• Journal of KIISE:Computer Systems and Theory
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.692-703
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• 2004

Communication induced checkpointing (CIC) is one of the checkpointing techniques to provide fault tolerance for distributed systems. Independent checkpoints that each distributed process produces without coordination are likely to be useless. Useless checkpoints, which cannot belong to any consistent global checkpoint sets, induce nondeterminant rollback. To prevent the useless checkpoints, CIC forces processes to take additional checkpoints at proper moment. The number of those forced checkpoints is the main source of failure-free overhead in CIC. In this paper, we present two new CIC protocols which satisfy 'No Z-Cycle (NZC)'property. The proposed protocols reduce the number of forced checkpoints compared to the existing protocols with the drawback of the increase in message delay. Our simulation results with the synthetic data show that the proposed protocols have lower failure-free overhead than the existing protocols. Additionally, we show that the classical 'index-based checkpointing' protocols are inefficient in constructing the consistent global cut in distributed executions.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.254-262
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• 2010

Artemisia capillaris (A. capillaries) is known to play roles in many cellular events, such as cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. We investigated the antifibrogenic efficacy of A. capillaris in the immortalized human hepatic stellate cell line LX2. Cell proliferation was determined by the MTT assay. Cell cycle was analyzed by the flow cytometry. Apoptotic cells were measured using a cell death detection ELISA. Caspase activity was detected by a colorimetric assay. The mRNA level of Bcl-2 and Bax mRNA were measured by real-time PCR. MEK and ERK protein were detected by Western blot analysis. We provide evidence that A. capillaris induces cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and potently inhibits the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. A. capillaris inhibited cell proliferation of LX2 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner, increased the apoptosis fraction at cell cycle analysis with an accompanying DNA fragmentation, and resulted in a significant decrease in Bcl-2 mRNA levels and an increase in Bax expression. Exposure of LX2 cells to A. capillaris induced caspase-3 activation, but co-treatment of A. capillaris with the pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK, and the caspase-3 inhibitor Z-DEVE-FMK, blocked apoptosis. A. capillaris down-regulated Mcl-1 protein levels and inhibited phosphorylation of MEK/ERK, suggesting that it mediates cell death in LX2 cells through the down-regulation of Mcl-1 protein via a MEK/ERK-independent pathway.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.587-598
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• 2012

Objectives : This study was performed to elucidate the pro-apoptotic effect of Artemisiae capillaris herba extracted with ethanol on biliary tract cancer cells. Materials and Methods : The biliary tract cancer cell line SNU-1196 was used in this study. Cells were treated with different concentrations of Artemisiae capillaris herba for 24, 48 and 72 hours. After the treatment, cell viability, apoptosis, caspase activities and the mRNA expressions of the Bcl-2, Bax, P53, and P21 were measured by using MTT assay, cell cycle analysis, apoptosis assay, and RT-PCR. The cell cycle analysis was done by flow cytometry and apoptosis assay by cell death detection ELISA kit. Results : Artemisiae capillaris herba inhibited proliferation of SNU-1196 in long-time culture group with dose-dependent manner. All cells treated with Artemisiae capillaris herba showed increased apoptosis with dose- and time-dependent manner. Exposure of SNU-1196 to Artemisiae capillaris herba induced caspase-3 activation. However, apeoptosis was blocked when SNU-1196 was treated together with the pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK and the caspase-3 inhibitor Z-DEVE-FMK. After the treatment of Artemisiae capillaris herba, the mRNA expressions of caspase -3, -8, -9, p53, and p21 was increased in all cells. Artemisiae capillaris herba resulted in a significant decrease in Bcl-2 and an increase in Bax mRNA levels. Conclusions : These results suggest that Artemisiae capillaris herba would be beneficial in the treatment of biliary tract cancer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.402.1-402.1
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• 2014

Photonic force microscopy (PFM) is an optical tweezers-based scanning probe microscopy, which measures the forces in the range of fN to pN. The low stiffness leads proper to measure single molecular interaction. We introduce a novel photonic force microscopy to stably map various chemical properties as well as topographic information, utilizing weak molecular bond between probe and object's surface. First, we installed stable optical tweezers instrument, where an IR laser with 1064 nm wavelength was used as trapping source to reduce damage to biological sample. To manipulate trapped material, electric driven two-axis mirrors were used for x, y directional probe scanning and a piezo stage for z directional probe scanning. For resolution test, probe scans with vertical direction repeatedly at the same lateral position, where the vertical resolution is ~25 nm. To obtain the topography of surface which is etched glass, trapped bead scans 3-dimensionally and measures the contact position in each cycle. To acquire the chemical mapping, we design the DNA oligonucleotide pairs combining as a zipping structure, where one is attached at the surface of bead and other is arranged on surface. We measured the rupture force of molecular bonding to investigate chemical properties on the surface with various loading rate. We expect this system can realize a high-resolution multi-functional imaging technique able to acquire topographic map of objects and to distinguish difference of chemical properties between these objects simultaneously.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.747-752
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• 2013

