• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.123-128
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• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Natural products or active components with a protective effect against oxidative stress have attracted significant attention for prevention and treatment of degenerative disease. Oligonol is a low molecular weight polyphenol containing catechin-type monomers and oligomers derived from Litchi chinensis Sonn. We investigated the protective effect and its related mechanism of oligonol against oxidative stress. MATERIALS/METHODS: Oxidative stress in C6 glial cells was induced by hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$) and the protective effects of oligonol on cell viability, nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) synthesis, and mRNA expression related to oxidative stress were determined. RESULTS: Treatment with oligonol inhibited NO and ROS formation under cellular oxidative stress in C6 glial cells. In addition, it recovered cell viability in a dose dependent-manner. Treatment with oligonol also resulted in down-regulated mRNA expression related to oxidative stress, nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-${\kappa}B$) p65, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), compared with the control group treated with $H_2O_2$. In particular, expression of NF-${\kappa}B$ p65, COX-2, and iNOS was effectively reduced to the normal level by treatment with $10{\mu}g/mL$ and $25{\mu}g/mL$ of oligonol. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that oligonol has protective activity against oxidative stress-induced inflammation. Oligonol might be a promising agent for treatment of degenerative diseases through inhibition of ROS formation and NF-${\kappa}B$ pathway gene expression.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.221-227
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• 2012

Background: It has been reported that curcumin, the main active compound of Curcuma longa, also known as turmeric, exhibits antinociceptive properties. The aim of this study was to examine the participation of ATP-sensitive potassium channels ($K_{ATP}$ channels) and, in particular, that of the L-arginine-nitric oxide-cyclic GMP-$K_{ATP}$ channel pathway, in the antinociceptive effect of curcumin. Methods: Pain was induced by the intraplantar injection of 1% formalin in the right hind paw of Wistar rats. Formalin-induced flinching behavior was interpreted as an expression of nociception. The antinociceptive effect of oral curcumin was explored in the presence and absence of local pretreatment with L-NAME, an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, ODQ, an inhibitor of soluble guanylyl cyclase, and glibenclamide, a blocker of $K_{ATP}$ channels. Results: Oral curcumin produced a dose-dependent antinociceptive effect in the 1% formalin test. Curcumin-induced antinociception was not altered by local L-NAME or ODQ, but was significantly impaired by glibenclamide. Conclusions: Our results confirm that curcumin is an effective antinociceptive agent. Curcumin-induced antinociception appears to involve the participation of $K_{ATP}$ channels at the peripheral level, as local injection of glibenclamide prevented its effect. Activation of $K_{ATP}$ channels, however, does not occur by activation of the L-arginine-nitric oxide-cGMP-$K_{ATP}$ channel pathway.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.15-21
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• 2010

Sibutramine is an orally administered centrally-acting antiobesity agent and inhibits both noradrenaline(norephinephirine) and serotonin(5-HT) reuptake. These effects are contributed by its active metabolites, M1 and M2. However, as the free base form of sibutramine is an oil form in room temperature, it had the problem of handling and stability. Thus, this drug should be used in the form of acid salt form in the pharmaceutical application. Unfortunately, anhydrous sibutramine hydrochloride is highly hygroscopic and unstable. In order to solve the hygroscopicity of the anhydrous salt form, another sibutramine acid salt form must be developed as a hydrate form. In this study. to overcome these problems, various of sibutramine acid salt forms were prepared with the pharmaceutically available salts such as maleate, esylate, mandelate, camsylate, besylate, salicylate, tartrate, isethionate and malate forms, and their physicochemical properties were investigated. Sibutramine malate was selected for excellent solubility and stability among the listed salt forms above. Its pharmacokinetic parameters were evaluated in rats comparing with sibutramine HCl, resulting in similar parameters. In vitro dissolution study of sibutramine malate-loaded capsule was performed comparison with commercial product ($Reductil^{(R)}$) in pH 1.2, pH 4.0, pH 6.8 and water medium. Our results indicated that there were no significant differences in their dissolution profiles were similar in all tested medium. Thus, sibutramine malate-loaded capsule should be a potential candiate due to its excellent solubility, good stability and biosimilar absorption.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.33 no.5 s.112
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• pp.15-30
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• 2005

