• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.111-119
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• 2010

Salmonella spp. are one of major pathogens for zoonosis in worldwide, and can replicate within host cells and generally cause enterocolitis and foodborne poisoning which represents a considerable public health burden. The present study was designated to investigate the safty for host cells, antibacterial effects of Saururus chinensis Baill water extract (SCWE) on pure culture and infection with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. typhimurium) in murine derived macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. The different treatment of SCWE concentration (1, 10 or $100{\mu}g/ml$) did not show any cytotoxic effect to RAW 264.7 cells for 24 h incubation. In determination of antibacterial activity of SCWE against S. typhimurium, bacterial viability was markedly decreased compared to SCWE-untreated control. In RAW 264.7 cells, SCWE significantly induced morphological change (p<0.05). In infection assay of S. typhimurium in RAW 264.7 cells pretreated with $100{\mu}g/ml$ of SCWE, which are non-cytotoxic concentration, bacterial uptake ability of macrophage was increased corresponding with morphological change, whereas bacterial survival rates within macrophage was markedly reduced comparing to that of SCWE-untreated control. Furthermore, nitric oxide (NO) production in SCWE-treated cells was slightly decreased until 24 h post infection. Taken together, these findings demonstrated that SCWE have the antibacterial activity for S. typhimurium and the protective effects against S. typhimurium infection through activating murine macrophage independent on NO, suggesting that SCWE were beneficial on the disease caused by intracellularly replicating pathogens as a safe alternatives of conventional chemotherapies.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.333-340
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• 2015

This study is designed to analyze the effect of skincare using cosmetic containing ginseng extract, on improving quality of life (QOL) of healthy women, with blind testing. QOL is a concept that represents how one's disease or health condition can physically, psychologically, and socially influence his or her daily life. The study was conducted to assess the effect of a ginseng cosmetic preparation on quality of life (QOL) using the Skindex-16 score, stratified by blind versus non-blinded option. 45 healthy women aged between 30 and 49 years with no skin disease were recruited for this study. Volunteers were divided into two groups. Group A (n = 22) received anti-aging cream with ginseng extract in the original packaging, which included the brand name and logo. Group B (n = 23) received the same cream in a plain white jar without any package decoration or logo. Both groups used the cream for 8 weeks. For the skin-related QOL assessment, Skindex-16 was used at baseline, forth, and eighth week. All volunteers except two dropouts in Group A completed the dermatology-specific QOL measure, Skindex-16, at baseline, after 4 weeks, and after 8 weeks of treatment with the provided samples. As a result, the mean score of 43 participants at baseline was $22.70{\pm}4.82$. There was a significant difference between the baseline score and the score after 8 weeks in both groups: The scores changed from $23.30{\pm}5.14$ to $20.20{\pm}4.83$ in Group A, from $22.17{\pm}4.58$ to $20.52{\pm}3.60$ in Group B. The "Symptom" subscale of Skindex-16 improved after 4 weeks and the "Emotion" subscale improved after 8 weeks in Group A. The "Function" subscale did not show improvement in either groups. Both groups showed no interaction effect between follow up time and groups in Skindex-16 and subscale. This research opens up the possibility of skincare using ginseng cream having a positive effect on QOL in healthy women. Moreover, one can predict that skincare ritual itself may have greater impact on the improvement of QOL, compared to the product packaging.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.341-350
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• 2015

