• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.1-9
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• 2018

This study is aimed to quantitatively evaluate the effects of drought on groundwater system in rural areas. For this purpose, the standardized groundwater level index (SGI) was used for 68 groundwater monitoring wells. To determine accumulation period (AP) which represents the month with the highest correlation coefficient between SGI and SPI, correlation analysis between the two for 68 wells were peformed. The results indicated the AP values ranged in 1~3 months for most of the well, but it was 7~10 months in some wells. These results can be interpreted such that the total amount of groundwater will not decrease significantly in long-term drought situations unlikely the reservoirs with the high AP values. The nationwide maximum AP values were 4.1 and 4.0 in Chungbuk-do and Gyeongnam-do, while the minimum AP values were 1.8 and 2.0 in Gangwon-do and Chungnam-do, respectively. The maximum and minimum values of correlation coefficient were 0.623 and 0.459 in Gyeongnam-do and Chungnam-do/Chungbuk-do, respectively. Consequently, it could be concluded that the wells with low AP value tend to respond to short-term drought, but it has little effect on groundwater system when the long drought occurs.

• Archives of Obesity and Metabolism
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.25-28
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• 2023

Early evaluation of obesity is important. Obesity is defined as an excessive accumulation of fat that causes harm to health. Among patients who visit a hospital for weight-related issues, diseases other than body fat gain may be present; however, people often cannot distinguish between these issues and concerns. Therefore, among patients who visit the hospital with weight gain concerns, it is necessary to determine whether the weight gain is actually the result of excessive fat accumulation. After being diagnosed with obesity, the cause and degree of obesity, the amount and distribution of body fat, and the degree of risk should be evaluated. Additionally, obesity-related complications should be identified and, even if there are no complications, all related risk factors should be evaluated and managed. In all these processes, diagnostic methods such as history taking, physical examination, body fat measurement, blood tests, and imaging tests are necessary, but history taking and physical examination, which can provide a lot of information from the beginning, should not be overlooked.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.43-52
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• 2015

The uranium removal capacity of radish sprouts (Raphanus sativus L.) in groundwater was calculated on the basis of the amount of uranium accumulated in the radish sprouts rather than the concentration in solution, of which process was very limited in previous studies. Continuous rhizofiltration clean-up system was designed to investigate the feasibility of radish sprouts, applying for uranium contaminated groundwater (U concentration: 110 μg/L) taken at Bugogdong, Busan. Six acrylic boxes (10 cm × 30 cm × 10 cm) were connected in a direct series for the continuous rhizofiltration system and 200 g of radish sprouts cultivars was placed in each box. The groundwater was flushed through the system for 48 hours at the constant rate of 5 mL/min. The rhizofiltration system was operated in the phytotron, of which conditions were at 25℃ temperature, 70% of relative humidity, 4,000 Lux illumination (16 hours/day) and 600 mg/L of CO₂ concentration. While 14.4 L of contaminated groundwater was treated, the uranium removal efficiency of the radish sprouts (1,200 g in wet weight) was 77.2% and their removal capacities ranged at 152.1 μg/g-239.7 μg/g (the average: 210.8 μg/g), suggesting that the radish sprouts belong to the group of hyper-accumulation species. After the experiment, the sum of U amounts accumulated in radish sprouts and remained in groundwater was 1,472.2 μg and the uranium recovery ratio of this rhizofiltration experiment was 92.9%. From the results, it was investigated that the radish sprouts can remove large amounts of uranium from contaminated groundwater in a short time (few days) because the fast growth rate and the high U accumulation adsorption capacity.

• Journal of ILASS-Korea
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.38-44
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• 2007

Since the Liquid Phase LPG injection (LPLI) system has Advantages in power generation and emission characteristics compared to the mixer-type fuel-supply system, a variety of studies regarding LPLi system has been conducted and its applications are made in automobile industry. However, the heat extraction due to the evaporation of liquid fuel, causes not only a post-accumulation of fuel but also an icing phenomenon which is a frost of moisture in the air around the nozzle tip. Since there exists a difficulty in the accurate control of air fuel ratio in both fuel supply systems, it can result in poor engine performance and a large amount of harmful emissions. This research examines the characteristics of icing phenomenon and develops anti-icing bushing to prevent an icing on the surface of the injection tip. It was found that n-butane, which has a relatively high boiling point ($-0.5^{\circ}C$), was a main species of post-accumulation. Also the results show that the post-accumulation problem was allevaited the utilization of a large inner to outer bore ratio and smooth surface roughness. In addition, an icing phenomenon and its formation process were found to be mainly affected by the humidity and the temperature of inlet air in an inlet duct. Also, it was observed that an icing phenomenon is lessened using aluminum bushing whose end coincides with the end of fuel injection tip in length.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.495-504
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• 2005

