• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.357-366
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• 2022

Background: Withania somnifera (Solanaceae), generally known as Indian ginseng, is a medicinal plant that is used in Ayurvedic practice for promoting health and longevity. This study aims to identify the bioactive metabolites from Indian ginseng and elucidate their structures. Methods: Withanolides were purified by chromatographic techniques, including HPLC coupled with LC/MS. Chemical structures of isolated withanolides were clarified by analyzing the spectroscopic data from 1D and 2D NMR, and HR-ESIMS experiment. Absolute configurations of the withanolides were established by the application of NMR chemical shifts and ECD calculations. Anti-adipogenic activities of isolates were evaluated using 3T3-L1 preadipocytes with Oil Red O staining and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Results: Phytochemical examination of the roots of Indian ginseng afforded to the isolation of six withanolides (1-6), including three novel withanolides, withasilolides GeI (1-3). All the six compounds inhibited adipogenesis and suppressed the enlargement of lipid droplets, compared to those of the control. Additionally, the mRNA expression levels of Fabp4 and Adipsin, the adipocyte markers decreased noticeably following treatment with 25 µM of 1-6. The active compounds (1-6) also promoted lipid metabolism by upregulating the expression of the lipolytic genes HSL and ATGL and downregulating the expression of the lipogenic gene SREBP1. Conclusion: The results of our experimental studies suggest that the withasilolides identified herein have anti-adipogenic potential and can be considered for the development of therapeutic strategies against adipogenesis in obesity. Our study also provides a mechanistic rationale for using Indian ginseng as a potential therapeutic agent against obesity and related metabolic diseases.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.582-587
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• 2023

The effects of the annealing temperature on the structural, morphological, and luminescent properties of SrWO₄:Sm³⁺ thin films grown on quartz substrates by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering were investigated. The thin films were annealed at various annealing temperatures for 20 min in a rapid thermal annealer after growing the thin films. The experimental results showed that the annealing temperature has a significant effect on the properties of the SrWO₄:Sm³⁺ thin films. The crystal structure of the as-grown SrWO₄:Sm³⁺ thin films was transformed from amorphous to crystalline after annealing at 800℃. The preferred orientation along (112) plane and a significant increase in average grain size by 820 nm were observed with increasing the annealing temperature. The average optical transmittance in the wavelength range of 500~1,100 nm was decreased from 72.0% at 800℃ to 44.2% at an annealing temperature of 1,000℃, where the highest value in the photoluminescence intensity was obtained. In addition to the red-shift of absorption edge, a higher annealing temperature caused the optical band gap energy of the SrWO₄:Sm³⁺ thin films to fall rapidly. These results suggest that the structural, morphological, and luminescent properties of SrWO₄:Sm³⁺ thin films can be controlled by varying annealing temperature.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.400-405
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• 2023

Tb³⁺-doped CaNb₂O₆ (CaNb₂O₆:Tb³⁺) thin films were deposited on quartz substrates at a growth temperature of 300 ℃ using radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. The deposited thin films were annealed at several annealing temperatures for 20 min and characterized for their structural, morphological, and luminescent properties. The experimental results showed that the annealing temperature had a significant effect on the properties of the CaNb₂O₆:Tb³⁺ thin films. The crystalline structure of the as-grown CaNb₂O₆:Tb³⁺ thin films transformed from amorphous to crystalline after annealing at temperatures greater than or equal to 700 ℃. The emission spectra of the thin films under excitation at 251 nm exhibited a dominant emission band at 546 nm arising from the ⁵D₄→⁷F₅ magnetic dipole transition of Tb³⁺ and three weak emission bands at 489, 586, and 620 nm, respectively. The intensity of the ⁵D₄→⁷F₅ (546 nm) magnetic dipole transition was greater than that of the ⁵D₄→⁷F₆ (489 nm) electrical dipole transition, indicating that the Tb³⁺ ions in the host crystal were located at sites with inversion symmetry. The average transmittance at wavelengths of 370~1,100 nm decreased from 86.8 % at 700 ℃ to 80.5 % at an annealing temperature of 1,000 ℃, and a red shift was observed in the bandgap energy with increasing annealing temperature. These results suggest that the annealing temperature plays a crucial role in developing green light-emitting CaNb₂O₆:Tb³⁺ thin films for application in electroluminescent displays.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.83-91
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• 2024

