• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2007

The term, "food safety", has traditionally been viewed as a practical science aimed at assuring the prevention acute illnesses caused by biological microorganisms, and only to a minor extent, chronic diseases cause by chronic low level exposures to natural and synthetic chemicals or pollutants. "food safety" meant to prevent microbiological agents/toxins in/on foods, due to contamination any where from "farm to Fork", from causing acute health effects, especially to the young, immune-compromised, genetically-predisposed and elderly. However, today a broader view must also include the fact that diet, perse (nutrients, vitamins/minerals, calories), as well as low level toxins and pollutant or supplemented synthetic chemicals, can alter gene expressions of stem/progenitor/terminally-differentiated cells, leading to chronic inflammation and other mal-functions that could lead to diseases such as cancer, diabetes, atherogenesis and possibly reproductive and neurological disorders. Understanding of the mechanisms by which natural or synthetic chemical toxins/toxicants, in/on food, interact with the pathogenesis of acute and chronic diseases, should lead to a "systems" approach to "food safety". Clearly, the interactions of diet/food with the genetic background, gender, and developmental state of the individual, together with (a) interactions of other endogenous/exogenous chemicals/drugs; (b) the specific biology of the cells being affected; (c) the mechanisms by which the presence or absence of toxins/toxicants and nutrients work to cause toxicities; and (d) how those mechanisms affect the pathogenesis of acute and/or chronic diseases, must be integrated into a "system" approach. Mechanisms of how toxins/toxicants cause cellular toxicities, such as mutagenesis; cytotoxicity and altered gene expression, must take into account (a) irreversible or reversal changes caused by these toxins or toxicants; (b)concepts of thresholds or no-thresholds of action; and (c) concepts of differential effects on stem cells, progenitor cells and terminally differentiated cells in different organs. This brief Commentary tries to illustrate this complex interaction between what is on/in foods with one disease, namely cancer. Since the understanding of cancer, while still incomplete, can shed light on the multiple ways that toxins/toxicants, as well as dietary modulation of nutrients/vitamins/metals/ calories, can either enhance or reduce the risk to cancer. In particular, diets that alter the embryo-fetal micro-environment might dramatically alter disease formation later in life. In effect "food safety" can not be assessed without understanding how food could be 'toxic', or how that mechanism of toxicity interacts with the pathogenesis of any disease.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.1-15
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• 2002

Excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal muscle is process by which depolarization of the muscle fiber membrane, elicited by a nerve action potential, triggers the release of $Ca^{2+}$ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum(SR). The resulting rise in intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ concentration$([Ca^{2+}]_i)$ activates the troponin complex, thereby initiating the contraction of the muscle. The question remains as to what factors are involved in the inhibition of SR $Ca^{2+}$ release in fatigued muscle. The purpose of this study was determine whether ATP-sensitive $K^+(K_{ATP})$ channels are activated and contribute to decrease in $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ during fatigue development in the mouse skeletal muscle. To elucidate a role of $K_{ATP})$ in relation to ECC, I measured the modulation effects of $K_{ATP})$ channel blocker(glibenclamide) and opener(pinacidil) on $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ after fatiguing electrical field stimulation(FEFS). Intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ signals were recorded by conforcal laser microscopy(LSM 410) and monitored using the fluorescent $Ca^{2+}$-Sensitive indicator Fluo-3 AM. The results of this study were as followed: 1. The relative [Ca2'li after FEFS in the pre-glibenclamide-treated group was higher than the control. And relative $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ after FEFS in the pre-glibenclamide-treated group was lower than the control. 2. The relative $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ after FEFS for 3 min in the control, pre-glibenclamide-treated group and pre-pinacidil-treated group showed a similar pattern; the gradually significant decrease in $[Ca^{2+}]_i$. But, these decreasing pattern was most significant in the control. These findings suggest a tight relationship between $K_{ATP})$ and $Ca^{2+}$ in ECC during fatigue. Therefore, 1 thought that activation of $K_{ATP})$ channels may be one of mechanisms of the fatigue in skeletal muscle.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.18 no.sup
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• pp.55-64
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• 2012

