• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.16-26
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• 1980

Soluble carbohydrates and free amino acids in the terminal buds of Pinus elliottii were analyzed to understand the nutritional status of the buds during the period of female strobilus initiation. Grafted, 18-year-old slash pine trees in a seed orchard were divided into two groups, abundant-flowering (AFG) and poor-flowering group (PFG) according to their flowering history. Four types of terminal buds, with two types from each group, were examined: (1) large buds in upper crown (female-producing buds) and small buds in lower crown (male-producing) in AFG, (2) large buds in upper crown (vegetative buds) and small buds in lower crown (male-producing) in PFG. Bud samples were collected four times from late July to early September. Free sugars and free amino acids (75% ethanol-soluble) were determined by gas chromatography and automatic analysis, respectively. Sugar content in the large buds of both groups was greater than in the small buds of the same group. Fructose and glucose were major sugars found in the bud tissue. Arginine was the most abundant amino acid in all four types of buds, with the concentration increased from 23% in late July to 60% in early September. Arginine and total amino acid content in the female-producing buds of AFG was much lower than three other types of buds. When female-producing buds and male-producing buds of AFG were compared in their arginine content, the former contained about same amount as the latter in late July, but showed one-fourth of the latter in early September. The low level of argining in the female-producing buds suggested a minimal or negative role of arginine in the initiation of female flower primordia. A higher sugar to amino acid ratio was observed with female-producing buds of AFG than with vegetative or male-producing buds of either flowering group. The low amino acid content in the female­producing buds suggested that initiation of female strobilus primordia was associated with temporary reduction in the metabolic activity of the buds.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.772-782
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• 2020

Skeletal muscle differentiation or myogenesis is important to maintain muscle mass and metabolic homeostasis. Muscle-specific microRNAs (miRNAs) are known to play a critical role in skeletal myogenic differentiation. In this study, we examined the expression profiling of miRNAs during myogenic differentiation in rat L6 myoblasts using rat miRNA microarrays. We identified the upregulated expression of miR-128 as well as several well-known myogenic miRNAs, including miR-1, miR-133b, and miR-206. We additionally confirmed the increased expression of miR-128 observed on microarray through quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), which showed similarly upregulated expression of both primary miR-128 and mature miR-128, consistent with the microarray findings. Furthermore, transfection of miR-128 into rat L6 myoblasts induced gene expression of myogenic markers such as muscle creatine kinase (MCK), myogenin, and myosin heavy chain (MHC). Protein expression of MHC was increased as well. Inhibition of miR-128 by inhibitory peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) blocked the expression of those myogenic markers. In addition, the transfection of miR-128 into rat L6 myoblasts enhanced the phosphorylation of Erk and Akt proteins stimulated by insulin, while simultaneously reversing the inhibited phosphorylation of Erk and Akt due to insulin resistance. These findings suggest that miR-128 may play important roles in myogenic differentiation and insulin signaling.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.173-178
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• 1998

Leptin, the product of the obese gene, is produced by adipose tissue and is known to be a hormone concerned with regulation of appetite and metabolism. Recent reports have shown that leptin is associated not only with obesity but also with female reproduction, but it has not yet been ascertained whether leptin acts directly on the ovaries or indirectly via the hypothalamus or pituitary pathway. The object of this study is to determine the expression of leptin and its receptor in the ovaries of 3 and 8 weeks old rats by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR. In the ovaries of 3 and 8 weeks old rats, leptin was stained in the theca cells and portions of granulosa cells of atretic follicles, whereas leptin receptors was stained in interstitial cells and ova of preantral follicles. The RT-PCR results showed that leptin receptor mRNA was expressed in the ovaries of both immature and adult rats, while leptin mRNA was not. In conclusion, leptin mRNA was not expressed in the ovaries, however, leptin was detected by immunohistochemistry. Compared to leptin itself, leptin receptors in the ovaries were ascertained by both RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. These results suggest that leptin is related to the regulation of the physiological functions of the ovaries.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.1069-1076
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• 2017

