• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 2019

Purpose: To identify prognostic factors influencing progression-free survival (PFS) of aggressive fibromatosis (AF) after postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) and assess correlations between immunohistochemistry (IHC) features of β-catenin/smooth muscle actin (SMA) and PFS. Materials and Methods: Records of 37 patients with AF treated by PORT from 1984 to 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Fifteen patients underwent wide excision for AF and 22 patients received debulking operation. The median total dose of PORT was 59.4 Gy. IHC staining results of β-catenin and SMA were available for 11 and 12 patients, respectively. Results: The median follow-up duration was 105.9 months. Five-year PFS rate was 70.9%. Tumor size or margin status was not related to PFS in univariate analysis (p = 0.197 and p = 0.716, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that increased interval from surgery to PORT (>5.7 weeks) was a marginal risk factor for PFS (p = 0.054). Administration of PORT at the initial diagnosis resulted in significantly improved PFS compared to deferring PORT after recurrence (p = 0.045). Patient with both risk factors of deferring PORT after recurrence and interval from surgery to PORT >5.7 weeks had significantly lower 5-year PFS than patients without risk factor (34.1% vs. 100.0%; p = 0.012). Nuclear β-catenin intensity tended to inversely correlate with 5-year PFS, although it did not reach statistical significance (62.5% at low vs. 100.0% at high; p = 0.260). SMA intensity was not related to PFS (p = 0.700). Conclusion: PORT should be performed immediately after surgery irrespective of margin status or tumor size especially in recurrent case. Nuclear β-catenin staining intensity of IHC might correlate with local recurrence.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.107-113
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• 2011

Background: Metabolic disorders, including type II diabetes and obesity, present major health risks in industrialized countries. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) has become the focus of a great deal of attention as a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of metabolic syndromes. In this study, we evaluated whether dietary aloe could reduce obesity-induced inflammation and adipogenesis. Methods: Male C57BL/6 obese mice fed a high-fat diet for 54 days received a supplement of aloe formula (PAG, ALS, Aloe QDM, and Aloe QDM complex) or pioglitazone (PGZ) and were compared with unsupplemented controls (high-fat diet; HFD) or mice fed a regular diet (RD). RT-PCR and western blot analysis were used to quantify the expression of obesity-induced inflammation. Results: Aloe QDM complex downregulated fat size through suppressed expression of scavenger receptors on adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) compared with HFD. Both white adipose tissue (WATs) and muscle exhibited increased AMPK activation through aloe supplementation, and in particular, the Aloe QDM complex. Obesity-induced inflammatory cytokines (IL-$1{\beta}$ and -6) and $HIF1{\alpha}$ mRNA and protein were decreased markedly, as was macrophage infiltration by the Aloe QDM complex. Further, the Aloe QDM complex decreased the translocation of NF-${\kappa}B$ p65 from the cytosol in the WAT. Conclusion: Dietary aloe formula reduced obesity-induced inflammatory responses by activation of AMPK in muscle and suppression of proinflammatory cytokines in the WAT. Additionally, the expression of scavenger receptors in the ATM and activation of AMPK in WAT led to reduction in the percent of body fat. Thus, we suggest that the effect of the Aloe QDM complex in the WAT and muscle are related to activation of AMPK and its use as a nutritional intervention against T2D and obesity-related inflammation.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.125-133
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• 2020

A new oak mushroom cultivar 'Hwadam' was bred from monokaryotic strains of 'GMLE36062' and 'LE15401'. The optimum temperature for mycelial growth of 'Hwadam' on potato dextrose agar was 25℃. The cultivation period of 'Hwadam' lasted for 129 days until the first harvest of the fruiting bodies, including 35 days for spawn run, 84 days for browning, and 10 days for development of fruiting bodies. The fruiting bodies of 'Hwadam' had a hemispherical, brighter pileus and thicker stipe than the control cultivar (Sanjo 701ho). The three-cycle yield of 'Hwadam' was 554 g, which was higher than that of control cultivar (405 g). In addition, 'Hwadam' contained 79.4 mg/g of beta-glucan and 0.93 mg GAEs/g of phenolic compounds, which was similar to that of the control cultivar but higher than that of 'L808' and 'Chujae 2ho'.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.117-124
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• 2013