We investigated the effect of the clay mineral fortified with complex trace elements by specific fermentation microbes on growth performance and a quality of pork in this study. For the declared experimental animal, 80 heads of crossbred with Large White and Yorkshire were randomly splitted into a control group and a test group. Each group were assigned with 4 replicates and 10 heads of each replicate. When 0.3% of the fermentation product of the clay mineral (FCM) was added into feed stuff and fed for 9 weeks of experimental feeding period, the results of the feed intake, weight gains, pH of carcass, lightness of meat color, and brightness of the muscle semimembranosus were similar to those of the control group. However, dressing percentage, reddishness of carcass, and water holding capacity were improved, respectively, as much as 2.7%, 12%, and 10%, and reduced by 6% in cooking loss. In order to investigate the immune modulatory effect of fermented clay mineral, pheripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated and Immune modulatory parameters were measured. The proliferation activity of PBMC from pigs fed the fermented clay mineral were significantly increased compared to control group pigs, and also those results were more clearly observed as activated with lipopolysaccharide and concanavaline A. The secretion of TNF-${\alpha}$ of the FCM group pigs showed an increasing tendency. Therefore it was suggested that the feeding of FCM which was high in cation metathesis and the value of infrared ray, activated the immune responses, and thus the production of the environment-friendly high quality pork without the use of antibiotics would be possible.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.82-87
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• 2008

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is characterized by chronic relapsing inflammation and is associated with hyper-production of immunoglobulin E (IgE). Recent studies have suggested that one of the treatments to alleviate symptoms of AD could be a supplementation of probiotics, Lactobacillus, Rhamnosus, Bifidus, etc. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of probiotics on immune parameters in NC/Nga mice treated with 1-chloro-2,4-dinitro-benzene (DNCB). To induce atopic dermatitis, DNCB was treated to the back of mice for 2 weeks. Then, NC/Nga mice were divided into the four experimental groups randomly. Probiotics fragment, probiotics with other complex (Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, Bifidobacterium lactis Bb-12LbL, L. plantarum K8, L. plantarum K8 fragment, ${\gamma}$-linolenic acid), antihistamine, and distilled water were administrated orally to the NC/Nga mouse for 4 weeks of experimental period. The groups were probiotics fragment group (DPF), probiotics with other complex group (DPOC), antihistamine group (DAH) and distilled water group (DDW) as a control group. The levels of serum IgE, interlukin-4 (IL-4), interlukin-5 (IL-5), interferon-gamma (IFN-${\gamma}$) and spleenocyte IgE were measured. The levels of serum IgE were significantly different among the four experimental groups. Before the treatment, there was no differences among the groups. However, from the first through the third week of the treatments, the levels of serum IgE in the probiotics (DPF, DPOC) and antihistamine (DAH) groups were lower than those of control group (p < 0.05). The levels of serum IL-4 of DPOC group was significantly lower than that of control group (p < 0.05) and serum IL-5 levels of DPF, DPOC, and DAH groups were significantly lower than that of control group. The levels of serum IFN-${\gamma}$ were not different among the four experimental groups. The levels of serum IgE in supernatant of spleen lymphocytes were not significantly different among the groups. These results suggest that probiotics supplementation showed partial effectiveness in the DNCB treated NC/Nga mice via modulation of IgE level and IL-4, IL-5 production. Based on these findings, probiotics exhibited the inhibitory effect via IL-4 production thereby inhibited the production of IgE in atopic animal model NC/Nga mice.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.57 no.5
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• pp.449-460
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• 2004

Background : PS-341 is a novel, highly selective and potent proteasome inhibitor, which showed cytotoxicity against some tumor cells. Its anti-tumor activity has been suggested to be associated with modulation of the expression of apoptosis-associated proteins, such as p53, $p21^{WAF/CIP1}$, $p27^{KIP1}$, NF-${\kappa}B$, Bax and Bcl-2. c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and glycogen synthase kinase-$3{\beta}$ (GSK-$3{\beta}$) are important modulators of apoptosis. However, their role in PS-341-induced apoptosis is unclear. This study was undertaken to elucidate the role of JNK and GSK-$3{\beta}$ in the PS-341-induced apoptosis in lung cancer cells. Method : NCI-H157 and A549 cells were used in the experiments. The cell viability was assayed using the MTT assay and apoptosis was evaluated by proteolysis of PARP. The JNK activity was measured by an in vitro immuno complex kinase assay and by phosphorylation of endogenous c-Jun. The protein expression was evaluated by Western blot analysis. Dominant negative JNK1 (DN-JNK1) and GSK-$3{\beta}$ were overexpressed using plasmid and adenovirus vectors, respectively. Result : PS-341 reduced the cell viability via apoptosis, activated JNK and increased the c-Jun expression. Blocking of the JNK activation by overexpression of DN-JNK1, or pretreatment with SP600125, suppressed the apoptosis induced by PS-341. The activation of caspase 3 was mediated by JNK activation. Blocking of the caspase 3 activation suppressed PS-341-induced apoptosis. PS-341 activated the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway, but its blockade enhanced the PS-341-induced cell death via apoptosis. GSK-$3{\beta}$ was inactivated by PS-341 via the PI3K/Akt pathway. Overexpression of constitutively active GSK-$3{\beta}$ enhanced PS-341-induced apoptosis; in contrast, this was suppressed by dominant negative GSK-$3{\beta}$ (DN-GSK-$3{\beta}$). Inactivation of GSK-$3{\beta}$ by pretreatment with lithium chloride or the overexpression of DN-GSK-$3{\beta}$ suppressed both the JNK activation and c-Jun up-regulation induced by PS-341. Conclusion : The JNK/caspase pathway is involved in PS-341-induced apoptosis, which is negatively regulated by the PI3K/Akt-mediated inactivation of GSK-$3{\beta}$ in lung cancer cells.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.109-132
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• 2012