The purpose of this study was to determine the doppler fluid effects of carbonated water (CBW) in a bi-directional flow phantom model. A bi-directional flow phantom model was chosen to realize arterial and venous flow, and the structure of the inner and outer tanks allowed for fluid circulation and also made the size of the phantom small. Carbonated water (CBW), salt fluid (SAF), sugar fluid (SUF), and distilled water (DW) were used as fluids, and ultrasound scans were performed at depths of 1.5 cm and 3.0 cm from the surface of the tank, using B-mode and color Doppler effects. All fluids tested showed color Doppler effects, but CBW had the highest doppler shift and the least variation with depth. In conclusion, we determined that CBW was the most suitable fluid to be used as a doppler fluid and confirmed that the bubbles dissolved in CBW act as doppler scatterers, just like red blood cells inside human blood. Therefore, it is possible that CBW can be used as a blood-mimicking fluid in doppler ultrasound phantoms through further research, and this study will provide basic data.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.71-76
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• 1998

To know the antibiotic specificity of a Dinoflagellate, Cochlodinium polykrikoides, we investigated the survival time of C. polykrikoides against several concentrations of antibiotics and judged the selective specificity of antibiotics based on the $LT_50$ ($50\%$ of lethal time). The result showed that C. polykrikoides was sensitive to tetracycline and chloramphenicol, and resistant to polymixin-B, ampicillin, penicillin-G, dihydrostreptomycin, and neomycin. In the case of sensitive antibiotics to C. polykrikoides, tetracycline and chloramphenicol, the safety concentrations of both antibiotics were determined and the antibiotic specificity based or the plotted survival curve was analyzed. Before antibiotic treatment, we tested the antibiotic susceptibility of the contaminated bacterial population in tile culture of C. polykrikoides, and decided the proper kinds of antibiotics and concentrations before percoll-centrifugation. By percoll-centrifugation, we reduced bacteria, removed fungi, collected the algal pellet, and made axonic culture by antibiotic cascade procedure based on the result of antibiotic susceptibility test. We observed that axonic C. polykrikoides culture entered the logarthmic phase of growth when cell density was over 740 cells/ml and propagated to 5,800 cells/ml maximally. Divisions per day, k value of C. polykrikoides represented a good index for growth at the low density of cells. There was a highest k value shift before reaching to the logarithmic phase. We suggested that the preceeding highest k value shift stage is a good indicator for accurate broadcasting for red. tide blooming in the field, and the stage is also a good time for controlling red tide blooming in the filed, either.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.799-808
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• 2021

This study was performed to investigate the extent of microbial contamination, the presence of enterotoxin genes, and the antibiotic susceptibility of Bacillus cereus in 58 red pepper plants and 43 environmental samples (soil, irrigation water, and gloves) associated with the plant cultivation. The detected counts of total aerobic bacteria, coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, and Staphylococcus aureus were lower in these samples, as compared to the regulations of standards for foods; moreover, pathogens, such as E. coli, E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella spp., were not detected. Genes encoding hemolysin BL enterotoxins (hblA, hblC, and hblD) as well as non-hemolytic enterotoxins (nheA, nheB, and nheC) were detected in 23 B. cereus specimens that were isolated from the test samples and had β-hemolytic activity. Interestingly, B. cereus is resistant to β-lactam and susceptible to non-β-lactam antibiotics. However, in this case, the isolated B. cereus specimens exhibited a shift from resistant to intermediate in response to cefotaxime and from susceptible to intermediate in case of rifampin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, vancomycin, clindamycin, and erythromycin. Therefore, the levels of B. cereus should be monitored to detect changes in antibiotic susceptibility and guarantee their safety.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2000

