• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.101-115
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• 2018

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of various filter conditions on unconfined aquifer (alluvial aquifer). We made model test device which has filter layer, pumping well and observation well which consist of sand layer and gravel layer to test. Step drawdown test and long term pumping tests were carried out using the device. The permeability characteristics of each test group were confirmed and the optimal yield was calculated. As a result of comparing the optimal yield of double filter and single filter in sand, dual-filter SD-300 was valued at 216.8 % higher final optimal yield than single-filter SS-300. Comparing the dual filter SD-300 and the single filter SS-100 with a thin filter layer, dual-filter SD-300 was valued at 709.2% higher final optimal yield than single-filter SS-300. As a result of analysis of optimal yield change over time, It was confirmed that the ratio of optimal yield of single filter and dual filter increase over time. In order to evaluate the long-term change in water intake efficiency, we considered the point at which the initial optimal yield was reduced by 50%. The dual filter SD-300 is about 351.1% higher than SS-300, which is the same thickness filter, and about 579.0% higher than SS-100. From these results, Assuming that the point at which the initial quantity of water intake is reduced to 50% is the well life, double filters are expected to increase their lifespan by about 3.5 times over single filters of the same thickness and by about 5.8 times over typical single filter. These results can be used to design wells to river bank filtration or filtered seawater. In addition, it is possible to clarify the effect of the double filter through the comparison with the future field test results.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.607-613
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• 2010

Osteoporosis is a disease involving a decrease in bone mineral density and an increased risk of fractures. The MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblastic cell line is a well-accepted model of osteogenesis in vitro. Pine needles have long been used as a traditional health-promoting medicinal food in Korea. In this study, MTT assay, the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and collagen synthesis of osteoblast cells were investigated to determine the effects of pine needle extracts on cell proliferation and differentiation. Pine needle extracts were prepared using hexane, ethanol and water. The effects of the pine needle extracts were examined by comparing the results with those of commercial agents, such as proanthocyanidin. The MC3T3-E1 cells exposed to proanthocyanidin showed increased proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner. The cells exposed to the hexane extract showed a similar increase in proliferation to that observed with proanthocyanidin. The hexane extract showed the highest ALP activity. Moreover, a supplement of pine needle extracts induced collagen synthesis in MC3T3-E1 cells. The pine needle extract produced the highest level of collagen synthesis at concentrations of $10{\sim}50\;{\mu}g/ml$. These results indicate that pine needle extracts have an anabolic effect on bone by promoting osteoblastic differentiation, and may be used in the treatment of common metabolic bone diseases.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.1096-1103
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• 2013

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is common in athletes, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease and a long-term consequence of repetitive closed head injuries. CTE is regarded as a chronic brain syndrome due to the effects of repetitive traumatic brain injury (TBI). Because neurotrophic factors are neuroprotective in models of brain and spinal cord injuries, we examined the effects of cerebrolysin, a mixture of various neurotrophic factors, on brain pathology in a mouse model of repetitive mild TBI (rmTBI), which is a good model of CTE. Five groups were created and treated as follows: groups 1 and 2: rmTBI for 4 weeks following cerebrolysin injection for 4 weeks; groups 3 and 4: rmTBI for 8 weeks with or without cerebrolysin injection for 4 weeks; group 5: control. We found that p-tau expression was increased in the pyramidal layer of the cortex and hippocampus, particularly the CA3 region, but not in the CA1 region and the dentate gyrus (DG). Intra-tail vein administration of cerebrolysin ($10{\mu}l$ of 1 mg/ml) after/during rmTBI treatment reduced p-tau expression in both the cortex and hippocampus. Histological analysis revealed mild astrocyte activation (increased expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)) but not microglia activation (ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1 (iba-1) expression) and peripheral macrophage infiltration (CD45). Additionally, administration of cerebrolysin after rmTBI resulted in reduced astrocyte activation. These observations in rmTBI demonstrated that cerebrolysin treatment reduces phosphorylation of tau and astrocyte activation, attenuates brain pathology, and mitigates function deficits in TBI. Taken together, our observations suggest that cerebrolysin has potential therapeutic value in CTE.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.1889-1895
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• 2010

