• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.544-549
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• 2023

In this study, artesunate, an antimalarial agent, was investigated for its potential effect on the gene expression of airway MUC5AC mucin. The human pulmonary epithelial NCI-H292 cells were pretreated with artesunate for 30 min and then stimulated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), for the following 24 h. The effect of artesunate on PMA-induced nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) signaling pathway was also examined. Artesunate inhibited the glycoprotein production and mRNA expression of MUC5AC mucins, induced by PMA through the inhibition of degradation of inhibitory kappa Bα (IkBα) and NF-kB p65 nuclear translocation. These results suggest artesunate suppresses the gene expression of mucin through regulation of NF-kB signaling pathway, in human pulmonary epithelial cells.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.810-816
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• 2012

In order to develop liquid fertilizer using rendering by-product, rates and velocities of degradation from rendering by-product using pig cadaver investigated under different amount of injection and time with degradation agents (KOH, NaOH, $HNO_3$ and $H_2SO_4$). The amount of residue by degradation agent of $HNO_3$ treatment method was higher than that in KOH, NaOH and $H_2SO_4$ treatment methods. The degradation velocities (K; $hr^{-1}$) of rendering by-product in KOH treatment method were higher in the order of 25% ($0.0309hr^{-1}$) > 30% ($0.0268hr^{-1}$) > 20% ($0.0142hr^{-1}$) > 15% ($0.0111hr^{-1}$) > 10% ($0.0102hr^{-1}$) of weight of rendering by-product. In all conditions, the degradation velocity of rendering by-product using $H_2SO_4$ 30% of weight of rendering by-product was rapid than that for KOH, NaOH and $HNO_3$ treatment methods. Degradation rates of rendering by-product using NaOH were similar to that of KOH and $H_2SO_4$ except for $HNO_3$ under injecting 25% and 30% of rendering by-product weight.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.225-231
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• 2014

Autophagy is a homeostatic degradation process that is involved in tumor development and normal development. Autophagy is induced in cancer cells in response to chemotherapeutic agents, and inhibition of autophagy results in enhanced cancer cell death or survival. Chloroquine (CQ), an anti-malarial drug, is a lysosomotropic agent and is currently used as a potential anticancer agent as well as an autophagy inhibitor. Here, we evaluate the characteristics of these dual activities of CQ using human colorectal cancer cell line HCT15. The results show that CQ inhibited cell viability in dose- and time-dependent manner in the range between 20 to 80 uM, while CQ did not show any antiproliferative activity at 5 and 10 uM. Cotreatment of CQ with antitumor agent NVP-BEZ235, a dual inhibitor of PI3K/mTOR, rescued the cell viability at low concentrations meaning that CQ acted as an autophagy inhibitor, but CQ induced the lethal effect at high concentrations. Acridine orange staining revealed that CQ at high doses induced lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP). High doses of CQ produced cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cotreatment of antioxidants, such as NAC and trolox, with high doses of CQ rescued the cell viability. These results suggest that CQ may exert its dual activities, as autophagy inhibitor or LMP inducer, in concentration-dependent manner.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics S
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• v.36S no.1
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• pp.20-28
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• 1999

In this paper, we propose a new datagram delivery strategy at the home agent to improve the end-to-end performance by reducing retransmission overheads during handover. Changed routing might be able to cause packet disordering and this in turn could cause unnecessary retransmission at the fixed host and finally results in performance degradation. In our proposal, the home agent begins to buffer received datagrams instead of transmitting them after receiving a registration request message from the foreign agent and then transmits them again after for a certain time. Simulation results show that our proposal may successfully solve this problem at little cost.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.273-280
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• 1996

Chondroitin sulfate/gelatin microspheres containing dexamethasone 21-acetate were prepared by complex coacervation method and their release patterns were examined in vitro. Microspheres prepared with a small amount of crosslinking agent had smooth surface and few pores, but those with a large amount of crosslinking agent were more porous and less spherical. In vitro release patterns were varied by changing polymer/drug weight ratio and amount of crosslinking agent. The release rate of dexamethasone 21-acetate in the presence of collagenase was faster than that in the absence of collagenase. Anti-inflammatory effect of dexamethasone 21-acetate microspheres was more efficient than that of dexamethasone 21-acetate solution in carrageenan-induced arthritis in the rat. On the basis of the above results, we might expect the degradation and drug release rate of these microspheres to be regulated by the degree of crosslinking and the level of enzymes. In patients with severe rheumatoid arthritis who have high concentration of collagenase, more drug would be released from the microspheres. An intra-articular injection therapy of rheumatoid arthritis with desired release kinetics could be developed to enhance patient compliance and therapeutic index.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.245-255
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• 2017

High energy ball milling is employed to produce iron matrix- multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) reinforced composite. The damage caused to MWCNT due to harsh ball milling condition and its influence on interfacial bonding is studied. Different amount of MWCNT is used to find the optimal percentage of MWCNT for avoidance of the formation of chemical reaction product at the matrix - reinforcement interface. Effect of process control agent is assessed by the use of different materials for the purpose. It is observed that ethanol as a process control agent (PCA) causes degradation of MWCNT reinforcements after milling for two hours whereas solid stearic acid used as process control agent, allows satisfactory conservation of MWCNT structure. It is further noted that at a high MWCNT content (~ 2wt.%), high energy ball milling leads to reaction of iron and carbon and forms iron carbide (cementite) at the iron-MWCNT interface. At low percentage of MWCNT, dissolution of carbon in iron takes place and the amount of reinforcement in iron matrix composite becomes negligibly small. However, under the present ball milling condition (ball to metal ratio~ 6:1 and 200 rpm vial speed) iron-1wt.% MWCNT composite of good interfacial bonding can retain the tubular structure of reinforcing MWCNT.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.296-305
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• 2024