Skin carrys out protective role against harmful outer environment assaults including ultraviolet radiation, heavy metals and oxides. Especially, ultraviolet-B (UVB) light causes inflammatory reactions in skin such as sun burn and erythma and stimulates melanin pigmentation. Furthermore, the influx of UVB into skin cells causes DNA damage in keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts, inhibition of extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis which leads to a decrease in elasticity of skin and wrinkle formation. It also damages dermal connective tissue and disrupts the skin barrier function. Prolonged exposure of human skin to UVB light is well known to trigger severe skin lesions such as cell death and carcinogenesis. Haloarcula vallismortis is a halophilic microorganism isolated from the Dead Sea, Its growth characteristics have not been studied in detail yet. It generally grows at salinity more than 10%, but the actual growth salinity usually ranges between 20 to 25%. Because H. vallismortis is found mainly in saltern or salt lakes, there could exist defense mechanisms against strong sunlight. One of them is generation of additional ATP using halorhodopsin which absorbs photons and produces energy by potential difference formed by opening the chloride ion channel. It often shows a color of pink or red because of their high content of carotenoid pigments and it is considered to act as a defense mechanism against intense UV irradiation. In this study, the anti-inflammatory effect of the halophilic microorganism, H. vallismortis, extract was investigated. It was found that H. vallismortis extract had protective effect on DNA damage induced by UV irradiation. These results suggest that the extract of halophilic bacterium, H. vallismortis could be used as a bio-sunscreen or natural sunscreen which ameliorate the harmful effects of UV light with its anti-inflammatory and DNA protective properties.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.874-882
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• 2019

In this study, the gasification characteristics of four types of unused woody biomass and one waste wood in a lab-scale bubbling fluidized bed gasifier (Diameter: 0.11 m, Height: 0.42 m) were investigated. Effect of equivalence ratio (ER) of 0.15-0.3 and gas velocity of $2.5-5U_0/U_{mf}$ are determined at the constant temperature of $800^{\circ}C$ and fuel feeding rate of 1 kg/h. The silica sand particle having an average particle size of $287{\mu}m$ and olivine with an average particle size of $500{\mu}m$ were used as the bed material, respectively. The average product gas composition of samples is as follows; $H_2$ 3-4 vol.%, CO 15-16 vol.%, $CH_4$ 4 vol.% and $CO_2$ 18-19 vol.% with a lower heating value (LHV) of $1193-1301kcal/Nm^3$ and higher heating value (HHV) of $1262-1377kcal/Nm^3$. In addition, it was found that olivine reduced most of C2 components and increased $H_2$ content compared to silica sand, resulting in cracking reaction of tar. The non-condensable tar decreases by 72% ($1.24{\rightarrow}0.35g/Nm^3$) and the condensable tar decreases by 27% ($4.4{\rightarrow}3.2g/Nm^3$).

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.448-454
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• 2021

This study was conducted to the effect of low air temperature and light intensity conditions on yield and quality of tomato at the early stage of growth in Korea. Inplastic greenhouses, low temperature and low temperature with shade treatments were performed from 17 to 42 days after plant. Tomato growing degree days were decreased 5.5% due to cold treatment during the treatment period. Light intensity decreased 74.7% of growing degree days due to shade. After commencing treatments, the plant growth decreased by low temperature and low radiation except for height. Analysis of the yield showed that the first harvest date was the same, but the yield of the control was 3.3 times higher than low temperature with shade treatment. The cumulative yields at 87 days after transplanting were 1734, 1131, and 854 g per plant for control, low temperature, and low temperature with shade, respectively. The sugar and acidity of tomatoes did not differ between treatment and harvesting season. To investigate the photosynthetic characteristics according to the treatment, the carbon dioxide reaction curve was analyzed using the biochemical model of the photosynthetic rate. The results showed that the maximum photosynthetic rate, J (electric transportation rate), TPU (triose phosphate utilization), and R_d (dark respiration rate) did not show any difference with temperature, but were reduced by shading. Vcmax (maximum carboxylation rate) was decreased depending on the low temperature and the shade. Results indicated that low temperature and light intensity at the early growth stage can be inhibited the growth in the early stage but this phenomenon might be recovered afterward. The yield was reduced by low temperature and low intensity and there was no difference in quality.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.275-290
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• 2021

Sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere is mainly generated from anthropogenic emission sources. It forms ultra-fine particulate matter through chemical reaction and has harmful effect on both the environment and human health. In particular, ground-level SO2 concentrations are closely related to human activities. Satellite observations such as TROPOMI (TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument)-derived column density data can provide spatially continuous monitoring of ground-level SO2 concentrations. This study aims to propose a 2-step residual corrected model to estimate ground-level SO2 concentrations through the synergistic use of satellite data and numerical model output. Random forest machine learning was adopted in the 2-step residual corrected model. The proposed model was evaluated through three cross-validations (i.e., random, spatial and temporal). The results showed that the model produced slopes of 1.14-1.25, R values of 0.55-0.65, and relative root-mean-square-error of 58-63%, which were improved by 10% for slopes and 3% for R and rRMSE when compared to the model without residual correction. The model performance by country was slightly reduced in Japan, often resulting in overestimation, where the sample size was small, and the concentration level was relatively low. The spatial and temporal distributions of SO2 produced by the model agreed with those of the in-situ measurements, especially over Yangtze River Delta in China and Seoul Metropolitan Area in South Korea, which are highly dependent on the characteristics of anthropogenic emission sources. The model proposed in this study can be used for long-term monitoring of ground-level SO2 concentrations on both the spatial and temporal domains.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.166-173
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• 2018

Objectives : Woogakseungmatang is a prescription medication mainly used to treat facial paralysis in Korean medicine. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Woogakseungmatang on anti-inflammation and anti-oxidation. Methods : Woogakseungmatang was extracted using hot water. Cytotoxicity was assessed using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide(MTT) method; nitric oxide(NO) production and Prostaglandin $E_2$ ($PGE_2$) production in RAW cells treated with Woogakseungmatang were investigated; and the cytokine changes associated with inflammation were examined. The antioxidant capacity of Woogakseungmatang was measured using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. Results : RAW cells treated with Woogakseungmatang showed 90% cell viability at a $100-{\mu}g/ml$ concentration. NO production was decreased by 15% at a $100-{\mu}g/ml$ concentration. $PGE_2$ production was decreased by 18% at a $100-{\mu}g/ml$ concentration. Interleukin $1{\beta}$ ($IL-1{\beta}$), interleukin 6(IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ ($TNF-{\alpha}$) were significantly reduced at $100{\mu}g/ml$ compared with those in the control group. The DPPH free radical scavenging capability was more than 50% at $100{\mu}g/ml$. Conclusions : Woogakseungmatang showed only a slight anti - inflammatory effect at $100{\mu}g/ml$ and it was difficult to confirm the concentration-dependent anti-inflammatory effect. Therefore, this study means to confirm the potential anti-inflammatory effects of Woogakseungmatang. Based on this research, more systematic and diverse studies should be conducted.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.135-145
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• 2019

Analysis of a long cycle or a trend of time series data based on a long-term observation would require comparability between data observed in the past and the present. In the present study, we proposed an approach to ensure the compatibility among the instruments used for the long-term observation, which would allow to secure continuity of the data. An open-path gas analyzer (Model LI-7500, LI-COR, Inc., USA) has been used for eddy covariance flux measurement in the Gwangneung deciduous forest for more than 10 years. The open-path gas analyzer was replaced by an enclosed-path gas analyzer (Model EC155, Campbell Scientific, Inc., USA) in July 2015. Before completely replacing the gas analyzer, the carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) and latent heat fluxes were collected using both gas analyzers simultaneously during a five-month period from August to December in 2015. It was found that the $CO_2$ fluxes were not significantly different between the gas analyzers under the condition that the daily mean temperature was higher than $0^{\circ}C$. However, the $CO_2$ flux measured by the open-path gas analyzer was negatively biased (from positive sign, i.e., carbon source, to 0 or negative sign, i.e., carbon neutral or sink) due to the instrument surface heating under the condition that the daily mean temperature was lower than $0^{\circ}C$. Despite applying the frequency response correction associated with tube attenuation of water vapor, the latent heat flux measured by the enclosed-path gas analyzer was on average 9% smaller than that measured by the open-path gas analyzer, which resulted in >20% difference of the sums over the study period. These results indicated that application of the additional air density correction would be needed due to the instrument heat and analysis of the long-term observational flux data would be facilitated by understanding the underestimation tendency of latent heat flux measurements by an enclosed-path gas analyzer.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.18-28
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• 2019

