• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.213-220
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• 1994

Gastrodia (G) Rhizoma has been used clinically as an oriental herbal medicine with sedative, anticonvulsive, and depressor effects. The present study tested effects of G. Rhizoma extracts on the coronary circulation and myocardial oxygen consumption in perfused rat hearts. Sprague Dawley rats (SD) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were employed as experimental animals and nonworking Langendorff heart perfusion technique introduced for heart experiments. G. Rhizoma extracts were prepared from grinding G. Rhizoma into powder, extracting in water and 50% ethanol for 4 or 16 hr and diluting with Krebs-Henseleit bicarbonate perfusion buffer to be 70%. Hearts were perfused with bicarbonate buffer oxygenated with 95% $O_{2}:$ 5% $CO_{2}$ at constant coronary perfusion pressure of $90cmH_{2}O$. The diluted extracts were infused into coronary arteries in a concentration of $1{\sim}5\;{\mu}M$ for $7{\sim}8 min. While in SD water- or ethanol-extracts of G. Rhizoma extracted for 16 hr increased coronary perfusate flow (CPF) and decreased coronary vascular resistance (CVR), ethanol-extracts in SHR produced coronary vasoconstriction associated with enhanced CVR. G. Rhizoma extracts-induced increase in CPF reduced myocardial oxygen extraction, and thus myocardial oxygen consumption ($MVO_{2}$) remained at that observed prior to infusion of extracts. In SD and SHR 16 hr-water-extracts markedly altered coronary venous effluent pH and $Pco_{2}$ and evoked metabolic acidosis, which could be a coronary vasodilator mechanism decreasing CVR. In this study, the extracts decreasing CVR in SD and SHR did not augment the lactate production. Therefore, although the effects of the extracts on cardiac function and coronary circulation depended on solvents and duration for extraction, the 16hr-water-extracts, at least, exhibited coronary vasodilation in SD and SHR. Conversely, ethanol-extracts constricted coronary arteries in SHR. G. Rhizoma extracts-induced vasodilation might be due to the metabolic acidosis rather than due to the increased lactate production. The results indicate that G. Rhizoma extracts obtained from proper extracting procedures can be used as a safe and clinically applicable herbal medicine in the cardiovascular diseases such as coronary artery disease and hypertension for vasodilatory and antihypertensive actions.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.193-207
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• 1990

Transforming growth factor ${\beta}(TGF-{\beta})$ is a multifunctional polypeptide with diverse effects on the proliferation, differentiation and other functions in many cell types. $TGF-{\beta}$ is highly abundant in bone matrix and induces divergent responses in many aspects of bone cell metabolism . Several lines of investigation indicate that matrix-associated $TGF-{\beta}$ is the products of bone cells themselves. However, exact bone cell type reponsible for the production of $TGF-{\beta}$ is still in controversy, The present study was undertaken to determine the cellular origin of matrix-associated $TGF-{\beta}$ and to assess how different bone cells respond to $TGF-{\beta}$. As a prerequisite for this, 5 bone cell populations of distinct phenotype were isolated from fetal calvaria with sequential enzyme digestion protocol and biochemical characterization. Calvarial cell populations released in early stage showed fibroblastic features whereas populations relesed later was enriched with osteoblast-like cell as judged by their acid and alkaline phosphatase activities, cAMP responsiveness to parathyroid hormone, calcitonin and prostaglandin $E_2$ and collagen synthesis rate. By polyacylamide gel and immunoblot analysis of bone and calvarial cell extracts, presence of $TGF-{\beta}$ in bone tissues and production of $TGF-{\beta}$ by bone cells were confirmed again. Subsequent analysis of calvarial cell extracts prepared as individual population revealed that all calvarial cell populations synthesize $TGF-{\beta}$. Exogenously added $TGF-{\beta}$ induced biphasic response upon bone cell proliferation under serum-free condition. In osteoblastic cell populations, it was stimulatory whereas inhibitory in fibroblastic cell populations. In contrast, collagen and noncollagen protein synthesis of all calvarial cell populations were stimulated by $TGF-{\beta}$. Enhancement of protein synthesis was found to be more general rather than specific for collagen synthesis. In addition, effects of $TGF-{\beta}$ on protein synthesis were independent to its effects on cell proliferation. In summary, production of $TGF-{\beta}$ by bone cells and differential actions on various cell populations observed in this study suggest that $TGF-{\beta}$ may play an important role in the regulation of bone metabolism by modulating the specific cellular functions in autocrine and paracrine fashion.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2003

