• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2016

Adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) participates in the regulation of numerous cellular functions, including the $Na^+-K^+$-ATPase (sodium pump). Ouabain, used in the treatment of several heart diseases, is known to increase cAMP levels but its effects on the atrium are not understood. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of ouabain on the regulation of atrial cAMP production and its roles in atrial endothelin-1 (ET-1) secretion in isolated perfused beating rabbit atria. Our results showed that ouabain ($3.0{\mu}mol/L$) significantly increased atrial dynamics and cAMP levels during recovery period. The ouabain-increased atrial dynamics was blocked by KB-R7943 ($3.0{\mu}mol/L$), an inhibitor for reverse mode of $Na^+-Ca^{2+}$ exchangers (NCX), but did not by L-type $Ca^{2+}$ channel blocker nifedipine ($1.0{\mu}mol/L$) or protein kinase A (PKA) selective inhibitor H-89 ($3.0{\mu}mol/L$). Ouabain also enhanced atrial intracellular cAMP production in response to forskolin and theophyline ($100.0{\mu}mol/L$), an inhibitor of phosphodiesterase, potentiated the ouabain-induced increase in cAMP. Ouabain and 8-Bromo-cAMP ($0.5{\mu}mol/L$) markedly increased atrial ET-1 secretion, which was blocked by H-89 and by PD98059 ($30{\mu}mol/L$), an inhibitor of extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK) without changing ouabain-induced atrial dynamics. Our results demonstrated that ouabain increases atrial cAMP levels and promotes atrial ET-1 secretion via the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/ERK signaling pathway. These findings may explain the development of cardiac hypertrophy in response to digitalis-like compounds.

• Plant Journal
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 2014

The national capacity of electricity of Korea was 81,737 MW and the peak demand was renewed by the record of 71,230 MW in 2012 which has been increasing since the first lighting ceremony had taken place in the Royal Palace(Kyung-Bok Goong) in 1887. Aa the counteract on the rapid increasing of the demand, Korean government is constructing and operating the high capacity nuclear and thermal power plants, however, the operating reserve on weekdays is small while those of weekends are more than 40% of capacity, so they are providing the pumped-storage power plants with the surplus electricity during weekends and operating the power plants which cost higher production price and located in the capital area with WSS (Weekly Start and Stop) mode including the Seoul Thermal Power Plant. Since the Seoul Thermal Power Plant is spending huge amount of expenses for more than 30 times of the WSS annually due to the high production cost even though it is in Seoul, the core of the demand, I chose the power plant unit #5 which was on the grid in 1969 for the case to confirm reducing 23% of the warm start-up time by applying the "Start-up time management program", and that reducing 35% of the water temperature increasing time by accelerate the increasing rate of the inlet temperature of the water circulating pump.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.780-786
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• 1993

About 7.7% of the total anaerobic bacteria in pig feces grew with clear zone around the colonies on the agar medium containing inulin as a sole carbon source. Among these bacteria, a strain with the strongest inulin-utilizing activity was isolated and identified as Bacteroides sp. based on its morphological and taxonomical characteristics. The isolate grew well with inulin, fructooligosaccharides or glucose as a sole carbon source, while its growth dropped to 50% of that obtained with glucose when soluble starch or sucrose are used. Since the inulase activity was found only when fructooligosaccharides or inulin was added to the growth medium, but not when glucose, sucrose or soluble starch was applied, the inulase production was considered to be induced by fructooligosaccharides or inulin. The highest inulase activity, 0.42 U/ml was detected with the inulin medium and 0.25 U/ml with fructooligosaccharides medium. The cell growth of the isolated strain increased with the amounts of inulin up to 2%(w/v) and maximum production of inulase was found in the cells fed 1% inulin. The inulase of the isolated Bacteroides sp. showed its maximum activity at pH $7.0{\sim}7.5\;and\;50{\sim}50^{\circ}C$ and was found to be an exoinulase judging by its mode of action.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.304-316
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• 1995

