• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.588-593
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• 2008

There are increasing reports regarding regeneration of the defected tissues using tissue engineering technique. In this technique, multipotential stem cells are essential. There are many potential sources of adult stem cells, such as bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, fat, muscle, dental tissues and skin. Among them, skin is highly accessible and easily obtained with a minimum of donor site complications. Moreover, skin is an abundant adult stem cell sources and has the potential for self-replication and immune privilege. In this study, we isolated skin-derived precursor cells (SKPs) from the ear of adult miniature pigs. In these SKPs, the expression of transcriptional factors, Oct-4, Sox-2, and Nanog were detected by RT-PCR. In vitro osteogenesis and adipogenesis were observed at 3 weeks after transdifferentiations as assayed by positive von Kossa and Oil-red O staining, respectively. In addition, expression of osteocalcin and osteonectin in the osteogenic differentiation medium and $PPAR{\gamma}2$ and aP2 in the adipogenic differentiation medium were detected by RT-PCR. In vitro neurogenesis of porcine SKPs was observed during 24 and 72 hours after treatment of neurogenic differentiation medium. The results of this study suggest that SKPs demonstrate the properties of pluripotence or multipotence and multi-lineage differentiation. This indicates that autogenous SKPs are a reliable and useful source of adult stem cells for regenerative medicine.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.143-148
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• 2013

Spermatogenesis is initiated from spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) that has an ability of self-renewal and unipotency to generate differentiating germ cells. The objective of this study is to develop the simple method for derivation of SSCs using non-sorting of both spermatogonia and feeder cells. Simply uncapsulated mouse testes were treated with enzymes followed by surgical mincing, and single cells were cultured in stempro-$34^{TM}$ cell culture media at $37^{\circ}C$. After 5 days of culture, aciniform of SSC colony was observed, and showed a strong alkaline phosphatase activity. Molecular characterization of mouse SSCs showed that most of the mouse SSC markers such as integrin ${\alpha}6$ and ${\beta}1$, CD9 and Stra8. In addition, pluripotency embryonic stem cell (ESC) marker Oct4 were expressed, however Sox2 expression was lowered. Interestingly, expression of SSC markers such as Vasa, Dazl and PLZF were stronger than mouse ESC (mESC). This data suggest that generated mouse SSCs (mSSCs) in this study has at least similar biomarkers expression to mESC and mSSCs derived from other study. Immunocytochemistry using whole mSSC colony also confirmed that mSSCs generated from this study expressed SSC specific biomarkers such as c-kit, Thy1, Vasa and Dazl. In conclusion, mSSCs from 5 days old mouse testes were successfully established without sorting of spermatogonia, and this cells expressed both mESC and SSC specific biomarkers. This simple derivation method for mSSCs may facilitate the study of spermatogenesis.

• Clean Technology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.81-88
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• 2001

Limestone has been used as absorbent in the FGD(Flue Gas Desulfurization) system, the DeSOx system of thermal power plant. This study investigated the desulfurization characteristics of the two different limestones, 325mesh and 200mesh particle size. Experimental analysis showed that the dissolving rate of limestone became much slower as the particle size increased. But the desulfurization efficiency depended on the L/G(liquid/gas) ratio and slurry pH regardless of the limestone particle size. The quality of gypsum produced in the FGD process increased as the limestone particle size or the slurry pH decreased. To reduce the cost of absorbent, the mixed limestone which were composed of 200 and 325mesh limestone with 5 different ratios were tested.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.3625-3630
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• 2013

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are known to promote mesothelial carcinogenesis that is closely associated with asbestos fibers and inflammation. Epithelial to mesenchymal cell transition (EMT) is an important process involved in the progression of tumors, providing cancer cells with aggressiveness. The present study was performed to determine if EMT is induced by $H_2O_2$ in human malignant mesothelioma (HMM) cells. Cultured HMM cells were treated with $H_2O_2$, followed by measuring expression levels of EMT-related genes and proteins. Immunohistochemically, TWIST1 expression was confined to sarcomatous cells in HMM tissues, but not in epithelioid cells. Treatment of HMM cells with $H_2O_2$ promoted EMT, as indicated by increased expression levels of vimentin, SLUG and TWIST1, and decreased E-cadherin expression. Expression of stemness genes such as OCT4, SOX2 and NANOG was also significantly increased by treatment of HMM cells with $H_2O_2$. Alteration of these genes was mediated via activation of hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-$1{\alpha}$) and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-${\beta}1$). Considering that treatment with $H_2O_2$ results in excess ROS, the present study suggests that oxidative stress may play a critical role in HMM carcinogenesis by promoting EMT processes and enhancing the expression of stemness genes.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.96 no.5
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• pp.503-509
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• 2007

The major objective of this study was to analyze the difference of the chemical characteristics of acid deposition in Quercus forests in Korea and Japan. The pH values of rainfall at the experimental forest of Kangwon National University (KS site) were higher than those at the Foresta Hills in Japan (JP site), and all chemical contents of throughfall and stemflow were much higher than those of rainfall in Quercus forest stands at the KS and JP site. The pH values, $Ca^{2+}$, $NO_3{^-}$ and $SO{_4}^{2-}$ concentration of throughfall and stemflow at the KS site showed seasonal variation. While at the JP site, the same pattern was shown in the pH values of throughfall and stemflow, however, did not show any difference among seasons. Also, the annual input of all nutrients in these two contrasting forests varied seasonally. These results can be used to predict the amounts of air pollutant that are washed off and leached by the rainfall and Yellow Sand (Asian dust), including NOx and SOx acid pollutants transported easterly from China in the spring. Therefore, it is necessary to quantify the inputs of dry and wet deposition throughout a full year to gain a more complete understanding of the effects of acid deposition on the nutrient cycles in these forest ecosystems.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.587-592
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• 2006

