• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.455-461
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• 2001

The effect of exogenous gonadotrophins on superovulation in rabbits was examined. One hundred and sixteen sexually mature California, Chinchilla and New Zealand White rabbits were randomly allocated to control (100 IU hCG), PMSG-treated (100 IU HCG following 150 IU PMSG) and FSH-treated groups (0.3 mg/head /12 h for 3 days followed by 100 IU hCG). All does were mated after hCG injection and were sacrificed or laparotomized within 1 to 4 days postcoitus for counting the number of ovulation points. The number of ovulations was higher in FSH-treated animals than in the control and PMSG-treated groups (37.2 vs. 10.4 and 14.5, p<0.05). Follicle haemorrhagicum was observed in many cases in the PMSG-treated group. No significant difference in ovulation number was observed between left and right ovaries regardless of gonadotropin treatment. In another experiment, 2-cell stage embryos were collected at 26 h postmating and blastomeres were separated by mechanical pipetting or gentle pressure with a fine glass needle. Aggregated or chimeric embryos were produced from two single blastomeres from two breeds, New Zealand White and Chinchlla, with different coat colors. All the embryos were cultured in Ham's F-10 medium supplemented with 1.5% BSA (bovine serum albumin fraction V) and 10% PRS (pregnant rabbit serum), and incubated in a humidified atmosphere with 5% $CO_2$ at $38^{\circ}C$. After development to morula or early blastocyst, the embryos were transferred into the oviducts of recipient does. Results showed that 7 out of 10 does (70%) receiving intact embryos (control) became pregnant and 41 kits were delivered. However, no pregnancy was obtained from the recipient of either denuded demi- or aggregated embryos. It is suggested that embryos without zona pellucida could not develop to term in rabbits.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.636-644
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• 1997

The effect of various processing parameters, in particular the substrate and filament temperature, on the nucleation of diamond has been studied for the hot filament CVD process with a negative bias on the substrate. As far as the substrate temperature was maintained around the critical temperature of 73$0^{\circ}C$, the nucleation of diamond increased with increasing filament temperature. The maximum nucleation density of ~ 2$\times$109/$\textrm{cm}^2$ was obtained under the condition of filament temperature of 230$0^{\circ}C$, substrate temperature of 75$0^{\circ}C$, bias voltage of 300V, methane concentration of 20%, and deposition time of 2 hours. This nucleation density is about the same as those obtained in previous investigations. For fixed substrate temperatures, the nucleation density varies up to about 103 times depending on experimental conditions. This result is different from that of Reinke, et al. When the substrate temperature was above 80$0^{\circ}C$, a silkworm~shaped carbon phase was co-deposited with hemispherical microcrystalline diamond, and its amount increased with increasing substrate temperature. The Raman spectrum of the silkworm-shaped carbon was the same as that of graphitic soot. The silkworm-shaped carbon was etched and disappeared under the same as that of graphitic soot. The silkworm-shaped carbon was etched and disappeared under the deposition condition of diamond, implying that it did not affect the nucleation of diamond.

• BMB Reports
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.213-219
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• 2002

Malonyl-CoA decarboxylase (E.C.4.1.1.9) catalyzes the conversion of malonyl-CoA to acetyl-CoA. Although the metabolic role of this enzyme has not been fully defined, it has been reported that its deficiency is associated with mild mental retardation, seizures, hypotonia, cadiomyopathy, developmental delay, vomiting, hypoglycemia, metabolic acidosis, and malonic aciduria. Here, we isolated a cDNA clone for malonyl CoA decarboxylase from a rat brain cDNA library, expressed it in E. coli, and characterized its biochemical properties. The full-length cDNA contained a single open-reading frame that encoded 491 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular weight of 54, 762 Da. Its deduced amino acid sequence revealed a 65.6% identity to that from the goose uropigial gland. The sequence of the first 38 amino acids represents a putative mitochondrial targeting sequence, and the last 3 amino acid sequences (SKL) represent peroxisomal targeting ones. The expression of malonyl CoA decarboxylase was observed over a wide range of tissues as a single transcript of 2.0 kb in size. The recombinant protein that was expressed in E. coli was used to characterize the biochemical properties, which showed a typical Michaelis-Menten substrate saturation pattern. The $K_m$ and $V_{max}$ were calculated to be $68\;{\mu}M$ and $42.6\;{\mu}mol/min/mg$, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.45-50
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• 2008

