• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4597-4606
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• 2012

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is an uncommon adenocarcinoma which arises from the epithelial cells of the bile ducts. The aim of the study was to investigate the cytotoxicity, toxicity, and anticancer activity of a crude ethanolic extract of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) against CCA. Cytotoxic activity against a CCA cell line (CL-6) was assessed by calcein-AM and Hoechst 33342 assays and anti-oxidant activity was evaluated using the DPPH assay. Investigation of apoptotic activity was performed by DNA fragmentation assay and induction of genes that may be involved in the resistance of CCA to anticancer drugs (MDR1, MRP1, MRP2, and MRP3) was examined by real-time PCR. To investigate anti-CCA activity in vivo, a total of 80 OV and nitrosamine (OV/DMN)-induced CCA hamsters were fed with the ginger extract at doses of 1000, 3000, and 5000 mg/kg body weight daily or every alternate day for 30 days. Control groups consisting of 10 hamsters for each group were fed with 5-fluorouracil (positive control) or distilled water (untreated control). Median $IC_{50}$ (concentration that inhibits cell growth by 50%) values for cytotoxicity and anti-oxidant activities of the crude ethanolic extract of ginger were 10.95, 53.15, and $27.86{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. More than ten DNA fragments were visualized and up to 7-9 fold up-regulation of MDR1 and MRP3 genes was observed following exposure to the ethanolic extract of ginger. Acute and subacute toxicity tests indicated absence of any significant toxicity at the maximum dose of 5,000 mg/kg body weight given by intragastric gavage. The survival time and survival rate of the CCA-bearing hamsters were significantly prolonged compared to the control group (median of 54 vs 17 weeks). Results from these in vitro and in vivo studies thus indicate promising anticancer activity of the crude ethanolic extract of ginger against CCA with the absence of any significant toxicity. Moreover, MDR1 and MRP3 may be involved in conferring resistance of CCA to the ginger extract.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.43-48
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• 1997

To exam infestation rate and removal rate of head louse, we did delousing at 27 primary schools and 19 kindergartens established as an annex to the primary school in Namwon-shi, Jollabuk-do, Korea, from May to December 1995. Total of 3123 subjects were examined ed for the presence of head lice and nits The overall infestation rate was 9.6%, 9.5% in primary school children and 10.1% in kindergarten children. Among 299 infested children, 55 children evaluated by live nit had louse, and 79 children had dead nit. According to distractive research, Ibaek-myon and Songdong-myon revealed high infestation rate of 27.3%, and 21.7% respectively. Infestation rate of primary school was 0 to 50.9%, kindergarten was 0 to 100%. Infestation rate of female children were higher than male in all grades. When we executed one time treatment with PARA$^{(R)}$ aerosol(bioallethrin with piperonyl butoxide), treatment rate of 65.1% was examined, 82.8% was examined in three times of treatment. We concluded that 3 times of treatments interval of 14 days were more effective than one time in the case of treatment of only infested children. In order to prevent the spread of head lice, education of school hygiene and suitable delousing attempts should be executed in the present situation.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.269-275
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• 1999

Background : In April 6, 1990, a male researcher who has worked at a research unit at the Basic Research Building of Seoul National University(SNU) College of Medicine admitted to SNU Hospital due to persistent fever. He was diagnosed serologically as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome(HFRS). Another female researcher in the same unit was also diagnosed as HFRS at the same hospital several days later. Epidemic investigation of HFRS was conducted to determine the magnitude of the problems since these two cases were strongly suspected to have laboratory-acquired infections of HFRS. Methods : All researchers and employees working at the Basic Research Building(BRB) of SNU College of Medicine as of April 1, 1996 were recruited for the study, information on symptoms of HFRS and history of contact to experimental animals were collected by self-administered questionnaires and serological tests among study subjects were also conducted by indirect immunofluorescent antibody(IFA) to hantavirus. The experimental animals were also serologically tested for infection with hantavirus by IFA. Results : Among 218 surveyed, six researchers and an animal caretaker had hantavirus antibodies above 1:20 in IFA titer. Five of seven sero-positive subjects had antibodies above 1:640 in IFA titer and had shown clinical symptoms compatible to HFRS during Jan. 1 to Apr, 20, 1996. The sero-positive persons had handled animals more frequently than sero-negative persons (OR, 19,68; 95% Cl, 1.11-350.40) and handling animals at the animal quarter at School of Public Health(SPH) had shown consistently higher risk to get infected with hantavirus irrespective of types of animals handled (OR, 4.90-6.37). Sero-positivity of rats of the aniamal quarter at BRB was 30-60%, whereas 80% of rats at SPH tested were shown sero-positivity. Conclusion: There was a epidemic of HFRS in research units of a medical school during the period from Jan. through Apr, Further investigation is needed to determine the extent and the mode of transmission of the laboratory-acquired infection with hantavirus in other research facilities.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.192-198
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• 2007

