• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.129-134
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• 2014

It has been suggested that transition metal ions such as iron can produce an oxidative injuries to nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons, like Parkinson's disease (PD) and subsequent compensative increase of tetrahydrobiopterin ($BH_4$) during the disease progression induces the aggravation of dopaminergic neurodegeneration in striatum. It had been established that the direct administration of $BH_4$ into neuron would induce the neuronal toxicity in vitro. To elucidate a role of $BH_4$ in pathogenesis in the PD in vivo, we assessed the changes of dopamine (DA) and $BH_4$ at striatum in unilateral intranigral iron infused PD rat model. The ipsistriatal DA and $BH_4$ levels were significantly increased at 0.5 to 1 d and were continually depleting during 2 to 7 d after intranigral iron infusion. The turnover rate of $BH_4$ was higher than that of DA in early phase. However, the expression level of GTP-cyclohydrolase I mRNA in striatum was steadily increased after iron administration. These results suggest that the accumulation of intranigral iron leads to generation of oxidative stress which damage to dopaminergic neurons and causes increased release of $BH_4$ in the dopaminergic neuron. The degenerating dopaminergic neurons decrease the synthesis and release of both $BH_4$ and DA in vivo that are relevance to the progression of PD. Based on these data, we propose that the increase of $BH_4$ can deteriorate the disease progression in early phase of PD, and the inhibition of $BH_4$ increase could be a strategy for PD treatment.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1131-1141
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• 2023

Objective: Cortical iron deposition has recently been shown to occur in Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, we aimed to evaluate how cortical gray matter iron, measured using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM), differs in the clinical cognitive impairment spectrum. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study evaluated 73 participants (mean age ± standard deviation, 66.7 ± 7.6 years; 52 females and 21 males) with normal cognition (NC), 158 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 48 patients with AD dementia. The participants underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging using a three-dimensional multi-dynamic multi-echo sequence on a 3-T scanner. We employed a deep neural network (QSMnet+) and used automatic segmentation software based on FreeSurfer v6.0 to extract anatomical labels and volumes of interest in the cortex. We used analysis of covariance to investigate the differences in susceptibility among the clinical diagnostic groups in each brain region. Multivariable linear regression analysis was performed to study the association between susceptibility values and cognitive scores including the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Results: Among the three groups, the frontal (P < 0.001), temporal (P = 0.004), parietal (P = 0.001), occipital (P < 0.001), and cingulate cortices (P < 0.001) showed a higher mean susceptibility in patients with MCI and AD than in NC subjects. In the combined MCI and AD group, the mean susceptibility in the cingulate cortex (β = -216.21, P = 0.019) and insular cortex (β = -276.65, P = 0.001) were significant independent predictors of MMSE scores after correcting for age, sex, education, regional volume, and APOE4 carrier status. Conclusion: Iron deposition in the cortex, as measured by QSMnet+, was higher in patients with AD and MCI than in NC participants. Iron deposition in the cingulate and insular cortices may be an early imaging marker of cognitive impairment related neurodegeneration.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.91-103
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• 1972