Recently, with the development of advanced medical technology and the introduction of most advanced medical equipments, life expectancy increases accordingly. Many people want to live long-lived in health. Therefore, if it is possible to pre-diagnose the sub-health condition and formulate an appropriate treatment plan, we can prevent the disease and reduce social expenditure costs. In this study, we statistically analyzed the data in responding to each questionnaire for healthy biorhythm and sub-health among targeted members of a specific group. The analysis for the effects of healthy biorhythm to male and female showed that there was a significant difference between male and female. In the analysis of the effects of the conditions of healthy biorhythm to the 10 sub-health indicators, the significant effects of good and bad condition has been observed. The results of the decision tree analysis showed that all the respondents with poor hormone and urological sub-health status have bad healthy biorhythms. In summary, in this paper we have shown that it may be possible to improve the sub-health condition and prevent disease in advance if the healthy biorhythm is well controlled.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.267-271
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• 2005

Lecithin is a naturally occurring group of phospholipids found in nearly every living cell and has been widely used as the ingredient of functional foods. Lecithin has high content of phosphatidylcholine(PC), pharmaceutical material which promotes metabolism through the cell membrane. This study was carried out to improve the present inconvenient analytical method of PC in law for health & functional foods. The commodities used in this experiment, were two kinds of egg yolk and eight kinds of soybean lecithin functional foods. PC was separated with isocratic elution with hexane : isopropanol : D.W (30:60:8) through silica column (2.1$\times$150 mm) by HPLC with Evaporative Light-Scattering Detector (ELSD). The flow rate of the eluent was 0.5 ml/mim and infect volume was 10ul. The neubilizer temperature of detector was $60^{\circ}C$, drift tube temperature of that was $75^{\circ}C$ and gas flow was 30 psi. Quantification was carried out by external standardization. Limit of quantification was 0.15ppm. Lecithin contents of egg yolk and soybean Products were > $66\%$ and > $81\%$), respectively. Phosphatidylcholine contents of egg yolk and soybean products were > $74\%$ and > $18\%$, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.2097-2104
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• 2000

Naturally occurring taste and odor problems include those produced by microorganism. notably algae and bacteria. The major compounds causing taste and odor are MIB and Geosmin which can cause earthy-musty at very low concentration 9ng/L and 4ng/L, respectively. Especially, the problem is very serious from summer to fall in source and finished water. It is well known that using PAC is one of the best technology to control these compounds in drinking water treatment. In this study, optimum dosage and dosing time of PAC were observed with the adsorption isotherm experiments in single and binary compounds. Also, the effect of natural organic matter(NOM) was investigated by using a natural water with JSW. The adsorption capacity of Geosmin was higher than MIB in both with NOM and without NOM. The adsorption capacity of Geosmin and MIB was 4 times lower with NOM than that of without NOM. which was caused by competition adsorption. When the initial concentration of Geosmin and MIB were 100ng/L in JSW, at least 4 hours of reaction time was needed to achieve 99% removal with 20mg/L of the PAC.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.165-172
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• 2018

Due to the recent economic development, the diet style has become more and more westernized in Korea, which increased the concern of our well-beings. Our well-beings are also associated with the gut microbiota which vary depending on the dietary intake. In this study, we compared gut microbiome shifted by two diets: high-fat diets (HFD) and low-fiber diet (LFD) based on 16S rRNA gene sequences using MiSeq. Compared to the control diet, LFD and HFD treatments significantly decreased species richness, while there was no difference in species evenness. Both diet treatments significantly increased the relative abundance of the Proteobacteria (p<0.05), especially the genus Sutterella. Bacteroidetes was significantly decreased in HFD groups, where the family S24-7 was decreased most. On the other hand, significant difference between HFD and LFD was seen among Firmicutes, where the abundance of family Lachnospiraceae was lower in LFD groups (p<0.05). PICRUSt-based metabolic difference analyses showed LFD treatment significantly decreased metabolisms of amino acid, carbohydrate and methane (p<0.01). In contrast, HFD significantly increased amino acid metabolism (p<0.05). Glycan biosynthesis and metabolism were significantly increased in both treatment groups (p<0.01). Our results suggest that long-term unbalanced dietary intakes induce gut dysbiosis, leading to metabolic and colonic disorders.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.506-514
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• 2018

