• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.1231-1240
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• 2021

Members of the genus Bacillus are known to play an important role in promoting plant growth and protecting plants against phytopathogenic microorganisms. In this study, 21 isolates of Bacillus spp. were obtained from the root micro-ecosystem of Suaeda glauca. Analysis of the 16S rRNA genes indicated that the isolates belong to the species Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus velezensis, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus aryabhattai and Brevibacterium frigoritolerans. One of the interesting findings of this study is that the four strains B1, B5, B16 and B21 are dominant in rhizosphere soil. Based on gyrA, gyrB, and rpoB gene analyses, B1, B5, and B21 were identified as B. amyloliquefaciens and B16 was identified as B. velezensis. Estimation of antifungal activity showed that the isolate B1 had a significant inhibitory effect on Fusarium verticillioides, B5 and B16 on Colletotrichum capsici (syd.) Butl, and B21 on Rhizoctonia cerealis van der Hoeven. The four strains grew well in medium with 1-10% NaCl, a pH value of 5-8, and promoted the growth of Arabidopsis thaliana. Our results indicate that these strains may be promising agents for the biocontrol and promotion of plant growth and further study of the relevant bacteria will provide a useful reference for the development of microbial resources.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.459-466
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• 2021

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its complications are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. Because of the side effects and incomplete recovery from current therapy, stem cell therapy emerges as a potential therapy for CVD treatment, and endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) is one of the key stem cells used for therapeutic applications. The effect of this therapy required the expansion of EPC function. To enhance the EPC activation, proliferation, and angiogenesis using dronedarone hydrochloride (DH) is the purpose of this study. DH received approval for atrial fibrillation treatment and its cardiovascular protective effects were already reported. In this study, DH significantly increased EPC proliferation, tube formation, migration, and maintained EPCs surface marker expression. In addition, DH treatment up-regulated the phosphorylation of AKT and reduced the reactive oxygen species production. In summary, the cell priming by DH considerably improved the functional activity of EPCs, and the use of which might be a novel strategy for CVD treatment.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.123-131
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• 2021

In this study, we investigated the biological functions of Grateloupia elliptica (G. elliptica) fermented with Aureobasidium pullulans (A. pullulans). Total phenolic contents (TPC) of the hot-water extract of the fermented G. elliptica increased 2.7 folds than that of the non-fermented G. elliptica. Furthermore, total flavonoid contents of both the hot-water extract and the ethanol extract increased maximum 2.4 folds amounts than non-fermented G. elliptica extracts.HaCaT cells were induced inflammation treated with LPS (1 ㎍/mL) or H₂O₂ (1mM) and examined with 100 ㎍/mL of G. elliptica extracts. The extraction of the fermented G. elliptica increased HaCaT cell proliferation in the maximum 10% than non-fermented G. elliptica extraction. Furthermore, investigating changes in protein expression associated with inflammation resulted in a significant reduction in the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and 70 kDa heat shock proetin. Conclusively, the extracts of G. elliptica fermented with A. pullulans have bioactive functions both anti-oxidant to protect environmental stresses and anti-inflammation activity. Hence, G. elliptica fermented with A. pullulans would be a good natural resource as bioactive ingredients for cosmetics. Therefore, G. elliptica fermented with A. pullulans is useful as a astringent material with anti-inflammatory skin.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.217-225
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• 2021

The family Platycephalidae is a taxonomic group of economically important demersal flathead fishes that predominantly occupy tropical or temperate estuaries and coastal environments of the Indo-Pacific oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. In this study, we for the first time analyzed the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the flathead Platycephalus cultellatus Richardson, 1846 from Vietnam by Next Generation Sequencing method. Its mitogenome was 16,641 bp in total length, comprising 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA genes, and 22 transfer RNA genes. The gene composition and order of the mitogenome were identical to those of typical vertebrates. The phylogenetic trees were reconstructed based on the concatenated nucleotide sequence matrix of 13 PCGs and the partial sequence of a DNA barcoding marker, cox1 in order to determine its molecular phylogenetic position among the order Scorpaeniformes. The phylogenetic result revealed that P. cultellatus formed a monophyletic group with species belonging to the same family and consistently clustered with one nominal species, P. indicus, and two Platycephalus sp. specimens. Besides, the cox1 tree confirmed the taxonomic validity of our specimen by forming a monophyletic clade with its conspecific specimens. The mitogenome of P. cultellatus analyzed in this study will contribute valuable information for further study on taxonomy and phylogeny of flatheads.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.8
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• pp.1258-1269
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• 2022

