• International Journal of Stem Cells
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.363-375
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• 2023

Stem cells are the foundational cells for every organ and tissue in our body. Cell-based therapeutics using stem cells in regenerative medicine have received attracting attention as a possible treatment for various diseases caused by congenital defects. Stem cells such as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) as well as embryonic stem cells (ESCs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and neuroprogenitors stem cells (NSCs) have recently been studied in various ways as a cell-based therapeutic agent. When various stem cells are transplanted into a living body, they can differentiate and perform complex functions. For stem cell transplantation, it is essential to determine the suitability of the stem cell-based treatment by evaluating the origin of stem, the route of administration, in vivo bio-distribution, transplanted cell survival, function, and mobility. Currently, these various stem cells are being imaged in vivo through various molecular imaging methods. Various imaging modalities such as optical imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound (US), positron emission tomography (PET), and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) have been introduced for the application of various stem cell imaging. In this review, we discuss the principles and recent advances of in vivo molecular imaging for application of stem cell research.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.321-328
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• 2014

This study was conducted to investigate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of persimmon (Diospyros kaki Thunb) flower. VOCs of persimmon flower was collected via SPE (solid phase micro extraction) and determined by GC-MS according to tree age and organs such as flower and calyx. The ratio of early bloom was higher in more than 15 year old tree than other trees showing tree age was related with flowering rate. Major VOCs of persimmon flower was a-pinene, butane, caryophyllene, cubebene, lavandulol, D-limoneneylangene, ylangene, mainly included green, fruit, and floral flavors. The number of VOCs in persimmon flower was 30 compounds in 5-9 years old tree, 24 compounds in 10-14 years old tree, and 32 compounds in more than 15 years old tree. In comparison with VOCs in organs of sweet persimmon 'Fuyu' cultivar, flower has 10 compounds of VOCs and 26.35% of relative peak area, while calyx has 14 compounds and 46.28%, respectively. In astringent persimmon, flower has 6 compounds of VOCs and 17.58% of relative peak area, while calyx has 9 compounds and 50.27%, showing calyx of both cultivars has various volatile compounds. This study will contribute to provide a basic data for the fragrance industry to use the flavor of persimmon flower.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.119-126
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• 2016

Skin is the largest organ that protects the body from the external environmental factors such as smog, cigarette smoke, UV. Protective skin barrier is composed with keratinizational keratinocytes and intercellular lipids such as ceramides, cholesterols and fatty acids combined by the lamellar liquid crystal structure. In this research, we confirmed that the Jeju wild ginseng (JWG) extracts dose-dependently increased the expression of serine-palmitoyltransferase (SPT) protein which is associated with ceramide biosynthesis. In addition, emulsion containing 5% JWG extract was applied on skin of human volunteers for 2 weeks and then significantly reduced transepidermal water loss (TEWL) compared to that of control group. As a results, JWG extract increased the biosynthesis of ceramides that is the key components of the skin lipid through enhancing expression of SPT. In addition, JWG extract reduced TEWL resulting in improvement of skin barrier function. In this context, we suggest that JWG extract could be used as a skin barrier enhancer and moisturing agents in cosmetic fileds.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.21-27
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• 2022

Objectives : Single oral dose toxicity test of Lythri Herba water extracts (LHWE) in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat was performed to determine approximate lethal dose (ALD) of LHWE. Methods : This test was progressed according to OECD Guidelines for the Testing of Chemicals : acute oral toxicity. After adaptation of 7 days, SD rats were divided into 2 groups : vehicle control and 5000 mg/kg LHWE-treated group. Each group consisted of 5 female rats and 5 male rats. Vehicle or 5000 mg/kg LHWE was orally administrated once a day. Survival rates, general toxicity, and changes of body weight were investigated for 14 days after administration. On the last day of examination, the weight of all animals was measured and an autopsy was performed. All internal organ abnormalities were checked macroscopically and their findings were recorded. Results : In both groups, dead animals were not observed. During 14 days of administration, abnormal clinical signs were not detected. There was also no significant difference in weight gains between each group. Autopsy analysis showed that one case of the LHWE-treated female group had retention of clear fluid in the uterus; however, it was not considered to be affected by LHWE administration. Moreover, abnormal findings were not discovered in the control male group and the LHWE-treated male group. Conclusions : These results suggest that the ALD of LHWE exceed 5000 mg/kg and single oral administration of LHWE below 5000 mg/kg is nontoxic.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.490-500
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• 2017

