• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.187-210
• /
• 2005

The purpose of this study is to examine the spatial characteristics of the longevity phenomenon and long-live areas in Korea where a rapid aging process is undergoing. Population data from 1966 to 2000 at the county level are analyzed to understand aging process and changes of longevity degree by regions. The relationship between the degree of longevity and a region's natural environments and distance to a metropolis has been analyzed to understand regional factors of longevity. The findings from the study are summarized as follows. Firstly, the rural regions in Honam show the highest degree of longevity in the nation. Secondly, the areas of the high degree of longevity has recently shifted and/or expanded from the islands and seashore areas of southwestern region to inland mountainous areas around Soback Mountain. Southern islands and seashore regions used to show the nation's highest degree of longevity in the 1970s. Thirdly, the analysis of regional environment factors indicated that longevity has more related to a precipitation and an average altitude than temperature. Fourthly, in order to identify the longevity factors in urban areas, social and economic factors should be considered beyond the natural environmental factors.

• Toxicological Research
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.167-182
• /
• 1990

Dietary restriction (caloric restriction) is the only intervention which has been reliably shown to extend the maximum life span of warm-blooded animals and delay the many phenomena associated with aging. It is also one of the most effective modulators of toxicity, especially cancer endpoints. In spite of the known modulator effects of caloric restriction, the biological mechanisms responsible for these effects had not been in vestigated until recently. The National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR), in a collaborative effort with the National Institute of Aging (NIA), initiated a project whereby nine (9) combinations of rodent species/strains and diets were fed both restricted and ad libitum. The NIA's initiative was to identify biomarkers of aging whereas NCTR's initiative was to identify the biological effects associated with the profound effects caloric restriction has in protecting against both spontaneous (age-related) and chemically-induced toxic endpoints. Independent of sex or species, caloric restriction has similar effects on body temperature, oxygen consumption and $CO_2$production. Caloric restriction also decreased lipid glycolysis and metabolism in rats and mice, which suggest decreased production of metabolites which could lead to fatty acid epoxide formation. The age-associated loss of ciradian regulation of intermediate enzymes is also significantly reduced. Moreover, caloric restriction reduced the age-associated feminization of sexually dimorphic liver isozymes, increased several glucocorticoid responsive isozymes, elevated glucagon/insulin ratios, produced less microsomal superoxide and enhanced the capacity for utilzing detoxicating metabolic pathways. Calorically restricted rats have less than half the number of aflatoxin ($AFB_1$)-DNA adducts than ad libitum animals and urinary excretion of $AFB_1$ was increased significantly. Finally, DNA repair mechanisms are enhanced and oncogene expression is decreased in calorically restricted animals.

• Toxicological Research
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.173-180
• /
• 2015

Extract from Gryllus bimaculatus crickets inhibits oxidation at the DNA level, with reduced production of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG). Microarray analyses were performed with a rat 28K cDNA clone set array to identify the gene expression profiles of aged (10 months old) Wistar Kyoto rats treated for one month with 100 mg/kg G. bimaculatus ethanol extract to assess the effects. The extract produced a meaningful anti-edema effect, evident by the inhibition of creatinine phosphokinase activity. The weights of abdominal and ovarian adipose tissues were reduced and the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids in adipose tissues was increased in an extract dose-dependent manner. Compared with untreated control rats, rats treated with the extract displayed the upregulation of 1053 genes including Fas (tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily, member 6), Amigo3 (adhesion molecule with an immunoglobulin-like domain), Reticulon 4, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme (Hmgcr; a reductase), related anti-fatigue (enzyme metabolism), and Rtn antioxidant, and the downregulation of 73 genes including Ugt2b (UDP glycosyltransferase 2 family), Early growth response 1, and Glycoprotein m6a. Data suggest that G. bimaculatus extract may have value in lessening the effects of aging, resulting in a differential gene expression pattern indicative of a marked stress response and lower expression of metabolic and biosynthetic genes.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.40 no.2
• /
• pp.124-136
• /
• 2015

