• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.814-821
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• 2014

As a natural plant ingredients, glasswort (Salicornia herbacea L.) contains various physiological activities, mainly anti-oxidative and anti-diabetic activities. However, only a few studies have been carried out on its anti-adipogenic effect. This study investigated the anti-obesity effects of Salicornia herbacea L. on 3T3-L1 adipocytes. As adipogenesis of preadipocytes to adipocytes involves proliferation and differentiation of cells, we treated three concentrations (125, 250, and $500{\mu}g/mL$) of Salicornia herbacea L. water extracts (SLW) in both pre-processing and post-processing stages. When 3T3-L1 adipocytes were differentiated and dyed with Oil Red O, adipocytes size and the value of relative Oil Red O staining were reduced by all concentrations of SLW in post-processing stage. Following adipogenic differentiation, the concentration of tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$) in the cell supernatant significantly increased upon treatment with $125{\mu}g/mL$ of SLW and further rose at concentrations of 250 and $500{\mu}g/mL$ during post-processing stage. There was no significant difference in glycerol production upon SLW treatment. Leptin production significantly decreased at all SLW concentrations during post-processing stage, whereas peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-${\gamma}$ (PPAR-${\gamma}$) and adiponectin secretions were significantly enhanced. Overall results showed that SLW might have an anti-adipogenic effect via enhancement of TNF-${\alpha}$ production, which causes dedifferentiation and inhibits lipid accumulations in adipocyte. Furthermore, SLW might prevent diabetes and cardiovascular disease, as it reduces leptin secretion and enhances production of both PPAR-${\gamma}$ and adiponectin. However, further research is needed to elucidate the exact mechanism and bioactive compounds of glasswort.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.9
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• pp.1257-1264
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• 2016

Extracts from Artemisia annua $Linn\acute{e}$ (AAE) have various functions (anti-malaria, anti-virus, and anti-oxidant). However, the mechanism of the effects of AAE is not well known. Thus, we determined the apoptotic effects of AAE in AGS human gastric carcinoma cells. In this study, we suggested that AAE may exert cancer cell apoptosis through the Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-$3{\beta}$ signal pathway and mitochondria-mediated apoptotic proteins. Activation by Akt phosphorylation resulted in cell proliferation through phosphorylation of tuberous sclerosis complex 2 (TSC2), mTOR, and GSK-$3{\beta}$. Thus, de-phosphorylation of Akt inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis through inhibition of Akt, mTOR, phosphorylation of GSK-$3{\beta}$ at serine9, and control of Bcl-2 family members. Inhibition of GSK-$3{\beta}$ attenuated loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and release of cytochrome C. Bax and pro-apoptotic proteins were activated by their translocation into mitochondria from the cytosol. Translocation of Bax induced outer membrane transmission and generated apoptosis through cytochrome C release and caspase activity. We also measured 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, lactate dehydrogenase assay, Hoechst 33342 staining, Annexin V-PI staining, 5,5',6,6'-tetrachloro-1,1',3,3'-tetraethyl-imidacarbocyanine iodide staining, and Western blotting. Accordingly, our study showed that AAE treatment to AGS cells resulted in inhibition of Akt, TSC2, GSK-$3{\beta}$-phosphorylated, Bim, Bcl-2, and pro-caspase 3 as well as activation of Bax and Bak expression. These results indicate that AAE induced apoptosis via a mitochondrial event through regulation of the Akt/mTOR/GSK-$3{\beta}$ signaling pathways.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.5-11
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• 2014

Recently, there have been various lifeline installations constructed in the underground space of urban area due to the effective use of land. For newly installed lifelines or the management of the installed lifelines, many construction activities of excavation and backfilling are observed. Around these area, there are possibilities of collapse or excessive settlement due to the leaking of the pipe or unsatisfactory compaction of backfill material. Besides, construction costs can be saved since the on-site soils are used. The application of this liquidity filling material is not only to the lifeline installation but also to underpin the foundation under the vibrating machinery. On the evaluation of the applicability of this method to this circumstance, the strength should be investigated against the static load from the machine load as well as the vibration load from the activation of the machine. In this study, the applicability of the liquidity fill material on the foundation under the vibrating machinery is assessed via uniaxial compression and resonant column tests. The liquidity filling material consisting of the on-site soils with loess and kaolinite are tested to investigate the static and dynamic characteristics. Furthermore, the applicability of the reclaimed ash categorized as an industrial waste is evaluated for the recycle of the waste to the construction materials. The experimental results show that the shear modulus and 7 day uniaxial strength of the liquidity filling material mixed with reclaimed ash show higher than those with the on-site soils. However, the damping ratio does not show any tendency on the mixed materials.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.1615-1634
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• 2004

