• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.983-993
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• 2009

The effects of Monascus-fermented Korean red ginseng (MFRG) on the contents of serum lipids and tissues lipid peroxidation was investigated in alcohol feeding rats (AC group). Serum contents of total lipid and free fatty acid in alcohol feeding rats were significantly increased, but these increases tended to decrease in the AMFRG group. Serum triglyceride content was also significantly decreased in the AMFRG group compared to other groups. Serum content of total-cholesterol was significantly increased in AC group compared to normal control (NC) group, whereas there was no significant difference between the AC and AMFRG groups. Content of HDL-cholesterol in serum was slightly increased in the AC group compared to the NC group, but this increase in the AC group was more significantly increased in the AMFRG group. At the same time, atherogenic index (AI) was also significantly decreased in the AMFRG group compared to the AC group. Contents of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in the liver, heart, spleen and testes were significantly increased in the AC group compared to the NC group, but these increases were significantly less in the AMFRG group. Contents of liver nonheme ion was increased in the AC group and was significantly decreased in the AMFRG group, which suggested that lipid peroxidation contents are inversely correlated with liver nonheme ion content. Hepatic glutathione concentration was significantly decreased in the AC group, but this content was significantly increased in the AMFRG group and it showed the antioxidant abilities of glutathione. These results suggested that Monascus-fermented Korea red ginseng has anti-atherogenic index (AI) effects as well as antioxidative activities through reduced tissue oxidative stress in alcohol feeding rats.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.595-602
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• 2014

Styela Clava tunic (SCT) has found some applications in many areas of medical treatment including as an anti-inflammatory compound, a wound healing film, in guided bone regeneration, and as a food additive. The protective effect of SCT aqueous extract (AE-SCT) on cell death induced by $H_2O_2$ treatment was investigated by measuring the changes in cell viability in HepG2 cells after AE-SCT treatment. High concentrations of antioxidant compounds including flavonoids (3.3 mg/g) and phenolics (32.3 mg/g) were detected in AE-SCT but no significant cytotoxicity was observed in HepG2 cells treated with AE-SCT. The viability of HepG2 cells was also not changed by treatment with different concentrations of AE-SCT after $H_2O_2$ treatment. However, cell viability was significantly increased in cells treated with three different concentrations of AE-SCT before $H_2O_2$ treatment. The greatest increase in cell viability was observed in the group treated with $50{\mu}g/ml$ AE-SCT, when compared with vehicle-treated group. FACS and DAPI staining analysis indicated that the decrease in number of dead cells was dependent on the concentration of AE-SCT. Alterations in the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio after $H_2O_2$ treatment were significantly restored by treatment with different concentrations of AE-SCT. These results indicate that AE-SCT, which contains high levels of antioxidants, may protect cells against death induced by $H_2O_2$ treatment.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.210-220
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• 1996

Ten-day-old seedlings of the oxyfluorfen-tolerant and -susceptible rice cultivars with barnyardgrass, a typical susceptible weed were soaked in oxyfluorfen at $10^{-6}M$ for 2 hrs kept for 24 hrs in the dark, and exposed to light for 0, 2, 4, or 6 hrs to investigate changes in the activity and isozyme of antioxidative enzymes. The activities of antioxidative enzymes of APOX, CAL, POX, NR, GR, MDAR and SOD in the tolerant and susceptible rice cultivate themselves didn't show any difference but the activity in the susceptible barnyardgrass was very low in comparison with rice cultivars. The activity of lipoxygenase tended to be some slightly higher in the susceptible rice cultivars and barnyardgrass than in the tolerant rice cultivars. The activities of MDAR, POX, GR and SOD, antioxidative enzymes, were higher in the tolerant rice cultivars than in the susceptible rice cultivars and barnyardgrass after the treatment of oxyfluorfen. After the treatment of oxyfluorfen, in the change of POX isozyme, the activity of C band in the tolerant rice cultivars increased with increased concentration but it didn't in the susceptible rice cultivar. The activity of B band decreased slightly at $10^{-4}M$ in the susceptible barnyardgrass. Isozyme of GR, SOD and AO by the treatment of oxyfluorfen, the activity of each band between the tolerant and susceptible rice cultivars showed no difference but GR isozyme C band was disappeared in the susceptible barnyardgrass at $10^{-4}M$. In the change of esterase isozyme resulting from the treatment of oxyfluorfen, the activities of B, C and D bands decreased more in the susceptible rice cultivars than in tolerant rice cultivars, and A band was disappeared in the susceptible barnyardgrass at $10^{-4}M$.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.513-518
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• 2008

