• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.113-121
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• 2020

Macrophages are initiators for regulating a host's defenses to eliminate pathogens and trigger tissue repair. Macrophages are classified into two types: classically (M1) activated macrophages and alternatively (M2) activated macrophages. M1-phenotype macrophages directly or indirectly kill infectious organisms and tumor cells via pro-inflammatory responses, whereas M2-phenotype macrophages remodel wounded tissue through anti-inflammatory responses. In this paper, we investigated how Phellinus linteus hot water extract passed from Diaion HP-20 resin (PLEP) regulates polarization of M1-like or M2-like macrophages in human THP-1 cells. PLEP did not have cytotoxicity at a high concentration of 300 ㎍/ml. We observed morphological alteration of the THP-1 cells, which are stimulated by PLEP, LPS/INF-γ (M1 stimulators) or IL-4/IL13 (M2 stimulators). PLEP exposure induced morphology contiguous with LPS/INF-γ. qPCR was also performed to determine whether PLEP influences M1 or M2 polarization-related genes. M1-phenotype macrophage-specific genes, such as TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, CXCL10 and CCR7, were enhanced by PLEP in a dose-dependent manner similar to LPS/INF-γ. Conversely, M2-phenotype-specific genes, such as MRC-1, DC-SIGN, CCL17 and CCL22, were suppressed by PLEP. PLEP also significantly up-regulated secretory inflammation cytokines related to M1 polarization of macrophages, including TNFα, IL-1β and IL-6, which was similar to the gene expression. Further, MAPK and NF-κB signaling were increased by treatment with PLEP, resulting in enhancement of cytokine secretion. PLEP might therefore be used as a promising booster of pro-inflammatory responses through M1 polarization of human THP-1 cells.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.1209-1215
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• 2003

This study was carried out to establish a quantitative analysis method of separating immuno-activating substance (EN-SP) from Acanthopanax senticosus (A. senticosus) by competitive direct ELISA. Mouse antiserum (anti-EN-SP) against EN-SP was generated by immunization (s.c.) of EN-SP purified from A. senticosus as an immunogen. The titer of anti-EN-SP was about 1 : 400, and the optimal dilution of EN-SP-HRP conjugate was 1 : 1,000. When the standard curve was constructed by ELISA, its sensitivity was about $0.2{\mu}g/mL$. The coefficient variation of intra- and inter-assay were $6.13{\sim}8.81%$ and $6.73{\sim}8.60%$, respectively. According to the standard curve, the concentration of EN-SP in various senticosus extracts was found to be only $59.85\;{\mu}g$ in 10mg of extract from the bark of A. senticosus. Similarly, the immunostimulating activity to produce $TNF-{\alpha}$ or IL-12 among the various extracts of Acanthopanax was shown to be correlated with the content of EN-SP. These results demonstrated that competitive ELISA was a convenient, fast, reproducible, and accurate method for the determination of EN-SP as an immunologically active standard substance in extract of A. senticosus.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.828-834
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• 2012

The present study has been conducted to investigate the effects of feeding seleniferous whole crop barley (WCB) to finishing pigs on their growth performance, blood and carcass characteristics as well as on tissue selenium deposition. A total of 40 cross-bred barrows ((Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire)${\times}$Duroc) were allotted to five replicates of four treatments. Each replicate was arranged to 2 pigs per pen; the experimental period lasted for 6 weeks. The finishing pigs were fed diets containing 0.1 (non-seleniferous WCB as a control), 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 ppm of selenium (Se) by supplementing the diets with seleniferous WCB. The isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets containing 5% non-seleniferous or seleniferous WCB were formulated. Feeding seleniferous WCB did not affect (p<0.05) the feed intake and BW gain. Total blood lipid concentration was significantly (p<0.05) decreased with increasing Se levels. Total blood cholesterol concentration for the control was significantly (p<0.05) higher than that for 0.4 and 0.6 ppm of Se treatments. Increasing the Se levels in WCB significantly (p<0.05) decreased blood triglyceride concentration; however, the levels increased immunoglobulin G and selenium concentrations. Feeding seleniferous WCB did not affect the carcass rate, backfat thickness and meat quality as well as yield grades. The Se concentration in the kidney, liver and loin were significantly (p<0.05) increased with increasing levels of seleniferous WCB. The results indicated that feeding seleniferous WCB may improve the blood characteristics related to lipid metabolism and thus, could produce selenium-fortified pork. Moreover, it is shown that the dietary optimal selenium level to depose selenium in porcine tissues by utilizing seleniferous WCB would be 0.4 mg of Se/kg of ration. Moreover, when 100 g of pork produced from pigs raised under such condition is served to consumers, it meets the minimum recommended daily requirements (40 ${\mu}g$) of dietary selenium proposed by the World Health Organization (1996).

