• BMB Reports
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• 제47권7호
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• pp.369-375
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• 2014

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a pleiotropic bioactive peptide that was first isolated from an ovine hypothalamus in 1989. PACAP belongs to the secretin/glucagon/vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) superfamily. PACAP is widely distributed in the central and peripheral nervous systems and acts as a neurotransmitter, neuromodulator, and neurotrophic factor via three major receptors (PAC1, VPAC1, and VPAC2). Recent studies have shown a neuroprotective role of PACAP using in vitro and in vivo models. In this review, we briefly summarize the current findings on the neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects of PACAP in different brain injury models, such as cerebral ischemia, Parkinson's disease (PD), and Alzheimer's disease (AD). This review will provide information for the future development of therapeutic strategies in treatment of these neurodegenerative diseases.

• Journal of mucopolysaccharidosis and rare diseases
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• 제2권2호
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• pp.38-40
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• 2016

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare genetic disorder often caused by a deletion of the chromosome 15q11-q13 region inherited from the father or by maternal disomy 15. Growth hormone deficiency with short stature, hypogonadism, cognitive and behavioral problems, analgesia, decreased gastric motility and decreased ability to vomit with hyperphagia are common in PWS leading to severe obesity in early childhood, if not controlled. The goal of this study is to investigate the effects of recombinant human GH (rhGH, henceforth designated GH) on the gene expression related to cognitive function in the brain of PWS mouse model (Snord116del). GH restored the mRNA expression level of several genes in the cerebellum. These data suggest the effect of GH on the expression of cognitive function related genes in cerebellum may provide a mechanism for the GH-induced brain function in PWS patients.

• 한국축산식품학회지
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• 제42권6호
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• pp.981-995
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• 2022

Cognitive dysfunction is a common symptom of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease, and is known to be caused by the structural and functional loss of neurons. Many natural agents that can improve cognitive function have been developed and assessed for efficacy using various cognitive deficit animal models. As the gut environment is known to be closely connected to brain function, probiotics are attracting attention as an effective treatment target that can prevent and mitigate cognitive deficits as a result of neurodegenerative diseases. Thus, the objective of this review is to provide useful information about the types and characteristics of cognitive deficit animal models, which can be used to evaluate the anti-cognitive effects of probiotics. In addition, this work reviewed recent studies describing the effects and treatment conditions of probiotics on cognitive deficit animal models. Collectively, this review shows the potential of probiotics as edible natural agents that can mitigate cognitive impairment. It also provides useful information for the design of probiotic treatments for cognitive deficit patients in future clinical studies.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제22권6호
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• pp.47.1-47.20
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• 2022

In the face of an endlessly expanding repertoire of Ags, vaccines are constantly being tested, each more effective than the last. As viruses and other pathogens evolve to become more infectious, the need for efficient and effective vaccines grows daily, which is especially obvious in an era that is still attempting to remove itself from the clutches of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the cause of coronavirus pandemic. To continue evolving alongside these pathogens, it is proving increasingly essential to consider one of the main effector cells of the immune system. As one of the chief orchestrators of the humoral immune response, the B cell and other lymphocytes are essential to not only achieving immunity, but also maintaining it, which is the vital objective of every vaccine.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• 제41권4호
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• pp.589-594
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• 2017

Ginseng effectively regulates the immune response and the hormonal changes due to stress, thus maintaining homeostasis. In addition to suppressing the occurrence of psychological diseases such as anxiety and depression, ginseng also prevents stress-associated physiological diseases. Recent findings have revealed that ginseng is involved in adjusting the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and controlling hormones, thus producing beneficial effects on the heart and brain, and in cases of bone diseases, as well as alleviating erectile dysfunction. Recent studies have highlighted the potential use of ginseng in the prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and allergic asthma. However, the mechanism underlying the effects of ginseng on these stress-related diseases has not been completely established. In this review, we focus on the disease pathways caused by stress in order to determine how ginseng acts to improve health. Central to our discussion is how this effective and stable therapeutic agent alleviates the anxiety and depression caused by stress and ameliorates inflammatory diseases.

