• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.25-32
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• 2022

The desire to be light skinned is universal among women. Asia has a long history of using skincare formulations as whitening agents. There is an imperative need to develop novel cosmetics from herbal sources due to several unpleasant side effects and high costs. As a result, this study aims to investigate the effect of Ceylon black tea extracts on melanogenesis. Five different Ceylon black tea extracts were prepared and examined for total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), DPPH radical scavenging activity, and tyrosinase inhibitory activity. Furthermore, B16F10 melanoma cells were treated with these extracts and tested for cytotoxicity and protein suppression levels. According to the results of this study, the highest TPCs were obtained from ethanol and acetone extractions (240.303 ± 1.389 ㎍/g and 240.202 ± 4.700 ㎍/g, respectively), whereas the highest TFC was obtained from acetone extraction (57.484 ± 0.413 ㎍/g). Ceylon black tea extracted with ethanol exhibited the highest inhibitory activity on tyrosinase with an IC₅₀ value of 0.277 ± 0.017 mg/mL and the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity with an EC₅₀ value of 0.009 ± 0.000 mg/mL. Furthermore, western blot results revealed that tyrosinase, TRP-1, TRP-2, and MITF protein expression levels were dose-dependently suppressed, indicating the applicability of Ceylon black tea extract as a novel melanogenesis inhibitor.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2023

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) involves multi-factorial conditions linked to an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. Pre-metabolic syndrome (pre-MetS) possesses two MetS components but does not meet the MetS diagnostic criteria. Although cardiac autonomic derangements are evident in MetS, there is little information on their status in pre-MetS subjects. In this study, we sought to examine cardiac autonomic functions in pre-MetS and to determine which MetS component is more responsible for impaired cardiac autonomic functions. A total of 182 subjects were recruited and divided into healthy controls (n=89) and pre-MetS subjects (n=93) based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. We performed biochemical profiles on fasting blood samples to detect pre-MetS. Using standardized protocols, we evaluated anthropometric data, body composition, baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), heart rate variability (HRV), and autonomic function tests (AFTs). We further examined these parameters in pre-MetS subjects for each MetS component. Compared to healthy controls, we observed a significant cardiac autonomic dysfunction (CAD) through reduced BRS, lower overall HRV, and altered AFT parameters in pre-MetS subjects, accompanied by markedly varied anthropometric, clinical and biochemical parameters. Furthermore, all examined BRS, HRV, and AFT parameters exhibited an abnormal trend and significant correlation toward hyperglycemia. This study demonstrates CAD in pre-MetS subjects with reduced BRS, lower overall HRV, and altered AFT parameters. Hyperglycemia was considered an independent determinant of alterations in all the examined BRS, HRV, and AFT parameters. Thus, hyperglycemia may contribute to CAD in pre-MetS subjects before progressing to MetS.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.197-219
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• 2023

Rabbit meat has high nutritional and dietetic characteristics, but its consumption rate is comparatively lower than other meat types. The nutritional profile of rabbit meat, by comparison with beef, pork, and poultry, is attributed to relatively higher proportions of n-3 fatty acids and low amounts of intramuscular fat, cholesterol, and sodium, indicating its consumption may provide health benefits to consumers. But, the quality attributes of rabbit meat can be originated from different factors such as genetics, environment, diet, rearing system, pre-, peri-, and post-slaughter conditions, and others. Different rabbit breeds and the anatomical location of muscles may also affect the nutritional profile and physicochemical properties of rabbit meat. However, adequate information about the effect of those two factors on rabbit meat is limited. Therefore, cumulative information on nutritional composition and carcass and meat quality attributes of rabbit meat in terms of different breeds and muscle types and associated factors is more important for the production and processing of rabbits. Moreover, some studies reported that rabbit meat proteins exhibited angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory characteristics and antioxidant properties. The aim of this review is to elucidate the determinants of rabbit meat quality of different breeds and its influencing factors. In addition, the proven biological activities of rabbit meat are introduced to ensure consumer satisfaction.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.370-396
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• 2024

COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 30 January 2020. The lifestyle of people all over the world has changed since. In most cases, the pandemic has appeared to create severe mental disorders, anxieties, and depression among people. Mostly, the researchers have been conducting surveys to identify the impacts of the pandemic on the mental health of people. Despite the better quality, tailored, and more specific data that can be generated by surveys,social media offers great insights into revealing the impact of the pandemic on mental health. Since people feel connected on social media, thus, this study aims to get the people's sentiments about the pandemic related to mental issues. Word Cloud was used to visualize and identify the most frequent keywords related to COVID-19 and mental health disorders. This study employs Majority Voting Ensemble (MVE) classification and individual classifiers such as Naïve Bayes (NB), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Logistic Regression (LR) to classify the sentiment through tweets. The tweets were classified into either positive, neutral, or negative using the Valence Aware Dictionary or sEntiment Reasoner (VADER). Confusion matrix and classification reports bestow the precision, recall, and F1-score in identifying the best algorithm for classifying the sentiments.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.13-30
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• 2024

