• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.451-455
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• 2015

An excess application of N fertilizer causes physiological and morphological disorder known as ammonium ($NH_4{^+}$) toxicity in Chinese cabbage and it has been to be an issue for appropriate N fertilizer management. Hence, the pot experiment was conducted in order to evaluate the alleviating effect of the application of the easily decomposable carbohydrate on $NH_4{^+}$ toxicity in Chinese cabbage. Four levels of urea at 0, 160, 320, and $640kg\;N\;ha^{-1}$, represented as T1, T2, T3, and T4, respectively, were applied. In order to evaluate the alleviating effect of the application of the easily decomposable carbohydrate (sucrose) at T3 and T4 where $NH_4{^+}$ toxicity had occurred, five levels of sucrose were applied to meet C/N ratios of 0, 2, 4, 6, and 10, respectively. Our results showed that the $NH_4{^+}$ toxicity was observed at T3 and T4 at 5 days after treatment (DAT). $NH_4{^+}$ toxicity contributed to decrease fresh weight, length of leaves, length of root, and number of leaves significantly (p<0.05). The application of sucrose as a source of mitigating $NH_4{^+}$ toxicity had a good performance at T3 with the alleviating effect as 73 % and reduced in $NH_4{^+}-N$ content in soil at 29 DAT. In the maximum N rate of T4, however, sucrose application recovered it as 32 % only compared to T2 even though the same C/N ratio was treated. Consequently, sucrose as the easily decomposable carbohydrate played crucial role to reduce $NH_4{^+}$ concentration in soil and finally alleviated $NH_4{^+}$ toxicity in plant.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.183-188
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• 2019

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a naturally occurring, irreversible disorder and a major health burden. The disease is multifactorial, involving both physiological and mechanical processes, but calcium crystals have been associated intimately with its pathogenesis. This study tested the hypothesis that these crystals have a detrimental effect on the differentiation of osteoclasts and bone homeostasis. This study employed an osteoblastosteoclast coculture system that resembles in vivo osteoblastdependent osteoclast differentiation along with $Ca^{2+}$-phosphate-coated culture dishes. The calcium-containing crystals upregulated the expression of RANKL and increased the differentiation of osteoclasts significantly as a result. On the other hand, osteoblast differentiation was unaffected. MicroRNA profiling showed that dual-specificity phosphatases 1 (DUSP1) was associated with the increased RANKL expression. DUSP1 belongs to a family of MAPK phosphatases and is known to inactivate all three groups of MAPKs, p38, JNK, and ERK. Furthermore, knockdown of DUSP1 gene expression suggested that RANKL expression increases significantly in the absence of DUSP1 regulation. Microarray analysis of the DUSP1 mRNA levels in patients with pathological bone diseases also showed that the downregulated DUSP1 expression leads to increased expression of RANKL and consequently to the destruction of the bone observed in these patients. These findings suggest that calcium-containing crystals may play a crucial role in promoting RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis via DUSP1.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2021

Shihogayonggolmoryo-tang (ST) is a Korean medical herb cocktail which has been used to treat anxiety induced insomnia. In this study, we will examine sleep-promoting and anti-anxiety effects of ST, and investigate its mechanism. ICR mice were divided into three groups for the first examination : control group (n=11), ST50 group (50 mg/kg, po, n=11), ST200 group (200 mg/kg, po, n=11). Sleep-promoting effect was confirmed by measuring the sleeping duration time and sleeping onset time after thiopental sodium treatment (50 mg/kg, ip). ICR mice were divided into five groups for the second examination : control group (n=11), ST200 group (200 mg/kg, po, n=11), ST200+Flumazenil group (ST 200 mg/kg, po, flumazenil 0.3 mg/kg, ip, n=11), diazepam group (1 mg/kg, ip, n=11), diazepam+flumazenil group (diazepam 1 mg/kg, ip, Flumazenil 0.3 mg/kg, ip, n=11). Anxiety behavior and sleep-promoting effect was confirmed by open field test and measuring the sleeping duration time and sleeping onset time. Expression levels of c-fos in tuberomammillary nucleus (TMN) and ventrolateral preoptic nucleus (VLPO) were analyzed by immunohistochemistry. ST treated group showed significantly decreased anxiety behavior and enhanced sleeping duration time and sleeping onset time concentration dependently. The expression of c-fos was significantly upregulated in VLPO as sleep-inducing center and TMN as downregulated in arousal center by ST treatment. In addition, all effects of ST were reversed by flumazenil. Our results suggest that ST has sleep-promoting and anti-anxiety effects through regulating arousal center (TMN) and sleep-inducing center (VLPO).

