• Development and Reproduction
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.149-155
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• 1998

The polysialic acid (polySia) glycotope covalently modifies cell surface glycoconjugates on cells as evolutionarily diverse as microbes and human. The recent chemical identification of polysialylated glycoproteins in the jelly coat and on the cell surface of the sea urchin egg raises important questions about their biosynthesis and possible function. Using CMP-[$^{14}$ C]Neu5Ac as substrate and cell free preparations from eggs and embryos of the sea urchin Stronglylcentrotus nudus, we have identified a membrane associated CMP-Neu5Ac:poly-$\alpha$2, 8 sialosyl sialyltransferase (polyST) that transfers Neu5Ac to an endogenous acceptor. Optimal conditions for the polyST activity were found to be 2$0^{\circ}C$ in 20 mM MOPS buffer (pH 7.0). The polyST activity was increased 2.7 times by the addition of 10 mM $Mg^2$$^{+}$. The membrane-associated polyST also catalyzed the polysialylation of mammalian ganglioside GD3. Given that no structurally similar natural polysialylated gangliosides have been described, nor were observed in the present study, we conclude that a single polyST activity catalyzes sialylation of the endogenous acceptor and the gangliosides. Using an excess of GD3 as an exogenous acceptor, it was established that the expression of the polyST in S. nudus embryos increased rapidly at the mesenchyme blastula stage and reached at maximum at the gastrula stage. The finding that this polyST in the sea urchin embryo is developmentally regulated raises the possibility that it may play a role in the changing cell and tissue interactions that occur during gastrulation and the early stages of spicule formation.n.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.58-75
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• 2007

This study held human measurement for 200 male subjects in their twenties in full age living in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province in China. Their lower body types were classified and grouped according to shapes and sizes. Consequently, representative body type reflecting shapes, sizes, and characteristics were chosen and presented with their measurement values to be used as the basic data for slacks pattern making and fitness evaluation. The following are the results of the analysis: 1. Homogeneity analysis was given to determine the correspondence relationships among index types, indirect types, and size types. Index Type 1 (H-Round), Indirect Type 2 (Adjacent Straight Legs & Slight Slant of Lateral Lower Body), and Size Type 1 (Medium-Thick) were correlated; Index Type 2 (A-Trapezoid), Indirect Type 1 (Bow Legs & Slight Slant of Lateral Lower Body), and Size Type 3 (Small-Slim) were corresponded; Index Type 3 (A-Balance), Indirect Type 3 (Balance Legs & Large Slant of Lateral Lower Body), and Size Type 2 (Tall-Normal) were mutually related. 2. Mahalanobis distance based on each shape factor (index or indirect) and size factor (absolute) was obtained, while an index-absolute representative body type group (47 people, 24.4%) and an indirect-absolute representative body type group (45 people, 23.7%) were chosen, each reflecting shapes, sizes, and characteristics. 3. The representative body type group of lower body shapes of Chinese males in their 20s had average measurement values, such as 169.15cm (stature), 73.32cm (waist circumference), 75.76cm (omphalion waist circumference), 91.08cm (hip circumference), 106.02cm (outside leg length), 53.96cm (thigh circumference), and 74.42cm (crotch length).

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.103-111
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• 2006

Objectives : Deer antler Water Extract(DAE), prepared from the pilose antler of Cervus korean TEMMINCK var. mantchuricus Swinhoe (Nokyong), a traditional immuno-suppressive and immuno-activating Korean herbal-acupuncture, is thought to play an important role in human bone remodeling. Methods : To determine whether DAE can induce the differentiation of resting zone chondrocytes(RC) or not, confluent cell cultures were pretreated for 24, 36, 48, 72, and 120hrs with DAE. At the end of pretreatment, the media were replaced with new media containing $10^{-10}{\sim}10^{-8}M\;1,25-(OH)_2D_3$ and the cells incubated for an additional 24hrs. Results : This second treatment was chosen because prior studies had shown that only the more mature growth zone chondrocytes(GC) respond to this vitamin $D_3$ metabolite. The effect of DAE pretreatment on cell maturation was confirmed by measuring alkaline phosphatase (ALPase)-specific activity. Changes in matrix protein synthesis were examined by measuring collagen synthesis, as well as $^{35}SO_4$ incorporation into proteoglycans. When RC cells were pretreated for 120h with DAE, treatment with $1,25-(OH)_2D_3$ caused a dose-dependent increase in ALPase-specific activity and collagen synthesis, however, the proteoglycan production was not affected. RC cells pretreated with $1,25-(OH)_2D_3$ responded like RC cells that had not received any pretreatment. Conclusion : These results indicate that DAE directly regulates the maturation of RC chondrocytes into GC chondrocytes. Therefore it was indicated that DAE may play a significant role in regulating chondrocyte maturation during endochondral ossification.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.69-75
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• 2015

