• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.347-354
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• 2021

In the equipment industry such as chemical plants, high temperature, high pressure, and toxic fluids move between various facilities through piping. The movement and damage of pipes due to changes in the surrounding environment such as temperature changes, vibrations, earthquakes, and ground subsidence often lead to major accidents involving personal injury. In order to prevent such an accident, various types of expansion joints are used to absorb and supplement various shocks applied to the pipe to prevent accidents in advance. Therefore, it is very important to measure the deformation of the used expansion joint and predict its lifespan to prevent a major accident. In this paper, the deformation of the expansion joint was understood as a kind of motion, and the change was measured using a Hall Effect Sensor and a 9-Axis Sensor. In addition, we studied a system that can predict the deformation of expansion joints by collecting and analyzing the measured data using a general-purpose microcomputer (Arduino Board) and C language.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.208-214
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• 2019

Trigonella foenum-graceum L. (fenugreek) is a phytoestrogen, a nonsteroidal organic chemical compound from plants which has similar mechanism of action to sex hormone estradiol-$17{\beta}$. This study aims to assess the effectivity of fenugreek seeds extract on collagen type I alpha 1 (COL1A1) and collagen type III alpha 1 (COL3A1) which are both decreased in aging skin and become worsen after menopause. This in vitro experimental study used old human dermal fibroblast from leftover tissue of blepharoplasty on a postmenopausal woman (old HDF). As a control of the fenugreek's ability to trigger collagen production, we used fibroblast from preputium (young HDF). Subsequent to fibroblast isolation and culture, toxicity test was conducted on both old and young HDF by measuring cell viability on fenugreek extract with the concentration of 5 mg/mL to $1.2{\mu}g/mL$ which will be tested on both HDF to examine COL1A1 and COL3A1 using ELISA, compared to no treatment and 5 nM estradiol. Old HDF showed a 4 times slower proliferation compared to young HDF (p<0.05). Toxicity test revealed fenugreek concentration of $0.5-2{\mu}g/mL$ was non-toxic to both old and young HDF. The most significant fenugreek concentration to increase COL1A1 and COL3A1 secretion was $2{\mu}g/mL$ (p<0.05).

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.1-6
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• 2020

Objectives : Heating process is the traditional processing method that has been applied to reduce the toxicity of dried resin of Toxicodendron vernicifluum (Anacardiacea) used as Geon-chil (乾漆, Lacca Rhois Exsiccata or Toxicodendri Resina). Urushiol, which is found in the plants of Toxicodendron genus, is a toxic compound that is absorbed into the skin and induces allergic dermatitis by being contacted. Hence, the reduction of urushiol level by heating processing of Geon-chil is crucial method for its medicinal application. Methods : Due to lack of Geon-chil processing-related articles, the articles researching the processing of lacquer (漆), as a coating material, were collected and analyzed to investigate the chemical change of urushiol during heating process. Results : The results demonstrate that the resin which was collected from the sap of T. vernicifluum tree was dried under warm and humid conditions repeatedly. During primary drying process, the laccase, a copper-containing enzyme in the resin, participated in the formation of urushiol polymers and thereafter urushiol-related toxicity could be reduced by making a lacquer harder and more stable. Moreover, heating a lacquer over 200℃ could cause thermo-degradation of urushiol polymers, and vaporized thermally degraded urushiol monomers and their by-products, which were determined using pyrolysis/GC-MS. Conclusions : These results support that heating process being performed over 200 ℃, such as stir-frying (炒) or calcination (煅), reduces the urushiol content in Geon-chil and hence, its medicinal use can be more stable without urushiol-related allergic reactions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.83 no.5
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• pp.627-644
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• 2022

In past major earthquakes (1994 Northridge, 1995 Kobe, Chi-Chi 1999, Kocaeli 1999), significant damages occurred in the liquid storage tanks. The basic failure patterns were observed to be the buckling of the tank wall and uplift of the anchorage system. The damages in the industrial facilities and nuclear power plants have caused the spread of toxic substances to the environment and significant fires. Seismic isolation can be used in liquid storage tanks to decouple the structure and decrease the structural demand in the superstructure in case of ground shaking. Previous studies on the use of seismic isolation systems on liquid storage tanks show that an isolation system reduces the impulsive response but might slightly increase the convective one. There is still a lack of understanding of the seismic response of seismically isolated liquid storage tanks considering the fluid-structure interaction. In this study, one broad tank, one medium tank, and one slender tank are selected and designed. Two- and three-dimensional elastomeric bearings are used as seismic isolation systems. The seismic performance of the tanks is then investigated through nonlinear dynamic time-history analyses. The effectiveness of each seismic isolation system on tanks' performance was investigated. Isolator tension forces, modal analysis results, hydrodynamic stresses, strains, sloshing heights and base shear forces of the tanks are compared. The results show that the total base shear is lower in 3D-isolators compared to 2D-isolators. Even though the tank wall stresses, and strains are slightly higher in 3D-isolators, they are more efficient to prevent the tension problem.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.65 no.4
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• pp.397-403
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• 2022

