• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.14
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• pp.5913-5916
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• 2015

Gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) is the malignant form of gestational trophoblastic disease. In non-metastatic GTN, the outcomes of treatment are impressive with methotrexate (MTX) or actinomycin D. We retrospectively reviewed the outcomes of non-metastatic GTN treated at our center from January, 1999 to December, 2013. One hundred and nine patients were recruited to the study. The median age was 33.1 years and over 90% were referral cases. Abnormal vaginal symptoms developed in 37.6% while 56.4% were asymptomatic. The most common antecedent pregnancy was a complete mole (92.7%) with the median interval time from antecedent pregnancy to GTN development being 2.0 months. The median pretreatment B-hCG was 5,624 mIu/ml. The most common first line treatment was methotrexate (MTX) and folinic acid (91.7%) followed by weekly MTX (4.6%), etoposide+ MTX+actinomycin D (EMA) (2.8%), and actinomycin D (0.9%), with the median number of cycles at 5.0. The positive response to first line chemotherapy was 73.8%. The patients were given subsequent chemotherapeutic regimens after resistance to the first line therapy and showed a final remission rate of 89.9%.The significant factor that was frequently found in patients who were non-responders to the first line treatment was a hysterectomy procedure. Two patients developed lung metastasis and brain metastasis at one and four years after the first treatment, respectively. In conclusion, the outcomes of non-metastatic GTN were excellent. However, the patients need long term follow up due to the possibility of developing multiple organ metastases.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.15
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• pp.5977-5982
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• 2014

Research over the years has progressively shown substantial broadening of the tumor necrosis factor alpha-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-mediated signaling landscape. Increasingly it is being realized that pancreatic cancer is a multifaceted and genomically complex disease. Suppression of tumor suppressors, overexpression of oncogenes, epigenetic silencing, and loss of apoptosis are some of the extensively studied underlying mechanisms. Rapidly accumulating in vitro and in vivo evidence has started to shed light on the resistance mechanisms in pancreatic cancer cells. More interestingly a recent research has opened new horizons of miRNA regulation by DR5 in pancreatic cancer cells. It has been shown that DR5 interacts with the core microprocessor components Drosha and DGCR8, thus impairing processing of primary let-7. Xenografting DR5 silenced pancreatic cancer cells in SCID-mice indicated that there was notable suppression of tumor growth. There is a paradigm shift in our current understanding of TRAIL mediated signaling in pancreatic cancer cells that is now adding new layers of concepts into the existing scientific evidence. In this review we have attempted to provide an overview of recent advances in TRAIL mediated signaling in pancreatic cancer as evidenced by findings of in vitro and in vivo analyses. Furthermore, we discuss nanotechnological advances with emphasis on PEG-TRAIL and four-arm PEG cross-linked hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels to improve availability of TRAIL at target sites.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2008

We created a cDNA microarray representing approximately 3,500 pig genes for functional genomic studies. The array elements were selected from 6,494 cDNA clones identified in a large-scale expressed sequence tag (EST) project. These cDNA clones came from normalized and subtracted porcine adipose tissue cDNA libraries. Sequence similarity searches of the 3,426 ESTs represented on the array using BLASTN identified 2,790 (81.4%) as putative human orthologs, with the remainder consisting of "novel" genes or highly divergent orthologs. We used the gene microarray to profile transcripts expressed by adipose tissue of fatty Chinese Xiang pig (XP) and muscley Large White (LW). Microarray analysis of RNA extracted from adipose tissue of fatty XP and muscley LW identified 81 genes that were differently expressed two fold or more. Transcriptional differences of four of these genes, adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (aP2), stearyl-CoA desaturase (SCD), sterol regulatory element binding transcription factor 1 (SREBF1) and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) were confirmed using SYBR Green quantitative RT-PCR technology. Our results showed that high expression of SCD and SREBF1 may be one of the reasons that larger fat deposits are observed in the XP. In addition, our findings also illustrate the potential power of microarrays for understanding the molecular mechanisms of porcine development, disease resistance, nutrition, fertility and production traits.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.201-207
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• 2012

