• 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 the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.201-208
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• 2006

Optical characteristics of InGaAs quantum dot (QD) laser structures with an Al native oxide (AlOx) layer as a current-blocking layer were studied by means of photoluminescence (PL), PL excitation, and spatially-resolved micro-PL techniques. The InGaAs QD samples were first grown by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE), and then prepared by wet oxidation and thermal annealing techniques. For the InGaAs QD structures treated by the wet oxidation and thermal annealing processes, a broad PL emission due to the intermixing effect of the AlOx layer was observed at PL emission energy higher than that of the non-intermixed region. We observed a dominant InGaAs QD emission at about 1.1 eV in the non-oxide AlAs region, while InGaAs QD-related emissions at about 1.16 eV and $1.18{\sim}1.20eV$ were observed for the AlOx and the SiNx regions, respectively. We conclude that the intermixing effect of the InGaAs QD region under an AlOx layer is stronger than that of the InGaAs QD region under a non-oxided AlAs layer.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.147-160
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• 2011

Eugenol (4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol) is a natural phenolic constituent extensively used in dentistry as a component of zinc oxide eugenol cement and is applied to the mouth environment. Chios gum mastic (CGM) is a resinous exudate obtained from the stem and the main leaves of Pistacia lenticulus tree native to Mediterranean areas. This study was undertaken to investigate the synergistic apoptotic effect of co-treatment with a natural product, CGM and natural phenolic compound, eugenol on SCC25 human tongue squamous cell carcinoma cell line. To investigate whether the co-treatment with eugenol and CGM compared to each single treatment efficiently reduces the viability of SCC25 cells, MTT assay was conducted. Induction and augmentation of apoptosis were confirmed by Hoechst staining, TUNEL staining and DNA hypoploidy. Westen blot analysis and immunofluorescent staining were performed to study the alterations of the expression level and the translocation of apoptosis-related proteins in co-treatment. In this study, co-treatment of with eugenol and CGM on SCC25 cells showed several lines of apoptotic manifestation such as nuclear condensations, DNA fragmentation, the increase and decrease of Bax and Bcl-2, decrease of DNA content, the release of cytochrome c into cytosol, translocation of AIF and DFF40 (CAD) onto nuclei, and activation of caspase-3, caspase-6 caspase-7, caspase-9, PARP, Lamin A/C and DFF45 (ICAD) whereas each single treated SCC25 cells did not show or very slightly these patterns. Although the single treatment of 40 ${\mu}g$/ml CGM and 0.5 mM eugenol for 24 h did not induce apoptosis, the co-treatment of these reagents prominently induced apoptosis. Therefore our data provide the possibility that combination therapy with CGM and eugenol could be considered as a novel therapeutic strategy for human oral squamous cell carcinoma.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.479-485
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• 2009

Bulnesia sarmienti (BS), a traditional South American herbal medicine native to Gran Chaco, has been used to treat various human ailments. We investigated the cytotoxic activities and the inhibitory effects of BS bark extract(0, 50, 100 and $200\;{\mu}g/\;mL$) on the production of nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin $E_2$ ($PGE_2$), cyclooxygenase (COX) and proinflammatory cytokines ($IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6 and $TNF-{\alpha}$) in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (100 ng/ml)-stimulated murine macrophage cell line RAW264.7. The levels of NO, COX, PGE2 production and proinflammatory cytokines ($IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6 and $TNF-{\alpha}$) were measured by ELISA kit. Cell viability, as measured by the MTT assay, showed that BS extract had no significant cytotoxicity in RAW264.7 cells. BS extract significantly inhibited the LPS-induced NO, $PGE_2$ and COX production accompanied by an attenuation of $IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6 and $TNF-{\alpha}$ formation in macrophages. These results suggest that BS extract has potential as an herbal medicine for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.247-251
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• 2004