Smilax sieboldii is one of the Smilax species. A number of Smilax plants have long been used in traditional medicine in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. Repeated dose oral toxicity test is an essential experiment for toxicity evaluation before efficacy evaluation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate toxicity and the no-observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) using oral administration of Smilax sieboldii extract (SSE) in male and female ICR mice for 4 weeks. SSE was orally administered daily for 4 weeks at a dose of 500, 1000, and 2000 mg/kg/day (MPK). There were no significant differences in mortalities, clinical signs, body weight changes, food intake, hematological analysis, serum clinical chemistry test and relative organ weights in all animals administrated with SSE. The results obtained in this study suggest that SSE did not show any toxic effect in ICR mice and the NOAEL of SSE was regarded as over 2000 MPK.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2023.04a
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• pp.6-6
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• 2023

Nosemosis is one of the most common protozoan diseases of adult bees (Apis mellifera). Nosemosis is caused by two species of microsporidia; Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae. Nosema ceranae is potentially more dangerous because it has the ability to infect multiple cell types, and it is now the predominant microsporidian species in A. mellifera. In this study, we identified two anti-nosemosis plants, Aster scaber and Artemisia dubia, which reduced the spore development of N. ceranae in spore-infected cells. We intend to establish the anti-nosemosis activity of aqueous, ethyl acetate (EA), and butanol (BuOH) extracts of A. dubia and A. scaber. In order to determine the optimal dose, we did in vitro and in vivo toxicity for all the extracts and carried out anti-nosemosis experiments. Although all of the extracts (aqueous, EA, and BuOH) showed in vitro and in vivo anti-nosemosis activity in a dose-dependent manner, the aqueous extracts of A. dubia and A. scaber showed more potent anti-nosemosis activity than the EA and BuOH extracts. And then, we isolated five phenolic compounds [chlorogenic acid, 3,4-dicaffaeoylquinic acid (3,4-DCQA), 3,5-dicaffaeoylquinic acid (3,5-DCQA), 4,5-dicaffaeoylquinic acid (4,5-DCQA), and coumarin] from A. dubia, A. scaber, and A. dubia + A. scaber aqueous extracts and screened for their toxicities and anti-Nosema effects in both in vivo and in vitro conditions. Among these five compounds, coumarin, chlorogenic acid, and 4,5-DCQA exhibited less toxic but more potent anti-Nosema effects than the other two compounds. Especially, chlorogenic acid and coumarin showed prominent anti-Nosema activities even at the lowest concentration (10 ㎍/mL). They might have potential to be developed as alternative compounds for the control of Nosema disease.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1042-1047
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• 2011

Copper and Zinc are essential trace elements for all living organisms. When presenting in excess amount in soils, however they can be toxic to plants. In order to examine the transfer of Cu and Zn from soils to plants and to predict their contents in plants using soil factors, we investigated total and mobile contents of Cu and Zn in soils and their uptake by lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in plastic film houses. Total Cu and Zn contents in soils were $17.5{\sim}65.9mg\;kg^{-1}$ (mean: $39.3mg\;kg^{-1}$) and $63.2{\sim}200mg\;kg^{-1}$ (mean: $137mg\;kg^{-1}$), respectively. Mobile Cu and Zn contents in soils were $(0.04){\sim}0.55mg\;kg^{-1}$ (mean: $0.18mg\;kg^{-1}$) and $(0.05){\sim}2.62mg\;kg^{-1}$ (mean: $0.47mg\;kg^{-1}$), respectively. Soil pH ranged from 5.4 to 7.3 and OM from 24.1 to $59.9g\;kg^{-1}$. Mean Cu contents in leaves and roots of lettuce were 9.20 and $17.2mg\;kg^{-1}$, respectively which showed that Cu was accumulated mainly in root parts of lettuce and not easily transported to leaves. In contrast, Zn was fairly evenly distributed in leaves and roots with mean values of 54.5 and $56.7mg\;kg^{-1}$, indicating relative high mobility of Zn in lettuce. Transfer factors of Cu and Zn from soil total contents to roots and leaves of lettuce ($TFS_tR$ and $TFS_tL$) were between 0.1 and 1, while transfer factors from soil mobile contents to roots and leaves ($TFS_mR$ and $TFS_mL$) were between 10 and 1000. Transfer factors of Zn were higher than those of Cu, showing Zn was more easily absorbed by plants than Cu. Cu and Zn uptake was stronger influenced by soil pH and mobile contents than total contents and OM and could be significantly described by multiple regression equations including soil pH and soil mobile contents as variables.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.743-749
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• 2010