A review was undertaken to obtain information on the sustainability of pig free-range production systems including the management, performance and health of pigs in the system. Modern outdoor rearing systems requires simple portable and flexible housing with low cost fencing. Local pig breeds and outdoor-adapted breeds for certain environment are generally more suitable for free-range systems. Free-range farms should be located in a low rainfall area and paddocks should be relatively flat, with light topsoil overlying free-draining subsoil with the absence of sharp stones that can cause foot damage. Huts or shelters are crucial for protecting pigs from direct sun burn and heat stress, especially when shade from trees and other facilities is not available. Pigs commonly graze on strip pastures and are rotated between paddocks. The zones of thermal comfort for the sow and piglet differ markedly; between 12-22$^{\circ}C$ for the sow and 30-37$^{\circ}C$ for piglets. Offering wallows for free-range pigs meets their behavioural requirements, and also overcomes the effects of high ambient temperatures on feed intake. Pigs can increase their evaporative heat loss via an increase in the proportion of wet skin by using a wallow, or through water drips and spray. Mud from wallows can also coat the skin of pigs, preventing sunburn. Under grazing conditions, it is difficult to control the fibre intake of pigs although a high energy, low fibre diet can be used. In some countries outdoor sows are fitted with nose rings to prevent them from uprooting the grass. This reduces nutrient leaching of the land due to less rooting. In general, free-range pigs have a higher mortality compared to intensively housed pigs. Many factors can contribute to the death of the piglet including crushing, disease, heat stress and poor nutrition. With successful management, free-range pigs can have similar production to door pigs, although the growth rate of the litters is affected by season. Piglets grow quicker indoors during the cold season compared to outdoor systems. Pigs reared outdoors show calmer behaviour. Aggressive interactions during feeding are lower compared to indoor pigs while outdoor sows are more active than indoor sows. Outdoor pigs have a higher parasite burden, which increases the nutrient requirement for maintenance and reduces their feed utilization efficiency. Parasite infections in free-range pigs also risks the image of free-range pork as a clean and safe product. Diseases can be controlled to a certain degree by grazing management. Frequent rotation is required although most farmers are keeping their pigs for a longer period before rotating. The concept of using pasture species to minimise nematode infections in grazing pigs looks promising. Plants that can be grown locally and used as part of the normal feeding regime are most likely to be acceptable to farmers, particularly organic farmers. However, one of the key concerns from the public for free-range pig production system is the impact on the environment. In the past, the pigs were held in the same paddock at a high stocking rate, which resulted in damage to the vegetation, nutrient loading in the soil, nitrate leaching and gas emission. To avoid this, outdoor pigs should be integrated in the cropping pasture system, the stock should be mobile and stocking rate related to the amount of feed given to the animals.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.747-754
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• 2005

Nutritional regulation of gene expression associated with growth and feeding behavior in avian species can become an important technique to improve poultry production according to the supply of nutrients in the diet. Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) found in chickens has been characterized to be a 70 amino acid polypeptide and plays an important role in growth and metabolism. Although it is been well known that IGF-I is highly associated with embryonic development and post-hatching growth, changes in the distribution of IGF-I gene expression throughout early- to late-embryogenesis have not been studied so far. We revealed that the developmental pattern of IGF-I gene expression during embryogenesis differed among various tissues. No bands of IGF-I mRNA were detected in embryonic liver at 7 days of incubation, and thereafter the amount of hepatic IGF-I mRNA was increased from 14 to 20 days of incubation. In eyes, a peak in IGF-I mRNA levels occurred at mid-embryogenesis, but by contrast, IGF-I mRNA was barely detectable in the heart throughout all incubation periods. In the muscle, no significant difference in IGF-I gene expression was observed during different stages of embryogenesis. After hatching, hepatic IGF-I gene expression as well as plasma IGF-I concentration increases rapidly with age, reaches a peak before sexual maturity, and then declines. The IGF-I gene expression is very sensitive to changes in nutritional conditions. Food-restriction and fasting decreased hepatic IGF-I gene expression and refeeding restored IGF-I gene expression to the level of fed chickens. Dietary protein is also a very strong factor in changing hepatic IGF-I gene expression. Refeeding with dietary protein alone successfully restored hepatic IGF-I gene expression of fasted chickens to the level of fed controls. In most circumstances, IGF-I makes a complex with specific high-affinity IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs). So far, four different IGFBPs have been identified in avian species and the major IGFBP in chicken plasma has been reported to be IGFBP-2. We studied the relationship between nutritional status and IGFBP-2 gene expression in various tissues of young chickens. In the liver of fed chickens, almost no IGFBP-2 mRNA was detected. However, fasting markedly increased hepatic IGFBP-2 gene expression, and the level was reduced after refeeding. In the gizzard of well-fed young chickens, IGFBP-2 gene expression was detected and fasting significantly elevated gizzard IGFBP-2 mRNA levels to about double that of fed controls. After refeeding, gizzard IGFBP-2 gene expression decreased similar to hepatic IGFBP-2 gene expression. In the brain, IGFBP-2 mRNA was observed in fed chickens and had significantly decreased by fasting. In the kidney, IGFBP-2 gene expression was observed but not influenced by fasting and refeeding. Recently, we have demonstrated in vivo that gizzard and hepatic IGFBP-2 gene expression in fasted chickens was rapidly reduced by intravenous administration of insulin, as indicated that in young chickens the reduction in gizzard and hepatic IGFBP-2 gene expression in vivo stimulated by malnutrition may be, in part, regulated by means of the increase in plasma insulin concentration via an insulin-response element. The influence of dietary protein source (isolated soybean protein vs. casein) and the supplementation of essential amino acids on gizzard IGFBP-2 gene expression was examined. In both soybean protein and casein diet groups, the deficiency of essential amino acids stimulated chickens to increase gizzard IGFBP-2 gene expression. Although amino acid supplementation of a soybean protein diet significantly decreased gizzard IGFBP-2 mRNA levels, a similar reduction was not observed in chickens fed a casein diet supplemented with amino acids. This overview of nutritional regulation of IGF-I and IGFBP-2 gene expression in young chickens would serve for the establishment of the supply of nutrients to diets to improve poultry production.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.97-113
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• 1998