Purpose: Grain quality is a general concept that covers many characteristics, ranging from physical to biochemical and physiochemical properties. Rice aging during storage is currently a challenge in the rice industry, and is a complicated process involving changes in all of the above properties. Spectroscopic techniques can be used to obtain information on the quality of rice samples in a non-destructive manner. Methods: The objective of this review was to highlight the factors that contribute to rice quality and aging, and to describe various spectroscopic modalities, particularly vibrational and hyperspectral imaging, for the assessment of rice quality. Results: Starch and protein are the main components of the rice endosperm, and are therefore key factors contributing to eating and cooking quality. While the overall starch, protein, and lipid content in the rice grain remains essentially unchanged during storage, structural changes do occur. These changes affect pasting and gel properties, and ultimately the flavor of cooked rice. In addition, grain quality is significantly affected by growing and environmental conditions, such as water availability, temperature, fertilizer application, and salinity stress. These properties can be evaluated using spectroscopic techniques, and rice samples can be discriminated by using multivariate statistical analysis methods. Conclusion: Hyperspectral imaging and vibrational spectroscopy techniques have good potential for determining rice quality properties in a non-invasive manner, i.e., not requiring the introduction of instruments into the rice grain.

• Elastomers and Composites
• /
• v.35 no.3
• /
• pp.173-179
• /
• 2000

Cure characteristics. tensile properties, and dynamic properties were investigated on the carbon black-filled natural rubber compounds, in which three typical vulcanization types conventional vulcanization(Conv), semi-efficient(Semi-EV), and efficient(EV) vulcanizations were used. The effects of vulcanization temperature on both the mechanical property and aging resistance of rubber compounds were also investigated. The Conv cure system showed a slightly slower rate of vulcanization than those of Semi-EV and EV ones. On the other hand, it showed a higher value in the maximum torque of cure curve. Higher tensile moduli were observed in Conv system than those in Semi-EV and EV ones, while lower elongation at break were obtained in Conv one. The tensile strength at break were found to be about the same for three cute systems. Hardness, modulus, and tensile strength decreased with increasing the vulcanization temperature, and the degree of changes in the properties was found to be smaller for EV and Semi-EV systems than that in Conv one. The EV system was found to be superior in thermal-aging resistance to Conv one.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.143-150
• /
• 2019

Background: Skin is an organ that protects the human body from various environmental stimuli that can induce immune system activation. Skin aging can be largely divided into two categories: physiological aging, which is caused by the a decreased physiological function of the skin and structural changes with aging, and photoaging, which is caused by the chemical stress induced by external stimuli such as ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Methods and Results: The objective of this study was to investigate the anti-wrinkle and UV protective effect of catechin-rich green tea extract (CGTE) in activated keratinocyte (HaCaT cells) and UV-induced skin damage in hairless mice. The results showed that CGTE inhibits the tumor necrosis factor-alpha interferon-gamma ($TNF-{\alpha}+IFN-{\gamma}$)-induced expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 in HaCaT cells. In addition, the CGTE treatment significantly reduced wrinkle formation, epidermal thickness, collagen deposition, and transepidermal water loss in dorsal skin irradiated with UVB. However, the ${\beta}$-glucosidase activity was significantly increased. The CGTE treatment inhibits mRNA expression and enzyme activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the dorsal skin irradiated with UVB. Conclusions: It is expected that CGTE can be effectively used as a functional food and cosmetic ingredient to improve skin moisture retention and reduce wrinkle formation.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.399-409
• /
• 2021

