• Development and Reproduction
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.93-104
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• 2021

Cutaneous melanoma is a fatal disease for patients with distant metastasis. Metformin is the most widely used anti-diabetic drug, and proved to suppress cell proliferation and metastasis in diverse cancers including melanoma. We previously reported that MEK inhibitor trametinib increases the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) regulators and melanoma cell motility, which are suppressed by addition of metformin in A375 melanoma cells. To confirm our findings further, we first evaluated the effect of metformin in combination with another MEK inhibitor binimetinib on cell viability in G361 melanoma cells. We then investigated whether binimetinib affects the expression of EMT regulators and cell motility. We finally monitored the effect of metformin on binimetinib-induced cell migration. Cell viability assay showed that combination index (CI) value at ED₅₀ is 0.80, suggesting synergy for the combination of metformin with binimetinib. Our results also revealed that binimetinib increased the expression of EMT regulators such as integrin αV, fibronectin and slug, which correlate well with the enhanced cell migration in wound healing assay. Metformin, on the contrary, suppressed the expression of sparc, integrin αV, fibronectin and N-cadherin with the reduced cell motility. The combination treatment showed that metformin counteracts the binimetinib-induced increase of cell motility. Overall, these results suggest that metformin with binimetinib might be useful as a potential therapeutic adjuvant against cell survival and metastatic activity in melanoma patients.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• 제22권2호
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• pp.15-28
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• 2023

Boundary Station is an evaluation index that was not reflected in the Seoul Metropolitan Urban Railroad Connected Eare Allocation. Boundary station is a station located at the boundary point of two transportation agencies sharing the same route, and track operation methods are divided into business management and maintenance management. Until now, the Connected Fare Allocation has evaluated the boundary stations from the perspective of business management. Meanwhile, the integrated public transportation fee system requires the need to interpret the boundary stations from the point of view of maintenance management at the developmental level. This study was prepared a measure to quantitatively analyze changes in income with the introduction of maintenance methods in mind. The Change in the income of operation agency evaluated based on the daily transportation card data for the boundary stations of the four Seoul Transportation Corporation and KORAIL sections. This study is meaningful as a basic research for an analytical judgment that evaluates and allocates changes in transportation income of Seoul Metropolitan Urban Railroad in the future.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• 제37권6호
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• pp.464-472
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• 2023

Middle-aged women experience a lot of physical and mental stress during their developmental cycle. This stress reduces the quality of life because it leads to chronic pain and disease. Forest therapy is attracting attention as an alternative to this. Forest therapy refers to improving human health through the therapeutic elements of forests. Accordingly, this study was conducted to determine whether a sensory insight-based forest therapy program was effective in reducing stress in middle-aged women. For this purpose, middle-aged women who wanted to participate in the forest therapy program were recruited, 20 each were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group, and pre- and post-tests were conducted. The forest therapy program consisted of 8 sessions of 6 hours based on sense and insight. The forest therapy program was held at Saryeoni Forest in Jeju, and the measurement tools were compared by measuring perceived stress, leisure satisfaction, and stress index through pulse wave testing. The results of the study showed that the forest therapy program lowered stress and improved leisure satisfaction.

• Development and Reproduction
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• 제27권3호
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• pp.101-115
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• 2023

Environmental factors impact oyster growth, condition, and gonadal development, which is linked to gamete characteristics observed through histology. The reproductive cycle of bivalves is related to energy storage and utilization. Therefore, in this study, the year-round growth change and gonadal development of oysters were observed using histological analysis, and the biochemical composition changes were confirmed. The oysters used in this study are being nurtured in Gadeok-do, and 40 oysters were randomly sampled monthly from March 2021 to February 2022. Result of histological analysis of gonads, oysters were showed early development from December to February, late development from March and April, mature and ripe from May to July, spawned from August to October, and spent from November to December. Condition index values of oysters decreased in summer and autumn and increased again when entered the spent after spawning. The protein content of oysters was high in May, the maturity period, and the lipid content decreased during the spawning period. In addition, EPA and DHA, the major fatty acids of oysters, were low during the spawning period and high during the maturation period. As a result, this study suggested a close relationship between changes in oyster growth, biochemical composition, and the reproductive cycle.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.419-424
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• 2015

