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Ph.D. students Hyowon Park and Won Ma receive Grand Prizes in Mathematics and Biology respectively.
Researchers in KAIST received best paper awards in two out of three fields at this year’s award ceremony for the “Second Annual Best Thesis Paper Award” held collectively by the Korea University Presidents’ Federation (with Chairman DaeSoon Lee) and the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (with Director GilSang Jung).
Two researchers from KAIST, Hyowon Park (Department of Mathematics) and Won Ma (Department of Biology) received best paper awards.
This prize, given by the both the Korea University Presidents’ Federation and the Korean Academy of Science and Technology since last year, is awarded to researchers and assistant professors who write the most outstanding thesis papers in the field of basic sciences.
Park, who received the best paper award this year, did research on graph braid groups. He was supervised by Professor Kihyung Ko, who received the best supervisor reward.
Ma, who received the best paper award in the field of biological science, researched about the Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder due to deficiency of the GIT1 synapse protein. His supervising professor also received the supervisor award.
The award ceremony was held in the auditorium of the S-OIL headquarters in Seoul on November 30.
Meanwhile, NASA researcher Jaehwa Lee received the best paper award in the field of earth science, and his supervising professor, Professor Jun Kim from Yonsei University who studies atmospheric science, received the best supervisor award.
2012.12.21 View 10724 -
Novel material that prevents health decline with age found
Professor Kim Dae Soo (Department of Biological Science), his research team, the Choong Nam University Medicine School, and various companies conducted collaborative research succeeded in developing a novel material that prevents health decline with age. The result was published in PLoS One Journal with the title “Beta-lapachone, a modulator of NAD metabolism, prevents health declines in aged mice”.
Longevity and health can be obtained with reducing consumption of food and aerobic exercise.
Professor Kim’s team focused on the fact that reduced consumption of food and aerobic exercise increase the coenzyme (NAD+) which suppresses the aging of cells. The research team discovered that by activating NQO1 enzyme with Beta-lapachone, the amount of NAD+ in the body increases even without reduction of food consumption or aerobic exercise.
Even consumption of Beta-lapachone by aging mice caused an improved on the brain and exercise ability of the mice. It is expected that commercialization of Beta-lapachone will be possible as it is a chemical that is commonly found in herbs used in both the orient and the oxidant.
2012.12.21 View 7553
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Professor Kim Eun Joon receives In Chon Award
Professor Kim Eun Joon (Department of Biological Sciences) received the In Chon Awarded hosted by In Chon Memorial and Dong Ah Newspaper.
The Award Ceremony will be held on the 8th of October in Seoul Lotte Hotel and Professor Kim will be given a medal and prize money amounting 100million Korean Won.
Professor Kim is a world renowned research in the field of Synapses. Professor Kim graduated from the Department of Pharmacy in Pusan University, B.A. at KAIST, and Ph.D at Michigan University. He has been a Professor at KAIST since 2000.
2012.09.11 View 8382
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The hereditary factor of autism revealed
Korean researchers have successfully investigated the causes and hereditary factors for autistic behavior and proposed a new treatment method with fewer side effects.
This research was jointly supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation as part of the Leading Researcher and Science Research Center Program
The research findings were publishing in the June edition of Nature magazine and will also be introduced in the July edition of Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, under the title ‘Autistic-like social behavior in Shank2-mutant mice improved by restoring NMDA receptor function’.
The research team found that lack of Shank2 genes in mice, which are responsible for the production of synapse proteins, caused autistic-like behavior. The results strongly suggested that the Shank2 gene was linked to autistic behavior and that Shank2 deficiency induced autistic behaviors.
Autism is a neural development disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, repetitive behavior, mental retardation, anxiety and hyperactivity. Around 100 million people worldwide display symptoms of autistic behavior. Recent studies conducted by the University of Washington revealed that 1 out of 3 young adults who display autistic behavior do not fit into the workplace or get accepted to college, a much higher rate than any other disorder. However, an effective cure has not yet been developed and current treatments are limited to reducing repetitive behavior.
The research team confirmed autistic-like social behavior in mice without the Shank2 genes and that the mice had decreased levels of neurotransmission in the NMDA receptor. The mice also showed damaged synaptic plasticity* in the hippocampus**.
* Plasticity: ability of the connectionbetween two neurons to change in strength in response to transmission of information
**Hippocampus: part of the brain responsible for short-term and long-term memory as well as spatial navigation.
The research team also found out that, to restore the function of the NMDA receptor, the passive stimulation of certain receptors, such as the mGLuR5, yielded better treatment results than the direct stimulation of the NMDA. This greatly reduces the side effects associated with the direct stimulation of receptors, resulting in a more effective treatment method.
This research successfully investigated the function of the Shank2 gene in the nerve tissue and showed how the reduced function of the NMDA receptor, due to the lack of the gene, resulted in autistic behavior. It also provided new possibilities for the treatment of autistic behavior and impaired social interaction
2012.06.24 View 12305
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Genetic Cause of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) Found
The cooperative research team consisting research teams under Professor Kim Eun Joon and Professor Kang Chang Won of the department of Biological Sciences discovered that ADHD arises from the deficiency of GIT1 protein in the brain’s neural synapses.
