• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.45-52
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• 2018

Objectives : Smilacis Glabrae Rhizoma (SGR) has been used in traditional medicine for treating diseases related to inflammation and cancer. However, the protective effect of SGR has not been reported in the study of acute pancreatitis (AP). Therefore, this study was performed to evaluate the protective effects of SGR water extract on cerulein-induced AP. Methods : AP was induced by intraperitoneal injection of supramaximal concentrations of stable cholecystokinin analogue cerulein ($50{\mu}g/kg$) 6 times at intervals of one hour in mice. SGR water extract (0.01, 0.05, or 0.1 g/kg) was administrated intraperitoneally 1 h prior to the first injection of cerulein. The mice were sacrificed at 6 h after the final injection of cerulein. Pancreas and lung were rapidly removed for histochemical examination and myeloperoxidase (MPO) assay. In addition, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to examine mRNA levels of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin(IL)-6, $IL-1{\beta}$ and Tumor necrosis $factor(TNF)-{\alpha}$. Results : Administration of SGR water extract significantly inhibited pancreatic weight to body weight ratio. In addition, SGR treatment inhibited the histological damages and increase of MPO activity in both pancreas and lung during AP. Also, mRNA levels of IL-6 but not $IL-1{\beta}$and $TNF-{\alpha}$ were inhibited by SGR water extract against AP. Conclusion : Our results revealed that pre-treatment of SGR water extract reduces the severity of cerulein-induced AP. Therefore, this study suggest that SGR could be used as a drug or agent to prevent AP.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2024

Objectives : Polyporus umbellatus is a medicinal mushroom that has been used for over thousands years in Chinese medicine as a powerful diuretic to relieve fluid retention and edema. Dermal papilla is located at the bottom of the hair follicle and connected to the blood vessels where it gets the nutrients and oxygen to nurture hair follicle. This study examined the mechanism through which the ethanol extract of Polyporus umbellatus (EPU) promoted the proliferation of human dermal papilla cells (HHDPCs). Methods : To estimate the proliferative effects of EPU on HHDPCs, cell viability was estimated by thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Western blotting was used to investgate the activation of ERK, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt, β-catenin, GSK-3β and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). Cells were treated with inhibitors of ERK and Akt prior to EPU treatment. Results : EPU promoted the proliferation of HHDPCs and the phosphorylation of ERK and Akt in dose dependent manner. However, the proliferative effect of EPU on HHDPCs was inhibited by pre-treatment of ERK inhibitor (PD98059) and Akt inhibitor (LY294002). Furthermore, EPU respectively stimulated the protein expression of β-catenin and phosphorylated GSK-3β. EPU significantly increased the protein expression levels of proliferation and cytoprotection related genes such as Bcl-2, SIRT-1, and HO-1 in cells. Conclusion : This results suggest that EPU promoted the proliferation of HHDPCs via activating PI3K/Akt and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in HHDPCs.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.167-176
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• 1997