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.309-318
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• 2020

Besides respiratory infection, COVID-19 has many neurological symptoms not only loss of smell and taste but also fatigue and brain fog. But it is a challenge to treat the neurological symptoms especially of anosmia and ageusia. In order to search for the therapeutic methods, the geographical diversity and pathological mechanisms of the COVID-19 and two symptoms were investigated from the latest clinical studies. Because the environmental conditions of the monsoon climate zone of East Asia and the Mediterranean and Oceanic climate zone of Italy, Britain, United States and tropical Brazil are different, each of diverse etiology and internal milieu should be considered differently in the treatment. SARS-CoV-2 exhibits the dampness-like characteristics and the olfactory and gustatory disorders are particularly more common than other flu or cold. and it tends to show features of damaging the lung qi of olfaction and heart-spleen qi of gustation. The mechanisms of olfactory and gustatory loss are various according to precursory, inflammatory, non-inflammatory and sequelar forms, so the therapeutic method should be designed for each period and pathology. If the process of inflammation arises from nasal and respiratory, olfactory epithelium to the central nervous structure by way of blood brain barrier, the treatment should be corresponded with the stage and depth of pathogen place. And if the olfactory loss is asymptomatic or in the initial stage, it can be applied intranasal topical scent therapy to relieve temporary locking of qi movement, but maybe also used in parallel together with herbs of relieving dampness toxin latent in the lung parenchyma.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.177-183
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• 2020

The Hippo-YAP signaling pathway is critical for cell proliferation, survival, and self-renewal in both Drosophila and mammals. Disorder of Hippo-YAP pathway leads to tumor development, progression and poor prognosis in various cancers. YAP/TAZ are the key downstream effectors of the Hippo pathway and they can be inhibited through LATS1/2, core kinases in the Hippo pathway, mediated phosphorylation. In this study, we investigated the effect of Angelica gigas Nakai extract (AGNE) on Hippo-YAP/TAZ pathway. First, ANGE induced YAP/TAZ phosphorylation and dissociation of the YAP/TAZ-TEAD transcription complex. By qRT-PCR, we found that ANGE inhibits the expression of YAP/TAZ-TEAD target gene, CTGF and CYR61. In addition, the transcriptional activity of YAP/TAZ was not suppressed significantly in LATS1/2 double-knockout (DKO) cells by ANGE compared to LATS1/2 wild-type (WT) cells, which means AGNE inhibits YAP/TAZ signaling through direct action on LATS1/2. Further, it was confirmed that AGNE-induced activation of LATS1/2 inhibited the migration potential of the vector-expressing cells by suppressing YAP/TAZ activity. The reduced migration potential was restored in active YAP-TEAD expressing cells. Taken together, the results of this study indicate that ANGE downregulates YAP/TAZ signaling in cells through the activation of LATS1/2.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.36-41
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• 2021

Many prior studies on neck pain after a traffic accident (TA), but there is a lack of research on risk factors for post-TA neck pain in Korea. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between post-traffic neck pain and the demographic characteristics of TA patients and to find any factors affecting the neck pain after TA. In this study, 120 TA patients in a Korean medicine hosipital were analysized. The Korean version of the Neck disability Index (NDI) and Numeral Rating Scale (NRS) were used. Data were summarized by frequency(%) and mean(standard deviation). Pearson correlation test, Independent sample t-test, chi-squre test, one-way ANOVA and two-way ANOVA were performed. The IBM SPSS Advanced Statistics for window, version 20.0 was used for statistical processing. All p-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. NDI and NRS were highly correlated. NRS and NDI showed higher scores for women, those in 30s, BMI≥25, and side collisions, but there were no statistically significant differences. For women, the direction of collision was observed to affect NDI. In this study, it was confirmed that the NDI and NRS had a high correlation. However, it was confirmed that sex, degree of obesity, direction of traffic accident collision are not factors that significantly affect the intensity of neck pain and the functional disorder by neck. It is necessary to conduct an additional study by larger scale.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.261-269
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• 2021

Because sows are industrially vital for swine production, monitoring for their health or disorder status is important to ensure high reproductive performance. Especially, ambient temperature changes in different season, especially during summer, are directly influenced to the reproductive performance of sows. Although the serum biochemical parameters are widely applied in the veterinary medicine with wide ranges for the physiological process, the values are also influenced by several factors such as age, breed, gender, and stress. In addition, domestic sows in Korea-specific reference interval (RI) for serum biochemistry has not been established yet. Therefore, the present study was aimed to evaluate seasonal variation of RIs in the serum biochemistry in domestic sows in Korea at different seasons and to establish normal RIs using a RI finding program (Reference Value Advisor). Significant difference (p < 0.05) on the different seasons were identified in several serum biochemical parameters including BUN, CRE, GGT, GLU, ALB, TP, LDH and Na in sows. Therefore, we further established RIs, specific in domestic sows in Korea regardless of season. The established RIs based on the serum biochemical values provide a baseline for interpreting biochemical results in the domestic sows in Korea, regardless of seasonal effect. It may contribute to develop a strategy for better reproductive performance by improving breeding management practice and evaluating health of pig herds, which facilitate to avert the economic loss in summer infertility in sows.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2022

