• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.485-495
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• 2018

Background: The geographical origin of Panax ginseng Meyer, a valuable medicinal plant, is important to both ginseng producers and consumers in the context of economic profit and human health benefits. We, therefore, aimed to discriminate between the cultivation regions of ginseng using the stable isotope ratios of C, N, O, and S, which are abundant bioelements in living organisms. Methods: Six Korean ginseng cultivars (3-yr-old roots) were collected from five different regions in Korea. The C, N, O, and S stable isotope ratios in ginseng roots were measured by isotope ratio mass spectrometry, and then these isotope ratio profiles were statistically analyzed using chemometrics. Results: The various isotope ratios found in P. ginseng roots were significantly influenced by region, cultivar, and the interactions between these two factors ($p{\leq}0.001$). The variation in ${\delta}^{15}N$ and ${\delta}^{13}C$ in ginseng roots was significant for discriminating between different ginseng cultivation regions, and ${\delta}^{18}O$ and ${\delta}^{34}S$ were also affected by both altitude and proximity to coastal areas. Chemometric model results tested in this study provided discrimination between the majority of different cultivation regions. Based on the external validation, this chemometric model also showed good model performance ($R^2=0.853$ and $Q^2=0.738$). Conclusion: Our case study elucidates the variation of C, N, O, and S stable isotope ratios in ginseng root depending on cultivation region. Hence, the analysis of stable isotope ratios is a suitable tool for discrimination between the regional origins of ginseng samples from Korea, with potential application to other countries.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.67-76
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• 2006

We evaluated the accuracy of a patient setup error correction due to reference image quality for a 2D-2D matching process. Digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRRs) generated by use of the Pinnacle3 and the Eclipse for various regions of a humanoid phantom and a patient for different CT slice thickness were employed as a reference images and kV X-ray Images from the On-Board Imager were registered to the reference DRRs. In comparison of the DRRs and profiles, DRR image quality was getting worse with an increase of CT image slice thickness. However there were only slight differences of setup errors evaluation between matching results for good and poor reference DRRs. Although DRR image quality did not strongly affect to the 2D-2D matching accuracy, there are still potential errors for matching procedure, therefore we recommend that DRR images are needed to be generated with less than 3mm slice thickness for 2D-2D matching.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.85-95
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• 2023

Objectives : This study was intended to reveal the chemical profiles of aerial(leaf, stem) and underground(rhizome, radix) parts of wild ginseng, and to investigate their anti-aging effects on human skin cells. Methods : Wild ginseng, estimated for over 20 years, was divided into the aerial and underground parts. Total phenolic contents of each extracts were measured using a Folin-ciocalteu method. The contents of 18 amino acids, 8 minerals and 27 ginsenosides were determined by GC-FID, ICP-MS and LC-MS, respectively. The anti-aging effects, including the radical scavenging activity, the activation of mitochondrial function on human fibroblasts, and the proliferation activity on human keratinocyte progenitor cells, for the whole plant and underground part of wild ginseng were evaluated. Results : The total phenolic acids, amino acids, and minerals in the aerial part were more than twice as high as in the underground part. Compared to the cultivated ginseng root, there were various types of ginsenosides in both parts of wild ginseng, and the total amount was more than twice as high. In particular, the aerial part significantly contained ginsenoside F1, F2, C-Mc1, and C-O, and the distinctive patterns that distinguish each parts of wild ginseng from the cultivated ginseng root were derived. The whole plant and underground part of wild ginseng exhibited significant antioxidant effect(14.3-45.6%), activation of mitochondrial membrane potential(105.5-120.1%), and cell proliferation(112.1-125.4%). Conclusions : The entire plant and underground part of wild ginseng are high value-added plants and have beneficial effects on skin anti-aging properties through its abundant metabolites.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.109-116
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• 2011