The sympathoadrenal system plays an important role in homeostasis in widely varing external environments. Conflicting findings, however, have been reported on its response to hypoxia. We investigated the effect of hypoxia on the sympathoadrenal system in dogs under halothane anesthesia by measuring levels of circulating catecholamines in response to graded hypoxia. Ten healthy mongreal dogs were mechanically ventilated with different hypoxic gas mixtures. Graded hypoxia and reoxygenation were induced by progressively decreasing the oxygen fraction in the inhalation gas mixture from 21%(control) to 15%, 10% and 5% at every 5 minutes, and then reoxygenated with 60% oxygen. Mean arterial pressure, central venous pressure and mean pulmonary arterial pressure were measured directly using pressure transducers. Cardiac output was measured by the thermodilutional method. For analysis of blood gas, saturation and content, arterial and mixed venous blood were sampled via the femoral and pulmonary artery at the end of each hypoxic condition. The concentration of plasma catecholamines was determined by radioenzymatic assay. According to the exposure of graded hypoxia, not only did arterial and mixed venous oxygen tension decreased markedly at 10% and 5% oxygen, but also arterial and mixed venous oxygen saturation decreased significantly. An increased trend of the oxygen extraction ratio was seen during graded hypoxia. Cardiac output, mean arterial pressure and systemic vascular resistance were unchanged or increased slightly. Pulmonary arterial pressure(PAP) and pulmonary vascular resistance(PVR) were increased by 55%, 76% in 10% oxygen and by 82%, 95% in 5% oxygen, respectively(p<0.01). The concentrations of plasma norepinephrine, epinephrine and dopamine increased by 75%, 29%, 24% in 15% oxygen and by 382%, 350%, 49% in 5% oxygen. These data suggest that the sympathetic nervous system was activated to maintain homeostasis by modifying blood flow distribution to improve oxygen delivery to tissues by hypoxia, but hemodynamic changes might be blunted by high concentration of nitrous oxide except PAP and PVR. It would be suggested that hemodynamic changes might not be sensitive index during hypoxia induced by high concentration of nitrous oxide exposure.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.148-156
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• 2015

In this study the differences in the sample size and sample input changes as characteristics of bio-oil oak(Quercus variabilis), the oak 0.5~2.0 mm of the oak weighing 300~900g was processed into bio-oil via fast pyrolysis for 1.64 seconds. In this study, the physico-chemical properties of biooil using oak were investigated. Fast pyrolysis was adopted to increase the bio-oil yield from raw material. Although the differences in sample size and sample input changes in the yield of pyrolysis products were not significantly noticeable, increases in the yield of bio-oil accounted for approximately 60.3 to 62.1%, in the order of non-condensed gas, and biochar. When the primary bio-oil obtained by the condensation of the cooling tube and the seconary bio-oil obtained from the electric dust collector were measured separately, the yield of primary bio-oil was twice as higher than that of the secondary bio-oil. However, HHV (Higher Heating Value) of the secondary bio-oil was approximately twice as higher than that of the primary bio-oil by up to 5,602 kcal/kg. The water content of the primary bio-oil was more than 20% of the moisture content of the secondary bio-oil, which was 10% or less. In addition, the result of the elemental analysis regarding the secondary bio-oil, its primary carbon content was higher than that of the primary bio-oil, and since the oxygen content is low, the water content as well as elemental composition are believed to have an effect on the calorific value. The higher the storage temperature or the longer the storage period, the degree of the viscosity of the secondary bio-oil was higher than that of the primary bio-oil. This can be the attributed to the chemical bond between the polymeric bio-oil that forms during the storage period.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.25-47
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• 2010