According to recent embodied cognition approach, understanding of actions is not based on abstract symbolic process but based on mental simulation of sensory-motor information related to those actions. As supporting evidence, motor resonance effect is a facilitation/interference effect of motor response in terms of similarity between observed action and concurrent own action. In the current research, we investigated this effect in the situation to perceive a complex social action perception and how it would be modulated by perspectives of construals of the social action scene. For this purpose, we created three kinds of fighting action scenes of two people in terms of body actions of the subject(ie., hitting, stepping, biting), and described them in two perspectives; active and passive. During the experiment, subjects had to verify the congruency of the picture and the description first, and if they are congruent, they had to do two different actions in terms of color of following cues. In the first experiment, subjects' response time for stepping on a pedal and pressing a button were analyzed for measuring motor resonance effect for the foot movement. In the second experiment, voice response time with a microphone and button pressing time were analyzed for the mouth movement motor resonance effect. Results showed the facilitation of the foot movement(in Exp1), and the mouth movement(in Exp2) only when the action scene was described in active perspective. Our results indicate that the motor resonance effect can be occurred during perception of social actions in the real life situation, but it can be also modulated by the perspective of the mental construal of the action event.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.159-168
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• 2006

Rodents and many other mammals have two chemosensory systems that mediate responses to pheromones, the main and accessory olfactory system, MOS and AOS, respectively. The chemosensory neurons associated with the MOS are located in the main olfactory epithelium, while those associated with the AOS are located in the vomeronasal organ(VNO). Pheromonal odorants access the lumen of the VNO via canals in the roof of the mouth, and are largely thought to be nonvolatile. The main pheromone receptor proteins consist of two superfamilies, V1Rs and V2Rs, that are structurally distinct and unrelated to the olfactory receptors expressed in the main olfactory epithelium. These two type of receptors are seven transmembrane domain G-protein coupled proteins(V1R with $G_{{\alpha}i2}$, V2R with $G_{0\;{\alpha}}$). V2Rs are co-expressed with nonclassical MHC Ib genes(M10 and other 8 M1 family proteins). Other important molecular component of VNO neuron is a TrpC2, a cation channel protein of transient receptor potential(TRP) family and thought to have a crucial role in signal transduction. There are four types of pheromones in mammalian chemical communication - primers, signalers, modulators and releasers. Responses to these chemosignals can vary substantially within and between individuals. This variability can stem from the modulating effects of steroid hormones and/or non-steroid factors such as neurotransmitters on olfactory processing. Such modulation frequently augments or facilitates the effects that prevailing social and environmental conditions have on the reproductive axis. The best example is the pregnancy block effect(Bruce effect), caused by testosterone-dependent major urinary proteins(MUPs) in male mouse urine. Intriguingly, mouse GnRH neurons receive pheromone signals from both odor and pheromone relays in the brain and may also receive common odor signals. Though it is quite controversial, recent studies reveal a complex interplay between reproduction and other functions in which GnRH neurons appear to integrate information from multiple sources and modulate a variety of brain functions.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.227-239
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• 2019