Peach tree gummosis is a botanical anomaly distinguished by the secretion of dark-brown gum from the shoots of peach trees, and Botryosphaeria dothidea has been identified as one of the fungal species responsible for its occurrence. In South Korea, approximately 80% of gummosis cases are linked to infections caused by B. dothidea. In this study, we isolated microbes from the soil surrounding peach trees exhibiting antifungal activity against B. dothidea. Subsequently, we identified several bacterial strains as potential candidates for a biocontrol agent. Among them, Bacillus velezensis KTA01 displayed the most robust antifungal activity and was therefore selected for further analysis. To investigate the antifungal mechanism of B. velezensis KTA01, we performed tests to assess cell wall degradation and siderophore production. Additionally, we conducted reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis based on whole-genome sequencing to confirm the presence of genes responsible for the biosynthesis of lipopeptide compounds, a well-known characteristic of Bacillus spp., and to compare gene expression levels. Moreover, we extracted lipopeptide compounds using methanol and subjected them to both antifungal activity testing and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. The experimental findings presented in this study unequivocally demonstrate the promising potential of B. velezensis KTA01 as a biocontrol agent against B. dothidea KACC45481, the pathogen responsible for causing peach tree gummosis.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.241-247
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• 2012

Many infectious diseases have emerged or re-emerged during the past 50 years in South Korea. There were three outbreaks of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in South Korea between January 2010 and March 2011. Over 3.45 million animals were slaughtered (33.3% of the existing pigs, 8.4% of dairy cows and 3.4% of cattle). To select optimal degradation agents of animal cadavers, degradation rates and fertilizer components of pig cadavers were investigated using hydrogen chloride (HCl), potassium hydroxide (KOH) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) hydrolysis methods. Degradation rates of pig cadavers using HCl, KOH and NaOH were 81.1, 82.8 and 91.6%, respectively. Total nitrogen (T-N) concentration in degradation solution of pig cadavers using KOH hydrolysis method was higher than that in NaOH and HCl hydrolysis methods. Total phosphorus ($P_2O_5$) concentrations in degradation solution of pig cadavers in all hydrolysis methods ranged 0.14 ~ 0.28%. Total potassium ($K_2O$) concentration for KOH hydrolysis method was higher than that for other hydrolysis methods. The concentration of T-N and $K_2O$ in degradation solution of pig cadavers by KOH hydrolysis method were higher than that in NaOH and HCl hydrolysis methods. Thus, to recycle animal cadavers in agriculture, the optimal degradation agent for hydrolysis was KOH.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.45 no.10
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• pp.73-81
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to increase the ultraviolet-light (UV)-cut ability of cellulose fabrics (cotton, ramie, and rayon) dyed with safflower yellow colorants. For this purpose, samples treated with UV-cut agent and tannic-acid were compared with the untreated samples after UV exposure in terms of K/S value, color changes(${\Delta}E$), SEM, and strength retention. The K/S value rapidly decreased after 28 days exposure, whereas the K/S value of the samples treated with both UV-cut agent and tannic-acid decreased to less than that of the untreated samples. In color changes, $L^*$ increased while $a^*$ and $b^*$ decreased, indicating less red and yellow character in color. This induced a change in the hue, value and chroma values. However the color change(${\Delta}E$) of the samples treated with both UV-cut agent and tannic-acid was less than that of the untreated samples. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) pictures showed a severe degradation by exposure in all samples. Tensile strength rapidly decreased after 28 days for cotton and rayon, and after 21 days for ramie. However, the strength retention of the samples treated with UV-cut agent and tannic-acid was higher than that of the untreated samples.

• Journal of KIISE:Computer Systems and Theory
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• v.31 no.3_4
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• pp.204-212
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• 2004

Existing distributed systems have higher probability of failures occurrence than stand-alone system, so many fault tolerant techniques have been developed. Because of insufficient storage resulting from the increased fault tolerance information stored, the performance of system has been degraded. To avoid performance degradation, it needs delete useless fault tolerance information. In this paper, we propose a garbage collection algorithm for fault tolerance information. And we define and design the garbage collection agent for garbage collection of fault tolerance information, the information agent for management of fault tolerant data, and the facilitator agent for communication between agents. Also, we propose the garbage collection algorithm using the garbage collection agent. For rollback recovery, we use independent checkpointing protocol and sender based pessimistic message logging protocol. In our proposed garbage collection algorithm, the garbage collection, information, and facilitator agent is created with process, and the information agent constructs domain knowledge with its checkpoints and non-determistic events. And the garbage collection agent decides garbage collection time, and it deletes useless fault tolerance information in cooperation with the information and facilitator agent. For propriety of proposed garbage collection technique using agents, we compare domain knowledge of system that performs garbage collection after rollback recovery and domain knowledge of system that doesn't perform garbage collection.