• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.38 no.12
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• pp.1815-1819
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• 2009

Based on the soft and rigid extents, tissues are mainly divided into two groups in mammals, soft tissues including heart, lung, kidney and brain, and hard tissues including tendon, cartilage, teeth and bone. Among various tissues, bone, a dynamic rigid organ, is continuously remodeled by the opposing functional activity between bone formation by osteoblasts and bone destruction by osteoclasts. Bone protects the soft tissues and provides mineral reservoirs, which can supply the mineral needs of other soft tissues to normally maintain cellular function. While calcification in bone is an important action to fundamentally support the body and protect the soft tissues, calcification in soft tissues, including the heart, aorta, kidney, lung and spleen, results in severe organ damages, eventually causing sudden death. A growing body of evidence indicates that the osteoporotic patient who are aging, post-menopausal, diabetes and chronic kidney disease simultaneously represent a high clinical incidence of soft tissue calcification, illustrating a link between soft tissue calcification and bone decalcification (osteoporosis). This study will review what is currently known about the connection between bone decalcification and soft tissue calcification.

• BMB Reports
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• v.47 no.10
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• pp.569-574
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• 2014

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) degrades heme to carbon dioxide, biliverdin, and $Fe^{2+}$, which play important roles in various biochemical processes. In this study, we examined the protective function of HO-1 against oxidative stress in SH-SY5Y cells and in a Parkinson's disease mouse model. Western blot and fluorescence microscopy analysis demonstrated that PEP-1-HO-1, fused with a PEP-1 peptide can cross the cellular membranes of human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. In addition, the transduced PEP-1-HO-1 inhibited generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cell death caused by 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion ($MPP^+$). In contrast, HO-1, which has no ability to transduce into SH-SY5Y cells, failed to reduce $MPP^+$-induced cellular toxicity and ROS production. Furthermore, intraperitoneal injected PEP-1-HO-1 crossed the blood-brain barrier in mouse brains. In a PD mouse model, PEP-1-HO-1 significantly protected against 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced toxicity and dopaminergic neuronal death. Therefore, PEP-1-HO-1 could be a useful agent in treating oxidative stress induced ailments including PD.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.286-294
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• 2010

This study was performed to identify the cerebral network associated with sensation through the tickling stimulation, which is distinctive from the rest of other networks processing normal stimulation and to investigate the difference of laughing mechanism which is closely related to tickling using functional MRI(fMRI). A 16 healthy volunteers (mean age: 28.9) on a 3.0T MR scanner during two sensation conditions. Counterbalanced stimulus were presented across the participants, and the stimulation was used block design. Acquired data was analyzed by the statistical parametric mapping (SPM 99). Subject and group analysis was performed. Individual analysis showed the activation of somatic sensation area in both tasks and the tickling sensation test showed more activated area in the Wernicke's area(BA40) compared to the normal sensation. The group analysis result shows that under normal stimulations, both sides of somatosensory cortices(BA 1,2 and 3) were activated and under tickling stimulation, not only the cortices but also those huge activation on thalamus, cingulate gyrus and insular lobe were detected. When the tickling was stopped, significant activations were shown in right cingulate gyrus, left MFG area and left insular lobe. A cerebral area responsible for recognizing tickling sensation was examined and the primitive stimulation such as tickling is much closely related to laugh, which is an important factor for various social activities.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.779-788
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• 2009

To establish the fundament for EBM of Traditional Korean Medicine, the papers on Samul-tang which was frequently used in medical institutions of Traditional Korean Medicine were analyzed through researching domestic and international literatures. The papers were classified by the registration of domestic or international journals, by the year of publishment, by experimental methods, by laboratory animals used in biological experiment and by the kinds of studies on biological efficacy. Of total 67 papers on Samul-tang, 58 volumes were registered in domestic journals and 9 volumes were in international journals of which 8 volumes were in SCI journals. Since 1978, publishments of papers have continuously increased. The papers on instrumental analyses were 6, biological studies were 58 volumes, clinical studies were 3. Instrumental analyses were preceeded with standard compounds(gallic acid, albiflorin, paeoniflorin, benzoic acid, ferulic acid, 5-HMF). And biological studies showed improvement of cardiovascular function and circulation, antianemia, brain protection, immunoregulation, antistress, radioprotection, antifatigue, antiinflammation and antiallergy, antioxidative effect. Through clinical studies, antifatigue, improvement of insomnia and osteoporosis were reported. Samul-tang could be used to tonify and activate blood. And further study on clinical field need to be conducted in accordance with biological study.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.134-139
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• 2005

