• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.372-381
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• 2014

We investigated cause of non-outbreak of Cochlodinium polykrikoides blooms in the western coast of Jaran Bay during Summer, 2013, by combining chemical field data and physiological data of C. polykrikoides, which had been already published. The predominant species were mainly diatoms, and dominant species was Cerataulina pelagica, Chaetoceros spp., Navicula spp. and Nitzschia spp.. In case of dissolved inorganic nutrients in the western coast of Jaran Bay, dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) was similar to that in previous outbreak period of C. polykrikoides blooms, but dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) was lower. C. polykrikoides might be disadvantageous in competition with diatom species because half-saturation constants (Ks) of C. polykrikoides for inorganic nutrients was lower than those of diatoms. Also, the western coast of Jaran Bay, where DIN concentration is relatively low, was an unfavorable environment for growth of C. polykrikoides characterized by nitrogen dependence. Therefore, C. polykrikoides which have the disadvantageous position for competition of inorganic nutrient might have been suppressed by diatom blooms under environment of low nutrient in the western coast of Jaran Bay.

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.86-93
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• 2007

Chronic inflammation has been known to have a close relationship with several diseases including periodontitis, colitis, hepatitis and arthritis. Recently anti-inflammatory agents have been developed from marine natural resources. In this study, Ecklonia cava (EC) was found to have anti-inflammatory effect. Ethanolic extract of EC belonging to brown algae exhibited an excellent inhibitory effect on the production of inflammatory mediators such as tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$, interleukin-$1{\beta}$, interleukin-6 and prostaglandin $E_2$ by RA W264.7 cells. Furthermore, in reporter gene assay and western blot analysis, EC extract exerted anti-inflammatory effect via inactivation of NF-${\kappa}B$ transcription factor that regulates the expression of these inflammatory mediators in macrophages. In addition, EC extract inhibited the activity of matrix metalloproteinase that play an important role in chronic inflammation. These results suggest that EC extract may provide a pharmaceutical potential in inhibiting chronic inflammation.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.1-7
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• 2002

CODEX의 유기농업기준에 대하여 기본적으로는 공감하고 있으나, 아시아적 기후의 특성과 농가당 소유면적이 유럽이나 미주$\cdot$오세아니아 지역에 비하여 상대적으로 너무 협소한 점을 감안하여 아시아의 유기벼 재배농가들에게 과중한 부담을 주지 않을 수 있는 선에서의 유연성을 부여해야 할 것이다. 윤작이나 휴경의 경우, 지역에 따라 벼-딸기 등의 과채류-벼-토마토 등 과채류-벼 행태나, 병-보리 또는 호밀 등의 사료 또는 녹비작물-벼-자운영 등의 사료 또는 녹비작물-벼 행태의 윤작 또는 녹비작물 재배형태의 윤작 또한 유기재배로 인정해야 할 것이다. 완충지배 역시, 일정거리 보다는 경계선상에 주작물보다 상당히 키가 큰 다른 식용이나 녹비용 작물을 재배하면서 이웃 관행농장으로부터의 영농화학물질의 비산을 막아줄 수 있는 조처만으로도 유기재배 인증획득이 가능토록 해야 할 것이다. 제체작업 또한 오리를 이용할 경우, 기본적인 제초효과는 물론 해충포식이 이루어지며, 배설물에 의한 자연적인 시비가 원활히 이루어지게 볏대를 튼튼하게 자극시켜주며, 고랑사이의 공기유통 촉진과 흙탕물에 의한 잡초 발아억제 효과 등 다양한 부대효과를 올리 수 있게 된다. 왕우렁이 제초법 또한 논의 건조와 백로 등 조류의 접근만 차단해 주면 완벽한 제초가 이루어지고 있으며, 불시 경운에 의한 제초법도 유기농업 실천에 크게 기여할 수 있는 최선의 방안으로 활용되고 있는 중이다.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.283-288
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• 2013

