• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.93-99
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• 2012

In this study, the evaluation of antioxidative activity and componential analysis of C. obtusa leaf extracts was carried out. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging activities ($OSC_{50}$) of C. obtusa leaf extracts on ROS generated in $Fe^{3+}-EDTA/H_2O_2$ system were investigated using the luminol-dependent chemiluminescence assay. The ethyl acetate fraction ($OSC_{50}$; 0.22 ${\mu}g/mL$) and aglycone fraction of C. obtusa leaf extracts (0.20 ${\mu}g/mL$) showed about 7 times more prominent ROS scavenging activity than L-ascorbic acid (1.50 ${\mu}g/mL$). The cellular protective effects of fractions obtained from C. obtusa leaf extracts on the rose-bengal sensitized photohemolysis of human erythrocytes were investigated. The ethyl acetate fraction and aglycone fraction of C. obtusa leaf extracts showed the cellular protective effects in a concentration dependent manner (5~25 ${\mu}g/mL$). The inhibitory effect ($IC_{50}$) of ethyl acetate fraction and aglycone fraction on tyrosinase exhibited 74.43 and 53.80 ${\mu}g/mL$, repectively. The aglycone fraction showed four times higher tyrosinase inhibitory effect than arbutin (226.88 ${\mu}g/mL$), known as a whitening agent. The aglycone fraction of C. obtusa leaf extracts showed three bands in TLC chromatogram and three peaks in HPLC chromatogram (360 nm). Three compounds were identified as taxifolin, quercetin and kaempferol. These results indicate that the fractions of C. obtusa leaf extracts can function as antioxidants in biological systems, particularly skin exposed to UV radiation by scavenging $^1O_2$ and other ROS, and protect cellular membranes against reactive oxygen species. The fractions of C. obtusa leaf extracts can be applicable to new functional cosmetics for antioxidan and whitening effects.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.188-197
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• 2008

This research was a preliminary case study to determine the levels of total mercury in the tissues of sentinel species (Zacco platypus) and ecological health in relation to habitat characteristics and chemical conditions. We collected fishes in Gap Stream during June$\sim$October 2007 and analyzed the total mercury from five types of tissues such as liver, kidney, gill, vertebrae and muscle of Zaceo platypus using Direct Mercury Analyzer (DMA-80, US EPA Method 7473). Mean concentrations of total [Hg], based on all tissues, was 67.2 and $20.7\;{\mu}g\;kg^{-1}$, in the upstream and downstream site, respectively, indicating 3 times greater level in the upstream. In other words, the levels were higher in the pristine upstream than the downstream influenced by the wastewater disposal plant. Chemical water quality, based on BOD, COD and nutrients (TN, TP) showed that severe degradation occurred in the downstreams than the upstreams. Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) using fish multi-metric model averaged 32, indicating a "good$\sim$fair" condition and varied from 42 (excellent$\sim$good) at S2 to 22 (fair$\sim$poor) at S5 depending on the sites sampled. Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) in the all sites averaged 142, which was judged as "good" habitat health, but showed a high variation (181 in Site 2 vs. 67 in Site 5). Overall data suggest that health conditions, based on IBI and QHEI, was better in the upstream sites but the mercury bioaccumulation levels in the fish tissues were opposite. We believe that measurements of various parameters are required for a diagnosis of integrative ecosystem health.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.79-95
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• 2017

Euiam and Paldang Reservoirs have often been facing water quality problems, such as eutrophication, algal blooms and off-flavors by treated wastewater effluent (TWE) in the North-Han and the Han River basins, but little is examined on the direct biological effect of TWE. This study tested algal growth potential (AGP) of four TWEs discharged into Euiam and Paldang Reservoirs to evaluate water fertility in September 2014 and March and September 2015. Test alga was used Anabaena circinalis isolated from Paldang Reservoir. Mean concentration of T-N and T-P in TWEs was $3,956.7{\mu}g\;N\;L^{-1}$ and $50.8{\mu}g\;P\;L^{-1}$, and the proportion of $NO_3-N$ and $PO_4-P$ to the total fraction was 72.1% and 40.8%, respectively. Both N and P were high in TWEs, but much higher N than P concentration indicates strong P-limitation. As a consequence, the maximum AGP was determined by $PO_4-P$ concentration (r=0.998, p<0.01). Mean AGP value was $15.4mg\;dw\;L^{-1}$ among four effluents indicating its eutrophic condition. Due to the establishment of tertiary (advanced T-P) treatment method in the studied plants recently, P concentration was significantly decreased in TWEs compared to the years prior to 2012. However, P concentration seems to be still high enough to cause eutrophication and algal blooms. Therefore, wastewater treatment to P-free level needs to be considered if effluents are directly discharged into the drinking water resources.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2017

