• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-24
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• 2013

Objectives: The object of this study was to observe the protective effect of Gamijipaesan aqueous extracts(GJS), which has been traditionally used in Korean medicine in obstetrics & gynecological fields as anti-infectious and anti-inflammatory agents, against mastitis induced by Staphylococcus aureus infection in a rat model through antibacterial, antiinflammatory, immunomodulatory, and anti-oxidant effects. Methods: Antibacterial activities of GJS against S. aureus were detected using standard agar microdilution methods, with the effects on the bacterial invasion and intracellular killing of individual test materials in human mammary gland carcinoma cell(MCF-7) and murine macrophages(Raw 264.7) at MIC1/2, MIC and MIC2 concentration levels. In addition, the effects on the cell viability, nitric oxide(NO), tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-${\alpha}$ and interleukin (IL)-6 productions of LPS activated Raw 264.7 cells. The changes on the mammary tissue viable bacterial numbers, myeloperoxidae(MPO), inducible nitric oxide synthetase(iNOS), TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL-6 contents were observed in the S. aureus in vivo intramammary infectious rat model. The anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory effects were compared with ciprofloxacin and piroxicam, respectively in the present study. Results: MIC of GJS and ciprofloxacin against S. aureus were detected as $0.860{\pm}0.428$ (0.391-1.563) mg/ml and $0.371{\pm}0.262$(0.098-0.782) ${\mu}g/ml$, respectively. In addition, GJS and ciprofloxacin were also showed marked dosage-dependent inhibition of the both bacterial invasion and intracellular killing assays using MCF-7 and Raw 264.7 cells at MIC1/2, MIC and $MIC{\times}2$ concentrations, respectively. $ED_{50}$ against LPS-induced cell viabilities and NO, TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL-6 releases of GJS were detected as 0.72, 0.04, 0.08 and 0.11 mg/ml, and as 19.04, 4.18, 5.37 and 4.27 ${\mu}g/ml$ in piroxicam, respectively. 250 and 500 mg/kg of GJS also inhibit the intramammary bacterial growth, MPO, iNOS, TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL-6 contents in S. aureus in vivo intramammary infected rats, respectively. GJS 500 mg/kg showed quite similar antibacterial and anti-infectious effects as compared with ciprofloxacin 40 mg/kg and also showed similar anti-inflammatory effects as piroxicam 10 mg/kg, in S. aureus in vivo intramammary infectious models. Conclusions: The results obtained in this study suggest that over 250 mg/kg of GJS showed favorable anti-infectious effects against S. aureus infection in a rat model through their antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and anti-oxidant effects and therefore expected that GJS can be used as alternative therapies, having both anti-inflammatory and anti-infectious activities. However, more detail mechanism studies should be conducted in future with the efficacy tests of individual herbal composition of GJS and the screening of the biological active compounds in individual herbs. In the present study, GJS 500 mg/kg showed quite similar anti-infectious effects were detected as compared with ciprofloxacin 40 mg/kg treated rats, and also GJS shows quite similar anti-inflammatory effects as compared with piroxicam 10 mg/kg in S. aureus in vivo intramammary infectious rats, but ciprofloxacin did not showed any anti-inflammatory effects, and piroxicam did not showed anti-infectious effects in this study.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.405-420
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• 2014

To investigate geochemical characteristics of soil and atmospheric environments by anthropogenic source, we have analyzed and determined heavy metal concentrations of the surface soils beneath roadside trees and leaves of Platanus occidentalis from 52 points in Seoul during autumn 2001. For comparison of the contents of heavy metal for the soil and leaf, we have analyzed heavy metal contents of the surface soils beneath roadside trees and leaves from 2 points in rural area of Yesan during the same time period. The composition of heavy metals of soils are relatively high for Cd, Co, Cr and Ni in industrial area (IA, Industrial Area) and high for Cu, Pb and Zn in heavy traffic area (HTA, Heavy Traffic Area). The heavy metal contents of rural area in Seoul are higher than those in Yesan. The differences of chemical compositions between the washed and unwashed leaves are high for Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in the HTA. The element couples of Cd-Co, Cr-Ni and Pb-Zn for the soils had shown a good correlation and their contamination sources could be similar. The relationship for Pb-Cu and Cu-Zn showed good correlation in Platanus leaves. The relationship between soils and unwashed leaves show a good correlation for Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn but low correlation for Cd, Co, Fe, Mn and Ni. It is thought that the Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn were derived from contaminants of soils, whereas Cd, Co, Fe, Mn and Ni were originated from atmospheric source. From the spatial variations of elements for soils and leaves, Ni and Cr were dominant in the soils of IA and Cd, Cu and Zn were dominant in those of HTA. The Contamination by Cd-Pb and Cu-Zn in unwashed leaves were analyzed to show similar patterns. Using the enrichment factors (EF) of heavy metals in unwashed leaves, the EF sequences were to be Cu, Zn, Pb, Mn, Co, Ni, Cd and Cr. We identified that Cu, Zn, Pb and Mn were most problematic of environmental hazard in Seoul.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.19-28
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• 2016