To evaluate the ability of the submerged plant, Ceratophyllum demersum's (C. demersum) to remove nutrients and to inhibit growth of cyanobacteria, a total of 6 mesocosms were conducted in a batch reactor for 9 days. From the 84 hr of the experiment, C. demersum was stabilized and showed daily cycle trends according to changes in pH and DO levels. The concentration of nutrients, $NH_3{^+}$, $NO_3{^-}$ and $PO_4{^3}$ continuously decreased until 9 days of the experiment, with the rapid decrease in nutrient concentration for the first 24 hours. High correlation coefficient ($r^2{\geq}0.96$, p<0.001) between the amount of C. demersum's biomass per unit area and the nutrients removal level were derived, and greater C. demersum's biomass per unit area showed higher removal efficiency of nutrients. However, there were differences in the C. demersum's activity level between batch reactors with higher and similar density of the C. demersum, but nonetheless water purification effect appears to have a significant influence due to attached algae and microorganisms. The growth rate of harmful cyanobacteria, Microcystis aeruginosa (M. aeruginosa) with C. demersum's density of 2,500 g $fw/m^2$ (100% of cover degree) was 0.31 /day, compared to the growth rate of 0.47 /day for the control group (0% of cover degree). In terms of number of cells, the control group had 1.7 times higher number of cells than the experimental group, proving that C. demersum has the ability to inhibit the growth of harmful cyanobacteria.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.1377-1384
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• 2011

Astaxanthin (ATX) is a red-orange carotenoid pigment that occurs naturally in a wide variety of living organisms. In this study we investigated the inhibitory effects of ATX on the induction of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), nitric oxide (NO), proinflammatory cytokines, nuclear factor-kappa B(NF-${\kappa}B$) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. In addition, we tested the superoxide radical scavenging activity of ATX by scavenging assay. iNOS and NF-${\kappa}B$ expressions were determined by immunoblot analysis. Interleukin (IL)-6 and tumour necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$) were assayed by ELISA. NO production was monitored by measuring the amount of nitrite. ROS was examined by using the 2', 7'-Dichlorodihydrofluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA) method. At a concentration of 100 ${\mu}M$, ATX inhibited the expression level of LPS-induced NF-${\kappa}B$, as well as the production of LPS-induced NO and proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-${\alpha}$), by suppressing iNOS expression. In particular, the maximal inhibition rate of IL-6 and TNF-${\alpha}$ production by ATX (100 ${\mu}M$) was 65.2----- and 21.2-----, respectively. In addition, ATX inhibited the LPS-induced transcriptional activity of NF-${\kappa}B$, and this was associated with suppressing the translocations of NF-${\kappa}B$ from the cytosol to the nucleus. Moreover, at various concentrations (25-100 ${\mu}M$), ATX inhibited the intracellular level of ROS. At a concentration of 5 mg/ml, the superoxide radical scavenging activity of ATX was 1.33 times higher than ${\alpha}$-tocopherol of the same concentration. These results showed that ATX inhibited the expression of iNOS and the production of NO and proinflammatory cytokines resulting from ROS production and NF-${\kappa}B$ activation in macrophages. Furthermore, ATX was found to be more effective in superoxide radical scavenging activities compared to ${\alpha}$-tocopherol. These findings are expected to strengthen the position of ATX as anti-inflammatory medicine and antioxidant.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.127-133
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• 2020

Chibby family member 2 (CBY2), also known as SPERT or NURIT, is a gene with Chibby-like super family domain, whose function is not well known. In this study, the quail CBY2 gene was cloned, its sequences were analyzed, and its role in the myogenesis of QM7 quail muscle cells was characterized. Quail CBY2 has 978 nucleotides, which are translated into 325 amino acids, and the amino acid sequences are highly similar to those of chicken CBY2. Avian CBY2 diverted from mammalian CBY2 during early evolutionary history. According to the protein domain prediction analysis, quail CBY2 has a Chibby-like superfamily domain consisting of 83 amino acids at the N-terminal of the protein, although compared to mammalian CBY2, many of the amino acids were different. CBY2 was highly expressed in the adipose tissue and moderately expressed in the liver, heart, and kidney, whereas rarely expressed in the muscle tissue in quail. To characterize the role of CBY2 in myogenesis, CBY2 was overexpressed in QM7 cells. The overexpression of CBY2 inhibited myotube formation as shown that the myotube area was approximately only 25% that of the control. Taken together, quail CBY2 has a Chibby-like superfamily domain and inhibits myogenesis. Further studies should focus on the identification of the inhibitory mechanism of CBY2 on myogenesis.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.75-84
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• 2009

The effect of various SNPs (silver nanoparticles) on the growth of Microcystis aeruginosa was investigated in laboratory and field experiment. Four SNPs, namely JS47N, JS47N-K2, JS47N/3-1 and JS47N/3-2 were used to this study. The Ag size, concentration and color of these solutions were about $20{\sim}40nm$, $200mg\;L^-1$ and brown, respectively. At 0.01 and $0.1mg\;L^-1$, SNPs inhibited the growth of unicellular M. aeruginosa by 99.4% and 99.9%, respectively. However, SNPs of $1mg\;L^-1$ inhibited the growth of colonial M. aeruginosa by 98.5%, whereas the other three concentrations (0.001, 0.01 and $0.1mg\;L^-1$) had little inhibitory effect. In experimental enclosures from eutrophic lake, cyanobacteria including M. aeruginosa were found to be more sensitive to the SNPs than green algae and diatoms. In conclusion, our study indicates that SNPs has a selective cyanocidal potential when used to M. aeruginosa. We believe that future studies need to test on various other organisms, and determine minimum concentration for field application.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.134-140
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• 2022

