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A novel probiotics-derived protein, P8, suppresses the growth of colorectal cancer (CRC). P8 can penetrate the cell membrane via endocytosis and cause cell cycle arrest in DLD-1 cells through down-regulation of CDK1/Cyclin B1. However, neither the protein involved in the endocytosis of P8 nor the cell cycle arrest targets of P8 are known. We identified two P8-interacting target proteins [importin subunit alpha-4 (KPNA3) and glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK3β)] using P8 as a bait in pull-down assays of DLD-1 cell lysates. Endocytosed P8 in the cytosol was found to bind specifically to GSK3β, preventing its inactivation by protein kinases AKT/CK1ε/PKA. The subsequent activation of GSK3β led to strong phosphorylation (S33,37/T41) of β-catenin, resulting in its subsequent degradation. P8 in the cytosol was also found to be translocated into the nucleus by KPNA3 and importin. In the nucleus, after its release, P8 binds directly to the intron regions of the GSK3β gene, leading to dysregulation of GSK3β transcription. GSK3β is a key protein kinase in Wnt signaling, which controls cell proliferation during CRC development. P8 can result in a cell cycle arrest morphology in CRC cells, even when they are in the Wnt ON signaling state.

As the amount of fission product released from ISLOCA was overestimated because of conservative assumptions in the past, several studies have been recently conducted to evaluate the actual release amount. Among several pathways for the ISLOCA, most studies were focused on the pathway with the highest possibility. However, different ISLOCA pathways may have different fission product release characteristics. In this study, fission product behavior was analyzed for various pathways at the Westinghouse two-loop plant using MELCOR. Four pathways are considered: the pipes from a cold leg, from a downcomer, from a hot leg to the outlet of RHR heat exchanger, and the pipe from the hot leg to the inlet of RHR pump (Pathway 1–4). According to the analysis results, cladding fails at around 2.5 h in Pathways 1 and 2, and on the other hand, about 3.3 h in Pathways 3 and 4 because the ISLOCA pathways affect the safety injection flow path. While the release amount of cesium and iodine ranges between 20 and 26% in Pathways 1 to 3, Pathway 4 allows only 5% to the environment because the break location is submerged. Also, as more than 90% of cesium released to the environment passes through the personnel door, reinforcing the pressure capacity of the doors would be a significant factor in the accident management of the ISLOCA.

In order to reduce risks from the Steam Generator Tube Rupture (SGTR) accident and to meet safety targets, various measures have been analyzed to minimize the amount of fission product (FP) release. In this paper, we propose an introduction of a Containment Filtered Venting System (CFVS) connected to the steam generator secondary side, which can reduce the amount of FP release while minimizing adverse effects identified in the previous studies. In order to compare the effect of new equipment with the existing strategy, accident simulations using MELCOR were performed. As a result of simulations, it is confirmed that CFVS operation lowers FP release into the environment, and the release fractions are lower (minimum 0.6% of the initial inventory for Cs) than that of the strategy which intends to depressurize the primary system directly (minimum 15.2% for Cs). The sensitivity analyses identify that refill of the CFVS vessel is a dominant contributor reducing the amount of FP released. As the new strategy has the possibility of hydrogen combustion and detonation in CFVS, the installation of an igniter inside the CFVS vessel may be considered in reducing such hydrogen risk.

An antibacterial effect of fermented‐Rhus verniciflua extract (FRVE), an urushiol‐free extract fermented by Fomitella fraxinea, on Helicobacter pylori was evaluated in mice. Minimal inhibitory concentration of FRVE against H. pylori eradication was checked with serial dilution method in vitro. H. pylori infection‐induced mice were utilized to determine the effect of oral administration of FRVE with/without standard triple therapy (STT: metronidazole, omeprazole, and clarithromycin) on H. pylori colonization and gastric inflammation. H. pylori was clearly eradicated by FRVE at a concentration of ≥2 mg/ml in vitro. In animal study, FRVE at a concentration of ≥6 mg/ml significantly reduced colonized H. pylori grading (0.2 vs. 2.2, p, FRVE exhibited more potent activity against H. pylori compared to the standard triple therapy comprising two antibiotic agents and a proton pump inhibitor. FRVE significantly reduced H. pylori‐induced gastritis, although such effect was not due to altered IL‐1β or TNF‐α expression in mice.