The objective of this study was to determine the acidification of precipitation in the Jeju area. Precipitation samples were collected from the Jeju area from 2009-2014, and the major ionic species were analyzed. In the regression analysis, through a comparison of ion balance, electric conductivity, and acid fraction, the correlation coefficients showed a good linear relationship within the range of 0.927~0.983. The volume-weighted means of the pH and electric conductivity were 4.9 and 22.7 µS/cm, respectively. The ionic strength of precipitation was 0.27±0.38 mM, indicating about 35.9 % of total precipitation within the pure precipitation criteria. The volume-weighted mean concentrations (ìeq/L) of the ionic species in the precipitation were in the order of Na⁺ > Cl⁻ > nss-SO₄²⁻ > NO₃⁻ > NH₄⁺ > Mg²⁺ > H⁺ > nss-Ca²⁺ > PO₄³⁻ > K⁺ > HCOO⁻ > CH₃COO⁻ > NO₂⁻ > F⁻ > HCO₃⁻ > CH₃SO₃⁻ . The acidification contributions by sulfuric and nitric acids were 54.5 % and 36.5 %, respectively. Meanwhile the acidification contributions by formic and acetic acids were 4.8 % and 4.2 %, respectively. Thus, it was found that the acidification of the precipitation in the Jeju area was mainly due to the inorganic acids. The neutralization factors by NH₃ and CaCO₃ were also 33 % and 20 %, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.39 no.12
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• pp.1190-1196
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• 2002

Microwave dielectric properties and multilayer characteristics $(1-x)BiNbO_4-xCaNb_2O_6$ (0${\le}$x${\le}$1.0) ceramics were investigated as a function of $CaNb_2O_6$ content. In the composition range of 0.25${\le}$x${\le}$0.75, the mixture phases of $BiNbO_4$ with stibotantalate structure and $CaNb_2O_6$ with columbite structure were detected and secondary phase or phase transition were not detected. Dielectric constant (K) of $(1-x)BiNbO_4-xCaNb_2O_6$ ceramics was largely dependent on the existing phase and could be estimated by the dielectric mixing rule calculated from maxwell equation. Typically, dielectric constant (K) of 26, quality factor (Qf) of 4300 GHz and Temperature Coefficient of resonant Frequency (TCF) of -18 ppm/${\circ}C$ were obtained for $0.5BiNbO_4-0.5CaNb_2O_6$ specimens with 0.8 wt% $CuV_2O_6$ sintered at 1000${\circ}C$ for 3h. The deviation of X-Y shrinkage and camber value of the multilayers obtained from $0.5BiNbO_4-0.5CaNb_2O_6$ green sheet sintered at 850∼950${\circ}C$ for 20 min. were smaller than those of $BiNbO_4$ multilayers.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.106-115
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• 2011

The aim of this study is to assess the importance of ballast water discharge as a vector for the introduction of exotic species into Pusan and Daesan Ports, Korea. We also examined to understand the impacts of environmental factors on the survival success of introduced species by ship's ballast water in laboratory experiments. Seven ship's ballast water originated from the coastal water of China (Taicang, Ningbo and Jinshan), Japan (Tokuyama, Moji and Akita), and Singapore. According to PCA (principal components analysis) analysis, environmental factor in the each ballast and shipside waters were different by bioregion. Based on cluster analysis, the phytoplankton community structures were distinguished for ballast water origin. Most of the major taxonomic groups were diatoms and, the others were dinoflagellate, silcoflagellate and several fresh-waters species. In particular, species number and standing crops of phytoplankton in the ballast tanks decreased with the increasing age ofballast water(r = -0.35 for standing crop; r = -0.63 for species number). In the laboratory study, although phytoplankton in ballast water treatment did not survive even in optimal temperature, the in vivo fluorescence of phytoplankton viability increased under the nutrient typical of shipside water and F/2 medium at $15^{\circ}C$ and $20^{\circ}C$. The diatoms species such as Skeletonema costatum and Thalassiosira pseudonana in ballast water were successfully regrown. On the salinity gradient experiments for Shui Shan (2) vessel, several freshwater species, brackish and marine species were successfully adapted. Of these, S.costatum was able to tolerate a wide range of salinities (10 to 30 psu) and its species-specific viability was suitable for colonization.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.141-150
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• 2018