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.365-374
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• 2015

The regular quality assurance (RQA) of X-ray images is essential for maintaining a high accuracy of diagnosis. This study was to evaluate the modulation transfer function (MTF), the noise power spectrum (NPS), and the detective quantum efficiency (DQE) of a computed radiography (CR) system for various periods of use from 2006 to 2015. We measured the pre-sampling MTF using the edge method and RQA 5 based on commission standard international electro-technical commission (IEC). The spatial frequencies corresponding to the 50% MTF for the CR systems in 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2015 were 1.54, 1.14, 1.12, and $1.38mm^{-1}$, respectively and the10% MTF for 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2015 were 2.68, 2.44, 2.44, and $2.46mm^{-1}$, respectively. In the NPS results, the CR systems showed the best noise distribution in 2006, and with the quality of distributions in the order of 2015, 2009, and 2012. At peak DQE and DQE at $1mm^{-1}$, the CR systems showed the best efficiency in 2006, and showed better efficiency in order of 2015, 2009, and 2012. Because the eraser lamp in the CR systems was replaced, the image quality in 2015 was superior to those in 2009 and 2012. This study can be incorporated into used in clinical QA requiring performance and evaluation of the performance of the CR systems.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.216-227
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• 2008

To understand eutrophication in the upper regions of brackish Lake Sihwa with a limited water exchange, temporal and spatial distributions of pollutants in water and sediment were investigated from March to October in 2005 and 2006. Also, pollution levels of water and sediment were estimated by trophic state index (TSI) and sediment quality guideline (SQG). Total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), organic matter (COD), and chlorophyll $\alpha$ (Chl-$\alpha$) concentrations in the surface waters were largely varied temporally and spatially, and the variations were highest in the middle areas where strong halocline was formed. Chl-$\alpha$ concentrations in the middle area were very high in April (>$900\;{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$) when algal blooms (red tides) occurred. The relationships between TN and Chl-$\alpha$ (r=0.31), and TP and Chl-$\alpha$ (r=0.65) indicated that the algal growth was primarily affected by phosphorus rather than nitrogen. The distribution of COD was similar to that of Chl-$\alpha$, indicating that the autochthonous organic matters may be a more important carbon source, especially in the middle areas. The brackish water regions were classified as eutrophic or hypertrophic based on their TSI values ($69{\sim}76$). In addition, the content of nutrients (especially TP) in surface sediments were classified as severe polluted state, except the upper areas. Major causes of the eutrophication observed were probably due to high nutrients loading from watersheds, the phosphorus release from anaerobic sediment, and long retention time by the limited water exchange through the sluice gates.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.527-534
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• 2008

Effects of dietary concentrate levels based on whole-crop barley silage (BS) on development and meat quality in growing Korean black goats were examined. A total of 36 male goats with similar age and BW were equally allocated to dietary four treatments in a randomized complete block design. Dietary treatments included controls(rice straw ad libitum plus 2.0% concentrate BW－1), and BS ad libitum plus three increasing levels of concentrate BW－1(2.0, 1.5 and 1.0%, respectively), expressed as BS 2.0, BS 1.5 and BS 1.0, respectively. The trial was lasted for 5 months from 14th of May to 12th of October, 2007. At the end of trial, all animals were slaughtered to analyze carcass characteristics and meat quality. Average daily gain was significantly(p<0.05) higher for BS 1.5 and BS 2.0 treatments than for controls. Daily feed intakes for controls(689.3 g) were significantly(p<0.05) higher than those of BS 1.0(585.5 g), but they were significantly(p<0.05) lower than BS 2.0(734.3 g). Carcass and meat percentages were significantly (p<0.05) higher for BS 2.0 and BS 1.5 than for control and BS 1.0 treatments. Shear force and water-holding capacity was greater(p<0.05) for BS 2.0 and BS 1.5 than other treatments. On the basis of feeding whole-crop barley silage to Korean black goats, as dietary concentrate inclusion levels increased, sensory results showed to have a better tendency. In conclusion, it was estimated that the optimal level of dietary concentrates might be 1.5% BW－1, when diets based whole-crop barley silage were fed to growing Korean black goats for their improvements of growth and meat quality.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.200-213
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• 2004