Background Obese nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is closely associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the association between non-obese NAFLD and the incidence of CVD is still unclear and little is known about deleterious factors related to their inter-relationship. Here, we investigated the effects of abdominal obesity (AO) and/or NAFLD on CVD risk.Methods We enrolled 8,422 patients who did not have CVD or consume excessive amounts of alcohol at baseline from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES). NAFLD was defined using the Fatty Liver Index (FLI). Obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) ≥25 kg/m2, and AO was defined as a waist circumference (WC) ≥90 cm in men and ≥85 cm in women. Subjects were sub-divided into eight groups depending on whether they were obese, AO, and/or NAFLD.Results In the full cohort, during a median 11.6 years of follow-up period, the incidence rate (IR) of CVD was 8.07%. The IR of CVD in participants with NAFLD was 1.9-fold higher than in those without NAFLD. The IR per 1,000 person-years for CVD was highest in the non-obese abdominal obesity subjects with NAFLD (15.76 [95% confidence interval (CI), 11.76–20.69]). Compared with participants who did not have obesity, AO, or NAFLD, the adjusted hazard ratio for CVD was 1.67 (95% CI: 1.16–2.41) in non-obese NAFLD patients with AO, 1.60 (95% CI: 1.21–2.11) in NAFLD patients with obesity and AO, and 0.54 (95% CI: 0.32–0.91) in obese subjects without either NAFLD or AO.Conclusions The co-occurrence of AO with NAFLD appears to be strongly associated with an increased risk of CVD regardless of obesity; but its risk is higher in non-obese subjects. By contrast, obese individuals without AO or NAFLD appear to be at lower risk. Therefore, early prevention and control of AO and NAFLD is an important means of reducing the risk of CVD, even in subjects with a normal BMI.

Metal-free oxidation of ynamides is described, employing pyridine-N-oxides as oxidants under molecular iodine catalysis. In stark contrast to Bronsted acid catalysis, iodophilic activation of ynamides diverts the reaction manifold into a dioxygenation pathway. This oxidation is very rapid at room temperature with only 2.5 mol % I2. Furthermore, this protocol could be extended to nonactivated alkynes, such as diarylacetylenes, to deliver various benzil derivatives.

The keteniminium ions generated from the protonation of ynamides formed reversible adducts with counter anions and pyridine-N-oxides as well as halogenated solvents. Above 80 °C, the halonium ions selectively undergo a rate-limiting attack by pyridine-N-oxides, leading to (E)-haloenamides in good yields.

In this paper, we propose a new occupant injury prediction algorithm using real car accident data base, NASS-CDS DB. Field crash data which are collected by IIHS is used as input of convolutional neural network to estimate occupant injury. And in order to applying CNN, we are encoding crash information data as two dimensional image. Our experiment results can be shown the validity of our proposed algorithm.

본 논문에서는 노령화 사회에서 노인들의 기본 건강과 생활을 케어 할 수 있는 홈 웰니스 로봇 플랫폼을 개발한다. 실내 환경에서 웰니스 서비스에 초점을 맞추어 로봇 및 센서 플랫폼을 구현한다. 로봇플랫폼에서는 정밀제어 이동기능과 정교한 로봇 팔 및 핸드를 개발하고 인간친화형 로봇구조로 설계되어진다. 이동로봇은 옴니휠 기반의 쾌속 시스템으로 제어된다. 로봇팔은 섬세한 조작기능을 수행할 수 있도록 인간의 팔과 유사한 구조로 구현한다. 센서 플랫폼에서는 RF태그와 스테레오 카메라를 활용하여 로봇자신과 대상물체의 위치 인식시스템을 구축한다. 정확한 위치와 자세 인식을 위하여 센서 융합 알고리즘이 제안된다. 끝으로 웰니스 로봇 플랫폼의 좋은 성능들이 실시간 시험 구동을 통하여 확인되어 진다. 【This paper developed a home wellness robot platform to perform the roles in basic health care and life care in an aging society. A robotic platform and a sensory platform were implemented for an indoor wellness service. In the robotic platform, the precise mobility and the dexterous manipulation are not only developed in a symbiotic service-robot, but they also ensure the robot architecture of human friendliness. The mobile robot was made in the agile system, which consists of Omni-wheels. The manipulator was made in the anthropomorphic system to carry out dexterous handwork. In the sensing platform, RF tags and stereo camera were used for self and target localization. They were processed independently and cooperatively for accurate position and posture. The wellness robot platform was integrated in a real-time system. Finally, its good performance was confirmed through live indoor tests for health and life care.】

This paper develops the design technology of a sensing platform for the HWR to perform a role of both health and life care in an aging society. The localization of indoor mobile robot is so important for its elaborate trajectory control. We set research focus on self-localization in this paper. The RF sensor network system is installed to improve its self-localization ability so that the HWR can identify its own location and track the path very well. A fusion algorithm using RSSI(Received Signal strength indication) and trilateration is also proposed for the agile self-localization. It is implemented by new configuration of novel sensing architecture and embedded software. Finally, we confirm its good performance through the resultant data of live tests.

