• BMB Reports
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.49-55
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• 2023

Aging is characterized by a gradual decline in biological functions, leading to the increased probability of diseases and deaths in organisms. Previous studies have identified biological factors that modulate aging and lifespan, including non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). Here, we review the relationship between aging and tRNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs), ncRNAs that are generated from the cleavage of tRNAs. We describe age-dependent changes in tsRNA levels and their functions in age-related diseases, such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. We also discuss the association of tsRNAs with aging-regulating processes, including mitochondrial respiration and reduced mRNA translation. We cover recent findings regarding the potential roles of tsRNAs in cellular senescence, a major cause of organismal aging. Overall, our review will provide useful information for understanding the roles of tsRNAs in aging and age-associated diseases.

• Osteoporosis and Sarcopenia
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.117-122
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• 2017

Sarcopenia is the degenerative loss of muscle mass and function with aging. Recently sarcopenia was recognized as a clinical disease by the International Classification of Disease, 10th revision, Clinical Modification. An imbalance between protein synthesis and degradation causes a gradual loss of muscle mass, resulting in a decline of muscle function as a progress of sarcopenia. Many mechanisms involved in the onset of sarcopenia include age-related factors as well as activity-, disease-, and nutrition-related factors. The stage of sarcopenia reflecting the severity of conditions assists clinical management of sarcopenia. It is important that systemic descriptions of the disease conditions include age, sex, and other environmental risk factors as well as levels of physical function. To develop a new therapeutic intervention needed is the detailed understanding of molecular and cellular mechanisms by which apoptosis, autophagy, atrophy, and hypertrophy occur in the muscle stem cells, myotubes, and/or neuromuscular junction. The new strategy to managing sarcopenia will be signal-modulating small molecules, natural compounds, repurposing of old drugs, and muscle-specific microRNAs.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.14-26
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• 2013

The $1^{st}$ National Plan for Aging Society with Low Fertility, which the Korean government announced in 2006, caused the gradual increase of R&D investment in order to prepare for an aging society in Korea. This study explores if the directions and strategies of R&D projects related to aging are suitable to improve the quality of life for elderly people and establish a sustainable aging society by analyzing the features of R&D investment from 2004 to 2010. The results show that most R&D projects conducted by departments focus on the development of assistive devices for the elderly to support everyday lives. The Korean government's R&D policy to prepare for an aging society is based on the narrow interpretation of Quality of Life (QoL) in an aging society that tries to resolve the socioeconomic problems of the elderly; however, the policies have ignored the independence of active elderly individuals and the social integration of the young and elderly generations. The research shows that a paradigm shift is required from a 'Senior' to 'Aging Society' because almost 1/3 of the Korean population is over 65 years old and the expansion of the research embraces from assistive technologies for the elderly to the design of social infrastructure such as transportation, education and work.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.3.1-3.17
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• 2019

Aging is a complex process associated with dysregulation of the immune system and low levels of inflammation, often associated with the onset of many pathologies. The lacrimal gland (LG) plays a vital role in the maintenance of ocular physiology and changes related to aging directly affect eye diseases. The dysregulation of the immune system in aging leads to quantitative and qualitative changes in antibodies and cytokines. While there is a gradual decline of the immune system, there is an increase in autoimmunity, with a reciprocal pathway between low levels of inflammation and aging mechanisms. Elderly C57BL/6J mice spontaneously show LGs infiltration that is characterized by Th1 but not Th17 cells. The aging of the LG is related to functional alterations, reduced innervation and decreased secretory activities. Lymphocytic infiltration, destruction, and atrophy of glandular parenchyma, ductal dilatation, and secretion of inflammatory mediators modify the volume and composition of tears. Oxidative stress, the capacity to metabolize and eliminate toxic substances decreased in aging, is also associated with the reduction of LG functionality and the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. Although further studies are required for a better understanding of autoimmunity and aging of the LG, we described anatomic and immunology aspects that have been described so far.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2003.07a
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• pp.481-484
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• 2003

Recently polymer insulators are being used for outdoor high voltage applications. Polymer insulators have significant advantages over porcelain and glass insulators. With the gradual improvement of their design and material, their reliability has also increased. It is however difficult to establish how they will perform after several years of service. Aging of the insulator weathershed may lead to damages such as excessive chalking and crazing, erosion and tracking which affect the insulator performance. In service insulator are subjected to aging stresses such as humidity, pollution and electrical field which act singly or in combination. There have been numerous accelerated laboratory tests developed with the intention of evaluating suitability of polymeric materials. Some of these are strictly material tests, where as, others evaluate full scale devices. Service experience plays a key role in the utility selection of polymer insulator, but is time consuming, and may not always be available. Hence there is a need for a meaningful and reliable accelerated aging test for polymer insulator. This paper describes multi-stress aging test for reliability of polymer insulator This paper presents the rule of multi-stress aging test and test chamber for polymer insulator in korea electrotechnology research institute.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.28-34
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• 2015

