• Title/Summary/Keyword: Natural Sciences and Engineering's College

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Evaluation of carbon flux in vegetative bay based on ecosystem production and CO2 exchange driven by coastal autotrophs

  • Kim, Ju-Hyoung;Kang, Eun Ju;Kim, Keunyong;Jeong, Hae Jin;Lee, Kitack;Edwards, Matthew S.;Park, Myung Gil;Lee, Byeong-Gweon;Kim, Kwang Young
    • ALGAE
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    • v.30 no.2
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    • pp.121-137
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    • 2015
  • Studies on carbon flux in the oceans have been highlighted in recent years due to increasing awareness about climate change, but the coastal ecosystem remains one of the unexplored fields in this regard. In this study, the dynamics of carbon flux in a vegetative coastal ecosystem were examined by an evaluation of net and gross ecosystem production (NEP and GEP) and $CO_2$ exchange rates (net ecosystem exchange, NEE). To estimate NEP and GEP, community production and respiration were measured along different habitat types (eelgrass and macroalgal beds, shallow and deep sedimentary, and deep rocky shore) at Gwangyang Bay, Korea from 20 June to 20 July 2007. Vegetative areas showed significantly higher ecosystem production than the other habitat types. Specifically, eelgrass beds had the highest daily GEP ($6.97{\pm}0.02g\;C\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$), with a large amount of biomass and high productivity of eelgrass, whereas the outer macroalgal vegetation had the lowest GEP ($0.97{\pm}0.04g\;C\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$). In addition, macroalgal vegetation showed the highest daily NEP ($3.31{\pm}0.45g\;C\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$) due to its highest P : R ratio (2.33). Furthermore, the eelgrass beds acted as a $CO_2$ sink through the air-seawater interface according to NEE data, with a carbon sink rate of $0.63mg\;C\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$. Overall, ecosystem production was found to be extremely high in the vegetated systems (eelgrass and macroalgal beds), which occupy a relatively small area compared to the unvegetated systems according to our conceptual diagram of a carbon-flux box model. These results indicate that the vegetative ecosystems showed significantly high capturing efficiency of inorganic carbon through coastal primary production.

Combined Treatment of Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs and Genistein Synergistically Induces Apoptosis via Induction of NAG-1 in Human Lung Adenocarcinoma A549 Cells (인간 A549 폐암세포에서 비스테로이드성 항염증제와 genistein의 복합처리에 의한 NAG-1 의존적 세포사멸 증진 효과)

  • Kim, Cho-Hee;Kim, Min-Young;Lee, Su-Yeon;Moon, Ji-Young;Han, Song-Iy;Park, Hye-Gyeong;Kang, Ho-Sung
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.19 no.8
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    • pp.1073-1080
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    • 2009
  • A number of studies have demonstrated that the regular use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can reduce the risks of colorectal, oesophageal and lung cancers. NSAIDs have been shown to exert their anti-cancer effects through inducing apoptosis in cancer cells. The susceptibility of tumor cells to anti-tumor drug-induced apoptosis appears to depend on the balance between pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic programs such as nuclear factor kB (NF-kB), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt/protein kinase B (PKB) and MEK1/2-ERK1/2 pathways. We examined the effects of pro-survival PI3K and ERK1/2 signal pathways on cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in response to NSAIDs including sulindac sulfide and NS398. We show that simultaneous inhibition of the Akt/PKB and ERK1/2 signal cascades could synergistically enhance the potential pro-apoptotic activities of sulindac sulfide and NS398. Similar enhancement was observed in cells treated with sulindac sulfide or NS398 and 100 ${\mu}$M genistein, an inhibitor of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) that are upstream of PI3K and MEK1/2 signaling. We further demonstrate that NAG-1 is induced and plays a critical role(s) in apoptosis by NSAIDs-based combined treatment. In sum, our results show that combinatorialtreatment of sulindac sulfide or NS398 and genistein results in a highlysynergistic induction of apoptotic cell death to increase the chemopreventive effects of the NSAIDs, sulindac sulfide and NS398.

