• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.17-22
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• 2007

Fresh unripe whole fruits of Luffa tuberosa (Roxb.) or Momordica tuberosa (Roxb.) Cogn. (Cucurbitaceae) were evaluated for the antidiabetic and hyperlipidemic potential in streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced by administration of intra-peritoneal injection of streptozotocin at a dose of 55 mg/kg body weight. After the induction of diabetes aqueous extract of L.tuberosa (AELT) was administered orally at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg. body weight/day for a period of 14 days. The Fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels, serum insulin levels, changes in body weight, food and liquid intake were measured. In diabetic rats, the AELT exhibited significant reduction in blood glucose levels. Biochemical assay of plasma total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc), glycogen content and glucose-6-phosphatase activity in liver were assessed. Antihyperlipidemia in diabetic rats after the extract supplementation was confirmed by significant reduction in the levels of above mentioned hyperlipidemic indicators. This study focus on the efficacy of L.tuberosa fruits for the management of experimental STZ induced diabetic rats and provides the scientific basis of ancient herbal therapy and use of these fruits as vegetable.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.9-18
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• 1994

Activated sludge pilot plant testing was conducted to determine the ability of a well-designed activated sludge treatment system to remove chromic toxicity from the bleached kraft pulp mill effluent. Removals of conventional(BOD and SS) and nonconventional(resin and fatty acids, color, AOX) pollutants were estimated. The pilot plant was operated at steady state for about 10 weeks at an F/M of 0.28 and a sludge age of 8.4 days. The average MLSS concentration was 4,309mg/l, of which volatile fraction was 57%. During the operation period, the BOD removal reaction rate(k) was determined to be 8.2/day at $30^{\circ}C$. The BOD removal was 84 percent, which was 3 to 6 percent lower than expected for full-scale treatment. The chronic toxicity of the activated sludge effluent was tested by employing both Dinnel and the BML protocols. It was found that the pilot plant could achieve in excess of 90 percent reduction in chronic echinoderm toxicity. The data show slight reduction of color and AOX across the activated sludge system. The pilot system, however, demonstrated on excellent removal of resin and fatty acids.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.96-99
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• 2014

Purpose: The objective of this retrospective pilot study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Gabapentin in patients with primary burning mouth syndrome (BMS). Methods: Ten subjects were diagnosed with primary BMS (8 women and 2 men). The mean age was 60.1 years. They had clinical examination to exclude local factors such as the presence of Candida species, xerostomia, lichen planus, etc. They also underwent hematological examination to exclude secondary BMS due to systemic disorders. Pain was assessed by patients on an 11-point numerical rating score system (0 to 10). Gabapentin was administered at a starting dose of 300 mg/day, slowly titrated up to maximum of 1,800 mg/day. All patients were treated for 4 weeks. Results: One half of the patients (n=5) obtained reduction in pain over the treatment period. Four patients reported no reduction in pain symptoms. One patient reported that symptoms were worsening. The average pain score before the treatment was 6.3 and after the treatment was 5.25. No significant relationship was detected between pretreatment and posttreatment pain score. Only one patient noted mild side effect (dizziness). Conclusions: This retrospective pilot study provides no preliminary evidence that Gabapentin has effect in the management of BMS. However, further research (well-designed, randomized, and controlled trial with large sample) would be needed to investigate the efficacy of Gabapentin in treatment of BMS.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.183-190
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• 2003