This study was performed to evaluate repeated dose oral toxicity upon administration of the test substance 1,2-benzisothiazolin-3-one for 90 days and to determine NOAEL (no observed adverse effect level) and target organs in Sprague-Dawley rats. Single, 2-week repeated, and 13-week repeated oral dose toxicity studies were conducted in Sprague-Dawley rats. The dose levels of groups were 1,250, 2,500, and 5,000 mg/kg/d. All dose groups were compared with the vehicle control group. The animals were observed for clinical signs and weekly body weight. Urinalysis, hematology, and serum biochemistry analyses were conducted. Subsequently, animals were sacrificed and subjected to histopathological examination. For the result, NOAEL of ethanol extract from unripe fruit of bitter melon had an optimal dose of 5,000 mg/kg/d and acceptable daily intake up to 3,000 mg/man. There was no target organ detected. Therefore, bitter melon, which contains a variety of bioactive substances, could be widely used as a health functional food ingredient.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.55-59
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• 1970

In an effort to determine the bio-synthesis in the soybean as investigate to the variance of each substance: Glutamic acid, Aspartic acid and its amides during the growth of younger soybean plants. 1. The variance-curve of Gultamic acid and Aspartic acid as the acidic amino acids in the cotyledons was appeared the peak the first half period at Glutamic acid and the latter half at Aspartic acid in the growth of soybeans, and was received the symmetrical impression centering around the stage of adult leaf-development. But, in the embryonic organ, it appears the peak at both part, in the developmental stage of adult leaf and also appears near phenomena of increase and decrease in the variation-curve of metabolites. 2. It's amides-Gultamine and Asparagine-appears the peak at the developmental stage of adult leaf in the both cotyledons and embryonic organ, and rapid increase in the cotyledons were very impressed compare with the decrease at fallen stage of cotyledons in the embryonic organs. 3. In the relation of variance at Glutamic acid and Aspartic acid, both substance were discovered the fact of translocation from cotyledon to embryonic organ, and Glutamic acid could supposed that bear the charges of outrider substance in other amino acid as the Glutamic acid-self and major basic function for receiving the ammonia as the nitrogen contain constituent of plant. In the case of Glutamine, formation-mechanism of ammonia which develops due to its hydrolysis in the latter period of soybean growth, suggested that was forfeit its function till instance of fallen cotyledons. 4. In the relation the Aspartie acid and Asparagine, Aspartic acid which begins to decrease from seed-state was supposed that bear sufficiently the charge of outrider substance in the formation of Asparagine other than translocated to embryonic organ from cotyledon. And, formation-theory of Aspartic acid which suppose as formational substance from Kreb's cycle were recognized from latter period of soybean growth, and then, rapid accumulation of Asparagine's amounts were supposed that adapt to two theory: Theory which consider to transformation as Asparagine state for pressing to less than noxious weight the concentration of ammonia developing from the cells, and was formate and accumulate as ammonia or carbohydrates containing excess in the cotyledons.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.62-73
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• 2017

To identify a solution for the restricted availability of healthy lungs and the high risk of immune rejections following organ transplantation, tissue engineering techniques for culturing lungs have been studied by many research groups. The most promising method for culturing lungs is the utilization of a bio-scaffold that was prepared using harvested organs from human donors or other animals by removing their original cells. In this study, a pulsatile perfusion pump was used to alleviate the cell removal effect with the high fluid-dynamic power of the perfusion stream during the decellularization process, while other conventional studies focused on chemical methods to identify efficient detergents. The purpose of this study was to analyze the developed device by using energy equivalent pressure (EEP), which is an indicator of pulsatility, to understand the characteristics of pulsatile energy transmitted according to the load size by using the artificial model and compare it with the measured EEP. The pulsatility of the device can be estimated with the concept of fluid-dynamic energy during a particular constant time period or fluid-dynamic power represented as EEP and EEP increment. Because the measured EEP of perfusion flow during decellularization can be changed by the amount of fluid leakage and the degree of clogging in the capillary vessels, EEP should be measured to determine whether the decellularization is progressing without problems. The decrement of EEP caused by the high perfusion resistance was observed from some experimental results that were obtained with artificial models. EEP can be used to monitor the decellularization process after analyzing the varying EEP according to the amount of load. It was confirmed that the EEP was maintained at a high level in the experiment using the harvested lungs from 12-13-week-old rats. In addition, it was confirmed that the cell removal time was faster than when continuous perfusion was performed. In this study, pulsatile power delivered to the lungs was measured to monitor the process of cell removal, and it serve as the evidence for efficient decellularization.