This study investigated the hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, and antioxidant effects of dietary quercetin in an animal model of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Four-week-old C57BL/KsJ-db/db mice (n = 18) were offered an AIN-93G diet or a diet containing quercetin at 0.04% (low quercetin, LQE) or 0.08% of the diet (high quercetin, HQE) for 6 weeks after 1 week of adaptation. Plasma glucose, insulin, adiponectin, and lipid profiles, and lipid peroxidation of the liver were determined. Plasma glucose levels were significantly lower in the LQE group than in the control group, and those in the HQE group were even further reduced compared with the LQE group. The homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) showed lower values for LQE and HQE than for the control group without significant influence on insulin levels. High quercetin increased plasma adiponectin compared with the control group. Plasma triglycerides in the LQE and HQE groups were lower than those in the control group. Supplementation with high quercetin decreased plasma total cholesterol and increased HDL-cholesterol compared with the control group. Consumption of low and high quercetin reduced thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) levels and elevated activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in the liver. Thus, quercetin could be effective in improving hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, and antioxidant status in type 2 diabetes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.168.1-168.1
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• 2014

We developed poly (3,4-ethylene dioxylene thiophene):poly (styrene sulfonic acid) (PEDOT:PSS)-free organic solar cells (OSCs) using buffer and anode combined Ta doped $In_2O_3$ (ITaO) electrodes. To optimize the ITaO electrodes, we investigated the effect of $Ta_2O_5$ doping power on the electrical, optical, and structural properties of the co-sputtered ITaO films. The optimized ITaO film doped with 20 W $Ta_2O_5$ radio frequency power showed sheet resistance of 17.11 Ohm/square, a transmittance of 93.45%, and a work function of 4.9 eV, all of which are comparable to the value of conventional ITO electrodes. The conventional bulk heterojunction OSC with ITaO anode showed a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 3.348% similar to the OSCs (3.541%) with an ITO anode. In addition, OSCs fabricated on an ITaO electrode successfully operated without an acidic PEDOT:PSS buffer layer and showed a PCE of 2.634%, which was much higher than the comparable no buffer OSC with an ITO anode. Therefore, co-sputtered ITaO electrodes simultaneously acting as a buffer and an anode layer can be considered promising transparent electrodes for cost-efficient and reliable OSCs because they can eliminate the use of an acidic PEDOT:PSS buffer layer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.78-78
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• 2017

Pure Titanium and alloy have been widely used in dental implants and orthopedics due to their excellent mechanical properties, biocompatibility and corrosion resistance. However, due to the biologically inactive nature of Ti metal implants, it cannot bind to the living bone immediately after transplantation into the body. In order to improve the bone bonding ability of titanium implants, many attempts have been made to alter the structure, composition and chemical properties of titanium surfaces, including the deposition of bioactive coatings. The PEO method has the advantages of short experiment time and low cost. These advantages have attracted attention recently. Recently, many metal ions such as silicon, magnesium, zinc, strontium, and manganese have received attention in this field due to their impact on bone regeneration. Silicon (Si) in particular has been found to be essential for normal bone and cartilage growth and development. Zinc (Zn) plays very important roles in bone formation and immune system regulation and promotes bone metabolism and growth. Manganese (Mn) is an essential trace metal found in all tissues and is required for normal amino acid, lipid, protein and carbohydrate metabolism. The objective of this work was research on the corrosion behavior of Si, Zn and Mn-doped hydroxyapatite on the PEO-treated surface. Anodized alloys was prepared at 270V~300V voltage in the solution containig Zn, Si, and Mn ions. Ion release test was carried out using potentidynamic and AC impedance method in 0.9% NaCl solution. The surface characteristics of PEO treated Ti-6Al-4V alloy were investigated using XRD, FE-SEM, AFM and EDS.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.516-525
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• 2012

LAB were isolated from makgeolli locally produced around Jinju, Gyeongnam, S. Korea during spring of 2011. Randomly selected 11 isolates from MRS agar plates were identified first by API CHL 50 kits and then 16S rRNA gene sequencing. All 11 isolates were identified as Lactobacillus plantarum. Among them, ST4 grew in MRS broth with ethanol up to 10%, showing the highest alcohol resistance. L. plantarum ST4 was moderately resistant against acid and bile salts. When cellular proteins of L. plantarum ST4 under ethanol stress were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE), the intensities of 6 spots increased, whereas 22 spots decreased at least 2-fold. Those 28 spots were identified by peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF). FusA2 (elongation factor G) increased 18.8-fold (6% ethanol) compared with control. Other proteins were AtpD (ATP synthase subunit beta), DnaK, GroEL, Tuf (elongation factor Tu), and Npr2 (NADH peroxidase), respectively. Among the 22 proteins decreased in intensities, lactate dehydrogenases (LdhD and LdhL1) were included.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.1052-1060
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• 2018