Background: Ginseng has been shown to exert antistress effects both in vitro and in vivo. However, the effects of ginseng on stress in brain cells are not well understood. This study investigated how Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) controls hydrogen peroxide-induced apoptosis via regulation of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt and estrogen receptor (ER)-${\beta}$ signaling. Methods: Human neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cells were pretreated with KRG and subsequently exposed to $H_2O_2$. The ability of KRG to inhibit oxidative stress-induced apoptosis was assessed in MTT cytotoxicity assays. Apoptotic protein expression was examined byWestern blot analysis. The roles of ER-${\beta}$, PI3K, and p-Akt signaling in KRG regulation of apoptosis were studied using small interfering RNAs and/or target antagonists. Results: Pretreating SK-N-SH cells with KRG decreased expression of the proapoptotic proteins p-p53 and caspase-3, but increased expression of the antiapoptotic protein BCL2. KRG pretreatment was also associated with increased ER-${\beta}$, PI3K, and p-Akt expression. Conversely, ER-${\beta}$ inhibition with small interfering RNA or inhibitor treatment increased p-p53 and caspase-3 levels, but decreased BCL2, PI3K, and p-Akt expression. Moreover, inhibition of PI3K/Akt signaling diminished p-p53 and caspase-3 levels, but increased BCL2 expression. Conclusion: Collectively, the data indicate that KRG represses oxidative stress-induced apoptosis by enhancing PI3K/Akt signaling via upregulation of ER-${\beta}$ expression.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.170-178
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• 2022

Mechanical surface treatment is an excellent approach widely used to modulate and improve the performance and service life of bearings, gears, and frictional joints. The main purpose of this study is to investigate and compare the effect of ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification (UNSM) and wonder process craft (WPC) on the surface and tribological properties of SUJ2 bearing steel. The surface roughness and hardness of the untreated and treated (UNSM- and WPC-treated) specimens were measured and compared. Their tribological properties were evaluated using a micro-tribometer under grease-lubricated and dry conditions against itself. Surface hardness measurement results revealed that both the UNSM- and WPC-treated specimens had a higher hardness than that of the untreated specimen. The surface roughness of the untreated specimen was reduced after UNSM and WPC treatments. Abrasive wear mode was observed on the surface of the specimens worn under grease-lubricated conditions, while adhesive wear mode was found on the surface of the specimens worn in dry conditions. According to the tribological test results, the friction coefficient and wear rate of the untreated specimens were reduced by the application of both the UNSM and WPC treatments under grease-lubricated and dry conditions.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.213-220
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• 2020

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the potential adverse effect of spontaneously decreasing serum estradiol (SE) levels on in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes. Methods: This retrospective single-subject study analyzed IVF cycles conducted at a hospital IVF unit between 2010 and 2017. Overall, 2,417 cycles were analyzed. Only cycles with spontaneously decreasing SE before human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) triggering were included. Each patient served as her own control, and subsequent cycles were analyzed for recurrent SE decreases. The main outcome was the number of oocytes retrieved. Results: Cycle characteristics were similar between the study (SE decrease) and control groups, with the exception of the median SE on the day of hCG triggering (899.7 pg/mL; interquartile range [IQR], 193-2,116 pg/mL vs. 1,566.8 pg/mL; IQR, 249-2,970 pg/mL; p< 0.001). The study group, relative to the control group, had significantly fewer total oocytes (5 [IQR, 2-9] vs. 7 [IQR, 3-11]; p= 0.002) and significantly fewer metaphase II (MII) oocytes (3 [IQR, 1-6] vs. 4 [IQR, 2-8]; p= 0.001) retrieved. The study group had fewer cleavage-stage embryos than the control cycles (3 [IQR, 1-6] vs. 4 [IQR, 2-7]; p= 0.012). Compared to cycles with a ≤ 20% SE decrease, cycles with a > 20% decrease had significantly fewer total and MII oocytes retrieved. SE decrease recurred in 12% of patients. Conclusion: A spontaneous decrease in SE levels adversely affected IVF outcomes, with a linear correlation between the percentage decrease and the number of oocytes retrieved. SE decrease can repeat in later cycles.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.125-132
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• 2003