For fuel alcohol production, enzymatic liquefaction and saccharification of tapioca starch by ${\alpha}$-amylase and glucoamylase were studied. The thermophilic ${\alpha}$-amylase Termamyl produced from Bacillus licheniformis gave a better liquefaction than the relalively low temperature enzyme BAN from B. subtilis. Oplimal temperature and pH with Termamyl were $90∼95^{\circ}C$ and 5.8, respectively. Minimal amount of Termamyl 240uc for a satisfactory liquefaction for a two-hour reaction was about 0.0125% (v/w) with respect to the mass of tapioca used. For saccharification experiments two enzymes, Novo AMG and Do-I1 enzymes were compared. The enzymatic activity of each enzyme was a little different depending on the substrate used and the latter was found to have a significant amount of ${\alpha}$-amylase activity. With Novo AMG optimal temperature was about $58^{\circ}C$ The pH optimum was 4.3 with maltose, however, with tapioca, no difference was observed between pH 4.3 and 5.7 which is a natural, unadjusted pH of liquefied tapioca. For 85% of completion of saccharification, it was necessary to use 0.0625% (v/w) of Novo AMG 400L for tapioca and to run the reaction for more than 10 hr, Packed volume of solid particles in tapioca slurry remained at around 30% during liquefaction and saccharification. This indicates that the removal of the solid particle before fermentation is not economically feasible at all, even though the solid particles make it very difficult to operate the bioreactor in a continuous mode with cell-recycle.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.175-183
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• 2024

Research into optical signal processing using photonic integrated circuits (PICs) has been actively pursued in various fields, including optical communication, optical sensors, and quantum optics. Among the materials used in PIC fabrication, polymers have attracted significant interest due to their unique characteristics. To fabricate polymer-based PICs, establishing an accurate manufacturing process for the cross-sectional structure of an optical waveguide is crucial. For stable device performance and high yield in mass production, a process with high reproducibility and a wide tolerance for variation is necessary. This study proposes an efficient method for fabricating polymer optical-waveguide devices by introducing the atomic layer deposition (ALD) process. Compared to conventional photoresist or metal-film deposition methods, the ALD process enables more precise fabrication of the optical waveguide's core structure. Polyimide optical waveguides with a core size of 1.8 × 1.6 ㎛² are fabricated using the ALD process, and their propagation losses are measured. Additionally, a multimode interference (MMI) optical-waveguide power-splitter device is fabricated and characterized. Throughout the fabrication, no cracking issues are observed in the etching-mask layer, the vertical profiles of the waveguide patterns are excellent, and the propagation loss is below 1.5 dB/cm. These results confirm that the ALD process is a suitable method for the mass production of high-quality polymer photonic devices.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 1999

This study was attempted to generate a monoclonal antibody against human $\alpha$-fetoprotein (AFP) and to produce an immunoassay, recognizing AFP in plasma and amniotic fluid. AFP was purified from human amniotic fluid and used to immunize mice. Spleens were taken from the mice and the cells were fused with mouse myeloma cells (Sp2/0-Ag-14) for the production of monoclonal antibodies by employing the hybridoma technology. As a result, a hybridoma cell line producing anti-AFP monoclonal antibody was cloned out and designated as MabF22. From isotyping analysis, it was found that monoclonal antibody MabF22 was IgG type with IgG1 heavy chain and k light chain. The binding specificity of MabF22 was analyzed by immunoblotting as well as by ELISA. MabF22 was highly specific, reacting with only AFP-containing samples. The binding affinity was determined by ELISA (free-capture mode) and Scatchard analysis. As a result, the value of Kd was 0.8$\times$10$^{-10}$M. The validity of the MabF22 for AFP assay was examined by two kinds of ELISAs, i.e., non-competitive and competitive ELISA. Both assays revealed that MabF22 reacted well with AFP in sample in a concentration-dependent manner. Standard curve and antibody titration curve were obtained by using purified AFP and MabF22. These results indicate that the monoclonal antibody produced in this study would be useful not only for research purposes but also for further development of immune-diagnostic kit for the measurement of AEP concentration.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.47-66
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• 2014

