• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.273-279
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to determine the independent and the combined effects of cell cultured Acanthopanax senticosus extracts (ASE) supplementation and swimming exercise on body weight, lipid profile, carnitine and leptin levels in C57 BL/6J mice. Forty C57BL/6J mice were divided into four groups: non-supplement and non-exercise (NSNE); non-supplement and exercise (NSE); supplement and non-exercise (SNE); supplement and exercise (SE) mice. They were allowed free access to food and water. The exercised groups were forced to swim (1hr, 6 days a week) in a water bath for 12 weeks. The supplemented groups were fed Cell cultured ASE (0.5 g/kg body weight/day) for 12 weeks. In this study, we found that the combination of Cell cultured ASE supplementation and exercise significantly decreased liver triglyceride (TG) level and serum leptin level but significantly increased serum HDL-cholesterol level compare to control (NSNE) group. These improved lipid profiles and decreased serum leptin would have positive effects on obesity and cardiovascular disease.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.111-140
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• 2019

The Bioethics and Safety Act provides a set of rules to regulate biobanks and research activities using human biological material, but the law seems to be defective in several folds. The law requires that, prior to collection or use of human biological materials, researchers should obtain the informed consent of the donors, but the law does not obligate biobanks to do so. Even in cases where the law requires informed consent, the ordinance of the Ministry of Health and Welfare allows open (or blanket) consent. In addition, a new article in the Act, Article 42-2 which will take effect from October 24, 2019, allows medical institutions to provide biobanks with remaining biospecimens collected in the course of diagnosis and treatment, unless the donors express their intent to opt-out, without obtaining specific consent from them. Given the need to protect the autonomy of donors and the unique characteristics of biobanks and research activities that use human biological materials, this paper concludes that such open consent-based law may not be suitable to protect the autonomy of the donors and that the broad consent requirement may be a desirable policy option. The paper acknowledges that the international community has long questioned whether broad consent (as well as open consent) is an effective choice to regulate the use of human biological materials. The paper stresses that the baseline requirement in designing the law is that the secondary use of human biological materials should be based on informed consent of the donors; the core value of the law should be a governance structure that promotes transparency and protects donor participation.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.20 no.1 s.90
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• pp.1-11
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• 2005

Recently, there has been extremely active in the research of stem cell biology. Stem cells have excellent potential for being the ultimate source of transplantable cells for many different tissues. Researchers hope to use stem cells to repair or replace diseased or damaged organs, leading to new treatments for human disorders that are currently incurable, including diabetes, spinal cord injury and brain diseases. There are primary sources of stem cells like embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Stem cells from embryos were known to give rise to every type of cell. However, embryonic stem cells still have a lot of disadvantages. First, transplanted cells sometimes grow into tumors. Second, the human embryonic stem cells that are available for research would be rejected by a patient's immune system. Tissue-matched transplants could be made by either creating a bank of stem cells from more human embryos, or by cloning a patient's DNA into existing stem cells to customize them. However, this is laborious and ethically contentious. These problems could be overcome by using adult stem cells, taken from a patient, that are treated to remove problems and then put back. Nevertheless, some researchers do not convince that adult stem cells could, like embryonic ones, make every tissue type. Human stem cell research holds enormous potential for contributing to our understanding of fundamental human biology. In this review, we discuss the recent progress in stem cell research and the future therapeutic applications.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 2013

Rhus verniciflua Stokes (Anacadiaceae) is a plant that is native to East Asian countries, such as Korea, China, and Japan, and it has been found to exert various biological activities including antioxidative, anti-aggregatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic, and apoptotic effects. Sulfuretin is one of the major flavonoid component isolated from the heartwood of R. verniciflua. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), produced via dental adhesive bleaching agents and pulpal disease, can cause oxidative stress. In the present study, we isolated sulfuretin from R. verniciflua and demonstrated that sulfuretin possesses cytoprotective effects against hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$)-induced dental cell death. $H_2O_2$ is a representative ROS and causes cell death through necrosis in human dental pulp (HDP) cells. $H_2O_2$-induced cytotoxicity and production of ROS were blocked in the presence of sulfuretin, and these effects were dose dependent. Sulfuretin also increased heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) protein expression. In addition, to determine whether sulfuretin-induced HO-1 expression mediated this cytoprotective effect, HDP cells were cotreated with sulfuretin in the absence or presence of SnPP, an inhibitor of HO activity. Sulfuretin-dependent HO-1 expression was required for suppression of $H_2O_2$-induced HDP cell death and ROS generation. These results indicate that sulfuretin-dependent HO-1 expression was required for the inhibition of $H_2O_2$-induced cell death and ROS generation. In addition, sulfuretin may be used to prevent functional dental cell death and thus may be useful as a pulpal disease agent.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.967-971
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• 2003

As the concerns over health increased in 1990's, research and development on the health material were also activated. The development of UV-cut textile became the hot issue, because the damage of W irradiation due to ozone depletion has become widely known. UV-cut effect is determined by the material, the color, the organization and the density of UV-cut fibers. UV-cut effect is very different according to the fibers. Polyester is known to have a better effect. Even in the same textile material, staple fiber has more effect than filament fiber. Different colors have different offsets. Although textiles have the same color, the effects can be different according to the depth of color. PET, PET/cotton blend, nylon and cotton fabrics were ultraviolet cutting finished with padding method using several absorbers. These UV-cut effect can be improved through the processing. Safety of UV-cut textile for the body must be considered future, Until now the figure of the UV-cut effects has been emphasized. There has been no experiment on the human body, although the textiles are directly on the human body. Futhermore there os no safety standard of UV-cut textiles. Therefore every effort will be made to set the standard UV-cut processing is established. The need of UV-cut products will be known to the consumers.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.235-243
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• 2014