Kimchi is one of the representative traditional foods in Korea, which is recognized as a kind of wellbeing foodstuffs. However, as increasing foreign-made Kimchi, its safety as food is at the forefront of public health concerns. We analyzed the washing methods of Chinese cabbages, which are the main materials in Kimchi, to prevent parasite contamination during preparing it. To decontaminate parasite eggs from Chinese cabbages, discard the discolored outer leaves from cabbages, spread the space of leaves with fingers and rinse more than 3 separate water tanks with streaming water (velocity more than 0.8m/sec). At each tank, Chinese cabbages were rinsed with more than 3 strokes upward and downward within the streaming water followed by moving back and forth more than 3 times, with 20cm in height and 30cm in width, respectively. Decontamination efficiency increased higher in parallel with streaming velocity of water, and with adding the vegetable detergent to the tank water.

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.42-51
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• 2019

We compared the antibacterial activities of spermidine and astaxanthin against two gram-positive bacteria such as Streptococcus parauberis and S. iniae to find new antibacterial candidates. We also evaluated the preventive effects of spermidine against oxidative stress-induced cytotoxicity in C2C12 myoblasts. Our results indicated that spermidine has more significant antibacterial activities than astaxanthin against both two fish pathogenic bacteria as well as gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli used as a control group. Minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration of spermidine were 0.25 mM and 1 mM against S. parauberis, 1 mM and 3 mM against S. iniae, and 0.5 mM and 1.5 mM against E. coli, respectively. In addition, the postantibiotic effect lasted from 7 h, 5 h and 6 h for S. parauberis, S. iniae and E. coli, respectively. The results also showed that the decreased C2C12 cell viability by H₂O₂ could be attributed to the induction of DNA damage and apoptosis accompanied by the increased production of reactive oxygen species, which was remarkably protected by spermidine. Additionally, the antioxidant effect of spermidine was associated with the activation of Nrf2 signaling pathway. According to the data, spermidine may be a potential lead compound which can be further optimized to discover novel antibacterial and antioxidant agents.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.209-218
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• 2014

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of human multiple sclerosis (MS), reflects pathophysiologic steps in MS such as the influence of T cells and antibodies reactive to the myelin sheath, and the cytotoxic effect of cytokines. Galectin-9 (Gal-9) is a member of animal lectins that plays an essential role in various biological functions. The expression of Gal-9 is significantly enhanced in MS lesions; however, its role in autoimmune disease has not been fully elucidated. To identify the role of Gal-9 in EAE, we measured changes in mRNA and protein expression of Gal-9 as EAE progressed. Expression increased with disease progression, with a sharp rise occurring at its peak. Gal-9 immunoreactivity was mainly expressed in astrocytes and microglia of the central nervous system (CNS) and macrophages of spleen. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that $Gal-9^+CD11b^+$ cells were dramatically increased in the spleen at the peak of disease. Increased expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-R1 and p-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) was observed in the CNS of EAE mice, suggesting that TNF-R1 and p-JNK might be key regulators contributing to the expression of Gal-9 during EAE. These results suggest that identification of the relationship between Gal-9 and EAE progression is critical for better understanding Gal-9 biology in autoimmune disease.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.13-20
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• 1996

