• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.833-840
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• 2022

Chronic inflammation has been shown to be closely associated with tumor development and progression. Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) is composed of a family of five transcription factors. NF-κB signaling plays a crucial role in the inflammatory response and is often found to be dysregulated in various types of cancer, making it an attractive target in cancer therapeutics. In this study, CDC-like kinase 3 (CLK3) was identified as a novel kinase that regulates the NF-κB signaling pathway. Our data demonstrate that CLK3 inhibits the canonical and non-canonical NF-κB pathways. Luciferase assays following the transient or stable expression of CLK3 indicated that this kinase inhibited NF-κB activation mediated by Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) and Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), which are known to activate NF-κB signaling via the canonical pathway. Consistent with data on the ectopic expression of CLK3, CLK3 knockdown using shRNA constructs increased NF-κB activity 1.5-fold upon stimulation with TNFα in HEK293 cells compared with the control cells. Additionally, overexpression of CLK3 suppressed the activation of this signaling pathway induced by NF-κB-inducing kinase (NIK) or CD40, which are well-established activators of the non-canonical pathway. To further examine the negative impact of CLK3 on NF-κB signaling, we performed Western blotting following the TNFα treatment to directly identify the molecular components of the NF-κB pathway that are affected by this kinase. Our results revealed that CLK3 mitigated the phosphorylation/activation of transforming growth factor-α-activated kinase 1 (TAK1), inhibitor of NF-κB kinase alpha/beta (IKKα/α), NF-κB p65 (RelA), NF-κB inhibitor alpha (IκBα), and Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2-Mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK1/2-MAPK), suggesting that CLK3 inhibits both the NF-κB and MAPK signaling activated by TNFα exposure. Further studies are required to elucidate the mechanism by which CLK3 inhibits the canonical and non-canonical NF-κB pathways. Collectively, these findings reveal CLK3 as a novel negative regulator of NF-κB signaling.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.285-299
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• 2022

The aim of this study is to investigate the awareness and perception of pediatric dentists regarding dental health insurance (DHI) system in Korea. Online surveys were sent to the members of the Korean Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (KAPD), and the responses were collected. The survey, consisting of 41 questions, was subdivided into 'general background of the respondents', 'the awareness on national health insurance (NHI) and DHI', 'the awareness on DHI pertaining to pediatric dentistry', 'issues that need improvement on DHI pertaining to pediatric dentistry', 'DHI claims', and 'the roles of KAPD in DHI'. In total, 302 responded, with a response rate of 28.9%. Excluding 2 questionnaires with insufficient answers, a total of 300 survey results were analyzed. According to the analysis, pediatric dentists thought that the coverage of DHI was not as sufficient compared to that of NHI, but were expecting its scope to broaden in the future. The satisfaction rate was higher in pit and fissure sealant and composite resin filling than in caries-detecting quantitative light-induced fluorescence. Pediatric dentists considered permanent tooth composite resin filling (65.7%) needed an increase in insurance copayment, while topical fluoride application (74.7%) to require insurance coverage. DHI claims were generally handled by dental hygienists and/or nursing assistants. Approximately half of the respondents answered that they have had experiences on appealing for insurance denials. Lastly, pediatric dentists generally had a positive attitude towards providing information for the DHI. This study is expected to be used as a sound dataset for the DHI policy development concerning pediatric dentistry.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.72-87
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• 2022

