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The anticancer effect of choline kinase (ChK)-siRNA for breast cancer was evaluated using PEGylated liposomes both in vitro and in vivo. The optimal size and zeta-potential of siRNA/liposome complex were achieved using condensing agents of hyaluronic acid (HA) and protamine with weight ratios of (ChK-siRNA+HA+protamine): liposome between 0.05 and 0.0037. Suppression of the expression of ChK-mRNA and the resulting cell growth inhibition by the treatment with ChK-siRNA was the highest when using 2.5 and 5 mol% PEGylated liposomes. A pharmacokinetic study after intravenous injection into mice showed that the area under the curve (AUC) and blood half-life (t1/2, α and t1/2, β ) of ChK-siRNA in 5 mol% PEGylated liposomes were 19 times and 2.2 to 10.5 times higher than that of naked siRNA, respectively. In vivo study showed that PEG-lipo with siRNA exhibited much better tumor growth inhibition and increased survival time than the free siRNA in an MDA-MB-231-bearing xenograft nude mouse model, presumably due to the increased half-life and the passive targeting effect mediated by the PEGylated liposome. The data clearly show that the PEGylated liposome, together with appropriate condensing agents, could serve as an effective delivery system for the ChK-siRNA therapeutics for breast cancer.

Photosynthetic characteristics of two Cymbidium hybrids, ‘Red Fire’ and ‘Yokihi’, were investigated at different developmental stages. The net CO2 assimilation rate (An) as a function of incident photosynthetic photon flux (PPF), intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), and relative humidity (RH) in a leaf chamber head was determined in a greenhouse with 1- and 2-year-old plant leaves. The maximum net CO2 assimilation rate (Anmax) in response to PPF of 1-year-old ‘Red Fire’ was 6.11 μmol·CO2·m−2·s−1 at 700 μmol·m−2 ·s−1 PPF, whereas it was 4.9 μmol·CO2·m−2·s−1 at 500 μmol·m−2·s−1 PPF in ‘Yokihi’. Under low light intensity (below 250 μmol·m−2 ·s−1 PPF), An was more pronounced in ‘Yokihi’ than in ‘Red Fire’. In 2-year-old Cymbidium, however, the maximum An was less than 2 μmol·CO2·m−2·s−1 in both cultivars at the same CO2 condition of 600 μmol·CO2·mol−1 air. The An increased in the leaves of 2-year-old plant under an elevated CO2 condition up to 1,500 μmol·CO2·mol−1 air with increasing PPF up to about 800 μmol·m−2·s−1. The An increased with increasing Ci and showed the highest value when Ci was over 1,000 and 2,000 μmol·mol −1 air in ‘Red Fire’ and ‘Yokihi’, respectively. The carboxylation efficiency of ‘Red Fire’ and ‘Yokihi’ were 0.044 and 0.036 μmol·CO2·m−2·s−1, respectively, while An of ‘Yokihi’ was higher than that of ‘Red Fire’ at above 1,000 μmol·mol−1 air Ci. The An tended to increase with RH, increasing from 15 to 70% in both hybrids. The Anmax of ‘Yokihi’ was observed at over 70% of RH, whereas 45% of RH was sufficient enough to show Anmax in ‘Red Fire’. The results shows that the photosynthetic characteristics of Cymbidium ‘Red Fire’ and ‘Yokihi’ can be increased by controlling the PPF, CO2, and RH conditions and the optimal conditions for maximum photosynthetic efficiency vary by cultivar, developmental stage, and greenhouse conditions.