A noticeable aspect of Korean firms' outward sequential FDIs to China is that they occur sequentially, which means that they implement the outward FDIs to China with a long-term perspective. To analyze the strategic advantages of sequential investment, we introduce Cournot type quantity competition model. According to the model, three important implications are derived. First, sequential FDIs enhances the Korean parents' production capabilities. Second, the parents are more likely to establish new Chinese subsidiaries as they stay longer in China. Third, the production effect of sequential investments incurs more sequential investments. Some regression models are tested for verifying the predictions. According to empirical results, three important results are found. First, initial entry mode affects the size expansion of the Korean parents. Second, the longer the duration of intial subsidiary in China, the more the sequential investment will be. Third, sequential investments are positively associated with the productivity of the Korean parents.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.245-255
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• 2023

This study aimed to exploring the pathophysiological mechanism of 7α,25-dihydroxycholesterol (7α,25-DHC) in osteoarthritis (OA) pathogenesis. 7α,25-DHC accelerated the proteoglycan loss in ex vivo organ-cultured articular cartilage explant. It was mediated by the decreasing extracellular matrix major components, including aggrecan and type II collagen, and the increasing expression and activation of degenerative enzymes, including matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3 and -13, in chondrocytes cultured with 7α,25-DHC. Furthermore, 7α,25-DHC promoted caspase-dependent chondrocyte death via extrinsic and intrinsic pathways of apoptosis. Moreover, 7α,25-DHC upregulated the expression of inflammatory factors, including inducible nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase-2, nitric oxide, and prostaglandin E₂, via the production of reactive oxygen species via increase of oxidative stress in chondrocytes. In addition, 7α,25-DHC upregulated the expression of autophagy biomarkers, including beclin-1 and microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B-light chain 3 via the modulation of p53-Akt-mTOR axis in chondrocytes. The expression of CYP7B1, caspase-3, and beclin-1 was elevated in the degenerative articular cartilage of mouse knee joint with OA. Taken together, our findings suggest that 7α,25-DHC is a pathophysiological risk factor of OA pathogenesis that is mediated a chondrocyte death via oxiapoptophagy, which is a mixed mode of apoptosis, oxidative stress, and autophagy.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.237-251
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• 2020

Lactic acid bacteria prevent the contamination of food products by inhibiting proliferation of pathogenic bacteria. This is done mainly by the production of lactic acid and antimicrobial peptides (AMP_S) known as bacteriocins. The interest in these molecules resides in both their antimicrobial spectrum and safety for human health. The application of bacteriocins or producer strains has been considered to avoid the development of pathogenic bacteria, as most bacteriocins have significant inhibitory activity against food pathogens, such as Listeria monocytogenes. This article describes the classification, structure, mode of action, biosynthesis, and main applications of bacteriocins in different fields: agri-food, aquaculture, and medicine.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.117-134
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• 2006

Korean health care system introduced the reform for separation between prescribing and dispensing of drugs (SPD reform) in the latter part of the year 2000. The objective of this paper is to look at what change this reform has brought about in the financial situation of Korean public health insurance scheme, particularly in terms of insurance benefit outlay. Since the inception of the reform is a development of more than five years ago, its impact on the finance situation would now start to become apparent. Hypothesis is set in this study for each of three components of drug reimbursement in health insurance, i.e. average price level, composition of drugs and their overall volume. In terms of the classification of health care services by mode of production, the impact of the SPD reform is confined mainly to the last two among three drug reimbursement fields including inpatient department, out-patient department and pharmacy. Pure impact of the SPD reform was estimated to be more or less than 1.7 trillion won, 13.1% of the total outlay of the Nation Health Insurance in 2001, and more than 2.0 trillion won, 14.9% of the total outlay of the Nation Health Insurance in 2003. Both dispensing fees for the pharmacists, which had been newly introduced on occasion of the SPD reform, and larger share of expensive drugs in the medicines prescribed by doctors were confirmed to be main drivers of the augmentation of drug reimbursement.