For the sustainable development and conservation of the national land, planned development and efficient environmental conservation must be accompanied. To this end, it is possible to induce development and conservation to harmonize by deriving factors affecting development through analysis of previously developed areas and applying appropriate management measures to areas with high development pressure. In this study, the relationship between the area where the land cover changed from forest to urbanization and various social, geographical, and restrictive factors was implemented in a regression formula through logistic regression analysis, and potential development sites were analyzed for Yongin City. The factor that has the greatest impact on the analysis of potential development area is the restrict factors such as Green Belt and protected areas, and the factor with the least impact is the population density. About 148km²(52%) of Yongin-si's forests were analyzed as potential development area. Among the potential development sites, the area with excellent environmental value as a protected area and 1st grade on the Environment Conservation Value Assessment Map was derived as about 13km². Protected areas with high development potential were riparian buffer zone and special measurement area, and areas with excellent natural scenery and river were preferred as development areas. Protected areas allow certain actions to protect individual property rights. However, there is no clear permit criteria, and the environmental impact of permits is not understood. This is identified as a factor that prevents protected areas from functioning properly. Therefore, it needs to be managed through clear exception permit criteria and environmental impact monitoring.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.170-179
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• 2022

Glutamic acid is a precursor of essential amino acids that play an important role in plant growth and development. It is one of the biostimulants that reduce cold stress damage by stimulating biosynthetic pathways leading to cryoprotectants. This study evaluated the effects of glutamic acid foliar application on Kimchi cabbage under low-temperature stress. There were six treatments, combining three photo-/dark periods temperature levels (11/-1℃ extremely low, E; 16/4℃ moderately low, M; and 21/9℃ optimal, O) with and without glutamic acid foliar application (0 and 10 mg·L^-1; Glu 0 and Glu 10). Glutamic acid foliar application was sprayed once 10 days after transplanting, and then temperature treatment immediately after glutamic acid foliar application was conducted for up to four days. After four days of treatment, abscisic acid (ABA), phaseic acid (PA), dihydrophaseic acid (DPA), and abscisic acid-glucose ester (ABA-GE) contents were higher with Glu 10 treatment than Glu 0 treatment in M treatment. Glucose content was highest in E with Glu 10 treatment (52.1 mg·100 g^-1 dry weight), while fructose content was highest in O with Glu 0 treatment (134.6 mg·100 g^-1 dry weight). The contents of glucolepiddin (GLP), glucobrassicin (GBS), 4-methoxyglucobrassicin (4MGBS), neoglucobrassicin (GNBS), and gluconasturtiin (GNS) were highest among all treatments in E with Glu 10 treatments (0.72, 2.05, 1.67, 9.40 and 0.85 µmol·g^-1 dry weight). After two days of treatment, rapid changes in PA and DPA contents of E with Glu 10 treatments were confirmed, and several individual glucosinolate contents (GLP, GBS, 4MGBS, GNBS, and GNS) were significantly different depending on low temperature and glutamic acid treatment. In addition, the content of fructose was significantly lower than that of O treatment in E and M treatments after four days of treatment. Therefore, although the changes in PA, DPA, glucose, fructose, and individual glucosinolates according to low temperature and glutamic acid foliar treatment were shown. A clear correlation between low temperature and glutamic acid effects could not be evaluated. Results indicated that Brassica crops are cryophilic vegetables, do not react sensitively to low temperatures, and mostly have cold resistance.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.75-100
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• 2022

Untact mobile commerce shows a rapid growth due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. And companies have a lot of tough competition in this trend. However, the detail pages of products which play an important role in purchase decision have been provided mostly for consumers in a form of stereotyped information composition. This study has found that the form of (image-centered vs. text-centered) information composition of detailed descriptions of products in the detail pages of mobile products has an effect on product attitude and purchase intention as consumers' information appeal methods vary depending on product types (search goods vs. experience goods). That is, search goods whose information search is easy and whose quality is predictable could be found that product attitude and purchase intention have a more positive effect on the form of image-centered information composition. And experience goods whose quality is unpredictable could be found that product attitude and purchase intention have a more positive effect on the form of text-centered information composition. And effects of congruence between product types based on Higgins' regulatory focus theory and the form of information composition have found to vary depending on consumers' chronic regulatory focus. Promotion focus seeking consumers showed effects of congruence between product types and the form of information composition and prevention focus seeking consumers did not show effects of congruence between them. That is, promotion focus seeking consumers have found to have more positive product attitude and purchase intention in the form of image-centered information composition of experience goods and text-centered information composition of search goods. And prevention focus seeking consumers have found to be unable to have an effect on product attitude and purchase intention even though the form of image or text-centered information composition of search and experience goods is presented. The study implies that the form of information composition should be designed, produced, and provided for consumers by considering product types and consumer propensity when designing it in the detail pages of mobile products.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.55-64
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• 2022