In this study, the inflammation of ethanol extracts from Caryopteris incana (CI) and fermented C. incana (FCI) on induced to lipopolysaccharide with Raw 264.7 cell was tested. The composition profile of L. plantarum was changed by fermentation, and confirmed by HPLC analysis. We performed the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol]-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay to evaluate the toxicity of CI and FCI extracts. In cell viability, cell toxicity was not shown at 5, 10 and $15{\mu}g/mL$ of CI extracts and 10, 20, 30 and $40{\mu}g/mL$ of FCI extracts. The results of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2 protein production were confirmed to be inhibitory in a concentration-dependent manner, respectively. Additionally, protein expression of nitric oxide and prostaglandin $E_2$ by CI and FCI extracts were also inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner. In the result of pro-inflammatory cytokine, $15{\mu}g/mL$ concentration of CI extracts was showed tumar necrosis factor $(TNF)-{\alpha}$ (57.3%), interleukin (IL)-6 (35.2%), and $IL-1{\beta}$ (48.0%), respectively. And $40{\mu}g/mL$ of FCI extracts was showed $TNF-{\alpha}$ (34.6%), IL-6 (32.1%), and $IL-1{\beta}$ (30.0%), respectively. These results suggest that FCI extracts showed better effect of anti-inflammatory than CI extracts. Therefore, it was found that both CI and FCI can be used as an excellent material for the development of new anti-inflammatory resource.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 2020

Wet precipitation samples were collected in Jeju City and Mt. Halla-1100 site (a site at an altitude of 1100 m on Mt. Halla) during 2011-2013, and their major ionic species were analyzed to examine the chemical composition and characteristics. A comparison of ion balance, electric conductivity, and acid fraction of precipitation revealed correlation coefficients in the range of r = 0.950~0.991, thereby implying the high quality of analytical data. Volume-weighted mean pH and electric conductivity corresponded to 4.86 and 25.5 µS/cm for Jeju City, and 4.98 and 15.1 µS/cm for Mt. Halla-1100 site, respectively. Ionic strengths of the wet precipitation in Jeju City and Mt. Halla-1100 site corresponded 0.3 ± 0.5 and 0.2 ± 0.2 mM, respectively, thereby indicating that more than 30 % of total precipitation was within a pure precipitation criteria. The precipitation with a pH range of 4.5 - 5.0 corresponded to 40.8 % in Jeju City, while the precipitation with a pH range of 5.0 - 5.5 corresponded to 56.9 % in Mt. Halla-1100 site, thereby indicating slightly more weak acidity than that in Jeju city. The volume-weighted mean concentration (µeq/L) of ionic species was in the order of Na⁺ > Cl^- > nss-SO₄^2- > NO₃^- > Mg²⁺ > NH₄⁺ > H⁺ > nss-Ca²⁺ > PO₄^3- > K⁺ > CH₃COO^- > HCOO^- > NO₂^- > F^- > HCO₃^- > CH₃SO₃^- at Jeju City area, while it corresponded to Na⁺ > Cl^- > nss-SO₄^2- > NO₃^- > NH₄⁺ > H⁺ > Mg²⁺ > nss-Ca²⁺ > PO₄^3- > CH₃COO^- > K⁺ > HCOO^- > NO₂^- > F^- > HCO₃^- > CH₃SO₃^- at Mt. Halla-1100 site. The compositions of sea salts (Na⁺, Cl^-, Mg²⁺) and secondary pollutants (NH₄⁺, nss-SO₄^2-, NO₃^-) corresponded to 66.1 % and 21.8 %, respectively, in Jeju City and, 49.9 % and 31.5 %, respectively, in Mt. Halla-1100 site. The acidity contributions in Jeju City and Mt. Halla-1100 site by inorganic acids, i.e., sulfuric acid and nitric acid, corresponded to 93.9 % and 91.4 %, respectively, and the acidity contributions by organic acids corresponded to 6.1 % and 8.6 %, respectively. The neutralization factors in Jeju City and Mt. Halla1100 site by ammonia corresponded to 29.8 % and 30.1 %, respectively, whereas the neutralization factors by calcium carbonate corresponded to 20.5 % and 25.2 %, respectively. From the clustered back trajectory analysis, the concentrations of most ionic components were higher when the airflow pathways were moved from the continent to Jeju area.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.137-142
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• 2000