The advantage of CFBC(Circulating fluidized bed combustor) is that it can apply to various fuel sources including the lower rank fuel and remove SOx by means of direct supply of limestone to the combustor without additional desulfation facility. In this paper, we denote characteristics of fly and bed ash to reuse finer limestone usually abandoned(used spec[Coarse LS] 0.1mm under 25%, new spec[Fine LS] 0.1mm under 50%). According to the results, the chemical composition of fly ash was as follows; $SiO_2\;40.8%,\;Al_2O_3\;31.9%,\;CaO\;10.7%,\;K_2O\;4.46%$ in the case of coarse limestone and $SiO_2\;41.1%,\;Al_2O_3\;31.3%,\;CaO\;10.9%,\;K_2O\;4.66%$ in the case of fine limestone. The chemical composition of bed ash was as follows; $SiO_2\;54.2%,\;Al_2O_3\;33.1%,\;CaO\;1.56%,\;K_2O\;4.34%$ in the case of coarse limestone and $SiO_2\;53.8%,\;Al_2O_3\;32.6%,\;CaO\;2.21%,\;K_2O\;4.45%$ in the case of fine limestone. It showed that there was no significant change in chemical composition. And it is conformed that there was no significant change in particle size and shapes.

• BMB Reports
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• v.43 no.8
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• pp.547-553
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• 2010

Biochemical tests such as aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) are useful for diagnosing patients with liver disease. In this study, we tested the association between copy number variation and the hepatic biomarkers AST and ALT based on 8,842 samples from population-based cohorts in Korea. We used Affymetrix Genome-Wide Human 5.0 arrays and identified 10,534 CNVs using HelixTree software. Of the CNVs tested using univariate linear regression, 100 CNVs were significant for AST and 16 were significant for ALT (P < 0.05). We identified 39 genes located within the CNV regions. DKK1 and HS3ST3B1 were shown to play roles in heparan sulfate biosynthesis and the Wnt signaling pathway, respectively. NAF1 and NPY1R were associated with glycoprotein processes and neuropeptide Y receptor activity based on GO categories. PTER, SOX14 and TM7SF4 were expressed in liver. DPYS and CTSC were found to be associated with dihydropyrimidinuria and Papillon-Lefevre syndrome phenotypes using OMIM. NPY5R was found to be associated with dyslipidemia using the Genetic Association Database.

• BMB Reports
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.118-123
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• 2020

Cardiac regeneration with adult stem-cell (ASC) therapy is a promising field to address advanced cardiovascular diseases. In addition, extracellular vesicles (EVs) from ASCs have been implicated in acting as paracrine factors to improve cardiac functions in ASC therapy. In our work, we isolated human cardiac mesenchymal stromal cells (h-CMSCs) by means of three-dimensional organ culture (3D culture) during ex vivo expansion of cardiac tissue, to compare the functional efficacy with human bone-marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (h-BM-MSCs), one of the actively studied ASCs. We characterized the h-CMSCs as CD90^low, c-kit^negative, CD105^positive phenotype and these cells express NANOG, SOX2, and GATA4. To identify the more effective type of EVs for angiogenesis among the different sources of ASCs, we isolated EVs which were derived from CMSCs with either normoxic or hypoxic condition and BM-MSCs. Our in vitro tube-formation results demonstrated that the angiogenic effects of EVs from hypoxia-treated CMSCs (CMSC-Hpx EVs) were greater than the well-known effects of EVs from BM-MSCs (BM-MSC EVs), and these were even comparable to human vascular endothelial growth factor (hVEGF), a potent angiogenic factor. Therefore, we present here that CD90^lowc-kit^negativeCD105^positive CMSCs under hypoxic conditions secrete functionally superior EVs for in vitro angiogenesis. Our findings will allow more insights on understanding myocardial repair.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.67-73
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• 2002

The carbon-in-ash system for simultaneously monitoring the unburned carbon in fly ash produced in a coal-fired power plan is designed and evaluated using the domestic fly ash produced in the coal-fired power plant. Real time monitoring is very important to control the combustion of the boiler in the coal-fired power plant and the purification system for fly ash recycling. The carbon-in-ash system based on the capacitance measurement consists of a LCR meter, a duct collector and an electrode cell. The capacitance of fly ash increases linearly with increasing fly ash carbon contents. The water content in fly ash plays an important role on the ash capacitance. The empirical equation for predicting the content of unburned carbon in fly ash produced in the domestic Boryung, Hadong and Samchenpo coal-fired power plants can be derived in the range of carbon content 0-20%.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.355-362
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• 2009

Fuels based on petroleum will eventually run out in the near future. DME (Di-methyl Ether) is a clean energy source that can be manufactured from various raw materials such as natural gas, coal as well as biomass. As DME has no carbon-carbon bond in its molecular structure and is an oxygenate fuel, its combustion essentially generates no soot as well as no SOx. Because the physical properties of DME are similar to those of LPG, the LPG distribution infrastructure can be converted to use with DME. DME has such high cetane number of 55~60 that it can be used as a diesel engine fuel. Practical use of DME as a next-generation clean fuel or next-generation chemical feedstock is advancing in the fields of power generation, diesel engines, household use, and fuel cells, among others. The purpose of this paper is review the characteristics, standardization, status of research and development in domestic and foreign countries of DME.