The potassium cream soap with fatty acid called cleaning foam has a crystal gel structure, and unlike an emulsion system, it is weak to shear stress and shows characteristics that are easily separated under high temperature storage conditions. The crystal gel structure of cleansing foams is significantly influenced by the nature and proportion of fatty acids, degree of neutralization, and the nature and proportion of polyols. In order to investigate the effect of these parameters on the crystal gel structure, a ternary system consisting of water/KOH/fatty acid was investigated in this study. The investigation of differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) revealed that the eutectic point was found at the ratio of myristic acid (MA) : stearic acid (SA) = 3 : 1 and ternary systems were the most stable at the eutectic point. However, the increase in fatty acid content had little effect on stability. On the basis of viscosity and polarized optical microscopy (POM) measurements, the optimum degree of neutralization was found to be about 75%. The system was stable when the melting point (T_m) of the ternary system was higher than the storage temperature and the crystal phase was transferred to lamellar gel phase, but the increase in fatty acid content had little effect on stability. The addition of polyols to the ternary system played an important role in changing the T_m and causing phase transition. The structure of the cleansing foams were confirmed through cryogenic scanning electron microscope (Cryo-SEM), small and wide angle X-ray scattering (SAXS and WAXS) analysis. Since butylene glycol (BG), propylene glycol (PG), and dipropylene glycol (DPG) lowered the T_m and hindered the lamellar gel formation, they were unsuitable for the formation of stable cleansing foam. In contrast, glycerin, PEG-400, and sorbitol increased the T_m, and facilitated the formation of lamellar gel phase, which led to a stable ternary system. Glycerin was found to be the most optimal agent to prepare a cleansing foam with enhanced stability.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.271-278
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• 2022

The detailed mechanism by which cancer upregulated gene 2 (CUG2) overexpression induces cancer stem cell-like phenotypes is not fully understood. The downregulation of FBXW7 E3 ligase, a tumor suppressor known for its proteolytic regulation of oncogenic proteins such as cyclin E, c-Myc, Notch, and Yap1, has been frequently reported in several types of tumor tissues, including those in the large intestine, cervix, and stomach. Therefore, we investigated whether FBXW7 is involved in CUG2-induced oncogenesis. In this study, the decreased expression of FBXW7 was examined in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 (A549-CUG2) and human bronchial BEAS-2B cells (BEAS-CUG2) overexpressing CUG2 and compared with control cells stably expressing an empty vector (A549-Vec or BEAS-Vec). Treatment with MG132 (a proteosome inhibitor) prevented the degradation of FBXW7 and Yap1 proteins, which are substrates of the FBXW7 E3 ligase. To address the role of Fbxw7 in the development of cancer stem cell (CSC) phenotypes, we suppressed Fbxw7 protein levels using its siRNA. We observed that decreased levels of FBXW7 enhanced cell migration, invasion, and spheroid size and number in A549-Vec and BEAS-Vec cells. The enforced expression of FBXW7 produced the opposite results in A549-CUG2 and BEAS-CUG2 cells. Furthermore, the downregulation of FBXW7 elevated the activities of EGFR, Akt, and ERK1/2 and upregulated β-catenin, Yap1, and NEK2, while the enforced expression of FBXW7 generated the opposite results. We thus propose that FBXW7 downregulation induced by CUG2 confers CSC-like phenotypes through the upregulation of both the EGFR-ERK1/2 and β-catenin-Yap1-NEK2 signaling pathways.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.310-317
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• 2022

