• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.89-96
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• 2021

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of Caulerpa okamurae ethanol extract (COE) on glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity as one of the drug targets for treatment of type2 diabetes. COE significantly inhibited protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP1B) and dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) enzyme activities in vitro assay. Also, COE significantly enhanced the glucose uptake and the expression of insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) and glucose transporter4 (GLUT4) proteins in 3T3-L1 adipocytes or zebrafish larvae compared with control. In dexamethasone-induced resistance model of L6 myotubes, the protein expression of insulin signaling and glucose uptake was effectively increased by the treatment of COE. In contrast, the elevated phosphorylation of IRS-1 Ser307 was normally suppressed by treatment of COE. However, COE had no effect on insulin secretion in pancreatic beta cells. Thus, our results suggest that COE improves the glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity through the regulation of insulin signaling and GLUT4 protein in insulin's target cells and zebrafish larvae.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.31-39
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• 2011

One of the main drawbacks of wood fibers based composite materials are their tendency to swell due to moisture uptake in wet and moist environments. The main contribution to the hygroexpansion usually comes from the hydrophilic wood fibers. Recent trend toward the high speed printing, copying, and precision converting precesses demands a high level of dimensional stability under various environmental conditions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the dimensional stability of softwood bleached kraft pulp handsheets depending on wet pressing conditions. By increasing the number of wet pressing, dimensional stability was decreased because of increased fiber-to-fiber bonding. Hygroexpansion of handsheets had a linear relationship with the relative bonded area and equilibrium moisture contents. Dip elongation was decreased when the number of wet pressing was increased because of increased fiber-to-fiber bonding to resist low load in water.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.49-55
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• 2008

This study was carried to investigate the effects of steaming and four different drying methods on the longitudinal liquid permeability of Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis Sieb.et Zucc.) board. Four drying methods were air drying, conventional kiln drying, microwave-vacuum drying and high temperature drying. Darcy equation was used for calculating the specific permeability of the small sapwood specimens taken from the treated boards while capillary rising method was used for the heartwood specimens. The sapwood specimens were extracted with water and benzene-alcohol solution to examine the mechanism of liquid flow in treated wood. No significant correlation was found between specific permeability and the number of resin canals of the sapwood specimens. Extraction decreased the differences of specific permeabilities of the sapwood specimens between the five treatment methods. The effects of extraction on the longitudinal permeability are different between five treatments. The fluid path in heartwood was observed by dynamic observation method.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.151-157
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• 2011

Crosslinked SPEEK/PVDF membrane were prepared by EB radiation method with various contents of PVDF. The prepared membranes were subjected to a comparative study of proton exchange membranes for fuel cell appreciations. The crosslinked SPEEK/PVDF membranes were characterized by using DMA, DSC and SAXS. The DMA data indicate that the ionic modulus values and cluster $T_g$ decrease with increasing PVDF content. Thus, it was suggested that the number of clustering in the crosslinked membranes can be reduced with increasing PVDF content. The DSC results were shown that the degree of crystalline of the membrane increased with increasing PVDF content. The morphology of the crosslinkied membranes was shown that with increasing PVDF content, the number of crystalline domain of the SPEEK/PVDF membranes increased but ionic aggregation of the membranes decreased. The water uptake behavior, ionic exchange capacity (IEC) and proton conductivity were decreased with increasing PVDF content. The overall findings suggest that the crosslinked membranes offer the possibility for improving the performance of PEMFC, provided that the membranes have thermal and hydration stability.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.387-397
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• 2021

Deep eutectic solvents have been established as feasible metal electroplating solvent alternatives over traditional toxic aqueous plating baths. However, water, either added intentionally or unintentionally, can significantly influence the solvent's physical properties and performance, thereby hindering its industry application. In this study, the hygroscopicity, or the ability to absorb moisture from the environment, of synthesized ethaline (1:2 choline chloride:ethylene glycol) was investigated. The kinematic viscosity, electrical conductivity, electrochemical window, and water content of ethaline were monitored over a 2-week period. Karl Fischer titration tests showed that ethaline exposed to the atmosphere displayed significant hygroscopicity compared to its unexposed counterpart. ¹H NMR spectroscopy revealed that water vapor was readily absorbed at the surface due to the hydrophilic groups present in the ethaline molecule. Water uptake resulted in the decrease in viscosity, increase in electrical conductivity and narrowing of the electrochemical window of ethaline. Solution heating at 100℃ removed the absorbed moisture and allowed the recovery of the solvent's initial properties.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.159-164
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• 2011