Zinc is one of the essential trace elements in the living organism for growth and health. The first identified metalloenzyme, carbonic anhydrase, is a zinc compound and several others have been described since. Among zinc deficiency syndromes in animals porcine parakeratosis has been successfully treated with zinc supplements, and in man a syndrome of anemia, hypogonadism, hepatosplenomegaly, and dwarfism, prevalent in parts of Iran and Egypt, has been ascribed to lack of zinc in the diet. Dietary zinc excess in the rat is manifested by a hypochromic, microcytic anemia, poor growth, reduction in liver catalase and cytochrome oxidase. The present study is an attempt to delineate the changes of tissue contents of trace elements, especially of iron, copper and zinc in liver and kidneys of the rats. Weanling albino rats, weighing 60 to 80gm. were used in this experiments. The rats were housed in cages with aluminum floors and received feed and distilled water ad libitum. Animals were divided into three groups, control, low zinc diet and high zinc diet groups. The high zinc diet group was subdivided into 0.5% Zn and 0.7%Zn groups. The supplementary copper or iron was added to the high dietary zinc groups. The animals were sacrificed and the tissues were washed several times with deionized water. The wet digested samples were analyzed by Hitachi Model 207 atomic absorption spectro-photometer for the determination of iron, copper and zinc in the liver and kidney. Hemoglobin level in the blood was measured by cyanmethemoglobin method. The results of this study are as follows: 1) All rats fed high zinc diets and low zinc diets gained less weight than control. Weight gain was not improved by the supplementary copper or iron and both. 2) Hemoglobin concentration was decreased significantly in the rats fed high zinc diets and less in the low zinc diet. Supplementary copper and iron to the higher zinc diet appeared to give some improvement of anemia. 3) The iron contents of the liver and kidneys were significantly decreased in the high zinc groups and the reduction was more significantly in the rats receiving higher zinc diet (0.7%). The supplementary copper caused a further depression of liver iron. On the other hand, the iron, added to the high zinc diet lessoned the severity of the decrease in liver iron and caused kidney iron to be maintained almost at the level found in the rats fed by zinc and supplementary copper diet. 4) High zinc diets did not change copper content of the liver and kidney. Supplementary copper elevated the concentration in the liver and kidney and added iron had no effect on the accumulation of copper in the liver and kidneys. 5) The high zinc diets caused marked increases of zinc content in the liver and kidney. Supplementary iron to the high zinc diet caused increases of zinc contents of liver and kidneys.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.62-72
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• 1999

In this study, the griding machine bed was designed and analyzed by using epoxy-granite. Finite element technique was employed to design and analyze the composite bed structure. Von Mises stress and relative displacements between a tool and a workpiece were checked to compare a cast iron bed structure with a composite bed structure. Dynamic features of structures were also studied according to the process of modal analysis through natural frequency and mode shape measurement. Another improved model was also designed using the accumulation of knowledge based on the use of the structural analysis and experiments. Comparing with the cast iron bed structure, the composite bed structure maintains better functions.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.709-716
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• 1994

This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of dietary Fe levels on Cd accumulation in Cd poisoned rats. Forty male weaning Sprague Dawley rats weighing 80-90g were divided into 4 groups(LFe : low Fe, LFeCd : low Fe and Cd, AFe : adequate Fe, AFeCd : adequate Fe and Cd) according to Cd administration(Cd : 0 or 50ppm in drinking water) and Fe levels (Fe : 6 or 40ppm in diet) for 12 weeks. The food intake and weight gain of LFe and LFeCd were significantly lower than those of AFe and AFeCd(p<0.01, p<0.001). The water intake was not affected significantly by Cd and Fe, therefore Cd intake was no significant difference between groups. The Cd accumulation of kidney in LFeCd was significantly higher than those of AFeCd(p<0.001). But the Cd accumulations of brain, liver and spleen were not significantly different between Cd groups and without Cd groups. The serum Cd content and urinary Cd excretion of LFeCd was significantly higher than those of AFeCd(p<0.01, p<0.01). But the fecal Cd excretion of LFeCd was significantly lower than that of AFeCd(p<0.001). The Cd retention, Cd retention rate, and apparent Cd digestibility of LFeCd were significantly higher than those of AFeCd(p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001). It was concluded that adequate Fe supplementation have protective effects on the long term Cd poisoning in rats.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.161-174
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• 1979

A review was made on the effect of organic matter application on the chemical characteristics of soils such as pH, solubilities of minerals, and cation exchange capacity mainly at flooded rice soils. The review can be summarized as follows: 1. Application of organic material such as rice straw and compost in flooded rice soil leads to a temporary lowering of soil pH at the earlier stage of soil reduction, due to the production of various organic acids and carbonic acid. This temporary lowered pH is replaced with the production of alkaline substances such as ammonia as the reduction of soil proceeds. 2. Incorporation of organic materials intensifies the ferrous iron, dissolving various minerals, virtually to the increase in electrical conductivity of soils. 3. Organic materials also play an important role in dissolving soil minerals through the production of various chelating agents. 4. Application of soil organic matter significantly increases cation exchange capacity of soils. 5. Continuous application of rice straw or compost leads to the increase in soil organic matter content to some extent, up to the level of equilibrium. In soils low in organic matter the equilibrium level is attained with five years continuous application of compost. 6. The manner of chemical fertilizer application influences the accumulation of organic matter applied in soils. Low levels of fertilization lowers the accumulation while high levels of fertilization accerelates the accumulation.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.134-141
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• 2020

