• Macromolecular Research
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.91-98
• /
• 2009

Conjugated PPV-derived block copolymers containing 2-ethylhexyloxynaphthalene unit were synthesized and characterized in this study. The resulting polymers were soluble in common organic solvents and showed good thermal stabilities, The weight-average molecular weights ($M_w$) of the copolymers ranged from 246,000 to 475,000 with PDIs of $1.3{\sim}2.1$. The optical properties of these polymers, measured both in a chloroform solution and on a film, showed a maximum absorption at $405{\sim}476\;nm$ for Copolymers $I{\sim}VIII$. In the PL spectra, Copolymers $I{\sim}VIII$ showed maximum peaks at $510{\sim}566\;nm$. The HOMOs, LUMOs and band gaps of the PPV derivatives of Copolymers $I{\sim}VIII$ were $5.30{\sim}5.77$, $3.04{\sim}3.24$, and $2.5{\sim}2.2\;eV$, respectively, The multi-layered, light-emitting diodes of ITO/PEDOT/copolymers/LiF/Al exhibited turn-on voltages of $6{\sim}2.5\;V$ Copolymer VIII exhibited the maximum brightness of $3.657\;cd/m^2$. Particularly, Copolymer VII, with an identical composition of MEH-PPV and naphthalene-PPV, showed a maximum luminance efficiency and power efficiency of 2,63 cd/A and 1.06 lm/W, respectively.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.1431-1445
• /
• 2022

We construct a deep neural network model named ECGResNet. This model can diagnosis diseases based on 12-lead ECG data of eight common cardiovascular diseases with a high accuracy. We chose the 16 Blocks of ResNet50 as the main body of the model and added the Squeeze-and-Excitation module to learn the data information between channels adaptively. We modified the first convolutional layer of ResNet50 which has a convolutional kernel of 7 to a superposition of convolutional kernels of 8 and 16 as our feature extraction method. This way allows the model to focus on the overall trend of the ECG signal while also noticing subtle changes. The model further improves the accuracy of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease classification by using a fully connected layer that integrates factors such as gender and age. The ECGResNet model adds Dropout layers to both the residual block and SE module of ResNet50, further avoiding the phenomenon of model overfitting. The model was eventually trained using a five-fold cross-validation and Flooding training method, with an accuracy of 95% on the test set and an F1-score of 0.841.We design a new deep neural network, innovate a multi-scale feature extraction method, and apply the SE module to extract features of ECG data.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.25 no.10
• /
• pp.1751-1760
• /
• 2015

Mucin2 (MUC2), an important regulatory factor in the immune system, plays an important role in the host defense system against bacterial translocation. Probiotics known to regulate MUC2 gene expression have been widely studied, but the interactions among probiotic, pathogens, and mucin gene are still not fully understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of MUC2 in blocking effects of probiotics on meningitic E. coli-induced pathogenicities. In this study, live combined probiotic tablets containing living Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, and Streptococcus thermophilus were used. MUC2 expression was knocked down in Caco-2 cells by RNA interference. 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-CdR), which enhances mucin-promoted probiotic effects through inducing production of Sadenosyl-L-methionine (SAMe), was used to up-regulate MUC2 expression in Caco-2 cells. The adhesion to and invasion of meningitic E. coli were detected by competition assays. Our studies showed that probiotic agents could block E. coli-caused intestinal colonization, bacteremia, and meningitis in a neonatal sepsis and meningitis rat model. MUC2 gene expression in the neonatal rats given probiotic agents was obviously higher than that of the infected and uninfected control groups without probiotic treatment. The prohibitive effects of probiotic agents on MUC2-knockdown Caco-2 cells infected with E44 were significantly reduced compared with nontransfected Caco-2 cells. Moreover, the results also showed that 5-Aza-CdR, a drug enhancing the production of SAMe that is a protective agent of probiotics, was able to significantly suppress adhesion and invasion of E44 to Caco-2 cells by upregulation of MUC2 expression. Taken together, our data suggest that probiotic agents can efficiently block meningitic E. coli-induced pathogenicities in a manner dependent on MUC2.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.218-224
• /
• 2018

Objective: This study evaluated the effects of different levels of protein concentrate supplementation on the growth performance of yak calves, and correlated the growth rate to changes occurring in the plasma- amino acids, -insulin profile, and signaling activity of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) cascade to characterize the mechanism through which the protein synthesis can be improved in early weaned yaks. Methods: For this study, 48 early (3 months old) weaned yak calves were selected, and assigned into four dietary treatments according to randomized complete block design. The four blocks were balanced for body weight and sex. The yaks were either grazed on natural pasture (control diet) in a single herd or the grazing yaks was supplemented with one of the three protein rich supplements containing low (17%; LP), medium (19%; MP), or high (21%; HP) levels of crude proteins for a period of 30 days. Results: Results showed that the average daily gain of calves increased (0.14 vs 0.23-0.26 kg; p<0.05) with protein concentrates supplementation. The concentration of plasma methionine increased (p<0.05; 8.6 vs $10.1-12.4{\mu}mol/L$), while those of serine and tyrosine did not change (p>0.05) when the grazing calves were supplemented with protein concentrates. Compared to control diet, the insulin level of calves increased (p<0.05; 1.86 vs $2.16-2.54{\mu}IU/mL$) with supplementation of protein concentrates. Addition of protein concentrates up-regulated (p<0.05) expression of mTOR-raptor, mammalian vacuolar protein sorting 34 homolog, the translational regulators eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E binding protein 1, and S6 kinase 1 genes in both Longissimus dorsi and semitendinosus. In contrast, the expression of sequestosome 1 was down-regulated in the concentrate supplemented calves. Conclusion: Our results show that protein supplementation improves the growth performance of early weaned yak calves, and that plasma methionine and insulin concentrations were the key mediator for gene expression and protein deposition in the muscles.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.505-512
• /
• 2014