In Korea, slurry composted and biofiltered (SCB) liquid fertilizer is produced through the composting and biofiltering of animal waste. An appropriate guidelines involving proper treatment of SCB liquid fertilizer on turfgrass should be considered. An experiment was conducted to determine the optimum application amount, timing, and frequency of SCB liquid fertilizer for Zoysia japonica ‘Millock’. The SCB liquid fertilizer was applied in low, medium, and high amount (N at 15, 25, and 40 g·8m -2 per year in 2010, and 10, 20, and 40 g·m -2 per year in 2011, respectively) and treated during the growing season or dormancy period. During the growing season, SCB liquid fertilizer was applied twice or four times. The greatest improvement in turf quality for both years was in SCB plots applied four times with N at 40 g·m -2 per year during the growing season (SH4). This treatment exhibited turf color retention in the fall, and enhanced clipping yield during the growing and fall seasons. SCB plots with four times during the growing season (SL4, SM4, and SH4) exhibited higher shoot density relative to the same amount of other SCB treatments. Plots treated during the dormancy period also showed a high turf color index during the next growing season in 2011. The results indicate that SCB with high amount up to N at 40 g·m -2 per year applied four times during the growing season and dormant application produced high turf quality and growth, and could be recommended as an optimum application guide.

Aeronautical lights, which are internationally standardized sequence of colors and placements, are aeronautic safety devices that provide visual information to pilots by continuously adjusting their light intensity to appropriate level. In this paper, we consider the development testing for in pavement LED aeronautical light system such as taxiway centerline, stop line and temporary stop line. The test results of LED sourced lights have shown a drastic improvement in power consumption levels and cost efficiency compared to their halogen sourced counterparts The LED light used only 42.7% as much power as their halogen sourced counterparts. Taking installation costs into account, LED will cost only 58% of its halogen counterparts. These results suggest that developing the LED sourced aeronautical light would result in globally competitive products thar guarantees satisfaction to their consumers, and that both cost effective and energy efficient.

In this paper, we proposed a method of fast track merging which is the foundation of track to track association technique. The existing method of track merging is performed throughout comparison between tracks to tracks. Therefore, it has heavy calculation time. In our research, we developed a method for fast clustering by using nearest neighbor measurement identification. The simulation results show that the proposed method is more faster than previous method about 3.3%. We expect that this method could be effectively used in multi-target tracking particularly in heavy clutter environment.Keywords : Track Merging, Track-to-Track Association, Multi-Target Tracking, Clutter Environment

Dormancy breaking and flowering of Paeonia lactiflora ‘Taebaek’ were controlled by natural cumulative chilling and GA3 treatments according to the transfer date in the central region of Suwon, Korea. Shoot emergence and flowering did not occur throughout the experimental period when dormant rootstocks were transferred to a glasshouse between September 10 and October 29, in which the natural cumulative chill (NCU) unit was nearly 0 h. The number of days from the transfer date to sprouting and flowering was shortened as the transfer date was delayed. All the plants flowered normally with shoot growth when they were transferred after December 31 (1,222 h NCU). All dormant buds that were treated with GA3 sprouted, regardless of transfer date, but failed to flower due to shoot blasting and flower bud abortion when they were transferred between September 10 (0 h NCU) and November 12 (185 h NCU). Shoot blasting was 38% when they were transferred on November 26 (429 h NCU). When GA3 was applied to the plants after December 17 (876 h NCU), they flowered without blasting. Plant height and stem diameter were not affected by GA3 treatment. GA3 treatment decreased the number of days to sprouting and flowering, and increased the number of flowers, irrespective of insufficient chilling accumulation, as compared to 1,222 h NCU on December 31. According to the above results, at least 1,222 h NCU could be recommended as a practical forcing method for dormancy release, subsequent growth, and normal flowering of dormant P. lactiflora ‘Taebaek’ in a temperate climate region. The GA3 treatment played an important role in breaking dormancy and significantly increased the percentage of sprouting, accelerated the days to sprouting and promoted the flowering of P. lactiflora ‘Taebaek’ when the plants had undergone insufficient chilling accumulation.

To detect targets for autonomous navigation of unmanned ground vehicle, mounted sensors are required to work all-weather condition. In this point of view, the FMCW radar is quietly appropriate. In this paper, we present development results of target signal simulator for multi-beam type FMCW radar. A target signal simulator make pseudo target signals which simulates multiple moving targets. And we describe how to make hit information for each target in multi-beam type radar. The developed methods are utilized for target tracking device. Moreover it can be applied to similar target signal simulator.