Recently, interest in the harmful factors of particulate matter (PM), a major component of air pollution, has been increasing. In particular, PM_2.5 with a diameter of less than 2.5 ㎛ is well known to induce oxidative stress accompanied by autophagy in human lung epithelial cells. However, studies on whether PM_2.5 increases autophagy under oxidative stress and whether this process is reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent are insufficient. Therefore, in this study, we investigated whether PM_2.5 promotes autophagy through the generation of ROS in human alveolar epithelial A594 cells. According to our results, cells co-treated with PM_2.5 and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) showed a lower cell viability than cells treated with each alone, which was associated with increased total and mitochondrial ROS production. The co-treatment of PM_2.5 and H₂O₂ also increased autophagy induction, which was confirmed through Cyto-ID staining, and the expression of autophagy biomarker proteins increased. However, when ROS generation was artificially blocked by N-acetyl-L-cysteine pretreatment, the reduction in cell viability and induction of autophagy by PM_2.5 and H₂O₂ co-treatment were markedly attenuated. Therefore, the present results suggest that PM_2.5-induced ROS generation may play a critical role in autophagy induction in A549 cells.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.334-345
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• 2022

The Enforcement Decree of the Framework Act on the Management of Disasters and Safety Article 3-2 specifies two 'disaster management supervision agencies' for responding to shipping disasters. These are the Korea Coast Guard, which is an on-scene disaster-responding and coordinating agency, and the Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries, which is a government department, thereby leading to possibilities for confusion. In the case of shipping disasters, where a personnel entitled full power to deal with shipping disasters is designated and his/her powers and duties are clearly made, relationship of leading and supporting agencies is made clear, and command system is simplified, an efficient response to shipping disasters is made possible. In the management of shipping disasters, all the disaster management processes, that is, prevention-preparedness-response-recovery, should be dealt with systematically and consistently. Notably, to swiftly and efficiently cope with a disastrous situation, the decision-making and command system must be simplified. The establishment of a command system and decision-making must be made independently, based on expertise. In the US, irrespective of the type of disasters, the FEMA plays a leading role and the USCG responds a response to maritime disasters by establishing the Incident Command System or Unified Command System that is an incident management system. In the UK, the MCA supervises an event and responds to it, and the SOSREP has full power to work with command and coordination independently. SOSREP, among others, is necessary to prevent an inefficient dealing of a shipping disaster owing to confrontation between participants. With reference to such leading States' practice, the Korean government should make a standardized and simplified response to maritime disasters. This study deals with a new maritime disaster responding system and provides an idea of the revision of the existing legal regime.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.91-109
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• 2022

The ocean is a significant sink for atmospheric anthropogenic CO₂, absorbing one-third of the total CO₂ emitted by human activities. In return, oceans have experienced significant declines in seawater pH and the aragonite saturation state also called ocean acidification. This study evaluates the distribution of aragonite saturation state, an indicator to assess the potential threat from ocean acidification, by combining newly obtained data from the west coast of South Korea with previous datasets covering the Yellow Sea, East Sea, northern South China Sea, and southeast coast of South Korea. In general, offshore waters absorb atmospheric CO₂; however, most of the collected water samples show aragonite oversaturation. On the southeast coast, the aragonite saturation state was significantly affected by river discharge and associated variables, such as freshwater input with nutrients, seasonal stratification, biological carbon fixation, and bacterial remineralization. In summer, hypoxia and mixing with relatively acidic freshwater made the Jinhae and Gwangyang Bays undersaturated with respect to aragonite, possibly threatening marine organisms with CaCO₃ shells. However, widespread aragonite undersaturation was not observed on the west coast, which receives considerable river water discharge. In addition, occasional upwelling events may have worsened the ocean acidification in the southwestern part of the East Sea. These results highlight the importance of investigating site-specific ocean acidification processes in coastal waters. Along with the above-mentioned seasonal factors, the dissolution of atmospheric CO₂ and the deposition of atmospheric acidic substances will continue to reduce the aragonite saturation state in Korean waters. To protect marine ecosystems and resources, an ocean acidification monitoring program should be established for Korean waters.