Because heavy-duty construction vehicles such as excavators are required for good engine-room cooling capacity, a hydraulic gear motor is adopted in the cooling fan drive mechanism to actively control the output speed, instead of adopting the conventional ON/OFF type belt drive. While gear motors are normally limited to 140bars of operating pressure, those for the cooling fan are capable of operating at continuous pressures of up to 220bars. After assembly, all gear motors for high pressure must pass an aging test which is a kind of the wearing process between the gear teeth and motor housing. During the aging process with gradual pressure increments, gear sticking sometimes occurs due to abnormal wear, resulting in defects. This paper focuses on a gear-sticking free aging test controller that is designed together with the knowledge of an experienced operator and the analysis results of experimental data of the gear jamming phenomenon. From the aging experiment, it is demonstrated that the developed controller that can alter the setting pressure of the load pump is effective for stabilizing the abrupt increase in the motor input pressure, thus preventing the hydraulic motor from stopping. This is expected to be helpful for the reduction of defects and increase in productivity.

• Architectural research
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.83-90
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• 2016

Senescent effects are the gradual deterioration of function caused by biological aging. Senescent effects on color vision are not clearly understood even after considerable researches. Part of the reason is that the color vision is a complex phenomenon resulting from various factors such as organic systems, and the physical (neuro-optical) and the psychological (experiential) processes of color perception. We performed a field experiment on color perceptional differences due to aging vision. Our experiment was applied to two different groups in South Korea: an experimental group (46 subjects of over the age of 61 years) and a control group (49 subjects in their twenties). The experimental tools are comprised of (1) six gradual yellowing detector board (40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%); (2) pairs of vivid-strong, vivid-deep, grayish-deep, deep-dull, and bright-light tones of Blue (B) and Purple (P) colors; (3) Red (R), Yellow (Y), Green (G), Blue (B), and Purple (P) colors of dull-tones and pale-tones; and (4) a questionnaire on the semantic differential scales of the color images and color differences. A diagnosis system of gradual yellow vision, developed by the authors for this study, was adapted to generate the color detecting boards. The results are as follows. (1) There are significant differences between the two groups in detecting colors that simulate 40% and 50% of yellow vision. (2) As to the color difference detecting ability between similar tones, the experimental group shows difficulties in pairs of vivid-strong tones and deep-dull tones of the B color. And (3), the emotional responses to the dull tone and the pale tone are not stable in the red, the yellow, blue, and purple. Thus, we empirically demonstrate the specific differences in color perception between the old and young groups.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.112-122
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• 2012

A gradual change of molecules that are related in fission and fusion is occurred during aging process. Although aging effects on mitochondrial fusion and fission are investigated, it is still unclear that the extent of the change in mitochondria fusion and fission periodically. In this study we investigated the changes of mitochondrial proteins involved in fusion (Mfn2, Opa1) and fission (Drp1, Fis1) in the human gracilis muscle ranging from 10 to 50 years of age (n=40). The gracilis muscle showed a significant increase in muscle apoptotic changes in the age of 50s compared with 10s by using in situ terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL). The expression levels of Drp1 and Fis1 (P<0.01, P<0.05) mRNA were significantly elevated and the Mfn2 and Opa1 (P<0.01, P<0.05) levels were decreased from older individuals. The ratio of fission and fusion was altered and the level of increment of fission gene was greater than fusion gene decrement in the age of 50s. These findings suggest that changes of mitochondrial fusion and fission proteins related with aging might contribute to aged muscle apoptosis.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.783-789
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• 2003

The winding problems of traction motor are the major determinant of motor's life. The root cause of winding failure is gradual deterioration of the insulation due to thermal, electrical, mechanical and environmental stresses. The aging of the insulation reduces the electrical and mechanical strength of the insulation. At same point, a voltage surge or mechanical shock from a traction motor start will fracture or break down the insulation. To achieve the expected life usually requires extensive laboratory evaluation of the insulation systems and the use of accelerated aging tests. There are several nondestructive test available for checking, the condition of motor insulation, the probable extent of aging, and the rate of which aging is taking place. So the insulation characteristics of stator coil were each analyzed by measurement of dielectric loss(tan$\sigma$), capacitance and partial discharge. The method of diagnosis is able to analyze the insulation condition and evaluate the life of the traction motor.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.819-825
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• 2020

All living organisms exhibit the characteristics of aging, such as skin wrinkle formation, muscle degeneration, cataracts, and hair graying as the number of aged cells increases over time. Senescence, which is known as a key cause of aging, is directly related to the aging of living organisms because cells are aged by external and internal factors and eventually cell proliferation is stopped. Senescence is caused by the gradual shortening of the telomere with cell division, and lifespan is determined by the length of the telomere. Recently, it has been found that the histone deacetylase, which can influence gene expression, is not only involved in yeast but also deeply involved in anti-aging mechanisms in both C. elegans and humans. It was also discovered that old cells play a decisive role in the aging phenomenon, and it has been reported that it is possible to promote the proliferation of young cells and delay aging by removing these senescent cells from the inside. Therefore, in order to develop potential anti-aging agents in the future, research should begin with an in-depth study of telomerase activators, sirtuin activators, and senolytics.