Purpose : To evaluate the usefulness of acoustic noise attenuator on auditory fMRI examination. Materials and methods : The acoustic noise attenuator consists of mask, earmuff and silicon earplug. The soft polyurethane sheet and polyurethane form , which has a good soundproof characteristic were used for mask and earmuff. Auditory fMRI experiments of 500 Hz pure tone stimulation were performed in three different cases; first all of mask, earmuff and earplug, secondly earmuff and earplug only and finally without attenuator in 4 normal hearing volunteers. For data acquisition, BOLD MR imaging technique was employed at a 1.5T MR scanner equipped with high performance gradient system. The raw data were analyzed using a SPM-99 analysis software and the activation maps were obtained. Results : In case of all items of acoustic attenuator used, the results revealed that activation was focused on primary auditory area. When only earmuff and earplug were used, the results showed that the activation spread over primary auditory and secondary associative areas. Last, when no device used, only weak activation was observed on the right auditory cortex. Conclusion : It is expected that the acoustic noise attenuator, which consists of earplugs, earmuffs and mask, is a very useful device in auditory fMRI study.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.181-189
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• 2001

Cytokines are hormone-like proteins which mediate and regulast inflammatory and immune responses. Transforming growth factor -$\beta$1(TGF-$\beta$) plays an important role in the control of the immune response and wound healing, and in the development o various tissues and organs, Nitric oxide(NO) is major messenger molecule regulating immune function and blood vessel dilation and serving as a neurotransmitter in the brain and peripheral nervous system. Also, NO is to be a potent mutagen that cause mutation in the p53 tumor suppressor gene in early phases of human gastric carcinogenesis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Helicobacter phlori lystes, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and Staphylococcus enterotoxin B(SEB) on production of TGF-$\beta$1 and NO by human fibroblasts. Primary cultured human fibroblasts were incubated with H. pylori lysates(Hp), LPs, SEB, Hp+LPS, Hp+SEB, Hp+LPS+SEB. Cultured supernatants that were collected at 24, 48 and 72 hr were assessed for TGF-$\beta$1 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and NO production by quantification of nitrite ion. TGF-$\beta$1 production in fibroblasts exposed with Hp, LPS or SEB for 48 hrs was enhanced, but for 72 hrs inhibited. Its production by doble exposure such as Hp+LPS, Hp+SEB, Hp+LPS+SEB was lowered in comparison with single exposure of Hp in cases of 24 and 48 hrs incubation, but for 72 hrs decreased in Hp vaculoating toxin(+), increased in Hp vacuolating toxin(-). No production in fibroblasts increaed at all doses of LPS. But its production by exposure of SEB increased or decreased according to dose and incubation time. Also, NO production by Hp vacuolating toxin(+) increased at all doses, but its production by Hp vacuolating toxin(-) decreased. Its production by doble exposure such as Hp+LPS, Hp+SEB, Hp+LPS+SEB decreased in comparison with single exposure Hp Therefore, quantities pf TGB-$\beta$1 and NO released by human fibroblasts shows differences according to kinds of stimulants. Also, in care stimulated with same kinds of stimulants, its productions exhibit quantitative differences according to exposure times. These results suggest that the decreased of TGF-$\beta$1 in fibroblasts by mixed exposure with Hp producing vacuolating toxin and bacterial toxins such as LPS and SEB may effect negatively in healing of host tissue and increased of NO by infection oh H. pylori may related to the increased susceptibility for human gastric carcinogenesis.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.47-55
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• 2011