Changes in phytoremediation efficiency after repeated exposures (three) to toluene (1.3 ppm) were assessed in 26 species and two additional cultivars of indoor plants. There was a rapid increase in toluene removal efficiency in 27 of the 28 crops with the greatest increase between the first and second exposure (i.e., after 3 days). The increase in efficiency between the first and third exposure ranged from 378 μg·m−3·h−1·m−2 leaf area in Pinus densiflora to –16.6 in Salvia elegans with a mean of 156 for all crops. Percent change ranged from 614 (Pittosporum tobira) to –8 (Salvia elegans) but was not necessarily indicative of phytoremediation value of a species. Rapid changes in phytoremediation efficiency in response to exposure to toluene appear to be widespread in plants and may be the result of an effect on gene expression in the plant and/or certain soil microbes or changes in the population density of toluene-metabolizing microbes. Increasing toluene removal efficiency is advantageous and as a consequence, a better understanding of the mechanism(s) operative may improve use of the response for practical applications.

Artemisia princeps has been utilized as a traditional medicine for a variety of diseases in Korea. In this study, we investigated the effects of Artemisia princeps extract (APE) on bone metabolism both in vitro using primary mouse bone marrow-derived macrophage and in vivo using ovariectomized rats. APE decreased the number of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP)-positive multinucleated cells and TRAP activity. Also, APE inhibited bone resorptive activity of differentiated osteoclasts. In ovariectomized rats, APE alleviated the decrease in the trabecular bone mineral density. These results showed that APE might be useful for the prevention of postmenopausal bone loss.

Background: Our aim was to assess the validity of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) by comparison with the 3-day diet record (DR) in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: Eighty five type 2 diabetic patients (aged 33 to 70 years) from the Korean National Diabetes Program (KNDP) completed 3-day DR and FFQ. The FFQ was designed to reflect the eating pattern of Korean type 2 diabetic patients, and was based on the 2003 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The FFQ consists of 85 food items and 12 food groups. The validity of FFQ was assessed by comparison with the 3-day DR. Results: The mean age was 49 ± 10 years. Clinical characteristic including body weight, diabetic duration, and HbA1c were not different from the total cohort subjects (n = 1,478). There were no significant differences in the mean intake of protein, fat and calcium estimated by the FFQ and the 3-day DR. Energy and carbohydrate estimated by the FFQ were higher than those estimated by the 3-day DR. The correlation coefficient was highest for energy (r = 0.740; P < 0.00) and lowest for iron (r = 0.269; P < 0.05). The Kappa values for energy, carbohydrate, protein, fat and calcium were 0.54, 0.37, 0.36, 0.46, and 0.19, respectively. Conclusion: The FFQ is a reasonable instrument for assessing the intake of most macronutrients in Korean type 2 diabetes, although careful consideration is required for the food groups and nutrients for which the FFQ had low validity.

For effective mobility control of unmanned ground vehicles in outdoor off-road environments, terrain cover classification technology using passive sensors is vital. This paper presents a novel method far terrain classification based on color and texture information of off-road images. It uses a neural network classifier and wavelet features. We exploit the wavelet mean and energy features extracted from multi-channel wavelet transformed images and also utilize the terrain class spatial coordinates of images to include additional features. By comparing the classification performance according to applied features, the experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has a promising result and potential possibilities for autonomous navigation.

Bone mass in adults decreases with age because of the imbalance between the rate of bone formation and resorption. We performed this study to investigate whether Asparagus cochinchinensis (Lour.) Merr. (ACAE) plays a role in osteoblasts differentiation and osteoclasts formation. Ethanol extract of ACAE showed increase in the differentiation and alkaline phosphatase activity of osteoblasts. Also, it decreased the number of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP)-positive multinucleated cells (OCLs) and TRAP activity. Therefore, ACAE has the potential to prevent bone-related diseases such as osteoporosis by increasing the differentiation of osteoblasts and reducing both the number and activity of osteoclasts.

The effect of cinnamon ethanol extract (CN) on HT-29 cancer cell line has been examined. CN inhibited the growth of HT-29 colon cancer cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner but not the growth of CCD-112CoN normal colon cells. And CN markedly inhibited the production of PGE₂ and cGMP as well as the mRNA expression of COX-2. These data suggest that non-toxic concentration of CN has a significant inhibition effect on the growth of HT-29 cells, probably through the inhibition of PGE₂ production via COX-2 inhibition, and may have value as a safe chemopreventive agent for colon cancer.

