• IEMEK Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.89-100
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• 2023

Recently, on-device artificial intelligence (AI) solutions using mobile devices and embedded edge devices have emerged in various fields, such as computer vision, to address network traffic burdens, low-energy operations, and security problems. Although vision transformer deep learning models have outperformed conventional convolutional neural network (CNN) models in computer vision, they require more computations and parameters than CNN models. Thus, they are not directly applicable to embedded edge devices with limited hardware resources. Many researchers have proposed various model compression methods or lightweight architectures for vision transformers; however, there are only a few studies evaluating the effects of model compression techniques of vision transformers on performance. Regarding this problem, this paper presents a performance evaluation of vision transformers on embedded platforms. We investigated the behaviors of three vision transformers: DeiT, LeViT, and MobileViT. Each model performance was evaluated by accuracy and inference time on edge devices using the ImageNet dataset. We assessed the effects of the quantization method applied to the models on latency enhancement and accuracy degradation by profiling the proportion of response time occupied by major operations. In addition, we evaluated the performance of each model on GPU and EdgeTPU-based edge devices. In our experimental results, LeViT showed the best performance in CPU-based edge devices, and DeiT-small showed the highest performance improvement in GPU-based edge devices. In addition, only MobileViT models showed performance improvement on EdgeTPU. Summarizing the analysis results through profiling, the degree of performance improvement of each vision transformer model was highly dependent on the proportion of parts that could be optimized in the target edge device. In summary, to apply vision transformers to on-device AI solutions, either proper operation composition and optimizations specific to target edge devices must be considered.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.81-88
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• 2011

Biological activities (${\alpha},{\alpha}'$-diphenyl-${\beta}$-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity, fibrinolytic activity and reducing power) and biochemical properties (protein content and electrophoretical protein patterns) were examined in solid state fermentation with Bacillus subtilis and Aspergillus kawachii using silkworm powder (SP) as substrate. The highest protein contents and free radical scavenging activities were seen in the SP fermented for 12 days with B. subtilis and A. kawachii, and these were in a time-dependent manner. The highest reducing power was seen in the SP fermented for 6 days with B. subtilis and for 12 days with A. kawachii, respectively. The highest fibrinolytic activities were seen in silkworm fermented for 6 days with B. subtilis and A. kawachii, but this activity was higher in the A. kawachii fermented SP than that of B. subtilis. When total protein patterns were analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), the proteins of the SP fermented with B. subtilis for 3 days were completely degraded, while the protein degradation in the SP fermented with A. kawachii occurred after 12 days and this degradation increased proportionally to culture time. As a result, the SP fermented with both B. subtilis and A. kawachii showed higher fibrinolytic activities after 6 days of fermentation and antioxidative activity after 12 days, indicating that physiological activities of the fermented SP using these strains were highly improved compared to the unfermented SP, and that this compound could be a candidate material as a dietary supplement of healthy functional foods.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.1015-1021
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• 2016

5-fluorouracil (5-FU), a pyrimidine analog, is a widely used anticancer drug, which works through irreversible inhibition of thymidylate synthase. In the present study, it was investigated the anti-proliferative effects and molecular mechanisms of 5-FU using Ewing's Sarcoma CHP-100 Cells. The present data indicated that treatment of 5-FU to CHP-100 cells induced a G1 phase arrest of the cell cycle in a time-dependent manner. 5-FU-induced G1 arrest was correlated with the accumulation of the hypophosphorylated form of the retinoblastoma protein (pRB) and association of pRB with the transcription factors E2F-1 and E2F-4. Although 5-FU treatment did affect the levels of cyclin-dependent kinases, the levels of cyclin A and B were markedly down-regulated as compared with the untreated control group. In addition, 5-FU-induced G1 arrest of CHP-100 cells was also associated with the induction of apoptosis, as determined by apoptotic cell morphologies, degradation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and Annexin V staining. Furthermore, 5-FU induced the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential with up-regulated pro-apoptotic Bax expression, down-regulated anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 expression and cytochrome c release from mitochondria to cytosol. Collectively, the data suggest that 5-FU is effective in inducing cell growth reduction and apoptosis, in part, by reducing phosphorylation of pRB and activating mitochondrial dysfunction in CHP-100 cells.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.24-34
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• 2020