Purpose: The aim of this study was to prepare and evaluate a natural material extracted from germinated brown rice (GBR). Herein, we evaluated whether the natural material could positively activate the biological effects seen during bone formation, including enhancement of metabolic activity, osteogenesis, and the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), one of the growth factors in human osteoblast-like cells. Methods: The natural material was created by a hot water extraction process after being soaked for 2~3 days in tap water and dried at $50^{\circ}C$. The material was characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The biological behaviors of the material were also investigated; we performed tests to assess cell cytotoxicity, metabolic activity, osteogenic markers related to bone formation, and VEGF. Results: The EDX, XRD, and FTIR results for the natural material indicated the presence of organic compounds. The natural material caused positive increases in cell metabolic activity and mineralized bone formation without cytotoxicity. The protein levels in the extract for the $6.25{\mu}g/mL$, $12.25{\mu}g/mL$, $25{\mu}g/mL$, $50{\mu}g/mL$, and $100{\mu}g/mL$ groups were significantly different from that for the control. Conclusions: The GBR-based natural material was easy to prepare and had characteristics of a potential biomaterial. The biocompatibility of this natural material was evaluated using in vitro techniques; our findings indicate that this novel material is promising for agricultural and biological applications.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.211-218
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• 2011

Effects of Kenpaullone, a specific inhibitor of GSK3${\beta}$, on melanin synthesis in B16 melanoma cells and human melanocytes were investigated. Kenpaullone showed a melanogenesis stimulation activity in a concentrationdependent manner in murine B16 melanoma cells and human melanocytes without any significant effects on cell proliferation. Tyrosinase activity was increased 48 h after treatment of B16 cells with Kenpaullone. The protein expression level of tyrosinase was dose-dependently enhanced after the treatment with Kenpaullone. At the same time, the expression level of tyrosinase mRNA was also increased after addition of Kenpaullone. The stimulatory effect of Kenpaullone mainly resulted from increased expression of tyrosinase. These findings suggest that the application of GSK3${\beta}$ inhibitors may be a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of hypopigmentation disorder.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.253-257
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• 2014

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the surface microhardness of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) samples having different thicknesses and exposed to human blood from one side and with or without a moist cotton pellet on the other side. Materials and Methods: Ninety cylindrical molds with three heights of 2, 4, and 6 mm were fabricated. In group 1 (dry condition), molds with heights of 2, 4, and 6 mm (10 molds of each) were filled with ProRoot MTA (Dentsply Tulsa Dental), and the upper surface of the material was not exposed to any additional moisture. In groups 2 and 3, a distilled water- or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)-moistened cotton pellet was placed on the upper side of MTA, respectively. The lower side of the molds in all the groups was in contact with human blood-wetted foams. After 4 day, the Vickers microhardness of the upper surface of MTA was measured. Results: In the dry condition, the 4 and 6 mm-thick MTA samples showed significantly lower microhardness than the 2 mm-thick samples (p = 0.003 and p = 0.001, respectively). However, when a distilled water- or PBS-moistened cotton pellet was placed over the MTA, no significant difference was found between the surface microhardness of samples having the abovementioned three thicknesses of the material (p = 0.210 and p = 0.112, respectively). Conclusions: It could be concluded that a moist cotton pellet must be placed over the 4 to 6 mm-thick MTA for better hydration of the material. However, this might not be necessary when 2 mm-thick MTA is used.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.1-10
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• 2017

Objectives: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effects of the extract of Pongamia pinnata on the morphology, viability, and differentiation potential of human stem cells derived from the gingiva. Methods: Stem cells obtained from gingivae were cultured in an osteogenic medium in the presence of methanol extract of Pongamia pinnata (PPT) at concentrations ranging from 0.001 to 1%. Evaluations of cell morphology and cellular viability were done at Day 1. Alkaline phosphatase activity assays and Alizarin red S staining were performed to evaluate the osteogenic differentiation of stem cells. Results: The morphology of stem cells in the presence of PPT at final concentrations of 0%, 0.001%, 0.01%, 0.1%, and 1% did not produce any noticeable changes when compared with the untreated control group. Application of PPT produced a significant increase in alkaline phosphatase activity when compared to the control group. The results of the Alizarin Red S staining showed a significant increase of absorbance with the 0.001% group. Conclusions: Based on these findings, it was concluded that PPT could produce beneficial effects on mesenchymal stem cells with enhanced osteogenic differentiation.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.206-211
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• 2017

Background: Self-reported low back pain (LBP) has been evaluated in relation to material handling lifting tasks, but little research has focused on relating quantifiable stressors to LBP at the individual level. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Composite Lifting Index (CLI) has been used to quantify stressors for lifting tasks. A chemical exposure can be readily used as an exposure metric or stressor for chemical risk assessment (RA). Defining and quantifying lifting nonchemical stressors and related adverse responses is more difficult. Stressor-response models appropriate for CLI and LBP associations do not easily fit in common chemical RA modeling techniques (e.g., Benchmark Dose methods), so different approaches were tried. Methods: This work used prospective data from 138 manufacturing workers to consider the linkage of the occupational stressor of material lifting to LBP. The final model used a Bayesian random threshold approach to estimate the probability of an increase in LBP as a threshold step function. Results: Using maximal and mean CLI values, a significant increase in the probability of LBP for values above 1.5 was found. Conclusion: A risk of LBP associated with CLI values > 1.5 existed in this worker population. The relevance for other populations requires further study.