This study was designed to investigate the effects of weight control and changes in serum components using a commercial uncooked food diet on 36 obese women over a period of 8 weeks. The subjects had uncooked food (40 g) with milk or soymilk twice a day instead of meals. The mean body weight and height measurements of the subjects at the outset were 69.1 $\pm$ 9.3 kg and 159.5 $\pm$ 4.4 cm, respectively. Initial daily calorie intake was 103.6 % of RDA, but was significantly lower at 4 and 8 weeks. The subjects showed a significant reduction in weight, body fat mass (p<0.05), anthropo-metric value and skinfold thickness during the experimental period. Hip and upper thigh girth were 102.7 $\pm$ 6.4 cm and 61.7 $\pm$ 4.3 cm at the outset, and fell to 99.3 $\pm$ 5.0 cm and 58.8 $\pm$ 4.1 cm after 8 weeks. The most significant reduction was in abdomen skinfold thickness (p < 0.05) , which went from 32.4 $\pm$ 8.7 mm at first to 24.2 $\pm$ 8.3 mm in after 8 weeks. Serum albumin levels were higher at 4 and 8 weeks than initially but the figures for all of the subjects were within the normal range. Hemoglobin and blood glucose levels were also within the normal range during the experimental period. Initial serum triglyceride level was 110.5 $\pm$ 49.5 mg/dl but fell to 93.2 $\pm$ 48.5 mg/dl after 8 weeks. Our results show that uncooked foods are effective in the diet therapy of obese women.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.57-65
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• 1987

ABSTRACT - To examine antihypertensive components of Ganoderma lucidum in Korea, two kinds of fruiting bodies (J and K) were used for extraction with water and the extracts were purified by ethanol precipitation and dialysis. Three fractions, i.e., the aqueous total extract(A), the ethanol supernatant(B} and the purified precipitate(C), were compared for antihypertensive activity in anesthetized spontaneously hypertensive rats (SUR). Although fractions A and B showed the activity, fraction C did not. Particularly, fraction B of sample K produced 44.3% reduction in diastolic blood pressure and 30.6% reduction in heart rate after i.v. administration of a dose of 10 mg/kg. Direct effects of this fraction B to the heart were observed in the isolated blood perfused heart preparation of the dog. It induced positive chronotropic and inotropic responses dose-dependently in the case of sample J. In the case of sample K, marked chronotropic and inotropic effects on atrial muscle but not on ventricular muscle were induced. In both samples, coronary blood flow (CBF) was dose-relatedly increased.reased.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.494-499
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• 1976

The extraction-polarographic method applied to the determination of micro amount of chromium (Ⅵ). Chromium(Ⅵ) was extracted into methylisobuthylketone(MIBK) layer containing diethyldithiocarbamate(DDTC) as Cr(Ⅲ)-DDTC complex from acetate buffered aqueous, solution of pH 5.4 and the direct current polarogram for the extract was recorded after addition of sodium perchlorate as supporting electrolyte. The reduction current was diffusion controlled. And the half wave potential of this reduction wave was -0.81 volt vs. SCE. The diffusion current was proportional to the chromium concentraticn in aqueous solution in the range of 8∼160 ppm. And the chromium(Ⅵ) could be selectively determined in the presence of chromium(Ⅲ), since the chromium(Ⅲ) did not interfere up to twice the amount of chromium(Ⅵ). Many of other metals such as Mn(Ⅱ), Cu(Ⅲ), Zn(Ⅱ), Mg(Ⅱ), Ni(Ⅱ) and Ag(Ⅰ) were found to have no effect even when present in 1000 times the amount of chromium (Ⅵ).

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.177-184
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• 2006

The characteristic biodegradation of monomeric styrene by Phanerochaete chrysosporium KFRI 20742, Trametes versicolor KFRI 20251 and Daldinia concentrica KFRI 40-1 was carried out to examine the resistance, its degradation efficiency and metabolites analysis. The estrogenic reduction effect of styrene by the fungi was also evaluated. The mycelium growth of fungi differentiated depending on the concentration levels of styrene. Additionally P. chrysosporium KFRI 20742 showed superior mycelium growth at less than 200 mg/l, while D. concentrica KFRI 40-1 was more than 200 mg/l. The degradation efficiency reached 99 % during one day of incubation for all the fungi. Both manganese-dependent peroxidase and laccase activities in liquid medium were the highest at the initial stage of incubation, whereas the lowest was after the addition of styrene. However, both activities were gradually recovered after. The major metabolites of styrene by P. chrysosporium KFRI 20742 were 2-phenyl ethanol, benzoic acid, cyclohexadiene-1,4-dione, butanol and succinic acid. From one to seven days of incubating the fungi, the expression of pS2 mRNA widely known as an estrogen response gene was decreased down to the level of baseline after one day. Also, the estrogenic effect of styrene completely disappeared after treatment with supernatant of P. chrysosporium KFRI 20742 from one week of culture down to the levels of vehicle.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.86-92
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• 2017