Oxidative stress is a cascade reaction characterized by a significant increase in the amount of oxidized components. Free radicals produced by oxidative stress are one of the common features in several experimental models of disease, and contribute to wide range of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease. Iron (II) species can participate in the Fenton, and Fenton-like reactions, to react with hydrogen peroxide and generate hydroxyl radical. As iron accumulation and oxidative stress are associated with the pathological progression of neurodegenerative diseases, iron chelation and antioxidant therapies have become strategies to combat these diseases. Due to the complexity of the redox system in vivo, a multifaceted approach may be an attractive therapeutic strategy. Further investigations are highly expected for the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases in future.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.58-65
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• 2011

The bacterial uranium(VI) reduction and its resultant low solubility make this process an attractive option for removing U from groundwater. An impact of aqueous suspending iron phase, which is redox sensitive and ubiquitous in subsurface groundwater, on the U(VI) bioreduction by Shewanella putrefaciens CN32 was investigated. In our batch experiment, the U(VI) concentration ($5{\times}10^5M$) gradually decreased to a non-detectable level during the microbial respiration. However, when Fe(III) phase was suspended in solution, bioreduction of U(VI) was significantly suppressed due to a preferred reduction of Fe(III) instead of U(VI). This shows that the suspending amorphous Fe(III) phase can be a strong inhibitor to the U(VI) bioreduction. On the contrary, when iron was present as a soluble Fe(II) in the solution, the U(VI) removal was largely enhanced. The microbially-catalyzed U(VI) reduction resulted in an accumulation of solid-type U particles in and around the cells. Electron elemental investigations for the precipitates show that some background cations such as Ca and P were favorably coprecipitated with U. This implies that aqueous U tends to be stabilized by complexing with Ca or P ions, which easily diffuse and coprecipitate with U in and around the microbial cell.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.638-643
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• 2005

This study was peformed to investigate the effect of dietary iron and exercise on heme biosynthesis and lipid metabolism of rats. Rats were divided into 4 groups according to dietary iron supplement (Fe-,5 ppm vs. Fe+, 50 ppm) and exercise status (control us exercise). The experiment continued for 8 weeks. Regular treadmill exercise ($6^{\circ}$, 28 m/min, 30 min duration, 5 days/week) was given to exercise groups. The aminolevulinate dehydrase activity of red blood cell, the marker of heme biosynthesis, was significantly increased in the exercise group. Regular aerobic exercise reduced body weight and epidydimal fat pad gain. Regular exercise also significantly decreased the plasma triglyceride, cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol of the rats. Meanwhile, the iron deficiency decreased the hematocrit and hemoglobin concentration and increased the accumulation of liver cholesterol.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.207-217
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• 1988

A myotrophic protein that seemed to he eseentiai for the hision of chick embryonic myoblasts in culture was isolated from chick embryo extrad and was found to be identical or at least similar to the iron-transporting protein, transferrin. Embryo extract seemed to contain, in addition to this myotrophic protein, a heat stable protein that inhibits the fusion of myoblasts. Iron seemed to he necessary for myoblasts to fuse and it was supposed that the role of the myotrophic protein m myoblast fusion is to supply iron to the cell. The numher of the myotrophic protein receptors on myoblast surface membrane decreased immediately after the start of myoblast fusion, supposedly due to the decreased need of iron after the fusion once commenced. It was estimated that endocytosis of myotrophic protein took about 10 minutes and one recycling about 2 hours. The accumulation of iron in myoblasts continued linearly with cultre time and endocytosis of the myotrophic protein occured at a constant rate.