In our study, osteoporosis was induced by ovariectomized in female Sprague-Daweley rats, and the prevention and treatment efficacy of the climacteric disease the postmenopausal Type I pattern was examined by using the experimental substance soybeans and arrowroot. After ovariectomy; the amount of estrogen was found to be reduced by 21.37$\%$ and it showed the tendency to be increased by 4.49$\%$ in T1 (extraction of soybeans group) and 7.62$\%$ in T2 (extraction of ferment soybeans group). The change of bone density, 14 weeks after ovariectomy in the femur, was decreased by 9.33$\%$ in N.C. group, and 5.46$\%$ in T3 (extraction of ferment arrowroot group). As pathological findings, the trabeculae of femur were detected to be abundant as normal and the frequency of the appearance of osteoclasts was very minimal. In the T3, the frequency of the appearance of the trabeculae of femur was increased to the level that could be distinguished. In regard to the accumulation of lipid in the bone marrow, the accumulation of lipid in the bone marrow was low as normal. However, in T3, the decrease to the level that could be distinguished was detected. In addition, in regard to the pathological findings of the uterus, normal uterine tissue findings were detected. In the T3, the minimal atrophy findings were detected. In conclusion, when the T3 was orally administered continuously for 14 weeks, it was thought that a certain proportion of the hormonal balance was maintained that functioned as a substance interfering the accumulation of fat, and it was considered to be of help in the treatment of not only osteoporosis Type I, but also for the prevention and treatment of various endocrinal diseases.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.172-178
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• 2014

Soil properties and heavy metal (HM) concentrations in the field soils where balloon flowers (Platycodon grandiflorum, BF) were cultivated, were investigated together with HM (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) accumulation by the BF roots. Basically, in most soils examined (51-97% among 65 samples), the chemical properties including soil pH, organic matter, available-P, and exchangeable cation contents appeared to be lower than the optimal ranges for balloon flower cultivation. There were no samples exceeding the standard limits for HM in soils. Instead, the total HM concentration levels in soils appeared to be maintained at around background levels for general soil in Korea. This implied that elevated HM accumulation in the soils caused by any possible input sources was unlikely. Even though the BF cultivated soils were not contaminated by HM, it was appeared that substantial amount of Cd was accumulated in BF roots with 1.5% and 35% roots samples exceeding the standard limits legislated for BF root ($0.81mg\;kg^{-1}DW$) and herbal plants ($0.3mg\;kg^{-1}DW$), respectively. This implied that the soil HM standard limits based on the total concentration does not reflect well the metal accumulation by plants and also it is likely that the Cd standard limits for BF and herbal plants is too restrict.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.339-348
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• 2014

Agro-ecosystem plays an important role in the mitigation of atmospheric $CO_2$ concentration through photosynthesis and soil carbon fixation. The perennial crops have capacity of carbon accumulation because they have lived for years in the same position. Carbon dioxide fixation occurs in the fruit orchard by photosynthesis and soil carbon sequestration. The objectives of this review are to introduce the fruit orchard as a carbon dioxide sink and to summarize the methods that measure $CO_2$ flux in the orchard. There are three difference methods (chamber, biomass, and eddy covariance method) to measure $CO_2$ exchanges on sites. However, there is no standard method suitable for fruit cultivation condition in Korea. Thus the standard method have to be developed in order to exactly estimate the carbon accumulation. In foreign studies, the carbon assessments were conducted in apple, peach, olive, grape orchard and so on. On the other hand the estimation of $CO_2$ exchange was carried out for apple and mandarine orchard in Korea. According to these results, fruit orchard is a $CO_2$ sink even though amount of carbon accumulation is smaller than the forest. To introduce certainly fruit orchard as greenhouse gas sink, long-term monitoring and further study have to be conducted under each planting condition.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.395-402
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• 2019

Subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) accumulation is a constitutional disorder resulting from metabolic syndrome. Although surgical and non-surgical methods for reducing SAT exist, patients remain non-compliant because of potential adverse effects and cost. In this study, we developed a new minimally-invasive approach to achieve SAT reduction, using a microneedle (MN) patch prepared from gelatin, which is capable of regulating fat metabolism. Four gelatin types were used: three derived from fish (SA-FG, GT-FG 220, and GT-FG 250), and one from swine (SM-PG 280). We applied gelatin-based MN patches five times over 4 weeks to rats with high-fat diet (HD)-induced obesity, and determined the resulting amount of SAT. We also investigated the histological features and determined the expression levels of fat metabolism-associated genes in SAT using hematoxylin and eosin staining and western blotting, respectively. SAT decreased following treatment with all four gelatin MN patches. Smaller adipocytes were observed in the regions treated with SA-FG, GT-FG 250, and SM-PG 280 MNs, demonstrating a decline in fat accumulation. The expression levels of fat metabolism-associated genes in the MN-treated SAT revealed that GT-FG 220 regulates fatty acid synthase (FASN) protein levels. These findings suggest that gelatin MN patches aid in decreasing the quantity of unwanted SAT by altering lipid metabolism and fat deposition.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.1622-1631
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• 2022

Carotenoids, which are natural pigments found abundantly in wide-ranging species, have diverse functions and high industrial potential. The carotenoid biosynthesis pathway is very complex and has multiple branches, while the accumulation of certain metabolites often affects other metabolites in this pathway. The DsLCYB gene that encodes lycopene cyclase was selected in this study to evaluate β-carotene production and the accumulation of β-carotene in the alga Dunaliella salina. Compared with the wild type, the transgenic algal species overexpressed the DsLCYB gene, resulting in a significant enhancement of the total carotenoid content, with the total amount reaching 8.46 mg/g for an increase of up to 1.26-fold. Interestingly, the production of α-carotene in the transformant was not significantly reduced. This result indicated that the regulation of DsLCYB on the metabolic flux distribution of carotenoid biosynthesis is directional. Moreover, the effects of different light-quality conditions on β-carotene production in D. salina strains were investigated. The results showed that the carotenoid components of β-carotene and β-cryptoxanthin were 1.8-fold and 1.23-fold higher than that in the wild type under red light stress, respectively. This suggests that the accumulation of β-carotene under red light conditions is potentially more profitable.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.170-176
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• 2023

Objective: Autophagy is highly active in ovariectomized mice experiencing hormone deprivation, especially in the uterine mesenchyme. Autophagy is responsible for the turnover of vasoactive factors in the uterus, which was demonstrated in anti-Müllerian hormone receptor type 2 receptor (Amhr2)-Cre-driven autophagy-related gene 7 (Atg7) knockout (Amhr-Cre/Atg7^f/f mice). In that study, we uncovered a striking difference in the amount of sequestosome 1 (SQSTM1) accumulation between virgin mice and breeder mice with the same genotype. Herein, we aimed to determine whether repeated breeding changed the composition of mesenchymal cell populations in the uterine stroma. Methods: All female mice used in this study were of the same genotype. Atg7 was deleted by Amhr2 promoter-driven Cre recombinase in the uterine stroma and myometrium, except for a triangular stromal region on the mesometrial side. Amhr-Cre/Atg7^f/f female mice were divided into two groups: virgin mice with no mating history and aged between 11 and 12 months, and breeder mice with at least 6-month breeding cycles with multiple pregnancies and aged around 12 months. The uteri were used for Western blotting and immunofluorescence staining. Results: SQSTM1 accumulation, representing Atg7 deletion and halted autophagy, was much higher in virgin mice than in breeders. Breeders showed reduced accumulation of several vasoconstrictive factors, which are potential autophagy targets, in the uterus, suggesting that the uterine stroma was repopulated with autophagy-intact cells during repeated pregnancies. Conclusion: Multiple pregnancies seem to have improved the uterine environment by replacing autophagy-deficient cells with autophagy-intact cells, providing evidence of cell mixing.