• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.219-229
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• 2010

Background: N-myc downstream regulated gene 2 (NDRG2) is a member of the NDRG gene family. Our previous report indicated a possible role for NDRG2 in regulating the cytokine, interleukin-10 (IL-10), which is an important immunosuppressive cytokine. Several pathways, including p38-MAPK, NF-${\kappa}B$, and JAK/STAT, are used for IL-10 production, and the JAK/STAT pathway can be inhibited in a negative feedback loop by the inducible protein, SOCS3. In the present study, we investigated the effect of NDRG2 gene expression on IL-10 signaling pathway that is modulated via SOCS3 and STAT3. Methods: We generated NDRG2-overexpressing U937 cell line (U937-NDRG2) and treated the cells with PMA to investigate the role of NDRG2 in IL-10 production. U937 cells were also transfected with SOCS3- or NDRG2-specific siRNAs to examine whether the knockdown of SOCS3 or NDRG2 influenced IL-10 expression. Lastly, STAT3 and SOCS3 induction was measured to identify the signaling pathway that was associated with IL-10 production. Results: RT-PCR and ELISA assays showed that IL-10 was increased in U937-mock cells upon stimulation with PMA, but IL-10 was inhibited by overexpression NDRG2. After PMA treatment, STAT3 phosphorylation was decreased in a time-dependent manner in U937-mock cells, whereas it was maintained in U937-NDRG2 cells. SOCS3 was markedly reduced in U937-NDRG2 cells compared with U937-mock cells. IL-10 production after PMA stimulation was reduced in U937 cells when SOCS3 was inhibited, but this effect was less severe when NDRG2 was inhibited. Conclusion: NDRG2 expression modulates SOCS3 and STAT3 activity, eventually leading to the inhibition of IL-10 production.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.66-74
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• 2007

Background: The genus Flavivirus consists of many emerging arboviruses, including Dengue virus (DV), Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) and West Nile virus (WNV). Effective preventive vaccines remain elusive for these diseases. Mice are being increasingly used as the animal model for vaccine studies. However, the pathogenic mechanisms of these viruses are not clearly understood. Here, we investigated the interaction of DV and JEV with murine bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (bmDC). Methods: ELISA and FACS analysis were employed to investigate cytokine production and phenotypic changes of DCs obtained from bone marrow following flavivirus infection. Results: We observed that these viruses altered the cytokine profile and phenotypic markers. Although both viruses belong to the same family, JEV-infected bmDC produced anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10) along with pro-inflammatory cytokines, whereas DV infection induced production of large amounts of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-${\alpha}$) and no IL-10 from murine bmDCs. Both flaviviruses also up-regulated the expression of co-stimulatory molecules such as CD40, CD80 and CD86. JEV infection led to down-regulation of MHC II expression on infected bmDCs. We also found that cytokine production induced by JEV and DV is MyD88-dependent. This dependence was complete for DV, as cytokine production was completely abolished in the absence of MyD88. With regard to JEV, the absence of MyD88 led to a partial reduction in cytokine levels. Conclusion: Here, we demonstrate that MyD88 plays an important role in the pathogenesis of flaviviruses. Our study provides insight into the pathogenesis of JEV and DV in the murine model.

• Korean Security Journal
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• no.18
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• pp.1-20
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• 2009

Nowadays most nations around the world including Korea have experienced absolute shortages of available urban space. To solve various problems of the city, each nation constantly tends to extend the underground space. However there is a serious problem in making use of the underground space. Especially new terrorism coming into existence after 9.11 terror turns into the so-called ‘soft target’ which has something to do with public transportation facilities available to most people. Good examples are like these: poisonous gas attacks in Tokyo subway in 1995, Daegu subway station fire in 2003, serial bomb blast of London subway in 2005. In spite of being a concern on incidents related to the underground space it is inevitable to utilize the underground space and the tendency is growing. But Korea lags badly behind in foreign countries in this field and so seeking measures is urgently needed. Therefore the aim of this study is to note visible damages stemmed from the domestic and foreign underground space and propose more effective and adequate measures. Safety measures of terrorism are associated to minimize damage out of terrorism and they are as follows. In the first place, preparing protective equipment for saving a life from fire attacks and poisonous gas is needed urgently. In the second place, counterpart management on the spot and systematic security training should be established in order to minimize injury. In the third place, fire escapes must be provided for a rapid evacuation of potential unspecified individuals. In the fourth place, building up a network of related institutions is required for a systematic omnidirectional counterpart. Finally the Korean government ought to take fast and appropriate actions for the injured and bereaved family of the terror incident.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.119-135
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• 2007

