An RRM-containing mei2-like MCT1 plays a negative role in the seed germination and seedling growth of Arabidopsis thaliana in the presence of ABA

Gu, L.,Jung, H.J.,Kwak, K.J.,Dinh, S.N.,Kim, Y.O.,Kang, H. Gauthier-Villars ; Elsevier Science Ltd 2016 Vol. No.

<P>Despite an increasing understanding of the essential role of the Mei2 gene encoding an RNA-binding protein (RBP) in premeiotic DNA synthesis and meiosis in yeasts and animals, the functional roles of the mei2-like genes in plant growth and development are largely unknown. Contrary to other mei2-like RBPs that contain three RNA-recognition motifs (RRMs), the mei2 C-terminal RRM only (MCF) is unique in that it harbors only the last C-terminal RRM. Although MCTs have been implicated to play important roles in plants, their functional roles in stress responses as well as plant growth and development are still unknown. Here, we investigated the expression and functional role of MCT1 (At1g37140) in plant response to abscisic acid (ABA). Confocal analysis of MCT1-GFP-expressing plants revealed that MCT1 is localized to the nucleus. The transcript level of MCT1 was markedly increased upon ABA treatment. Analysis of MCT1-overexpressing transgenic Arabidopsis plants and artificial miRNA-mediated mct1 knockdown mutants demonstrated that Mal inhibited seed germination and cotyledon greening of Arabidopsis plants under ABA. The transcript levels of ABA signaling-related genes, such as ABI3, ABI4, and ABI5, were markedly increased in the MCT1-overexpressing transgenic plant. Collectively, these results suggest that ABA-upregulated MCT1 plays a negative role in Arabidopsis seed germination and seedling growth under ABA by modulating the expression of ABA signaling-related genes. (C) 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.</P>

A chloroplast-localized DEAD-box RNA helicaseAtRH3 is essential for intron splicing and plays an important role in the growth and stress response in Arabidopsis thaliana

Gu, L.,Xu, T.,Lee, K.,Lee, K.H.,Kang, H. Gauthier-Villars ; Elsevier Science Ltd 2014 Vol. No.

Although many DEAD-box RNA helicases (RHs) are targeted to chloroplasts, the functional roles of the majority of RHs are still unknown. Recently, the chloroplast-localized Arabidopsis thaliana AtRH3 has been demonstrated to play important roles in intron splicing, ribosome biogenesis, and seedling growth. To further understand the functional role of AtRH3 in intron splicing and growth and the stress response in Arabidopsis, the newly-generated artificial microRNA-mediated knockdown plants as well as the previously characterized T-DNA tagged rh3-4 mutant were analyzed under normal and stress conditions. The rh3 mutants displayed retarded growth and pale-green phenotypes, and the growth of mutant plants was inhibited severely under salt or cold stress but marginally under dehydration stress conditions. Splicing of several intron-containing chloroplast genes was defective in the mutant plants. Importantly, splicing of ndhA and ndhB genes was severely inhibited in the mutant plants compared with the wild-type plants under salt or cold stress but not under dehydration stress conditions. Moreover, AtRH3 complemented the growth-defect phenotype of the RNA chaperone-deficient Escherichia coli mutant and had the ability to disrupt RNA and DNA base pairs, indicating that AtRH3 possesses RNA chaperone activity. Taken together, these results demonstrate that AtRH3 plays a prominent role in the growth and stress response of Arabidopsis, and suggest that proper splicing of introns governed by RNA chaperone activity of AtRH3 is crucial for chloroplast function and the growth and stress response of plants.

선인장 양심실 보조장치의 설계 및 임상적용을 위한 평가

민병구,박찬영,최재순,이혁수,황창모,김삼성,윤걸중,김종원,선경,이경갑,정종태,김원곤 제주대학교 인공심장이식연구소 2001 인공심장 연구 Vol.2 No.1