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to summarize results from 11 domestic studies about sick role behavior applied health belief model and to assess the effectiveness of components on behavior change by using meta-analysis. Methods: We collected the existing literatures by using major web search of 'pulmonary tuberculosis patients', 'health belief model', and 'sick role behavior' as key words and by reviewing content of journals. Quantitative meta-analysis was performed by SAS program. Results: Among 66 articles, 11 studies were selected for quantitative meta-analysis. The knowledge level about pulmonary tuberculosis had more effect for only sick role behavior as general characterisitcs(d=0.7870). All the components of health belief model produced significant effects on sick role behavior with the magnitude of effect size from 0.31 to 0.73. The largest effects were benefits on actions of sick role behavior. Conclusions: Overall, these investigation provide very substantial empirical evidence supporting health belief model dimensions as important contributors to the explanation and prediction of sick role behavior among the type of health related behavior in pulmonary tuberculosis patients. Strategic intervention including health education, etc. based on health belief model showed clear advantage in improvement of behavioral change.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.104-114
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• 2023

As plastic usage increases globally, the amount of plastic waste entering the marine environment is steadily rising. Microplastics, in particular, can be ingested by marine organisms and accumulated in their digestive tracts, causing harmful effects on their growth and reproduction. Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes are known to metabolize various environmental pollutants as detoxification enzymes, but their role in crustaceans is not well understood. In this study, sequences of nine CYP genes (CYP370A4, CYP370C5 from clan 2; CYP350A1, CYP350C5, CYP361A1 from clan 3; CYP4AN-like, CYP4AP2, CYP4AP3, CYP4C33-like1 from clan 4) were analyzed using conserved domains in the brackish water flea Diaphanosoma celebensis. Additionally, after exposure to three different sizes of polystyrene beads (0.05-, 0.5-, 6-㎛ PS beads; 0.1, 1, and 10 mg/L) for 48 hours, the expression of these nine CYP genes were investigated using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The results showed that all CYP genes possessed conserved motifs, indicating that D. celebensis CYP has evolutionarily conserved functions. Among these CYP genes, the expression of CYP370C5, CYP360A1, and CYP4C122 showed a significant increase after exposure to 0.05-㎛ PS beads, suggesting their involvement in PS metabolism. This research will contribute to understanding the molecular mode of actions of microplastics on marine invertebrates.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.347-355
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• 2015

Oxidative stress is one of the key mechanisms involved in neuronal damage. Neuroprotective effects and underlying mechanisms of action of several wild vegetables, Cirsium setidens (CS), Pleurospermum kamtschaticumin (PK), and Allium victorials (AV), against oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide in SK-N-SH cells were investigated. CS and AV up to $400{\mu}g/mL$ showed no detectable effects on cell viability of human SK-N-SH neuro-blastoma cells compared with control. Incubation of SK-N-SH cells with hydrogen peroxide resulted in significant induction of cell death and reaction oxygen species (ROS) production, whereas treatment of cells with CS and AV significantly reduced cell death and ROS production, respectively. Among the wild vegetables tested, CS and PK showed more effective DPPH radical scavenging activity than AV, whereas PK showed strong cytotoxicity in SK-N-SH cells compared with the control. CS showed much higher inhibitory effects on cell death and ROS generation against oxidative stress than AV. Thus, CS was selected for subsequent experiments. Ethyl acetate (EA), hexane, butanol, aqueous, and chloroform extracts from CS significantly inhibited cell death and ROS generation in SK-N-SH cells induced by oxidative stress. EA extract from CS (CS-EA) showed the highest DPPH radical-scavenging activity, intra-cellular ROS-scavenging activity, and neuroprotective effects. CS-EA attenuated apoptosis signal-regulating p38 activation by inhibiting phosphorylation. The findings suggest that CS-EA protects neuronal cells through antioxidant activity and inhibition of phosphorylation of p38 in brain neural cells.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.452-464
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• 1990