This study attempted to explore what are the benefits that online game consumers seek in their on-line game consumption. Nowadays many on-line game consumers are extremely absorbed in the on-line game. The purpose of this study was to find the benefits that make people enjoy on-line games enthusiastically based on the Q methodology. Q methodology is a way to understand a person's structure of subjectivity. This study applied Q methodology to clarifying consumers' subjective evaluation of the on-line game benefit s. 28 Q questions were prepared through literature review, and were offered to 30 consumers. The subjects were divided into the four types seeking different benefits with on-line games: communication, enjoyment, achievement, and escapism. The results suggested that the benefits of on-line game are beyond the general characteristics of the game including human network or achievement in the on-line game community.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2010

Recognizing a basal group in a taxon is one of the most important factors involved in understanding the evolutionary history of that group of life. Many botanists have suggested a sister to all other angiosperms to understand the origin and rapid diversification of angiosperms based on morphological and fossil evidence. Recent technical advances in molecular biology and the accumulation of molecular phylogenetic data have provided evidence of the extant basal-most angiosperm which is a sister to all other angiosperms. Although it is still arguable, most plant taxonomists agree that Amborella trichopoda Baill., a species (monotypic genus and monotypic family) distributed in New Caledonia, is a sister to all other extant angiosperms based on evidence from the following molecular approaches: 1) classical phylogenetic analyses based on multiple genes (or DNA regions), 2) analyses of a tree network of duplicated gene families, and 3) gene-structural evidence. As an alternative hypothesis with relatively minor evidence, some researchers have also suggested that Amborella and Nymphaeaceae form a clade that is a sister to all other angiosperms. Debate regarding the basal-most angiosperms is still ongoing and is currently one of the hot issues in plant evolutionary biology. We expect that sequencing of the whole genome of Amborella as an evolutionary model plant and subsequent studies based on this genome sequence will provide information regarding the origin and rapid diversification of angiosperms, which is Darwin's so called abominable mystery.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.6036-6045
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• 2014

This survey research was performed to determine the social capital that public officials generate within the relationship of the community at the individual level by performing their public office work as an administrative duty. To this end, a survey was conducted on 500 civil servants in Jeju province. The survey period was May 19-23, 2014. 476 subjects were analyzed using a T-test, One way ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis to on SPSS 19.0Win software. As a result of the analysis, 1. The norms of the community cultural, male staff participation and cooperation, and social capital level of civil servants, showed a significantly higher association than female civil servants. There was a difference between the populations of registration to an association to the work location type. In addition, the social capital increases generally as the level of the officers increases. 2. The sub-category in the social capital of a personal level on civil servants family & associates trust, participation & cooperation and neighbor trust had a positive impact on the efficiency of public services. On the other hand, community cultural associations (network) did not have an influence on efficiency.

• Journal of KIISE:Computing Practices and Letters
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.244-254
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• 2009

This paper describes a remote system to monitor the circadian behavioral patterns of elders who live alone. The proposed system was designed and implemented to provide more conveniently and reliably the required functionalities of a remote monitoring system for elders based on the development of first phase prototype[2]. The developed system is composed of an in-house sensing system and a server system. The in-house sensing system is a set of wireless sensor nodes which have pyroelectric infrared (PIR) sensor to detect a motion of elder. Each sensing node sends its detection signal to a home gateway via wireless link. The home gateway stores the received signals into a remote database. The server system is composed of a database server and a web server, which provides web-based monitoring system to caregivers (friends, family and social workers) for more cost effective intelligent care service. The improved second phase system can provide 'automatic diagnosis', 'going out detection', and enhanced user interface functionalities. We have evaluated the first and second phase monitoring systems from real field experiments of 3/4 months continuous operation with installation of 9/15 elders' houses, respectively. The experimental results show the promising possibilities to estimate the behavioral patterns and the current status of elder even though the simplicity of sensing capability.

