• BMB Reports
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.275-280
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• 2022

The treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD) is challenging due to its complex etiology. From epidermal disruption to chronic inflammation, various cells and inflammatory pathways contribute to the progression of AD. As with immunosuppressants, general inhibition of inflammatory pathways can be effective, but this approach is not suitable for long-term treatment due to its side effects. This study aimed to identify a plant extract (PE) with anti-inflammatory effects on multiple cell types involved in AD development and provide relevant mechanistic evidence. Degranulation was measured in RBL-2H3 cells to screen 30 PEs native to South Korea. To investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of Parasenecio auriculatus var. matsumurana Nakai extract (PAE) in AD, production of cytokines and nitric oxide, activation status of FcεRI and TLR4 signaling, cell-cell junction, and cell viability were evaluated using qRT-PCR, western blotting, confocal microscopy, Griess system, and an MTT assay in RBL-2H3, HEK293, RAW264.7, and HaCaT cells. For in vivo experiments, a DNCBinduced AD mouse model was constructed, and hematoxylin and eosin, periodic acid-Schiff, toluidine blue, and F4/80-staining were performed. The chemical constituents of PAE were analyzed by HPLC-MS. By measuring the anti-degranulation effects of 30 PEs in RBL-2H3 cells, we found that Paeonia lactiflora Pall., PA, and Rehmannia glutinosa (Gaertn.) Libosch. ex Steud. show an inhibitory activity of more than 50%. Of these, PAE most dramatically and consistently suppressed cytokine expression, including IL-4, IL-9, IL-13, and TNF-α. PAE potently inhibited FcεRI signaling, which mechanistically supports its basophil-stabilizing effects, and PAE downregulated cytokines and NO production in macrophages via perturbation of toll-like receptor signaling. Moreover, PAE suppressed cytokine production in keratinocytes and upregulated the expression of tight junction molecules ZO-1 and occludin. In a DNCB-induced AD mouse model, the topical application of PAE significantly improved atopic index scores, immune cell infiltration, cytokine expression, abnormal activation of signaling molecules in FcεRI and TLR signaling, and damaged skin structure compared with dexamethasone. The anti-inflammatory effect of PAE was mainly due to integerrimine. Our findings suggest that PAE could potently inhibit multi-inflammatory cells involved in AD development, synergistically block the propagation of inflammatory responses, and thus alleviate AD symptoms.

• Journal of Radiopharmaceuticals and Molecular Probes
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.119-125
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• 2021

⁸²Sr for ⁸²Rb generator was produced through the irradiation of the proton beam on the ^nat.RbCI target at the target irradiation facility installed at the end of the Rl-dedicated beamline of the 100 MeV proton linear accelerator of KOMAC (Korea Multi-purpose Accelerator Complex). The average current of the proton beam was 1.2 µA for irradiation time of 150 min. For the separation and purification of the ⁸²Sr from ^nat.RbCI irradiated, Chelex-100 resin was used. The activities of ⁸²Sr in the irradiated ^nat.RbCI target solution and after purification were 45.29 µCi and 43.4 µCi, respectively. The separation and purification yield was 95.8%. As an adsorbent to be filled in the generator for ⁸²Sr adsorption hydrous tin oxide was selected. The adsorption yield of ⁸²Sr into the generator adsorbent was > 99 %, and the total amount of ⁸²Sr adsorbed to the generator was 21.6 µCi as of the day of the ⁸²Rb elution experiment. When the elution amount was 22 mL, the maximum⁸²Rb elution yield was 93.3%, and the elution yield increased as the flow rate increased. After the eluted ⁸²Rb was filled in the correction phantom of the small PET for animals, a PET image was taken. The image scan time was set to 5 min, and the phantom PET image was successfully obtained. As results of impurity analysis on eluted ⁸²Rb using ICP-MS, ^nat.Rb stable isotopes that compete in vivo of ⁸²Rb were identified as undetected levels and were determined to be No-Carrier-Added (NCA).