Oncostatin M (OSM) is a multifunctional cellular regulator acting on a wide variety of cells, which has potential roles in the regulation of gene activation, cell survival, proliferation and differentiation. Previous studies have shown that OSM can induce morphological and/or functional differentiation and maturation of many tumor cells. However, the action of OSM on the induction of differentiation of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been reported. Here, we investigated the effects of different concentrations of OSM on human HCC cell line SMMC-7721 growth, proliferation, cell cycling, apoptosis and differentiation in vitro. Cell growth was determined via MTT assay, proliferation by cell cycle analysis, apoptosis by flow cytometry, morphology by transmission electronic microscopy, and cell function by detection of biochemical markers. Our results demonstrated that OSM strongly inhibited the growth of SMMC-7721 cells in a dose-dependent manner, associated with decreased clonogenicity. Cell cycle analysis revealed a decreased proportion of cells in S phase, with arrest at G0/G1. The apotosis rate was increased after OSM treatment compared to the control. These changes were associated with striking changes in cellular morphology, toward a more mature hepatic phenotype, accompanied by significant reduction of the expression of AFP and specific activity of ${\gamma}$-GT, with remarkable increase in secretion of albumin and ALP activity. Taken together, our findings indicate that OSM could induce the differentiation and reduce cell viability of SMMC-7721 cells, suggesting that differentiation therapy with OSM offers the opportunity for therapeutic intervention in HCC.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.129-137
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• 2021

It has been established that the acoustic mode parameters of the Sun and Sun-like stars vary over activity cycles. Since the observed variations are not consistent with an activity-related origin, even Sun-like stars showing out-of-phase changes of mode frequencies and amplitudes need to be carefully studied using other observational quantities. In order to test whether the presumed relations between the global seismic parameters are a signature of the stellar activity cycle, we analyze the photometric light curve of HD 49933 for which the first direct detection of an asteroseismic signature for activity-induced variations in a Sun-like star was made, using observations by the CoRoT space telescope. We find that the amplitude of the envelope significantly anti-correlates with both the maximum frequency of the envelope and the width of the envelope unless superflare-like events completely contaminate the light curve. However, even though the photometric proxy for stellar magnetic activity appears to show relations with the global asteroseismic parameters, they are statistically insignificant. Therefore, we conclude that the global asteroseismic parameters can be utilized in cross-checking asteroseismic detections of activity-related variations in Sun-like stars, and that it is probably less secure and effective to construct a photometric magnetic activity proxy to indirectly correlate the global asteroseismic parameters. Finally, we seismically estimate the mass of HD 49933 based on our determination of the large separation of HD 49933 with evolutionary tracks computed by the MESA code and find a value of about 1.2M_☉ and a sub-solar metallicity of Z = 0.008, which agrees with the current consensus and with asteroseismic and non-asteroseismic data.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.269-278
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• 2019

Objectives: Naesohwangryeon-tang (NHT) is a type of traditional herbal formula, however, little is known about its antitumor activity. In this study, the antitumor properties of NHT was evaluated in human lung adenocarcinoma cells. Methods: To check the inhibitory effect of NHT, MTT assay was performed. Cell cycle analysis and detection of ROS production were conducted by flow cytometry. To evaluate the signaling pathway, Western blotting was conducted. Results: Our results showed that the decrease of cell proliferation by NHT stimulation occurred more significantly in A549 cells than in NCI-H460 cells. In addition, NHT-induced apoptosis was associated with the activation of caspases and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). NHT-induced apoptosis was attenuated after pretreatments with z-VAD-fmk or N-acetylcysteine, suggesting that NHT-induced apoptosis was caspaseand ROS-dependent. Interestingly, NHT treatment led to the development of autophagic vesicular organelles and upregulation of several autophagy-related genes. The pretreatment of bafilomycin A1 decreased apoptosis slightly but increased cell viability in the presence of NHT. Conclusion: These findings indicated that NHT induces both apoptosis and cell-protective autophagy in human lung cancer cells. This data suggests that NHT might be a novel herbal drug for lung cancer.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.16.1-16.8
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• 2017

The exportation of cultured olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) in Korea has been recently decreasing due to the infections with a myxozoan parasite Kudoa septempunctata, and there is a strong demand for strict food safety management because the food poisoning associated with consumption of raw olive flounder harbouring K. septempunctata has been frequently reported in Japan. The life cycle and infection dynamics of K. septempunctata in aquatic environment are currently unknown, which hamper establishment of effective control methods. We investigated sea water and marine invertebrates collected from olive flounder farms for detecting K. septempunctata by DNA-based analysis, to elucidate infection dynamics of K. septempunctata in aquaculture farms. In addition, live marine polychaetes were collected and maintained in well plates to find any possible actinosporean state of K. septempunctata. The level of K. septempunctata DNA in rearing water fluctuated during the sampling period but the DNA was not detected in summer (June-July in farm A and August in farm B). K. septempunctata DNA was also detected in the polychaetes Naineris laevigata intestinal samples, showing decreased pattern of 40 to 0%. No actinosporean stage of K. septempunctata was observed in the polychaetes by microscopy. The absence of K. septempunctata DNA in rearing water of fish farm and the polychaetes N. laevigata intestinal samples during late spring and early summer indicate that the infection may not occur during this period. N. laevigata was suspected as the possible alternate invertebrate host of K. septempunctata, but the actinosporean stage was not found by well plate method and further studies will be necessary. This research provides important baseline information for understanding the infection dynamics of K. septempunctata in olive flounder farms and further establishment of control strategies.