The present study was attempted to investigate and compare the antioxidant potency of several well-know flavonoids, antioxidant vitamin and commercially available popular beverages. The antioxidant potency was assessed by the effect on reducing oxidative DNA damage of human lymphocytes. Cellular oxidative DNA damage was measured by SCGE (single-cell gel electrophoresis), also known as comet assay. Lymphocytes were pre-treated for 30 minutes with wide ranges of doses of apigenin, kaempferol, luteolin, myricetin, rutin, quercetin, $\alpha$-tocopherol (10,25,50,100,200,500,1000 $\mu$M) ,green tea extract or grape juice (10,50,100,250,500,1000 $\mu$g/mL) followed by a $H_2O$$_2$(100 $\mu$M) treatment for 5 min as an oxidative stimulus. The physiological function of each antioxidant substance on oxidative DNA damage was analyzed as tail moment (tail length $\times$ percentage migrated DNA in tail) and expressed as relative DNA damage score after adjusting by the level of control treatment. Cells treated with $H_2O$$_2$alone (positive control) had an extensive DNA damage compared with cells treated with phosphate buffered saline (PBS, negative control) or pre-treated with all the tested samples. Of all the six flavonoids, quercetin was the most potent antioxidant showing the lowest $ED_{50}$/ of 8.5 $\mu$g/mL (concentration to produce 50% protection of relative DNA damage). The antoxidant potency of individual flavonoids were ranked as follows in a decreasing order; luteolin (18.4 $\mu$g/mL), myricetin (19.0 $\mu$g/mL) , rutin (22.2 $\mu$g/mL) , apigenin (24,3 $\mu$g/mL) , kaempferol (25.5 $\mu$g/mL). The protective effect of $\alpha$-tocopherol was substantially lower (highest $ED_{50}$value of 55.0 $\mu$g/mL) than all the other flavonoids, while the protective effect was highest in green tea and grape juice with low ED5O value of 7.6 and 5.3, respectively. These results suggest that flavonoids, especially quercetin, and natural compounds from food product, green tea and grape juice, produced powerful anti-oxidative activities, even stronger than $\alpha$-tocopherol. Taken together, supplementation of antioxidants to lymphocytes followed by oxidative stimulus inhibited damage to cellular DNA, supporting a protective effect against oxidative damage induced by reactive oxygen species.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.33-48
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• 2009

Capsule endoscopy is one of the most remarkable inventions in last ten years. Causing less pain for patients, diagnosis for entire digestive system has been considered as a most convenience method over a normal endoscope. However, it is known that the diagnosis process typically requires very long inspection time for clinical experts because of considerably many duplicate images of same areas in human digestive system due to uncontrollable movement of a capsule endoscope. In this paper, we propose a method for clinical diagnosticians to get highly valuable information from capsule-endoscopy video. Our software system consists of three global maps, such as movement map, characteristic map, and brightness map, in temporal domain for entire sequence of the input video. The movement map can be used for effectively removing duplicated adjacent images. The characteristic and brightness maps provide frame content analyses that can be quickly used for segmenting regions or locating some features(such as blood) in the stream. Our experiments show the results of four patients having different health conditions. The result maps clearly capture the movements and characteristics from the image frames. Our method may help the diagnosticians quickly search the locations of lesion, bleeding, or some other interesting areas.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.160-165
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• 2009

Microbiological and sensory qualities of Musaengchae prepared with gamma-irradiated red pepper powder were investigated during storage at $4^{\circ}C$. Total aerobic bacteria in non-irradiated raw materials prior to Musangchae preparation were 6.71 log CFU/g in red pepper powder, 3.39 log CFU/g in radish, 2.21 log CFU/g in scallion, and 2.10 log CFU/g in garlic, respectively. Coliforms(2.15 log CFU/g) were detected only in red pepper powder, and not in Musangchae to which gamma-irradiated red pepper powder. None of pH, Hunter's color value, or sensory properties were significantly affected by addition of irradiated red pepper powder. These results suggest that addition of such powder, after irradiation with less then 10 kGy, could improve Musangchae microbiological safety without changing the sensory or physical qualities.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.356-364
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• 2003

A methanol extract from seeds of Paeonia lactiflora (Paeoniaceae, peony) was found to possess different antiproliferative activities against four different human cancer cell lines: Hela, MCF-7, HepG2 and HT-29. Furthermore, five different methanol (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 % MeOH) fractions obtained by fractionation of the methanol extract of the seeds on a Diaion HP-20 column exhibited differential antiproliferative effects against the above four cancer cell lines. Among five fractions, the 60 % MeOH fraction showed relatively lower antiproliferative activity on MCF-7 estrogen-sensitive breast cancer cell than the other cancer cell lines. Systematic separation of 60% the MeOH fraction by silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 columns led to the isolation of four known stilbenes, trans-resveratrol (1), trans-(+)- $\varepsilon$ -viniferin (2), gnetin H (3) and suffruticosol B (4). The four stilbenes (1∼4) exerted differential biphasic effects on cell proliferation of MCF-7 cells in a similar manner as genistein, a soybean isoflavone used as a positive reference, in the concentration range from 1.0 to 200 $\mu$M. Three stilbenes (1 ∼ 3) weakly stimulated the proliferation of MCF -7 cells at doses below 10 JIM. However, strong antiproliferative effects on MCF-7 cell were exerted by extract 1 at a dose of 200 JIM, and by 2 and 3 at doses above 25 $\mu$M. In contrast, 4 inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 cell at a dose below 25 $\mu$M, but stimulated cell proliferation at concentrations of 50 and 100 $\mu$M. All four stilbenes (1∼4) stimulated the proliferation of ROS 17/2.8 osteoblast-like cells in the range of 10$^{-10}$ ∼10$^{-1}$ $\mu$M. Compound 1 exhibited especially potent proliferative activity, although its activity was weaker than that of genistein. Additionally, three resveratrol oligomers (2∼4) also exhibited concentration-dependently moderate proliferative activity, but less than that of 1. These results suggest that resveratrol, and its dimer and trimers from the seeds of Paeonia lactiflora may act as a phytoestrogen, but in a somewhat different manner from that of genistein.