Objective of this research was to investigate the effect of various potassium concentrations in fertilizer solution on growth of and nutrient uptake by 'Chugyang' eggplant ($Solanum$ $melongena$ L.). Tissue analyses were conducted to determine the threshold levels of potassium in plants when disorders develop for potassium. The lower leaves of K deficient plants became spotted, yellowing in color, and finally necrosis occurred. The necrosis spread inward and upward. K toxic plants developed necrotic spot at the margin of old leaves and the surface of old leaves were twisted. The tissue K contents in the most recently fully expanded leaves and dry weight of full above ground plant tissue at 35 days after transplanting showed linear and quadratic response to elevated K concentrations with the equation of y=1.127+0.3147x ($R^2$=0.8916) and y=14.92+2.2743x-$0.1402x_2$ ($R^2$=0.8659). When 10% reduction in dry weight set to threshold levels, optimum tissue K contents are in the range from 2.1 to 5.1%. The yield through 150 days after transplanting and tissue K contents at 150 days after transplanting also showed quadratic and linear responses to elevated potassium concentrations in fertigation solution with the equation of y=153.24+345.5x-$18.46x^2$ ($R^2$=0.8620) and y=0.9921+0.3860x ($R^2$=0.9611), respectively. When the 10% reduction in yield is set to threshold levels, the tissue K contents for maximum yield should be around 3.4% to 5.9% in most recently fully expanded leaves.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.117-129
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• 1981

An experiment with the tobacco plant was conducted in the pots. A sandy humic soil was used with 2 levels of pH, 3.5 and 5.8 with 2 kinds of anions, Cl as $NH_4Cl$ and $SO_4$ as $(NH_4)_2SO_4$, and with 4 levels of pF, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.5. The pH-treatment created different N-forms; $NH_4$ at low pH(3.5) and $NO_3$ at high pH (5.8). The results are summarized as follows: 1. At low pH (3.5) with high concentration of $NH_4$ given as $NH_4Cl$, the high content of $NH_4$ and Cl in tobacco resulted in plants suffering from $NH_4$ and Cl toxicity as well as Mn toxicity. As a result of these toxicity, an extremly abnormal growth of tobacco was clearly appeared. In the tobacco grown at low pH with $NH_4$ given as $(NH_4)_2SO_4$, a large amount of the $NH_4$ uptake developed Mg and Ca deficiencies. $NH_4-N$, which had been applied to the soil of high pH (5.8), was almost completely transformed into $NO_3-N$ by nitrification and, on this low acidic soil, the plants were all healthy regardless of Cl or $SO_4$ added together with $NH_4-N$. However, dry matter production was higher and maturity faster when $SO_4$ was used as anion than when Cl was used. 2. High moisture content in soil, to some extent, is necessary for a good development and growth of the tobacco plant. Phosphate uptake seemed to be limited at higher moisture stress. The dry matter yield of tops and roots of tobacco were in the order of pF 1.8 > 2.1 > 2.6 > 3.6, respectively. 3. Data of chemical analysis and dry matter yields of tops and roots showed that the tobacco plant followed the normal (C-A) concept. In the normal growth of plants, the carboxylate content of tops was quite comparable to the estimated (C-A) values. If $NH_4$ content of plants remains in quite high quantities, it must be analysed and taken into consideration for the (C-A) calculation. Al is not transported toward tops in toxic amounts due to its high immobility, it mostly stay in or on the roots, probably due to precipitation as a aolt. When Al is present in high quantities, it has to be considered into the (C-A) calculation.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.773-782
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• 2007

Different isolates of the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis produce multiple crystal (Cry) proteins toxic to a variety of insects, nematodes and protozoans. These insecticidal Cry toxins are known to be active against specific insect orders, being harmless to mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles. Due to these characteristics, genes encoding several Cry toxins have been engineered in order to be expressed by a variety of crop plants to control insectpests. The cotton boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis, and the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, are the major economically devastating pests of cotton crop in Brazil, causing severe losses, mainly due to their endophytic habit, which results in damages to the cotton boll and floral bud structures. A cry1Ia-type gene, designated cry1Ia12, was isolated and cloned from the Bt S811 strain. Nucleotide sequencing of the cry1Ia12 gene revealed an open reading frame of 2160 bp, encoding a protein of 719 amino acid residues in length, with a predicted molecular mass of 81 kDa. The amino acid sequence of Cry1Ia12 is 99% identical to the known Cry1Ia proteins and differs from them only in one or two amino acid residues positioned along the three domains involved in the insecticidal activity of the toxin. The recombinant Cry1Ia12 protein, corresponding to the cry1Ia12 gene expressed in Escherichia coli cells, showed moderate toxicity towards first instar larvae of both cotton boll weevil and fall armyworm. The highest concentration of the recombinant Cry1Ia12 tested to achieve the maximum toxicities against cotton boll weevil larvae and fall armyworm larvae were 230 ${\mu}g/mL$ and 5 ${\mu}g/mL$, respectively. The herein demonstrated insecticidal activity of the recombinant Cry1Ia12 toxin against cotton boll weevil and fall armyworm larvae opens promising perspectives for the genetic engineering of cotton crop resistant to both these devastating pests in Brazil.