• Clean Technology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.134-141
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• 2011

The effects of the compounds and concentrations of nitrogenous electron acceptor, the ratio of electron donor/electron acceptor (C/N), and the complexity of electron donor on the emission of $N_2O$ during wastewater denitrification were quantitatively investigated in this study. The higher ${NO_3}^-$ and ${NO_2}^-$ concentrations, the more $N_2O$ emission was observed. ${NO_2}^-$ has strong effect on $N_2O$ emission as it emitted morc $N_2O$ than ${NO_3}^-$, 50 mg/L of ${NO_2}^-$-N gave the highest conversion (9.3%) and yield (9.8%) of $N_2O$ while ${NO_3}^-$-N (50 mg/L) gave 5.6% conversion and 11.0% yield. Lower C/N ratio decreases nitrogen removal efficiency, but it increases the conversion of $N_2O$ because of the incomplete denitrification by the limited organic carbon. When real domestic wastewater is used as the electron donor of the denitrification, $N_2O$ emission is reduced to 1/10 of the emission when single carbon (acetate) is used. It is thought that multiple carbon source utilizes many denitrification pathways and it seems to be helpful for the reduction of $N_2O$ emission.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.295-302
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• 2016

In this study, we investigated a learning progression focusing on $5^{th}$ to $9^{th}$ graders' performances with dissolution and solution concepts using the construct modeling approach. We designed a construct map describing hypothetical pathways of the concept development of dissolution and solution by analyzing both National Science Curricula and related studies. A conceptions test consisting of ordered multiple-choice items was developed and administered to 826 students. A revised construct map was derived from analyses of the results based on the partial credit model, a branch of polytomous item response theory. The sequence of dissolution and solution concepts presented in the current science curriculum was found to correspond with the learning progression of the students. However, the lower anchor, the concept of the homogeneity of particles in solution, and the factors affecting solubility were not consistent with the expected levels of the construct map. After revising the construct map, we proposed a learning progression for dissolution and solution concepts with five levels: Students of level 1 (the lower anchor) recognize the particles in the solution but misunderstand various concepts; Students of level 2 understand the homogeneity of particles in solution; Students of level 3 understand solubility and the conservation of particles during dissolution; Students of level 4 partially understand the interaction between particles; and Students of level 5 (the upper anchor) understand the interaction between particles and the factors affecting solubility.

• BMB Reports
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• v.50 no.9
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• pp.460-465
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• 2017

Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is one of the most common inherited disorders, involving progressive cyst formation in the kidney that leads to renal failure. FK506 binding protein 12 (FK506BP) is an immunophilin protein that performs multiple functions, including regulation of cell signaling pathways and survival. In this study, we determined the roles of PEP-1-FK506BP on cell proliferation and cyst formation in PKD cells. Purified PEP-1-FK506BP transduced into PKD cells markedly inhibited cell proliferation. Also, PEP-1-FK506BP drastically inhibited the expression levels of p-Akt, p-p70S6K, p-mTOR, and p-ERK in PKD cells. In a 3D-culture system, PEP-1-FK506BP significantly reduced cyst formation. Furthermore, the combined effects of rapamycin and PEP-1-FK506BP on cyst formation were markedly higher than the effects of individual treatments. These results suggest that PEP-1-FK506BP delayed cyst formation and could be a new therapeutic strategy for renal cyst formation in PKD.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.93-114
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• 2012