• Journal of Biomedical and Translational Research
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.116-124
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• 2018

Korean Native Pig (KNP) has a uniform black coat color, excellent meat quality, white colored fat, solid fat structure and good marbling. However, its growth performance is low, while the western origin Yorkshire pig has high growth performance. To take advantage of the unique performance of the two pig breeds, we raised crossbreeds (KNP ${\times}$ Yorkshire to make use of the heterotic effect. We then analyzed the liver transcriptome as it plays an important role in fat metabolism. We sampled at two stages: 10 weeks and at 26 weeks. The stages were chosen to correspond to the change in feeding system. A total of 16 pigs (8 from each stage) were sampled and RNA sequencing was performed. The reads were mapped to the reference genome and differential expression analysis was performed with edgeR package. A total of 324 genes were found to be significantly differentially expressed (${\left|log2FC\right|}$ > 1 & q < 0.01), out of which 180 genes were up-regulated and 144 genes were down-regulated. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed that the samples clustered according to stages. Functional annotation of significant DEGs (differentially expressed genes) showed that GO terms such as DNA replication, cell division, protein phosphorylation, regulation of signal transduction by p53 class mediator, ribosome, focal adhesion, DNA helicase activity, protein kinase activity etc. were enriched. KEGG pathway analysis showed that the DEGs functioned in cell cycle, Ras signaling pathway, p53 signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway etc. Twenty-nine transcripts were also part of the DEGs, these were predominantly Cys2His2-like fold group (C2H2) family of zinc fingers. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis showed that there were three highly interconnected clusters, suggesting an enrichment of genes with similar biological function. This study presents the first report of liver tissue specific gene regulation in a cross-bred Korean pig.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• no.37
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• pp.63-89
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• 2008

This study attempts to examine the factors influencing the Caregiving responsibility of sibling without disability on their adult siblings with intellectual disability. For this purpose, a questionnaire survey was conducted on siblings without disability who have adult siblings with intellectual disability aged 18 years old or more and also who use services provided by 8 welfare centers for persons with disabilities in Seoul. With 132 valid responses, multiple regression technique was adopted in exploring a model for characteristics of adult with intellectual disability, a model for characteristics of siblings without disability, a model for relationship factors, and a comprehensive model. The findings of the study showed that the degree of disability in the model for characteristics of adult siblings with intellectual disability and the intimacy of siblings and social support in the model of relationship factors were significant. The result of the comprehensive model revealed that the degree of disability, the gender of the siblings without disability, the intimacy of siblings, and social support were significant. Especially, the relationship factors including the intimacy of siblings and social support were found to be the most significant factors in order to explain the caregiving responsibility. The findings of the study suggest that sibling program needs to be developed and disseminated in order to increase the understanding and the trust between adult with intellectual disability and sibling without disability, that a help is critical for adult with intellectual disability to extend the social network in which sibling without disability receives support from sibling without disability, family, friends, and other acquaintances around, and that different approach is needed in order to reduce caregiveing difficulties depending on the dependence of disability.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.60 no.12
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• pp.32.1-32.10
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• 2018

Background: Necdin (NDN), a member of the melanoma antigen family showing imprinted pattern of expression, has been implicated as causing Prader-Willi symptoms, and known to participate in cellular growth, cellular migration and differentiation. The region where NDN is located has been associated to QTLs affecting reproduction and early growth in cattle, but location and functional analysis of the molecular mechanisms have not been established. Methods: Here we report the sequence variation of the entire coding sequence from 72 samples of cattle, yak, buffalo, goat and sheep, and discuss its variation in Bovidae. Median-joining network analysis was used to analyze the variation found in the species. Synonymous and non-synonymous substitution rates were determined for the analysis of all the polymorphic sites. Phylogenetic analysis were carried out among the species of Bovidae to reconstruct their relationships. Results: From the phylogenetic analysis with the consensus sequences of the studied Bovidae species, we found that only 11 of the 26 nucleotide changes that differentiate them produced amino acid changes. All the SNPs found in the cattle breeds were novel and showed similar percentages of nucleotides with non-synonymous substitutions at the N-terminal, MHD and C-terminal (12.3, 12.8 and 12.5%, respectively), and were much higher than the percentage of synonymous substitutions (2.5, 2.6 and 4.9%, respectively). Three mutations in cattle and one in sheep, detected in heterozygous individuals were predicted to be deleterious. Additionally, the analysis of the biochemical characteristics in the most common form of the proteins in each species show very little difference in molecular weight, pI, net charge, instability index, aliphatic index and GRAVY (Table 4) in the Bovidae species, except for sheep, which had a higher molecular weight, instability index and GRAVY. Conclusions: There is sufficient variation in this gene within and among the studied species, and because NDN carry key functions in the organism, it can have effects in economically important traits in the production of these species. NDN sequence is phylogenetically informative in this group, thus we propose this gene as a phylogenetic marker to study the evolution and conservation in Bovidae.