Objective: For improving meat quality especially tenderness, male cattle are usually castrated to removes both the testicles. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect castration method (half- and complete-castration) on meat yield and quality characteristics of Hanwoo male cattle. Methods: Thirty-two similar age (5.9 months) Hanwoo male calves were divided into: half-castration (HC) and complete-castration (CC) groups (n = 16 per group). At 7 months of age, all the animals were castrated in which the HC calves had only one testicle surgically removed while, the CC calves had both testicles surgically removed. The castrated animals were reared under identical conditions until 25 months of age. After slaughter, the carcasses were evaluated for carcass traits and meat yield of primal cuts. For examination of the castration effect on meat quality, L. lumborum and semimembranosus muscles were used. The meat samples were analyzed for chemical composition, color, pH, shear force and water holding capacity, fatty acids, metabolites and volatile aroma compounds. Results: The HC group showed higher meat yields of all primal cuts (p<0.05). As a result, the total meat yield was higher by approximately 44 kg in the HC group (303.32 kg, corresponding to 67.88%) compared to the CC group (259.30 kg, corresponding to 62.11%) (p<0.05). In terms of meat quality, the HC resulted in two times greater fat content in both muscles examined compared to intact males. More importantly, the shear force values did not differ between HC and CC groups for L. lumborum muscles (p>0.05). The meat from HC animals exhibited higher amount of free amino acids associated with sweetness (p<0.05). Furthermore, the castration method only exhibited a negligible effect on metabolites and volatile aroma compounds in the cooked meat. Conclusion: Half-castration emerged as an alternative practice to be used for increasing the yield and tenderness of male cattle meat.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.17-29
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• 2020

This research looked into the two programs There are No Bad Dogs in the World(EBS1) and The Dogs are Respectable(KBS2) that can be considered as one of the factors that changed the culture of dog rearing in the country. Focus was also directed toward the cultural intermediary work of trainer Hyung-Wook Kang and veterinarian Chae-Hyun Seol, and the linguistic texts and visual images that describe the programs were analyzed. The findings showed that the two experts reproduce dog-related beliefs and values using devices such as "serious" storytelling, dog bodies, and guardian re-education. They perform cultural intermediary work in that they create the value of the companion dog culture in these programs and provide corresponding products and services to consumers through direct face-to-face interactions. This study contributes academically in the following respects. First, the issue of companion dogs in Korea was approached from a cultural point of view rather than bounding analysis to the industrial and economic level called the "petconomy" (pet + economy). Second, the concept of cultural intermediaries and related theories were examined, along with how the two experts engender the value of dog training in the broadcasting program. The results are expected to help illustrate the diversity of Korean dog culture.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.188-196
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to investigate pediatric emergency department visits patterns and characteristics of children and adolescents under the age of 20 in South Korea from 2002 to 2015 due to dental conditions. This study used a stratified sample of approximately 1 million people from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service Database. The age, region, household income, and treatment cost were included for the patient characteristic analysis. Pediatric patients were compared to the adult group (over 20 years old). In children and adolescents, the rate of emergency department visits due to dental conditions was higher for traumatic conditions than for non-traumatic conditions. Children and adolescents with higher household income visited the emergency department more often than those with lower household income. The region with the highest number of children and adolescents visiting the emergency department for dental conditions was Busan (per 100,000 population). Although this study could not confirm the annual trend of children and adolescents' dental emergency visits due to the sample size limitation, the characteristics of children and adolescents' dental emergency visits were compared with those of adults using a stratified sample.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Near Infrared Spectroscopy Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.1263-1263
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• 2001

