• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1732-1741
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• 2006

Obesity is chronic disease which influenced on health severly. The causes of obesity have been known as life change, lack of excercise, genetic factor, mental and social economic factors. Especially the obesity of women increased the risk of the diseases such as DM, osteoarthritis, cardiovascular disease, breast cancer and infertility. The limitations of the widely used negative definition of health as the absence of disease and WHO's 1946 definition of health as total social, psychological and physical well-being have long been recognized (WHO 1958). The Quality of Life (QoL) includes functional ability, the degree and quality of social and community interaction, psychological well-being as somatic sensation and life satisfaction. I investigated to compare the differences between obese women (n=63), non-obese women (n=37) in clinic and general women (n=43, control) on baseline characteristics and WHO QoL-BREF. The purpose of this study is to assist the diagnosis and treatment of obesity. WHO QoL-BREF is self administered type which consisted of 26 questions. The prospective question is calculated with 5 scores by Likert's method. The results are as follows : The means of physical, psychological, social, overall and total scores of QoL were significant among BMI group (P<0.05). The score of control group (BMI < 25) was higher than other groups significantly (P<0.05). In multiple regression analysis, the variable of high school/below middle school was significant in environmental and overall domain of QoL scores (P<0.05). The variable of college/below middle school was significant in environmental, overall domain and total score of QoL scores (P<0.05). The variable of above university/below middle school was significant in physical health, environmental, overall domain and total score in QoL scores (P<0.05). The variable of Health perception (moderate/bad) was positively significant in physical health, environmental, overall domain and total score of QoL scores (P<0.05). The variable of Health perception (good/bed) was positively significant in physical health, environmental, social, overall domain and total score of QoL scores (P<0.05). The variable as BMI non-=obese women/control was negatively significant in social domain of QoL scores (P<0.05). Above the results, It suggests that the variable as BMI did't affect on the QoL in patients and control, but the variables as education and health perception affected on the QoL scores. Further study is required to conduct QoL differences between before and after treatment of obese patients.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 2015

Streptococcus mutans triggers dental caries establishment by two major factors. One is synthesis of organic acids which demineralize dental enamel and the other is synthesis of glucans which mediate the attachment of bacteria to the tooth surface. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of the ethanol extracts of Aconitum koreanum (A. koreanum ) on the growth and acid production of S. mutans. Ethanol extracts of the A. koreanum showed concentration dependent inhibitory activity against the growth and acid production of S. mutans, and produced significant inhibition at the concentration of 0.016 mg/ml compared to the control groups (p<0.05). The extracts inhibited S. mutans adherence to hydroxyapatite treated with saliva, and cell adherence was repressed by 50%, 54% at the concentration of 0.063, 0.125 mg/ml. On the study of activation of glucosyltransferase which synthesizes water insoluble glucan form sucrose, the ethanol extract of A. koreanum showed remarkable inhibition over the concentration of 0.016, 0.031, 0.063 and 0.125 mg/ml (p<0.05). Especially on the concentration of 0.063, 0.125 mg/ml, the extracts suppressed the glucan synthesis by 100%. We analyzed the component of the extracts of A. koreanum. The results showed that the extract of A. koreanum had strong phenolic compound, glycosides and organic acids. These results suggest that A. koreanum may inhibit the caries-inducing properties of S. mutans, and which may be related with strong phenolic compound, glycosides and organic acids.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.428-436
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• 2012

Protein phosphorylation is a universal mechanism that regulates cellular activities. The brassinosteroid (BR) signal transduction pathway is a relay of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation cascades. It starts with the BR-induced activation of the membrane receptor kinase brassinosteroid insensitive 1 (BRI1), resulting in the dephosphorylation of transcription factors such as BZR1/BES2 and BZR2/BES1 followed by BR-induced gene expression. Brassinosteroid signal transduction research has progressed rapidly by identifying the phosphorylation/dephosphorylation site(s) of the BR-regulated kinase and phosphatase substrates with a simultaneous pursuit of mutant phenotypes. Autophosphorylation, transphosphorylation, and serine/threonine and tyrosine phosphorylation of the receptor protein kinases BRI1 and BRI1-associated kinase (BAK1) have increased the understanding of the regulatory role of those kinases during physiological and developmental processes in plants. The phosphorylation event initiated by BR is also found in the regulation of receptor-mediated endocytosis and the subsequent degradation of the receptor. However, the basic molecular links of the BR signal transduction pathway are not well understood regarding this phosphorylation/dephosphorylation event. This review summarizes the current state of BR signal transduction research to uncover the phosphorylation/dephosphorylation networks and suggests directions for future research on steroid signal transduction to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the process.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.63-96
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• 2012

