• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.176-182
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• 2023

The stems of Dendrobium moniliforme are used in traditional Oriental medicine as a Yin tonic to nourish the stomach, promote the production of body fluid, and reduce fever. This study investigated the effects of the aqueous extract of D. moniliforme stems (DME) on mast cell degranulation and the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-4 (IL-4), and histamine-synthesizing enzyme histidine decarboxylase (HDC). We used rat mast cell line RBL-2H3 cells and stimulated them with PMA plus calcium ionophore (PMACI). Pretreatment with DME significantly inhibited PMACI-induced β-hexosaminidase release and the expression of TNF-α, IL-4, and HDC. Furthermore, DME suppressed PMACI-induced nuclear translocation of the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) and activator protein 1 (AP-1). In addition, HDC expression was inhibited by SP600125 (JNK inhibitor), PD98059 (ERK inhibitor), and SB203580 (p38 kinase inhibitor). Finally, the phosphorylation of p38 kinase, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) was inhibited by pretreatment with DME. These results suggest that DME has inhibitory effects against degranulation, cytokine (TNF-α and IL-4) and HDC expression, and that HDC expression is mediated by MAPK signaling. These findings suggest that DME may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of hypersensitive and inflammatory diseases.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2022

Objectives : Although the anti-obesity effect of Schizandrae Fructus water extract has been demonstrated, its underlying mechanism is still unclear. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the anti-obesity effect of Schizandrae Fructus water extract through the p-AMP-activated protein kinase (p-AMPK), sirtuin1 (Sirt1), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) signaling in 60% high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mouse model. Methods : Male C57BL/6 mice were divided into four groups. The Normal group was fed a normal diet and the obese groups were fed 60% HFD. Except for the Control group, the GG group was supplemented with 0.5% Garcinia gummigutta and the SCW group was supplemented with 0.5% Schizandrae Fructus water extract. After 6 weeks, obesity-related biomarkers in serum were measured and the expressions of protein for lipid-related factors in liver tissue were analyzed by western blot. Results : Treatment with SCW significantly down-regulated body weight compared to the Control group. SCW down-regulated levels of triglyceride and total cholesterol in serum and significantly increased p-AMPK, Sirt1, and PGC-1α in liver tissue. In addition, the expressions of fatty acid oxidation-related proteins such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα), carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A (CPT-1A), uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1), and uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) were significantly up-regulated. However, fatty acid synthesis-related proteins including sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1 (SREBP-1), phospho-Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase (p-ACC), and fatty acid synthase (FAS) were significantly down-regulated. Conclusions : Taken together, SCW treatment showed anti-obesity effect by regulating both fatty acid oxidation-related and fatty acid synthesis-related proteins through AMPK/Sirt1/PGC-1α signaling in 60% HFD-induced obese mice.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.57-62
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• 2022

Excessive activation and aggregation of platelets is a major cause of cardiovascular disease. Therefore, inhibition of platelet activation and aggregation is considered an attractive therapeutic target in preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases. In particular, strong platelet activation and aggregation by collagen secreted from the vascular endothelium are characteristic of vascular diseases. Artesunate is a compound extracted from the plant roots of Artemisia or Scopolia species, and has been reported to be effective in anticancer and Alzheimer's disease fields. However, the effect and mechanism of artesunate on collagen-induced platelet activation and aggregation have not been elucidated. In this study, the effect of artesunate on collagen-induced human platelet aggregation was confirmed and the mechanism of action of artesunate was clarified. Artesunate inhibited the phosphorylation of PI3K/Akt and Mitogen-activated protein kinases, which are phosphoproteins that are known to act in the signal transduction process when platelets are activated. In addition, artesunate decreased TXA₂ production and decreased granule secretion in platelets such as ATP and serotonin release. As a result, artesunate strongly inhibited platelet aggregation induced by collagen, a strong aggregation inducer secreted from vascular endothelial cells, with an IC₅₀ of 106.41 µM. These results suggest that artesunate has value as an effective antithrombotic agent for inhibiting the activation and aggregation of human platelets through vascular injury.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.329-344
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• 2023

