• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.395-401
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• 2010

Over expression of TGF-${\beta}1$ revealed the same phenotype as NFI-C deficient mouse. It has been reported that NFI-C deficient mice demonstrated abnormal odontoblast differentiation and aberrant dentin formation during root development. In the present study, in order to investigate the histological differences between wild type (WT) mouse and NFI-C deficient mouse, we compared morphological characteristics and smad4 expression between those mice. Hematoxyline-eosin (H-E) staining was used to investigate morphological changes and immunohistochemistry was also performed to observe the Smad4 expression pattern. In H-E staining, incisor of NFI-C deficient mouse showed an open area in the lingual root, irregular odontoblasts and osteodentin. Also, NFI-C deficient mouse showed short root and osteodentin in molar. In addition, Smad4 protein was strongly expressed in NFI-C deficient mouse compared with wild type. These findings suggest that NFI-C deficiency affects odontoblast differentiation and result in the formation of abnormal roots. Therefore, balancing between NFI-C and TGF-${\beta}$ signaling including Smad4 is important for the regulation of normal odontoblast differentiation and dentin formation.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.496-500
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• 2019

In this study, we investigate the effect of an Sb-deficiency on the thermoelectric properties of double-filled n-type skutterudite ($In_{0.05}Yb_{0.15}Co_4Sb_{12-x}$). Samples were prepared by encapsulated induction melting, consecutive long-time annealing, and finally spark plasma sintering processes. The Sb-deficient sample contained a $CoSb_2$ secondary phase. Both the double-filled n-type skutterudite pristine and Sb-deficient samples showed metallic behavior in electrical conductivity with increasing temperature. The carrier concentration of the Sb-deficient sample decreased compared with that of the pristine sample. Due to a decrease in carrier concentration, the Sb deficient sample showed decreased electrical conductivity and an increased Seebeck coefficient compared with the conductivity and coefficient of the pristine sample. Furthermore, the Sb deficient sample showed an increase in the power factor (${\sigma}{\cdot}S^2$); the power factor maximum shifted to athe lower temperature side than ones of the pristine sample. As a result, the Sb-deficient sample represents an improved average figure of merit (ZT) and a $ZT_{max}$ temperature lower than that of the pristine sample. Therefore, we propose that Sb-deficient double-filled n-type skutterudite thermoelectric material ($In_{0.05}Yb_{0.15}Co_4Sb_{12-x}$) be used in the 573~673 K temperature range.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.916-921
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• 2019

In this study, we constructed a biological system that exhibited thermotolerance, ethanol tolerance, and increased ethanol productivity using a random mutagenesis method. We attempted to isolate a thermotolerant mutant using proofreading-deficient DNA polymerase ${\delta}$ and ${\varepsilon}$ encoded by the pol3 and pol2 genes, respectively, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To obtain mutants that could grow at high temperatures ($38^{\circ}C$ and $40^{\circ}C$), random mutagenesis of AMY410 (pol2-4) and AMY126 (pol3-01) strains was induced. The parental strains (AMY410 and AMY126) grew poorly at temperatures higher than $38^{\circ}C$. By stepwise elevation of the incubation temperature, AMY410-Ht (heat tolerance) and AMY126-Ht strains that proliferated at $40^{\circ}C$ were obtained. These strains were further incubated in medium containing 6% and 8% ethanol and then AMY410-HEt (heat and ethanol tolerance) and AMY126-HEt strain with ethanol tolerance at an 8% ethanol concentration was obtained. The AMY126-HEt strain grew even at an ethanol concentration of 10%. Furthermore, following the addition of high concentrations of glucose (5% and 10%), an AMY126-HEt3 strain with increased ethanol productivity was isolated. This strain produced 24.7 g/l of ethanol (95% theoretical conversion yield) from 50 g/l of glucose. The findings demonstrate that a new biological system (yeast strain) showing various phenotypes can be easily and efficiently bred by random mutagenesis of a proofreading- deficient mutant.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.9
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• pp.806-813
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• 2015

Gaucher disease (GD) is an autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disorder caused by mutations in the glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA), which encodes the lysosomal enzyme glucosylceramidase (GCase). Deficiency in GCase leads to characteristic visceral pathology and lethal neurological manifestations in some patients. Investigations into neurogenesis have suggested that neurodegenerative disorders, such as GD, could be overcome or at least ameliorated by the generation of new neurons. Bone marrowderived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) are potential candidates for use in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders because of their ability to promote neurogenesis. Our objective was to examine the mechanism of neurogenesis by BM-MSCs in GD. We found that neural stem cells (NSCs) derived from a neuronopathic GD model exhibited decreased ability for self-renewal and neuronal differentiation. Co-culture of GBA-deficient NSCs with BM-MSCs resulted in an enhanced capacity for self-renewal, and an increased ability for differentiation into neurons or oligodendrocytes. Enhanced proliferation and neuronal differentiation of GBA-deficient NSCs was associated with elevated release of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) from BM-MSCs. Our findings suggest that soluble M-CSF derived from BM-MSCs can modulate GBA-deficient NSCs, resulting in their improved proliferation and neuronal differentiation.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.89-92
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• 2001