현재 개발되고 있는 맥동형 이식형 인공심장은 완전이식형 인공심장과 좌심실보조장치 뿐이다. 좌심실보조장치를 장착한 환자의 10~15%가 우심실의 보조를 필요로하고 완전이식형 인공심장의 장착을 위해서는 자연심장을 제거해야하는 상황에서 이식형 양심실보조장치에 대한 필요성이 대두되고 있다. 본 연구진은 완전이식형 인공심장으로 개발된 한국형 인공심장을 개선하여 양심 실 보조장치를 개발하였다. 양심실보조장치는 이동형 작동기식 미케니즘을 이용하고 있으며 에너지 변환장치와 감속기로 구성된 작동기와 혈액주머니, 그리고 내장형 제어기로 구성되어 있다. 선인장 펌프로 명명된 KAH350은 캐뉼라의 연결을 위한 커넥터를 포함하여 길이 177mm, 폭 164mm, 높이 67 이고 무게 780g이며 최대 심박출량은 5L/min 이다. 양심실보조장치로 개발된 선인장펌프는 좌심실보조장치로도 응용이 가능하다. 이식적합성과 생체적합성을 평가하기 위하여 좌심실보조장치로 5회, 양싱실보조장치로 6회의 동물실험을 수행하였다. 각각 최장 28일간 생존하였으며 11회의 동물실험중 장치의 결함에 의한 것이 3회 있었는데 이들은 모두 전자장치의 결함과 방수처리문제였다. 현재 이식적합성과 일박출량을 향상시킨 KAH400모델이 개발중이다. The types of pulsatile implantable artificial hearts that are on the way of development and have been developed are totally implantable artificial heart and implantable left ventricular assist device (LVAD). Approximately 10% to 15% of all patients Implanted with wearable VADs have required right heart support with another device. And it is reluctant to patient who should remove his or her own heart to be implanted with total artificial heart. These situations drive the development of implantable bi-ventricular assist device (BVAD). The Korean BVAD was develophed by modifying the moving actuator type Korean artificial heart. This electro-mechanical BVAD comprises actuator including energy converter and reduction gear train, blood sacs, and internal motor and energy controllers. The KAH350 which is named as 'Cactus Pump' is 177mm in length, 164mm in width, and 67mm in thickness including connectors and nuts. The weight and maximum cardiac output of Cactus Pump is 780g and 5L/min, respectively. The Cactus Pump that was developed as BVAD could be used as LVAD by attaching compliance caps on the 2 ports of one ventricle. The animal experiments were undergone 5 times for LVAD, and 6 times for BVAD. The best records were 28 days survival in both applications. There were 3 times of device failure and they were all associated with electrical connection and hermetic sealing. The KAH400 that has improved anatomical fitting characterisitcs and stroke volume is on development.

Biodegradation of Evercion Blue P-GR and Ostazin Black H-GRN in synthetic textile wastewater by membrane bioreactor system using Trametes versicolor

Gul, Ulkuye D.,Acikgoz, Caglayan,Ozan, Kadir Techno-Press 2020 Advances in environmental research Vol.9 No.2

In this study, the decolorization of Evercion Blue P-GR (EBP) and Ostazin Black H-GRN (OBH) was investigated using white-rot fungi named as Trametes versicolor (T. versicolor) by Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) system. This study involved experiments employing synthetic textile wastewater in Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) system (170 ml), initially inoculated with a pure culture of fungi, but operated, other than controlling pH (4.5±0.2) and temperature (25±1℃), under non-sterile conditions. The effect of dye concentrations on fungal biodegradation was also investigated. The decolorization efficiencies were 98%, 90%, and 87% respectively, for EBP when the initial dye concentration of 50, 100, and 200 mg L^-1 were used. However, the decolorization percentages for OBH dye were obtained 95% for 50 mg L^-1 dye solution in 2 days and 66% for 100 mg L^-1 dye solution in 5 days. Possible interactions between dye molecules and the fungal surface were confirmed by SEM, EDX, and FTIR analyses.

Fully 3D Printed Multi-Material Soft Bio-Inspired Whisker Sensor for Underwater-Induced Vortex Detection

Gul, Jahan Zeb,Su, Kim Young,Choi, Kyung Hyun Mary Ann Liebert 2018 Soft robotics Vol.2018 No.-

Serum N-Desmethylcitalopram Concentrations are Associated with the Clinical Response to Citalopram of Patients with Major Depression

Gul Ozbey,Berna Yucel,Nurdan Eren Bodur,Serap Erdogan Taycan,Tayyibe Arslan,Nazan Cerit,Nevzat Yuksel,Ismail Cuneyt Guzey,Canan Uluoglu 대한신경정신의학회 2018 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.15 No.3

Objective-Citalopram (CITA) is a widely used and well-tolerated selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. The aim of the study was to evaluate the possible influences of serum concentrations of CITA and its major metabolite n-desmethylcitalopram (NDCITA) on the efficacy and tolerability of CITA in patients with major depressive disorder. Methods-The study included 46 outpatients with major depressive disorder who received CITA. The efficacy and tolerability were assessed for 6 weeks. Serum CITA and NDCITA levels were measured at the 4th week. Results-The HDRS17 total scores of the patients with high NDCITA and CITA & NDCITA concentrations showed a more significant reduction compared to the patients with expected and low serum NDCITA and CITA & NDCITA concentrations. However, we did not observe a correlation between the serum concentrations and the side effects of CITA, NDCITA, and CITA & NDCITA. Conclusion-Our results suggested the potential contribution of NDCITA to the antidepressant effect of CITA. Further studies involving larger clinical samples are required to confirm the impact of serum NDCITA concentrations on the efficacy of CITA.