CS is one of the major concerns of managers in the world because it is well known to be a key medium construct for firms' superior outcome. One of the major agents for CS management is retailers. Firms try to manage not only employees but also retailers to promote CS behaviors. And so diverse incentives are used to promote their CS behaviors under diverse channel setting such as multi-channel. However in spite of the rising needs there has been scarce studies on the optimal incentive structure for a manufacturer to offer competing retailers at the multi-channel. In this paper, we try to find better way for a manufacturer to promote the competing retailers' CS behaviors. We investigated how to promote the retailers' CS behavior via game-theoretic modeling. Especially, we focus on the possible incentive, CS bonus type reward introduced in the studies of Hauser, Simester, and Wernerfelt(1994) and Chu and Desai(1995). We build up a multi stage complete information game and derive a subgame perfect equilibrium using backward induction. Stages of the game are as following. (Stage 1) Manufacturer sets wholesale price(w) and CS bonus($\eta$). (Stage 2) Both retailers in competition set CS effort level($e_i$) and retail price($p_i$) simultaneously. (Stage 3) Consumers make purchasing decisions based on the manufacturer's initial reputation and retailers' CS efforts.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.346-350
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• 2009

Purpose : Since children under two years with suspected urinary tract infections (UTIs) cannot control urination, urine cultures in such children are usually performed via urine bags. This method is noninvasive but has a high contamination rate. We studied the contamination rate of bag urine culture in diagnosing UTI in infants under two years and the factors responsible for contamination. Methods : We examined patients under 2 years in whom urine culture through the urine bag method yielded over 105 colonies of a single pathogen. We defined UTI by referring to the guidelines of The Korean Society of Pediatric Nephrology, 2005. We examined the factors responsible for contamination according to sex, duration of urine collection, and whether diarrhea took place with contamination rate. Results : We examined 717 patients (412 males and 305 females). The contamination rate of one bag urine culture was 37.9%. Gender was not related to the contamination rate (P>0.05). Duration of urine collection showed an association with the contamination rate. The longer the duration of collecting urine, the higher was the contamination rate. Duration of urine collection was divided into three groups: first group, <2 hours; second group, 24 hours; and third group, ${\geq}4$ hours. Contamination rates were 30.0%, 42.2%, and 43.7% for the first, second, and third groups, respectively, with statistical significance (P=0.001). Diarrhea at admission had no impact on the contamination rate (P>0.05). Conclusion : The contamination rate of urine culture in the examined patients was 37.9%. Gender and diarrhea symptoms were not responsible for contamination. In infants with a suspected UTI, urine should be collected within 2 hours through the urine bag method. If urine collection takes >2 hours, the urine bag should be resterilized and reattached to the patient.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.1134-1141
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• 2002

Adhesion of leukocytes to the activated vascular endothelium and their subsequent recruitment/migration into the artery wall are key features in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and inflammatory diseases. These features have been mediated by cell adhesion molecules including vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and in tracellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). This study examined whether flavonoids inhibit the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-$\alpha$-induced monocyte adhesion via a modulation of the protein expression of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). TNF-$\alpha$ markedly increased the adhesion of THP-1 monocytes to endothelial cells and induced the expression of VCAM-1, ICAM-1 and E-selectin proteins in HUVECs. Micromolar concentrations of the flavones luteolin and apigenin and the flavonol quercetin near completely blocked the monocyte adhesion to the activated endothelial cells and the induction of these adhesion molecules. However, equimicromolar catechins of (-)epigallocatechin gallate and (+)catechin, the flavonol myr- icetin and the flavanones of naringin and hesperidin had no effect on TNF-$\alpha$-activated monocyte adhesion. (-)Epigallocatechin gallate, (+) catechin, and naringin did not attenuate the TNF-$\alpha$ induction of these adhesion molecules. Furthermore, culture with luteolin and apigenin strongly blocked the expression of TNF-$\alpha$-induced VCAM-1 mRNA and modestly attenuated ICAM-1 mRNA. Quercetin modestly decreased the TNF-$\alpha$-activated VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 mRNAs. These results demonstrate that flavonoids classified as flavones and flavonols may inhibit monocyte adhesion to the TNF-$\alpha$-activated endothelium, most likely due to a blockade of expression of functional adhesion molecules down-regulated at the transcriptional level, indicating a definite linkage between the chemical structure of flavonoids and the expression of cell adhesion molecules. Furthermore, the antiathero-genic feature of flavonoids appears to be independent of their antioxidant activity.