Objective: The effects of Pleurotus ostreatus on the feed utilization of broad bean stalks (BBS), rape straw (RS), paddy straw (PS), and corn stalk (CS) was examined. Methods: The four roughages were co-cultured with Pleurotus ostreatus. The chemical composition; enzyme activities of laccase, carboxymethylcellulase (CMCase) and xylanase; carbohydrate and protein fractions (based on The Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System [CNCPS]) were assessed at different days after inoculation (7, 14, 21, 28 d) and un-inoculated roughages (control, 0 d). The digestibility of nutrient components and the gas production of roughage with various incubation times were monitored at 0, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, and 72 h using an in vitro ruminal fermentation method. Results: A higher CMCase activity (0.1039 U/mL) and earlier time to peak (14 d) were detected in Pleurotus ostreatus cultured with CS (p<0.05). Significantly, the incubation length-dependent responses of cumulative gas production were observed from 24 to 72 hours post fermentation (p<0.05), and these incubation length-dependent effects on cumulative gas production of PS and CS appeared earlier (24 h) for PS and CS than those (48 h) for BBS and RS (p<0.05). The fast-degradable carbohydrate (CA) content for all four roughages significantly increased over time (p<0.05). Nonetheless, increased degradation efficiency for CA treated with Pleurotus ostreatus was detected at both 21 and 28 days of incubation (p<0.05). With the exception of PS (p<0.05), there were no significant difference among the roughages (p>0.05) in slowly-degradable carbohydrate (CB2) at different incubation times (p<0.05). Conclusion: Assessment of the alterations in chemical composition, CNCPS system fractions, and the fermentation kinetics after biological pretreatment may yield a valuable database for evaluating the biological pretreatment of Pleurotus ostreatus in ruminant feed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.246-257
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• 2015

The progressive degradation paths of structures have quantitatively been tracked by using stochastic processes, such as Wiener process, gamma process and compound Poisson process, in order to consider both the sampling uncertainty due to the usual lack of damage data and the temporal uncertainty associated with the deterioration evolution. Several important features of stochastic processes which should carefully be considered in application of the stochastic processes to practical problems have been figured out through assessing cumulative damage and lifetime distribution as a function of time. Especially, the Wiener process and the gamma process have straightforwardly been applied to armors of rubble-mound breakwaters by the aid of a sample path method based on Melby's formula which can estimate cumulative damage levels of armors over time. The sample path method have been developed to calibrate the related-parameters required in the stochastic modelling of armors of rubble-mound breakwaters. From the analyses, it is found that cumulative damage levels of armors have surely been saturated with time. Also, the exponent of power law in time, that plays a significant role in predicting the cumulative damage levels over time, can easily be determined, which makes the stochastic models possible to track the cumulative damage levels of armors of rubble-mound breakwaters over time. Finally, failure probabilities with respect to various critical limits have been analyzed throughout its anticipated service life.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.249-255
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• 2009

Esculetin, a coumarin compound, has been known to inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis in several types of human cancer cells. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in esculetin-induced apoptosis are still uncharacterized in human leukemia cells. In this study, we have investigated whether esculetin exerts anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects on human leukemia U937 cells. It was found that esculetin could inhibit cell viability in a time-dependent manner, which was associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death such as increased populations of apoptotic- sub G1 phase. Apoptosis of U937 cells by esculetin was associated with an inhibition of Bcl-2/Bax binding activity, formation of tBid, down-regulation of X-linked inhibitor of apoptotic protein (XIAP) expression, and up-regulation of death receptor 4 (DR4) and FasL expression. Esculetin treatment also induced the degradation of ${\beta}$-catenin and DNA fragmentation factor 45/inhibitor of caspase-activated DNase (DFF45/ICAD). Furthermore, a caspase-3 specific inhibitor, z-DEVD-fmk, significantly inhibited sub-G1 phase DNA content, morphological changes and degradation of ${\beta}$-catenin and DEE45/ICAD. These results indicated that a key regulator in esculetin-induced apoptosis was caspase-3 in human leukemia U937 cells.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.6165-6171
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• 2013

This study aimed to analyze the expression and clinical significance of cyclin G2 (CCNG2) in thyroid carcinoma and the biological effects of CCNG2 overexpression in a cell line. Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting were used to analyze CCNG2 protein expression in 63 cases of thyroid cancer and normal tissues to allow the relationship with clinical factors to be assessed. CCNG2 lentiviral and empty vectors were transfected into the thyroid cancer K1 cell line. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting were applied to detect the mRNA and protein levels of CCNG2. MTT assay and cell cycle were also conducted to assess the influence of up-regulated expression of CCNG2 on K1 cell biology. The level of CCNG2 protein expression was found to be significantly lower in thyroid cancer tissue than normal tissues (P<0.05). Western blot: The relative amount of CCNG2 protein in thyroid cancer tissue was respectively found to be significantly lower than in normal tissues (P<0.05), correlating with lymph node metastasis, clinic stage and histological grade (P<0.05), but not gender, age or tumor size (P>0.05). Loss of CCNG2 expression correlated significantly with poor overall survival time on Kaplan-Meier analysis (P<0.05). The results for biological functions showed that K1 cell transfected CCNG2 had a lower survival fraction, a greater percentage in the G0/G1 phases, and lower cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) protein expression compared with K1 cells non-transfected with CCNG2 (P<0.05). CCNG2 expression decreased in thyroid cancer and correlated significantly lymph node metastasis, clinic stage, histological grade and poor overall survival, suggesting that CCNG2 may play important roles as a negative regulator in thyroid cancer K1 cells by promoting degradation of CDK2.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.83.1-83.12
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• 2023

