• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.103-109
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• 2011

The objective of the study was to prepare self-microeulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) incorporating atorvastatin calcium and evaluate its properties and oral bioavailability. Solubility of atorvastatin in various vehicles was determined. Pseudo-ternary phase diagrams were constructed to identify the good self-emulsification region. The droplet size distributions of the resultant emulsions were determined by dynamic light scattering measurement. The mean droplet size of chosen formulation (20% ethyl oleate, 40% tween-80, 40% Carbitol$^{(R)}$) was $23.4{\pm}1.3$ nm. The SMEDDS incorporating atorvastatin calcium appeared to be associated with better performance in dissolution and pharmacokinetic studies, compared with raw atorvastatin calcium. In dissolution test, the release percentage of atorvastatin from SMEDDS mixture could rapidly reach more than 95% within 3 min. Oral $AUC_{0{\rightarrow}8hr}$ values in SD rats was $1994{\pm}335\;ng{\cdot}hr/mL$, which significantly increased (P<0.05) compared with raw atorvastatin calcium. The SMEDDS formulation was relatively stable when stored at $4^{\circ}C$ during 3 months. Our studies illustrated the potential use of SMEDDS for the delivery of hydrophobic compounds, such as atorvastatin, by the oral route.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.152-161
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• 2015

CodY is a highly conserved protein in low G+C gram-positive bacteria that regulates genes involved in sporulation and stationary-phase adaptation. Bacillus thuringiensis is a grampositive bacterium that forms spores and parasporal crystals during the stationary phase. To our knowledge, the regulatory mechanism of CodY in B. thuringiensis is unknown. To study the function of CodY protein in B. thuringiensis, BMB171codY^- was constructed in a BMB171 strain. A shuttle vector containing the ORF of cry1Ac10 was transformed into BMB171 and BMB171codY^-, named BMB171cry1Ac and BMB171codY^-cry1Ac, respectively. Some morphological and physiological changes of codY mutant BMB171codY^-cry1Ac were observed. A comparative proteomic analysis was conducted for both BMB171codY^-cry1Ac and BMB171cry1Ac through two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF-MS/MS analysis. The results showed that the proteins regulated by CodY are involved in microbial metabolism, including branched-chain amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, and energy metabolism. Furthermore, we found CodY to be involved in sporulation, biosynthesis of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate, growth, genetic competence, and translation. According to the analysis of differentially expressed proteins, and physiological characterization of the codY mutant, we performed bacterial one-hybrid and electrophoretic mobility shift assay experiments and confirmed the direct regulation of genes by CodY, specifically those involved in metabolism of branched-chain amino acids, ribosomal recycling factor FRR, and the late competence protein ComER. Our data establish the foundation for in-depth study of the regulation of CodY in B. thuringiensis, and also offer a potential biocatalyst for functions of CodY in other bacteria.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.126-132
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• 2011

The goal of this study was to develop a high value Korean red wine possessing antihypertension activity. The effects of some medicinal plants and grapes on the alcohol fermentation process and the angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity of Vitis hybrid red wine were investigated. Various Vitis hybrid red wines were vinified by the fermentation of a mixture of Vitis hybrid must and some medicinal plants and grapes at $25^{\circ}C$ for 10 days. Of these red wines, the Vitis hybrid-Vitis coignetiae red wine exhibited a high ethanol content of 12.0% and had a good level of acceptability. It also showed a high antihypertensive ACE inhibitory activity of 68.5%. After post-fermentation of 60 days, the ACE inhibitory activities of the Vitis hybrid-Vitis coignetiae red wine exhibited the highest ACE inhibitory activity of 80.7% ($IC_{50}$: 28 mg/mL) and also had the best acceptability. The $C_{18}$ solid phase extracts of the Vitis hybrid-Vitis coignetiae red wine, after 60 days post-fermentation, showed clear antihypertensive effects on spontaneously hypertensive rats. Our results reveal that the Vitis hybrid-Vitis coignetiae red wine has the potential to become a new functional red wine due to its good acceptability and high antihypertensive activity.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.649-674
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of public R&D subsidies on private R&D. We have analyzed rationales for the public R&D subsidy from different perspectives. On the basis of literature review, a two step research model is constructed: participation phase (when firms benefit from public subsidies) and decision phase (when firms make decision on additional R&D investments). Using propensity score matching(PSM) method, we compare the potential outcome of the treated group to a matched controlled group of non-subsidized firms. The data used in this paper was collected from various sources. The Korean Innovation Survey 2008(manufacturing sector) is a main source of data. Financial data such as revenue, asset and capital stock, and number of employees were supplemented from the Nice Information Service KIS Value database. The R&D survey, conducted by MEST(Ministry of Education, Science and Technology) each year, was also used for the R&D expenditures of the manufacturing firms. This study comes up with the following empirical results. First, a firm's innovation capability, financial constraints, and sector appear to influence the selection of firms who were benefited from government's financial supports for R&D. Second, empirical results show that public R&D funding complements private investment on average and appear to have perpetual effects on the following year. Finally, sectoral difference in the effect of public subsidies on firms' R&D investment was confirmed. In addition, SMEs show more positive effects than large firms.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartD
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• v.8D no.1
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• pp.71-80
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• 2001