Objective : This study aimed to review the performance of traditional herbal prescriptions for treating dementia and present a strategy for research on dementia therapy utilizing herbal medicine. Methods : A definition was made to clarify the technology regarding the development of herbal prescriptions for treating dementia. The queries were compounded based on the initial keywords provided by experts in the field, then applied to the Web of Science database search engines from January 1986 to September 2011 to search related scientific articles. Before performing the analysis, papers were extracted from the initial search reviewed by experts and 80 articles were selected. Then, the selected papers were analyzed in terms of publish year, country, and type of herbal prescriptions. Furthermore, the research performance evaluation for treating dementia by herbal prescriptions was also created in terms of country and organization based on forward citation analysis. In addition to, for the evaluation regarding research quality, we classified and reviewed papers into two types: clinical studies and experimental studies. Results : According to the quantitative information analysis of 80 articles, the number of papers has increased by 21.9% per the yearly mean from 1995, and Japan had the largest portion within this research field. There were 34 kinds of traditional herbal prescriptions, among them Ukgansan had the highest number of studies followed by Jodeungsan, Dangkisoosan and so on. In addition, quality index as calculated by cites per paper is higher than average in Switzerland, Turkey and Japan. In the view of the evaluation on quality there were 12 clinical studies, 8 RCT reported that herbal prescriptions had efficacy at cognition, behavioral & psychological symptoms (BPSD) and activity of daily life (ADL) in various type of dementia. In experimental studies most of the studies were performed using animal models. The studies using Ukgansan were aimed at improving BPSD. The papers studied with Jodeungsan and Dangkisoosan targeted vascular dementia. Conclusions : In this study, research to develop traditional herbal prescriptions for treating dementia has the potential to improve symptoms since herbal medicines work as both multi-function and multi-target in dementia with multiple pathological or neurotoxic pathways. Therefore, the results of the research should be used in order to establish strategies to develop technology for treating dementia with traditional herbal prescriptions in the future.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.107-115
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• 2014

Vegetable oils (triacylglycerols) produced mainly in seeds of plants are used for valuable foods that supply essential fatty acids for humans as well as industrial raw materials and biofuel production. As the demanding for vegetable oils has increased, plant metabolic engineering to produce triacylglycerols in biomass such as leaves has been considered and explored for alternative source of vegetable oils. Leaves are genetically programmed to supply the fixed carbon by photosynthesis to other organs for plant development and growth. Therefore, in order to produce and accumulate triacylglycerols in leaves, one should take account of multiple metabolic pathways such as carbon flux, competition of carbohydrate and fatty acid biosynthesis, and triacylglycerols turnover in leaves. The recent metabolic engineering strategy has showed potential in which the co-expression of three genes WRINKLED1, DGAT1, and OLEOSIN involved in the critical step for increasing the fatty acid synthesis, accumulating triacylglycerols, and protecting triacylglycerols, respectively produced higher amount of vegetable oils in leaves. Developing of genetically engineered plants producing vegetable oil in biomass at non-agricultural lands will be promising to the future success of the field.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.5825-5831
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• 2013

Background/Objectives: Maintenance of cellular function in culture is vital for transfer and development following adoptive immunotherapy. Dual properties of IL-21 in activating T cells and reducing activation induced cell death led us to explore the mechanism of action of IL-21 enhanced proliferation and cytotoxic potential of CIK cells. Method: CIK cells cultured from PBMCs of healthy subjects were stimulated with IL-21 and cellular viability and cytotoxicity to K562 cells were measured. To elucidate the mechanism of action of IL-21, mRNA expression of cytotoxic factors was assessed by RT-PCR and protein expression of significantly important cytotoxic factors and cytokine secretion were determined through flow cytometry and ELISA. Western blotting was performed to check the involvement of the JAK/STAT pathway following stimulation. Results: We found that IL-21 did not enhance in vitro proliferation of CIK cells, but did increase the number of cells expressing the CD3+/CD56+ phenotype. Cytotoxic potential was increased with corresponding increase in perforin ($0.9831{\pm}0.1265$ to $0.7592{\pm}0.1457$), granzyme B ($0.4084{\pm}0.1589$ to $0.7319{\pm}0.1639$) and FasL ($0.4015{\pm}0.2842$ to $0.7381{\pm}0.2568$). Interferon gamma and TNF-alpha were noted to increase ($25.8{\pm}6.1ng/L$ to $56.0{\pm}2.3ng/L$; and $5.64{\pm}0.61{\mu}g/L$ to $15.14{\pm}0.93{\mu}g/L$, respectively) while no significant differences were observed in the expression of granzyme A, TNF-alpha and NKG2D, and NKG2D. We further affirmed that IL-21 signals through the STAT-3 and STAT-5b signaling pathway in the CIK cell pool. Conclusion: IL-21 enhances cytotoxic potential of CIK cells through increasing expression of perforin, granzyme B, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha. The effect is brought about by the activation of STAT-3 and STAT-5b proteins.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.83-88
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• 1997