• 대한전자공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한전자공학회 1999년도 추계종합학술대회 논문집
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• pp.525-528
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• 1999

Abstract - In this paper, a segmentation method for brain Magnetic Resonance(MR) image using region clustering technique with statistical distribution of gradient image and fuzzy rules is described. The brain MRI consists of gray matter and white matter, cerebrospinal fluid. But due to noise, overlap, vagueness, and various parameters, segmentation of MR image is a very difficult task. We use gradient information rather than intensity directly from the MR images and find appropriate thresholds for region classification using gradient approximation, rayleigh distribution function, region clustering, and merging techniques. And then, we propose the adaptive fuzzy rules in order to extract anatomical structures and diseases from brain MR image data. The experimental results shows that the proposed segmentation algorithm given better performance than traditional segmentation techniques.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• 제1권1호
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• pp.73-78
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• 1997

The hypertensive encephalopathy is one of sudden convulsive cause in patients with acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis, but commonly, after the episode we can observe only mild to moderately hypertension in APSGN at ER. So these remains some question of what causes the convulsion in patients with APSGN. In this article, we report 3 cases of convulsion in APSGN with only moderate hypertension, the etiology of which proved to be due to hypertensive encephalopathy by the brain MRI. We believe that the brain MRI is a very useful test to diagnose the etiology of convulsion in APSGN and if brain edema in occipital lobe is detected by brain MRI, the convulsion would be due to hypertensive encephalopathy and the prognosis will be very good.

• 한국멀티미디어학회논문지
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• 제16권9호
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• pp.1018-1030
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• 2013

The corpus callosum is the largest connective structure in the brain, and its shape and size are correlated to sex, age, brain growth and degeneration, handedness, musical ability, and neurological diseases. Manually segmenting the corpus callosum from brain magnetic resonance (MR) image is time consuming, error prone, and operator dependent. In this paper, two semi-automatic segmentation methods are present: the active contour model-based approach and the active shape model-based approach. We tested these methods on an MR image of the human brain and found that the active contour approach had better segmentation accuracy but was slower than the active shape approach.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• 제1권2호
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• pp.154-159
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• 1999

Magnetoencephalography (MEG), the measurement of magnetic fields produced by neuronal current associated with normal and pathologic brain activities, is a totally noninvasive method for localizing functional regions of the brain. During the past several years, many clinical research centers are working to expand various fundamental functional brain regions, which can be easily localized, as well as to characterize magnetic abnormalities which accompany a wide variety of cerebral disease. At present, MEG is used in a number of clinical centers throughout the world for the presurgical functional localization of eloquent cortex, and for the non-invasive localization of epileptiform activity. And also, non-invasiveness means that it can be used for screening and repetitive follow-up measurement without concern for adverse effects. As procedures for activating various functional brain regions are standardized, and as the effects of specific cerebral diseases on the MEG are carefully documented in controlled studies, the number of routine neurological applications for MEG will increase significantly. In this paper, the basic principles of MEG are reviewed briefly with its clinical application to neurologic disease.

• 약학회지
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• 제31권5호
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• pp.266-272
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• 1987

It is reasonably well known that there is a relationship between myelin formation and methylation of myelin basic protein in nerve cells. One of the suggestions is that arginine methylation of myelin basic protein could be of aid in the conjugation of myelin protein with the nonpolar lipid to form myelin. Abnormality in methylation of myclin basic protein might induce the neurological diseases in experimental animals as well as in human being. In the biological system, the methylation reaction is catalyzed by protein methaylse I using S-adenosyl-L-methionine as methyl donor. In this study, we examined the changes of S-adenosyl-L-methionine concentration and protein methylase I activity in developing rat brain tissues. The results are sumraerized as followings: (1) In brain tissues of fetus rat, the concentration of S-adenosyl-L-methionine was gradually decreased until to birth. However, the concentration in brain tissues of infant rat was suddenly increased at 7th day(just before myelination occur) birth. (2) Protein methylase I activity was decreased until to birth in brain of fetus rat and increased temporally just after birth, However, the enzyme activity showed no changes around 7th day after birth.