In this study, we comprehensively analyze the generalization performance of various deep learning-based active sonar target classifiers when applied to small and imbalanced active sonar datasets. To generate the active sonar datasets, we use data from two different oceanic experiments conducted at different times and ocean. Each sample in the active sonar datasets is a time-frequency domain image, which is extracted from audio signal of contact after the detection process. For the comprehensive analysis, we utilize 22 Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) models. Two datasets are used as train/validation datasets and test datasets, alternatively. To calculate the variance in the output of the target classifiers, the train/validation/test datasets are repeated 10 times. Hyperparameters for training are optimized using Bayesian optimization. The results demonstrate that shallow CNN models show superior robustness and generalization performance compared to most of deep CNN models. The results from this paper can serve as a valuable reference for future research directions in deep learning-based active sonar target classification.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.149-154
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• 2006

A gas chromatography-mass spectrometric method was developed for the determination of formaldehyde in urine and saliva. In a 20 mL glass tube, 0.2 mL of urine or saliva was taken. Further, 1.8 mL of 0.1 M HCl, 0.1 mL of 2,000 mg/L 2,4-dinitrophenyl hydrazine and $20{\mu}l$ of 500 mg/L acetone-$d_6$ as internal standard were added in the tube and sealed tightly with cap. The solution was shaken for 20 min at room temperature and extracted using 4 mL of toluene. The extract was concentrated and redissolved with $100{\mu}l$ of acetonitrile, and then measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (selected ion monitoring). The detection limit was 2.0 ng/mL and 0.5 ng/mL in saliva and urine, respectively. The calibration curves showed good linearity with r = 0.997 and 0.998 for saliva and urine, respectively. The method was used to analyze formaldehyde in rat urine after oral exposure. The developed method may be use ful to the monitoring for formaldehyde exposure in human.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.142-148
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• 2006

To determine malachite green and leuco-malachite green residues in sea food, a liquid chromatographic method has been optimized. The target compounds were extracted in the homogenized edible tissues with a mixture of McIlvaine buffer-acetonitrile and partitioned against dichloromethane. After concentrating the lower layer, the resulting residues were re-dissolved in methanol and analyzed by the HPLC with visible detector at 620 nm using acetonitrile-acetate buffer. For the analysis of leuco-malachite green with malachite green simultaneously, post-column packed with lead(IV) oxide was used for oxidizing leuco-malachite green to malachite green. The correlation coefficients($r^2$) was 0.9989 for malachite green, and 0.9995 for leuco-malachite green. The limit of detection was 0.005 mg/kg for the combined of malachite green and leuco-malachite green at signal/noise${\geq}3$. The recovery rate was within a reliable range of 84~98% (CV 3~16%). Leuco-malachite green were detected in carp and crusian carp.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.84-90
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• 2007

To determine levels of 11 sulfonamides for animals in food, simultaneously, a selective method of high performance liquid chromatography with UV detector has been applied. The targets were sulfachlorpyridazine (SCP), sulfadiazine (SDZ), sulfadimethoxine (SDM), sulfisoxazole (SSX), sulfamerazine (SMZ), sulfamethazine (SMT), sulfamethoxazole (SMX), sulfamethoxypyridazine (SMP), sulfamonomethoxine (SMM), sulfaquinoxaline (SQX) and sulfathiazole (STZ). Food samples were beef, pork, chicken, milk and whole egg that were collected at the main 6 cities in Korea as Seoul, Busan, Daejon, Incheon, Mokpo and Gangneung. After homogenizing food samples with sodium phosphate solution and acetonitrile, it was extracted with n-hexane. The mobile phase gradient was a mixture of 5 mM potassium phosphate (pH 3.25) and methanol with a gradient ratio from 100:0 to 30:70. The UV wavelength was 270 nm. The overall recoveries were ranged from 75% to 95% and the limit of detection was minimum 0.004 mg/kg for SMT, and 0.007 mg/kg for STZ at signal/noise > 3, respectively. As results, sulfonamide drugs were not detected in most of the selected food samples, however, sulfamonomethoxine was detected in meat. The determined level of sulfamonomethoxine were 0.03 and 0.06 mg/kg for beef that were below the MRLs.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.29-38
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• 2024

