• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2022

Natural products have gained increasing attention due to their advantage of long-term safety and low toxicity for a very long time. Torreya nucifera is widespread in southern Korea and Jeju Island and its seeds are commonly used as edible food. Oriental ingredients have often been reported for their insecticidal, antioxidant and antibacterial properties, but there have not yet been any studies on their antidiabetic effect. In this study, we investigated several biological activities of T. nucifera pericarp (TNP) and seeds (TNS) extracts and proceeded to characterize the antidiabetic compounds of TNS. The initial results suggested that TNS extract at 15 and 10 ㎍/ml concentration has inhibitory effects on α-glucosidase and protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B, that is 14.5 and 4.35 times higher than TNP, respectively. Thus, the stronger antidiabetic TNS was selected for the subsequent experiments to characterize its active compounds. Ultrafiltration was used to determine the apparent molecular weight of the active compounds, showing 300 kDa or more. Finally the mixture was then partially purified using Diaion HP-20 column chromatography by eluting with 50~100% methanol. Therefore we concluded that the active compounds of TNS have potential as therapeutic agents in functional food or supplemental treatment to improve diabetic diseases.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.4
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• pp.535-543
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• 2022

A CPFD (Computational particle fluid dynamics) model of solar fluidized bed receiver of silicon carbide (SiC: average d_p=123 ㎛) particles was established, and the model was verified by comparing the simulation and experimental results to analyze the effect of particle behavior on the performance of the receiver. The relationship between the heat-absorbing performance and the particles behavior in the receiver was analyzed by simulating their behavior near bed surface, which is difficult to access experimentally. The CPFD simulation results showed good agreement with the experimental values on the solids holdup and its standard deviation under experimental condition in bed and freeboard regions. The local solid holdups near the bed surface, where particles primarily absorb solar heat energy and transfer it to the inside of the bed, showed a non-uniform distribution with a relatively low value at the center related with the bubble behavior in the bed. The local solid holdup increased the axial and radial non-uniformity in the freeboard region with the gas velocity, which explains well that the increase in the RSD (Relative standard deviation) of pressure drop across the freeboard region is responsible for the loss of solar energy reflected by the entrained particles in the particle receiver. The simulation results of local gas and particle velocities with gas velocity confirmed that the local particle behavior in the fluidized bed are closely related to the bubble behavior characterized by the properties of the Geldart B particles. The temperature difference of the fluidizing gas passing through the receiver per irradiance (∆T/I_DNI) was highly correlated with the RSD of the pressure drop across the bed surface and the freeboard regions. The CPFD simulation results can be used to improve the performance of the particle receiver through local particle behavior analysis.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.399-407
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• 2021

Wrinkle formation and dryness are the most well-known symptoms of skin aging. This study investigated skin anti-aging and moisturizing effects of Mugunghwa (Hibiscus syriacus L.), the national flower of Korea. The effect of H. syriacus L. flower extract was examined in skin cells originating from humans in vitro and in hairless mice exposed to UVB in vivo. The in vivo study results showed that skin hydration-related factors such as involucrin, filaggrin, HAS1, HYAL1, and matrix metalloproteinase-I (a primary skin photoaging factor) were regulated by H. syriacus L. Additionally, epidermal thickness and collagen disruption, which resulted in wrinkle formation and skin dryness, were ameliorated by oral administration of H. syriacus L. These results indicate that H. syriacus L. flowers can play important roles in preventing aging and promoting skin moisturizing.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.256-266
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• 2022

Empirical models including the Angstrom-Prescott (AP) model have been used to estimate solar radiation at sites, which would support a wide use of crop models. The objective of this study was to estimate two sets of solar radiation estimates using the AP coefficients derived for climate zone (AP_Frere) and specific site (AP_Choi), respectively. The daily solar radiation was estimated at 18 sites in Korea where long-term measurements of solar radiation were available. In the present study, daily solar radiation and sunshine duration were collected for the period from 2012 to 2021. Daily weather data including maximum and minimum temperatures and rainfall were also obtained to prepare input data to a process-based crop model, CERES-Rice model included in Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT). It was found that the daily estimates of solar radiation using the climate zone specific coefficient, SFrere, had significantly less error than those using site-specific coefficients S_Choi (p<0.05). The cumulative values of S_Frere for the period from march to September also had less error at 55% of study sites than those of S_Choi. Still, the use of S_Frere and S_Choi as inputs to the CERES-Rice model resulted in slight differences between the outcomes of crop growth simulations, which had no significant difference between these outputs. These results suggested that the AP coefficients for the temperate climate zone would be preferable for the estimation of solar radiation. This merits further evaluation studies to compare the AP model with other sophisticated approaches such as models based on satellite data.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.175-182
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• 2022

Heavy metals can be intentionally or unintentionally introduced into plastic food utensils, containers, and packaging (PFUCP) as additives or contaminants, which can be ingested with food by humans. Here, seven-heavy metals (lead, cadmium, nickel, chromium, antimony, copper, and manganese) with toxicity concerns were selected, and risk assessment was done by establishing their migration from 137 PFUCP products made of 16 materials distributed in Korea. Migration of heavy metals was examined by applying 4% acetic acid as a food simulant (70℃, 30 minutes) to the PFUCP products. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was employed for the analysis of migrated heavy metals, and the reliability of quantitative results was confirmed by checking linearity, LOD, LOQ, recovery, precision, and expanded uncertainty. As a result of monitoring, heavy metals were detected at a level of non-detection to 8.76 ± 11.87 ㎍/L and most of the heavy metals investigated were only detected at trace amounts of less than 1 ㎍/L on average. However, antimony migrated from PET products was significantly higher than other groups. Risk assessment revealed that all the heavy metals investigated were safe with a margin of exposure above 311. Collectively, we demonstrated that heavy metals migrated from PFUCP products distributed in Korea appear to be within the safe range.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.113-118
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• 2022

