• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.1023-1031
• /
• 2017

The conformational change of cellular prion protein ($PrP^C$) to its misfolded counterpart, termed $PrP^{Sc}$, is mediated by a hypothesized cellular cofactor. This cofactor is believed to interact directly with certain amino acid residues of $PrP^C$. When these are mutated into cationic amino acid residues, $PrP^{Sc}$ formation and prion replication halt in a dominant negative (DN) manner, presumably due to strong binding of the cofactor to mutated $PrP^C$, designated as DN PrP mutants. Previous studies demonstrated that plasminogen and its kringle domains bind to PrP and accelerate $PrP^{Sc}$ generation. In this study, in vitro binding analysis of kringle domains of plasminogen to Q167R DN mutant PrP (PrPQ167R) was performed in parallel with the wild type (WT) and Q218K DN mutant PrP (PrPQ218K). The binding affinity of PrPQ167R was higher than that of WT PrP, but lower than that of PrPQ218K. Scatchard analysis further indicated that, like PrPQ218K and WT PrP, PrPQ167R interaction with plasminogen occurred at multiple sites, suggesting cooperativity in this interaction. Competitive binding analysis using $\small{L}$-lysine or $\small{L}$-arginine confirmed the increase of the specificity and binding affinity of the interaction as PrP acquired DN mutations. Circular dichroism spectroscopy demonstrated that the recombinant PrPs used in this study retained the ${\alpha}$-helix-rich structure. The ${\alpha}$-helix unfolding study revealed similar conformational stability for WT and DN-mutated PrPs. This study provides an additional piece of biochemical evidence concerning the interaction of plasminogen with DN mutant PrPs.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2006

The Primary type of swinging motion in human movement is that which is characteristic of a pendulum. The two types of pendulums are identified as simple and compound. A simple pendulum consist of a small body suspended by a relatively long cord. Its total mass is contained within the bob. The cord is not considered to have mass. A compound pendulum, on the other hand, is any pendulum such as the human body swinging by hands from a horizontal bar. Therefore a compound pendulum depicts important motions that are harmonic, periodic, and oscillatory. In this paper one discusses and compares two algorithms of Newton's method(F = m a) and Euler's method (M = $I{\times}{\alpha}$) in compound pendulum. Through exercise model such as human body with weight(m = 50 kg), body length(L = 1.5m), and center of gravity ($L_c$ = 0.4119L) from proximal end swinging by hands from a horizontal bar, one finds kinematic variables(angle displacement / velocity / acceleration), and simulates kinematic variables by changing body lengths and body mass. BSP by Clauser et al.(1969) & Chandler et al.(1975) is used to find moment of inertia of the compound pendulum. The radius of gyration about center of gravity (CoG) is $k_c\;=\;K_c{\times}L$ (단, k= radius of gyration, K= radius of gyration /segment length), and then moment of inertia about center of gravity(CoG) becomes $I_c\;=\;m\;k_c^2$. Finally, moment of inertia about Z-axis by parallel theorem becomes $I_o\;=\;I_c\;+\;m\;k^2$. The two-order ordinary differential equations of models are solved by ND function of numeric analysis method in Mathematica5.1. The results are as follows; First, The complexity of Newton's method is much more complex than that of Euler's method Second, one could be find kinematic variables according to changing body lengths(L = 1.3 / 1.7 m) and periods are increased by body length increment(L = 1.3 / 1.5 / 1.7 m). Third, one could be find that periods are not changing by means of changing mass(m = 50 / 55 / 60 kg). Conclusively, one is intended to meditate the possibility of applying a compound pendulum to sports(balling, golf, gymnastics and so on) necessary swinging motions. Further improvements to the study could be to apply Euler's method to real motions and one would be able to develop the simulator.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.644-653
• /
• 2013

In this paper, a formulation for obliquely incident electromagnetic wave has been presented for an analysis of highpower electromagnetic pulse penetration into multilayered dispersive media. Based on generalized models of measured dielectric constants and propagation channels reflecting the Earth's general features, the propagation phenomenon of the obliquely incident early-time(E1) high altitude electromagnetic pulse(HEMP) is analyzed. In addition, the polarization and critical angle are also considered. It is found that the total reflection occurs at an incident angle of about 38 degrees at the soil-rock interface, and that the parallel-polarized E1 HEMP penetrates better than the perpendicular-polarized one. The peak level of the penetrating electric field is found to be 5.6 kV/m at normal incidence, regardless of the type of polarization, and E1 HEMP is greatly reduced near the critical angle. Moreover, the penetrating E1 HEMP is analyzed as a variation of moisture content and depth of materials, resulting E1 HEMP could be useful in determining the levels of shielding required for buried facilities.

