• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.169-174
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• 2022

In Korean medicine, the "five viscera" theory develops into the theory of homeostasis, in which the dynamic equilibrium state of the yin yang and five elements in the body maintain the balance of the physiological functions. The "five viscera" of the "five elements" can also be referred to as the "functional system," a conceptual system that includes all functional interactions mediated by the organ as well as the organ itself. Nowadays, the structure and function of the organs and tissues in the body are being re-examined, and there is now enough evidence that organs, structures, and their functions that belong to the same "element" are all connected in terms of energy metabolism. The functional system of the "kidney" includes the kidney itself, as well as other components that belong to "water" of the five elements such as bladder, bone, ear, essence, memory, and fear. The authors will discuss the latest findings in science and medicine to expand the understanding of the "Kidney" functional system to the level of molecular physiology.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.59-65
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• 2023

In this present article, the mechanical behavior of single-walled black phosphorene nanotubes (SW-αPNTs) is simulated using molecular dynamics (MD). The proposed model is subjected to the axial loading and the effects of morphological parameters, such as the mono-vacancy defect and strain rate on the tensile behavior of the zigzag and armchair SW-αPNTs are studied as a pioneering work. In order to assess the accuracy of the MD simulations, the stress-strain response of the current MD model is successfully verified with the efficient quantum mechanical approach of the density functional theory (DFT). Along with reproducing the DFT results, the accurate MD simulations successfully anticipate a significant variation in the stress-strain curve of the zigzag SW-αPNTs, namely the knick point. Predicting such mechanical behavior of SW-αPNTs may be an important design factor for lithium-ion batteries, supercapacitors, and energy storage devices. The simulations show that the ultimate stress is increased by increasing the diameter of the pristine SW-αPNTs. The trend is identical for the ultimate strain and stress-strain slope as the diameter of the pristine zigzag SW-αPNTs enlarges. The obtained results denote that by increasing the strain rate, the ultimate stress/ultimate strain are respectively increased/declined. The stress-strain slope keeps increasing as the strain rate grows. It is worth noting that the existence of mono-atomic vacancy defects in the (12,0) zigzag and (0,10) armchair SW-αPNT structures leads to a drop in the tensile strength by amounts of 11.1% and 12.5%, respectively. Also, the ultimate strain is considerably altered by mono-atomic vacancy defects.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.331-338
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• 2023

Modern bulletproof armor must be light and have excellent penetration resistance to ensure the mobility and safety of soldiers and military vehicles. The ballistic performance of heterogeneous structures of laminated flat plates as bulletproof armor depends on the arrangement of constituent materials for the same weight. In this study, we analyze bulletproof performance according to the stacking sequence of laminated bulletproof armor composed of Kevlar, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, and ethylene-vinyl-acetate foam. A ballistic analysis was performed by colliding a 7.62 × 51 mm NATO cartridge's M80 bullet at a speed of 856 m/s with six lamination arrangements with constituent materials thicknesses of 5 mm and 6.5 mm. To evaluate the bulletproof performance, the residual speed and residual energy of the projectile that penetrated the heterogeneous laminated flat plates were measured. Simulation results confirmed that the laminated structure with a stacking sequence of Kevlar, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, and ethylene-vinyl-acetate foam had the best bulletproof performance for the same weight.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.46 no.10
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• pp.627-636
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• 2023

Periodontal disease is a chronic inflammatory disease that leads to the gradual destruction of the supporting structures of the teeth including gums, periodontal ligaments, alveolar bone, and root cementum. Recently, interests in alleviating symptoms of periodontitis (PD) using natural compounds is increasing. Avenanthramide-C (Avn-C) is a polyphenol found only in oats. It is known to exhibit various biological properties. To date, the effect of Avn-C on PD pathogenesis has not been confirmed. Therefore, this study aimed to verify the protective effects of Avn-C on periodontal inflammation and subsequent alveolar bone erosion in vitro and in vivo. Upregulated expression of catabolic factors, such as matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP1), MMP3, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and COX2 induced by lipopolysaccharide and proinflammatory cytokines, IL-1β, and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), was dramatically decreased by Avn-C treatment in human gingival fibroblasts and periodontal ligament cells. Moreover, alveolar bone erosion in the ligature-induced PD mouse model was ameliorated by intra-gingival injection of Avn-C. Molecular mechanism studies revealed that the inhibitory effects of Avn-C on the upregulation of catabolic factors were mediated via ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase) and NF-κB pathway that was activated by IL-1β or p38 MAPK and JNK signaling that was activated by TNF-α, respectively. Based on this study, we recommend that Avn-C may be a new natural compound that can be applied to PD treatment.