Microstructural evolution and the intermetallic compound (IMC) growth kinetics in an Au stud bump were studied via isothermal aging at 120, 150, and $180^{\circ}C$ for 300hrs. The $AlAu_4$ phase was observed in an Al pad/Au stud interface, and its thickness was kept constant during the aging treatment. AuSn, $AuSn_2,\;and\;AuSn_4$ phases formed at interface between the Au stud and Sn. $AuSn_2,\;AuSn_2/AuSn_4$, and AuSn phases dominantly grew as the aging time increased at $120^{\circ}C,\;150^{\circ}C,\;and\;180^{\circ}C$, respectively, while $(Au,Cu)_6Sn_5/Cu_3Sn$ phases formed at Sn/Cu interface with a negligible growth rate. Kirkendall voids formed at $AlAu_4/Au$, Au/Au-Sn IMC, and $Cu_3Sn/Cu$ interfaces and propagated continuously as the time increased. The apparent activation energy for the overall growth of the Au-Sn IMC was estimated to be 1.04 eV.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.224-230
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• 2021

Background: Local anesthetics often are used in rotator cuff tears as therapeutic tools, although some cases have reported that they have detrimental effects. Neurotropin (NTP) is used widely in Japan as a treatment for various chronic pain conditions and is shown to have protective effects on cartilage and nerve cells. In this study, we investigated the protective effect of NTP against lidocaine-induced cytotoxicity. Methods: Tenocytes from rotator cuff tendons were incubated with lidocaine, NTP, lidocaine with NTP, and a control medium. Cell viability was evaluated using the WST-8 assay. Cell apoptosis was detected via annexin V staining using flow cytometry. The expression of BCL-2 and cytochrome c, which are involved in the intrinsic mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis, was evaluated via Western blotting and immunohistochemical staining. Results: In the cell viability assay, lidocaine decreased cell viability in a dose-dependent manner, and NTP did not affect cell viability. Moreover, NTP significantly inhibited the cytotoxic effect of lidocaine. The flow cytometry analysis showed that lidocaine significantly induced apoptosis in tenocytes, and NTP considerably inhibited this lidocaine-induced apoptosis. Western blotting experiments showed that lidocaine decreased the protein expression of BCL-2, and that NTP conserved the expression of BCL-2, even when used with lidocaine. Immunohistochemical staining for cytochrome c showed that 0.1% lidocaine increased cytochrome c-positive cells, and NTP suppressed lidocaine-induced cytochrome c expression. Conclusions: NTP suppresses lidocaine-induced apoptosis of tenocytes by inhibiting the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. Intra-articular/bursal injection of NTP with lidocaine could protect tenocytes in rotator cuff tendons against lidocaine-induced apoptosis.

• BMB Reports
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.339-344
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• 1999

We studied the effects of ginsenosides in immature rats based upon the previous results that ginseng has a suppressive or anticonvulsive activity. To examine the suppressive effect of ginsenosides on kainic acid-induced seizures, the severities and frequencies were observed for 4 h after injection of kainic acid (KA; i.p., 2 mg/kg b.w.) using 10-day-old male Sprague-Dawley rats ($22{\pm}2\;g$). Protopanaxadiol saponins such as ginsenoside-Rb1 (Rb1), ginsenoside-Rb2 (Rb2), ginsenoside-Rc (Rc), and ginsenoside-Rd(Rd) generally reduced the seizure activities while protopanaxatriol saponins such as ginsenoside-Rg1 (Rg1) and ginsenoside-Re (Re) rather increased stereotypic "paddling-like" movements. When vinyl-GABA (v-G) was injected together with Rb1 or Rc, KA-induced seizure severities were additionally reduced only by the injection of Rc, but not by Rb1. The level of gamma isozyme of protein kinase C (PKC-${\gamma}$) in the hippocampus increased about three times as much as that of normal rats at 4 h after KA injection. The increased level of PCK-${\gamma}$ by KA was significantly reduced to about 35% by the coinjection with v-G alone, but it was not changed by v-G together with Rb1 or Rc. The increased level of PKC-${\gamma}$ at 4 h after injection of KA was not consistent with the reduction of seizure severities between Rb1 and Rc. These results suggest that Rc and Rb1 may reduce seizure severity independent of PKC-${\gamma}$ levels, and Rc may additionally act with v-G regarding the GABA metabolism during the stage of KA-induced seizures in the immature rats.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.85-92
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• 1989