It is well known that extracellular Calcium plays a very important role in several steps of smooth muscle excitability and contractility, and there have been many concerns about factors influencing the distribution of extracellular Ca++ and the Ca++ flux through the cell membrane of the smooth muscle. Based on the assumption that Mg++ may also play an important role in the excitation and contraction processes of the smooth muscle by taking part in affecting Ca++ distribution and flux, many researches are being performed about the exact role of Mg++, especially in the vascular smooth muscle. But yet the effect of Mg++ in the smooth muscle activity is not clarified, and moreover the mechanism of Mg++ action is almost completely unknown. Present study attempted to clarify the effect of Mg++ on the excitability and contractility in the multiunit and unitary smooth muscle, and the mechanism concerned in it. The preparations used were the guinea-pig aortic strip as the experimental material of the multiunit smooth muscle and the rat uterine strip as the one of the unitary smooth muscle. The tissues were isolated from the sacrificed animal and were prepared for recording the isometric contraction. The effects of Mg++ and Ca++ were examined on the electrically driven or spontaneous contraction of the preparations. And the effects of these ions were also studied on the K+ or norepinephrine contracture. All experiments were performed in tris-buffered Tyrode solution which was aerated with 100% 02 and kept at 35oC. The results obtained were as follows: 1] Mg++ suppressed the phasic contraction induced by electrical field stimulation dose-dependently in the guinea-pig aortic strip, while the high concentration of Ca++ never recovered the decreased tension. These phenomena were not changed by the a - or b - adrenergic blocker. 2]Mg++ played the suppressing effect on the low concentration [20 and 40 mM] of K+-contracture in the aortic muscle, but the effect was not shown in the case of 100mM K+-contracture. 3] Mg++ also suppressed the contracture induced by norepinephrine in the aortic preparation. And the effect of Mg++ was most prominent in the contracture by the lowest [10 mM] concentration of norepinephrine. 4] In both the spontaneous and electrically driven contractions of the uterine strip, Mg++ decreased the amplitude of peak tension, and by the high concentration of Ca++ the amplitude of tension was recovered unlike the aortic muscle. 5] The frequency of the uterine spontaneous contraction increased as the [Ca++] / [Mg++] ratio increased up to 2, but the frequency decreased above this level. 6] Mg++ decreased the tension of the low[20 and 40mM] K+-contracture in the uterine smooth muscle, but the effect did not appear in the 100mM K+-contracture. From the above results, the following conclusion could be made. 1] Mg++ seems to suppress the contractility directly by acting on the smooth muscle itself, besides through the indirect action on the nerve terminal, in both the aortic and uterine smooth muscles. 2] The fact that the depressant effect of Mg++ on the K+-contracture is in inverse proportion to an increase of K+ concentration appears resulted from the extent of the opening state of the Ca++ channel. 3] Mg++ may play a depressant role on both the potential dependent and the receptor-operated Ca++ channels. 4] The relationship between the actions of Mg++ and Ca++ seems to be competitive in uterine muscle and non-competitive in aortic strip.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.38
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• pp.1-46
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• 2021

Since ancient times, the word Deok (德, virtue) has been used as a term in ethics. In the east, it originally meant 'to acquire (得),' and during the warring states period, it was used to indicate 'personality' or 'value;' especially for political leaders. Then, in Confucianism, the word Deok developed into an ethical term suggesting that people should acquire Deok in their action so as to achieve human perfection. In Daesoon Thought, Deok originates from the Dao, and the two are close in the same manner that Yin and Yang are close and interrelated. The Dao of Daesoon Thought indicates the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, which Gucheon Sangje had opened when he performed his Gongbu (holy work) at Daewonsa Temple, is such that the Great Deok was divided into the Deok of Heaven, the Deok of Earth, and the Deok of Humanity. This allows for the realization of Deok in each of the Three Realms. Jo Jeongsan, the successor of Gucheon Sangje, said that he will inherit the Great Deok originated from the Great Dao and enlighten the world to the Dao. The cause of the accumulation of grievances in the Three Realms was due to the failure to sufficiently spread Deok throughout the Three Realms. The Later World is where Deok will be offered in its full extent as it was secured by the Cheonjigongsa (Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth) performed by Gucheon Sangje. However, as the main agent of spreading Deok is the heart-mind, humans need to cultivate their heart-mind in the correct way. When humans finally become Dotong-gunja (beings who are perfectly unified with the Dao) and generously practice Deok in the world, there will be no grievances anywhere in the Three Realms. There are four ways of practicing Deok: Deok by caring for life, Eondeok (Deok of speech), Gongdeok (practicing meritorious Deok), and Podeok (spreading of Deok) to the world. Practicing the Deok by caring for life is to save and protect living beings based on the spirit of Jesaenguise (saving lives and curing the world). Eondeok is practiced when people speak to others in a positive way that fosters widespread goodness based on the spirit of Sangsaeng (mutual beneficence). When people perform Gongdeok they will be rewarded for their actions. Podeok can be realized when the followers of Sangje spread the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth based on the teachings of Daesoon Thought.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.135-142
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• 1983