The aim of the present study was to investigate the physiological role of nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) associated with odontogenic differentiation during tooth development in mice. Mouse dental papilla cell-23 (MDPC-23) cells cultured in differentiation media were stimulated with the specific NAMPT inhibitor, FK866, and Visfatin (NAMPT) for up to 10 days. The cells were evaluated after 0, 4, 7, and 10 days. Cell viability was measured using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The mineralization assay was performed by staining MDPC-23 cells with Alizarin Red S solution. After cultivation, MDPC-23 cells were harvested for quantitative PCR or Western blotting. Analysis of variance was performed using StatView 5.0 software (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. The expression of NAMPT increased during the differentiation of murine odontoblast-like MDPC-23 cells. Furthermore, the up-regulation of NAMPT promoted odontogenic differentiation and accelerated mineralization through an increase in representative odontoblastic biomarkers, such as dentin sialophosphoprotein, dentin matrix protein-1, and alkaline phosphatase in MDPC-23 cells. However, treatment of the cells with the NAMPT inhibitor, FK866, attenuated odontogenic differentiation, as evidenced by the suppression of odontoblastic biomarkers. These data indicate that NAMPT regulated odontoblastic differentiation through the regulation of odontoblastic biomarkers. The increase in NAMPT expression in odontoblasts was closely related to the formation of the extracellular matrix and dentin via the Runx signaling pathway. Therefore, these data suggest that NAMPT is a critical regulator of odontoblast differentiation during tooth development.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.96-105
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• 2022

The ovary undergoes substantial physiological changes along with estrus phase to mediate negative/positive feedback to the upstream reproductive tissues and to play a role in producing a fertilizable oocyte in the developing follicles. However, the disorder of estrus cycle in female can lead to diseases, such as cystic ovary which is directly associated with decline of overall reproductive performance. In gene expression studies of ovaries, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay has been widely applied. During this assay, although normalization of target genes against reference genes (RGs) has been indispensably conducted, the expression of RGs is also variable in each experimental condition which can result in false conclusion. Because the understanding for stable RG in porcine ovaries was still limited, we attempted to assess the stability of RGs from the pool of ten commonly used RGs (18S, B2M, PPIA, RPL4, SDHA, ACTB, GAPDH, HPRT1, YWHAZ, and TBP) in the porcine ovaries under different estrus phase (follicular and luteal phase) and cystic condition, using stable RG-finding programs (geNorm, Normfinder, and BestKeeper). The significant (p < 0.01) differences in Ct values of RGs in the porcine ovaries under different conditions were identified. In assessing the stability of RGs, three programs comprehensively agreed that TBP and YWHAZ were suitable RGs to study porcine ovaries under different conditions but ACTB and GAPDH were inappropriate RGs in this experimental condition. We hope that these results contribute to plan the experiment design in the field of reproductive physiology in pigs as reference data.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.407-414
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• 2018

This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of application method and concentration of gibberellin $A_3$ ($GA_3$) on the growth, runner production, and seedling quality of strawberry plants (Fragaria ${\times}$ ananassa Duch. cv. Maehyang) during nursery period. The mother plants of strawberry were transplanted in pot ($64{\times}27{\times}18cm$) filled with commercial growing medium on March 20, 2018. $GA_3$ concentration was applied as 0, 50, 100 or $200mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ with spray or drench to 45 mL per plant at 4 weeks after transplanting, respectively. Nutrient solution was supplied with the EC $1.5dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ after the transplanting and supplied 350 mL per pot twice a day (15 min per one time) after rooting. The growth characteristics of mother plants of strawberry were measured at 7 weeks after treatment, and growth characteristics of daughter plants of strawberry were measured at 10 weeks after treatment. Runner length and diameter of mother plant was the longest or thickest in the spray with $200mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ than the other treatments, respectively. Soil-plant analysis development (SPAD) value of mother plant was the lowest in spray with $200mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$. However, leaf length, leaf width, and crown diameter showed no significant differences in all treatment among application method and concentration of $GA_3$. As the concentration of $GA_3$ increased, physiological disorder like stretchiness of crown occurred more. The physiological disorder was the most occurred in spray treatment with $200mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$, but drench treatment occurred less than spray treatment. The number of runners and daughter plants increased with increasing concentration of $GA_3$ regardless of application methods. In the growth characteristics of the daughter plants, leaf length and leaf width of first daughter plant, plant height, crown diameter, leaf area and SPAD value of second daughter plant, and plant height of third daughter plant were the significantly greatest in drench with $100mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ treatment. This results indicate that growth and runner production of mother plants and growth of daughter plants of strawberry were the best achieved by drench application in the $100mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ $GA_3$.