In order to determine the ovarian cycle of Asian Toad, Bufo gargarizans, the developmental stage based on the gonadosomatic index (GSI), size of follicle oocytes in ovary and vitellogenesis for adult females were investigated all around the year. The weight of ovary and GSI were the lowest from April, and all follicle oocytes exist in the pre-vitellogenic form, indicating that the vitellogenesis was suspended. The follicle oocytes in early-vitellogenic stage appeared in ovary during may when the weight of ovary and GSI start to increased, and the follicle oocytes in mid-vitellogenic and pre-vitellogenic stages existed during June and the weight of ovary and GSI also increased. This indicates that vitellogenesis has been carried out actively during this period. The follicle oocytes in mid-vitellogenic stage and late-vitellogenic stage when the vitellogenesis was also completed existed on September. Post-vitellogenic follicle oocytes after vitellogenesis started to appear from October and rapidly increased from December in hibernation. The full grown follicle oocytes existed during February, indicating the ovarian cycle that all follicle oocytes in ovary are developed separately, not synchronized, during the growing period of follicle oocytes and the post-vitellogenic follicle oocytes are maintained the ovulation period.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• 제28권3호
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• pp.287-292
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• 2014

In order to determine the ovarian cycle of Korean brown frog, Rana coreana, the developmental stage based on the gonadosomatic index (GSI), size of follicle oocytes in ovary and vitellogenesis for adult females were investigated all around the year. The weight of ovary and GSI were the lowest from March to May, and all follicle oocytes existed in the pre-vitellogenic form, indicating that the vitellogenesis was suspended. The follicle oocytes in early-vitellogenic stage appeared in ovary during June when the weight of ovary and GSI started to increase, and the follicle oocytes in mid-vitellogenic and pre-vitellogenic stages existed during August and the weight of ovary and GSI also increased. This indicates that vitellogenesis has been carried out actively during this period. The follicle oocytes in mid-vitellogenic stage and late-vitellogenic stage when the vitellogenesis was also completed existed between September and November. Post-vitellogenic follicle oocytes after vitellogenesis started to appear from December in hibernation, and the full grown follicle oocytes existed during February, indicating the ovarian cycle that all follicle oocytes in ovary are developed separately, not synchronized, during the growing period of follicle oocytes and the post-vitellogenic follicle oocytes are maintained the ovulation period.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• 제45권4호
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• pp.392-402
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• 2012

In this study, to analyze the stream health using fish assemblage and make effective management, we conducted fish monitoring in the Hoeya River basin and neighboring streams. A total of 33 species classified into 12 families were collected from 29 sites in 2007. Dominant species was Zacco platypus (Relative abundance, RA: 24.8%), and subdominant species was Rhynchocypris oxycephalus (RA: 16.2%). Eight Korean endemic species and 4 exotic species were identified. Moreover, two species (Opsariichthys uncirostris amurensis and Hemiculter eigenmanni) were translocated from other basin. To evaluate stream health of the study sites, Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) was applied, based on fish assemblages. Overall, IBI values were "C (Fair)" or "D (Poor)" condition, according to the grade except two sites which recorded "B (Good)". The correlation between land use pattern of surrounding watershed and IBI was analyzed to verify impact of development on stream health using fish assemblage. As a result, when percentage of the developmental groups increased, IBI values were decreased (Pearson correlation, r=-0.425, p=0.022). In contrast, increment of percent forest and grass land was positively correlated with IBI (r=0.556, p=0.002). The agricultural group and IBI did not significantly correlate with each other (r=-0.231, p=0.333). In this study, we identified a relationship between land use of surrounding watershed and stream health using fish data (i.e. IBI). These results could be provided useful fundamental information to establish management and restoration plan in the Hoeya River basin and other rivers distributed in Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.9-17
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• 2003