This study was carried out to evaluate the potential for preselection of transgenic embryos prior to transfer into recipient animals. In these experiments, I used a 3.2 kb transgene which contained the neomycin resistance gene (neo) and lac Z gene driven by the $\beta$ actin promoter (iacZ Ineo). Oocytes were aspirated from abattoir ovaries, matured in TCM-199 supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), 5 ${\mu}\textrm{g}$/ml LH, 0.5 ${\mu}\textrm{g}$/ml FSH, 100 unit/ml penicillin, and 100 ${\mu}\textrm{g}$/ml streptomycin for 22 to 24 hrs then inseminated with a sperm suspension of 1 X 10$^6$ sperm/ml containing 5 ${\mu}\textrm{g}$/ml of heparin. At 18-20 hrs after insemination, cumulus cells were removed by vortexing and pronuclei of centrifuged zygotes microinjected with the lacZ/neo construct (3 ng/$\mu$l). All cultures were carried out in CR1aa with transfected BRL monolayers containing 3 mg/ml BSA, 20 $\mu$/ml NEM amino acids and 40 $\mu$I/ml BME amino acids. To identify the appropriate concentration of G418 for selection, non-microinjected zygotes were cultured in the presence of 0, 50, 100 and 200 $\mu$g/ml of G418. After 8 days of culture in these treatments, 44/145 (30.3%), 13/150 (8. 7%), 1/151 (0.7%) and 0/134 (0.0%) devel-oped to the blastocyst stage in 0, 50, 100 and 200 $\mu$g/ml of G418, respectively. A total of 1,127 zygotes were microinjected and placed into culture (without G418) and subsequently 710 (63.0%) cleaved. At 48 hrs post-injection, embryos ($\geq$2-cell) were randomly assigned to control (medium alone) or G418 (100 ${\mu}\textrm{g}$/ml) treatments. A control culture of 740 non-microinjected embryos from the same replicates of embryos were also placed into control medium. After 8 days in culture, 54/343 (15.7%) and 22/367 (6.0 %) of the microinjected embryos developed to the blastocyst stage in control and G418 media, respectively. A total of 151/740 (27.2%) of the non-microinjected embryos placed in the control medium developed to the blastocyst stage. The blastocysts in the control treatment had a mean of 70.7 ${\pm}$ 4.7 cells of which 23.1 ${\pm}$ 2.6 (32.7%) stained for $\beta$-Gal activity. B1astocysts in the G418 treatment had a mean of 48.8${\pm}$7.5 cells of which 40.3 ${\pm}$ 4.1 (82.6%) stained for $\beta$-Gal ac tivity (P<0.05). In the control treatment 26 of 30 (87.0%) blastocysts had some cells with $\beta$-Gal activity while all of the blastocysts in the G418 treatment had some cell with $\beta$-Gal ac tivity (P<0.05). However, ICM colonies in either control or G418 treatments were not expressed any epiblast cell except of trophetoderm celIs. The $\beta$-actin promoter/lacZ gene may not be e expression or silence expression in epiblast cells These results clearly show an enrichment of blastocysts expressing the transgene in the majority of their cells after culture in the presence of G418. The exogeneous gene was not express a and silence in ICM colonies especiallly epiblast cells except of trophectederm cells. Even though the higher rate cell number expressed of exogeneous gene in the G418 treatments, a total cell number was decrease significantly (P<0.05) of which might be also drop of the establishment of ES like-cell colonies and production of transgenic animals. However, futher studies need to determine the viability of these selected embryos and the avability of production of transgenic offspring.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.211-218
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• 2005

Genetic transformation was carried out by using biolistic gun method. The hypocotyl derived embryogenic calli (explants) of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cv. Cocker-312 were transformed with a recombinant pGreen II plasmid, in which both, bar (selection marker) and GUS (${\beta}$-glucuronidase) reporter genes were incorporated. Explants were arranged on osmoticum-containing medium (0.5M mannitol) 4 hours prior to and 16 hours after bombardment that was resulted into an increase about >80% for GUS stable expression. 3 days after bombardment, GUS assay was performed, which exhibited, $18.36{\pm}1.00$ calli showed blue spots. The transformed embryogenic calli were cultured on selection medium (@ 6 mg/L basta) for 3 months. The putative transgenic plants were developed via selective somatic embryogenesis (@1.50 mg/L basta); maximum $27.58{\pm}1.25$ somatic embryos were obtained while $17.47{\pm}1.00$ embryos developed into plantlets (@ 0.75mg/L basta). In five independent experiments, up to 7.24% transformation efficiency was recorded. The presence of the transgenes was analyzed by using PCR and southern hybridization analysis. The transgenic plants were developed with in 6-7 months, but mostly transformants were abnormal in morphology.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.735-738
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• 2006

We examined the neuroprotective and neurotrophic effects of genipin fractionated from gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides Ellis) originating from Korea. The neurotrophic effects of the genipin containing fraction was evaluated by microscopically monitoring its potency to induce neurite outgrowth in PC12h cells. The genipin containing fraction from Korean gardenia promoted neurite outgrowth in PC12h cells in this study, similar to previously reported effects by Wako Chemical, Japan. When cells were treated with the genipin containing fraction prior to ${\beta}$-amyloid peptide treatment (active domain of A peptide 25-35 treated), toxicity was significantly diminished (p<0.0l). These results suggest that genipin prepared from Korean gardenia might potentially be used as a precautionary agent in neurodegenerative disease, such as Alzheimer's disease, etc.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1310-1317
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• 2004

