• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.272-281
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• 2003

Nontraditional or alternative medicine is becoming an increasingly attractive approach for the treatment of various inflammatory disorders and cancers. Curcumin is the major constitute of turmoric powder extracted from the rhizomes of the plant Curcuma longa. Resveratrol is a phytoalexin present in grapes and a variety of medicinal plants. In this report, We investigated the effect of curcumin and resveratrol on regulatory protein of cell cycle, induction of apoptosis and MMP activity. Treatment with 75 M curcumin for 24 hrs produced morphological changing in HN-4 cells. Curcumin and resveratrol inhibited the cellular growth in HN-4 cells. Inhibition of cell growth was associated with down-regulation of cell cycle regulatory proteins. Curcumin-induced caspase-3 activation and Bax degradation were dose-dependent with a maximal effect at a concentration of 100 M. The elevated caspase-3 activity in curcumin treated HN-4 cells are correlated with down-regulation of survivin and cIAP1, but not cIAP2. Curcumin induced a dose-dependent increase of cytochrome c in the cytosol. Curcumin induced-apoptosis was mediated through the release of cytochrome c. In addition, curcumin-induced apoptosis was caused by the generation of reactive oxygen species, which was prevented by antioxidant N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC). Cotreatment with NAC markedly prevented cytochrome c release, Bax cleavage and cell death. Also resveratrol-induced apoptosis was preceded by down-regulation of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2, cIAP1, and caspase-3 activity. However, resveratrol-induced apoptosis was not prevented by antioxidant NAC. In addition, HN-4 cells release basal levels of MMP2 when cultured in serum-free medium. Treatment of the cells with various concentrations of PMA for 24 hr induced the expression and secretion of latent MMP9 as determined by gelatin zymography. HN-4 cells were treated with various concentrations of curcumin and resveratrol in the presence of 75 nM PMA, and MMP2 and 9 activities were inhibited by curcumin and resveratrol. These findings have implications for developing curcumin-based anticancer and anti-inflammation therapies.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.250-256
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• 2018

To determine whether metabolite fingerprinting for whole cell extracts based on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) can be used to discriminate and compare metabolic equivalence, standard medicinal parts of Cynanchum wilfordii (Maxim.) Hemsl. and their adventitious roots were subjected to FT-IR. The principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) from FT-IR spectral data showed that whole metabolic pattern from the adventitious root of Cynanchum wilfordii was highly similar to its standard medicinal parts. These results clearly showed that mass proliferation of adventitious roots could be applied for the novel supply of standard medicinal parts of medicinal plants. Furthermore, FT-IR spectroscopy combined with multivariate analysis established in this study could be applied as an alternative tool for discriminating of whole metabolic equivalence from standard medicinal parts. Thus, it is proposed that these metabolic discrimination systems from the adventitious root of Cynanchum wilfordii could be applied for metabolic standardization of in vitro grown Cynanchum wilfordii.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.376-383
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• 2003

To utilize composts more efficiently, combining composts with fertilizer to meet crop requirements is an appealing alternative. A pot experiment was conducted to study the effect of application rate of composted pig manure blended with fertilizer on the availability and loss of fertilizer-N. Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris L. cv. Samjin) plants were cultivated for 30 and 60 days. 15N-Labeled urea ($5.24\;^{15}N\;atom\;%$) was added to soil at $450mg\;N\;kg^{-1}$, and unlabeled compost ($0.37\;^{15}N\;atom\;%$) was added at 0, 200, 400, and $600mg\;N\;kg^{-1}$. The amount of plant-N derived from urea was not affected by compost application at rate of $200mg\;N\;kg^{-1}$. However, compost application at 400 and $600mg\;N\;kg^{-1}$ significantly (P<0.05) increased plant assimilation of N from urea irrespective of sampling time, probably because of physicochemical changes in the soil properties allowing urea-N to be assimilated more efficiently. The amount of immobilized urea-N increased with increasing rate of compost application at both growth periods, as the results of increased microbial activities using organic C in the compost. Total recovery of urea-N (as percentage of added N) by Chinese cabbage and soil also increased with increasing rate of compost from 71.5 to 95.6% and from 67.0 to 88.2% at the 30- and 60-days of growth, respectively. These results suggest that increasing rate of compost blending increases plant uptake of fertilizer-N and enhances immobilization of fertilizer-N, which leads to decrease in loss of fertilizer-N. However, information about the fate of immobilized N during future crop cultivation is necessary to verify long-term effect of compost blending.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.380-391
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• 2014