The purpose of this present study was to investigate the effects of long-term treadmill running and aged garlic extract supplementation on weight, adipose tissue mass, lipid profiles and oxidative stress after exhaustion in high fat diet-induced obese rats. Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats (3 weeks old) were used as subjects. High fat diets were fed to all subjects for 6 weeks in order to induce obesity. The subjects were divided into five groups - N (normal diet group), HD (high fat diet group), E (exercise group), EA (exercise with AGE diet group) and A (AGE diet group). Aerobic exercise was performed through treadmill running and AGE at a dosage of 2.86 kg/g was administered to rats 30 min before every exercise for 4 weeks. After 4 weeks, all groups completed acute treadmill running (speed increasing gradually to 25 m/min, 15% uphill grade) until exhaustion. Immediately after exhaustive treadmill exercise, the weight, adipose tissue mass, lipid profiles and oxidative stress of the rats were assayed. At the end of 6 weeks of high fat diets, body weight and body weight gain were significantly higher in the high fat diet groups than in the normal diet group (p<0.001). At the end of treadmill exercise with AGE intake for 4 weeks, body weight gain, visceral and epididymal fat of the E and EA groups were significantly decreased compared to other groups (p<0.05). There were no significant differences in gastrocnemius and soleus. T-C, HDL-C, TG and LDL-C were not significant in any of the groups. TBARS was significantly lower in the A group than in the E group (p<0.05). These results indicated that body weight gain, visceral and epididymal fat decreased in the E and EA groups, and TBARS levels were lower in the A group than the E group. Regular aerobic exercise intervention with AGE supplementation may also modify the adipose weight and improve the oxidant stress in obese rats.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.370-376
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• 2014

Although the grasshopper Oxya chinensis sinuosa has long been used as food in Korea, there is little data on its functional effects. In this study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effect of O. c. sinuosa ethanol extract (OCE) in RAW 264.7 mouse macrophage cells treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for induction of inflammation. First, we determined that there is no cytotoxicity at $2,000{\mu}g/ml$ or less of OCE in RAW 264.7 cells. To evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of OCE, we investigated expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$ and interleukin (IL)-6, and pro-inflammatory enzymes such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. In addition, we examined whether OCE could inhibit translocation of NF-${\kappa}B$ p65 into the nucleus in LPS induced RAW 264.7 cells. As a result, we found that the mRNA and protein levels of TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL-6 decreased in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells after treatment with OCE in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, we confirmed a $2,000{\mu}g/ml$ concentration of OCE inhibited translocation of NF-${\kappa}B$ p65 by immunnostaining and Western blot analysis, and a decrease in the protein expression levels of iNOS and COX-2. Accordingly, we suppose that OCE has an anti-inflammatory effect through down-regulation of TNF-${\alpha}$, IL-6, iNOS, and COX-2 related to ${\kappa}B$ p65 inflammatory signaling pathways.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.604-609
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• 2011

Pine (pinus densiflora) needles have long been used as a traditional health-promoting medicinal food in Korea. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of pine needle extracts on the hepatic antioxidant system in the damaged liver of carbon tetrachloride ($CCl_4$)-treated rats. Nine-week-old Sprague Dawley rats were divided into four groups: normal group (NOR), $CCl_4$-treated group (CCL), pine needle hot water extract and $CCl_4$-treated group (CCL-P), and Vitamin C and $CCl_4$-treated group (CCL-V). The enzyme activities and antioxidant effects of the pine needle hot water extracts were investigated at the levels of liver homogenates and serum of rats intoxicated with $CCl_4$. Serum GOT and GPT activities by $CCl_4$ treatment increased compared to those of the NOR group. However, they tended to decrease in the hot water extract-administered group. Liver SOD activity in the CCL group was significantly lower than the NOR group (p<0.05). However, they increased in the CCL-P group compared to the CCL group. Further, the CAT and GPx activities of serum treated with $CCl_4$ were higher compared to those of the NOR group but lower in the CCL-P group compared to CCL group. These results suggest that pine needle hot water extract increases antioxidant activities.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.1454-1459
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• 2013

This study investigated the effects that water temperature and the administration of estradiol-17${\beta}$ (E2) had on the sex ratio and growth of the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica. Glass eels (total length${\fallingdotseq}$6.5 cm) were differentiated into an E2 group and an E2-free group and then they were reared for about four months at three water temperature levels of $20^{\circ}C$, $24^{\circ}C$, and $28^{\circ}C$. The results showed that the young eels survived normally at the rearing water temperature of ${\geq}24^{\circ}C$, and grew to a mean size of 20 cm (total length). In the E2-free group, temperature was not found to increase the sex ratio (feminizing rates); however, the sex ratio of the E2-administrated group was found to be a little higher at a high temperature ($28^{\circ}C$). The growth of the E2 group was lower than the growth of the E2-free group at $24^{\circ}C$ and the E2 concentration levels in the plasma at $24^{\circ}C$ were found to be significant after the end of the E2 administration period (178 days). Therefore, we thought that long-term administration of E2 must be considered to be the reason for growth decline in spite of the prominent sex ratio effect. Our results indicate that temperature was not related to an increase in the feminizing rate (sex ratio) in the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica, and other environmental factors (rearing density, salinity, etc.) that have the possibility of inducing ovarian differentiation must be investigated.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.402-409
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• 2019