Daecheong Reservoir was made by the construction of a large dam (>15 m in height) on the middle to downstream of the Geum River and the discharge systems have the watergate-spillway (WS), a hydropower penstock (HPP), and two intake towers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the limnological anomalies of turbid water reduction, green algae phenomenon, and oligotrophic state in the lower part of reservoir dam site, and compared with hydro-meteorological factors. Field surveys were conducted in two stations of near dam and the outlet of HPP with one week intervals from January to December 2000. Rainfall was closely related to the fluctuations of inflow, outflow and water level. The rainfall pattern was depended on the storm of monsoon and typhoon, and the increase of discharge and turbidity responded more strongly to the intensity than the frequency. Water temperature and DO fluctuations within the reservoir water layer were influenced by meteorological and hydrological events, and these were mainly caused by water level fluctuation based on temperature stratification, density current and discharge types. The discharges of WS and HPP induced to the flow of water bodies and the outflows of turbid water and nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, respectively. Especially, when hypoxic or low-oxygen condition was present in the bottom water, the discharge through HPP has contributed significantly to the outflow of phosphorus released from the sediment into the downstream of dam. In addition, HPP effluent which be continuously operated throughout the year, was the main factor that could change to a low trophic level in the downreservoir (lacustrine zone). And water-bloom (green-tide) occurring in the lower part of reservoir was the result that the water body of upreservoir being transported and diffused toward the downreseroir, when discharging through the WS. Finally, the hydropower effluent was included the importance and dynamics that could have a temporal and spatial impacts on the physical, chemical and biological factors of the reservoir ecosystem.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.574-579
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• 2008

Propolis is the generic term for the resinous substance collected by honey bees from a variety of plant sources. In this study, we have assessed the immunomodulatory properties of propolis (P) and fermented-propolis (FP) in BALB/c mice. Mice were subjected to gavage once a day (for 14 days) with 50, 100, 200 mg/kg body weight P, FP, or vehicle. Lymphocytes were isolated from the spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) and the immune cell proportions, proliferative activities, and cytokine production were evaluated. The P- and FP-administration induced similar, but differential, alterations in the percentage of immune cell populations and their biological functions, including cytokine production and NK cell cytotoxicity. The proportion of$ CD4^+$ and $CD8^+$ T cells in the spleen was increased slightly in the P- and FP-administered mice as compared to the vehicle-treated mice. In MLN, the percentage of $CD4^+$ T cells was increased significantly in the 200 mg/kg P-treated mice. The mice which were treated with P and FP evidenced significantly increased interferon-$\gamma$ and interleukin-4 production in concanavalin A-stimulated splenocytes, whereas the production of theses cytokines was not shown to be induced by P-treatment. In addition, NK cell activity was also increased dramatically by the administration of P and FP. Collectively, these findings showed that P and FP are wide-spectrum immunomodulators, which may modulate both innate and adaptive immune responses.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.34-42
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• 2016

In order to prepare for the type approval test for the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Phase-II of Ballast Water Treatment System (BWTS), a phytoplankton mass culture was conducted in a mesocosm enclosure. We evaluated the response of the phytoplankton community after nutrient addition (+N, +P, and +NP) and investigated the development of the species with increasing culture time. After nutrient dosing, the phytoplankton population significantly (p < 0.05) increased from day 1 to day 3, depending on the nutrient treatments In particular, the specific growth rate of the phytoplankton community in the case of +NP treatment and + N treatment were estimated to be $2.47d^{-1}$ and $1.98d^{-1}$, respectively. The phytoplankton population density in the case of + NP treatment was approximately 50 times higher than that of the control group, suggesting that these treatments could be useful for mass culturing phytoplankton (> 75% of natural community) for the approval regulation of USCG Phase-II. In the phytoplankton community of the mesocosm, Pseudo-nitzchia spp. dominated in the logarithmic growth phase. The cell density decreased significantly (p < 0.05) with increasing time, coinciding with the nutrient limitation. At that time, the dominance of Pseudo-nitzchia spp. shifted to that of Cylindrotheca closterium. Therefore, the optimum nutrient concentration ($N:30{\mu}M$, $P:3{\mu}M$) and reasonable harvesting time (after 3 days in summer) found in this study for the mass culturing of phytoplankton may be helpful to meet the USCG Phase-II biological criteria to be used in BWTS.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.279-284
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• 1998

Deep hypothermic circulatory arrest(DHCA), in which systemic temperatures of 2$0^{\circ}C$ or less are used to allow temporary cessation of the circulation, is an useful adjunct in cardiac surgery. Because man in natural circumstances is never exposed to the extreme hypothermic condition, however, one of the controversial aspects is appropriate blood gas management($\alpha$STAT versus PH-STAT) during DHCA. This study aims to compare $\alpha$STAT with PH-STAT management for control of blood gases in experimental cardiopulmonary bypass(CPB) circuits with a membrane oxygenator. Fourteen young pigs were assigned to one of two strategies of gas manipulation. After a median sternotomy, CPB was established. Core cooling was initiated and continued until nasopharyngeal temperature fell below 2$0^{\circ}C$. The flow rate was set at 2,500 ml/min. Once their temperatures were below 2$0^{\circ}C$, the animals were subjected to circulatory arrest for 40mins. During cooling, blood gas was maintained according to either $\alpha$$\alpha$STAT or pH-STAT strategies. After DHCA, the body was rewarmed to normal body temperature. Arterial blood gases were measured before the onset of CPB, before cooling, before DHCA, at the point of 27$^{\circ}C$ during re-warming, on completion of re-warming. Cooling time was significantly shorter in $\alpha$-STAT than PH-STAT strategy, while there was no significant differences in rewarming time between two groups. Carbon dioxide was added between 5.5 and 3.0% in PH-STAT, while no carbon dioxide was added in $\alpha$STAT management. Amounts of oxygen administration were gradually lowered as temperature decreased. In this way, criteria of PH, PaCO, and PaO adjustments were satisfied in both $\alpha$STAT and PH-STAT management groups.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.307-321
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• 2018