Periodontitis results from the activation of host immune and inflammatory defense responses to subgingival plaque bacteria, most of which are gram-negative rods with lipopoly-saccharides (LPSs) in their cell walls. LPSs have been known to induce proinflammatory responses and recently it was reported also that they induce the expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) in host cells. In our current study therefore, we aimed to examine and compare the miRNA expression patterns induced by the LPSs of major periodontopathogens in the human gingival epithelial cell line, Ca9-22. The cells were treated with 1 ${\mu}g$/ml of E. coli (Ec) LPS or 5 ${\mu}g$/ml of an LPS preparations from four periodontopathogens Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), Prevotella intermedia (Pi), Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa), and Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) for 24 h. After small RNA extraction from the treated cells, miRNA microarray analysis was carried out and characteristic expression profiles were observed. Fn LPS most actively induced miRNAs related to inflammation, followed by Aa LPS, Pi LPS, and Ec LPS. In contrast, Pg LPS only weakly activated miRNAs related to inflammation. Among the miRNAs induced by each LPS, miR-875-3p, miR-449b, and miR-520d-3p were found to be commonly up-regulated by all five LPS preparations, although at different levels. When we further compared the miRNA expression patterns induced by each LPS, Ec LPS and Pi LPS were the most similar although Fn LPS and Aa LPS also induced a similar miRNA expression pattern. In contrast, the miRNA profile induced by Pg LPS was quite distinctive compared with the other bacteria. In conclusion, miR-875-3p, miR-449b, and miR-520d-3p miRNAs are potential targets for the diagnosis and treatment of periodontal inflammation induced by subgingival plaque biofilms. Furthermore, the observations in our current study provide new insights into the inflammatory miRNA response to periodontitis.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.332-340
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• 2017

This study aims to propose a new optimization-based approach for design and analysis of the stand-alone hybrid energy supply system using renewable energy sources (RES). In the energy supply system, we include multiple energy production technologies such as Photovoltaics (PV), Wind turbine, and fossil-fuel-based AC generator along with different types of energy storage and conversion technologies such as battery and inverter. We then select six different regions of Korea to represent various characteristics of different RES potentials and demand profiles. We finally designed and analyzed the optimal RES stand-alone energy supply system in the selected regions using multiobjective optimization (MOOP) technique, which includes two objective functions: the minimum cost and the minimum $CO_2$ emission. In addition, we discussed the feasibility and expecting benefits of the systems by comparing to conventional systems of Korea. As a result, the region of the highest RES potential showed the possibility to remarkably reduce $CO_2$ emissions compared to the conventional system. Besides, the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of the RES-based energy system is identified to be slightly higher than conventional energy system: 0.35 and 0.46 $/kWh, respectively. However, the total life-cycle emission of $CO_2$ ($LCE_{CO2}$) can be reduced up to 470 g$CO_2$/kWh from 490 g$CO_2$/kWh of the conventional systems.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.65-72
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• 1993

A numerical method for nonlinear free-surface-wave problem is developed in this paper. The final goal of this study is to simulate the towing tank experiment of a ship model and to partially replace the experiment by the numerical model. The exact problem in the scope of potential flow theory is formulated by a variational principle based on the classical Hamilton's principle. A localized finite element method is used in the present numerical computations which made use of the following two notable steps. The first step is an efficient treatment of the numerical radiation condition by using the intermediate nonlinear-to-linear transition buffer subdomain between the fully nonlinear and linear subdomains. The second is the use of a modal analysis in the final stage of the solution procedures, which enables us to reduce the computation time drastically. With these improvements the present method can treat a much larger computational domain than that was possible previously. A pressure patch on the free surface was chosen as an example. From the present computed results we could investigate the effect of nonlinearity on the down-stream wave pattern more clearly than others, because much larger computational domain was treated. We found, specifically, the widening of the Kelvin angle and the increase of the wave numbers and the magnitude of wave profiles.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.17 no.1 s.50
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• pp.1-13
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• 2007

In order to evaluate the local site effects at two town fortress areas in Korea where stone parapets were col-lapsed by historical earthquakes, site characteristics were assessed using site investigations such as borehole drillings and seismic tests. Equivalent-linear site response analyses were conducted based on the shear ways velocity ($V_s$) profiles and geotechnical characteristics determined from site investigations. The study sites are categorized as site classes C and B according to the mean $V_s$ to 30 m ranging from 500 to 850 m/s, and their site periods are distributed in the short period range of 0.06 to 0.16 sec, which contains the natural period of fortress wall and stone parapet. From the results of site response analyses in the study areas, for site class C indicating most of site conditions, contrary to site class B, the short-period (0.1-0.5 sec) and mid-period (0.4-2.0 sec) site coefficients, $F_a$ and $F_v$ specified in the Korean seismic design guide, underestimate the ground motion in short-period band and overestimate the ground motion in mid-period band, respectively, due to the high amplification in short period range, which represent the site-specific seismic response characteristics. These site-specific response characteristics indicate the potential of resonance in fortress walls during earthquake and furthermore could strongly affect the collapse of parapets resulted from seismic events in historical records.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2005