This paper described the extraction/purification of $\beta$-carotene from recombinant E.coli and evaluation of anti-wrinkle activity of purified $\beta$-carotene. No significant differences in extraction yields were observed when hexane or isobutyl acetate was used. However, extraction from wet-cell cake resulted in 2-fold higher amount of $\beta$-carotene than that from dry cells. Disruption of 5 g-wet cells by ultrasonic homogenizer, acetone dehydration, extraction with isobutyl acetate resulted in 36 mg of $\beta$-carotene corresponding to 61.2% of recovery. The formation and separation of $\beta$-carotene crystal improved the purity. 633 mg of $\beta$-carotene crystal with 93% purity was obtained from 223 g/L of wet-cell cake harvested from 2.5-L fed-batch culture broth. The cultures of normal human primary fibroblast were performed to investigate the effect of $\beta$-carotene on cytotoxicity as MTT assay and anti-wrinkle activity as collagen synthesis assays. $1.7{\mu}M$ of $\beta$-carotene was found to be optimal concentration at which 1.4-fold higher amount of collagen was synthesized than that in absence of $\beta$-carotene. This indicates that highly purified $\beta$-carotene can be obtained from recombinant E.coli by applying simple method with less toxic solvent and can be used in functional cosmetics as anti-wrinkle agent.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.9
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• pp.1378-1386
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• 2013

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common skin disease characterized by chronic and relapsing inflammatory dermatitis with immunological disturbances. In spite of the continuous increase in the incidence of AD, it is regrettable that till date there is no effective treatment to treat the same. Therefore, the present study was designed to examine the possible anti-atopic effects of Castanea crenata inner shell extracts fermented by Lactobacillus bifermentans (FCS) in 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) induced AD in NC/Nga mice. Based on the results of HPLC analysis, we found that FCS contains anti-inflammatory factors such as gallic acid (10.18 mg/g) and ellagic acid (2.14 mg/g). The groups that we have used in this study included 0.1%, 1%, 5% fermented Castanea crenata inner shell extracts (FCS 0.1, FCS 1, FCS 5), 1,3-butylene glycol treated control (AD), and normal mice. After topical FCS treatment, we observed that the clinical severity score for AD was lower in both the FCS 1 and FCS 5 groups than the AD group. We also proved beyond doubt that there was improvement of melanin, erythema and skin moisture indices in the FCS 5 group. Spleen index and gene expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-$1{\beta}$ and TNF-${\alpha}$ were significantly decreased in the FCS 5 group compared to the AD group (P<0.05). Further, we also found that the level of serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) in the FCS-treated group was decreased in a concentration-dependent manner. The results of our study suggest that FCS can be effectively used as a cosmeceutical ingredient for both the prevention and improvement of AD.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.131-145
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• 2014

The new passive sampler called "artificial mussel (AM)" offers a potential device to study the spatiotemporal changes of metal concentrations in different marine environment worldwide. The purpose of this study is to characterize metal (Cd, Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb) accumulation on the AM and transplanted mussel (Mytilus edulis) at 5 sites of Lake Shihwa. Both the AMs and mussels showed increasing concentrations of all five metals during the 12 weeks exposure period. Higher concentrations of Zn were showed in both the AMs and Mytilus edulis relative to other metals. The AMs accumulated higher concentrations of Cd, Cr and Zn, but they presented lower levels of Cu and Pb than Mytilus edulis. The correlations for Cd, Cu and Pb were statistically significant between the AMs and Mytilus edulis, indicating that the accumulation patterns for those metals were similar. However, no similarities for Cr and Zn were observed between two monitoring devices across all of the sites in Shihwa Lake. According to relationship for metal concentrations between dissolve phase in seawater and both the AMs and Mytilus edulis, the AMs for Cd, Cu and Zn represent more metal contamination than Mytilus edulis. Our results indicated that the AMs give a better resolution to reveal the spatial differences in dissolved metal concentration. This study suggests that the AMs can provide a time-integrated estimate of metal pollution in marine environments as well as freshwater environments of Korea.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.305-311
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• 2012

To investigate the influence electrical conductivity (EC) of nutrient solution and light intensity on growth of red leafy lettuce, fresh and dry weights, number of leave, chlorophyll concentration and production efficiency were evaluated through nutrient film technique system. The levels of EC were 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, and $6.0dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$, and those of light intensity were 120, 150, and $180{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$. Under photoperiod of 16 h/day, the temperature was maintained in the range of $20{\sim}25^{\circ}C$. Planting density was $10{\times}10cm$ (100 plants/$m^2$). When red leafy lettuce were grown in the EC range of $0.5{\sim}1.5dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$, the fresh and dry weights decreased as the EC levels and light intensity were lowered, however, Hunter's a value showed no significant differences among the treatments of EC and light intensity levels (Ex. 1). The fresh and dry weights and production efficiency ($g{\cdot}FW/kw$) were the highest in the treatment of $3.0dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ and $180{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$ when crops were grown under the EC range of EC $1.5{\sim}6.0dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ (Ex. 2). But the fresh and dry weights, number of leaves, and production efficiency of $2.0dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ were the highest when the light intensity was $180{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$ (Ex. 3). The SPAD value increased gradually as EC levels were elevated. From the above results, we concluded that optimum levels of EC and light intensity were $2.0dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ and $180{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$, respectively, for production as well as production efficiency of red leaf lettuce in plant factory.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.39-45
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• 1987