This paper presents a fault diagnosis(detection and isolation) approach for the Ammunition Transport Automation system(ATAS). Due to limited time and information available during its cyclic operation, the on-line fault detection algorithm consists of sequential test logics referring to the normal states, which can be considered as a kind of expert system. If a failure were detected, the off-line isolation algorithm finds the fault location through trained ART2 neural network. By the results of simulations and some on-line field test, it has been shown that the presented approach is effective enough and applicable to related automation systems.

p53-binding protein 1 (53BP1) acts as an 'adaptor/mediator' for transducing DNA damage signals, especially following detection of DNA double-strand breaks. In an effort to broaden our understanding of the protein network surrounding 53BP1, we isolated possible 53BP1 binding partners by co-immunoprecipitation, and identified them via tandem mass spectrometric analysis. The 53BP1-associated proteins included RPA1 and RPA2, two components of the replication protein A (RPA) complex. The presence of RPA components in the immunoprecipitates was confirmed by immunoblotting, and we found that the association between 53BP1 and RPA2 was disrupted following DNA damage induced by treatment with camptothecin, a topoisomerase I inhibitor. To investigate the functional meaning of the 53BP1 and RPA interaction, we established U2OS osteosarcoma cell lines stably expressing dominant-negative fragments of 53BP1. We found that camptothecin-induced RPA2 phosphorylation was inhibited in these cells, and also following 53BP1 knockdown by siRNA transfection. On the cellular level, camptothecin-induced apoptosis was augmented in the dominant-negative cell lines, resulting in increased chemosensitivity to this drug. Taken together, these results suggest that 53BP1 is involved in DNA damage-induced RPA2 hyperphosphorylation, and inhibition of 53BP1 function may sensitize cancer cells to camptothecin treatment.

Currently used DLC(Direct Load Control) algorithm is only focused on ON/OFF load control not concerning about reliving participated customer`s inconvenience and load priority. Therefore, that is a major obstacle to attract customer participating in demand response program. To overcome the above defects, the authors represent direct load control algorithm using priority based dynamic programming. the proposed algorithm is that participant customer send E-mail to DLC center about priority of load before executing DLC, then DLC algorithm decide which load to be OFF by using priority and off time constraint of the load. By using dynamic programming based on the order of priority for DLC algorithm it is possible to maximize participating customer`s satisfaction and it will help to attract more customer`s participating in demand response program.

SummaryObjective Chemerin, a recently identified adipokine, has been linked to adiposity, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome risk factors and inflammation. Here, we evaluated whether a 12-week lifestyle intervention in overweight and obese adults with type 2 diabetes could significantly affect the average blood glucose and serum chemerin levels over time. Design Thirty-five overweight or obese subjects with type 2 diabetes were randomized to receive intensive lifestyle modification including supervised exercise sessions or usual care for 12 weeks. Anthropometric and clinical data were collected before the intervention and after 12 weeks. Results Lifestyle intervention induced a significant decrease in HbA1c (−1·0 ± 0·5 vs 0·1 ± 0·6%, P

The present study examined the effects of squid phosphatidylserine (Squid-PS) on the learning and memory function and the neural activity in rats with TMT-induced memory deficits. The rats were administered saline or squid derived Squid-PS (Squid-PS 50 mg kg−1,p.o.) daily for 21 days. The cognitive improving efficacy of Squid-PS on the amnesic rats, which was induced by TMT, was investigated by assessing the passive avoidance task and by performing choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and acetylcholinesterase (AchE) immunohistochemistry. 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose and performed a positron emission tomography (PET) scan was also performed. In the passive avoidance test, the control group which were injected with TMT showed a markedly lower latency time than the non-treated normal group (P<0.05). However, treatment of Squid-PS significantly recovered the impairment of memory compared to the control group (P<0.05). Consistent with the behavioral data, Squid-PS significantly alleviated the loss of ChAT immunoreactive neurons in the hippocampal CA3 compared to that of the control group (P<0.01). Also, Squid-PS significantly increased the AchE positive neurons in the hippocampal CA1 and CA3. In the PET analysis, Squid-PS treatment increased the glucose uptake more than twofold in the frontal lobe and the hippocampus (P<0.05, resp.). These results suggest that Squid-PS may be useful for improving the cognitive function via regulation of cholinergic enzyme activity and neural activity.