Background: Ellipticine (Ellip.) was recently reported to have beneficial effects on the differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells into mature chondrocyte-like cells. On the other hand, no practical results have been derived from the transplantation of bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) in a rabbit osteoarthritis (OA) model. Objectives: This study examined whether autologous BMSCs incubated with ellipticine (Ellip.+BMSCs) could regenerate articular cartilage in rabbit OA, a model similar to degenerative arthritis in human beings. Methods: A portion of rabbit articular cartilage was surgically removed, and Ellip.+BMSCs were transplanted into the lesion area. After two and four weeks of treatment, the serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines, i.e., tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), were analyzed, while macroscopic and micro-computed tomography (CT) evaluations were conducted to determine the intensity of cartilage degeneration. Furthermore, immuno-blotting was performed to evaluate the mitogen-activated protein kinases, PI3K/Akt, and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling in rabbit OA models. Histological staining was used to confirm the change in the pattern of collagen and proteoglycan in the articular cartilage matrix. Results: The transplantation of Ellip.+BMSCs elicited a chondroprotective effect by reducing the inflammatory factors (TNF-α, PGE2) in a time-dependent manner. Macroscopic observations, micro-CT, and histological staining revealed articular cartilage regeneration with the downregulation of matrix-metallo proteinases (MMPs), preventing articular cartilage degradation. Furthermore, histological observations confirmed a significant boost in the production of chondrocytes, collagen, and proteoglycan compared to the control group. Western blotting data revealed the downregulation of the p38, PI3K-Akt, and NF-κB inflammatory pathways to attenuate inflammation. Conclusions: The transplantation of Ellip.+BMSCs normalized the OA condition by boosting the recovery of degenerated articular cartilage and inhibiting the catabolic signaling pathway.

• BMB Reports
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.350-357
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• 1999

At concentrations of 1 mM, the protective effects of carnosine and related compounds including anserine, homocarnosine, histidine, ${\beta}$-alanine were investigated against copper-catalyzed oxidative damage to deoxyribose, ascorbic acid, human serum albumin, liposome, and erythrocytes. Carnosine and anserine reduced Cu (II) to bathocuproine-reactive Cu (I) in a time- a and a dose-dependent manner while the others did not. Carnosine reduced 86% of $100\;{\mu}M$ Cu (II) in 60 min. Carnosine, homocarnosine, anserine, and histidine inhibited copper-catalyzed deoxyribose degradation by 75, 66, 65, and 45%, respectively. In the presence of $1\;{\mu}M$ Cu (II), carnosine and related compounds inhibited ascorbic acid oxidation by 55-85% after incubation for 20 min. In the presence of 0.15 mM ascorbic acid and 0.8 mM $H_2O_2$, carnosine, anserine, homocarnosine, and histidine inhibited copper-catalyzed oxidation of human serum albumin by 41, 21, 29, and 24%, respectively, as determined by carbonyl formation. These compounds also significantly inhibited copper-catalyzed liposomal lipid peroxidation as measured by malondialehyde and lipid hydroperoxides. Carnosine, anserine, homocarnosine, and histidine inhibited hemolysis of bovine erythrocytes induced by 0.1 mM Cu (II). These results suggest that histidine-containing dipeptides may play an important role in protecting against free radical-mediated tissue damage.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.74-81
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• 1993

To investigate the oil degrading properties of psychrotrophic bacterium Acinetobacter calcoaceticus Al-l the effects of environmental factors on this bacterium were studied. The optimal environmental conditions for cell growth rate and oil-emulsifying activity were as follows; temperature $15^{\circ}C$, pH 7.5, salt concentration 0- 3% and crude oil concentration 0.1%. Additionally the optimal concentration of Nand P source for cell growth rate and oil-emulsifying activity were 0.76 mM and 0.057 mM as $(NH_4)HS0_4$ and $K_2HP0_4$, respectively. Analysis of remnant oil by gas chromatography showed time dependent oil degradation pattern by A. calcoaceticus during cultivation; At lOoe and $15^{circ}$e, most alkane peaks were disappeared and it showed large quantities of crude oil were degraded. But at $25^{circ}$e alkane compounds in the crude oil were partially degraded even after 120 hours incubation.