A Recent discovery of surface antigens in cells has led to the success of quantitative measurement of T-cell subpopulations, and this has especially opened the way for an epoch-making development in the understanding and classification of cellular immune mechanisms. It is known that phenotypes of T-cell subpopulations exist in many forms according to the variation of species or animal experimental models. In Korea, Clonorchis sinensis still gives rise to public concern as it infects more than eighty million people and threatens the public by causing cirrhosis of the liver, or liver cancer when liver infection becomes prolonged and chronic. Up until now there has been much progress in research and improvement in the classification system of Clonorchis sinensis in the area of humoral immunity, but as for research in the area of cellular immune mechanisms, there is almost none. Knowing all these circumstances, the authors delved for the characterization of Iymphocyte subpopulations with mice as Clonorchis sinensis in the area of cellular immunity, and obtained the following results. That is, we injected Clonorchis sinensis antigens mixed in Freund's ajuvant solution intraperitoneally in mice and measured the T-cell subpopulation characterization of spleen lymphocytes with flow cytometry. The results of these measurements showed that CD2, CD5 and CD8 decreased early following injections but then in-creased again seven weeks after the injections. CD4, however, showed a slight increase shortly after the injection but then a fair increase seven weeks after the injection.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.123-134
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• 2005

Germ cell development during oogenesis, ovarian maturation and first sexual maturity in female Ruditapes philippinarum were investigated by cytological and histological observations. R. philippinarum is dioecious. During vitellogenesis, the Golgi complex, glycogen particles, and mitochondria were involved in the formation of lipid droplets and lipid granules in the cytoplasm of the early vitellogenic oocyte. In the late vitellogenic oocyte, cortical granules, the endoplasmic reticulum, and mitochondria were involved in the formation of proteid yolk granules in the cytoplasm. At this time, exogenous lipid granular substance and glycogen particles in the germinal epithelium passed into the oocyte through the microvilli of the vitelline envelope. The spawning period was once a year between early June and early October, and the main spawning occurred between July and August when seawater temperature was approximately $20^{\circ}C$. The reproductive cycle of this species can be categorized into five successive stages: early active stage(January to March), late active stage(Februaryto May), ripe stage(April to August), partially spawned stage(May to October), and spent/inactive stage (August to February). Percentages of female clams at first sexual maturity of $15.1{\sim}20.0mm$ in shell length were 52.6%(50% of the rate of group maturity was 17.83mm in length), and 100% for the clams >25.1mm.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.115-122
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• 2009

Spermatogenesis and ultrastructural characteristics of sperm of brackish water diploid Corbicula japonica were investigated by electron microscope observations. Based on the cytological studies, the spermatozoon of this species (brackish water diploid) C japonica is approximately 55 ${\mu}m$ in length. The sperm head (about 12 ${\mu}m$ long) is elongated and tapers with a slight curve. Sperm nucleus is about 7.90 ${\mu}m$ long, and the acrosome is about 2.70 ${\mu}m$ long: The morphologies of the sperm nucleus type and the acrosome shape of this species are a long arrow-like type and long cone-like shape, respectively. The sperm head of this species (external fertilization, dioecious and oviparous species) is partially modified from that of the primitive type, as seen in triploid Corbicula species (internal fertilization, hermaphrodite and ovoviparous species), reported by some authors. However, this species produces uniflagellate spermatozoa, unlike freshwater triploid hermaphroditic clams being possessed of partially modified biflagellate spermatozoa. Diploid C japonica is similar to those of other bivalves being possessed of a short midpiece containing four mitochondria surrounding the centrioles. The axoneme of the sperm tail flagellum consists of nine pairs of microtubules at the periphery and a pair at the center. The axoneme of the sperm tail shows a 9+2 structure, and from uniflagellate sperm cross sectioned, in particular, wing-like axonernal lateral fins are observed, as seen in external fertilization fishes.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.8
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• pp.881-885
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• 2005

Purpose : Airway dehydration and subsequent hyperosmolarity of periciliary fluid are considered critical events in exercise-induced bronchoconstriction. The aim of this study was to establish if a hyperosmolar challenge could induce activation of eosinophils. Methods : Human eosinophilic leukaemic cell lines, EoL-1 cells were incubated with hyperosmolar solutions for 15 minutes. Activation of EoL-1 cells was monitored by degranulation and superoxide anion production. In addition, we examined surface expression of CD69 and ICAM-1. Results : Hyperosmolar stimuli didn't induce superoxide anion production and degranulation. In addition, EoL-1 cells cultured with hyperosmolar medium at 930 mOsm/kg $H_2O$ resulted in no significant increment in fluorescent intensity of CD69 and ICAM-1 expression compared with results for cells incubated with isomolar medium. Conclusion : We found that hyperosmolar stimuli don't cause activation of EoL-1 cells, but further studies are required to determine the role of eosinophil in the mechanism of exercise-induced asthma.