Korean red ginseng made from steaming and drying fresh ginseng has long been used as a traditional herbal medicine due to its effects on the immune, endocrine, and central nerve systems and its anti-inflammatory activity. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanism responsible for the anti-inflammatory effects of a formulated Korean red ginseng extract (RGE) in response to lipoteichoic acid (LTA), a cell wall component of gram-positive bacteria. RGE inhibited LTA-induced nitric oxide (NO) secretion and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in BV-2 microglial cells, without affecting cell viability. RGE also inhibited nuclear translocation of nuclear factor kappa B ($NF-{\kappa}B$) p65 and degradation of $I{\kappa}B-{\alpha}$. In addition, RGE increased the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in a dose-dependent manner, and the inhibitory effect of RGE on iNOS expression was abrogated by small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of HO-1. Moreover, RGE induced nuclear translocation of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), a transcription factor that regulates HO-1 expression. Furthermore, the phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI-3K) inhibitor and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitors suppressed RGE-mediated expression of HO-1, and RGE enhanced the phosphorylation of Akt, extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs), p38, and c-JUN N-terminal kinases (JNKs). These results suggested that RGE suppressed the production of NO, a proinflammatory mediator, by inducing HO-1 expression via PI-3K/Akt- and MAPK-dependent signaling in LTA-stimulated microglia. The findings indicate that RGE could be used for the treatment of neuroinflammation induced by grampositive bacteria and that it may have therapeutic potential for various neuroinflammation-associated disorders.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.147-170
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• 2022

Although the number of patent which is one of the core outputs of technological innovation continues to increase, the number of low-value patents also hugely increased. Therefore, efficient evaluation of patents has become important. Estimation of patent lifespan which represents private value of a patent, has been studied for a long time, but in most cases it relied on a linear model. Even if machine learning methods were used, interpretation or explanation of the relationship between explanatory variables and patent lifespan was insufficient. In this study, patent lifespan (number of renewals) is predicted based on the idea that patent lifespan represents the value of the patent. For the research, 4,033,414 patents applied between 1996 and 2017 and finally granted were collected from USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office). To predict the patent lifespan, we use variables that can reflect the characteristics of the patent, the patent owner's characteristics, and the inventor's characteristics. We build four different models (Ridge Regression, Random Forest, Feed Forward Neural Network, Gradient Boosting Models) and perform hyperparameter tuning through 5-fold Cross Validation. Then, the performance of the generated models are evaluated, and the relative importance of predictors is also presented. In addition, based on the Gradient Boosting Model which have excellent performance, Accumulated Local Effects Plot is presented to visualize the relationship between predictors and patent lifespan. Finally, we apply Kernal SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) to present the evaluation reason of individual patents, and discuss applicability to the patent evaluation system. This study has academic significance in that it cumulatively contributes to the existing patent life estimation research and supplements the limitations of existing patent life estimation studies based on linearity. It is academically meaningful that this study contributes cumulatively to the existing studies which estimate patent lifespan, and that it supplements the limitations of linear models. Also, it is practically meaningful to suggest a method for deriving the evaluation basis for individual patent value and examine the applicability to patent evaluation systems.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.12
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• pp.1002-1014
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• 2023

The root of Cirsium japonicum var. maackii (Maxim.) has long been used in traditional medicine to prevent the onset and progression of various diseases and has been reported to exert a wide range of physiological effects, including antioxidant activity. However, research on its effects on hepatocytes remains scarce. This study used the human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cell line to investigate the antioxidant activity of ethanol extract of C. japonicum root (EECJ) on hepatocytes. Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) was used to mimic oxidative stress. The results showed that EECJ significantly reverted the decrease in cell viability and suppressed the release of lactate dehydrogenase in HepG2 cells treated with H₂O₂. Moreover, an analysis of changes in cell morphology, flow cytometry, and microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3) expression showed that EECJ significantly inhibited HepG2 cell autophagy induced by H₂O₂. Furthermore, it attenuated H₂O₂-induced apoptosis and cell cycle disruption by blocking intracellular reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial superoxide production, indicating strong antioxidant activity. EECJ also restored the decreased levels of intracellular glutathione (GSH) and enhanced the expression and activity of superoxide dismutase and GSH peroxidase in H₂O₂-treated HepG2 cells. Although an analysis of the components contained in EECJ and in vivo validation using animal models are needed, these findings indicate that EECJ is a promising candidate for the prevention and treatment of oxidative stress-induced liver cell damage.