Numerous studies suggest that the effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on oxidative stress in vivo are correlated with their antioxidative activities in vitro; however, the relationship is still unclear and contradictory. The antioxidative activities of 27 Lactobacillus plantarum strains isolated from fermented foods were determined in terms of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, hydroxyl radical, and superoxide radical scavenging abilities, reducing activity, resistance to hydrogen peroxide, and ferrous chelating ability in vitro. Two fuzzy synthetic evaluation models, one with an analytic hierarchy process and one using entropy weight, were then used to evaluate the overall antioxidative abilities of these L. plantarum strains. Although there was some difference between the two models, the highest scoring strain (CCFM10), the middle scoring strain (CCFM242), and the lowest scoring strain (RS15-3) were obtained with both models. Examination of the antioxidative abilities of these three strains in $\text\tiny{D}$-galactose-induced oxidative stress mice demonstrated that their overall antioxidative abilities in vitro could reveal the abilities to alleviate oxidative stress in vivo. The current study suggests that assessment of overall antioxidative abilities with fuzzy synthetic models can guide the evaluation of probiotic antioxidants. It might be a more quick and effective method to evaluate the overall antioxidative abilities of LAB.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.16-25
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• 1998

Laboratory-scale experiment using anaerobic fluidized bed reactor was carried out to investigate the prehydrolysis step with caustic soda on the treatment efficiency of anaerobic sludge treatment, since the overall rate-limiting step for the complete anaerobic digestion of sludge was the hydrolysis step by extracellular bacterial enzymes of insoluble polymeric molecules. Reactors received a sludge which had not been pretreated, a 50-50 mixture of pretreated and untreated sludge, and the fully pretreated sludge. Hydraulic retention time of 10, 5, 2.5 days and 1 day were applied with an respective equivalent organic loading rate of 1.17, 2.23, 4.17, 11.24 gCOD/L/d. Reactor with the untreated sludge did not archieve adequate digestion even at the HRT of 5 days, and reactor, which received the 50-50 mixture, operated well at the HRT of 5 days, but began to show signs of unstable digestion at the HRT of 2.5 days. While, reactor, which was fed the hydrolyzed sludge, operated reasonably well at the 2.5 days, but was showing somewhat decrease in removal efficiencies. Results, therefore, have substantiated that the limiting reaction in the anaerobic treatment process is hydrolysis. The soluble COD did not significantly accumulate in the reactor as organic acid form, even when they were highly stressed. It was believed that this resistance to a build-up of organic acids and soluble COD behavior was mainly due to the maintenance of the methane bacteria in the fixed-film system which prevents washout as the organic loading increased. The anaerobic fluidized bed reactor was therefore effective for the digestion of waste activated sludge at short HRT.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.17-25
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• 1998

Aluminum alloys have low density, relatively high strength and yield strength, good plasticity, good machinability, and high corrosion and acid resistance. Therefore, they are suitable for large containers for the food, chemical and other industries. Large containers are often bodies of revolution consisting of shell courses, stiffening rings, heads and other elements joined by annular welds. Larger containers have longer welds and require greater leak-tightness and higher weld mechanical properties. The LNG tank consists of aluminum plates with various sizes, so its construction should by divided by several sections. Moreover, each section has its own sub-section consisted of several aluminum plates. To guarantee the quality of huge LNG tank, therefore, the precise control of plate dimension should by urgently needed in conjunction with the appropriate selection of process parameters such as cutting speed, depth of cut, rotational speed and so on. In this paper, a manufacturing system was developed to implement automatic circular tracking in height direction and automatic circular interpolation in depth of cut direction. Also, the neural network based on the backpropagation algorithm was used to predict the cutting quality and motor load related with the life time of the developed system. It was revealed that the manufacturing system and the neural network could be effectively applied to the bevelling process and to predict the quality of machined area and the motor load.