반도체 소자의 제조에 있어 실리콘 표면에 성장한 자연산화막을 제거하기 위해 일반적으로 습식 세정 기술이 이용되어 왔다. 하지만 소자의 최소 선폭(design rule)이 nano급으로 고집적화 됨에 따라 contact hole 바닥의 자연산화막을 깨끗이 제거하는데 있어서 그 한계를 나타나고 있다. 이에 대한 효과적인 대안 공정으로 가스 건식 세정 기술이 연구되고 있다. 본 논문에서는 한 번에 50매 이상의 웨이퍼를 처리함으로써 생산성 측면에서 월등한 배치식 설비에서 원거리 플라즈마(remote plasma) 장치에서 2.450Hz의 마이크로웨이브(${\mu}$-wave)에 의해 형성시킨 수소라디칼과 $NF_3$ 가스를 이용하여 실리콘에 결함을 주지 않고 자연산화막을 선택적으로 제거하는 공정에 대해 고찰하였다. AFM을 이용한 표면분석, TEM을 이용한 물성분석, 그리고 ToF-SIMS 및 XPS를 이용한 화학 분석을 습식 및 건식 세정을 비교 평가한 결과, 건식 세정 공정이 실리콘 표면에 결함을 주지 않고 자연산화막을 제거 할 수 있음을 확인하였다. 산화막$(SiO_2)$, 질화막$(Si_3N_4)$, 그리고 다결정 실리콘(Poly-Si) 등의 각 막질별 식각 특성을 고찰하였으며, $NH_3$의 캐리어 가스인 $N_2$의 주입량을 조절함으로써 수소라디칼 형성 효율의 개선이 가능하였으며, 이로부터 게이트와 소스/드레인 사이를 절연하기 위해 이용되는 질화막의 식각 선택비를 2배 정도 개선할 수 있었다. nano급 소자에 실장하여 평가한 결과에서 불산(HF)에 의한 습식 세정 방식에 비하여 약 $20{\sim}50%$ 정도의 contact 저항 감소 효과가 있음이 확인되었다.두 소자 모두 $40mA/cm^2$ 에서 이상적인 화이트 발란스와 같은(0.33,0.33)의 색좌표를 보였다.epsilon}_0=1345$의 빼어난 압전 및 유전특성과 $330^{\circ}C$의 높은 $T_c$를 보였고 그 조성의 vibration velocity는 약4.5 m/s로 나타났다.한 관심이 높아지고 있다. 그러나 고 자장 영상에서의 rf field 에 의한 SAR 증가는 중요한 제한 요소로 부각되고 있다. 나선주사영상은 SAR 문제가 근원적으로 발생하지 않고, EPI에 비하여 하드웨어 요구 조건이 낮아 고 자장에서의 고속영상방법으로 적합하다. 본 논문에서는 고차 shimming 을 통하여 불균일도를 개선하고, single shot 과 interleaving 을 적용한 multi-shot 나선주사영상 기법으로 $100{\times}100$에서 $256{\times}256$의 고해상도 영상을 얻어 고 자장에서 초고속영상기법으로 다양한 적용 가능성을 보였다. 연구에서 연구된 $[^{18}F]F_2$가스는 친핵성 치환반응으로 방사성동위원소를 도입하기 어려운 다양한 방사성의 약품개발에 유용하게 이용될 수 있을 것이다.었으나 움직임 보정 후 영상을 이용하여 비교한 경우, 결합능 변화가 선조체 영역에서 국한되어 나타나며 그 유의성이 움직임 보정 전에 비하여 낮음을 알 수 있었다. 결론: 뇌활성화 과제 수행시에 동반되는 피험자의 머리 움직임에 의하여 도파민 유리가 과대평가되었으며 이는 이 연구에서 제안한 영상정합을 이용한 움직임 보정기법에 의해서 개선되었다. 답이 없는 문제, 문제 만들기, 일반화가 가능한 문제 등으로 보고, 수학적 창의성 중 특히 확산적 사고에 초점을 맞추어 개방형 문제가 확