Swietenia mahagoni is one of the commercial timbers in Indonesia. Mahogany heartwood is an important characteristic as it relates to the natural durability and aesthetics of the wood. Lipophilic extractives are known to be involved in the heartwood formation process. Therefore, this study aims to determine the lipophilic compounds associated with heartwood formation. The n-hexane extract from sapwood and heartwood samples (1 to 5 years) was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results showed that the content of n-hexane extract ranged from 0.76% to 2.45% based on dry wood. The main group of compounds identified in the lipophilic fraction consisted of sterols (β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, campasterol, and cyclolaudenol), fatty acids (palmitic, oleic, linoleic, and stearic acid), and hydrocarbons (pentadecane, 1-octadecane, hexadecane, cyclotetracosane, cycloeicosane, and cyclooctacosane) after heartwood formation. In addition, the hydrocarbon fraction was the largest, followed by sterols, fatty acids, and 1-heneicosanol. In the radial variation, the distribution of fatty acids was greater in the sapwood than in the heartwood (4-year-old). However, the reverse pattern was found at the age of 5 years. The lipophilic fraction was generally more abundant in the heartwood compared to the sapwood, especially at 5 years of age, with much higher levels than when the heartwood was forming (4 years). These findings show that when the heartwood formation begins, the lipid composition was not fully metabolized at the beginning of heartwood formation compared to 5-year-old trees.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.88-97
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• 2022

Objectives: This study investigated the determinants of depression in adolescents and young adults. Methods: The present study analyzed data from the 2018 Indonesia Basic Health Survey (Riset Kesehatan Dasar; RISKESDAS). The study subjects were adolescents (15-17 years old) and young adults (18-24 years old). In total, 64 179 subjects were included. Univariable, bivariable, and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to determine associations between youths' characteristics, risky behavior, chronic disease, parents' health, and youths' depression. Results: The prevalence of depression was 5.1% in adolescents and 5.6% in young adults. The risk factors for depression in adolescents were being women (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 3.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.89 to 4.30; p<0.001), an ex-smoker (aOR, 2.99; 95% CI, 2.10 to 4.25; p<0.001), or a current smoker (aOR, 2.60; 95% CI, 1.97 to 3.44; p<0.001); consuming alcohol (aOR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.33 to 3.01; p=0.001), having a chronic disease (aOR, 2.64; 95% CI, 1.41 to 4.96; p=0.002); maternal depression (aOR, 2.47; 95% CI, 1.97 to 3.09; p<0.001); and paternal depression (aOR, 2.63; 95% CI, 1.98 to 3.50; p<0.001). In young adults, the risk factors were being women (aOR, 2.23; 95% CI, 1.82 to 2.75; p<0.001) or an ex-smoker (aOR, 2.47; 95% CI, 1.67 to 3.67; p<0.001), consuming alcohol (aOR, 2.42; 95% CI, 1.89 to 3.09; p<0.001), maternal depression (aOR, 3.12; 95% CI, 2.54 to 3.84; p<0.001), and paternal depression (aOR, 2.80; 95% CI, 2.17 to 3.63; p<0.001). Conclusions: Being women, smoking, drinking alcohol, having a chronic disease, and having a parent with depression were crucial factors associated with youth depression. Mental health screening, prevention, and treatment should involve collaboration among primary healthcare, schools, universities, professionals, and families.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.75-87
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• 2021

Type I Interferons (IFNα) are known for their role as biological anticancer agents owing to their cell-apoptosis inducing properties. Development of an appropriate, cost-effective host expression system is crucial for meeting the increasing demand for proteins. Therefore, this study aims to develop codon-optimized IFNα-2b in L. lactis NZ3900. These cells express extracellular protein using the NICE system and Usp₄₅ signal peptide. To validate the mature form of the expressed protein, the recombinant IFNα-2b was screened in a human colorectal cancer cell line using the cytotoxicity assay. The IFNα-2b was successfully cloned into the pNZ8148 vector, thereby generating recombinant L. lactis pNZ8148-SP_Usp45-IFNα-2b. The computational analysis of codon-optimized IFNα-2b revealed no mutation and amino acid changes; additionally, the codon-optimized IFNα-2b showed 100% similarity with native human IFNα-2b, in the BLAST analysis. The partial size exclusion chromatography (SEC) of extracellular protein yielded a 19 kDa protein, which was further confirmed by its positive binding to anti-IFNα-2b in the western blot analysis. The crude protein and SEC-purified partial fraction showed IC₅₀ values of 33.22 ㎍/ml and 127.2 ㎍/ml, respectively, which indicated better activity than the metabolites of L. lactis NZ3900 (231.8 ㎍/ml). These values were also comparable with those of the regular anticancer drug tamoxifen (105.5 ㎍/ml). These results demonstrated L. lactis as a promising host system that functions by utilizing the pNZ8148 NICE system. Meanwhile, codon-optimized usage of the inserted gene increased the optimal protein expression levels, which could be beneficial for its large-scale production. Taken together, the recombinant L. lactis IFNα-2b is a potential alternative treatment for colorectal cancer. Furthermore, its activity was analyzed in the WiDr cell line, to assess its colorectal anticancer activities in vivo.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.165-170
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• 2009