Dosimerty based on electron spin resonance (ESR) analysis of radiation induced free radicals in amino acids is relevant to biological dosimetry applications. Alanine detectors are without walls and are tissue equivalent. Therefore, alanine ESR dosimetry looks promising for use in the therapy level. The dose range of the alanine/ESR dosimetry system can be extended down to 1 Gy. In water phantom the absorbed dose of electrons generated by a medical linear accelerator of different initial energies $(6\~21MeV)$ and therapeutic dose levels (1~60 Gy) was measured. Furthermore, depth dose measurements carried out with alanine dosimeters were compared with ionization chamber measurements. As the results, the measured absorbed doses for shallow depth of initial electron energies above 15 MeV were higher by$2\~5\%$ than those calculated by nominal energy $C_E$ factors. This seems to be caused by low energy scattered beams generated from the scattering foil and electron cones of beam projecting device in medical linear accelerator.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.10
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• pp.583-589
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• 2015

This study was performed to evaluate the feasibility of anaerobic pretreatment for the leachate solubilized from thermal hydrolysis of sewage sludge cake. Overall process for the treatment of sludge cake consists of thermal hydrolysis, crystallization of magnesium, ammonium, and phosphate (MAP) for the leachate and anaerobic digestion of supernatant from MAP crystallization. The experimental evidence showed that the optimum ratio of Mg : P for the struvite crystallization of leachate solubilized from thermal hydrolysis of sludge cake was 1.5 to 1.0 as weight basis at the pH of 9.5. With this operational condition, the removal efficiencies of ammonia nitrogen and phosphorous achieved 50% and 97%, respectively. The mesophilic batch test showed that the ultimate biodegradability of the supernatant from MAP crystallization reached 63% at S/I ratio of 0.5. The readily biodegradable fraction of 90% ($S_1$) of the MAP supernatant BVS (Biodegradable Volatile Solids, $S_0$) degraded with $k_1$ of $0.207day^{-1}$ for the initial 17 days where as the rest slowly biodegradable fraction ($S_2$) of 10% of BVS degraded with $k_2$ of $0.02day^{-1}$ for the rest of the operational period. Semi-Continuously Fed and Mixed Reactor (SCFMR) was chosen as one of the best candidates to treat the MAP supernatant because of its total solids content over 6%. Maximum average biogas production rates reached 0.45 v/v-d and TVS removal efficiency of 37~41% was achieved at an hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 20 days and its corresponding organic loading rate (OLR) of 1.43 g VS/L-d.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.324-329
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• 1996

In order to develop a novel dewatering process for soybean milk residue, hydraulic press with ohmic heating was built and its expression conditions were examined. The electric conductivity of raw soybean milk residue was 0.128 S/m and increased linearly with increasing temperature. Water content of the residue could be reduced to 74% with the conventional hydraulic press, but to less than 70% by applying ohmic heating to the hydraulic press. The most effective dewatering was achieved by applying alternative current with 5 kHz frequency at 60 V during expression. The solid content of the expressed liauid was markedly reduced from 10% to 3.3% by ohmic heating during expression. Temperature of the cake rose to above $95^{\circ}C$ during the dewatering due to ohmic heating.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.48-55
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• 1993

We report the photoemission (PES) studies for the Co/Pd multilayter. The Co 3d PES spectrum of Co/Pd exhibits two interesting features, one near the Fermi energy, $E_{F}$, and another at ~2.5 eV below $E_{F}$. The Co 3d peak near $E_{F}$ of Co/Pd is much narrower than that of the bulk Co, consistent with the enhanced Co magnetic moment in Co/Pd compared to that in the bulk Co. The Co 3d feature at ~-2.5 eV resembles the Pd valence band structures, which suggests a substantial hybridization between the Co and Pd sublayers. The Co 3d PES spectrum of Co/Pd is compared with the existing band structures, obtained using the local spin density functional calculations. A reasonable agreement is found concerning the bandwidth of the occupied part of the Co 3d band, whereas a narrow Co 3d peak near $E_{F}$ seems not to be described by the band structure calculations.