This paper evaluates the effects of the Extended Non-Overlapping Binary Exponential Backoff (ENO-BEB) algorithm over IEEE 802.15.4 by building its performance models based on a 2-dimensional Markov chain. This algorithm differs from the previously proposed Non-Overlapping Binary Exponential Backoff (NO-BEB) algorithm for IEEE 802.11, where the next backoff range is fixed as the second half of the conventional exponentially enlarged range. The ENO-BEB algorithm maps the next backoff range to the last 1/2 j -th subrange of the conventional range where j is an integer standing for the number of consecutive channel capture failures. To measure its impacts of the degree of separation between two backoff ranges at two adjacent backoff stages, we generalize the conventional IEEE 802.15.4 Markov chain model by including the behavior of the ENO-BEB algorithm. The analytical performance model predicts that the ENO-BEB technique achieves better throughput for larger j, for example, up to 113 % and 21 % than the conventional BEB and NO-BEB algorithm, respectively when j and the total number of nodes are 3 and 60. Simulations confirm these numerical results with a 7 % difference.

In this paper, we proposed connected-component labeling algorithms applied to grayscale images. To develop the algorithms, three representative labeling algorithms for binary images which are raster-scan & label-equivalence-solving algorithm, searching & label propagation algorithms, and contour-tracing & label propagation algorithm are modified. The performance of these algorithms is evaluated in point of view of computational time consumption. Through the experiments, the advantages and disadvantages of each algorithm are compared. The modified algorithms and its results of test will be useful in labeling of various grayscale images and their applications.

Chemerin is a recently identified adipokine suggested to play a role in obesity and its metabolic complications. The relationship between visceral obesity and serum chemerin levels in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is unknown and may differ from that of subjects without diabetes. Therefore, we evaluated whether serum chemerin was associated with visceral abdominal obesity in patients with T2DM. A total of 218 Korean patients with T2DM were enrolled and metabolic parameters, abdominal visceral and subcutaneous fat areas, and serum chemerin levels were measured. Serum chemerin level showed positive correlation with fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, serum triglyceride, serum creatinine, urine albumin/creatinine ratio, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), fibrinogen, abdominal visceral fat area, visceral to subcutaneous fat area ratio, and negatively correlation with high density lipoprotein cholesterol and creatinine clearance (CCr) after adjusting for age, gender and body mass index. Multiple linear stepwise regression analysis showed that abdominal visceral fat area (β = 0.001, P < 0.001), serum triglyceride (β = 0.001, P < 0.001), CCr (β = -0.003, P = 0.001), hsCRP (β = 0.157, P = 0.001), fibrinogen (β = 0.001, P < 0.001) and BMI (β = 0.02, P = 0.008) independently affected log transformed serum chemerin levels. Higher serum chemerin level was associated with higher level of abdominal visceral fat area, serum triglyceride, hsCRP and fibrinogen and lower level of CCr in patients with T2DM. Serum chemerin may be used as a biomarker of visceral adiposity and chemerin may play a role in inflammation, decreased renal function, and increased cardiovascular risk in T2DM., Graphical Abstract

This paper propose a range estimation algorithm for Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) which operated by man. The man is required to identify, acquire, and accurately track a maneuvering aircraft. However, the man brings to the AAA system various inherent limitations, such as reaction time delay and randomness, which limits his tracking ability thus missing measurement. To cope with these situations, an easy and efficient method is proposed that using preprocessing filters in the fire control system when the sensor data are frequently unreliable and missing. It computes probability matrix for state transition after modeling filter states as finite-state Markov chain, and computing false alarm and detection probability of each filter state under the measurement failure probability. The modified weighted least squire method is used to estimate range according to preprocessing filter's state. The simulation shows that the proposed algorithm is reasonable and appropriate when the sensor data have nonstationary characteristic.