$PGE_2$ and $PGF_{2{\alpha}}$ are known to act similarly in a number of animal tissues. They both facilitate regression of corpus luteum(Poyser, 1972; Fuch et al, 1974; Coudert et at, 1974) and stimulate contraction of uterine muscle (Laudanski et al, 1977; Porter et al, 1979; Hollingsworth et al, 1980). It is, however, not known whether these two prostaglandins exert similar actions in osmotic fragility of erythrocytes (Rasmussen et al, 1975) and $PGF_{2{\alpha}}$ alters conformation of membrane proteins (Meyers aud Swislocki, 1974). The former effect may not be mediated through changes in c- AMP concentration in the cell, since the adenylate cyclase activity in human erythrocyte is extremely low (Rodan et al, 1976; Sutherland et al, 1962) and the latter effect implies that physical state (or fluidity) of the membrane is altered by $PGF_{2{\alpha}}$. The present study was undertaken to elucidate mechanisms of action of $PGE_2$ and $PGF_{2{\alpha}}$ on the human erythocyte membrane by examining their effects on osmotic fragility and $Ca^{++}$ binding to the membrane fragments. The results are summarized as follows: 1) $PGE_2$ and $PGF_{2{\alpha}}$ increased osmotic fragility at concentrations above $10^{11}\;M$, the effect being similar for both hormones. The concentration of NaCl for 100% hemolysis was $1/16{\sim}1/17\;M$ in the presence of $10^{11}\;M\;PGE_2$ or $PGF_{2{\alpha}}$ and 1/18 M in the absence of the hormone (control). 2) When erythrocytes were suspended in 1/15 M NaCl solution, $44.2{\pm}4.3%$ of cells were hemolyzed. Addition of $10^{12}\;M\;PGE_2$ or $PGF_{2{\alpha}}$ did not increase hemolysis. When the concentration of the hormones was increased to $10^{11}\;M$, however the degree of hemolysis increased markealy to about 80%. No further increase in hemolysis was observed at concentration of the hormones above $10^{11}\;M$. 3) The additional hemolysis due to $10^{11}\;M\;PGE_2$ and $PGF_{2{\alpha}}$ appeared to he identical regardless of absence or presence of $Ca^{++}\;(0.5{\sim}10\;mM)$ in the suspending medium. 4) In the absence of prostaglandin, the binding of $Ca^{++}$ to the erythrocyte membrane increased curvilinearly as the $Ca^{++}$ concentration increased up to 5 mM above which it leveled off. A similar dependence of $Ca^{++}$ binding on the $Ca^{++}$ concentration was observed in the presence of $10^{11}\;M\;PGE_2$ or $PGF_{2{\alpha}}$, however, the amount of $Ca^{++}$ bound at a given $Ca^{++}$ concentration was significantly higher than in the absence of the hormones. 5) As in the hemolysis, $PGE_2$ and $PGF_{2{\alpha}}$ did not affect the $Ca^{++}$ binding at a concentration of $10^{12}\;M$, but increased it by about 100% at concentration above $10^{11}\;M$. These result indicate that both tile osmotic fragility of erythrocyte and the $Ca^{++}$ binding to the erythrocyte membrane are similarly enhanced by $PGE_2$ and $PGF_{2{\alpha}}$, but these two effects are not causally related. It is, therefore, concluded that the prostaglandin-induced hemolysis is not directly associated with alterations of the $Ca^{++}$ content in the membrane.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.241-257
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• 1987