The binding mode of anthryl derivatives to synthetic polynucleotides were investigated by various spectroscopic methods. The spectroscopic properties of anthracence with metbylamine and methylethylenediamine side chains, complexed with $poly[d(A-T)_2]$ and $poly[d(G-C)_2]$, can be summarized as a red-shift, with a strong hypochromism in the absortion spectrum, similar induced CD spectra, and a strong negative LD spectrum with an $LD^r$ magnitude comparable to the DNA absorption region. These observations indicate that anthracene moiety is intercalated between the nucleo-bases of $poly[d(A-T)_2]$ and $poly[d(G-C)_2]$. The side chains did not alter the spectroscopic properties, demonstrating that the binding mode was not affected by them. A strong energy transfer was observed from poly[d(A-T),] and $poly[d(I-C)_2]$ but not from $poly[d(G-C)_2]$, as reported by Kumar et al. (J. Am. Chem. Soc.(1993) 115, 8547). Since the binding mode is the same for all the polynucleotides, the amine group of the guanine base, which protrudes into the minor groove of $poly[d(G-C)_2]$, is concluded to disrupt the energy transfer.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.99-104
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• 2007

Porous silicon exhibiting dual optical properties, both $Febry-P{\acute{e}}rot$ fringe (optical reflectivity) and photoluminescence had been developed and used as chemical sensors. Porous silicon samples were prepared by an electrochemical etch of p-type silicon wafer (boron-doped, <100> orientation, resistivity ; $1-10{\Omega}cm$). Two different types of porous silicon, fresh porous silicon (Si-H terminated) and oxidized porous silicon (Si-OH terminated)by the thermal oxidation, were prepared. Then the samples were exposed to the vapor of various organics, such as methanol, acetone, hexane, and toluene. Both reflectivity and photoluminescence were simultaneously measured under the exposure of organic vapors for sensing VOC's. These surface-modified samples showed unique respond in both reflectivity and photoluminescence with various organic vapors. While polar molecules exhibit greater quenching photoluminescence, molecules having higher vapor pressure show greater red shift for reflectivity.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.179-186
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• 2011

Purpose: This study aimed to compare and assess changes of visual functions in viewing an anaglyph 3D image. Methods: Visual functions were examined before and after viewing a 2D image and an anaglyph 3D image with red-green glasses on seventy college students (mean age = 22.29${\pm}$2.19 years). Visual function tests were carried out for von Graefe phoria test, accommodative amplitude test by (-) lens addition, negative relative accommodation (NRA) and positive relative accommodation (PRA) test, negative relative convergence (NRC) and positive relative convergence (PRC) test, accommodative facility, and vergence facility test. Results: Assessment of the visual functions indicated that near exophoria and accommodative amplitude were reduced after viewing a 3D image, and although there were small changes in relation to these findings, NRC and PRC showed tendencies to increase and decrease at near, respectively. There were no significant changes with NRA and PRA, and accommodative and vergence facility were shown to have improved. Conclusions: Changes of visual functions were more in the 3D image than the 2D image, especially at near than distance. Particularly, the improvement of accommodative and vergence facility could be related to an effect of subsequent accommodation and vergence shift to have stereopsis in the 3D image. These results indicate that an anaglyph 3D image may, to some extent, be the effect of vision training such as anaglyphs.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.399-405
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• 2001

Poly[3-octylthiophene-co-3-(4-fluorophenyl)thiophene]s were synthesized in 2:1, 1:1, and 1:2 mole ratios, and organic electroluminescent devices were fabricated using the copolymers. The opto-electrical properties of the copolymers were studied by PL, EL spectra, I-V, and V-L curves of the organic electroluminescent devices in conjunction with the energy band diagrams which were obtained from the cyclic voltammogram and the electronic absorption spectra. The LUMO energy level of P(OT/FPT)(1:1) is the lowest as -3.35 eV. In the copolymers P(OT/FPT)(2:1) and P(OT/FPT)(1:1) the ${\lambada}_{max}$ in the PL and EL spectra red-shifted as the mole ratio of fluorophenyl group increased while in P(OT/FPT)(1:2) it showed a blue-shift. This indicates that the backbone chain is twisted due to the steric hinderance of the fluorophenyl group leading to shorter ${\pi}$-conjugation length. P(OT/FPT)(1:1) showed the highest EL intensity and the highest power efficiency among the three copolymers. In P(OT/FPT)(1:2) the roughness of the film surface causes unusually high local leakage current leading to the low efficiency of electroluminescence.