The PingMaiFa chapter, which is the second chapter of SongBon ShangHanLun, is the scholarly description(專論) of the pulse and pathological mechanism but has not been studied and published yet. This study is about article 1-13 which is the first part of The PingMaiFa chapter. We compared the original texts within the editions, comparing and analyzing the annotations of successive dynastic medical group. The articles of The SongBon ShangHanLun PingMaiFa chapter 1-13 is consisted as is shown: article 1 states about the general features of normal pulse (平脈) and its physiological mechanism and the morbid pulses (病脈) caused by wind, cold, retained fluid, pain and heat vexation, article 1,10 state about the normal pulses of Five viscera (lung, heart, spleen, liver and kidney) and their manipulations in pulse taking, article 2 states about the differentiations of deficiency and excess syndrome according to pulse conditions, article 3, 4 state about the estimation of good prognoses and a factitious disorder by the combination of pulses and symptoms, article 6 states about Latent qi (伏氣) and its diagnostic features, article 5 states about inspection and listening examination as co-diagnostic methods of the pulse diagnosis, article 7, 8, 9 state that the emotions, such as fear and shame, and the dietary are important factors to consider for making diagnosis, article 11 states about the overwhelming pulse (相乘脈) which indicates the abnormal correlations between five phases and appears in four patterns as the dissolute(縱), the unrighteous(橫), the unfavorable(逆) and the favorable(順), article 12 states about 6 harmful pulses(殘賊脈), which are string-like pulse(弦脈), tight pulse(緊脈), floating pulse(浮脈), slippery pulse(滑脈), sunken pulse(沈脈), rough pulse(澁脈), article 13 states about "JaeGoe"(災怪) which is an unexpected response after treatment and it comes because of the formulas that had before. Throughout all these articles, The PingMaiFa chapter not only offers great value for Pulse-taking diagnosis, but also leads to a better understanding of clinical applications.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.114-123
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• 2015

Plants can respond and adapt to cold stress through regulation of gene expression in various biochemical and physiological processes. Cold stress triggers decreased rates of metabolism, modification of cell walls, and loss of membrane function. Hence, this study was conducted to construct coexpression networks for time-based expression pattern analysis of genes related to cold stress in Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis). B. rapa cold stress networks were constructed with 2,030 nodes, 20,235 edges, and 34 connected components. The analysis suggests that similar genes responding to cold stress may also regulate development of Chinese cabbage. Using this network model, it is surmised that cold tolerance is strongly related to activation of chitinase antifreeze proteins by WRKY transcription factors and salicylic acid signaling, and to regulation of stomatal movement and starch metabolic processes for systemic acquired resistance in Chinese cabbage. Moreover, within 48 h, cold stress triggered transition from vegetative to reproductive phase and meristematic phase transition. In this study, we demonstrated that this network model could be used to precisely predict the functions of cold resistance genes in Chinese cabbage.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.380-386
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• 2011

Tip burn has been reported as one of the most serious physiological disorder in Chinese chives (Allium tuberosum Rottl.) cultivated in plastic film house. In this study, a physiography and chemical properties of 132 plastic film house soils were investigated to elucidate factors affecting tip burn symptom. Also influence of soil properties on tip burn was statistically determined by path analysis and association analysis including a chi-square test or logistics analysis. Probability distribution of inorganic aqueous species, such as ammonia (g) was calculated using MINTEQ program. Soil order and chemical properties, especially pH, exchangeable calcium and inorganic nitrogen, showed a significant relationship with tip burn of Chinese chives. Tip burn symptoms occur mainly in an alkaline soil classified as Alfisols. Result of linear regression and path analysis exhibited that formation of ammonia (g) from soil solution depend upon soil pH and were associated with ammonium resulting from soil organic matter or nitrate. These results indicate that tip burn symptom of Chinese chives is directly affected by ammonia gas originated from alkaline soil condition.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.960-968
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• 2021

Since microalgae research started on late 18 century, they have been recognized as one of the most important bioresources used in bioindustry. Owing to the large efforts paid to industrial application of this microorganisms, their importance on food/feed and bioactive compounds has been further extending into the environmental research areas including alternative energy resources, mitigation of the carbon emission, and waste-water treatment. However, despite the importance on their industrial application, the fundamental research field related to the long-term preservation of microalgae culture has not received much attention. However, a less labor intensive and cost-efficient preservation technology enabling biologically active and stable microalgae-culture provides a key success factor in the biotechnological application. Therefore, this study investigated various cutting-edge microalgae cryopreservation technologies currently developed so far, mainly targeting Chlorophyta, which occupies the largest taxon in the classification system of microalgae. In addition, for the development of successful cryopreservation technique, the key factors such as temperature control effect and preservative effect during cryopreservation of microalgae culture were investigated. In addition, the problems with current preservation technology that is being used in Korean domestic biological resource banks and the international microalgal resource banks are described. According to our investigation, currently no standard method for long-term preservation of microalgae is available due to their various morphological and physiological characteristics. To overcome such issues, much more efforts on fundamental research area on the identification of specific biomarker used for microalgae taxonomical classification and further systemic approaches based on strain-specific cryopreservation methods needed.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.72-82
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• 2021