The gonad index (GI), reproductive cycle with gonad developmental phases, first sexual maturity and the sex ratio of the jedo venus, Protothaca jedensis, on the coastal waters of Boryeong, Korea were investigated by histological study. Samples were collected from the subtidal zone of Boryeong, Korea from January to December, 1999. Monthly changes in the gonad index in femal and male clams gradually increased from February and reached the maximum in May, and then the values rapidly decreased from June and reached the minimum in November as seen in variations of the reproductive cycle. The spawning period of this species was once a year between May and July, there was a spawning peak between June and July when seawater temperature was over 20$^{\circ}C$. The reproductive cycle of this species in female and male clams can be classified into five successive stages: early active stage (December to March), late active stage (February to June), ripe stage (April to July), partially spawned stage (May to July) and spent/inactive stage (July to January). Percentages of first sexual maturity of female and male clams of 30.1-35.0 mm in shell length were 52.6% and 60.0%, respectively, and 100% for the clams over 45.1 mm in shell length. The sex ratio of individuals > 30.1 mm in shell length was 1:1 (X$^2$ = 0.40, p > 0.05).

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• 제30권5호
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• pp.823-833
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• 1997

To clarify the annual reproductive cycle of the banded catfish, Pseudobagrus fulvidraco (Richardson), the seasonal changes in histological aspect of gonad and liver were examined. The adult fish was raptured from the upper stream of Young-San river, Chunnam in each month from May 1992 to June 1993. Based on the annual changes in GSI (gonadosomatic index), HSI (hepatosomatic index), CF (condition factor) and histological aspects of the gonads, the annual reproductive cycle were classified into 5 periods as follows: 1) Growing phase (from April to early May): The value of GSI increased and the size of oocytes in perinucleolus stage in oocytes increased gradually. Spermatogonia were developed actively from the epithelial tissues of seminiferous tubules. 2) Maturing phase (from Hay to early June): GSI levels increased rapidly in both sex. Oocytes at various developmental stages were observed. Appearance of active spermatogenesis were observed. 3) Mature and spawning phase (from June to August): High values of GSI remained static and oocytes accumulated significant quantitis of yolk globules. 4) Degenerating phase (from September to November): GSI levels decreased and ovaries were filled mostly with oocytes at the perinucleolus stage. Hepatic cells accumulated significant amounts of lipid droplets. 5) Resting period (from December to March) : Low values of GSI were kept and the size of oocytes at the perinucleolus stage did not increase. Spermatogenesis was not observed.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.273-281
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• 2009

Antioxidants partially ameliorated the detrimental effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS) on sperm characteristics during in vitro storage. The objective of the present study was to investigate the single or synergetic antioxidative effect of curcumin and Vit. E on the characteristics of fresh boar sperm during in vitro storage. The sperm viability in curcumin, Vit. E supplementation and curcumin+Vit. $E+H_2O_2$ groups remained over 85.0% in 3 hr incubation period, but in 6 hr incubation period, curcumin+Vit. $E+H_2O_2$ groups was sharply dropped than those of curcumin and Vit. E group. The membrane intergrity in all evaluated groups except for $H_2O_2$ group did not significantly difference in 3 hr incubation period. The viability in curcumin or Vit. E supplementation were significantly increased than in curcumin+$H_2O_2$ and Vit. $E+H_2O_2$ group in 6 hr incubation period. The percentage of mitochondrial activity and acrosome intergrity obtained similar trends within same incubation periods irrespective of treatment. The lipid peroxidation of spermatozoal plasma membrane ranged from $11.6{\sim}17.5\;nM/l{\times}10^6$ and $14.0{\sim}19.0\;nM/l{\times}10^6$ in 3 hr and 6 hr incubation periods. In conclusion, curcumin or Vit. E surpplementation alone or cooperatively improved sperm viability index (motility, membrane intergrity, viability and survival rates) and fertility index (mitochondria activity, acrosome intergrity and lipid peroxidation) of fresh boar sperm, indicating that curcumin and Vit. E have a antioxidative properties through its scavenging activity against hydrogen peroxide.