• Journal of the HCI Society of Korea
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.37-44
• /
• 2006

Specular reflections provide the visual feedback that describes the material type of an object, its local shape, and lighting environment. In photorealistic rendering, there have been a number of research available to render specular reflections effectively based on a local reflection model. In traditional cel animations and cartoons, specular reflections plays important role in representing artistic intentions for an object and its related environment reflections, so the shapes of highlights are quite stylistic. In this paper, we present a method to render and control stylized specular reflections using projective textures based on principal curvature analysis. Specifying a texture as a pattern of a highlight and projecting the texture on the specular region of a given 3D model, we can obtain a stylized representation of specular reflections. For a given polygonal model, a view point, and a light source, we first find the maximum specular intensity point, and then locate the texture projector along the line parallel to the normal vector and passing through the point. The orientation of the projector is determined by the principal directions at the point. Finally, the size of the projection frustum is determined by the principal curvatures corresponding to the principal directions. The proposed method can control the position, orientation, and size of the specular reflection efficiently by translating the projector along the principal directions, rotating the projector about the normal vector, and scaling the principal curvatures, respectively. The method is be applicable to real-time applications such as cartoon style 3D games. We implement the method by Microsoft DirectX 9.0c SDK and programmable vertex/pixel shaders on Nvidia GeForce FX 7800 graphics subsystems. According to our experimental results, we can render and control the stylized specular reflections for a 3D model of several ten thousands of triangles in real-time.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.34 no.5
• /
• pp.485-492
• /
• 2001

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus has been rapidly increased in parallel with the westernization of eating behavior in Korea. Increased consumption of animal fat and simple sugar can be potential contributors for insulin resistance. The purpose of the study was to determine whether Western-(WD) and Korean-style(KD) diets altered insulin secretion and insulin resistance in male Sprague Dawley rats. Rats weighing 98$\pm$5g were provided by KD(77 En% of starch, 5 En% of corn oil and 13 En% of gluten plus 5 En% of casein), WD(42 En% of starch, 40 En% of butter and 18% of casein) or control diet(62 En% of starch, 20 En% of corn oil and 18% of casein) for 12 weeks. Body weights were lower in KD compared to WD. Fasting blood glucose levels were not different among diets. Insulin secretion from the beta cells was higher by 2.2$\pm$0.4 folds in WD than KD at baseline. In hyperglycemic clamp insulin secretion was higher in WD than KD and CD. Whole body glucose disposal rates referred to the state of insulin sensitivity were lowest in WD among groups. Glycogen deposits in soleus and quadriceps muscles were lowest in WD among all groups, but their triglyceride contents were highest. GLUT4 contents and glycogen synthase were lowest in WD in both muscles. In conclusions, westernization of diets needed more insulin to normalization of blood glucose levels due to increased insulin resistance. Thus, WD would lead to increased prevalence of diabetes mellitus when increased insulin resistance could not be compensated by insulin secretion in the case of elevated blood glucose levels. (Korean J Nutriton 34(5) : 485~492, 2001)

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.1-5
• /
• 2015

The C-band compact linear accelerator (linac) is being developed at Dongnam Institute of radiological & Medical Sciences (DIRAMS) for medical and industrial applications. This paper was focused on the output measurement of the electron beam generated from the prototype electron linac. The dose rate was measured in unit of cGy/min per unit pulse frequency according to the IAEA TRS-398 protocol. Exradin-A10 Markus type plane parallel chamber used for the measurement was calibrated in terms of dose to water at the reference depth in water. The beam quality index ($R_{50}$) was determined by the radiochromic film with a solid water phantom approximately due to low energy electrons. As a result, the determined electron beam output was $17.0cGy/(min{\cdot}Hz$. The results were used to monitor the accelerator performance during the development procedure.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.678-684
• /
• 2013

This paper describes a low-power baseband circuit for SAW-less LTE-Advanced transmitters. The proposed transmitter baseband circuit consists of a 2nd-order Tow-Thomas type active RC-LPF and a 1st-order passive RC LPF. It can provide a 7 multi-channel cut-off frequencies and wide gain control range of -41 dB ~ 0 dB with a 1-dB step. The proposed 2nd-order active RC-LPF adopts an op-amp in which three other sub-op amps are in parallel connected to reduce DC current for different cutoff frequency. In addition, each sub-op amp adopts both Miller and feed-forward phase compensation method to achieve an UGBW of more than 1-GHz with a small DC power consumption. The proposed baseband circuit is implemented in 65-nm CMOS technology, consuming DC power from 6.3 mW to 24.1 mW from a 1.2V supply voltage for each different cut-off frequency.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.297-307
• /
• 2014

