• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.259-265
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• 2001

Staphylococal infection still remains to be one of the most serious infections, having various complications in the clinical use of indwelling polymeric medical devices. However, there are a few promising systems showing a high antibacterial effect without causing any demage of polymer backbone under biological environments such as blood or body fluid. In order to resolve this problem, we have designed a new antibiotic releasing system via a hydrolysis mechanism. The surface of biomedical polyurethane (PU) was modified by using 1,6-diisocyanatohexane (HMDI) to immobilize the rifampicon. Also, the immobilized rifampicin was designed to be released by a selective cleavage of the unstable carbamate linkage that exists on the rifampicin-immobilized polyurethane (PHR). The immobilization of rifampicin on the surface of polyurethane was confirmed by the disappearance of the characteristics IR absorbance peak of the isocyanate (-NCO) group at $2,267\;cm^{-1}$. The PHR showed a continuous rifampicin release profile under an aqueous environment of 10 mM of PBS (phosphate-buffered saline) for ove 6 days. The rifampicin molecules, which are released from PHR under an optimal bacterial infection environment, had a higher antibacterial activity against both S. aureus and S. epidermidis than rifampicin-incorporated polyurethane (RIP). In addition, the PHR maintained a stable antibacterial effect under a blood-mimic aqueous environment such as bovine calf serum.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7335-7338
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• 2013

There is increasing evidence that natural killer (NK) cells play an important role in antitumor immunity following dendritic cell (DC) vaccination. Little is known, however, about the optimal stimulation of DCs by epitopes and NK interactions for cytotoxicity in tumors. In this study, DC cells activated by the HPV16E7.49-57 epitope and LPS were co-cultured with NK cells in vitro, and then used ot immunize mice to study CTL activity of TC-1, which constitutively expresses HPV16E6E7, with an LDH release assay. Cytotoxicity in mice immunized with DC loaded with epitope HPVE7.49-57 vaccine co-cultured with NK was enhanced significantly (p<0.01). In conclusion, talk-across between DC and NK cells enhances their functions, also improving cytotoxicity againsttumor cells, suggesting that activated DC-NK by epitopes has potential application for cancer-specific immuno-cellular therapy.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.3410-3415
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• 2014

The heat generated by electronic devices can result in performance degradation. Therefore, a heat sink has been used to release the operating heat into the air outside. This study addressed a methodology for a heat sink with an inner tunnel. Under forced convection conditions, the heat transfer characteristics were different so the cooling and heating performances were studied for the heat sink with an inner tunnel. This was evaluated by performing the experimental test examining the heat transfer characteristics related to the variance in time and temperature distribution. In the cooling experiment, the temperature of the A-shape was lower than that of the B-shape, when the voltage was 10 V. These experimental results indicate the optimal cooling effect. In a heating experiment, the temperature of the A-shape was higher than that of the B-shape, when the voltage was 13 V. The experimental results showed that the temperature and efficiency of the A-shape were higher than those of the B-shape.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.350-359
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• 2020

Pathogenic aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARSs) are attractive targets for anti-infective agents because their catalytic active sites are different from those of human ARSs. Mupirocin is a topical antibiotic that specifically inhibits bacterial isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase (IleRS), resulting in a block to protein synthesis. Previous studies on Thermus thermophilus IleRS indicated that mupirocin-resistance of eukaryotic IleRS is primarily due to differences in two amino acids, His581 and Leu583, in the active site. However, without a eukaryotic IleRS structure, the structural basis for mupirocin-resistance of eukaryotic IleRS remains elusive. Herein, we determined the crystal structure of Candida albicans IleRS complexed with Ile-AMP at 2.9 A resolution. The largest difference between eukaryotic and prokaryotic IleRS enzymes is closure of the active site pocket by Phe55 in the HIGH loop; Arg410 in the CP core loop; and the second Lys in the KMSKR loop. The Ile-AMP product is lodged in a closed active site, which may restrict its release and thereby enhance catalytic efficiency. The compact active site also prevents the optimal positioning of the 9-hydroxynonanoic acid of mupirocin and plays a critical role in resistance of eukaryotic IleRS to anti-infective agents.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7611-7615
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• 2014

Aims: To prepare 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) nanoparticles with higher encapsulation efficiency and drug loading, and then investigate interaction with the SGC-7901 gastric cancer cell line. Materials and Methods: Prescription was optimized by orthogonal experiments, the encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity were tested by high-performance liquid chromatography, and inhibition of proliferation by 5-Fu nanoparticles and 5-Fu given to cells for 24, 48 and 72 hours was investigated by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay (MTT). In addition, 5-Fu nanoparticles were labeled by fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), and absorption into cells was tested by flow cytometry. Results: The optimal conditions for preparation were concentrations of 5-Fu of 5mg/ml, of $CaCl_2$ of 60 mg/ml and of chitosan of 2 mg/ml. With a stirring speed of 1200rpm, encapsulation efficiency of 5-Fu nanoparticles was $55.4{\pm}1.10%$ and loading capacity was $4.22{\pm}0.14%$; gastric cancer cells were significantly inhibited by 5-Fu nanoparticles in a time and concentration dependent manner, and compared to 5-Fu with slower drug release, in a certain concentration range, inhibition with 5-Fu nanoparticles was stronger. 5-Fu nanoparticles were absorbed by the cells in line with the concentration. Conclusions: 5-Fu nanoparticles can inhibit growth of gastric cancer cells in vitro to a greater extent than with 5-Fu with good adsorption characteristics, supporting feasibility as a carrier.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.399-409
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• 2018