Hemorrhagic shock is a cause of one third of death resulting from injury in the world. Early diagnosis of hemorrhagic shock makes it possible for physician to treat successfully. The objective of this paper was to select an optimal classifier model using physiological signals from rats measured during hemorrhagic experiment. This data set was used to train and predict survival rate using artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector machine (SVM). To avoid over-fitting, we chose the best classifier according to performance measured by a 10-fold cross validation method. As a result, we selected ANN having three hidden nodes with one hidden layer and SVM with Gaussian kernel function as trained prediction model, and the ANN showed 88.9 % of sensitivity, 96.7 % of specificity, 92.0 % of accuracy and the SVM provided 97.8 % of sensitivity, 95.0 % of specificity, 96.7 % of accuracy. Therefore, SVM was better than ANN for survival prediction.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.213-219
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• 2008

The plasticity of nervous system is generated not only due to changes in neurons but also due to changes in neuroglial cells. Astrocyte is important for maintaining the normal brain function and controlling the neuronal functions. The amygdala receives an array of important sensory information of danger signals. This information is further transduced and integrated to produce the highly adaptive emotion, fear. In this study, morphometric changes in the cell bodies of astrocytes in the amygdala, induced by prenatal stress and restraint stress were examined. For this purpose. rats were classified into 4 groups; control group (CON), only restraint-stressed (starting on P90 for 3 days) group (CONR), prenatally-stressed group (PNS), and prenatally and restraint (on P90 for 3 days) stressed group (PNSR). Astrocytes were verified with anti-GFAP immunohistochemistry, counter stained with methylene blue/azure II and were examined using the Neurolucida. Results showed that astrocytes in the amygdala of PNS rats had significantly larger cell bodies than did CON rats and this was enhanced further by restraint stress. Thus this data showed that hypertrophy of the astrocytic cell bodies of amygdala complex is induced by prenatal and restraint stress.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.8
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• pp.1190-1196
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanism and effects of different types of ginseng on memory improvement in an experimental rat model. In this study, SD rats were induced for memory deficits through scopolamine treatment (1 mg/kg, i.p.) then administrated with ginseng extract for 7 weeks. The rats were divided into five groups: saline (1 mL/kg, NC: negative control), white ginseng (300 mg/kg, WG), red ginseng (300 mg/kg, RG), black ginseng (300 mg/kg, BG), and scopolamine (1 mg/kg, PC: positive control). The step through latency of the BG and RG groups was significantly longer than the PC group in the retention trial of multiple trial passive avoidance test. In the spatial reference memory triads of the Morris water maze test, the latency time of BG and RG was significantly lower than the PC group. In addition, in the prove test, the time spent in the platform quadrant of BG and RG groups were significantly longer than the PC group. Brain choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activities BG and RG groups significantly increased compared to other groups. On the other hand, the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) were significantly lower in the BG and RG groups compared to other groups. These result suggested that black ginseng could be useful to enhance learning memory and cognitive function by regulation of cholinergic enzymes.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.81-86
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• 2014

Objectives Total intracranial volume (TIV) is a major nuisance of neuroimaging research for interindividual differences of brain structure and function. Authors intended to prove the reliability of the atlas scaling factor (ASF) method for TIV estimation in FreeSurfer by comparing it with the results of manual tracing as reference method. Methods The TIVs of 26 normal children and 26 children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were obtained by using FreeSurfer reconstruction and manual tracing with T1-weighted images. Manual tracing performed in every 10th slice of MRI dataset from midline of sagittal plane by one researcher who was blinded from clinical data. Another reseacher performed manual tracing independently for randomly selected 20 dataset to verify interrater reliability. Results The interrater reliability was excellent (intraclass coefficient = 0.91, p < 7.1e-07). There were no significant differences of age and gender distribution between normal and ADHD groups. No significant differences were found between TIVs from ASF method and manual tracing. Strong correlation between TIVs from 2 different methods were shown (r = 0.90, p < 2.2e-16). Conclusions The ASF method for TIV estimation by using FreeSurfer showed good agreement with the reference method. We can use the TIV from ASF method for correction in analysis of structural and functional neuroimaging studies with not only elderly subjects but also children, even with ADHD.