Plants as well as crops are damaged by a combination of the hot and dry winds that has been a major factor in the reduction of crop production. A means to protect them from damaging conditions is to consider a coating material. In this study, we established laboratory screening methods to find a coating material to protect a crop from rapid transpiration caused by various factors. In a test measuring the weight loss of kidney bean seedlings for 6 days, Avion treatments decreased its weight loss (P=0.05). Owing to long-time spend in completing this assay, we performed a more simple method using a cobalt chloride paper strip, which changes from blue to red colors under water condition. Beewax, guagum, paraffin liquid, soybean oil, and PE-635 gave a waterproofing effect above 37 and 43% at 0.5 and 1 h after treatment, respectively. However, these tested materials did not show significant waterproofing results at 2 h. Although the methods produced reasonable results, a screening method to obtain more objective data is needed. An alternative is to use an instrument that can detect the transpiration of crop leaves. In a preliminary test using barley leaves, a portable photosynthesis system showed transpiration inhibition of 2% soybean oil and 10 times-diluted Avion under field conditions. In another test using the leaves of maize seedlings and apricot tree, 2% liquid paraffin and plant oils such as apricot oil, linseed oil, olive oil, and soybean oil showed significant transpiration inhibition (P=0.05). Especially, paraffin liquid and soybean oil selected from above tests gave good transpiration inhibitory effects against rice at 2%. In addition, the mixture of 2% soybean oil and a spreader showed more elevated inhibition results comparing with soybean oil or the spreader alone indicating that the spreader may be attributed to more uniform diffusion of the hydrophobic material onto the leaf surface of maize seedlings. The hydrophobic material coated physically the stomata and cuticle layers on leaf surfaces of rice. These hydrophobic materials screened in this study are expected to be used as plant coating materials.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.308-317
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• 2015

This study attempted to identify the possibility of natural herbal extracts as an alternative, preventive agent of caries by comparing antimicrobial activities between natural herbal extracts and mouth rinsing solutions against Streptococcus mutans. Natural herbal plants were extracted with distilled water and ethanol, respectively, to measure the minimum growth inhibitory concentration of S. mutans depending on concentration, and among which, solvents showing high antimicrobial activity were selected to compare their antibiotic effects with those of mouth rinsing solutions. Also, to determine the concentration of natural medicinal herbs that can be used safely in the oral cavity, the extracts were treated to the normal gingival fibroblast cells depending on concentration in order to determine its cytotoxicity using MTT. In terms of the minimum growth inhibition concentration, the growth inhibition of S. mutans was more excellent in the ethanol extract than in the distilled water. When the minimum growth inhibition concentration was compared, Psoralea corylifolia of natural herbal ethanol extracts, and Hexamedine (Bukwang Pharm., Korea) of mouth rinsing solutions inhibited growth of S. mutans at the lowest concentration. When the minimum bactericidal concentration was compared, P. corylifolia of natural herbal extracts, and Hexamedine and Garglin (Dong-A Pharm., Korea) of mouth rinsing solutions eliminated S. mutans at a low concentration. The human gingival fibroblast was treated with natural herbal ethanol extracts at the minimum growth inhibition concentration of 10, 39, and $78{\mu}g/ml$. As the result, no cytotoxicity was found. When this was treated at different minimum bactericidal concentrations, natural herbal ethanol extracts showed cytotoxicity except P. corylifolia.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.1149-1157
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• 2017