Regulatory Roles of Chrysanthemum zawadskii Roots in Nuclear Factor E2-related Factor 2/Antioxidant Response Element Pathway

  • Kang, Hye-Sook;Park, Min-Ji;Jin, Kyong-Suk;Kim, Young-Hun;Jun, Mi-Ra;Lim, Ho-Jin;Jo, Wan-Kuen;Kim, Jong-Sang;Jeong, Woo-Sik
    • Food Science and Biotechnology
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.367-372
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    • 2008
  • Cellular protection against carcinogens could be achieved by the induction of phase 2 detoxifying and antioxidant enzymes such as glutathione S-transferase (GST), NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) and heme oxygenase 1 (HO1). Nuclear transcription factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) binds to antioxidant response element (ARE) in the promoter region of these genes and the resulting transactivation occurs. In the present study the effect of gujeolcho (Chrysanthemum zawadskii) roots on the Nrf2-ARE pathway were investigated. C. zawadskii root extract was fractionated with a series of organic solvents and their ability to induce Nrf2-ARE pathway was examined. We separated the most potent dichloromethane (DCM) fraction into 12 sub-fractions and found several sub-fractions with strong effects on the Nrf2-ARE pathway. Fraction 4 strongly induced the ARE-reporter gene activity as well as Nrf2 expression. Sitosterol was isolated as a major compound in fraction 4 although its activity was not as potent as its mother fraction. These results indicate that C. zawadskii roots might be used as a potential natural chemopreventive source.

Chemical Investigations and Anti-inflammatory Activity of Fixed Oil of Butea monosperma Seeds

  • Gunakunru, A.;Padmanaban, K.;Thirumal, P.;Vengatesan, N.;Gnanasekar, N.;Raja, S.;Rajarajan, A.T.;Kumar, S. G. Vijaya;Perianayagam, J. Britto
    • Natural Product Sciences
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    • v.10 no.2
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    • pp.55-58
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    • 2004
  • The fruit and seeds of Butea monosperma (Lam) Kuntze (Fabaceae) are useful in piles, anthelmintic, eye diseases, and inflammation in the Indian system of medicine. Hence, we have evaluated the anti-inflammatory activity of the fixed oil, mixed fatty acids, and unsaponifiable matter of B. monosperma against carrageenan-induced paw oedema and cotton pellet-induced granuloma in rats. The fixed oil, mixed fatty acids, and unsaponifiable matter of the oil exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity on the tested experimental animal models. The unsaponifiable matter of the oil produced higher protection compared to fixed oil and mixed fatty acids. Phytochemical analysis of the fixed oil revealed the presence of steroids and terpenoids while unsaponifiable matter of the oil showed the presence of ${\beta}-sitosterol$. Also, four fatty acids were identified in the fixed oil by gas liquid chromatography. The anti-inflammatory activity of the fixed oil may be due to unsaponifiable matter or combination of unsaponifiable matter and mixed fatty acids.

Conjugation of Ginsenoside Rg3 with Gold Nanoparticles

  • Park, You-Mie;Im, A-Rang;Joo, Eun-Ji;Lee, Ji-Hye;Park, Hyeung-Geun;Kang, Young-Hwa;Linhardt, Robert J.;Kim, Yeong-Shik
    • Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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    • v.32 no.1
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    • pp.286-290
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    • 2011
  • Ginsenoside Rg3 was reported to have important biological activities. We demonstrate conjugation and quantification procedures of ginsenoside Rg3 to gold nanoparticles for future biological and medical applications. Ginsenoside Rg3 was conjugated to spherical gold nanoparticles using a bifunctional heptaethylene glycol linker. The sulfhydryl group of heptaethylene glycol was adsorbed onto gold nanoparticles, and carboxylic acid end of heptaethylene glycol was bonded through a hydroxyl group of Rg3 via ester bond formation. The conjugation of Rg3 was characterized with various spectroscopic techniques, high resolution-transmission electron microscopy, and using Rg3 monoclonal antibody. The Rg3- functionalized gold nanoparticles were $4.7{\pm}1.0$ nm in diameter with a surface charge of -4.12 mV. The total number of Rg3 molecules conjugated to a 3.6 mL solution of gold nanoparticle was determined to be $9.5{\times}10^{14}$ corresponding to ~6 molecules of Rg3/gold nanoparticle. These results suggest that ginsenoside Rg3 is successfully conjugated to gold nanoparticles via heptaethylene glycol linker. The quantification was performed by using Rg3 monoclonal antibody without interference of gold's intrinsic color.