Emergency operating procedures(EOPs) of nuclear power plants should be described considering the cognitive capability and limitation of operators and provide appropriate information in the aspect of human factors. Procedures which doesn't consider cognitive characteristics of operators can become causes of human errors. In previous researches, in order to reduce these problems related to the description of EOP, an improvement suggestion for EOP writer's guide has been proposed, which is reflected human factors aspects that should be considered when describing EOPs. The proposed items, however, have a necessity to be validated because it was listed from various documents such as standards and guidelines without any special validation process. For that reason, in this study, a validation process were performed to show that procedures, which are described in compliance with the requirement items proposed in the improved EOP writer's guide, have positive effects in the aspects of human errors and performance comparing with previous procedures. Experiments were performed to compare the performances of two tasks which are described in compliance with each writer's guide of before and after the improvement During each task was performed in experiments, changes of physiological responses such as EEG and ECG were measured to evaluate the cognitive workload and the stress of operators in each task. And also, as the performance, frequencies of errors and cognition speeds of each task were evaluated. In the results of the experiment, the portions of the ${\beta}$ wave decreased in the tasks overall after the improvement. In the case of ECG, change rates of the mean of R-R interval were decreased in the tasks after improvement. In the results of the performance, the cognition and the response time of the tasks after the improvement were predominant with statistical significancies. Error times in the tasks after improvement were decreased or same to the tasks before improvement. Conclusively, it was validated that the procedures were described in compliance with the improved EOP writer's guide had effects on the reduction of human errors and improvement of performance.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.241-245
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• 1999

Bioequivalence study of two cefpodoxime preparations, the test drug ($Banan^{\circledR}$: Hanil Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) and the reference drug ($Podox^{\circledR}$: Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.), was conducted according to the guidelines of Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). Sixteen healthy male volunteers, $23.8{\pm}2.13$ years old and $63.34{\pm}4.84kg$ of body weight in average, were divided randomly into two groups and administered the drug orally at the dose of 200 mg as cefpodoxime proxetil in a $2{\times}2$ crossover study. Plasma concentrations of cefpodoxime were analysed by HPLC method for 12 hr after administration. The $AUC_{0-12hr}$ was calculated by the linear trapezoidal rule method. The $C_{max}$, and $T_{max}$ were compiled directly from the plasma drug concentration-time data. Student's t-test indicated no significant differences between the formulations in these parameters. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that there were no differences in AUC, $C_{max}$, and $T_{max}$ between the formulations. The apparent differences between the formulations were far less than 20% (e.g., 4.31, 1.99 and 4.30% for AUC, $C_{max}$, and $T_{max}$, respectively). Minimum detectable differences (%) between the formulations at ${\alpha}=\;0.05$ and $1-{\beta}=\;0.8$ were less than 20% (e.g., 13.89, 13.88, and 16.97% for AUC, $C_{max}$, and $T_{max}$, respectively). The 90% confidence intervals for these parameters were also within ${\times}20%$ (e.g., $-5,58{\sim}14.20$, $-7.89{\sim}11.88$, and $-7.78{\sim}16.38%$ for AUC, $C_{max}$, and $T_{max}$, respectively). These results satisfied the bioequivalence criteria of KFDA guidelines, indicating that the two formulations of cefpodoxime were bioequivalent.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.320-332
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• 2021

This paper investigates the influence of stock-level left-tail risk, which is defined using Value-at-Risk(VaR) estimates of past one-year daily stock returns, in the expected stock returns in the Korean stock market. Our results are summarized as follows: First, monthly-constructed zero-cost portfolios that buy (shortsell) the highest (lowest) left-tail risk decile in the previous month exhibit an average monthly return (called left-tail risk premium) of -2.29%. Second, Fama-MacBeth cross-sectional regressions suggest that left-tail risk in the previous month shows significant and negative explanatory power over return in this month, after controlling for various firm characteristics such as firm size, B/M, market beta, liquidity, maximum daily return, idiosyncratic volatility, and skewness. Third, the stocks with larger recent month loss have lower returns in the next month. Fourth, the magnitude of left-tail risk premium is negatively related with lagged market-level volatility. These results support the hypothesis from a perspective of behavioral finance that the overpricing of stocks with left-tail risk is attributed to the investors' underreaction to it.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.330-338
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• 2019