In septic patients, disseminated intravascula. coagulation (DIC) occurs frequently and is a pathologic condition associated with a variety of critical illness. DIC may complicate the already complex clinical situations and contribute to the high mortality. Nevertheless, its pathogenic mechanisms are not completely elucidated. Present study was prospectively designed to understand the pathogenetic mechanisms involved in the development of DIC. 15 rats were subjected to study and according to the aim, they were divided into three groups： group I, control (not treated-endotoxin, n=5)； group II (12 hours after endotoxin injection, n=5)； group III (24 hours after endotoxin injection, n=5). Experimental DIC was induced in rats by a bolus injection of endotoxin (1mg/kg, E. coli serotype 055:B5). Blood was collected by direct puncture of the heart. Platelet count, fibrinogen and plasminogen concentration, antithrombin III, D-dimer and complement components (C3 and C4) were measured in all subjects. In group II and III, there were apparent signs of DIC, including thrombocytopenia, decreased fibrinogen (but increase in group III), reduced C3 and antithrombin III, and elevated D-dimer. These data indicated that endotoxin might induce the activation of several pathways such as coagulation, fibrinolytic and complement cascade, causing DIC and subsequent multiple organ failures. Ultimately, the increased knowledge of the various pathogenetic mechanisms of coagulation activation and fibrinolysis in endotoxin-induced DIC may have prophylactic or therapeutic implications.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.355-378
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• 2017

Because neurochemicals are related to homeostasis and cognitive and behavioral functions in human body and because they enable the diagnosis of numerous neurodegenerative disorders, there has been increasing interest in the development of analytical platforms for neurochemical profiling in biological samples. In particular, mass spectrometry (MS)-based analytical methods combined with chromatographic separation have been widely used to profile neurochemicals in metabolic pathways. However, development of delicate sample preparation procedures and highly sensitive instrumental detection is necessary considering the trace levels and chemical instabilities of neurochemicals in biological samples. Therefore, in this review, analytical trends in MS-based metabolomics approaches to neurochemicals in multiple biological samples, such as urine, blood, CSF, and biological tissues, are discussed. This paper is expected to contribute to the development of an analytical platform to discover biomarkers that will aid diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.220-228
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• 2017

Many crops including cereals, tuber crops, feeds, and turf grasses are often damaged by various environmental stresses such as drought, salt, cold, and high temperature, causing the reduction of their productivity. Plants are sessile and cannot escape from environmental stresses. Thus, plants evolve in the direction of overcoming the environmental stresses. Some plant genes such as ARF, ABI3, NAC, HSF, and WRKY are known to respond to environmental stresses as they transcriptionally regulate the stress response pathways. For example, the OsWRKY76 gene contributes to the enhanced resistance to low temperatures and pathogenic infections. The AtWRKY28 also plays a role in environmental stresses. Zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica Steud.) is popularly grown for gardens and golf courses. However, the function of the WRKY gene, another environmental stress-related gene, is not known in zoysiagrass. In this study, the ZjWRKY3 and ZjWRKY7 genes with one shared WRKY domain have been isolated in zoysiagrass. The expression of these genes increased in response to low temperature, drought, and salt stresses. Furthermore, the infection of the brown patch-causing Rhozoctonia solani induced the expression of ZjWRKY3 and ZjWRKY7. The corresponding proteins bind to the W-box of the Zjchi promoter, possibly regulating their transcriptions. The researchers suggest that the ZjWRKY3 and ZjWRKY7 genes transcriptionally regulate abiotic and biotic stress related downstream genes.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.129-137
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• 2009

Calcium ($Ca^{2+}$) plays pivotal roles as an intracellular second messenger in response to a variety of stimuli, including light, abiotic. and biotic stresses and hormones. $Ca^{2+}$ sensor is $Ca^{2+}$-binding protein known to function in transducing signals by activating specific targets and pathways. Among $Ca^{2+}$-binding proteins, calmodulin (CaM) has been well reported to regulate the activity of down-stream target proteins in plants and animals. Especially plants possess multiple CaM genes and many CaM target proteins, including unique protein kinases and transcription factors. Thus, plants are possible to perceive different signals from their surroundings and adapt to the changing environment. However, the function of most of CaM or CaM-related proteins have been remained uncharacterized and unknown. Hence, a better understanding of the function of these proteins will help in deciphering their roles in plant growth, development and response to environmental stimuli. This review focuses on $Ca^{2+}$-CaM messenger system, CaM-associated proteins and their role in responses to external stimuli of both abiotic and biotic stresses in plants.