Object-Oriented (OO) methodology to use the concept like encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism, and message passing demands metrics that are different from structured methodology. There are many studies for OO software metrics such as program complexity or design metrics. But the metrics for the analysis class need to decrease the complexity in the analysis phase so that greatly reduce the effort and the cost of system development. In this paper, we propose new metrics to measure the complexity of analysis classes which draw out in the analysis phase based on Unified Process. By the collaboration complexity, is denoted by CC, we mean the maximum number of the collaborations can be achieved with each of the collaborator and detennine the potential complexity. And the interface complexity, is denoted by IC, shows the difficulty related to understand the interface of collaborators each other. We prove mathematically that the suggested metrics satisfy OO characteristics such as class size and inheritance. And we verify it theoretically for Weyuker' s nine properties. Moreover, we show the computation results for analysis classes of the system which automatically respond to questions of the it's user using the text mining technique. As we compared CC and IC to CBO and WMC, the complexity can be represented by CC and IC more than CBO and WMC. We expect to develop the cost-effective OO software by reviewing the complexity of analysis classes in the first stage of SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle).

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.42.1-42.1
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• 2016

The formation process and the dynamical properties of a large-scale quasi-circular flare ribbon were investigated using the SDO AIA and HMI data along with data from RHESSI and SOT. Within one hour time interval, two subsequent M-class flares were detected from the NOAA 12371 that had a ${\beta}{\gamma}{\delta}$ configuration with one bipolar sunspot group in the east and one unipolar spot in the west embedded in a decayed magnetic field. Earlier M2.0 flare was associated with a coronal loop eruption, and a two-ribbon structure formed within the bipolar sunspot group. On the other hand, the later M2.6 flare was associated with a halo CME, and a quasi-circular ribbon developed encircling the full active region. The observed quasi-circular ribbon was strikingly large in size spanning 650" in north-south and 500" in east-west direction. It showed the well-known sequential brightening in the clockwise direction during the decay phase of the M2.6 flare at the estimated speed of 160.7 km s-1. The quasi-circular ribbon also showed the radial expansion, especially in the southern part. Interestingly, at the time of the later M2.6 flare, the third flare ribbon parallel to the early two-ribbon structure also developed near the unipolar sunspot, then showed a typical separation in pair with the eastern most ribbon of the early two ribbons. The potential field reconstruction based on the PFSS model showed a fan shaped magnetic configuration including fan-like field lines stemming from the unipolar spot and fanning out toward the background decayed field. This large-scale fan-like field overarched full active region, and the footpoints of fan-like field lines were co-spatial with the observed quasi-circular ribbon. From the NLFF magnetic field reconstruction, we confirmed the existence of a twisted flux rope structure in the bipolar spot group before the first M2.0 flare. Hard X-ray emission signatures were detected at the site of twisted flux rope during the pre-flare phase of the M2.0 flare. Based on the analysis of both two-ribbon structure and quasi-circular ribbon, we suggest that a tether-cutting reconnection between sheared arcade overarching the twisted flux rope embedded in a fan-like magnetic field may have triggered the first M2.0 flare, then secondary M2.6 flare was introduced by the fan-spine reconnection because of the interaction between the expanding field and the nearby quasi-null and formed the observed large-scale quasi-circular flare ribbon.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.1056-1063
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• 2012

Recent rapidly growth in nanotechnolgies is promised novel benefits through the exploitation of their unique industrial and biomedical applications. With increasing utilization of nanomaterials in consumer products, the potential release of nanomaterials into the environment and their impacts on the ecosystem and human health have been the issues of concern. Nanomaterials that was exposed unintentionally in environment might be accumulated in various environmental media, and finally it will be influenced to human and ecosystems. Therefore, it is important to understand the fate and behavior of nanoparticles for understanding effects on environmental media (air, water, and soil phase). Therefore, in this work, we investigated the several cases for environmental exposure of nanomaterials and suggested the direction of further research. In workplace, exposure to air media is dominant, but finally waste and wastewater was moved to the water and soil phase. In addition, we found the existing sewage treatment plant was not suitable to remove completely nanomaterials in wastewater flow. To deeper study, environmental monitoring tool must be developed additionally and we suggested the several analyzing method for aged and pristine physicochemical properties of nanomaterials exposed into environmental media. This review for nanomaterials' exposure to environmental media will be helpful to investigate the environmental fate of nanomaterials and define the suitable treatment method for nano-waste.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.497-508
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• 2013