Chronic infection with intracellular Brucella abortus (B. abortus) in livestock remains as a major problem worldwide. Thus, the search for an ideal vaccine is still ongoing. In this study, we evaluated the protective efficacy of a combination of B. abortus recombinant proteins; superoxide dismutase (rSodC), riboflavin synthase subunit beta (rRibH), nucleoside diphosphate kinase (rNdk), 50S ribosomal protein (rL7/L12) and malate dehydrogenase (rMDH), cloned and expressed into a pMal vector system and $DH5{\alpha}$, respectively, and further purified and applied intraperitoneally into BALB/c mice. After first immunization and two boosters, mice were infected intraperitoneally (IP) with $5{\times}10^4CFU$ of virulent B. abortus 544. Spleens were harvested and bacterial loads were evaluated at two weeks post-infection. Results revealed that this combination showed significant reduction in bacterial colonization in the spleen with a log protection unit of 1.31, which is comparable to the average protection conferred by the widely used live attenuated vaccine RB51. Cytokine analysis exhibited enhancement of cell-mediated immune response as IFN-${\gamma}$ is significantly elevated while IL-10, which is considered beneficial to the pathogen's survival, was reduced compared to control group. Furthermore, both titers of IgG1 and IgG2a were significantly elevated at three and four-week time points from first immunization. In summary, our in vivo data revealed that vaccination with a combination of five different proteins conferred a heightened host response to Brucella infection through cell-mediated immunity which is desirable in the control of intracellular pathogens. Thus, this combination might be considered for further improvement as a potential candidate vaccine against Brucella infection.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.504-509
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• 2018

A new black barley variety, "Heuksoojeongchal," was developed as a cross between "Keunalbori 1" and "Masankwamaek/Mortoni" at the National Institute of Crop Science, RDA in 2014. Heuksoojeongchal had a longer culm length (89 cm) and a later average heading date and maturity than Seodunchalbori. It also had a spike length of 5.0 cm, $543spikes/m^2$, and 54 grains/spike. The 1000-grain weight of Heuksoojeongchal (36.0 g) was heavier than that of Seodunchalbori. Heuksoojeongchal showed resistance to barley yellow mosaic virus (BaYMV). The yield potential of Heuksoojeongchal was approximately 7% higher than that of Seodunchalbori upland, but the average yield potential was similar in upland and paddy fields. Among the quality characteristics, the ${\beta}-glucan$ content (6.7%) was higher and the amylose content (5.5%) was lower than those of Seodunchalbori. The whiteness of the black barley was low, and its absorption rate and spreadability were similar to those of Seodunchalbori.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.19-28
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• 2018

Objectives : Epimedii Herba has been frequently used in Korean Traditional Medicine to treat impotence, spermatorrhoea, exophthalmos, and forgetfulness. Present study investigated anti-inflammatory effects of Epimedii Herba water extract (EWE) and attempted to elucidate molecular mechanisms involved. Methods : To explore anti-inflammatory effects of EWE, RAW 264.7 cells, a murine macrophage cell line, were pretreated with $10-100{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ of EWE, and then subsequently exposed to $1{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Levels of nitric oxide (NO), interleukin-6, $interleukin-1{\beta}$, and tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}$ were monitored in the medium. Expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2 were determined by immunoblot and real-time PCR analyses. Signaling pathways related with nuclear $factor-{\kappa}B$ ($NF-{\kappa}B$) and mitogen-activated protein kinases were monitored to elucidate molecular mechanisms involved. Finally, the role of three flavonoid compounds in EWE on LPS-mediated NO production were investigated. Results : In conditioned medium, pretreatment of EWE ($100{\mu}g/m{\ell}$) significantly inhibited LPS-stimulated NO and pro-inflammatory cytokine production. In addition, EWE attenuated the expressions of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2 by LPS. EWE prevented the phosphorylation and degradation of inhibitory ${\kappa}B{\alpha}$, nuclear translocation of $NF-{\kappa}B$, and DNA binding of $NF-{\kappa}B$, while EWE did not change the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases by LPS. Moreover, icariin, icaritin, and quercetin partly, but significantly, inhibited the LPS-stimulated NO production. Conclusions : These results suggest that EWE has an ability to prevent inflammation in macrophages through inhibition of $NF-{\kappa}B$ signaling pathway.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.1149-1157
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• 2017

Inflammation is the first response of the immune system to infection or irritation in our body. The use of medicinal plants has been widely applied as an alternative source for drug development. One of marine natural resources, the anti-inflammatory effect of Ishige sinicola ethanol extract (ISEE), was evaluated by using LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cell and mice model. As a result, the production of nitric oxide (NO) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-$1{\beta}$, TNF-${\alpha}$) were inhibited with increasing concentration of ISEE without any cytotoxicity. Furthermore, ISEE suppressed the expression of not only inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-${\kappa}B$) p65, and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), including extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, p38, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in a dose-dependent manner. In mice ear edema test, the formation of edema was reduced at the highest dosage of ISEE and the reduction of the number of infiltrated mast cells was observed in histological analysis. These results indicate that ISEE has a potent anti-inflammatory activity and can be used as a pharmaceutical material for many kinds of inflammatory disease.