A variety of natural polymers have been used as tissue engineering scaffolds, drug delivery system, and cosmetic materials due to their higher biocompatibility and water uptake. As a major component of extracellular matrix, hyaluronic acid consisting of D-glucuronic acid and N-acetylglucosamine has been popularly used as a hydrogel material. Even though it has good properties to be used in the tissue engineering and cosmetic industry, its higher viscosity has limited a potential use in a variety of applications; only low content should be applied in preparing above products. In the present study, we investigated the effect of electron beam irradiation on the properties of hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid paste containing low contents of water changed to solution after electron beam irradiation ranging from 1 to 10 kGy, which didn't exhibit any alteration of surface properties and morphological change after freeze-drying. However, its viscosity was significantly decreased as absorbed dose increased, which was approximately one by hundred in comparison with the viscosity of original hyaluronic acid solution with same concentration. In addition, it can still interact with positive charged chitosan generating polyelectrolyte complex. Therefore, only viscosity was decreased after electron beam irradiation, whereas other properties of hyaluronic acid maintained. Consequently, these hyaluronic acids with lower viscosities can be used in a variety of applications in tissue engineering, drug delivery, and cosmetic industry.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.308-315
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• 2012

Opuntia humifusa known as the Eastern prickly pear have been used as a treatment of burns, diarrhea, asthma, rheumatism, gonorrhea, and diabetes in alternative medicine. O. humifusa is widely cultivated in the middle and southern provinces of Korea and distributed in North America. The aim of this study is to investigate anti-diabetic effect of O. humifusa stem (OHS) water or 80% MeOH extract using 3T3-L1 adipocytes and db/db mice animal models. OHS 80% MeOH extract at a dose of $250{\mu}g/ml$ significantly increased the glucose uptake and lipid accumulation compared with the control in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Blood glucose, plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride levels were significantly reduced by oral treatment of OHS 80% MeOH extract (200 mg/kg BW) for 6 weeks in db/db mice. Also, the oral treatment of OHS 80% MeOH extract slightly changed the plasma insulin and insulin resistance levels in db/db mice, but were no significance in comparison to control. Glucose transporter(GLUT)4 expressions of adipose tissue and muscle were significantly increased more than that in the control. Therefore, these results suggest that OHS 80% MeOH extract inhibits the blood glucose level through regulation of lipid profile, insulin resistance, and GLUT4 expression in db/db mice and its diabetic effect is effective more than water extract.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.156-163
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• 2006

In this study, substrate removal characteristics were analyzed to reduce the cost of external carbon dosage at Sudokwon Landfill Site Management Corporation in Korea by utilizing oxygen uptake rate (OUR) and nitrate uptake rate (NUR) tests. To estimate and evaluate the substrate removal characteristics obtained by the batch tests, the lab-scale MLE process was operated. By-products of J Co. (sugar manufactory) and S Co. (fine chemical industry) were selected as the concerned carbon sources through a comparison of carbon and nitrogen contents. MeOH was tested as a control experiment. Until the steady state, the fraction of $RBDCOD_{OUR}$ concentration to COD concentration of J Co., S Co. by-products and MeOH increased and reached levels of 98%, 82%, and 100%, respectively. During the 20th operating day, the fraction of $RBDCOD_{NUR}$ concentration to COD concentration was 95%, 81%, and 83%, respectively. These fractions of $RBDCOD_{NUR}$ concentration to $RBDCOD_{OUR}$ concentration increased according to acclimation periods and reached levels of 99%, 97%, and 81%, respectively, on the 20th day. The results obtained from the lab-scale MLE process operation using the concerned carbon sources as external carbon were similar to that observed by OUR and NUR tests.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.131-134
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• 2002

Mulberry being the only food of silkworm, Bombyx mori L., is of great economic importance to the silk industry, The success in cocoon production mainly depends on the supply of quality leaves in sufficient quantity. In mulberry, where the economic product is leaf, the uptake of nitrogen from soil is very heavy and high responses to application of nutrients have been reported. Nitrogen supports vegetative growth particularly the leaf biomass. Variation in nitrogen harvest index and other physiological and yield contributing traits were estimated in five mulberry genotypes. Considerable variation was observed for nitrogen harvest index, protein yield per plant and harvest index. The correlation studies indicated the protein yield per plant was significantly correlated with leaf yield, nitrogen content in leaf, nitrogen harvest index and harvest index. The broad sense heritability estimates revealed that harvest index showed highest heritability (88.07%) followed by nitrogen content (82.52%), protein yield (70.28%) and nitrogen harvest index (66.52%).

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.15-26
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• 2021

Peptides are short chain of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. They are widely used as effective and biocompatible active ingredients in cosmetic industry. In this study, we developed novel peptide mixture and identified its anti-pigmentation effect on melanocytes and keratinocytes. Our results revealed that peptide mixture inhibited melanosome biogenesis through the regulation of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor, a key factor of melanogenesis in melanocytes. And we observed that peptide mixture inhibited melanosome uptake through the reduction of protease-activated receptor 2, a phagocytosis-related receptor in keratinocytes. Furthermore, peptide mixture activated autophagy system resulting in degradation of transferred melanosomes in keratinocytes. The anti-pigmentation effect of multi-targeting peptide mixture was assessed in a human skin equivalent model (MelanoDerm). Melanin contents in epidermal layer were significantly decreased by topical treatment of peptide mixture, suggesting that it can be applied as a novel cosmetics material having a whitening function.