Inflammation is the first response of the immune system to infection or irritation in our body. The use of medicinal plants has been widely applied as an alternative source for drug development. One of marine natural resources, the anti-inflammatory effect of Ishige sinicola ethanol extract (ISEE), was evaluated by using LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cell and mice model. As a result, the production of nitric oxide (NO) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-$1{\beta}$, TNF-${\alpha}$) were inhibited with increasing concentration of ISEE without any cytotoxicity. Furthermore, ISEE suppressed the expression of not only inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-${\kappa}B$) p65, and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), including extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, p38, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in a dose-dependent manner. In mice ear edema test, the formation of edema was reduced at the highest dosage of ISEE and the reduction of the number of infiltrated mast cells was observed in histological analysis. These results indicate that ISEE has a potent anti-inflammatory activity and can be used as a pharmaceutical material for many kinds of inflammatory disease.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.77-98
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• 1998

In general, spatial imbalance in regional growth is a major cause of social and political conflicts within a state. In Korea, this inequality has functioned as a threat to the state's integration. With the economic development policies by regional industrialization over the past three decades, most of the industrial activities have been concentrated in Seoul and Pusan metropolitan areas, which are surrounded by Kyonggi, Kyongnam provinces respectively. Compared to these areas, Chonnam and Chonbuk provinces have lagged behind in economic development. Therefore, in order to increase the regional economic development of the southwestern region in Korea, the central government has been enforcing several policies aimed at regional industrialization since the 1980s. The purpose of this study focuses on the regional economic impacts of a newly established industrial estate-Yulchon industrial complex- which would act as a regional growth center in the Kwangyang bay area. The Kwangyang bay area consists of several industrial estates such as Kwangyang Iron and Steel Co. and its related industrial complex, Chuam rural industrial estate, Yeochon industrial complex, and so on. In addition, the Kwangyang container port was constructed in 1997. The Kwangyang bay area has been changing to a new industrial district in the southwestern part of Korea as a result of industrialization policies which were activated by central government. The Yulchon industrial complex, which is expected to be completed in 2001, would draw many manufacturing plants. For example, Hyundai Motors Co. has a plan to locate a new automobile assembly plant within the estate. As the plan has high probability to be realized, it will be interesting to study the effects a new automobile assembly plant and its related production linkages have on the region. This study is to estimate the expected structural characteristics of automobile production activities in Yulchon. The following details will be discussed: the regional economic impacts of a new automobile industry in Yulchon industrial complex, the production linkage formation via hierarchical subcontracting systems, the alternative strategies to promote the growth of regional economies, and the scheme to improve the auto-parts and components industry in Kwangju and Chonnam provinces by establishing auto-mobile production function. Automoblie industry generally gives great influences on not only regional economies but the related industries, for example, the firms producing automotive components. If a new plant producing automobiles and its related firms producing components are to be established in Yulchon, they will affect on the regional development directions and change the regional characteristics of industrial structure. In order to increase the spread effects of the new industry in Yulchon industrial complex, almost all of the automobile production processes must be organized concurrently within a limited range of distance. There is an imperative that the co-operation system should be structured between the assembly firm and many firms producing its components. In addition to those, it would be required such as the effective division of labors between the firms, much more capabilities in the technical innovations, and the reconstruction of interrelationship between the labor unions and the firms' managers.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.66-75
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• 2012

