• Clean Technology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.355-369
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• 2013

Economic feasibility is one of the most important factors in energy production from regenerative biomass. From the aspect, biogas from anaerobic digestion of wastewater sludge is regarded as the most economical because of its cheap substrate and additional income from the disposal of waste sludge. Sludge hydrolysis has been regarded as the rate limiting step of anaerobic digestion and many sludge pre-treatment technologies have been developed to accelerate anaerobic sludge digestion for enhanced biogas production. Various sludge pre-treatment technologies including biological, thermo hydrolysis, ultrasonic, and mechanical methods have been applied to full-scale systems. Sludge pre-treatment increased the efficiency of anaerobic digestion by enhancing hydrolysis, reducing residual soilds, and increasing biogas production. This paper introduces the characteristics of various sludge pre-treatment technologies and the energy balance and economic feasibility of each technology were compared to prepare a guideline for the selection of feasible pre-treatment technology. It was estimated that thermophilic digestion and thermal hydrolysis were most economical technology followed by Cell rupture$^{TM}$, OpenCEL$^{TM}$, MicroSludge$^{TM}$, and ultrasound. The cost for waste sludge disposal shares the biggest portion in the economic analysis, therefore, water content of the waste sludge was the most important factor to be controlled.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.114-126
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• 2010

Purpose: To examine the levels of the disease-related knowledge and educational demands of pre-dialysis, chronic renal failure patients at different GFRs and stages. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional survey and aimed at 116 pre-dialysis, chronic renal failure patients, who were registered and received regular treatment from December 1 to December 31, 2009 at the nephrology departments of tertiary medical centers in Seoul. Stages were classified into Stage 3, 4 and 5 depending on GFR ranges. To measure the levels of knowledge and educational demands, the tool, which were first invented by Young Ae Lim (1996) and then modified by Hyo Sun Lim (2005) to adjust the knowledge and educational demands measuring tool for hemodialysis patients to pre-dialysis patients with chronic renal failure, was used. Collected data was analyzed with the SPSS WIN 12.0 program (average, standard deviation, Pearson's correlation coefficient, t-test and ANOVA). Results: There was a significant difference in the disease-related knowledge levels of the subjects at each stage (F=24.41, p=.000). The Scheffe post hoc test confirmed that patients at higher stages had higher levels of knowledge of their disease. Also, although the results showed that patients at higher stages had higher educational demands, there was no significant difference among the groups (F=1.259, p=.288). Conclusion: As patients have different levels of knowledge of the disease and educational demands depending on their stages, it is important to develop and use a systematic education program that reflects the demands and levels of patients at each stage in order to help pre-dialysis patients with chronic renal failure with self-management and improve their quality of life.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2022

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and emerging pollutants (EP) are characterized by their difficulty to be removed through biological oxidation processes (BOPs); they persist in the environment and could have adverse effects on the aquatic ecosystem and human health. The electro-oxidation (EO) process has been successfully used as an alternative technique to oxidize many kinds of the aforementioned pollutants in wastewater. However, the EO process has been criticized for its high energy consumption cost and its potential generation of by-products. In order to decrease these drawbacks, its combination with biological oxidation processes has been reported as a solution to reduce costs and to reach high rates of recalcitrant pollutants removal from wastewaters. Thus, the location of EO in the treatment line is an important decision to make, since this decision affects the formation of by-products and biodegradability enhancement. This paper reviews the advantages and disadvantages of EO as a pre and post-treatment in combination with BOPs. A perspective of the EO scale-up is also presented, where hydrodynamics and the relationship of A/V (area of the electrode/working volume of the electrochemical cell) experiments are examined and discussed.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2023.04a
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• pp.51-51
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• 2023