A new donor-accepter-donor-accepter-donor (D-A-D-A-D) type 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole-thiophene-based acceptor unit 2,5-di(4-(5-bromo-4-octylthiophen-2-yl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazol-7-yl)thiophene ($DTBTTBr_2$) was synthesized. Copolymerized with fluorene and indeno[1,2-b]fluorene electron-rich moieties, two alternating narrow band gap (NBG) copolymers PF-DTBTT and PIF-DTBTT were prepared. And two copolymers exhibit broad and strong absorption in the range of 300-700 nm with optical band gap of about 1.75 eV. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels vary between -5.43 and -5.52 eV and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels range from -3.64 to -3.77 eV. Potential applications of the copolymers as electron donor material and $PC_{71}BM$ ([6,6]-phenyl-$C_{71}$ butyric acid methyl ester) as electron acceptors were investigated for photovoltaic solar cells (PSCs). Photovoltaic performances based on the blend of PF-DTBTT/$PC_{71}BM$ (w:w; 1:2) and PIF-DTBTT/$PC_{71}BM$ (w:w; 1:2) with devices configuration as ITO/PEDOT: PSS/blend/Ca/Al, show an incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 2.34% and 2.56% with the open circuit voltage ($V_{oc}$) of 0.87 V and 0.90 V, short circuit current density ($J_{sc}$) of $6.02mA/cm^2$ and $6.12mA/cm^2$ under an AM1.5 simulator ($100mA/cm^2$). The photocurrent responses exhibit the onset wavelength extending up to 720 nm. These results indicate that the resulted narrow band gap copolymers are viable electron donor materials for polymer solar cells.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.219-227
• /
• 2019

This study aims to examine Blockchain research trend using bibliometrics-based network analysis. The data were collected from WoS, Scopus, Korea Citation Index and National science & Technology Information Service, from 2009 to 2018. As results, the number of publications has started increasing rapidly from 2017 and it showed the initial stage of formation of coauthor network. Words often used in the title of the publications were related to application development, controversy and technology development. In addition, the majority of domestic papers are in the subject of social science, while international papers tend to focus on engineering issues. The results of the temporal analysis show that Korean researchers' block chain 3.0 started in 2017 and are rapidly increasing in 2018. The number of citations was associated with publication year in a statistically signifiant way. By examining these research trends, we hope that this paper can be a useful basis for the development of blockchain. Future research is expected to reveal more clearly the knowledge structure and characteristics of blockchain around the world.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.239-253
• /
• 2022

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is known to be involved in airway remodeling and fibrosis of bronchial asthma. However, the molecular mechanisms leading to EMT have yet to be fully clarified. The current study was designed to reveal the potential mechanism of microRNA-21 (miR-21) and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) affecting EMT through the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Human bronchial epithelial cells (16HBE cells) were transfected with miR-21 mimics/inhibitors and PARP-1 plasmid/small interfering RNA (siRNA). A dual luciferase reporter assay and biotin-labeled RNA pull-down experiments were conducted to verify the targeting relationship between miR-21 mimics and PARP-1. The migration ability of 16HBE cells was evaluated by Transwell assay. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting experiments were applied to determine the expression of Snail, ZEB1, E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Vimentin, and PARP-1. The effects of the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 on the migration of 16HBE cells and EMT were investigated. Overexpression of miR-21 mimics induced migration and EMT of 16HBE cells, which was significantly inhibited by overexpression of PARP-1. Our findings showed that PARP-1 was a direct target of miR-21, and that miR-21 targeted PARP-1 to promote migration and EMT of 16HBE cells through the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Using LY294002 to block PI3K/AKT signaling pathway resulted in a significant reduction in the migration and EMT of 16HBE cells. These results suggest that miR-21 promotes EMT and migration of HBE cells by targeting PARP-1. Additionally, the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway might be involved in this mechanism, which could indicate its usefulness as a therapeutic target for asthma.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.6
• /
• pp.2335-2347
• /
• 2023

As medical facilities are usually built at urban areas, special concrete aggregates and evaluation methods are needed to optimize the design of concrete walls by balancing density, thickness, material composition, cost, and other factors. Carbon treatment rooms require a high radiation shielding requirement, as the neutron yield from carbon therapy is much higher than the neutron yield of protons. In this case study, the maximum carbon energy is 430 MeV/u and the maximum current is 0.27 nA from a hybrid particle therapy system. Hospital or facility construction should consider this requirement to design a special heavy concrete. In this work, magnetite is adopted as the major aggregate. Density is determined mainly by the major aggregate content of magnetite, and a heavy concrete test block was constructed for structural tests. The compressive strength is 35.7 MPa. The density ranges from 3.65 g/cm³ to 4.14 g/cm³, and the iron mass content ranges from 53.78% to 60.38% from the 12 cored sample measurements. It was found that there is a linear relationship between density and iron content, and mixing impurities should be the major reason leading to the nonuniform element and density distribution. The effect of this nonuniformity on radiation shielding properties for a carbon treatment room is investigated by three groups of Monte Carlo simulations. Higher density dominates to reduce shielding thickness. However, a higher content of high-Z elements will weaken the shielding strength, especially at a lower dose rate threshold and vice versa. The weakened side effect of a high iron content on the shielding property is obvious at 2.5 µSv=h. Therefore, we should not blindly pursue high Z content in engineering. If the thickness is constrained to 2 m, then the density can be reduced to 3.3 g/cm³, which will save cost by reducing the magnetite composition with 50.44% iron content. If a higher density of 3.9 g/cm³ with 57.65% iron content is selected for construction, then the thickness of the wall can be reduced to 174.2 cm, which will save space for equipment installation.