A non-metal approach for accessing α-oxo carbene surrogates for a C-C bond-forming bimolecular coupling between ynamides and nucleophilic arenes was developed. This acid-catalyzed coupling features mild temperature, which is critical for the required temporal chemoselectivity among nucleophiles. The scope of nucleophiles includes indoles, pyrroles, anilines, phenols and silyl enolethers. Furthermore, a direct test of SN 2' mechanism has been provided by employing chiral N,N'-dioxides which also enlightens the nature of the intermediates in related metal-catalyzed processes.

In this paper, a Smart Home Service Robot, McBot II, which performs mess-cleanup function etc. in house, is designed much more optimally than other service robots. It is newly developed in much more practical system than McBot I which we had developed two years ago. One characteristic attribute of mobile platforms equipped with a set of dependent wheels is their omni- directionality and the ability to realize complex translational and rotational trajectories for agile navigation in door. An accurate coordination of steering angle and spinning rate of each wheel is necessary for a consistent motion. This paper develops trajectory controller of 3-wheels omni-directional mobile robot using fuzzy azimuth estimator. A specialized anthropomorphic robot manipulator which can be attached to the housemaid robot McBot II, is developed in this paper. This built-in type manipulator consists of both arms with 4 DOF (Degree of Freedom) each and both hands with 3 DOF each. The robotic arm is optimally designed to satisfy both the minimum mechanical size and the maximum workspace. Minimum mass and length are required for the built-in cooperated-arms system. But that makes the workspace so small. This paper proposes optimal design method to overcome the problem by using neck joint to move the arms horizontally forward/backward and waist joint to move them vertically up/down. The robotic hand, which has two fingers and a thumb, is also optimally designed in task-based concept. Finally, the good performance of the developed McBot II is confirmed through live tests of the mess-cleanup task.

Repeated administration of psychostimulants such as cocaine leads to the development of behavioral sensitization. Extracellular signal-Regulated Kinase (ERK), an enzyme important for long-term neuronal plasticity, has been implicated in such effects of these drugs. Although the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) is the site mediating the expression of behavioral sensitization by drugs of abuse, the precise role of ERK activation in this site has not been determined. In this study we demonstrate that blockade of ERK phosphorylation in the NAcc by a single bilateral microinjections of PD98059 (0.5 or 2.0μ g/ side), or U0126 (0.1 or 1.0μ g/side), into this site dose-dependently inhibited the expression of cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization when measured at day 7 following 6 consecutive daily cocaine injections (15 mg/kg, i.p.). Acute microinjection of either vehicle or PD98059 alone produced no different locomotor activity compared to saline control. Further, microinjection of PD98059 (2.0μ g/side) in the NAcc specifically lowered cocaine-induced increase of ERK phosphorylation levels in this site, while unaffecting p-38 protein levels. These results indicate that ERK activation in the NAcc is necessary for the expression of cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization, and further suggest that repeated cocaine evokes neuronal plasticity involving ERK pathway in this site leading to long-lasting behavioral changes.

A specialized anthropomorphic robot manipulator which can be attached to the housemaid robot McBot II, is developed In this paper. This built-in type manipulator consists of both arms with 3 DOF (Degree of Freedom) each and both hands with 3 DOF each. The robotic arm is optimally designed to satisfy both the minimum mechanical size and the maximum workspace. Minimum mass and length are required for the built-in cooperated-arms system. But that makes the workspace so small. This paper proposes optimal design method toovercome the problem by using neck joint to move the arms horizontally forward/backward and waist joint to move them vertically up/down. The robotic hand, which has two fingers and a thumb, is also optimally designed in task-based concept. Finally, the good performance of the developed manipulator is confirmed through live test of tasks. Key Words : Robotic Arm, Robotic Hand, Task-Based Design, Built-In Manipulator, Optimization 본 논문은 2011년도 교육과학기술부의 재원으로 한국연구재단 지역혁신인력양성사업의 지원을 받아 수행된 연구임 .

In this paper, a smart home service robot McBot II is newly developed in much more practical and intelligent system than McBot I which we had developed a few years ago. Thus far, vacuum-cleaners have lightened the burden of household chores but the operational labor that vacuum-cleaners entail has been very severe. Recently, a cleaning robot was commercialized to solve but it also was not successful because it still had the problem of mess-cleanup, which pertained to the clean-up of large trash and the arrangement of newspapers, clothes, etc. Hence, we develop a new home mess-cleanup robot McBot II to completely overcome this problem on real environments. The mechanical design and the basic control of McBot II, which performs mess-cleanup function etc. in house, is actually focused in this paper. McBot II is mechanically modeled in the same method that the human works in door by using the waist and the hands. The big-ranged vertical lift and the shoulder joints to be able to forward move are mechanically designed for the operating function as the human`s waist when the robot works. The mobility of McBot II is designed in the holonomic mobile robot for the collision avoidance of obstacle and the high speed navigation on the small area in door. Finally, good performance of McBot II, which has been optimally desinged, is confirmed through the experimental results for the control of the robotic body, mobility, arms and hands in this paper.