To investigate potential characteristics of clay minerals (illite, kaolin, zeolite, vermiculite, and bentonite) for food industry application, antioxidative properties of clay minerals, electron-donating ability (EDA), peroxide value (POV), and thiobabituric acid (TBA) were measured, and antimicrobial activity against several food spoilage microorganisms were evaluated by minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) method. Changes in components by cooking clay minerals added to stored rice were measured by GC-MS. DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) analysis results revealed bentonite has strongest EDA at 20.6%. Antioxidant activities measured based on POV were similar to DPPH results. Induction period of linoleic acid with vermiculite was longest among. TBA results revealed zeolite hasstrongest antioxidant ability. Growth inhibition against E. coli and S. aureuswas observed in illite, vermiculite, and zeolite. Aroma components indicated decrease in hex anal, pent anal, non anal, linoleate, stearic acid, and oleic acid when clay minerals were added to stored rice. These results indicate that several clay minerals have antioxidative and antimicrobial abilities and improve flavor profiles in stored rice.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.689-695
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• 2010

The effect of the code conversion process of Korean script (Hangul), also known as words for numbers, was investigated using event-related potentials (ERPs) during mental arithmetic operations. Study subjects were asked to determine whether the arithmetic results of a given target stimuli were correctly matched. Visual inspection and statistics of mean ERPs showed stimulus type-dependent processing rather than task-dependent processing. Results of addition and multiplication tasks revealed that the overall temporal profiles of the Arabic numerals were similar to the Hangul words for numbers. The only exception to this observation was a delayed positive-slope peak occurring around 300 ms, which was likely related to the encoding process of Hangul words for numbers to Arabic-digits, defined as a 'transcoding-related potential.' Source analysis confirmed that the topography of different waveforms for the two conditions was attributed to a single dipole located in the left temporo-parietal area; this area is known to be involved in Hangul words for number processing. These results suggest that the initial processing for encoding words for numbers was followed by arithmetic operations without direct access of internal number representation. Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society. The Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society. The Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society. The Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.118-126
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• 2011

Ester-linked fatty acid methyl ester (EL-FAME) profiles were used to describe differences in soil microbial communities influenced by conventional farming system (CFS), and organic farming system (OFS) in controlled horticultural land. Soil physicochemical properties and soil microbial communities were determined in the experimental fields. Higher organic matter content in OFS reduced soil bulk density which in turn increased the soil porosity. Generally, soil chemical properties in OFS were higher than those of CFS, but EC value in OFS was significantly lower than that of CFS. With the exception of Fe content, other macronutrient contents and pH in both farming system decreased with the soil depth. Soil microbial biomass of OFS was approximately 1.3 times in topsoil and 1.8 times in subsoil higher than those of CFS. Lower ratios of cy17:0 to $16:1{\omega}7c$ and cy19:0 to $18:1{\omega}7c$ were found in the CFS soils than the OFS soils, indicating that microbial stress decreased. The ratio of MUFA to SFA was higher in OFS due to organic input to the soil. In principal components analysis (PCA), the first variable accounted for 54.3%, while the second for 27.3%, respectively. The PC1 of the PCA separated the samples from CFS and OFS, while the PC2 of the PCA separated the samples from topsoil and subsoil. EL-FAMEs with the positive eigenvector coefficients for PC1 were cy17: 0 to $16:1{\omega}7c$ ratio, cy19:0 to $18:1{\omega}7c$ ratio, soil pH, soil organic matter, and soil $NO_3$-N content. Our findings suggest that the shifting cy19:0 to $18:1{\omega}7c$ ratio should be considered as potential factors responsible for the clear microbial community differentiation observed between different cultivation systems and soil depth in controlled horticultural land.