Purpose: A high anion gap (AG) is known to be a significant risk factor for serious acid-base imbalances and death in acute poisoning cases. The strong ion difference (SID), or strong ion gap (SIG), has recently been used to predict in-hospital mortality or acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome. This study presents a comprehensive acid-base analysis in order to identify the predictive value of the SIG for disease severity in severe poisoning. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted on acute poisoning patients treated in the emergency intensive care unit (ICU) between December 2015 and November 2020. Initial serum electrolytes, base deficit (BD), AG, SIG, and laboratory parameters were concurrently measured upon hospital arrival and were subsequently used along with Stewart's approach to acid-base analysis to predict AKI development and in-hospital death. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and logistic regression analysis were used as statistical tests. Results: Overall, 343 patients who were treated in the intensive care unit were enrolled. The initial levels of lactate, AG, and BD were significantly higher in the AKI group (n=62). Both effective SID [SIDe] (20.3 vs. 26.4 mEq/L, p<0.001) and SIG (20.2 vs. 16.5 mEq/L, p<0.001) were significantly higher in the AKI group; however, the AUC of serum SIDe was 0.842 (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.799-0.879). Serum SIDe had a higher predictive capacity for AKI than initial creatinine (AUC=0.796, 95% CI=0.749-0.837), BD (AUC=0.761, 95% CI=0.712-0.805), and AG (AUC=0.660, 95% CI=0.607-0.711). Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that diabetes, lactic acidosis, high SIG, and low SIDe were significant risk factors for in-hospital mortality. Conclusion: Initial SIDe and SIG were identified as useful predictors of AKI and in-hospital mortality in intoxicated patients who were critically ill. Further research is necessary to evaluate the physiological nature of the toxicant or unmeasured anions in such patients.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.125-134
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• 2019

Background: Excessive stress causes varied physiological and psychological disorders including male reproductive problems. Here, we attempted to investigate the protective effects of Korean Red Ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer; KRG) against sub-acute immobilization stress-induced testicular damage in experimental rats. Methods: Male rats (age, 4 wk; weight, 60-70 g) were divided into four groups (n = 8 in each group): normal control group, immobilization control group, immobilization group treated with 100 mg/kg of KRG daily, and immobilization group treated with 200 mg/kg of KRG daily. Normal control and immobilization control groups received vehicle only. KRG (100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg) was mixed in the standard diet powder and fed daily for 6 mo. Parameters such as organ weight, blood chemistry, sperm kinematic values, and expression levels of testicular-related molecules were measured using commercially available kits, Western blotting, and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results: Data revealed that KRG restored the altered testis and epididymis weight in immobilization stress-induced rats significantly (p < 0.05). Further, KRG ameliorated the altered blood chemistry and sperm kinematic values when compared with the immobilization control group and attenuated the altered expression levels of spermatogenesis-related proteins (nectin-2, cAMP responsive element binding protein 1, and inhibin-${\alpha}$), sex hormone receptors (androgen receptor, luteinizing hormone receptor, and follicle-stimulating hormone receptor), and antioxidant-related enzymes (glutathione S-transferase m5, peroxiredoxin-4, and glutathione peroxidase 4) significantly in the testes of immobilization stress-induced rats. Conclusion: KRG protected immobilization stress-induced testicular damage and fertility factors in rats, thereby indicating its potential in the treatment of stress-related male sterility.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.382-393
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• 2019

Wound care is a health industry concern affecting millions worldwide. Recent increase in metabolic disorders such as diabetes comes with elevated risk of wound-based complications. Treatment and management of wounds are difficult practices due to complexity of the wound healing process. Conventional wound dressings and treatment applications only provide limited benefits which are mainly aimed to keep wound protected from external factors. To improve wound care, recent developments make biopolymers to be of high interest and importance to researchers and medical practitioners. Biopolymers are polymers or natural origin produced by living organisms. They are credited to be highly biocompatible and biodegradable. Currently, studies reported biopolymers to exhibit various health beneficial properties such as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, hemostatic, cell proliferative and angiogenic activities which are crucial for effective wound management. Several biopolymers, namely chitosan, cellulose, collagen, hyaluronic acid and alginic acid have been already investigated and applied as wound dressing agents. Different derivatives of biopolymers have also been developed by cross-linking with other molecules, grafting with other polymers, and loading with bioactive agents or drugs which showed promising results towards wound healing without any undesired outcome such as scarring and physiological abnormalities. In this review, current applications of common biopolymers in wound treatment industry are highlighted to be a guide for further applications and studies.