• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.2625-2629
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• 2014

Background: Trace elements are major components of biological structures; however, excessive levels of these elements can be toxic. Materials and Methods: In the present study, serum levels of trace elements were measured in 30 patients with newly diagnosed as prostate cancer and 32 healthy volunteer by using furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Results: It was found that there was an increase in serum levels of Co, Cu, Mg and Pb (p<0.05), whereas a decrease in serum levels of Fe, Mn, and Zn levels in patients with prostate cancer (p<0.05). Conclusions: These changes may be important in the pathogenesis of prostate cancers; however, further prospective studies are needed to identify relationships between prostate cancer and trace elements.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.380-384
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• 2013

Zinc may participate in blood pressure regulation and in the pathogenesis of hypertension. The study examined the relationship between zinc status and blood pressure in obese Korean women. Forty obese women (body mass index (BMI) ${\geq}25kg/m^2$) aged 19-28 years participated in this study. Zinc intake was estimated from one 24 hour recall and 2-day diet records. Serum and urinary zinc concentrations were determined by atomic absorbance spectrophotometry. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were measured using an automatic sphygmometer. Metabolic variables, such as waist circumference, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, fasting glucose, and fasting insulin, were also measured. Dietary zinc intake of obese women was averagely 7.5 mg/day. Serum zinc and urinary zinc concentrations were $13.4{\mu}mol/L$ and $378.7{\mu}g/day$, respectively. Averages of SBP and DBP were 119 mmHg and 78 mmHg. Dietary zinc intake was negatively correlated with SBP after adjusting for energy intake (P < 0.05), but serum and urinary zinc concentrations were not found to be correlated with SBP or DBP. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that dietary zinc intake was inversely associated with SBP in obese women after adjusting for body weight, energy intake and sodium intake (P = 0.0145). The results show that dietary zinc intake may be an independent risk factor of elevated SBP in obese Korean women.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.67-74
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• 1989

The Kinetics of the Hydrolysis of benzalacetophenone derivatives has been investigated by ultraviolet spectrophotometry in 5% dioxane - $H_2O$ at $50^{\circ}C$. A rate equation which can be applied over wide pH range was obtained. The substituent effect on the hydrolysis of benzalacetophenone derivatives were facilitated by electron attracting groups. Based on the rate equation, substituent effect, general base effect, activation parameters and final product, the hydrolysis of benzalacetophenone derivatives seems to be initiated by the netural molecule of $H_2O$ which does not dissociate at below pH 9.0 but proceeded by the hydroxide ion at above pH 11.0. In the range of pH $9.0{\sim}11.0$ these two reactions occur competitively.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.27-31
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• 1994

The rate constants of hydrolysis of ${\alpha}$-phenly-N-iso-propylnitrone and its derivatives have been determined by UV spectrophotometry at $25^{\circ}C$ and a rate equation which can be applied over a wide pH range was obtained. On the basis of rate equations derived and judging from the hydrolysis products obtained and general base and substituent effects, plausible mechanism of hydrolysis in various pH range have been proposed. Below pH 4.5, the hydrolysis was initiated by the protonation and followed by the addition of water to ${\alpha}$-carbon. Above pH 10.0, the hydrolysis was proceeded by the addition of hydroxide ion to ${\alpha}$-carbon. In the range of $4.5{\sim}10.0$, the addition of water to nitrone was rate controlling step.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.114-121
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• 2012

A novel neuropeptide was isolated from the skin of the snakehead Channa argus using the dorsal retractor muscle (DRM) of a starfish Asterina pectinifera as a bioassay system. The amino acid sequence of the purified peptide was analyzed using automated sequencing and MALDI-TOF mass spectrophotometry. The primary structure of the purified peptide was determined to be Pro-Ala-Leu-Ala-Leu. To investigate the complete primary structure of this peptide, Pro- Ala-Leu-Ala-Leu-OH and Pro-Ala-Leu-Ala-Leu-NH2 were synthesized. The chemical and pharmacological properties of the synthetic peptides were compared with those of the native peptide. Both the native peptide and synthetic Pro-Ala- Leu-Ala-Leu-OH had identical behaviors on the reverse-phase and cation-exchange HPLC chromatograms. Synthetic Pro-Ala-Leu-Ala-Leu-OH showed contractile activity on the DRM, and the threshold concentration of this peptide was approximately $10^{-8}$ M. The maximal contractile effect ($E_{max}$) of this peptide was $294{\pm}45.4$% at $10^{-5}$ M.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.1627-1635
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• 2013