The extracellular production of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) by recombinant E. coli BL21 harboring a fusion gene hemA was investigated in a fermenter. For this purpose, the effects of various physiological factors, such as isopropylthio­$\beta$-D-galactopyranoside (IPTG) concentrations and the time of induction, on enzyme activity were studied. Optimum concentrations of glycine and succinic acid were found to be 30 mM and 90 mM, respectively. When the cells were permitted to grow for 2 h prior to the addition of 0.1 mM IPTG, the activity of ALA synthase was higher than when IPTG was initially added. A 36-fold increase in the activity was observed with only 0.1 mM IPTG added. The pH of the medium also influenced the ALA synthase activity with the maximal activity occurring at pH 6.5. In recombinant E. coli extracts, the repeated addition of glycine and D-glucose increased the production of ALA and the inhibited intracellular ALA dehydratase activity, with up to 32 mM ALA being produced in the cultivation.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.6
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• pp.751-760
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• 2018

Damages in concrete structures due to aging and other factors could be a serious and immense matter. Making the best selection of the most viable and practical repairing and strengthening techniques are relatively difficult tasks using traditional methods of structural analyses. This is due to the fact that the traditional methods used for assessing aging structure are not fully capable when considering the randomness in strength, loads and cost. This paper presents a reliability-based methodology for assessing reinforced concrete members. The methodology of this study is based on probabilistic analysis, using statistics of the random variables in the performance function equations. Principles of reliability updating are used in the assessment process, as new information is taken into account and combined with prior probabilistic models. The methodology can result in a reliability index ${\beta}$ that can be used to assess the structural component by comparing its value with a standard value. In addition, these methods result in partial safety factor values that can be used for the purpose of strengthening the R/C elements of the existing structure. Calculations and computations of the reliability indices and the partial safety factors values are conducted using the First-order Reliability Method and Monte Carlo simulation.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.729-737
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• 1996

Activieties of hepatic cysteine desulfhydration was assessed in cats fed one of the following diets for 5 weeks : 20% protein, 0% taurine diet(LPOT) ; 20% protein, 0.15% taurine diet (LPNT) ; 60% protein, 0% taurine diet(HPOT) ; and 60% protein, 0.15% taurine diet(HPNT). Cats fed LPOT and HPOT had been maintained on a taurine-free diet for 6 weeks prior to the experiment in order to deplete body taurine. Activities of cysteine desulfhydration were determined by measuring the production of H235S from 35S-cysteine in the presence and absence of $\alpha$-ketoglutarate ($\alpha$-KG) in the incubation medium. The direct pathway via cysteine desulfhydrase appears to account for the major route of cysteine desulfhydration in the cat liver since the values obtained in the absence of $\alpha$-KG were between 81 and 88% of those obtained in the presence of $\alpha$-KG. Mean$\pm$SEM of the hepatic total desulfhydration activities(umol H2S.min-1.kg body wt-1)in cats fed LPOT, LPNT, HPOT and HPNT were 117$\pm$6, 135$\pm$10, 137$\pm$10, and 190$\pm$9, respectively. The capacity of hepatic cysteine desulfhydration (UA/kg body wt) was positively cerrelated not only with the dietary concentration of taurine but also with the concentration of protein.

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.106-112
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• 2003

To investigate the association between breast cancer risk and nutrient intake in Korean women, a case-control study was carried out. Incident cases (n=224) were identified through cancer biopsy between february 1999 and December 2000 at two university hospitals in Seoul. Hospital-based controls (n=250) were selected from patients in the same hospitals, during the same periods. food intake was investigated with semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (98 items) by a trained dietitian. Subjects were asked to indicate the average intake, for a 12-month period of three years prior to the baseline phase. In this study, no apparent association was found between fat intake level and breast cancer risk. High fiber intake showed a significant inverse association only among premenopausal women. In terms of antioxidant vitamins, $\beta$-carotene and vitamin C among premenopausal women and vitamin C intake among postmenopausal women was significantly associated with a decreasing risk of breast cancer. A protective effect of high calcium consumption was observed among postmenopausal women. In conclusion, our findings support epidemiological evidence that antioxidant vitamin intake could lower the breast cancer risk in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.197-207
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• 2015

In baseball game, the hitting ability of batter is frequently assessed by a batting average, a run batted in, a home run, a run scored, an on-base percentage, etc. Recently, more comprehensive indicators such as OPS, ISO, SECA, TA, RC and XR are often used. But, these measures generally shows large deviations since they are calculated from the data for a certain period of time, and they are not an estimate of a population parameter, either. In this paper, we will presume the pure hitting ability of the korea professional baseball players as a parameter which is depend upon at bat. We will estimate the parameter by using the Bayesian method.