Ingredients of Tyrosinase and Elastase Inhibitory Activity from Calyx of Diospyros kaki Thunberg (감꼭지의 Tyrosinase와 Elastase 저해 활성 성분)

  • Cha, Bae Cheon;Lee, Eun Hee
    • Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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    • v.44 no.2
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    • pp.182-187
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    • 2013
  • This study was conducted to investigate glutathione S-transferase(GST) activity, tyrosinase inhibitory effect and elastase inhibitory effect in persimmon calyx(calyx of Diospyros kaki Thunberg) for screening of functional materials from natural products. As a result, EtOAc extract of persimmon calyx turned out to be having tyrosinase inhibitory effect and elastase inhibitory effect. The active constituents of tyrosinase and elastase inhibitory effect were isolated from EtOAc extract of persimmon calyx. Their structure of compounds were identified as ursolic acid and (-)-daucosterol by spectroscopic evidence, respectively.

Investigation of geosmin removal efficiency by microorganism isolated from biological activated carbon (생물활성탄에서 분리한 미생물의 지오스민 제거효율 평가)

  • Baek, Dawoon;Lim, Jaewon;Cho, Yoonjung;Ahn, Yong-Tae;Lee, Hyeyoung;Park, Donghee;Jung, Dongju;Kim, Tae-Ue
    • Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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    • v.29 no.1
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    • pp.47-55
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    • 2015
  • Recently, the production of taste and odor (T&O) compounds is a common problem in water industry. Geosmin is one of the T&O components in drinking water. However, geosmin is hardly eliminated through the conventional water treatment systems. Among various advanced processes capable of removing geosmin, adsorption process using granular activated carbon (GAC) is the most commonly used process. As time passes, however GAC process changes into biological activated carbon (BAC) process. There is little information on the BAC process in the literature. In this study, we isolated and identified microorganisms existing within various BAC processes. The microbial concentrations of BAC processes examined were $3.5{\times}10^5$ colony forming units (CFU/g), $2.2{\times}10^6CFU/g$ and $7.0{\times}10^5CFU/g$ in the Seongnam plant, Goyang plant and Goryeong pilot plant, respectively. The dominant bacterial species were found to be Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Novosphingobium rosa and Afipia broomeae in each plants. Removal efficiencies of $3{\mu}g/L$ geosmin by the dominant species were 36.1%, 36.5% and 34.3% in mineral salts medium(MSM) where geosmin was a sole carbon source.

Inhibition of Apoptosis by Elaeocarpus sylvestris in Mice Following Whole-body Exposure to Ionizing Radiation: Implications for Radioprotectors