Recent studies reported that obesity upregulated the expression of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) and regulated particular behavior patterns in animal models. They also reported that ameliorated the increase in nNOS expression and decreased depression and anxiolytic effects. Thus, exercise seems to be an effective strategy for improving brain function by downregulating nNOS. However, the immune response differs greatly, depending on the exercise intensity. The aim of the present study was to investigate differences in brain nNOS expression in obese C57BL/6 mice that performed exercise of different intensities. Obesity was induced in 6-wks-old mice (n=35) by feeding a 60%-fat diet for 6-wks. A control (CON) group (n=14) was fed a normal diet. At the end of the induction 6-wks period of obesity, seven animals in the CON group and obesity-induced group were sacrificed to confirm obesity induction (preliminary experiments and confirmation of visceral fat accumulation). The remaining animals were then used in an 8-wks exercise intervention. Other than the CON (n=7), the obesity-induced animals were divided into the following groups: high-fat diet (HFD, n=7), HFD-low intensity (HFD-LI, n=7, 12 m/min for 75 min), HFD-moderate intensity (HFD-MI, n=7, 15 m/min for 60 min), and HFD-high intensity (HFD-HI, n=7, 18 m/min for 50 min). The exercise was performed on an animal treadmill. The expression of the nNOS protein in the hippocampus was significantly higher in the HFD group as compared with that in the CON group (p<0.01). However, there was no difference in the hippocampal expression of the nNOS protein in the other exercise groups as compared with that in the CON group. In contrast, nNOS expression in the HFD-HI group was significantly lower than that in the HFD-LI group (p<0.05). The expression of phosphorylated Akt (pAkt) was significantly higher in all the exercise groups as compared with that in the CON and HFD groups. There was no difference in the expression of pAkt in the cerebral cortex among groups, and the expression of pAkt in the cerebellum was significantly higher in the HFD-HI group as compared with that in the CON group (p<0.05). There were also no between-group differences in pAkt expression in the cerebellum among the various exercise groups. In conclusion, nNOS seems to be overexpressed in response to obesity, and it appears to be downregulated by exercise. Relatively high-intensity exercise may be effective in improving brain function by downregulating nNOS.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Urban Environment
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.473-483
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• 2018

In this study, we have developed a lab scale bioreactor to identify the characteristics of nitrification reaction according to operation condition (temperature, inhibitor (as Cl), activated nitrifying bacteria (ANB). etc) to improve nitrification efficiency at low temperature. Recovery rate of nitrification took about 4 days to reach the normal level by injected ANB after inhibition shock of CI injection at $20^{\circ}C$, when measured the concentration of $NO_2{^-}-N+NO_3{^-}-N$ in the effluent. In the case of $10^{\circ}C$, recovery of nitrification rate took about 4 days to reach the level of half to the normal level and 7 days for complete recovery which took 3 days more than those at $20^{\circ}C$. At $10^{\circ}C$ considering the winter season, the specific nitrification rate(SNR) of the from 1 day to 6 days after injected ANB according to its operation condition increased from 0.029 to 0.767 mgN/gSS/hr. The simulated SNR for the 8th day after the injected ANB at $10^{\circ}C$ was 0.840, 3.625 mgN/gSS/hr, respectively as linear function and exponential function, expecting to exceed level of 2.592 mgN/gSS/hr at normal condition. It was confirmed that injection of ANB during low temperature operation has many effects for improving nitrification efficiency through this study. In future studies, if further studies are carried out the determination of ANB injection and the design of efficient ANB reactor considering the changes of operating characteristics by site, it will contribute to the improvement of nitrification efficiency in winter season.