necrosis and apoptosis were revealed on the second day in either ischemiaor glycerol-induced models, and on day 5 in cisplatin-induced models. The results indicate that ischemia 35 min-, cisplatin 7.5 mg/kg- and glycerol 10 ml/kg-induced AKI would be ideal animal models to monitor a outcome parameter related to the therapeutic effects on renal function with noninvasive techniques in the same animal at multiple time points. Our findings also suggest that the best time points for the functional or histological interpretation of renal will be on day 2 in both glycerol- and ischemia-induced AKI models and on day 5 in cisplatin-induced AKI.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.900-907
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• 2018

This study was carried out to evaluate the possibility of unripe apple peel water extracts as cosmetic materials and to evaluate the biological activities of the antioxidant and whitening effects of the samples. The antioxidative properties of the samples were confirmed by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) cation radical scavenging ability. To evaluate the whitening effect of the samples, several analytical techniques were used, including toxicity evaluations of the samples by MTT assays. Measurements of the inhibition rates of cellular tyrosinase, melanin synthesis rates, and expression rates of whitening-related proteins and genes were confirmed using melanoma (B16F10 cell). At equivalent unripe apple peel water concentrations ($1,000{\mu}g/ml$), the DPPH radical scavenging and the ABTS cation radical scavenging activities were 77.3% and 93.1%, respectively. The whitening activity evaluation showed that tyrosinase activity and melanin synthesis were inhibited by 19.8% and 17.3%, respectively, at unripe apple peel water extract concentrations of $50{\mu}g/ml$. In B16F10 cells induced by ${\alpha}$-MSH, the expression of tyrosinase, TRP-1, and TRP-2 decreased. Also, the activity of the transcription factor MITF was inhibited. In real-time PCR experiments, the expression of related genes at the upstream signal level was also found to be progressively lowered as the concentration of unripe apple peel water extracts increased. From these results, it was confirmed that the unripe apple peel water extracts showed excellent whitening efficacy and could be used as safe, natural, raw cosmetic material in the future.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 2001

Entomopathogenic fungus of Cordyceps militaris is famous of its medicinal efficacies. An antitumor compound was purified from the n-hexane extract of artificially cultivated fruiting bodies of C. militaris and identified as ergosterol peroxide $(5{\alpha},\;8{\alpha}-epidioxy-24(R)-methylcholesta-6,22-dien-3{\beta}-o1,\; C_{28}H_{44}O_3)$ mainly by $^1H\;and\;^{13}C-NMR$ spectroscopic techniques. When the antitumor activity of ergosterol peroxide was measured against 3 tumor cell lines from Korean cancer patients, it showed the most strong activity against gastric cancer SNU-l cell line 3 days after treatment. The 50% inhibitory concentrations $(IC_{50})$ of ergosterol peroxide 6 days after treatment were $75.8{\mu}g/ml$ for human gastric SNU-1 tumor cell line, $39.7{\mu}g/ml$ for human colorectal SNU-C4 tumor cell line and $32.7{\mu}g/ml$ for human hepatoma SNU-354 cell line.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2004

The goal of periodontal treatment is not only to arrest the progression of the disease but also to promote the functional, esthetic regeneration of the periodontium. Flap operation, bone graft, guided tissue regeneration, growth factors and bone morphogenetic protein have been used for this purpose. Among these techniques of regeneration, alloplastic graft, especially calcium phosphate is getting more attention recently. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of calcium phosphate glass on mouse calvarial cell in vitro. The toxicity of calcium phosphate glass was measured using MTT assay, the synthesis of collagen was measured using collagen assay, and ALP activity was measured. The experimental groups were cultured with calcium phosphate glass(both AQ-, and HT-CPG) in concentration of 0.01, 0.02, 0.1, 0.2g/ml. The results are as follows 1. In concentrations not exceeding 0.02g/ml, both the groups(AQ-CPG, HT-CPG) didn't show any toxicity on mouse calvarial cell(p<0.05). 2. In both the experimental groups are the concentration of 0.02g/ml, collagen expressions were significantly up-regulated (p<0.05). 3. In both the experimental groups are the concentration of 0.02g/ml, ALP activity was not significantly up-regulated, but ALP activity in both experimental groups were greater than control group(p<0.05). The results suggested that the use of calcium phosphate glass may promotes periodontal regeneration. Ongoing studies are necessary in order to determine their regeneration effects.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.45-53
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• 2009