The objective of this study is to determine the spatiotemporal influences of climatic factors and atmospheric aerosol on phenological cycles of the Korea Peninsular on a regional scale. High temporal-resolution satellite data can overcome limitations of ground-based phenological studies with reasonable spatial resolution. Study results showed that phenological characteristics were similar among evergreen forest, deciduous forest, and grassland, while the inter-annual vegetation index amplitude of mixed forest was differentiated from the other forest types. Forest types with high VI amplitude reached their maximum VI values earlier, but this relationship was not observed within the same forest type. The phase of VI, or the peak time of greenness, was significantly influenced by air temperature. Aerosol optical thickness (AOT) time-series showed strong seasonal and inter-annual variations. Generally, aerosol concentrations were peaked during late spring and early summer. However, inter-annual AOT variations did not have significant relationships with those of VIs. Weak relationships between AOT amplitude and EVI amplitude only indicates that there would be potential impacts of aerosols on vegetation growth in the long run.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.3651-3657
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• 2014

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a relatively higher incidence in many countries of Asia. Globally, HCC has a high fatality rate and short survival. Epirubicin, a doxorubicin analogue, may be administered alone or in combination with other agents to treat primary liver cancer and metastatic diseases. However, the toxic effects of epirubicin to normal tissues and cells have been one of the major obstacles to successful cancer chemotherapy. Here, we investigated the effects of epirubicin in combination with kappa-selenocarrageenan on mice with H22 implanted tumors and HepG-2 cell proliferation, immune organ index, morphology, cell cycle and related protein expressions in vivo and in vitro with sequential drug exposure. The inhibitory rate of tumor growth in vivo was calculated. Drug sensitivity was measured by MTT assay, and the King's principle was used to evaluate the interaction of drug combination. Morphological changes were observed by fluorescent microscopy. Cell cycle changes were analyzed by flow cytometry. Expression of cyclin A, Cdc25A and Cdk2 were detected by Western blotting. In vivo results demonstrated that the inhibitory rate of EPI combined with KSC was higher than that of KSC or EPI alone, and the Q value indicated an additive effect. In addition, KSC could significantly raise the thymus and spleen indices of mice with H22 implanted tumors. In the drug sensitivity assay in vitro, exposure to KSC and EPI simultaneously was more effective than exposure sequentially in HepG-2 cells, while exposure to KSC prior to EPI was more effective than exposure to EPI prior to KSC. Q values showed an additive effect in the simultaneous group and antagonistic effects in the sequential groups. Morphological analysis showed similar results to the drug sensitivity assay. Cell cycle analysis revealed that exposure to KSC or EPI alone arrested the cells in S phase in HepG-2 cells, exposure to KSC and EPI simultaneously caused accumulation in the S phase, an effect caused by either KSC or EPI. Expression of cyclin A, Cdc25A and Cdk2 protein was down-regulated following exposure to KSC and EPI alone or in combination, exposure to KSC and EPI simultaneously resulting in the lowest values. Taken together, our findings suggest that KSC in combination with EPI might have potential as a new therapeutic regimen against HCC.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.809-815
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• 1996

$Y_2O_3$-based metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structure on p-Si(100) has been studied. Films were prepared by UHV reactive ionized cluster beam deposition (r-ICBD) system. The base pressure of the system was about $1 \times 10^{-9}$ -9/ Torr and the process pressure $2 \times 10^{-5}$ Torr in oxygen ambience. Glancing X-ray diffraction(GXRD) and in-situ reflection high energy electron diffracton(RHEED) analyses were performed to investigate the crystallinity of the films. The results show phase change from amorphous state to crystalline one with increasingqr acceleration voltage and substrate temperature. It is also found that the phase transformation from $Y_2O_3$(111)//Si(100) to $Y_2O_3$(110)//Si(100) in growing directions takes place between $500^{\circ}C$ and $700^{\circ}C$. Especially as acceleration voltage is increased, preferentially oriented crystallinity was increased. Finally under the condition of above substrate temperature $700^{\circ}C$ and acceleration voltage 5kV, the $Y_2O_3$films are found to be grown epitaxially in direction of $Y_2O_3$(1l0)//Si(100) by observation of transmission electron microscope(TEM). Capacitance-voltage and current-voltage measurements were conducted to characterize Al/$Y_2O_3$/Si MIS structure with varying acceleration voltage and substrate temperature. Deposited $Y_2O_3$ films of thickness of nearly 300$\AA$ show that the breakdown field increases to 7~8MV /cm at the same conditon of epitaxial growing. These results also coincide with XPS spectra which indicate better stoichiometric characteristic in the condition of better crystalline one. After oxidation the breakdown field increases to 13MV /cm because the MIS structure contains interface silicon oxide of about 30$\AA$. In this case the dielectric constant of only $Y_2O_3$ layer is found to be $\in$15.6. These results have demonstrated the potential of using yttrium oxide for future VLSI/ULSI gate insulator applications.