• Journal of the Korean Physical Society
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• v.73 no.10
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• pp.1584-1588
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• 2018

During hyperthermia therapy, cancer cells are heated to a temperature in the range of $40{\sim}45^{\circ}C$ for a defined time period to damage these cells while keeping healthy tissues at safe temperatures. Prior to hyperthermia therapy, the amount of heat energy transferred to the cancer cells must be predicted. Among various non-invasive methods, the thermal prediction method using the specific absorption rate (SAR) is the most widely used method. The existing methods predict the thermal distribution by using a single constant for the mass density in one organ through assignment. However, because the SAR and the bio heat equation (BHE) vary with the mass density, the mass density of each organ must be accurately considered. In this study, the mass density distribution was calculated using the relationship between the Hounsfield unit and the mass density of tissues in preceding research. The SAR distribution was found using a quasi-static approximation to Maxwell's equation and was used to calculate the potential distribution and the energy distributions for capacitive RF heating. The thermal distribution during exposure to RF waves was determined by solving the BHE with consideration given to the considering contributions of heat conduction and external heating. Compared with reference data for the mass density, our results was within 1%. When the reconstructed temperature distribution was compared to the measured temperature distribution, the difference was within 3%. In this study, the density distribution and the thermal distribution were reconstructed for the agar phantom. Based on these data, we developed an algorithm that could be applied to patients.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.301-309
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• 2009

Estrogens induce pronounced structural and functional changes in male and female reproductive system, but the exact mechanisms of estrogen are not fully understood. In relation to estrogen's function, the present study was designed to identify effects of estrogen receptor agonist, 4,4',4"- (4-propyl-[1H]-pyrazole-1,3,5-triyl)tris phenol (PPT) in the reproductive organ of the female mouse. The PPT was subcutaneously given to adult female mice at a weekly dosage of 3 mg in a volume 0.06 mL of vehicle for 3, 5 or 8 weeks whereas controls received weekly injections of the castor oil vehicle. Effects of PPT on reproductive organs were analyzed using a light microscope. PPT induced decreases of body, ovary and adipose tissue weights with experimental time. Ovary diameter of PPT treatment group was reduced as compared with control group. The number of Graffian follicle and corpus luteum was reduced in PPT treatment group. The luminal diameter of uterus was increased in relation with decrease of myometrium and endometrium height by PPT administration. The number of uterine glands was decreased by PPT treatment. These data indicate that PPT treatment induced morphological change of female reproductive organs resulting in alteration of fertility.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.451-456
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• 2018

The current study was conducted to confirm the anti-cancer effect of Sarijang, which is a mixture of extracts from purple bamboo salt, Rhynchosia nulubilis, garlic, and Ulmi cortex. Nude mice were injected with a human-derived colorectal cancer cell (HCT116 cell line) and subsequently administered Sarijang for 4 weeks, following which the body weight, organ weight, and tumor size were measured. To evaluate the anti-cancer mechanism of Sarijang, the levels of p16 and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), cell cycle regulators in colorectal cancer, were measured. To evaluate the toxicity of Sarijang on liver and kidney, aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine were analyzed. Sarijang not only reduced the tumor size by enhancing p16 and suppressing ERK, but also showed no side-effect in the liver and kidneys. Taken together, Sarijang has the potential to inhibit tumor growth without side effects, and may be used as a useful functional food.