Heavy snowfall events frequently occur in the Gangwon province, and the snowfall amount significantly varies in space due to the complex terrain and topographical modulation of precipitation. Understanding the spatial characteristics of heavy snowfall and its prediction is particularly challenging during snowfall events in the easterly winds. The easterly wind produces a significantly different atmospheric condition. Hence, it brings different precipitation characteristics. In this study, we have investigated the microphysical characteristics of snowfall in the windward and leeward sides of the Taebaek mountain range in the easterly condition. The two snowfall events are selected in the easterly, and the snow particles size distributions (SSD) are observed in the four sites (two windward and two leeward sites) by the PARSIVEL distrometers. We compared the characteristic parameters of SSDs that come from leeward sites to that of windward sites. The results show that SSDs of windward sites have a relatively wide distribution with many small snow particles compared to those of leeward sites. This characteristic is clearly shown by the larger characteristic number concentration and characteristic diameter in the windward sites. Snowfall rate and ice water content of windward also are larger than those of leeward sites. The results indicate that a new generation of snowfall particles is dominant in the windward sites which is likely due to the orographic lifting. In addition, the windward sites show heavy aggregation particles by nearby zero ground temperature that is likely driven by the wet and warm condition near the ocean.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.305-314
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• 2023

With the development of medical technology and radiation treatment equipment, the frequency of high-precision radiation therapy such as intensity modulation radiation therapy has increased. Image-guided radiation therapy has become essential for radiation therapy in precise and complex treatment plans. In particular, with the introduction of imaging equipment for diagnosis in a linear accelerator, CBCT scanning became possible, which made it possible to calibrate and correct the patient's posture through 3D images. Although more precise reproduction of the patient's posture has become possible, the exposure dose delivered to the patient during the image acquisition process cannot be ignored. Radiation optimization is necessary in the field of radiation therapy, and efforts to reduce exposure are necessary. However, when acquiring 3D CBCT images by changing the imaging conditions to reduce exposure, there should be no image quality or artefacts that would make it impossible to align the patient's position. In this study, Rando phantom was used to scan and evaluate images for each shooting condition. The highest SNR was obtained at 100 kV 80 mA 25 ms F1 filter 180°. As the tube voltage and tube current increased, the noise decreased, and the bowtie filter showed the optimal effect at high tube current. Based on the actual scanned images, it was confirmed that patient alignment was possible under all imaging conditions, and that image-guided radiation therapy for patient alignment was possible under the condition of 70 kV 10 mA 20 ms F0 filter 180°, which showed the lowest SNR. In this study, image evaluation was conducted according to the imaging conditions, and low tube voltage, tube current, and small rotation angle scan are expected to be effective in reducing radiation exposure. Based on this, the patient's exposure dose should be kept as low as possible during CBCT imaging.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.53-65
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• 2001

Purpose : To improve the local control of patients with nasopharyngeal cancer, we have implemented 3-D conformal radiotherapy and forward intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) to used of compensating filters. Three dimension conformal radiotherapy with intensity modulation is a new modality for cancer treatments. We designed 3-D treatment planning with 3-D RTP (radiation treatment planning system) and evaluation dose distribution with tumor control probability (TCP) and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP). Material and Methods : We have developed a treatment plan consisting four intensity modulated photon fields that are delivered through the compensating tilters and block transmission for critical organs. We get a full size CT imaging including head and neck as 3 mm slices, and delineating PTV (planning target volume) and surrounding critical organs, and reconstructed 3D imaging on the computer windows. In the planning stage, the planner specifies the number of beams and their directions including non-coplanar, and the prescribed doses for the target volume and the permissible dose of normal organs and the overlap regions. We designed compensating filter according to tissue deficit and PTV volume shape also dose weighting for each field to obtain adequate dose distribution, and shielding blocks weighting for transmission. Therapeutic gains were evaluated by numerical equation of tumor control probability and normal tissue complication probability. The TCP and NTCP by DVH (dose volume histogram) were compared with the 3-D conformal radiotherapy and forward intensity modulated conformal radiotherapy by compensator and blocks weighting. Optimization for the weight distribution was peformed iteration with initial guess weight or the even weight distribution. The TCP and NTCP by DVH were compared with the 3-D conformal radiotherapy and intensitiy modulated conformal radiotherapy by compensator and blocks weighting. Results : Using a four field IMRT plan, we have customized dose distribution to conform and deliver sufficient dose to the PTV. In addition, in the overlap regions between the PTV and the normal organs (spinal cord, salivary grand, pituitary, optic nerves), the dose is kept within the tolerance of the respective organs. We evaluated to obtain sufficient TCP value and acceptable NTCP using compensating filters. Quality assurance checks show acceptable agreement between the planned and the implemented MLC(multi-leaf collimator). Conclusion : IMRT provides a powerful and efficient solution for complex planning problems where the surrounding normal tissues place severe constraints on the prescription dose. The intensity modulated fields can be efficaciously and accurately delivered using compensating filters.