A deserted town once vibrant with active commercial activities around a railroad station now tries to find a way to escape from depression and revive its life with a renewed civic pride. An open space adjacent to the Main Street, the commercial district of Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, is waiting to be transformed and reconfigured to be a new ecological park to boost the economy of the community. Bridge Park is 26-acre land abutting the Cape Cod Canal with a railroad bridge as a backdrop. The existing condition of the site with a small salt marsh, woodland, lawn, and the vestige of old railroad easement along with the proximity to the commercial district poses an interesting question of how to make a medium scaled ecological park within an urban context. This paper examines the winning design proposals for the Bridge Park submitted to the International Design Competition held in April, 2005. Six winning proposals were introduced and discussed in terms of categories related to the trend of contemporary landscape design such as; 1) ecological ordinariness and geometric figures, 2) topography and spatial imagination, 3) minimal programs and open put 4) time and process oriented design, 5) park and economic effects and 6) diagrammatic plan and photo montage. Bridge Park Design Competition confirms the complex characteristics representing the contemporary landscape design overcoming the dichotomy between nature and culture and the 'pastoral ecological design' and 'landscape as an art'. The Park becomes the activating agent for the community rejecting the conventional and passive role as a romantic picturesque landscape. Bridge Park International Design Competition is a meaningful event to test the idea of new ecological urban park, and to fine-tune the trend of the contemporary urban park design.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.317-323
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• 2008

Some surfactants known as biosurfactants, are produced biologically by yeast and bacteria from various substances. They are more effective and environmentally friendly than many other synthetic surfactants. Antimicrobial activities of sophorolipids produced by Candida bombiocola were investigated against various microorganisms. Minimal Inhibitory concentration (MIC) of sophorolipid against S. mutans, C. xerosis, and P. acnes were 0.005, 0.05, and 0.005%, respectively. The antimicrobiological activities were more effective than those of SLS and APG. Skin exfoliating and moisturizing effects of vehicles with the sophorolipids were tested. The skin turnover time of aqueous solution with 0.25% sophorolipids was similar to that of aqueous solution with 5.0% lactic acid. Higher moisturizing effects on skin showed as the concentration of sophorolipids increased. We suggest that the sophorolipids can be used for cosmetics as an antimicrobiological agent and an active materials of skin moisturizing and exfoliating.

• The Journal of Korean Association of Computer Education
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.53-64
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• 2010

In this paper, we tried to enable a mobile device as a resource to access to mobile grid networks. By advanced Internet techniques, the use of mobile devices has been rapidly increased. Some researches in mobile grid computing tried to combine grid computing with mobile devices. However, according to intrinsic properties of mobile environments, mobile devices have many considerations, such as mobility management, disconnected operation, device heterogeneity, service discovery, resource sharing, security, and so on. To solve these problems, there are two trends for mobile grid computing: a proxy-based mobile grid architecture and an agent-based mobile grid architecture. We focus on a proxy-based mobile grid architecture with IP-paging, which can easily manage idle mobile devices and grid resource status information. Also, we use SIP(Session Initiation Protocol)to support mobility management, mobile grid services. We manage variation of mobile device state and power by paging cache. Finally, using the candidate set and the reservation set of resources, we perform task migration. The performance evaluation by simulation, shows improvement of efficiency and stability during execution.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.339-348
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• 2008

Butea frondosa has been used traditionally as a topical formulation in the treatment of many diseases and disorders. Two compounds [BF-1 (crystalline flavonol quercetin) and BF-2 (tannin) from ethyl acetate fraction of ethanolic extract] were isolated from the bark of Butea frondosa. The stereostructures of the compounds were determined on the basis of chemical and physicochemical evidence. BF-1 and BF-2 were screened in vitro for possible antibacterial property against 112 bacteria comprising 3 genera of Gram-positive and 12 genera of Gram-negative types. It was found that both BF-1 and BF-2 exhibited inhibitory activity against several bacteria. Most of these strains were inhibited by BF-1 at $50-200\;{\mu}g/ml$, while BF-2 ($MIC_{50}$ $400\;{\mu}g/ml$) was much less active. The bacteria could be arranged in the decreasing order of sensitivity towards BF-1 in the following manner: S. aureus, Bacillus spp., Salmonella spp., Vibrio spp., Shigella spp., E. coli and Pseudomonas spp. The $MIC_{50}$ of the compound was $50\;{\mu}g/ml$ while the $MIC_{90}$ was $100\;{\mu}g/ml$. The decreasing order of sensitivity towards BF-2 was V. cholerae, Bacillus spp., S. aureus, V. parahaemolyticus, Salmonella spp. and Proteus spp. BF-1 was bactericidal in action. In vivo studies with this extract showed that it could offer statistically significant protection (p < 0.01) to mice challenged with a virulent bacterium. The inhibitory activity of Butea frondosa against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria indicates its usefulness in the treatment of common bacterial infections. The potentiality of BF-1 as an antibacterial agent may be confirmed further by pharmacological studies.

• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.151-155
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• 2017

Purpose: Reducing tenderness or pain on the ankle joint and improving the range of motion are thought to be possible using hyaluronate-based anti-adhesive agents. On the other hand, there are more aspects to be studied regarding the incidence of complications, such as resting pain, tenderness, and stiffness, after surgery. Therefore, the aim of this study was to prove the effectiveness of the agents after ankle fracture surgery. Materials and Methods: Patients, who underwent open reduction and internal fixation surgery due to ankle joint fractures from June 2015 to May 2016, were studied prospectively. Thirty patients of them received a $Guardix^{(R)}$ injection during their surgeries and were included in the injection group. The other 30 patients were included in the control group. Postoperatively, tenderness on the scar, a delay in wound healing, and the active range of motion were evaluated at 2, 6, and 12 weeks after surgery. Results: A significant difference in tenderness on the scar was observed 2 weeks after surgery. On the other hand, there was no significant difference at 6 and 12 weeks after the surgery. The agent-using group showed a 6.7% delay in wound healing and a 93.3% nondelaying. In the non-using group, the delay was 63.3%, while non-delay was 36.7% (p<0.001). The group that underwent $Guardix^{(R)}$ usage showed an effective result in the visual analogue scale, which was statistically significant (p<0.001). The result at 6 and 12 weeks after surgery showed a significant difference. Conclusion: Improvement was observed in the patients who underwent a $Guardix^{(R)}$ injection, regarding the range of motion, visual analog scale, and healing of the wound postoperatively.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.187-192
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• 2015

The dietary fiber alginic acid has no nutritional value; however, it decreases the utilization of nutrients by the body and can prevent obesity, hyperlipidemia, arteriosclerosis, constipation, and colon cancer. The low-molecular-weight alginic acid polymannuronate improves serum and liver lipid metabolism by decreasing cholesterol levels in high-cholesterol groups and may be used to control high blood pressure. Previously, we showed that polymannuronate, a physiologically active agent from seaweed, has a lipid-lowering effect and preventative role in colon cancer. In addition, the differentiation of polymannuronate-treated adipocytes was inhibited, triggering decreased leptin expression. This study examined ways to increase dietary satisfaction with and improve the nutritional quality of polymannuronate using hamburger buns supplemented with polymannuronate. Twenty male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two groups: the control group was fed hamburger buns containing 6% gluten, while the experimental group was fed hamburger buns containing 6% gluten and 10% polymannuronate. The serum triglyceride, phospholipid, and total and free cholesterol levels of the rats in the experimental group were decreased compared with those of the controls. The serum aspartate aminotransferase activity levels did not differ between the two groups. This study demonstrates that polymannuronate has beneficial effects on lipid metabolism and may be commercially useful.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.62-69
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• 2012

The newly developed field of media art is quickly making progress to include various and up-to-date forms of expression. Unlike in traditional art, the communication between the art and the viewer has become vastly important, in which the viewer is an active agent who participates and interacts with the artwork. These digital artworks can now be readily observed in everyday places and things, rather than being confined solely in the gallery space. By encouraging open interaction with the public, media art has become more accessible. Accordingly, this thesis examines the construction of a real-time multimedia clock piece using particle systems. Time has always been a significant theme in the realm of traditional art, which continues to be explored extensively in various forms of expression. In an attempt to express the continuity of time and the state of being value of existence based on technological skills, the thesis presents an artwork that uses the popular medium of a clock while also providing both usability and emotional satisfaction for the viewer's sensibility through interaction.