The effects of external $Ca^{2+}$ and $Ca^{2+}-antagonists$ on the spontaneous contractions and electrical activities were investigated in guinea-pig stomach in order to clarify the mechanism for the generation of slow waves. Electrical responses of circular smooth muscle cells were recorded using glass capillary microelectrodes filled with 3 M KCl. All experiments were performed in tris-buffered Tyrode solution which was aerated with 100% $O_2$ and kept at $35^{\circ}C$. The results obtained were as follows: 1) The amplitude of spontaneous contractions was maximal at around 2-4 mM $Ca^{2+}$, whereas their frequency was inversely related with external $Ca^{2+}$ within the range of 0.5 to 16 mM $Ca^{2+}$. 2) Verapamil suppressed the amplitude of spontaneous contraction in a dose-dependent manner, while the frequency of spontaneous contractions was almost not changed over the whole concentration of verapamil $(0.01{\sim}5\;mg/l)$. 3) Manganese increased both the amplitude and the frequency of spontaneous contractions dose-dependently in low $Mn^{2+}$ (below 0.05 mM $Mn^{2+}$), while their amplitude and frequency were decreased in high $Mn^{2+}$ (above 0.1 mM $Mn^{2+}$). 4) The ampltude and maximum rate of rise of slow waves were incrased in high $Ca^{2+}$ solution. In $Ca^{2+}-free$ solution, the spontaneous contractions recorded simultaneously with slow waves ceased and tonic contraction ($Ca^{2+}-free$ contracture) was developed in parallel with membrane depolarization and the disappearance of slow waves. 5) Verapamil (1 mg/1) decreased the amplitude and maximum rate of rise of slow waves and it depolarized the membrane by about 6 mV, whereas the frequency of slow waves was not affected by verapamil. 6) Manganese showed different characteristic effects between low and high $Mn^{2+}$ on the slow waves: In low $Mn^{2+}$ (0.05 mM $Mn^{2+}$), the initial rapid increases and the subsequent gradual decreases in three parameters of slow waves (amplitude, rate of rise, and frequency of slow waves) till a new steady state were observed. However, in high $Mn^{2+}$ (0.5 mM $Mn^{2+}$) slow waves disappeared and membrane was depolarized. From the above results, the following conclusions could be made: 1) $Ca^{2+}$ is necessary for a generation of the slow waves, even though it is small amount. 2) Verapamil suppresses the spontaneous contractions of gastric antral strip by the decreases in amplitude and maximum rate of rise of slow waves, while this drug does not block the $Ca^{2+}-channel$ involved in the generation of slow waves. 3) Manganese has dual actions on the $Ca^{2+}-channels$; the $Ca^{2+}-channel$ involved in the generation of slow waves (or Na-Ca exchange system) or the channel for the generation of spike potentials are stimulated by a low concentration of $Mn^{2+}$, while both the $Ca^{2+}$. Channels are blocked by high concentration of $Mn^{2+}$.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.157-165
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• 2023

Ultrasound imaging uses sound waves of frequencies to cause physical actions such as reflection, absorption, refraction, and transmission at the edge between different tissues. Improvement is needed because there is a lot of noise due to the characteristics of the data generated from the ultrasound equipment, and it is difficult to grasp the shape of the tissue to be actually observed because the edge is vague. The edge enhancement method is used as a method to solve the case where the edge surface looks clumped due to a decrease in image quality. In this paper, as a method to strengthen the interface, the quality improvement was confirmed by strengthening the interface, which is the high-frequency part, in each image using an unsharpening mask and high boost. The mask filtering used for each image was evaluated by measuring PSNR and SNR. Abdominal, head, heart, liver, kidney, breast, and fetal images were obtained from Philips epiq5g and affiniti70g and Alpinion E-cube 15 ultrasound equipment. The program used to implement the algorithm was implemented with MATLAB R2022a of MathWorks. The unsharpening and high-boost mask array size was set to 3*3, and the laplacian filter, a spatial filter used to create outline-enhanced images, was applied equally to both masks. ImageJ program was used for quantitative evaluation of image quality. As a result of applying the mask filter to various ultrasound images, the subjective image quality showed that the overall contour lines of the image were clearly visible when unsharpening and high-boost mask were applied to the original image. When comparing the quantitative image quality, the image quality of the image to which the unsharpening mask and the high boost mask were applied was evaluated higher than that of the original image. In the portal vein, head, gallbladder, and kidney images, the SNR, PSNR, RMSE and MAE of the image to which the high-boost mask was applied were measured to be high. Conversely, for images of the heart, breast, and fetus, SNR, PSNR, RMSE and MAE values were measured as images with the unsharpening mask applied. It is thought that using the optimal mask according to the image will help to improve the image quality, and the contour information was provided to improve the image quality.