1,2-Diacetylbenzene (DAB) is a metabolite of 1,2-diethylbenzene, which is commonly used in the manufacture of plastics and gasoline. We examined the neurotoxic effects of DAB in young and old rats, particularly its effects on hippocampus. Previously, we reported DAB impairs hippocampal neurogenesis but that the underlying mechanism remained unclear. In this study, we evaluate the toxicities exhibited by DAB in the hippocampi of 6-month-old (young) and 20-month-old (old) male SD rats by treating animals intraperitoneally with DAB at 3 mg/kg/day for 1 week. Hippocampal areas were dissected from brains and RNA was extracted and subjected to RNA-seq analysis. RNA results showed animals exhibited age-dependent sensitivity to the neurotoxic effects of DAB. We observed that inflammatory pathways were up-regulated in old rats but that metabolism- and detoxification-related pathways were up-regulated in young rats. This result in old rats, especially upregulation of the TREM1 signaling pathway (an inflammatory response involved in Alzheimer's disease (AD)) was confirmed by RT-PCR. Our study results provide a better understanding of age-dependent responses to DAB and new insight into the association between DAB and AD.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.29
• /
• pp.10.1-10.6
• /
• 2014

Objectives Cigarette smoking had been recorded as the main cause of impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilation in smokers by reducing nitric oxide (NO), a production of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). However, the mechanism of NO impairment via eNOS activity is unclear until now. In this study, cell passage is suggested to be a relevant factor to eNOS expression under cigarette smoking stress. Methods Bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs) were chosen as the research subject with passages ranking from 6 to 9 (6P to 9P). After exposure of cigarette smoking extract (CSE) solution, MTT assay and Western blot method were performed to check the cell viability as well as eNOS protein concentration. In these experiments, four concentrations of CSE at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4% were selected for treatment. Results Our results showed that cells almost died at 4% of CSE. Besides, eNOS protein mass had a linear decrease under the increase of CSE concentration. In addition, the effect of CSE on eNOS expression was dissimilar between different passages. Conclusions This study indicated that CSE had effect on both cell viability and eNOS expression. Besides, a reduction in protein mass was matched with the decrease of cell viability due to CSE tress. Last but not least, the response of eNOS protein to different concentration of CSE at different passages was disparate, making the hypothesis about cell passage related inhibition of eNOS caused by CSE solution.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
• /
• v.16 no.6
• /
• pp.595-601
• /
• 2016

The insulation performance of the insulation currently used in building structures is reflected only during design based on initial performance and the reduction in heat insulation performance due to the degradation of long-term durability is not reflected. This study reviewed the degradation of heat insulation performance due to the durability degradation of insulating materials through the accelerated durability test. The study findings showed that the foamed polystyrene insulation bead method did not show performance degradation due to aging in the standard environmental condition and laboratory accelerated test condition but the performance is degraded in the freeze-thaw test condition. On the other hand, in the case of the extrusion method, the degradation of the heat insulation performance was less in the freeze-thaw test condition, but the rapid performance degradation was caused by the release of the internal gas at the beginning of aging. In addition, the hard polyurethane foam insulation showed better initial insulation performance than other insulation materials, but the performance was found to be degraded somewhat under laboratory accelerated test conditions and freeze-thaw test conditions.

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.157-163
• /
• 2020

Long-term exposure to environmental pollutants can impair the human skin's barrier function and promote skin aging mechanisms. The visible consequences of these effects are dryness, wrinkles, black spots and worsening skin sensitivity. As awareness of the effects of environmental stressors on the skin has recently increased, consumers' demand for cosmetics that can provide anti-pollution effects is increasing. In this study, the possibility of anti-pollution cosmetic material was investigated by measuring the inhibitory effect of free radicals using a mixture of Nypa fruticans Wurmb (NF), Saussurea neoserrata (SN), Codium fragile (CF) and Enteromorpha compressa (EC), which has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects against irritation caused by dust. Combining the experimental results of a mixture of NF, SN, CF and EC by induction of fine dust stimulation, inhibition of inflammatory factors (PGE₂) and intracellular free radicals (ROS) by inhibiting effects were significant, indicating the possibility of use as anti-pollution cosmetics. The most plants used as sources of anti-pollution cosmetic ingredients contain antioxidants as active substances. In our highly industrialized and chemically polluted world, it is not surprising that most plants used as sources of anti-pollution cosmetic ingredients contain antioxidants as active substances. Considering our results, it can be suggested that this anti-pollutant consisting of NF, SN, CF and EC may be a good ingredient for skincare products for the cosmetic industry due to their antioxidant properties, which may especially alter skin aging.