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is found in around 5% of children around the world and is a disorder where the child becomes unable to concentrate, show over the top responses, and display impulsive behavior.
The research team found that the difference between children with ADHD and those without it is one base in the GIT1 gene. The difference of a single base causes the underproduction of this protein, and those children with low levels of the protein had a higher probability to develop ADHD.
In addition, further evidence was provided when the research team conducted mice experiments. Those mice with low levels of GIT1 exhibited impulsive and exaggerated reactions like humans with ADHD, had learning disabilities, and produced abnormal brain waves. And upon injecting these mice with cure for ADHD, the symptoms of ADHD disappeared.
The impulsive behavior of ADHD children disappears as the child enters adulthood and a similar pattern was found in mice. A mice with low levels of GIT1 showed impulsive behaviors when 2 months old, but these behaviors disappeared as it got older to around 7 months old (equivalent to 20~30 years old for humans).
Professor Kim Eun Joon commented that there has to be equilibrium between mechanisms that excite the neurons and mechanisms that calm the neurons, but the lack of GIT1 leads to the decrease in the mechanisms that calm the neurons which causes the impulsive behavior of ADHD patients.
In addition, Professor Kang Chang Won commented that the results of the experiment has been receiving rave reviews and is being seen as the new method in the production of the cure for ADHD.
The result of the experiment was published in the online edition of Nature Medicine magazine.
2011.04.30 View 11139
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Interesting research results were published on the use of Twitter.
The number of “followers” on your Twitter account does not necessarily mean that “Your opinions matter much” to other people.
A KAIST graduate researcher, Mi-Young Cha, joined an interesting project that studies the influence of a popular social media, Twitter. Most of Twitter users today consider the number of followers as a measurement of their influence on the social sphere. According to the research paper, however, this connection does not seem to standing together. For details, please click the link below for an article published by the New York Times.
Dr. Cha received all of her post secondary education degrees in Computer Science, including her Ph.D. in 2008, from KAIST. Since 2008 till now, she has been a post doctoral researcher at Max Planck Institute for Software Systems (MPI-SWS) based in Germany.
[New York Times Article, March 19, 2010]
http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2010/03/19/19readwriteweb-the-million-follower-fallacy-audience-size-d-3203.html
2010.04.05 View 13801
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Int'l Conference for Integration of Science & Technology into Society Opens
The 2008 International Conference for the Integration of Science and Technology into Society (ICISTS-KAIST) opened a four-day meeting on Tuesday (July 15) at Daejeon KAIST campus. The conference is an annual event organized by a group of KAIST undergraduate students.
The fifth-year gathering is designed to provide participants with an opportunity to broaden their scientific perspectives by sharing ideas and experiences in related topics, as well as building an international human network. This year"s event has drawn about 200 students from 40 countries.
The centerpiece of the conference is three workshops on the following themes; Human-Robot Symbiotic Society, Neo-brain Science and Trafficmatics. Myung-Ja Kim, former Korean Environment Minister, will appear as a keynote speaker.
In the workshop sessions, two speakers will discuss specific issues and arrive at a tentative conclusion. Participants will have the opportunity to participate in the debate through Q&A for each session.
The first theme "Human-Robot Symbiotic Society" delves into the current trend that robot is being transformed into a perceivable and touchable concept from an abstract one. Guests for the workship include June-Ho Oh, professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, KAIST; James Dater, professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Director of the Hawaii Research Center for Future; Michael Pollitt, CEO of Shadow Robot Company; and Steven Dubowsky, professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT.
The second theme "Neo-Brain Science" focuses on attempts to shed light on brain from diverse perspectives including psychology, economics and art. Among invited speakers are Prof. Jai-Seung Jung at the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering, KAIST; Prof. Un-Jung Kang at the University of Chicago Medical Center; and Peter Geyer, a consultant for the Association for Psychological Type.
The third workshop on "Traffimatics" will deal with "intelligent transport systems (ITS)" which will discusst new paradigm in transportation policy and traffic engineering. On the list of speakers are Assaf Biderman, assistant director, SENSEable City Laboratory, MIT; Prof. Richard Tay, at the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary; Prof. Shoshi Mizokami at Kumamoto University; and Ho-Jong Baik, research associate professor of Virginia Tech.
2008.07.16 View 19779 -
A doctorate of Mechanical Engineering Named Recipient of Best Student Paper Award at International Society
Seung-Min Ryu, a doctorate of Mechanical Engineering under the supervision of Professor Dong-Yul Yang, has been named as a recipient of the best student paper award of the Society for Information Display (SID).
The title of the paper is ‘the study on the fabrication of super-high resolution cathode separators by X-ray lithography processes’. He proposed at this paper the fabrication of 12 micron-thick cathode separators, which can fabricate further delicate separators than the current 50 micron-thick commercial PDP separators, thereby significantly improving the resolution of PDPs in the future.