• ALGAE
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.75-96
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• 2024

Rhodomonas (Cryptophyceae) and species assigned to this genus have undergone numerous taxonomic revisions. This also applies to R. marina studied here as it was originally assigned as a species of Cryptomonas and later considered a variation of R. baltica, the type species. Despite being described more than 130 years ago, R. marina still lacks a comprehensive characterization. Light and electron microscopy were employed to delineate a strain from western Greenland. The living cells were 18 ㎛ long and 9 ㎛ wide, elliptical in shape with a pointed to rounded posterior and truncated anterior in lateral view. Two sub-equal flagella emerged from a vestibulum, where also a furrow extended. In transmission electron microscopy, the furrow was associated with a tubular gullet and the pyrenoid embedded in a deeply lobed chloroplast. The chloroplast contained DNA in perforations and was surrounded by starch grains. A tubular nucleomorph was enclosed within the pyrenoid matrix. In scanning electron microscopy, the inner periplast consisted of rectangular plates with rounded edges and posteriorly these were replaced by a sheet-like structure. The water-soluble pigment was Crypto-Phycoerythrin type I (Cr-PE 545). A phylogenetic inference based on SSU rDNA confirmed the identity of strain S18 as a species of Rhodomonas as it clustered with congeners but also Rhinomonas, Storeatula, and Pyrenomonas. These genera formed a monophyletic clade separated from a diverse assemblage of other cryptophyte genera. To further explore the phylogeny of R. marina a concatenated phylogenetic analysis based on the SSU rDNA-ITS1-5.8S rDNA-ITS2-LSU rDNA region was performed but included only closely related species. The secondary structure of nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2 was predicted and compared to similar structures in related species. Using morphological and molecular signatures as diagnostic features the description of R. marina was emended.

• Composites Research
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.132-138
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• 2024

In this study, a molecular dynamics simulation study was performed to investigate the size-dependent electroelastic properties of single-walled boron nitride nanotubes(BNNT). To describe the elasticity and polarization of BNNT under mechanical loading, the Tersoff potential model and rigid ion approximation were adopted. For the prediction of piezoelectric constants and Young's modulus of BNNTs, piezoelectric constitutive equations based on the Maxwell's equation were used to calculate the strain-electric displacement and strain-stress relationships. It was found that the piezoelectric constants of BNNTs gradually decreases as the radius of the tubes increases showing a nonnegligible size effect. On the other hand, the elastic constants of the BNNTs showed opposites trends according to the equivalent geometrical assumption of the tubular structures. To establish the structure-property relationships, localized configurational change of the primarily bonded B-N bonded topology was investigated in detail to elucidate the BNNT curvature dependent elasticity.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.330-341
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• 2024

The Trichinella spiralis novel cystatin (TsCstN) inhibits cathepsin L (CatL) activity and inflammation of macrophages during lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induction. To identify the protease inhibitory region, this study applied an in silico modeling approach to simulate truncation sites of TsCstN (Ts01), which created four truncated forms, including TsCstN^∆1-39 (Ts02), TsCstN^∆1-71 (Ts03), TsCstN^{∆1-20, ∆73-117} (Ts04), and TsCstN^{∆1-20, ∆42-117} (Ts05). The superimposition of these truncates modeled with AlphaFold Colab indicated that their structures were more akin to Ts01 than those modeled with I-TASSER. Moreover, Ts04 exhibited the closest resemblance to the structure of Ts01. The recombinant Ts01 (rTs01) and truncated proteins (rTs02, rTs03, and rTs04) were successfully expressed in a prokaryotic expression system while Ts05 was synthesized, with sizes of approximately 14, 12, 8, 10, and 2.5 kDa, respectively. When determining the inhibition of CatL activity, both rTs01 and rTs04 effectively reduced CatL activity in vitro. Thus, the combination of the α1 and L1 regions may be sufficient to inhibit CatL. This study provides comprehensive insights into TsCstN, particularly regarding its protein function and inhibitory domains against CatL.