Cultured juvenile black rockfish, Sebastes schiegeli as a seed for sen ranching project were compared with the similar size of wild fish. Wild fish were analyzed and compared with cultured fish in body indices, and moisture, crude protein, lipid, ash, many kinds of amino acids and various minerals in the whole-body of juvenile rockfish from three different populations. There were significant (P<0.05) differences in the moisture, crude lipid, and ash in the whole-body of fish among three different populations; the moisture content of wild fish was higher than that of both cultured fish. The lipid content in wild and tank cultured fish was lowest and highest, respectively; The lipid content of fish cultured in embanked system was intermediate values. The condition factor (CE), hepatosomatic index (HSI), and intraperitoneal fat (IPE) of fish cultured in tank system and embanked system were significantly (P<0.05) higher than those of wild fish. But fish cultured in tank system produced similar intestinosomatic index (ISI) and muscle ratio (MR) values as the wild fish. There were significant differences in asparatic acid, glutamic acid, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, phenylalanine, threonine, valine of whole-body fish cultured by different methods; the wild fish was highest in these amino acids, followed by fish cultured in embanked system and then fish cultured in tank system. There were also significant differences in Ca, P, Mg, Mn, Zn of whole-body fish cultured by different methods: wild fish and fish cultured in tank system produced highest in Ca, P, Mg, Zn and lowest in Mn, respectively. There were significant differences in moisture, crude lipid, ash, many kinds of amino acids, several minerals, CE, HSI, UE, and ISI among the three juvenile populations; whole-body of wild fish showed higher in moisture, ash, asparatic acid, glutamic acid, isoleucine, leucine, Iysine, phenylalanine, threonine, valine, Ca, P, Mg, and Zn than fish cultured in embanked system, while they showed lower in the rest of the nutritious parameters studied.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.10
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• pp.1082-1089
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• 2005

Purpose : Abdominal obesity is encountered as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. However, the anthropometric cut-off value to estimate the cardiovascular risk, has not been suggested. This study was designed to find the relationship between the abdominal fat and various parameters of obesity to find the cardiovascular risk factors related to abdominal obesity and to establish practical methods to measure them. Methods : Twenty seven obese Korean adolescents of moderate to severe degree and 22 healthy adolescents were enrolled. The body mass index(BMI), arm circumference and skinfold thickness were measured. Furthermore, blood lipid, sugar, insulin and four different cytokines' levels were checked and the distribution of body composition was measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis. The subcutaneous and intra-abdominal fat thickness by abdominal ultrasonography(US) and the total and intra-abdominal fat area by abdominal computerized tomography(CT) were measured in the obese group. Results : The most accurate method to measure abdominal fat in children is abdominal CT and the fat mass measured by bioelectrical impedance was strongly correlated with it(r=0.954). It was also correlated with arm circumference, fat thickness measured by abdominal US, BMI, aspartate aminotransferase(AST), alanine aminotransferase(ALT) and triglyceride level. Conclusion : Abdominal CT is the most accurate method to measure intra-abdominal fat, and it can be replaced by abdominal US for cost effectiveness. The screening methods that can be used at school or in outpatient basis include bioelectrical impedance, waist/hip ratio, and arm circumference. The cardiovascular risk factors include leptin, triglyceride and insulin level.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.344-357
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• 2020

Strain improvement and bioprocess development were undertaken to enhance hyaluronic acid(HA) production by Streptococcus zooepidemicus cells. Using a high-yielding mutant strain, statistical medium optimization was carried out in shake flask cultures, resulting in 52% increase in HA production (5.38 g/l) at the optimal medium composition relative to the parallel control cultures. For sufficient supply of dissolved oxygen (DO), which turned out to be crucial for enhanced production of HA, agitation system and speed were intensively investigated in 5 L bioreactor cultures. Increase in oxygen mass transfer coefficient (k_La) through increment of agitation speed (rpm) and 35% expansion of diameter of the newly-designed impellers showed significantly positive effects on HA production. By installing an expanded Rushton-turbine impeller for efficient break-down of sparged air, and an extended marine impeller above the Rushton-turbine impeller for efficient mixing of the air-born viscous fermentation broth, maximum amount of HA (9.79 g/l) was obtained at 450 rpm, 1.8 times higher level than that of the corresponding flask culture. Subsequently, the possibility of bioprocess scale-up to a 50 L bioreactor was investigated. Despite almost identical maximum HA production (9.11 vs 9.25 g/l), the average HA volumetric productivity (r_p) of the 50 L culture turned out only 74% compared to the corresponding 5 L culture during the exponential phase, possibly caused by shear damages imposed on the producing cells at the high stirring in the 50 L culture. The scale-up process could be successfully achieved if a scale-up criterion of constant oxygen mass transfer coefficient (k_La) is applied to the 50 L pilot-scale bioreactor system.