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.83-94
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• 2007

Piled raft foundations have been highlighted as an economical design concept of pile foundations in recent years. However, piled raft foundations have not been widely used in Korea due to the difficulty in estimating the complex interaction effects among rafts, piles and soils. The authors developed an effective numerical program to analyze the behavior of piled raft foundations for practical design purposes and presented it briefly in this paper. The developed numerical program simulates the raft as a flexible plate consisting of finite elements with eight nodes and the raft is supported by a series of elastic springs representing subsoils and piles. This study imported another model to simulate pile groups considering non-linear behavior and interaction effects. The apparent stiffnesses of the soils and piles were estimated by iterative calculations to satisfy the compatibility between those two components and the behavior of piled raft foundations can be predicted using these stiffnesses. For the verification of the program, the analysis results about some example problems were compared with those of rigorous three dimensional finite element analysis and other approximate analysis methods. It was found that the program can analyze non-linear behaviors and interaction effects efficiently in multi-layered soils and has sufficient capabilities for application to practical analysis and design of piled raft foundations.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.538-548
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• 2023

The research has been conducted on the isolation of antimicrobial compounds from plant natural extracts and their potential application in oral health care products. This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial mechanism by analyzing the changes in gene expression of Streptococcus mutans, a major oral pathogen, in response to complex compounds extracted from Aralia continentalis and Arctii Semen using organic solvents. Transcriptome analysis (RNA-seq) revealed that both natural extracts commonly upregulated or downregulated the expression of various genes associated with different metabolic and physiological activities. Three genes (SMU_1584c, SMU_2133c, SMU_921), particularly SMU_921 (rcrR), known as a transcription activator of two sugar phosphotransferase systems (PTS) involved in sugar transport and biofilm formation, exhibited consistent high expression levels. Additionally, component analysis of the A. continentalis extract was performed to compare its effects on gene expression changes with the A. Semen extract, and two active compounds were identified through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of the active fraction. The n-hexane fraction (ACEH) from the A. continentalis extract exhibited antibacterial specificity against S. mutans, leading to a significant reduction in the viable cell counts of Streptococcus sanguinis and Streptococcus gordonii among the tested multi-species bacterial communities. These findings suggest the broad-spectrum antibacterial activity of the A. continentalis extract and provide essential foundational data for the development of customized antimicrobial materials by elucidating the antibacterial mechanism of the identified active compounds.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.5-24
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• 2023

In ancient Egypt, temples were not only religious sanctuaries but also community centers. One of the core spaces created in the temple is the facility where priests and scribes copied and preserved texts on papyrus and other media. Its common designation was 'pr-mḏȝ'(House of Books) and the 'per-(nw)-seshw'(House of Scrolls). The general term used during that time was 'Per Ankh', and the modern term for it is 'temple library'. Therefore, this study first identified the character and identity of the Per Ankh attached to the temple, and then traced whether it is appropriate to designate 'healing place of the souls' depicted on the hypostyle hall(Per Ankh) in the Ramesseum(mortuary temple) built by Ramses II of the New Kingdom as a library. As a result, Per Ankh, a hieroglyph combining the Per(house) and Ankh(life), was revealed to be a multi-purpose complex facility consisting of a learning and research center, a treatment and healing center with medical facilities and sanatoriums, a religious ceremony and a center for the celebration of eternal life, a scriptorium and a library. Therefore, the traditional argument that Per Ankh refers to a library cannot be justified. In the same context, the inscription 'Ψυχῆς ἰατρεῖον' on the doorplate of the hypostyle hall of the Ramesseum, which was first introduced by Greek historian Hecataeus of Miletus in the 4th century BC, was translated into Latin as 'Psychēs Iatreion' by Diodorus Siculus in the 1st century BC and described as the motto of the sacred library. However, Psyche is the goddess of Greek and Roman mythology, and Iatreion means hospital(clinic, healing center) and pharmacy, so Per Ankh in the Ramesseum is a space to heal the soul of the pharaoh (Ka). Therefore, 'Psychēs Iatreion = library' is a distortion and a mistranslation. It is not the motto of the library, but a metaphor for the Per Ankh.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.6_3
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• pp.1731-1745
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• 2023

Within the framework of the post-2020 climate regime, the Paris Agreement's emphasis on Nationally Determined Contributions and Biennial Transparency Reporting is paramount in addressing its long-term temperature goal. A salient issue is the treatment of wetland ecosystems within the context of Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry, as defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In the 2019 National Inventory Report, wetlands were recategorized as emission sources due to their designation as inundated areas. This study employs C-band radar imagery to discriminate between inundated and non-inundated regions of wetlands, enabling the quantification of their spatial dynamics. The research capitalizes on 24-period Sentinel-1 satellite data to cover both the inundation and desiccation phases while centering its attention on Ungok Wetland, a Ramsar-designated inland wetland conservation area in Korea. The inundated area is quantitatively assessed through the integration of multi-temporal Sentinel-1 Single-Look Complex (SLC) data, aerial orthophotography, and inland wetland spatial information. Furthermore, the study scrutinizes fluctuations in the maximum and minimum inundated areas, with substantial changes corroborated via drone aerial reconnaissance. The outcomes of this investigation hold the potential to make substantive contributions to the refinement of national greenhouse gas absorption and emission factors, thereby informing the development of comprehensive greenhouse gas inventories. These efforts align directly with the overarching objectives of the Paris Agreement.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.64-73
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• 2024