• Interdisciplinary Bio Central
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.3.1-3.6
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• 2009

Introduction: GTPases known as translation factor play a vital role as ribosomal subunit assembly chaperone. The bacterial Obg proteins ($Spo{\underline{0B}}$-associated ${\underline{G}}TP$-binding protein) belong to the subfamily of P-loop GTPase proteins and now it is considered as one of the new target for antibacterial drug. The majority of bacterial Obgs have been commonly found to be associated with ribosome, implying that these proteins may play a fundamental role in ribosome assembly or maturation. In addition, one of the experimental evidences suggested that Bacillus subtilis Obg (BsObg) protein binds to the L13 ribosomal protein (BsL13) which is known to be one of the early assembly proteins of the 50S ribosomal subunit in Escherichia coli. In order to investigate binding mode between the BsObg and the BsL13, protein-protein docking simulation was carried out after generating 3D structure of the BsL13 structure using homology modeling method. Materials and Methods: Homology model structure of BsL13 was generated using the EcL13 crystal structure as a template. Protein-protein docking of BsObg protein with ribosomal protein BsL13 was performed by DOT, a macro-molecular docking software, in order to predict a reasonable binding mode. The solvated energy minimization calculation of the docked conformation was carried out to refine the structure. Results and Discussion: The possible binding conformation of BsL13 along with activated Obg fold in BsObg was predicted by computational docking study. The final structure is obtained from the solvated energy minimization. From the analysis, three important H-bond interactions between the Obg fold and the L13 were detected: Obg:Tyr27-L13:Glu32, Obg:Asn76-L13:Glu139, and Obg:Ala136-L13:Glu142. The interaction between the BsObg and BsL13 structures were also analyzed by electrostatic potential calculations to examine the interface surfaces. From the results, the key residues for hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interaction between the two proteins were predicted. Conclusion and Prospects: In this study, we have focused on the binding mode of the BsObg protein with the ribosomal BsL13 protein. The interaction between the activated Obg and target protein was investigated with protein-protein docking calculations. The binding pattern can be further used as a base for structure-based drug design to find a novel antibacterial drug.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.81-88
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• 2009

Chloride induced corrosion of steel reinforcement inside concrete is a major concern for concrete structures exposed to a marine environment. It is well known that transport of chloride ions in concrete occurs mainly through ionic/molecular diffusion, as a gradient of chloride concentration in the concrete pore solution is set. In the process of chloride transport, a portion of chlorides are bound in cement matrix then to be removed in the pore solution, and thus only the rest of chlorides which are not bound (i.e. free chlorides) leads the ingress of chlorides. However, since the measurement of free/bound chloride content is much susceptible to environmental conditions, chloride profiles expressed in total chlorides are evaluated to use in many studies In this study, the capacity of chloride binding in cement matrix was monitored for 150 days and then quantified using the Langmuir isotherm to determine the portions of free chlorides and bound chlorides at given total chlorides and the redistribution of free chlorides. Then, the diffusion of chloride ion in concrete was modeled by considering the binding capacity for the prediction of chloride profiles with the redistribution. The predicted chloride profiles were compared to those obtained from conventional model. It was found that the prediction of chloride profiles obtained by the model has shown slower diffusion than those by the conventional ones. This reflects that the prediction by total chloride may overestimate the ingress of chlorides by neglecting the redistribution of free chlorides caused by the binding capacity of cement matrix. From the evaluation, it is also shown that the service life prediction using the free chloride redistribution model needs different expression for the chloride threshold level which is expressed by the total chlorides in the conventional diffusion model.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.12 no.11
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• pp.860-864
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• 2002

$Li^{+}$ extraction reactions with ion-exchange type lithium manganese oxide in an aqueous phase were examined using chemical and x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. In the process of extraction reaction, the lithium manganese oxide showed a topotactic extraction of $Li^{+ }$ in the aqueous phase mainly through an ion-exchange mechanism, and the $Li^{+}$ extracted samples indicated a high selectivity and a large capacity for $Li^{+}$ . The electronic structures and chemical bonding properties were also studied using a discrete variational (DV)-X$\alpha$ molecular orbital method with cluster model of (Li$Mn_{12}$ $O_{40}$ )$^{27-}$ for tetrahedral sites and ($Li_{7}$ Mn $O_{38}$ )$^{3}$ for octahedral site in $Li_{1.33}$ $Mn_{1.67}$ / $O_{4}$ respectively. Li in the manganese oxides is highly ionized in both sites, but the net charge of Li was greater for tetrahedral sites than octahedral. These calculations suggest that the tetrahedral sites have higher $Li^{+}$ $H^{+}$ exchangeability than the octahedral sites, and are preferable for the selective adsorption for L $i^{+}$ ions.s.