The Seoul Metropolitan Government selected the sign designs of cultural heritages through a public prize contest from a public design perspective and applied the selected design format to the signs of the cultural assets that were designated by the central and Seoul governments and located in Seoul Metropolitan area in 2008. For the purpose of monitoring the result, this study analyzed the installation state of the signs of Seoul tangible cultural properties located in Jongno-gu. The scope of the analysis of this study was expanded to cover the surrounding areas of cultural heritages in order to review the arrangement and design of such signs. The result of this study can be summarized as follows; firstly, not only the flow of travelers' movement but also the direction of sight, their locations in relation to the surrounding facilities or other installations and the integration with similar signs or notices were necessary to be considered in the arrangement of the signs; secondly, the current sings had low quality in terms of durability and readability and seemed utterly distance from the cultural assets indicated by the signs because they were finished with tempered glass; thirdly, the size, shape and materials of the signs were not harmonized with their surrounding areas as only one design was used in the entire cultural property sites without considering such natural or artificial backgrounds of individual signs as rocks, plants, walls or buildings. When selecting the design format of the signs of individual cultural properties that are located dispersively as Seoul tangible cultural properties, it is recommended to determine a group of most representative designs based on natural, man-made and cultural landscape rather than one unified design format and to use a unique well-matched sign for each cultural property. For this reason, this study selected alternative exemplary design models and proposed the type of signs appropriate for each cultural site.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.476-484
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• 2024

Although two-dimensional (2D) monolayer cell culture models are still widely used as the optimal models for anticancer activity research, three-dimensional (3D) multicellular tumor spheroid (3D MTS) models that can better approximate the tumor environment can offer an alternative to bridge the gap between in vitro and animal model studies. Isoalantolactone is among the sesquiterpene lactones found in medicinal plants, including the roots of Elecampane (Inula helenium L.), and is known to have various pharmacological activities, including anticancer activity. In this study, we investigated whether the anticancer activity of isoalantolactone observed in 2D models could be reproduced in a 3D MTS model derived from human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) Hep3B cells. According to our results, isoalantolactone inhibited the formation of MTSs in a manner dependent on the treatment concentration, which was accompanied by an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. In particular, as isoalantolactone treatment and the culture time increased, the area of proliferating cells was replaced by cells in which apoptosis was induced. Additionally, in MTSs, isoalantolactone increased the expression of death-receptor-related proteins and the activity of caspase-3, and it decreased the expression of the Bax/Bcl-2 expression ratio and total poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. However, when the production of ROS was artificially blocked, all these changes caused by isoalantolactone were attenuated and the cell survival rate of MTS cells was restored. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that the induction of apoptosis in Hep3B cell-derived MTSs by isoalantolactone is achieved through the activation of extrinsic and intrinsic pathways and is ROS-dependent.

• Journal of Korean Medical classics
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.91-117
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• 2007