Ryu will make an oral presentation on this paper and win the award at the SID conference, which will take place in the U.S. for six days from May 20.
2007.04.23 View 15626 -
Best Prize to Sungwook Choi and Gold Prize to Heeseok Han at Paper Contest
Best Prize to Sungwook Choi and Gold Prize to Heeseok Han at Paper Contest
Best Prize to Sungwook Choi and Gold Prize to Heeseok Han at Fairchild Korea Graduate Student Paper Contest
Sungwook Choi and Heeseok Han, both in doctorate course at KAIST Department of Electrical Engineering, won best prize and gold prize respectively at the 1st Fairchild Korea Graduate Student Paper Contest.
The title of Choi’s paper is ‘Cost Effective Multi-Level Single Sustaining Driver for Plasma Display Panel with Dual Energy Recovery Path’.
And the title of Han’s paper is ‘Digital Control IC for Electronic Ballast using Mixed Mode Excitation’.
Choi’s paper proposes a new driver that can avoid the problems of IGBT, a power switch used at PDP driving circuit, gaining attention as next-generation display, for cost-reduction. Choi showed his feeling of pleasure by saying, “I’m very pleased that my paper can contribute to PDP popularization and development of power switch for PDP through cost-reduction. I’d like to acknowledge Professor Kunwoo Moon, who has instructed me with persistence and interest at all times.”
Meanwhile, total 56 papers from 23 universities are applied for the contest, and total 11 papers were awarded after two rounds of examination in terms of novelty, creativeness, technical difficulties, etc. Awardees will be exempted from documentation test and are eligible for additive points when they hope to join Fairchild Korea.
2006.11.14 View 15857
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Professor Eunjoon Kim's team finds synapse-forming protein
Professor Eunjoon Kim’s team finds synapse-forming protein
- discover a new protein ‘NGL’ that promotes the formation of neuronal synapses
- can presume the cause of various brain disorders including schizophrenia
- will be published at Nature Neuroscience Vol. 9 in September
A new protein that promotes the formation of synapses in human brains was discovered by a Korean research team.
The team led by Eunjoon Kim, Professor of Department of Biological Sciences and Head of Creative Research Group of Synapse Formation), announced that it had discovered a new fact that NGL protein promotes the formation of neuronal synapses and this fact would be published in Nature Neuroscience Vol. 9 on September 18.
Professor Kim’s team discovered that a membrane protein named ‘NGL’ located at post synapse links with other membrane protein named netrin-G in pre synapse, acting as crosslink, and promotes the formation of a new synapse.
‘NGL’ is the second protein found to crosslink synapse, following neuoroligin. With the discovery of this new protein, the principle of synapse formation and the causes of various brain disorders can be presumed.
In the human brain, about more than 100 billion neuron cells and about 10,000 synapses compose neural circuit. A synapse is the place where innervation occurs between neuron cells. The formation of synapse induces the formation of neural circuit, and neural circuit is deeply related with various brain disorders as well as normal development of brains or brain functions.
“As netrin-G linked with NGL is related with schizonphrenia and neuoroligin and synapse crosslinking protein having a similar function with NGL is deeply related with mental retardation and autism, I think NGL is related with various brain disorders including schizophrenia.”
<Explanation of attached photos>
■ Photo1: Experiment for confirming NGL’s ability to form synapse No. 1
Mix ordinary cell (green) revealing NGL at its surface and neuron cell. Axon grows toward NGL (ordinary cell) located in the middle of ten o’clock direction and meets NGL, where NGL induces the formation of pre synapse (red) in the contacting axon.
Whether pre synapse has been formed can be told by the fluorescent dying (red) of pre synapse protein named Synapsin.
- Figure a-b: formation of synapse by NGL
- Figure c-d: transformed NGL losing synapse forming ability cannot form synapse
■ Photo 2: Experiment for confirming NGL’s ability to form synapse No. 2
When beads coated with NGL are scattered on neuron cell, the beads contact with the axon of the neuron cell (the beads are clearly visible at the phase differentiation image in the middle panel). At this time, NGL induces the formation of pre synapse (red) in the axon. Whether pre synapse has been formed can be told by the fluorescent dying (red) of pre synapse protein named SynPhy (panel a) or VGlut1 (panel b).
2006.09.21 View 16071
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Professor Yang Receives Academic Award
By Ki-beom Lee / Reporter
The KAIST Herald December 3, 2003
The Professor Dong-yol Yang of the Department of Mechanical Engineering received the Sang-woo Academic Award last month. Unlike other awards of similar nature, this award is given to one of many leading scientists who has written six to seven papers in the previous year. This award is special in that Professor Yang retired as chairman of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity in December 2002. Professor Yang received a prize on the research of the anisotropic pressing out process. He has also written papers based on the twenty-five years of research at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and has researched high-speed modeling for the first time in Korea.
2004.03.15 View 17571