A water culture experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of As content in a culture solution on the water status and growth of rice plants. Rice (Oryza sativa L. Line. Iri 316) seeds were germinated in bentonite and cultivated there for 30 days. Rice seedlings were transplanted into 3.5l pots containing the culture solution on May 1, 1985 and allowed to grow without As treatment for one month. Afterwards, they were grown in a culture solution maintaining the final concentration of As, 0, 1, 5, 10 and 15mg/1 renewing in the solution dissolved sodium arsenate at intervals of 3 to 7 days. Plants were cultivated in the green house during the growing period and harvested 60 days after As treatment. The results obtained were as follows: Transpiration of rice plants was decreased with the increase of the As level in the culture solution. Stomatal diffusive resistance and leaf temperature increased with increase of As levels though the humidity and the air flow rate in leaf decreased. Air flow rate, transpiration and stomatal diffusive resistance showed a highly significant correlation with As contents in shoots and roots of rice plants: Espally The air flow rate and transpiration revealed a significantly higher correlation with As contents in the root than that in the shoot, but diffusive resistance showed adverse tendency. High levels of As in the culture solution depressed plant height, no. of tillers, leaf width and dry weight of plant remarkably. Typical symptoms of As toxicity were root discoloration, and necrosis of leaf tips and margins, and leaf rolling during the sunny daytime were also another symptoms.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.106-110
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• 2009

In order to reduce the bitter taste and improve the bioavailability of red ginseng extract(RGE), inclusion complexes (RGE-CD) of the extract with ${\alpha}-,\;{\beta}-,\;{\gamma}$-cyclodextrin were prepared and studied for their sensory quality and bioavailability compared to RGE. By complexation, the bitter taste-reducing efficacies of ${\alpha}$-CD and ${\beta}$-CD were much lower than that of ${\gamma}$-CD. In comparative sensory analysis for the bitter taste, RGE-${\gamma}$-CD10, prepared using 10%(w/w) of ${\gamma}$-CD, showed a score of 1.93(decreased by about 78%) compared to RGE as the control. In addition, in sensory analysis for flavor, RGE-${\gamma}$-CD10showed a score of 5.60. Upon increasing the amount of ${\gamma}$-CD to 15%(w/w) and 20%(w/w), respectively, the bitter taste of RGE-${\gamma}$-CD was removed and the flavor of RGE disappeared(scores of 2.67 and 1.67, respectively). Therefore RGE-${\gamma}$-CD10 was chosen as an optimum. The same dosages of RGE and RGE-${\gamma}$-CD10 were orally administered to SD(Sprague-Dawley) rats on a saponin basis, and the plasma concentrations of ginsenoside Rg1 and Rb1 were measured over time to estimate the average AUC(area under the plasma concentration versus time curve) of the ginsenosides. After the oral administration, there were no significant differences in the AUC values of the RGE and RGE-${\gamma}$-CD 10 groups for ginsenoside Rg1. However, AUC values for ginsenoside Rb1 were $25.8{\mu}g{\cdot}hr/mL$ in the RGE group and $81.5{\mu}g{\cdot}hr/mL$ in the RGE-${\gamma}$-CD 10 group, respectively. Therefore, the bioavailability of ginsenoside Rb1 in the RGE-${\gamma}$-CD 10 group was significantly higher by up to 315% compared with that in the RGE group(p = 0.0029). These results show that the bitter taste of RGE can be simultaneously removed by the complexation of RGE and ${\gamma}$-CD(RGE-${\gamma}$-CD) along with increased bioavailability.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.290-299
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• 2011

Objectives: The usage of fluoride varnish for a moderate to low caries-risk group has not been well validated. This study aimed to evaluate the preventive and therapeutic efficacies of fluoride varnish on the initiated root caries. Materials and Methods: Ten premolars were sectioned into quarters, further divided into two windows, one of which was painted with Fluor Protector (1,000 ppm fluoride, Ivoclar Vivadent). An initial lesion with a well-preserved surface layer was produced by pH cycling. Scanned line analysis using energy dispersive spectrometry determined the weight percentages of Ca and P in the demineralized layer. Scanning Electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) evaluated the varnish-applied root surfaces. Results: The mean lesion depth (SD) was 12.3 (2.6) ${\mu}m$ (single cycling) and 19.6 (3.8) ${\mu}m$ (double cycling). Double cycling extended the lesion depth, but induced no more mineral loss than single cycling (p < 0.05). The mean weight percentages of Ca and P between groups with and without varnish were not significantly different (p < 0.05). A CLSM showed varnish remained within 15 ${\mu}m$ of the surface layer. Conclusions: When a mild acid challenge initiated root tissue demineralization, the application of low-concentration fluoride varnish did not influence the lesion depth or the mineral composition of the subsurface lesion.