This study was conducted to investigate specific stages and distribution of overwintering nymphs of green rice leafhopper, Nephotettix cincticeps by measuring head capsule width. The nymphal head capsule width of the 1st instar to the 5th instar was 0.381, 0.502, 0.673, 0.979 and 1.128 mm, respectively. lts coefficient variation was 5.3, 4.0, 3.0, 4.5 and 5.3%, respectively. Growth ratio of each instar was not significantly different among 2nd to 4th instars as 1.31 to 1.34, but for the 5th instar it decreased as 1.28. The logarithm of the nymphal head capsule width was regressed as a function of the stage number of insects, resulting in LogY = 1.4627 + 0.1192X ($r^2= 0.9993$). Also fitness to the Dyar's law for the nymphal head capsule width of each instar was 98% or over and the Dyar's constant (K) was 1.316. The occurrence of N. cincticeps was maximum at the end of January with 195 individuals/0.25 $m^2$. The most abundant instar in the overwintering N. cincticeps population was 4th instar accounting for over 90%. Population of the 5th instar began to increase from mid-March, and adults began to occur in early April.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.60 no.11
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• pp.27.1-27.8
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• 2018

Background: Enteric methane ($CH_4$) accounts for about 70% of total $CH_4$ emissions from the ruminant animals. Researchers are exploring ways to mitigate enteric $CH_4$ emissions from ruminants. Recently, nano zinc oxide (nZnO) has shown potential in reducing $CH_4$ and hydrogen sulfide ($H_2S$) production from the liquid manure under anaerobic storage conditions. Four different levels of nZnO and two types of feed were mixed with rumen fluid to investigate the efficacy of nZnO in mitigating gaseous production. Methods: All experiments with four replicates were conducted in batches in 250 mL glass bottles paired with the ANKOM$^{RF}$ wireless gas production monitoring system. Gas production was monitored continuously for 72 h at a constant temperature of $39{\pm}1^{\circ}C$ in a water bath. Headspace gas samples were collected using gas-tight syringes from the Tedlar bags connected to the glass bottles and analyzed for greenhouse gases ($CH_4$ and carbon dioxide-$CO_2$) and $H_2S$ concentrations. $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ gas concentrations were analyzed using an SRI-8610 Gas Chromatograph and $H_2S$ concentrations were measured using a Jerome 631X meter. At the same time, substrate (i.e. mixed rumen fluid+ NP treatment+ feed composite) samples were collected from the glass bottles at the beginning and at the end of an experiment for bacterial counts, and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) analysis. Results: Compared to the control treatment the $H_2S$ and GHGs concentration reduction after 72 h of the tested nZnO levels varied between 4.89 to 53.65%. Additionally, 0.47 to 22.21% microbial population reduction was observed from the applied nZnO treatments. Application of nZnO at a rate of $1000{\mu}g\;g^{-1}$ have exhibited the highest amount of concentration reductions for all three gases and microbial population. Conclusion: Results suggest that both 500 and $1000{\mu}g\;g^{-1}$ nZnO application levels have the potential to reduce GHG and $H_2S$ concentrations.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.38 no.8
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• pp.677-685
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• 2014

A direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) generates electricity directly by converting the chemical energy in coal. In particular, a DCFC system with a solid oxide electrolyte and molten carbonate anode media has been proposed by SRI. In this system, however, there are conflicting effects of temperature, which enhances the ion conductivity of the solid electrolyte and reactivity at the electrodes while causing a stability problem for the anode media. In this study, the effect of temperature on the stability of a carbon-carbonate mixture was investigated experimentally. TGA analysis was conducted under either nitrogen or carbon dioxide ambient for $Li_2CO_3$, $K_2CO_3$, and their mixtures with carbon black. The composition of the exit gas was also monitored during temperature elevation. A simplified reaction model was suggested by considering the decomposition of carbonates and the catalyzed Boudouard reactions. The suggested model could well explain both the measured weight loss of the mixture and the gas formation from it.