Objectives: To determinate the optimal culture condition to maintain lifespan in human sperm, we evaluated the effect of different temperature on sperm motility and viability up to 5 days in normal specimens. Methods: Ejaculated semen samples with normal semen parameters were gently washed in HEPES buffered Tyrod's-Albumin-Lactate-Pyruvate (HTALP) media. Each 5 ml of HTALP + 0.3% albumin with $1{\times}10^6$ sperm/ml was incubated for 5 days in $37^{\circ}C$, $22^{\circ}C$, and $4^{\circ}C$. The sperm motility and kinematics were analyzed using computer assisted sperm analysis (CASA), membrane integrity was assessed by hypoosmotic swelling test (HOST), and capacitation status was evaluated by chlorotetracycline (CTC) fluorescence pattern. Each parameter was measured on day 1, 3, and 5, respectively. Results: The motility, viability and live/uncapacitated pattern were demonstrated significantly in temperature- and time-dependent difference (p<0.05). While the sperm cultured for 1 day in each temperature was not significantly different, the sperm cell kept in $22^{\circ}C$ after 3 days were preserved sperm motility, viability, membrane integrity, and F pattern better than in other culture temperatures. Conclusions: HTALP can be used a basic medium for culture and longevity preservation, and sperm cell kept at $22^{\circ}C$ is beneficial for assisted reproductive techniques.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.115-126
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• 1990

To establish basic techniques for protoplast fusion of Coriolus versicolor several factors affecting protoplast formation and regeneration were investigated. Protoplast isolation was at maximum with 2.5-day cultured mycelia of C. versicolor treated with the combination of two enzymes, Novozym 234 (10 mg/ml) and cellulase Onozuka R-10 (15 mg/ml), for 3-4.5 hours at $30^{\circ}C.$ As an osmotic stabilizer for stabilizing the protoplast, 0.6 M sucrose was the best for formation and regeneration of the protoplast from the mycelia of the fungus and the regeneration frequency was 3.48%. Protoplast fusion was made by a modified method of Peberdy using PEG (M.W. 4,000). The fusion frequency between two mutants of C. versicolor was 1.86% and the fusion products showed differences in growth rate and colony morphology.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.71-79
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is computed tomography contrast agent at low concentrations and low tube voltage technique to evaluate the usefulness on the phantom image. By varying the degree of mixture by the contrast medium concentration it was inserted in phantom. It was taken by changing the tube voltage and tube current step by step, and to evaluate the dose and the CT value obtained from the phantom image. As a result, low-contrast, low tube voltage(300 mgI/ml, 100 kV) was reduced by an average 21%(CTDIvol; computed tomography dose indexvol) more standard condition(350 mgI/ml, 120 kV). SNR was increased at all depths of the phantom, respectively 1:10 and 1:20(by diluting a contrast agent and normal saline) 12.2(26%) 6.2(17%). CNR was increased at all depths of the phantom, respectively 1:10 and 1:20(by diluting a contrast agent and normal saline) 11.5(32%), 6.3(26%). Research work on the CT scan is necessary in a variety of studies on the low contrast concentration and low tube voltage techniques for dose reduction and reducing of side effects the contrast agent.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1100-1118
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• 2021

In a wide range of ML applications, the training data contains privacy-sensitive information that should be kept secure. Training the ML systems by privacy-sensitive data makes the ML model inherent to the data. As the structure of the model has been fine-tuned by training data, the model can be abused for accessing the data by the estimation in a reverse process called model inversion attack (MIA). Although, MIA has been applied to shallow neural network models of recognizers in literature and its threat in privacy violation has been approved, in the case of a deep learning (DL) model, its efficiency was under question. It was due to the complexity of a DL model structure, big number of DL model parameters, the huge size of training data, big number of registered users to a DL model and thereof big number of class labels. This research work first analyses the possibility of MIA on a deep learning model of a recognition system, namely a face recognizer. Second, despite the conventional MIA under the white box scenario of having partial access to the users' non-sensitive information in addition to the model structure, the MIA is implemented on a deep face recognition system by just having the model structure and parameters but not any user information. In this aspect, it is under a semi-white box scenario or in other words a gray-box scenario. The experimental results in targeting five registered users of a CNN-based face recognition system approve the possibility of regeneration of users' face images even for a deep model by MIA under a gray box scenario. Although, for some images the evaluation recognition score is low and the generated images are not easily recognizable, but for some other images the score is high and facial features of the targeted identities are observable. The objective and subjective evaluations demonstrate that privacy cyber-attack by MIA on a deep recognition system not only is feasible but also is a serious threat with increasing alert state in the future as there is considerable potential for integration more advanced ML techniques to MIA.