The amounts of organic matter present in soil and the rate of soil organic matter (SOM) turnover are influenced by agricultural management practice, such as rotation, tillage, forage plow down direct seeding and manure application. The amount of nutrients released from SOM is highly dependent upon the state of the organic matter. If it contains a large proportion of light fractions (low-density) more nutrients will be available to the glowing crops. However, if it contains mostly heavy fractions (high-density) that are difficult to breakdown, then lesser amounts of nutrients will be available. The state of the SOM and subsequent release of nutrients into the soil can be predicted by NIRS as long as a robust regression equation is developed. The NIRS method is known for its rapidity, convenience, simplicity, accuracy and ability to analyze many constituents at the same time. Our hypothesis is that the NIRS technique allows researchers to investigate fully and in more detail each field for the status of SOM, available moisture and other soil properties in Alberta soils for precision farming in the near future. One hundred thirty one (131) Alberta soils with various levels (low 2-6%, medium 6-10%, and high >10%) of organic matter content and most of dry land soils, including some irrigated soils from Southern Alberta, under various management practices were collected throughout Northern, Central and Southern Alberta. Two depths (0- 15 cm and 15-30 cm) of soils from Northern Alberta were also collected. These air-dried soil samples were ground through 2 mm sieve and scanned using Foss NIR System 6500 with transport module and natural product cell. With particle size above 150 microns only, the “Ludox” method (Meijboom, Hassink and van Noorwijk, Soil Biol. Biochem.27: 1109-1111, 1995) which uses stable silica, was used to fractionate SOM into light, medium and heavy fractions with densities of <1.13, 1.13-1.37 and >1.37 respectively, The SOM fraction with the particle size below 150 microns was discarded because practically, this fraction with very fine particles can't be further separated by wet sieving based on density. Total organic matter content, mechanical texture, ash after 375$^{\circ}C$, and dry matter (DM) were also determined by “standard” soil analysis methods. The NIRS regression equations were developed using Infra-Soft-International (ISI) software, version 3.11.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.81-81
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• 2003

The stochiometric mixture of evaporating materials for the CuGaSe$_2$ single crystal thin films were prepared from horizontal furnace. Using extrapolation method of X-ray diffraction patterns for the polycrystal CuGaSe$_2$, it was found tetragonal structure whose lattice constant no and co were 5.615$\AA$ and 11.025$\AA$, respectively. To obtains the single crystal thin films, CuGaSe$_2$ mixed crystal was deposited on throughly etched GaAs(100) by the Hot Wall Epitaxy(HWE) system. The source and substrate temperature were 61$0^{\circ}C$ and 45$0^{\circ}C$ respectively, and the growth rate of the single crystal thin films was about 0.5${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$/h. The crystalline structure of single crystal thin films was investigated by the double crystal X-ray diffraction(DCXD). Hall effect on this sample was measured by the method of van der pauw and studied on carrier density and mobility depending on temperature. From Hall data, the mobility was likely to be decreased by pizoelectric scattering in the temperature range 30K to 150K and by polar optical scattering in the temperature range 150K to 293K. The optical energy gaps were found to be 1.68eV for CuGaSe$_2$ single crystal thin films at room temperature. The temperature dependence of the photocurrent peak energy is well explained by the Varshni equation then the constants in the Varshni equation are given by a=9.615$\times$ 10$^{-4}$ eV/K, and $\beta$=335K. From the photocurrent spectra by illumination of polarized light of the CuGaSe$_2$ single crystal thin films. We have found that values of spin orbit coupling ΔSo and crystal field splitting ΔCr was 0.0900eV and 0.2498eV, respectively. From the PL spectra at 20K, the peaks corresponding to free bound excitons and D-A pair and a broad emission band due to SA is identified. The binding energy of the free excitons are determined to be 0.0626eV and the dissipation energy of the acceptor-bound exciton and donor-bound exciton to be 0.0352eV, 0.0932eV, respectively.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.574-583
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• 2022

Ficus vasculosa Wall. ex Miq. (FV) has been used as a herbal medicine in Southeast Asia and its antioxidant activity has been shown in previous studies. However, it has not yet been elucidated whether FV exerts anti-inflammatory effects on activated-macrophages. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the ameliorative property of FV methanol extract (FM) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory responses and the underlying molecular mechanisms in RAW264.7 macrophages. The experimental results indicated that FM decreased the production of inflammatory mediators (NO/PGE2) and the mRNA/protein expression of iNOS and COX-2 in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. FM also reduced the secretion of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Results also demonstrated that FM improved inflammatory response in LPS-stimulated A549 airway epithelial cells by inhibiting the production of cytokines, such as IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α. In addition, FM suppressed MAPK activation and NF-κB nuclear translocation induced by LPS. FM also upregulated the mRNA/protein expression levels of heme oxygenase-1 and the nuclear translocation of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 in RAW264.7 cells. In an experimental animal model of LPS-induced acute lung injury, the increased levels of molecules in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid were suppressed by FM administration. Collectively, it was founded that FM has anti-inflammatory properties on activated-macrophages by suppressing inflammatory molecules and regulating the activation of MAPK/NF-κB signaling.