  • Park, Eun-Jin;Lee, Nam-Ho;Ahn, Gin-Nae;Baik, Jong-Seok;Lee, Je-Hee;Hwang, Kyu-Kye;Park, Jae-Woo;Jee, Young-Heun
    • Food Science and Biotechnology
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    • v.17 no.4
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    • pp.718-722
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    • 2008
  • Elaeocarpus sylvestris var. ellipticus (E.S.), which contains 1, 2, 3, 4, 6-penta-O-galloyl-beta-D-glucose (PGG), is reported to have the ability to scavenge oxygen radicals, thereby protecting rat neuronal cells from oxidative damage. The potential of an E.S. extract, which contains a rich PGG, to protect radiosensitive lymphocytes and intestinal crypt cells from radiation injury induced by a single whole-body irradiation (WBI) in vivo was investigated. Our results demonstrated that in immune cells, E.S. treatment decreased the percent of tail DNA, a parameter of DNA damage, compared with levels in untreated, irradiated controls. Furthermore, apoptosis was significantly decreased in lymphocytes and intestinal crypt cells of E.S.-treated mice compared with irradiated controls. These results suggest that the E.S. extract can strengthen the radioresistance of radiosensitive lymphocytes and crypt cells by preventing apoptosis. Therefore, it was concluded that E.S. extract has the radioprotective effects in vivo through an inhibition of apoptosis.

Does College Experience Effect Job Quality Of Science And Engineering Graduates? -Focusing On Gender Gap (이공계 대학생의 대학생활 경험과 취업의 질 : 성별차이를 중심으로)

  • Shin, Ha-young;Moon, Bo-Eun
    • Journal of Engineering Education Research
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    • v.20 no.5
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    • pp.59-73
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    • 2017
  • This study aims to examine whether a gender works to make the difference on the university experiences of natural sciences and engineering major students; and the income and quality gap between the graduates. In this study, university experiences means job market and job searching related experiences such as job fair attending, The main research questions are as follows; fist, what are the significant university experiences related job preparation and application, and is there a gender gap on those experiences? Second, how is the job market performance of the national sciences and engineering graduates for their income level and quality job, and is there a gender gap on the job market performance of the sample? Third, which variables among the university experiences for job searching and application impacts the job quality and income level of the natural sciences and engineering graduates? To find out the research results, this study conducts a panel data analysis with GOMS (Graduates Occupational Mobility Survey) throughout survey year of 2006 to 2015, towards 568,264 as weighted value number. As analysis methods, this study carries out a descriptive analysis, ANOVA, discriminant analysis, linear regression and T-test. Therefore, here are the brief outputs of the study; first, for natural sciences and engineering students, the off-campus experiences such as job fair, job recruit festival and internship programs are more favored; second, female students are more likely to attend personal and self-driven job preparation programs; third, on job market performance, the graduates' income level and company scale rate are higher in the male but job stability is higher in the female; fourth, as a result of the linear regression, gender factor decides the income level in considerable degree; additionally, gender factor shows the difference of the job satisfaction and self-effectiveness on one's job as a qualitative variables. For obtaining strictness, university program factors are controlled through model fitness process. As above, this study finds out the main factors of university life of natural sciences and engineering graduates which are related their job searching and preparation experiences and figures out stronger factors in job market; and examines the statistically significance of the gender in this casual-effect relationship between job preparation and job quality of the graduates.

A Growth-Stimulating Protein in Cow's Milk

  • Ki, Eun-Kyung;Park, Yong-Bok;Choi, Myung-Sook
    • Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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    • v.4 no.3
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    • pp.59-65
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    • 1994
  • Growth-stimulating effects of cow's milk was examined using Vero cell cultre. Medium containing whole cow's milk stimulated cell growth about the same degree as that containing fetal bovine serum. The growth-stimulating factor in cow's milk was purified using hydrophobic (phenyl-sepharose) and gel filtration (Sephadex G-100) column chromatographies. It appeared that the factor is a highly hydrophobic protein, since the major growth-stimulating activity was found in the fractions eluted with 50% ethylene glycol from the phenyl-sepharose column during the purification. The purified factor showed a single band on the polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of 1% (w/v) SDS. The factor has been found to have a relatively high molecular weight in the range of about Mr=100,000-150,000. In the presence of the purified factor (5%, w/v) in the culture medium, the incorporation of [3H]-thymidine into the cells was increased approximately 2,400-fold over that in the presence of 5% (w/v) fetal bovine serum. It seems that the growth-stimulating factor purified in this study is one of the major growth factors in the cow's milk.

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