Aspergillus niger has been used as a host system to express many heterologous proteins. It has various advantages over other expression systems in that it is a small eukaryotic GRAS (Generally Recognized aS Safe) organism with a capacity of secreting large amount of foreign proteins. However, it has been known that the presence of an abundant protease is a limiting factor to express a heterologous protein. The proteases deficient mutants of A. niger were obtained using UV -mutagenesis. A total of 1 ${\times}$ $10^5$ spores were irradiated with 10-20% survival dose of UV, 600J/M2 at 280nm, and the resulting spores were screened on the casein -gelatin plates. Ten putative protease deficient mutants were further analyzed on the starch plates to differentiate the pro from the secretory mutant. An endogenous extracellular enzyme, glucose oxidase, was also examined to confirm that the mutant phenotype was due to the proteases deficiency rather than the mutation in the secretory pathway. The reduced proteolytic activity was measured using SDS-fibrin zymography gel, casein degradation assay, and bio-activity of a supplemented hGM -CSF (human Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor). Comparing with the wild type strain, less than 30 % of proteolytic activity was observed in the culture filtrate of the protease deficient mutant (pro -20) without any notable changes in cell growth and secretion.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.108-113
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• 2009

Taurine supplementation has been shown to have a beneficial effect on femur bone mineral content in ovariectomized rats. It therefore seemed desirable to find out whether the beneficial effect of taurine on ovariectomized rats fed calcium deficient diet could also be reproduced. Forty female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two groups, One group was OVX and the other group received sham operation (SHAM), and received either control diet or a taurine supplemented diet for 6 weeks. All rats were fed on calcium deficient diet (AIN-93: 50% level of calcium) and deionized water. Bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) were measured in spine and femur. The serum and urine concentrations of calcium and phosphorus were determined, Bone formation was measured by serum osteocalcin and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) concentrations, Bone resorption rate was measured by deoxypyridinoline (DPD) crosslinks immunoassay and corrected for creatinine. Urinary calcium and phosphorus excretion, osteocalcin in blood and cross link value were not significantly different among the groups. Within the OVX group, the taurine supplemented group had not higher femur bone mineral content than the control group. This study established the need for a study on the taurine effect on bone with different calcium levels.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.413-429
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• 2016

The recent research on proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) has revealed the linkage between proper orthogonal modes and linear normal modes. This paper presents an investigation into the modal identifiability of an instrumented cable-stayed bridge using an adapted POD technique with a band-pass filtering scheme. The band-pass POD method is applied to the datasets available for this benchmark study, aiming to identify the vibration modes of the bridge and find out the so-called deficient modes which are unidentifiable under normal excitation conditions. It turns out that the second mode of the bridge cannot be stably identified under weak wind conditions and is therefore regarded as a deficient mode. To judge if the deficient mode is due to its low contribution to the structural response under weak wind conditions, modal coordinates are derived for different modes by the band-pass POD technique and an energy participation factor is defined to evaluate the energy participation of each vibration mode under different wind excitation conditions. From the non-blind datasets, it is found that the vibration modes can be reliably identified only when the energy participation factor exceeds a certain threshold value. With the identified threshold value, modal identifiability in use of the blind datasets from the same structure is examined.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.18-25
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• 1963

We have studied on the effects of Panax Ginseng on the carbohydrate metabolism of rat. Ginseng does not so much effect on the body weight of the nutrition diet groups, but effects much on the carbohydrate deficient diet groups; it remarkably inhibited the decrease of body weight. Liver glycogen, both in the nutrition and carbohycdrate deficient diet groups, is higher than that of the control. Particularly, the increase of the glycogen is eminent is the nutrition diet-ginseng administered group. In the nutrition diet group, the blood sugar level of ginseng-adminstered rats is the higher, while, in the carbohydrate deficient diet groups, the blood sugar level of ginseng-administered rats is decreased compared with that of control. the oxidation rate of glucose by rat liver slice indicates that only in the carbohydrate deficient diet groups, from the 6th to 15th hour, the oxidation rate of glucose in ginseng-administered group is increased, compared with that of the control. But there is no statistical significance between them. It is thought that Panax Ginseng would effect more on the enzyme system involved in gluconeogenesis and glycogenesis rather than that of carbohydrate oxidation.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.67 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2018

Shake table tests performed on five 1:3 reduced scale two story RC moment resisting frames having construction defects, have shown severe joint damageability in deficient RC frames, resulting in joint panels' cover spalling and core concrete crushing. Haunch retrofitting technique was adopted herein to upgrade the seismic resistance of the deficient RC frames. Additional four deficient RC frames were built and retrofitted with steel haunch; both axially stiffer and deformable with energy dissipation, fixed to the beam-column connections to reduce shear demand on joint panels. The as-built and retrofitted frames' seismic response parameters are calculated and compared to evaluate the viability of haunch retrofitting technique. The haunch retrofitting technique increased the lateral stiffness and strength of the structure, resulting in the increase of structure's overstrength. The retrofitting increased response modification factor R by 60% to 100%. Further, the input excitation PGA was correlated with the lateral roof displacement to derive structure response curve that have shown significant resistance of retrofitted models against input excitations. The technique can significantly enhance the seismic performance of deficient RC frames, particularly against the frequent and rare earthquake events, hence, promising for seismic risk mitigation.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.333-341
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• 1986

Several aspects including physical development, reflex acquistion, neuromotor development and learning behavior at Y water maze were compared at the progeny of rats fed low 91.2mg/kg diet) or adequate leves(22mg/kg diet 0 of pyridoxine during growth, gestation, lactation, and adult period. Physical development and development of reflexes (righting reflex, cliff avoidance, negative geotaxis, palmar grasp, and startle reflex to sound) appeared different between control and deficient groups but not significantly. At the 2nd week, rats spent more time in supported standing during 6 minute period was longer in the control then the deficient groups. In the Y-water maze position reversal test, learning ability as judged by the number of errors was not different among three groups, but the rats in supplemented group(DC) reached the escape platform in significantly shorter time than the other two groups, which may suggest their emotional instability. In the visual discrimination test, the performance of rats from the supplemented group had the lower errors than the other groups on the early test days. but as the testing period progressed, the performance of rats in the supplemented group became inferior to those of the control and deficient groups. The performance of control group became superior to that of the deficient group.