This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between hand grip strength and cardiopulmonary fitness in patients with myocardial infarction. In this retrospective study, 67 patients who experienced myocardial infarction for 10 months were analyzed. Hand grip strength was measured using a handheld dynamometer. Dynapenia was diagnosed based on a dominant hand grip strength of less than 30 kg for males and 20 kg for females. A cardiopulmonary exercise test was performed using a treadmill. Physical activity status was also evaluated. Cardiorespiratory fitness parameters were analyzed using a t-test and a Mann-Whitney test. VO2max, METmax, and exercise time significantly decreased in the dynapenia group compared with the non-dynapenia group. Correlation analysis revealed that dominant handgrip strength was significantly related to cardiorespiratory fitness parameters. Moreover, VO2max, METmax, and exercise time were significantly increased in patients with vigorous activity compared with the sedentary group. These findings indicate that handgrip strength could potentially be used as a marker of cardiorespiratory functions. Accordingly, patients with myocardial infarction should be evaluated for grip strength and physical activity, and we can encourage patients to participate actively in cardiac rehabilitation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.241-248
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• 2009

A farming area located near an abandoned copper mine in GuPo-ri, Choongchung province is heavily contaminated with heavy metals such as As, Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn of which concentrations are higher than the values typically detected in Korean soil environment. In this work, laboratory and field studies were conducted to examine feasibility of using Ca-citrate-phosphate solution in stabilizing heavy metals in the polluted soils. In laboratory batch experiments with field soil, the addition of Ca-citrate-phosphate solution resulted in decrease of aqueous phase concentration of phosphate and improvement of heavy metal stabilization, compared to those for sterilized soil samples. This indicates that microbial uptake of phosphate may have provided positive effects on availability of phosphate toward heavy metal stabilization. According to microbial community analysis for the field experiment, the use of Ca-citrate-phosphate led to increased diversity of microbial populations, and strict anaerobic microorganisms such as Anaerofilum and Treponema became the most dominant populations in the solution-amended field experiments. These findings suggest that, when Ca-citrate-phosphate is used for heavy metal stabilization in soils, microbial processes may have important roles in improving the stabilization of heavy metals by providing reducing conditions to the treatment locations or/and by making phosphate available to heavy metal stabilization.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.241-248
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• 2008

We studied concentrations of trace elements such as iron, zinc, copper, lead and cadmium in three shorebird species from Saemankeum mudflat, Korea$(1999{\sim}2000)$, and also analysed correlations between elements in livers. Iron(ANOVA, p=0.018), copper(ANOVA, p=0.043), lead(ANOVA, p=<0.001) and cadmium (ANOVA, p=0.016) concentrations significantly differed among shorebird species, but zinc concentrations wasn't different among species. We suggested that iron, zinc, and copper concentrations were within a range for normal and are maintained by normal homeostatic mechanisms for wild birds. Lead concentrations in Great Knots Calidris tenuirostris$(5.76{\pm}2.14{\mu}g/dry\;g)$ were at the background level but Red-necked Stints Calidris ruficollis$(29.4{\pm}10.6{\mu}g/dry\;g)$ and Terek Sandpipers Xenus sinereus$(15.9{\pm}11.9{\mu}g/dry\;g)$ were within the exposed level for wild birds. In particular, Red-necked Stints were nearly poisoned level. Cadmium concentrations in Terek Sandpipers and Great Knots were at the background concentration, but Red-necked Stints were greater than the poisoned level$(3{\mu}g/dry\;g)$. We found significantly correlations between lead and cadmium concentrations, but other elements didn't find.