Fish fauna and lentic ecosystem health assessment in freshwater were analyzed in the two reservoirs (Uirim Reservoir(Ur) and Solbangjuk Reservoir(Sr)) of the Jecheon City during May-September 2017. Total numbers of the species and genus (7 family) sampled were 21 and 16, respectively. Cyprinidae was most dominant taxa, which accounted for 11 species (52.4%) of the total species, and the relative abundance, based on the number of individuals, was 318 individuals (46.2%). Subdominant families were taxa of Centrachidae (2 species; 264 ind. (38.4%). The dominant species, based on the relative abundance, were Squalidus chankaensistsuchigae(22.7%). Subdominant species were Lepomis macrochirus(19.5%, 134 ind.) and Micropterus salmoides(18.9%, 134 ind.). Trophic state index of Korea ($TSI_{KO}$), based on chemical oxygen demand (COD), total phosphorus (TP) and chlorophyll-a (CHL),ranged mesotrophic state. The purpose of this study was to apply a multi-metric model of Lentic Ecosystem Health Assessments (LEHA) for environmental impact assessments of two reservoirs and assessed the ecological health model values. Trophic composition's metrics showed that tolerant species (56.8%, 98.3%) and omnivore species (43.9%, 65.6%) dominated the fish fauna in the two reservoirs (Ur and Sr) of Jecheon City, indicating a biological degradation in the aquatic ecosystem. The relative proportions of Micropterus salmoides, also showed greater than 16.3% (Ur), 31.1% (Sr) of the total, indicating a ecological disturbance. The average value of LEHA model was 22 (Ur) and 12 (Sr) in the reservoirs, indicating a "poor condition (Ur)" and "very poor condition (Sr)" by the criteria of MOE (2014).

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.534-538
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to investigate the biological benefits of apple peel. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of a 70% ethanol extract of apple peel were examined. The total phenolic compound and flavonoid contents of apple peel were $6.8{\pm}0.5mg$ gallic acid equivalent/g of fresh weight and $3.3{\pm}0.3mg$ catechin equivalent/g of fresh weight, respectively. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by measuring 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity. The DPPH radical scavenging activity of apple peel was $18.9{\pm}1.6$, $46.3{\pm}2.3$ and $58.1{\pm}3.9%$ at concentrations of 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 mg/mL, respectively (p<0.05). The anti-inflammatory effect was investigated by measuring the inhibition of inflammatory enzymes. Apple peel significantly inhibited secretory phospholipase, cyclooxygenase-1, cyclooxygenase-2, and lipoxygenase activity by up to $53.5{\pm}2.3$, $13.4{\pm}1.8$, $64.8{\pm}5.4$ and $44.4{\pm}4.5%$, respectively (p<0.05). Taken together, these findings suggest that apple peel may act as an antioxidant by radical scavenging and may possess potential anti-inflammatory properties for suppressing the activity of inflammatory enzymes. These results also suggest that apple peel can be utilized as a health functional food ingredient possessing antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.172-179
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• 2003

This study was carried out to find the preventive medical and therapeutic effects of Sarcodon asparatus on adult disease by employing several biological and biochemical assays. Nitrate scavenging ability(NSA) of Sarcodan asparatus extracts was displayed up to 99.9% at pH 1.2 in a dose-dependent manner. They also had 90.4% electron donating ability(EDA) at the concentration of 0.1 mg/mL. Extracts of Sarcodon asparatus were also able to function as a powerful antioxidant at all concentrations(0.01∼l.0 mg/mL). Furthermore, we observed that 1 mg/mL concentration of the extracts was more powerful than BHT, With respect to fibrolytic activity, Sarcodon asparatus showed 1,843.8 unit/g, which was higher than streptokinase(1,189 unit/g). The inhibitory effects of the extracts on angiotensin converting enzyme, measured by the normal and pretreatment methods, were 53 and 58%, respectively. We also performed cytotoxicity effect of Sarcodon asparatus extracts on a various cancer cell lines. The growth inhibitory effects of the extracts(5.0 mg/mL) on A549, HeLa, AGS, and SK-Hep-1 cells were 78.9, 55.3, 69.0, and 42.5 %, respectively. Interestingly, Sarcodon asparatusextracts induced mutation on Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100 when Ames test was done.