The world-wide rate of obesity is increasing continuously, representing a serious medical threat since it is associated with a variety of diseases including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and numerous cancers. Sophora japonicais used as a traditional herb for medicinal purposes in eastern Asia. However, the anti-obesity effects of S. japonicafruit have not been explored. The aim of this study is to investigate the inhibition of adipocyte differentiation and adipogenesis by an ethanol extract of S. japonicafruit (EESF) in 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes. Our results demonstrate that EESF suppressed the terminal differentiation of 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes in a dose-dependent manner, as confirmed by a decrease in lipid droplet number and lipid content through Oil Red O staining. EESF significantly reduced the accumulation of cellular triglyceride, which was associated with a significant inhibition of the levels of pro-adipogenic transcription factors, including PPARγ, C/EBPα and C/EBPβ. In addition, EESF potentially down regulated the expression levels of adipocyte-specific proteins, including aP2 and leptin. In particular, EESF treatment effectively enhanced the activation of the AMPK signaling pathway; however, the co-treatment with compound C, an inhibitor of AMPK, significantly restored the EESF-induced inhibition of pro-adipogenic transcription factors and adipocyte-specific genes. These results indicate that EESF may exert an anti-obesity effect by controlling the AMPK signaling pathway, suggesting that the fruit extract of S. japonica may be a potential anti-obesity agent.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.339-346
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• 2016

This study was carried out to develop an effective seed propagation method for Thalictrum rochebrunianum var. grandisepalum (H. Lev.) Nakai by analyzing seed dormancy types and germination characteristics. Seeds were collected between September to October at Gangwon province, and well-selected seeds were used while being dry-stored at 4±1℃. The seed size ranged 4.52 × 1.58 ㎜ and the weight of thousand seeds were 1,603.5 ± 0.02 ㎎. The moisture content was 7.2%. Seeds were achene type, and morphology characters showed an elliptical shape and rough texture, and light brown in color. Moist-chilling treatment was conducted for dormancy breaking because the seeds had an undeveloped embryo of liner type. The embryo had developed during a moist-chilling period, constantly, and fully developed in 10 weeks. Consequently, it seemed to be non-deep complex or intermediate complex type of morphophysiological dormancy, and embryo dormancy was broken by wet-chilling for 10 weeks. After 10 weeks of wet-chilling treatment, seed germination began. Germination percentage was higher in dark condition raher than light condition and recorded the maximum at 25℃ in the dark (16.3%). A pre-soaking treatment with a combined plant growth hormones promoted germination and shortened T₅₀. Specifically, seed germination of 84.5% was achieved by pre-soaking of seeds with a combined solution of 500 ㎎/L GA₃ and 10 ㎎/L kinetin for 24 h after a wet-chilling treatment for 10 weeks. Thus the effect of plant growth hormones coupled with chilling temperature on seed breaking dormancy provide asubsequent growth of seedlings for successful plantation.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.159-168
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of auricular acupressure on menstrual pain, difficulties in daily life, negative feelings and autonomic nervous responses among college students. Methods: A Randomized Controlled Trial design was used. The treatment group A (n=12) receivedauricular acupressure therapy on the first or second day of their menstrual period. Treatment group B (n=18) regularly received an auricular acupressure therapy once a week for a month. The control group (n=19) received no auricular acupressure therapy. An independent t-test was used to examine pre-post test differences in the group. The ANOVA and Scheffe test were used to examine pre-post test differences among the group. Results: Subjects in treatment group A showed significantly less menstrual pain, difficulties in daily life, and negative feelings than the control group did. The participants in treatment group B also showed significantly less difficulties in daily life and negative feelings than the control group. Conclusion: The findings support that auricular acupressure therapy on menstrual periods is effective in controlling menstrual pain, difficulties in daily life, and negative feelings. As the method is simple, it would be useful for female students to learn to use this method to alleviate the symptoms related to menstruation through self care.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.115-130
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• 2022

Though information exists regarding the pathogenesis of the shot-hole disease (SH) in flowering cherry (FC), there has been a lack of research focusing on SH management. Therefore, here, we investigated the inhibitory activities of antagonistic bacteria against SH pathogens both in vitro and in vivo as well as their biochemical characteristics and bioactive compounds. Two biosurfactant-producing bacterial antagonists, identified as Bacillus velezensis strains JCK-1618 and JCK-1696, exhibited the best effects against the growth of both bacterial and fungal SH pathogens in vitro through their cell-free culture filtrates (CFCFs). These two strains also strongly inhibited the growth of the pathogens via the action of their antimicrobial diffusible compounds and antimicrobial volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Crude enzymes, solvent extracts, and biosurfactants of the two strains exhibited antimicrobial activities. Liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometric analysis of the partially purified active fractions revealed that the two antagonists produced three cyclic lipopeptides, including iturin A, fengycin A, and surfactin, and a polyketide, oxydifficidin. In a detached leaf assay, pre-treatment and co-treatment of FC leaves with the CFCFs led to a large reduction in the severity of the leaf spots caused by Epicoccum tobaicum and Bukholderia contaminans, respectively. In addition, the two antagonists produced indole-3-acetic acid, siderophore, and a series of hydrolytic enzymes, along with the formation of a substantial biofilm. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the antimicrobial activities of the diffusible compounds and VOCs of B. velezensis against the SH pathogens and their efficiency in the biocontrol of SH.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.466-471
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• 2015