Kelp belongs to the brown algae family and has been reported to exert anti-cancer effects on some cancer types, however studies have not been reported on the anti-cancer effects of kelp extracts on melanoma. In this study, the anti-cancer effects of kelp extract in B16-F0 cells were investigated, and the underlying molecular mechanisms were assessed. Kelp extract was found to inhibit the proliferation of B16-F0 cells, induce cytotoxicity, inhibit cell colony formation, and induce DNA fragmentation and apoptosis. The molecular mechanism was found to involve kelp extract increasing the expression of cytochrome-c and activated caspase-9 in the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. In addition, kelp extract upregulated the expression of Fas-associated protein with death domain and activated caspase-8 in the extrinsic apoptosis pathway. Activation of caspase-9 and caspase-8 by kelp extract induced activation of caspase-3 and cleaved poly adenosine diphosphate-ribose polymerase, consequently inducing apoptosis. These data suggest that kelp extract represents a potential therapeutic agent for melanoma.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.136-141
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• 2010

In situ experiments of Nutrient Enrichment Bioassays (NEBs) were conducted in the field along with in the laboratory to determine which nutrient limited phytoplankton growth as a indicator of primary productivity. For the NEBs, the water was sampled using a polyethylene-lined container and dispensed into 6 L water tank in the laboratory. The control (C, no nutrient spike) and six treatments of phosphorus (P), 2-fold phosphorus (2P), 4-fold phosphorus (4P), nitrate nitrogen ($NO_3$-N), 2-fold nitrate nitrogen ($2NO_3$-N), and phosphorus and nitrate nitrogen (P+$NO_3$-N) were set up in the lacustrine zone near the dam site, Daechung Reservoir in September, 2009 and analyzed the diel changes of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and chlorophyll-$\alpha$ (Chl-$\alpha$) in the cubitainers. The short-term NEBs showed that algal response in the treatments spiked phosphorus (P, 2P, and 4P) were significantly (p < 0.05) greater than the response in the control (C), and nitrogen-spike. Also, the response in 4P-treatment was greater than those in the P- and 2P-treatments. In contrast, there was no significant differences (p > 0.20) between the $NO_3$-N and $2NO_3$-N treatment. The outcomes of the NEBs suggest that phosphorus limited the phytoplankton growth and nitrogen was not limited in this system. Furthermore, in the N + P treatments, the response was minimum, compared to all other treatments and the control, indicating that even if the system is evidently P-limited system, when added the nitrogen, the response showed the inhibition. Also, > 95% of observed long-term TN:TP ratios in the ambient water showed > 17, which is the criteria of P-limitation, supporting the P-limitation in the system. Overall, these results suggest that phytoplankton biomass near the dam is a direct linear function of P-loading near the watershed, if the phosphorus pool is mainly dissolved fraction.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.199-206
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• 2005

Estuary islets should be managed systematically because they are important places for birds to rest and breed. This paper investigates the environmental properties of islets where the sand banks are located from east to west on the southernmost of Nakdong estuary during a year (September 2003 $\sim$ August 2004). The research showed that 59 species and 19,148 individuals were found in the area A (Jangja Shinja-Do) and 61 species and 28,394 individuals in the area B (Saja-Do; Beakhapdeung Doyodeung). Totally, 74 species and 47,539 individuals were observed in both of this estuary. Shorebirds are the most observed species in both areas. In area, most of individuals were especially observed in the spring when Shorebirds migrate northward for breeding. In B area, various species were also observed in the fall when they migrate southward for wintering. Therefore, many groups of birds are observed around Shinja-Do in the spring. They passed the winter in Doyodueng, associated with feeding in the main stream of Nakdong river mainly. Although the southernmost sand bar is the breeding place to access to outside without interception, invasion by human beings and predators (mice, weasels and etc.) gives a fatal blow for birds to breed or rest. The reed which is a tall herbaceous plant is flourished according to the process of ecological succession. Therefore, the sand bar becomes a land. It results in reduction of habitats and breeding grounds for birds. In conclusion, these areas where birds can use the islets as habits and breeding places must be preserved by restraining luxuriance of reeds and systematic management of human beings and predators is necessary.