The Matched Field Processing (MFP) is an estimation method for a source range and depth based on the prediction of sound propagation. However, as the frequency increases, the prediction inaccuracy of sound propagation increases, making it difficult to estimate the source position. Recently proposed, the Frequency-Difference Matched Field Processing (FD-MFP) is known to be robust even if there is a mismatch by applying a frequency-difference autoproduct extracted from the auto-correlation of a high frequency signal. In this paper, in order to evaluate the performance of the FD-MFP using a horizontal line array, simulations were conducted in the environment of the East Sea of Korea. In the area of Bottom Bounce (BB) and Convergence Zone (CZ) where detection of a sound source is possible at a long range, and the results of localization were analyzed. According to the the FD-MFP simulations of horizontal line array, the accuracy of localization is similar or degraded compared to the conventional MFP due to diffracted field and mismatch of sound speed. There was no clear result from the simulations conforming that the FD-MFP was more robust to mismatch than the conventional MFP.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.44 no.8
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• pp.52-59
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• 2007

In this paper, we analyzed and measured implant isolation characteristics for a 1.25 Gbps monolithic integrated hi-directional (M-BiDi) optoelectronic system-on-a-chip, which is a key component to constitute gigabit passive optical networks (PONs) for a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH). Also, we derived an equivalent circuit of the implant structure under various DC bias conditions. The 1.25 Gbps M-BiDi transmit-receive SoC consists of a laser diode with a monitor photodiode as a transmitter and a digital photodiode as a digital data receiver on the same InP wafer According to IEEE 802.3ah and ITU-T G.983.3 standards, a receiver sensitivity of the digital receiver has to satisfy under -24 dBm @ BER=10-12. Therefore, the electrical crosstalk levels have to maintain less than -86 dB from DC to 3 GHz. From analysed and measured results of the implant structure, the M-BiDi SoC with the implant area of 20 mm width and more than 200 mm distance between the laser diode and monitor photodiode, and between the monitor photodiode and digital photodiode, satisfies the electrical crosstalk level. These implant characteristics can be used for the design and fabrication of an optoelectronic SoC design, and expended to a mixed-mode SoC field.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.343-351
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• 2020

Sorbus commixta Hedl. has traditionally been used as a remedy for cough, asthma, and other bronchial disorders. In this study, three major triterpenoids-lupeol, β-sitosterol, and ursolic acid and a coumarin, scopoletin, were isolated from a CHCl₃-soluble fragment of the bark of S. commixta. Their structures were identified by spectroscopic analyses, including mass spectrometry (MS), 1D-, and 2D- nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), as well as by comparing the data with data reported in the literature. Scopoletin was isolated from this plant for the first time. It is a nutraceutical compound contained in many plants that has been reported to exert diverse biological activities, including anti-inflammatory effects. This study examined the inhibitory effect of scopoletin on TNF-α-induced vascular endothelial inflammation. Unlike the marginal impact of other compounds against low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation and vascular endothelial inflammation, scopoletin showed remarkable activity on LDL oxidation (IC₅₀ = 10.2 μM) and exerted vascular anti-inflammatory effects in EA.hy926 human endothelial cells activated by TNF-α. It suppressed the expression of adhesion molecules, such as ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and E-selectin, and blocked the adhesion between THP-1 monocytes and EA. hy926 endothelial cells. It also inhibited TNF-α-induced NF-κB translocation from the cytosol to the nucleus. Moreover, IκBα phosphorylation, which was increased by TNF-α treatment, was reduced after treatment with scopoletin. Thus, scopoletin inhibited TNF-α-induced vascular inflammation in endothelial cells by suppressing the NF-κB signaling pathway. These results demonstrate that owing to its anti-inflammatory activity in the vascular endothelium, scopoletin has the potential to inhibit atherosclerosis development.