The feeding habits of sandfish, Arctoscopus japonicus were studied using 781 specimens collected by Eastern Sea Danish and gill net from January 2020 to December 2021 in the coastal waters of East Sea, Korea. The size of the specimens ranged from 14.8 to 25.4 cm in total length. A. japonicus were fed mainly on amphipods that constituted 54.7% in IRI. Cephalopods were the second largest prey component. The diets also include small quantities of euphausiids, crabs, shrimps, fishes, and worms. The diet composition of A. japonicus showed changes in season. The cephalopods feeding rate was highest in summer, whereas the proportion of euphausiids was higher in spring than in other seasons. The proportion of cephalopods has increased as the body size of A. japonicus increased, whereas the proportion of amphipods and euphausiids decreased gradually. As the body size of A. japonicus increased the mean weight of prey per the stomach (mW/ST) tended to increase significantly (One-way ANOVA, P<0.05).

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.601-612
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• 2021

This study was conducted to evaluate the appropriate sowing method and mixture seeding rate on germination of Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) and white clover (Trifolium repens L.). The experimental design includes two sowing methods and six mixed seeding per each method: BT₁:BP₀ (broadcast seeding; B, Trifolium repens; T, Poa pratensis; P), BT₁:BP₂, BT₁:BP₃, BT₃:BT₁, BT₂:BP₁, BT₀:BP₁ and ST₁:SP₀ (spot seeding; S), ST₁:SP₂, ST₁:SP₃, ST₃:ST₁, ST₂:SP₁, ST₀:SP₁. The germination was the highest for both species when the seeding rate was higher than other species. In overall, the germination of white clover was higher and faster than Kentucky bluegrass. Two plots, BT₂:BP₁, ST₁:ST₂, were retained the balanced proportion of the germination rate. Therefore, It was suggested, for maintaining the balanced field, it is better to seed white clover twice Kentucky bluegrass on broadcast seeding and Kentucky bluegrass twice white clover on spot seeding. In regard of sowing method, broadcast seeding is better than spot seeding in terms of increasing the germination. It is necessary to supplement the result for real application by long-term monitoring.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.165-170
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• 1994

High quality rapeseed cultivars including Nojeokchae, Yeongsanyuchae Halla-yuchae and Tamrayuchae have been released and recommended as a zero erucic acid variety to Cheju farmers for 13 years, where is a major rapeseed production area in korea. However, rapeseeds produced in Cheju island in 1992 and 1993 contained 47.7% and 37.0% of erucic acid respectively resulting in poor quality oil being not adequate for edible oil. It was considered that the zero erucic acid varieties did not have an opportunity to be cultivated in Cheju island by farmers living in the Island. Thus, the new rapeseed varieties without erucic acid should be bred and recommended to the farmers of southern area of Korea as a multiple cropping crop just after rice harvest, and for large scale mechanized and labour-serving rapeseed culture. The change of rapeseed breeding goal would be desirable for fatty acid composition improvement of rapeseed to develop varieties adaptable to southern part of Korea, and to produce rapeseed oil directly used as an edible oil safely.

• Journal of Radiopharmaceuticals and Molecular Probes
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 2023

Liposomes as drug delivery system have proved useful carrier for various disease, including cancer. In addition, perfluorocarbon cored microbubbles are utilized in conjunction with high-intensity focused-ultrasound (HIFU) to enable simultaneous diagnosis and treatment. However, microbubbles generally exhibit lower drug loading efficiency, so the need for the development of a novel liposome-based drug delivery material that can efficiently load and deliver drugs to targeted areas via HIFU. This study aims to develop a liposome-based drug delivery material by introducing a substance that can burst liposomes using ultrasound energy and confirm the ability to target tumors using PET imaging. Liposomes (Lipo-DOX, Lipo-DOX-Au, Lipo-DOX-Au-RGD) were synthesized with gold nanoparticles using an avidin-biotin bond, and doxorubicin was mounted inside by pH gradient method. The size distribution was measured by DLS, and encapsulation efficiency of doxorubicin was analyzed by UV-vis spectrometer. The target specificity and cytotoxicity of liposomes were assessed in vitro by glioblastoma U87mg cells to HIFU treatment and analyzed using CCK-8 assay, and fluorescence microscopy at 6-hour intervals for up to 24 hours. For the in vivo study, U87mg model mouse were injected intravenously with 1.48 MBq of ⁶⁴Cu-labeled Lipo-DOX-Au and Lipo-DOX-Au-RGD, and PET images were taken at 0, 2, 4, 8, and 24 hours. As a result, the size of liposomes was 108.3 ± 5.0 nm at Lipo-DOX-Au and 94.1 ± 12.2 nm at Lipo-DOX-Au-RGD, and it was observed that doxorubicin was mounted inside the liposome up to 52%. After 6 hours of HIFU treatment, the viability of U87mg cells treated with Lipo-DOX-Au decreased by around 20% compared to Lipo-DOX, and Lipo-DOX-Au-RGD had a higher uptake rate than Lipo-DOX. In vivo study using PET images, it was confirmed that ⁶⁴Cu-Lipo-DOX-Au-RGD was taken up into the tumor immediately after injection and maintained for up to 4 hours. In this study, drugs released from liposomes-gold nanoparticles via ultrasound and RGD targeting were confirmed by non-invasive imaging. In cell-level experiments, HIFU treatment of gold nanoparticle-coupled liposomes significantly decreased tumor survival, while RGD-liposomes exhibited high tumor targeting and rapid release in vivo imaging. It is expected that the combination of these models with ultrasound is served as an effective drug delivery material with therapeutic outcomes.