Mitochondria often play central roles in apoptotic pathways, and disruption of the mitochondrial transmembrane potential (${\Delta}{\psi}m$) has been observed in various cells undergoing apoptosis. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection induces apoptosis in permissive cells; however, investigations of mitochondria-targeted apoptosis in HCMV-infected human foreskin fibroblast (HFF) cells have been limited. Here, we investigated the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway in HCMV-infected HFF cells. Flow cytometry analysis using JC-1 revealed that HCMV infection induces disruption of ${\Delta}{\psi}m$ in HFF cells when administered 24 h post-infection (hpi), and this disruption was maximized at 48 hpi. Moreover, cytochrome c, normally a mitochondrial inner membrane protein, was detected in cytoplasmic extracts of HCMV-infected cells, but not mock-infected cells, by western blot analysis at 24 hpi. A caspase activity assay based on fluorescence spectrophotometry using a fluorogenic substrate revealed an increase in caspase-3 activity at 48 hpi in HCMV-infected cells. Caspase-8 activity was increased at 72 hpi in HCMV-infected cells. These results imply that HCMV infection induces mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in HFF cells.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.280-284
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• 2015

Among many the oxynitrides, TiNO and AlCrNO, have diverse applications in different technological fields. We prepared TiNO/AlCrNO/Al thin films on aluminum substrates using the method of dc reactive magnetron sputtering. The reactive gas flow, gas mixture, and target potential were applied as the sputtering conditions during the deposition in order to control the chemical composition. The multi-layer films have been prepared in an Ar and O₂+N₂ gas mixture rate. The surface properties were estimated by performing scanning electron microscopy (SEM). At a wavelength range of 0.3~2.5 μm, the exact composition and optical properties of thin films were measured by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and Ultraviolet-visible-near infrared (UV-Vis-NIR) spectrophotometry. The optimal absorptance of multi-layer films was exhibited above 95.5% in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the reflectance was achieved below 1.89%.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.264-267
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• 2015

AlCrNO cermet films were prepared on aluminum substrates using a DC-reactive magnetron sputtering method and a water-cooled Al:Cr target. The Al₂O₃/AlCrNO (LMVF)/AlCrNO (MMVF)/AlCrNO (HMVF)/Al/substrate of the 5 multi-layers was prepared according to the Ar and (N₂ + O₂) gas-mixture rates. The Al₂O₃ of the top layer is the anti-reflection layer of triple AlCrNO (LMVF)/AlCrNO (MMVF)/AlCrNO (HMVF) layers, and an Al metal forms the infrared reflection layer. In this study, the crystallinity and surface properties of the AlCrNO thin films were estimated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), while the composition of the thin films was systematically investigated using Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). The optical properties of the wavelength spectrum were recorded using UH4150 spectrophotometry (UV-Vis-NIR) at a range of 0.3 μm to 2.5 μm.

• Proceedings of the SCSK Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.440-447
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• 2003

Up until today, the key to contouring has been resumed in these two alternatives, either limiting the adipocyte storing capacity by modulating lipogenesis, or by stimulating lipolysis to eliminate adipocyte lipid content. Another interesting way could be the regulation of adipocyte differentiation. In this work, we have evaluated the effect of a brown algal extract of Sphacelaria scoparia (SSE) on the differentiation of pre-adipocytes into adipocytes. A pre-adipocyte line (3T3-L 1) was used. The differentiation was evaluated by the measure of produced lipids thanks to red oil coloration and spectrophotometry, and also by the expression of adipocyte differentiation markers: enzymes such as fatty acid synthase (FAS) and stearoyl CoA desaturase (SCD), or membrane proteins such as glucose transporters (GLUT -4) and fatty acid transporters (FAT) expressed on the surface of human adipocytes. These genes are under control of two transcription factors: CAAT-enhancer binding protein (c/EBP alpha) and sterol response element binding protein (SREBP1). All these markers were analysed at different stages of differentiation by RT -PCR. Sphacelaria extract (SSE) inhibits pre-adipocytes differentiating into adipocytes following a dose-dependant relation, using a kinetics similar to retinoic acid. It decreases the expression of mRNA specific to FAS, FAT, GLUT -4, SCD1, c/EBP alpha and SREBP1. Moreover, SSE regulated on collagen 1 and collagen 4 expression. A stimulation of collagen 1 was also measured in human skin fibroblasts. Thus, SSE performs as a genuine differentiation inhibitor and not only as a lipogenesis inhibitor, and could be used in slimming products.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.147-151
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• 2005

The main objective of this study was to modulate pH-sensitive polymers (poly($\beta-amino esters$)) by controlling their molecular weight during their synthesis. These pH-sensitive and biodegradable polymers were synthesized by Michael-type step polymerization. 1,4-Butane diol diacrylate was used as the unsaturated carbonyl compound and piperazine as the nucleophilic compound. Various molecular weight polymers were obtained by varying the mol ratio of piperazine/1,4-butane diol diacrylate. The synthesized polymers were characterized by $^{1}H-NMR$ and their molecular weights were measured by gel permeation chromatography(GPC). The dependence of the molecular weight on the mol ratio was evaluated by the titration method. Also, the pH dependent turbidity of the polymers was determined by UV-Vis spectrophotometry. This pH dependent property of the polymers could be very useful for preparing drug carriers that are sensitive to pH.