As the seriousness of habitat destruction caused by development projects emerges, the importance of environmental impact assessment (EIA) is increasing to preserve biodiversity. In previous studies, research is being conducted to quantitatively evaluate the biodiversity impact of development factors and surrounding environmental factors on the landscape scale, but research on the factors affecting the reduction of biodiversity based on development projects is insufficient. This study examined whether independent variables (size of development project, type of the development, DEM, ecosystem and nature map, distance from the green land, distance from the protected area), which have been proven to effect biodiversity through the previous researches, have a significant effect on the change of richness index (RI) through multi-class logistic regression analysis, T-test, and analysis of the development type. As a result, only the size of development project and the first richness index in EIA showed p-value less than 0.05. And it was confirmed that the reduction in biodiversity was significantly changed in the following construction types: installation of sports facilities, energy development, and development of industrial location and industrial complex. Since the results of this study confirmed that the impact of the variables may be inconsistent depending on the analysis scale, additional study of necessary indicators at the development project is needed to analyze biodiversity changes in EIA accurately.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2024

Seismic safety of expansion joints for piping systems has been underscored by water pipe ruptures and leaks resulting from the Gyeongju and Pohang earthquakes. Metal bellows in piping systems are applied to prevent damage from earthquakes and road subsidence in soft ground. Designed with a series of corrugated segments called convolutions, metal bellows exhibit flexibility to accommodate displacements. Several studies have examined variations in convolution shapes and layers based on the intended performance to be evaluated. Nonetheless, the research on the seismic performance of complex bellows having multiple corrugation heights is limited. In this study, monotonic loading tests, cyclic loading tests, and fatigue tests were conducted to evaluate the shear performance in seismic conditions, of metal bellows with variable convolution heights. Single- and triple-layer bellows were considered for the experimentation. The results reveal that triple-layer bellows exhibit larger maximum deformation and fatigue life than single-layer bellows. However, the high stiffness of triple-layer bellows in resisting internal pressure poses certain disadvantages. The convolutions are less flexible at lower displacements and experience leakage at a rate related to the variable height of the convolutions in certain conditions. At lower deformation rates, the fatigue life is rated higher as the number of layers increase. It converges to a similar fatigue life at higher deformation rates.

• Journal of Korean Society of Disaster and Security
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.147-156
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• 2023

Because the behavior of cable bridges is dominated by dynamic response and is relatively complex, short- and long-term field monitoring are often required to evaluate the bridge condition. If a permanent SHMS (Structural Health Monitoring System) is not installed, a portable monitoring system is needed for the checking of bridge condition. In this case, it can be difficult to operate the portable monitoring system due to limited conditions such as power and communication according to the location and type of the bridge. In this study, the portable-based smart structural response monitoring system is developed that can be effectively used for short- and long-term monitoring of cable bridges in Korea and Southeast Asia. The developed system is a multi-channel portable data acquisition and analyzer that can be operated for a long time in the field using its own power supply system, and is included with the automated analysis algorithm for the dynamic characteristics of cable bridges using real-time data. In order to evaluate the field applicability of the developed system, field demonstration was conducted on cable bridges in Korea and Vietnam. Through the demonstration, the reliability and efficiency of field operation of the developed system were confirmed, and additionally, the possibility of application to overseas markets was confirmed in cable bridge monitoring field.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.1-27
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• 2019

It is possible to provide Smart Tourism Service through the development of information technology. It is necessary for the tourism industry to understand and utilize Big Data that has tourists' consumption patterns and service usage patterns in order to continuously create a new business model by converging with other industries. This study suggests to activate Jeju Smart Tourism by analyzing Big Data based on credit card usage records and location of tourists in Jeju. The results of the study show that First, the percentage of Chinese tourists visiting Jeju has decreased because of the effect of THAAD. Second, Consumption pattern of Chinese tourists is mostly occurring in the northern areas where airports and duty-free shops are located, while one in other regions is very low. The regional economy of Jeju City and Seogwipo City shows a overall stagnation, without changes in policy, existing consumption trends and growth rates will continue in line with regional characteristics. Third, we need a policy that young people flow into by building Jeju Multi-complex Mall where they can eat, drink, and go shopping at once because the number of young tourists and the price they spend are increasing. Furthermore, it is necessary to provide services for life-support related to weather, shopping, traffic, and facilities etc. through analyzing Wi-Fi usage location. Based on the results, we suggests the marketing strategies and public policies for understanding Jeju tourists' patterns and stimulating Jeju tourism industry.