BACKGROUND: Currently, natural products have been shown to exhibit interesting biological and pharmacological activities and are used as chemotherapeutic agents. The purpose of this study, conducted on Wistar rats, was to evaluate the beneficial effects of Artemisia arborescens oil on oestroprogestative treatment induced damage on liver. MATERIALS/METHODS: A total of 36 Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups; a control group (n = 9), a group of rats who received oestroprogestative treatment by intraperitoneal injection (n = 9), a group pre-treated with Artemisia arborescens then injected with oestroprogestative treatment (n = 9), and a group pre-treated with Artemisia arborescens (n = 9). To minimize the handling stress, animals from each group were sacrificed rapidly by decapitation. Blood serum was obtained by centrifugation and the livers were removed, cleaned of fat, and stored at $-80^{\circ}C$ until use. RESULTS: In the current study, oestroprogestative poisoning resulted in oxidative stress, which was demonstrated by 1) a significant increase of lipid peroxidation level in hepatic tissue 2) increased levels of serum transaminases (aspartate amino transferase and serum alanine amino transferase), alkaline phosphatase, glycemia and triglycerides and a decrease in the level of cholesterol 3) alteration of hepatic architecture. Pre-administration of Artemisia arborescens oil was found to alleviate oestroprogestative treatment induced damage by lowering lipid peroxidation level and by increasing activity of catalase, superoxide-dismutase, and glutathione-peroxidase in liver and by reducing disruption of biochemical parameters. CONCLUSION: Therefore, the results obtained in this study confirmed that Artemisia essential oil protects against oestroprogestative administration induced hepatotoxicity by restoration of liver activities.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.255-264
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• 1989

The minimum concentrations of organic solvents inducing phytotoxicity were investigated after spraying or flooding solvent solutions to annual plants. In the foliar treatment of upland test, solvents with high-boiling point or low-polarity induced severe phytotoxicity. Especially, aromatic solvents induced severe phytotoxicity. The most sensitive plant to phytotoxicity was soybean. In the pre-emergence treatment of upland test, the solvents with high-boiling point only induced phytotoxicity at high concentration. The degree of phytotoxicity induced by foliar spray in the condition of paddy field was similiar to that of upland test, but in the pre-emergence test, the former was more severe than the latter. Among 6 treatments, phytotoxicity induced by solvents was most severe in the pre-emergence test under the condition of flooding paddy field. Generally, alcohols induced severe phytotoxicity, especially, ethanol at 0.001%.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.159-174
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• 2007

Pharmacology of Korean Red ginseng gives us unique possibility to develop new class of antiepileptic drugs today and to improve one's biological activity. The chemical structures of ginsenosides (GS) have some principal differences from well-known antiepileptic new generation drugs. The antiepileptic effect of GS was also demonstrated in all models of epilepsy in rats (young and adult), which have studied, in all models of epilepsy including status epilepticus (SE), induced by lithium - pilocarpine. In our experiments in rats new evidences on protective effects were exerted as a result of premedication by GS. Pre-treatment of several GS could induce decrease of the seizures severity and brain structural damage (by MRI), neuronal degeneration in hippocampus. Wave nature of severity of motor seizures during convulsive SE was observed during lithium-pilocarpine model of SE in rats (the first increase of seizures was 30 min after the beginning of SE and the second - 90 min after. The efficacy of treatment on SE by ginsenoside as expected was observed after no less 3 weeks by daily GS i.p. administration. It is blocked SE or significantly decrease the severity of seizures during SE. The implication of presented data is that combination of ginsenosides from Korean Red ginseng and ginseng cell culture Dan25 that could be applied for prevention of epileptical status development. However, a development of optimal ratio of different ginsenosides $(Rb_1$ Rc, Rg, Rf,) should consummate in the new antiepileptic drug development.