Primary Pulmonary Lymphoepithelioma-like Carcinoma on FDG PET/CT

Gul Ege Aktas,Nuray Can,Selin Soyluoglu Demir,Ali Sarıkaya 대한핵의학회 2017 핵의학 분자영상 Vol.51 No.1

A 69-year-old male smoker was referred to 18Ff luorodeoxyglucose (FDG) pos i t r on emi s sion tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) with the indication of a suspicious solitary pulmonary nodule. FDG PET/CT determined a 2.5 × 2-cm soft-tissue lesion (SUVmax, 16.2) with spiculated margins in the hilum of the right lung. A 1-cm diameter lymphadenopathy on the right hilum with an SUVmax of 3.2 was also determined. Transbronchial biopsy of the right hilar lymphadenopathy did not reveal any malignant features in histopathologic examination, and it was determined to be reactive. The patient underwent a right upper lobe segmentectomy, and the histopathologic evaluation revealed that the tumor was a primary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (LELC) of the lung with negative Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) on in situ hybridization studies. In this case report, we mainly focus on the FDG avidity of this very rare kind of tumor comparatively with previous reports and possible explanations of discordancy in FDG avidity in relation to histopathologic characteristics.

3D printing for soft robotics – a review

Gul, Jahan Zeb,Sajid, Memoon,Rehman, Muhammad Muqeet,Siddiqui, Ghayas Uddin,Shah, Imran,Kim, Kyung-Hwan,Lee, Jae-Wook,Choi, Kyung Hyun TaylorFrancis 2018 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF ADVANCED MATERIALS Vol.19 No.1

<P><B>Abstract</B></P><P>Soft robots have received an increasing attention due to their advantages of high flexibility and safety for human operators but the fabrication is a challenge. Recently, 3D printing has been used as a key technology to fabricate soft robots because of high quality and printing multiple materials at the same time. Functional soft materials are particularly well suited for soft robotics due to a wide range of stimulants and sensitive demonstration of large deformations, high motion complexities and varied multi-functionalities. This review comprises a detailed survey of 3D printing in soft robotics. The development of key 3D printing technologies and new materials along with composites for soft robotic applications is investigated. A brief summary of 3D-printed soft devices suitable for medical to industrial applications is also included. The growing research on both 3D printing and soft robotics needs a summary of the major reported studies and the authors believe that this review article serves the purpose.</P>

A First-principles Study on Magnetism of Al Impurity in bcc Fe

Gul Rahman,In Gee Kim 한국자기학회 2011 Journal of Magnetics Vol.16 No.1

The magnetism and electronic structure of bcc Al₁Fe₂? was investigated by means of first-principles calculations with and without spin-orbit coupling (SOC). From the calculated total energy, the SOC corrected system is shown to be approximately 5 meV per atom lower than the SOC uncorrected system. The induced spin magnetic moment at the Al site was ?0.125 μB without SOC and ?0.124 μB with SOC. The orbital magnetic moments were calculated to be 0.002 μB in [100] direction for Al. The electronic structures showed the nearest neighbor antiferromagnetic interaction between Fe and Al to be essential for determining the magnetism of the Al₁Fe₂? system.

The Nexus Between Intellectual Capital and Financial Performance: An Econometric Analysis from Pakistan

GUL, Raazia,AL-FARYAR, Mamdouh Abdulaziz Saleh,ELLAHI, Nazima Korea Distribution Science Association 2022 The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Busine Vol.9 No.7

Intellectual Capital, a valuable intangible organizational asset, is primarily linked to a company's financial performance and is divided into three categories: human, structural, and relational capital. This paper investigates the impact of intellectual capital on the financial performance of selected Pakistani companies in the Information and Communication sector, as this sector is heavily reliant on intellectual capital. The data for 11 firms was gathered from the State Bank's Financial Statements Analysis of Companies Listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange from 2015 to 2020. Pulić's (2004) Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAICTM) has been used to assess a company's IC efficiency. VAIC^TM and its components, the efficiency of intellectual capital, and the efficiency of capital employed are calculated. Financial performance is measured through return on assets, return on capital employed, and asset turnover ratio. Multiple regression, fixed-effect, and random-effect Panel Data estimation are used in the empirical study. The findings suggest that intellectual capital efficiency has a large impact on major profitability metrics, but little effect on company productivity. It can be inferred from the results that the companies must invest in advanced technology, the latest machinery, and well-equipped offices to improve financial performance and productivity and gain a competitive advantage.