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to create an electronic nursing record form to build a hospice nursing process database to be used in the u-hospital EMR system. Specific aims of the study were: 1. To generate a complete, accurate, and simple electronic nursing record form. 2. To verify its appropriateness following documentation with the standardized hospice protocol. 3. To verify its validity and finalize the hospice nursing process database through discussion among hospice professionals. Methods: Nursing records from three independent hospice organizations were collected and analyzed by five expert hospice nurses with more than 10 years of experience, and a nursing record database was developed. This database was applied to 81 hospice patients at three hospice organizations to verify its completeness. Results: 1. An electronic nursing record form with completeness, accuracy, and simplicity was developed. 2. The completeness of the standardized home hospice service protocol was 95.86 percent. 3. The hospice nursing process database contains 18 items on health problems, 79 items on related causes and major symptoms, and 229 items on nursing interventions. Conclusion: The new nursing record form and database will reduce documentation time and articulate and streamline the working process among team members. They can also improve the quality of hospice services, and ultimately enable us to estimate hospice service costs.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.148-154
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• 2008

This study was carried out to investigate the residue patterns of two insecticides, lambda-cyhalothrin and deltamethrin, commonly used for lettuce, under greenhouse conditions. The pesticides were sprayed with dilution of recommended and doubled doses onto lettuce. Their detection limits were $0.001\;mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ and mean recoveries at the fortification levels of 0.2 and $1.0\;mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ were from 101.17 to 104.25 and from 99.70 to 103.77%, respectively. The pesticides were gradually decreased in lettuce with time. Biological half-lives of lambda-cyhalothrin and deltamethrin were 1.7 and 1.4 days at the recommended dose and 1.8 and 1.4 days at the doubled dose, respectively. Initial residue amounts of lambda-cyhalothrin and deltamethrin at the recommended and doubled doses exceeded their MRLs. However, the residue levels of the pesticides in the crop sampled at harvest were less than their MRLs. The ratios of the estimated daily intake (EDI) to acceptable daily intake (ADI) by intake the crop harvested 10 days after spraying were less than 1% of their ADIs.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.345-350
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• 2012

To investigate the exposure and health risk assessment for the residents near the D-asbestos mine in Chungbuk, Korea. We analyzed asbestos in the 20 ambient air and 23 activity based samples near the mine. The airborne sample results are showed that 8 of 20 samples ranged between 0.0025 to 0.0029 f/cc (fiber per cubic centimeter) and the others were below the detection limit by phase contrast microscopy (PCM). In addition, asbestos fibers were under the detection limit or not being by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Based on interview and survey targeting the local residents, we made the activity based sampling (ABS) scenarios fit to the conditions of field. At the same time, we calculated the excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) of these ABS scenarios according to the ELCR average value and 95% upper confidence limit (UCL). At the case of weed whacking, soil digging and sweeping yard scenario, 95% UCL of ELCR exceeded the $1{\times}10^{-4}$, acceptable risk range for exposure. Based on our study results, it is necessary safety measures such as risk communication, abatement or management of naturally occurring asbestos (NOA).

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.893-900
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• 2009

To estimate the contribution of epiphytic algae attached on reed to organic matter production in constructed wetland, primary productivity by epiphytic algae was investigated in two sub-wetlands (Banweol and Donhwa wetlands) of the Sihwa Constructed Wetland (CW) with different chemistry of inflows. Chlorophyll a concentration of epiphytic algae was higher in the Banweol wetland (range:37~3,581 mgChl.a/$m^2$surface stem, average:655 mgChl.a/$m^2$surface stem) than the Donhwa wetland (range:87~2,093 mgChl.a/$m^2$surface stem, average:527 mgChl.a/$m^2$surface stem). In contrast, assimilation number (AN) representing photosynthetic activity was higher in the Donhwa wetland with low TN/TP ratio than the Banweol wetland. A negative correlation (r=0.46) was observed between TN/TP ratios of inflows and AN in two wetlands, implying that high photosynthetic activity of epiphytic algae may be related with low TN/TP ratio. The areal primary productivity ranged from 307 to 2,473 mgC/$m^2$/day in the Banweol wetland and from 756 to 2,096 mgC/$m^2$/day in the Donghwa wetland, showing high productivity in summer. Average primary production was lower in the Banweol wetland (1,166 mgC/$m^2$/day) than the Donghwa wetland (1,467 mgC/$m^2$/day), although the standing crop (as chlorophyll a concentration) was high in the Banweol wetland. This result may be due to the low photosynthetic activity of epiphytic algae in the Banweol wetland with high TN/TP ratio. The annual primary production (300 tonC/year) of epiphytic algae contributed 33% of the total production in the Sihwa CW. An excessive organic matter production in constructed wetland can negatively affect the efficiency of water treatment. Therefore, the role of epiphytic algae should be considered in management of constructed wetland for water treatment.