Through a simple study of the medical classics in the '$\bar{A}yurveda$', we have summarized them as follows. 1) Traditional Indian medicine started in the Ganges river area at about 1500 B. C. E. and traces of medical science can be found in the "Rigveda" and "Atharvaveda". 2) The "Charaka" and "$Su\acute{s}hruta$(妙聞集)", ancient texts from India, are not the work of one person, but the result of the work and errors of different doctors and philosophers. Due to the lack of historical records, the time of Charaka or $Su\acute{s}hruta$(妙聞)s' lives are not exactly known. So the completion of the "Charaka" is estimated at 1st${\sim}$2nd century C. E. in northwestern India, and the "$Su\acute{s}hruta$" is estimated to have been completed in 3rd${\sim}$4th century C. E. in central India. Also, the "Charaka" contains details on internal medicine, while the "$Su\acute{s}hruta$" contains more details on surgery by comparison. 3) '$V\bar{a}gbhata$', one of the revered Vriddha Trayi(triad of the ancients, 三醫聖) of the '$\bar{A}yurveda$', lived and worked in about the 7th century and wrote the "$A\d{s}\d{t}\bar{a}nga$ $A\d{s}\d{t}\bar{a}nga$ $h\d{r}daya$ $sa\d{m}hit\bar{a}$ $samhit\bar{a}$(八支集)" and "$A\d{s}\d{t}\bar{a}nga$ Sangraha $samhit\bar{a}$(八心集)", where he tried to compromise and unify the "Charaka" and "$Su\acute{s}hruta$". The "$A\d{s}\d{t}\bar{a}nga$ Sangraha $samhit\bar{a}$" was translated into Tibetan and Arabic at about the 8th${\sim}$9th century, and if we generalize the medicinal plants recorded in each the "Charaka", "$Su\acute{s}hruta$" and the "$A\d{s}\d{t}\bar{a}nga$ Sangraha $samhit\bar{a}$", there are 240, 370, 240 types each. 4) The 'Madhava' focused on one of the subjects of Indian medicine, '$Nid\bar{a}na$' ie meaning "the cause of diseases(病因論)", and in one of the copies found by Bower in 4th century C. E. we can see that it uses prescriptions from the "BuHaLaJi(布哈拉集)", "Charaka", "$Su\acute{s}hruta$". 5) According to the "Charaka", there were 8 branches of ancient medicine in India : treatment of the body(kayacikitsa), special surgery(salakya), removal of alien substances(salyapahartka), treatment of poison or mis-combined medicines(visagaravairodhikaprasamana), the study of ghosts(bhutavidya), pediatrics(kaumarabhrtya), perennial youth and long life(rasayana), and the strengthening of the essence of the body(vajikarana). 6) The '$\bar{A}yurveda$', which originated from ancient experience, was recorded in Sanskrit, which was a theorization of knowledge, and also was written in verses to make memorizing easy, and made medicine the exclusive possession of the Brahmin. The first annotations were 1060 for the "Charaka", 1200 for the "$Su\acute{s}hruta$", 1150 for the "$A\d{s}\d{t}\bar{a}nga$ Sangraha $samhit\bar{a}$", and 1100 for the "$Nid\bar{a}na$", The use of various mineral medicines in the "Charaka" or the use of mercury as internal medicine in the "$A\d{s}\d{t}\bar{a}nga$ Sangraha $samhit\bar{a}$", and the palpation of the pulse for diagnosing in the '$\bar{A}yurveda$' and 'XiZhang(西藏)' medicine are similar to TCM's pulse diagnostics. The coexistence with Arabian 'Unani' medicine, compromise with western medicine and the reactionism trend restored the '$\bar{A}yurveda$' today. 7) The "Charaka" is a book inclined to internal medicine that investigates the origin of human disease which used the dualism of the 'Samkhya', the natural philosophy of the 'Vaisesika' and the logic of the 'Nyaya' in medical theories, and its structure has 16 syllables per line, 2 lines per poem and is recorded in poetry and prose. Also, the "Charaka" can be summarized into the introduction, cause, judgement, body, sensory organs, treatment, pharmaceuticals, and end, and can be seen as a work that strongly reflects the moral code of Brahmin and Aryans. 8) In extracting bloody pus, the "Charaka" introduces a 'sharp tool' bloodletting treatment, while the "$Su\scute{s}hruta$" introduces many surgical methods such as the use of gourd dippers, horns, sucking the blood with leeches. Also the "$Su\acute{s}hruta$" has 19 chapters specializing in ophthalmology, and shows 76 types of eye diseases and their treatments. 9) Since anatomy did not develop in Indian medicine, the inner structure of the human body was not well known. The only exception is 'GuXiangXue(骨相學)' which developed from 'Atharvaveda' times and the "$A\d{s}\d{t}\bar{a}nga$ Sangraha $samhit\bar{a}$". In the "$A\d{s}\d{t}\bar{a}nga$ Sangraha $samhit\bar{a}$"'s 'ShenTiLun(身體論)' there is a thorough listing of the development of a child from pregnancy to birth. The '$\bar{A}yurveda$' is not just an ancient traditional medical system but is being called alternative medicine in the west because of its ability to supplement western medicine and, as its effects are being proved scientifically it is gaining attention worldwide. We would like to say that what we have researched is just a small fragment and a limited view, and would like to correct and supplement any insufficient parts through more research of new records.