Cavern Thermal Energy Storage system stores thermal energy in caverns to recover industrial waste heat or avoid the sporadic characteristics of renewable-energy resources, and its advantages include high injection-and-extraction powers and the flexibility in selecting a storage medium. In the present study, the structural stability of rock mass pillar between these silo-type storage caverns was assessed using a coupled thermal-mechanical model in $FLAC^{3D}$. The results of numerical simulations showed that thermal stresses due to long-term storage depended on pillar width and had significant effect on the pillar stability. A sensitivity analysis of main factors indicated that the influence on the pillar stability increased in the order cavern depth < pillar width < in situ condition. It was suggested that two identical caverns should be separated by at least one diameter of the cavern and small-diameter shaft neighboring the cavern should be separated by more than half of the cavern diameter. Meanwhile, when the line of centers of two caverns was parallel to the direction of maximum horizontal principal stress, the shielding effect of the caverns could minimize an adverse effect caused by a large horizontal stress.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.176-180
• /
• 2009

Two year-old female miniature schnauzer was presented with depression, abdominal pain and inappetence. Physical examination revealed tachypnea, fever, and abdominal pain. Leukocytosis with neutrophilia was shown in complete blood count. Radiograph revealed the increase of opacity in parallel to vertebra and dislocation of descending colon. Calculi and sludge in bladder, hydronephrosis and dilation of proximal ureter in right kidney were observed in ultrasonographic examination; also, irregular shape of structure in retroperitoneal cavity was observed. Urinalysis showed protein urine and hemtauria. Many epithelial cells, spindle cells, calcium oxalate dihydrate crystals, struvite crystals, amorphous crystals and granular casts, WBC, cocci were examined in urine sediment test. ERD-kit test result was highly positive. Based on those test and excretory urogram pyelonephritis and complete unilateral obstruction of ureter were confirmed. A balloon type structure in retroperitoneal cavity was found through the exploratory laparotomy. In cytologic examination of aspirated fluid from dilated area many degenerated neutrophils and phagocytized cocci were observed. Staphylococcus intermedius was cultured from aspirated fluid. Based on these clinical results retroperitoneal abscesses caused by Staphylococcus intermedius was diagnosed with ureter obstruction and concurrent cystic calculi. Nephrectomy of right kidney with ureter was performed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
• /
• 2006.11a
• /
• pp.65-74
• /
• 2006

Modem drug discovery requires rapid pharmacokinetic evaluation of chemically diverse compounds for early candidate selection. This demands the development of analytical methods that offer high-throughput of samples. Naturally, liquid chromatography / tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is choice of the analytical method because of its superior sensitivity and selectivity. As a result of the short analysis time(typically 3-5min) by LC-MS/MS, sample preparation has become the rate- determining step in the whole analytical cycle. Consequently tremendous efforts are being made to speed up and automate this step. In a typical automated 96-well SPE(solid-phase extraction) procedure, plasma samples are transferred to the 96-well SPE plate, internal standard and aqueous buffer solutions are added and then vacuum is applied using the robotic liquid handling system. It takes only 20-90 min to process 96 samples by automated SPE and the analyst is physically occupied for only approximately 10 min. Recently, the ultra-high flow rate liquid chromatography (turbulent-flow chromatography)has sparked a huge interest for rapid and direct quantitation of drugs in plasma. There is no sample preparation except for sample aliquotting, internal standard addition and centrifugation. This type of analysis is achieved by using a small diameter column with a large particle size(30-5O ${\mu}$m) and a high flow rate, typically between 3-5 ml/min. Silica-based monolithic HPLC columns contain a novel chromatographic support in which the traditional particulate packing has been replaced with a single, continuous network (monolith) of pcrous silica. The main advantage of such a network is decreased backpressure due to macropores (2 ${\mu}$m) throughout the network. This allows high flow rates, and hence fast analyses that are unattainable with traditional particulate columns. The reduction of particle diameter in HPLC results in increased column efficiency. use of small particles (<2 urn), however, requires p.essu.es beyond the traditional 6,000 psi of conventional pumping devices. Instrumental development in recent years has resulted in pumping devices capable of handling the requirements of columns packed with small particles. The staggered parallel HPLC system consists of four fully independent binary HPLC pumps, a modified auto sampler, and a series of switching and selector valves all controlled by a single computer program. The system improves sample throughput without sacrificing chromatographic separation or data quality. Sample throughput can be increased nearly four-fold without requiring significant changes in current analytical procedures. The process of Bioanalytical Method Validation is required by the FDA to assess and verify the performance of a chronlatographic method prior to its application in sample analysis. The validation should address the selectivity, linearity, accuracy, precision and stability of the method. This presentation will provide all overview of the work required to accomplish a full validation and show how a chromatographic method is suitable for toxirokinetic sample analysis. A liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method developed to quantitate drug levels in dog plasma will be used as an example of tile process.