Prussian blue is known as a superior material for selective adsorption of radioactive cesium ions; however, the separation of Prussian blue from aqueous suspension, due to particle size of around several tens of nanometers, is a hurdle that must be overcome. Therefore, this study aims to develop granule type adsorbent material containing Prussian blue in order to selectively adsorb and remove radioactive cesium in water. The surface of granular activated carbon was grafted using a covalent organic polymer (COP-19) in order to enhance Prussian blue immobilization. To maximize the degree of immobilization and minimize subsequent detachment of Prussian blue, several immobilization pathways were evaluated. As a result, the highest cesium adsorption performance was achieved when Prussian blue was synthesized in-situ without solid-liquid separation step during synthesis. The sample obtained under optimal conditions was further analyzed by scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive spectrometry, and it was confirmed that Prussian blue, which is about 9.7% of the total weight, was fixed on the surface of the activated carbon; this level of fixing represented a two-fold improvement compared to before COP-19 modification. In addition, an elution test was carried out to evaluate the stability of Prussian blue. Leaching of Prussian blue and cesium decreased by 1/2 and 1/3, respectively, compared to those levels before modification, showing increased stability due to COP-19 grafting. The Prussian blue based adsorbent material developed in this study is expected to be useful as a decontamination material to mitigate the release of radioactive materials.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.40 no.11
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• pp.963-970
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• 2016

This research deals with design and performance validation of eco-pedals that generate tactile pedal force to guide fuel saving driving behavior. For eco-pedal control logic, allowable fuel consumption at given driving speed is calculated based on pre-defined "allowable acceleration", and if the actual fuel consumption exceeds the allowable fuel consumption, then pedal force is activated. Pedal force should be recognizable to driver while not causing unpleasantness, and should not interfere with normal operation of pedal. Reaction forces that increase pedal stiffness abruptly, such as step and ramp shape, turn out to be not suitable due to pedal overshoot after release of reaction force. With this regards, vibration type reaction force is adopted, and its optimal frequency, magnitude and duration is determined through subjective evaluation with consideration to effect to fuel efficiency. Though highway and city driving test, it is demonstrated that fuel efficiency increase of 13% for highway and 15% for city is achieved.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.379-385
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• 2011

Ferulic acid esterase (FAE) and acetyl esterase (AE) cleave feruloyl groups substituted at the 5'-OH group of arabinosyl residues and acetyl groups substituted at O-2/O-3 of the xylan backbone, respectively, of arabinoxylans in the cell wall of grasses. In this study, the enzyme profiles of FAE, AE and polysaccharide hydrolases of the anaerobic rumen fungus Neocallimastix sp. YQ1 grown on Chinese wildrye grass hay (CW) or alfalfa hay (AH) were investigated by two $2{\times}4$ factorial experiments, each in 10-day pure cultures. The treatments consisted of two glucose levels ($G^+$: glucose at 1.0 g/L, $G^-$: no glucose) and four N sources (N1: 1.0 g/L yeast extract, 1.0 g/L tryptone and 0.5 g/L $(NH_4)_2SO_4$; N2: 2.8 g/L yeast extract and 0.5 g/L $(NH_4)_2SO_4$; N3: 1.6 g/L tryptone and 0.5 g/L $(NH_4)_2SO_4$; N4: 1.4 g/L tryptone and 1.7 g/L yeast extract) in defined media. The optimal combinations of glucose level and N source for the fungus on CW, instead of AH, were $G^-N4$ and $G^-N3$ for maximum production of FAE and AE, respectively. Xylanase activity peaked on day 4 and day 6 for the fungus grown on CW and AH, respectively. The activities of esterases were positively correlated with those of xylanase and carboxymethyl cellulase. The fungus grown on CW exhibited a greater volatile fatty acid production than on AH with a greater release of ferulic acid from plant cell wall.

• Journal of KIISE
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• v.42 no.12
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• pp.1551-1560
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• 2015

Software Reliability Growth Models (SRGMs) are used to quantitatively evaluate software reliability and to determine the software release date or additional testing efforts using software failure data. Because a single SRGM is not universally applicable to all kinds of software, the selection of an optimal SRGM suitable to a specific case has been an important issue. The existing methods for SRGM selection assess the goodness-of-fit of the SRGM in terms of the collected failure data but do not consider the accuracy of future failure predictions. In this paper, we propose a method for selecting SRGMs using the trend of failure data and failure prediction ability. To justify our approach, we identify problems associated with the existing SRGM selection methods through experiments and show that our method for selecting SRGMs is superior to the existing methods with respect to the accuracy of future failure prediction.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.93-107
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• 2010

Performance of software development is measured by two major criteria - roductivity and quality. Although the criteria is empirically tested in software engineering research, they often present with a limited way under consideration of a few factors or contexts for developers to focus on the either productivity facets or quality facets. Analyzing data on software development performance collected over a 13-year period from 20 countries, we investigated how major software development factors - development type, development platform, development technique, language type, DBMS, methodology, methodology acquisition, CASE,, summary of work effort, resource level, max team size, affect the performance of software development. The results suggest that productivity and quality of software development are affected by different factors and context: function points, line of code, extreme defects, major defects, or minor defects. This research provides the empirical evidence that the two performance criteria require for software developer to have careful attention to find the optimal balance between the two performance criteria.