Osteoblasts, originating from mesenchymal cells, make the receptor activator of the nuclear factor kappa B ligand (RANKL) and osteoprotegerin (OPG) in order to control differentiation of activated osteoclasts, originating from hematopoietic stem cells. When the RANKL binds to the RANK of the pre-osteoclasts or mature osteoclasts, bone resorption increases. On the contrary, when OPG binds to the RANK, bone resorption decreases. Denosumab (AMG 162), like OPG (a decoy receptor), binds to the RANKL, and reduces binding between the RANK and the RANKL resulting in inhibition of osteoclastogenesis and reduction of bone resorption. Bisphosphonates (BPs), which bind to the bone mineral and occupy the site of resorption performed by activated osteoclasts, are still the drugs of choice to prevent and treat osteoporosis. The merits of denosumab are reversibility targeting the RANKL, lack of adverse gastrointestinal events, improved adherence due to convenient biannual subcutaneous administration, and potential use with impaired renal function. The known adverse reactions are musculoskeletal pain, increased infections with adverse dermatologic reactions, osteonecrosis of the jaw, hypersensitivity reaction, and hypocalcemia. Treatment with 60 mg of denosumab reduces the bone resorption marker, serum type 1 C-telopeptide, by 3 days, with maximum reduction occurring by 1 month. The mean time to maximum denosumab concentration is 10 days with a mean half-life of 25.4 days. In conclusion, the convenient biannual subcutaneous administration of 60 mg of denosumab can be considered as a first-line treatment for osteoporosis in cases of low compliance with BPs due to gastrointestinal trouble and impaired renal function.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.639-650
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• 2000

The main object of this study was to investigate experimentally the characteristics of cyclone-bag filter with bottom inlet to decrease the high pressure drop which was one of main problems of fabric bag filter. The experiment was executed for the analysis of collection efficiency and pressure drop(specially, pressure drop of fabric filter) characteristics of the cyclone-bag filter in comparison with those of general fabric bag filter with various experimental parameters such as the inlet velocity, dust loading and variation of vortex region, etc. In the results, the tangential inlet type showed higher collection efficiency for submicron particles below $1{\mu}m$ in diameter than of center inlet, and over 99% for overall collection efficiency. For the inlet particle concentration $100mg/m^3$, pressure drop reduction ratios were shown as 15~38% with the inlet velocity in case of large bag, while 30~48% for small bag due to the increase of vortex region.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.437-446
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• 2012

Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characterized by recurrent episodes of colonic inflammation and tissue degeneration in human or animal models. The contractile force generated by the smooth muscle is significantly attenuated, resulting in altered motility leading to diarrhea or constipation in IBD. The aim of this study is to clarify the altered contractility of circular and longitudinal smooth muscle layers in proximal colon of trinitrobenzen sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis mouse. Colitis was induced by direct injection of TNBS (120 mg/kg, 50% ethanol) in proximal colon of ICR mouse using a 30 G needle anesthetized with ketamin (50 mg/kg), whereas animals in the control group were injected of 50% ethanol alone. In TNBS-induced colitis, the wall of the proximal colon is diffusely thickened with loss of haustration, and showed mucosal and mucular edema with inflammatory infiltration. The colonic inflammation is significantly induced the reduction of colonic contractile activity including spontaneous contractile activity, depolarization-induced contractility, and muscarinic acetylcholine receptor-mediated contractile response in circular muscle layer compared to the longitudinal muscle layer. The inward rectification of currents, especially, important to $Ca^{2+}$ and $Na^+$ influx-induced depolarization and contraction, was markedly reduced in the TNBS-induced colitis compared to the control. The muscarinic acetylcholine-mediated contractile responses were significantly attenuated in the circular and longitudinal smooth muscle strips induced by the reduction of membrane expression of canonical transient receptor potential (TRPC) channel isoforms from the proximal colon of the TNBS-induced colitis mouse than the control.