• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.668-676
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• 2018

This study has developed a technique to divide the aerosol optical depth of the entire aerosol (${\tau}_{total}$) into the dust optical depth (${\tau}_D$) and the pollution particle optical depth (${\tau}_P$) using the AERONET sun/sky radiometer data provided in Version 3. This method was applied to the analysis of AERONET data observed from 2006 to 2016 in Beijing, China, Seoul and Gosan, Korea and Osaka, Japan and the aerosol optical depth trends of different types of atmospheric aerosols in Northeast Asia were analyzed. The annual variation of ${\tau}_{total}$ showed a tendency to decrease except for Seoul where observation data were limited. However, ${\tau}_D$ tended to decrease when ${\tau}_{total}$ were separated as ${\tau}_D$ and ${\tau}_P$, but ${\tau}_P$ tended to increase except for Osaka. This is because the concentration of airborne aerosols, represented by Asian dust in Northeast Asia, is decreased in both mass concentration and optical concentration. However, even though the mass concentration of pollution particles generated by human activity tends to decrease, Which means that the optical concentration represented as aerosol optical depth is increasing in Northeast Asia.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.211-224
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• 2023

In this study, a soil moisture estimation was performed using the Water Cloud Model (WCM), a backscatter model that considers vegetation based on SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar). Sentinel-1 SAR and Sentinel-2 MSI (Multi-Spectral Instrument) images of a 40 × 50 km² area including the Yongdam Dam watershed of the Geum River were collected for this study. As vegetation descriptor of WCM, Sentinel-1 based vegetation index RVI (Radar Vegetation Index), depolarization ratio (DR), and Sentinel-2 based NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) were used, respectively. Forward modeling of WCM was performed by 3 groups, which were divided by the characteristics between backscattering coefficient and soil moisture. The clearer the linear relationship between soil moisture and the backscattering coefficient, the higher the simulation performance. To estimate the soil moisture, the simulated backscattering coefficient was inverted. The simulation performance was proportional to the forward modeling result. The WCM simulation error showed an increasing pattern from about -12dB based on the observed backscattering coefficient.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.441-444
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• 2008

This paper describes the development of a circularly polarized microstrip antenna, as a part of the Circularly Polarized Synthetic Aperture Radar (CP-SAR) sensor which is currently under developed at the Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory (MRSL) in Chiba University. CP-SAR is a new type of sensor developed for the purpose of remote sensing. With this sensor, lower-noise data/image will be obtained due to the absence of depolarization problems from propagation encounter in linearly polarized synthetic aperture radar. As well the data/images obtained will be investigated as the Axial Ratio Image (ARI), which is a new data that hopefully will reveal unique various backscattering characteristics. The sensor will be mounted on an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) which will be aimed for fundamental research and applications. The microstrip antenna works in the frequency of 1.27 GHz (L-Band). The microstrip antenna utilized the proximity-coupled method of feeding. Initially, the optimization process of the single patch antenna design involving modifying the microstrip line feed to yield a high gain (above 5 dBi) and low return loss (below -10 dB). A minimum of 10 MHz bandwidth is targeted at below 3 dB of Axial Ratio for the circularly polarized antenna. A planar array from the single patch is formed next. Consideration for the array design is the beam radiation pattern in the azimuth and elevation plane which is specified based on the electrical and mechanical constraints of the UAV CP-SAR system. This research will contribute in the field of radar for remote sensing technology. The potential application is for landcover, disaster monitoring, snow cover, and oceanography mapping.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2015

Objectives: Quercetin, a flavonoid compound, has been reported to induce apoptosis in cancer cells, but its anti-inflammatory effects, which are also closely linked with apoptosis, if any, on non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have not so far been critically examined. In this study, we tried to determine if quercetin had any demonstrable anti-inflammatory potential, which also could significantly contribute to inducing apoptosis in a NSCLC cell line, A549. Methods: In this context, several assays, including cytotoxicity, flow cytometry and fluorimetry, were done. Gene expression was analyzed by using a western blot analysis. Results: Results revealed that quercetin could induce apoptosis in A549 cells through mitochondrial depolarization by causing an imbalance in B-cell lymphoma 2/Bcl2 Antagonist X (Bcl2/Bax) ratio and by down-regulating the interleukine-6/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (IL-6/STAT3) signaling pathway. An analysis of the data revealed that quercetin could block nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-${\kappa}B$) activity at early hours, which might cause a down-regulation of the IL-6 titer, and the IL-6 expression, in turn, could inhibit p-STAT3 expression. Down-regulation of both the STAT3 and the NF-${\kappa}B$ expressions might, therefore, cause down-regulation of Bcl2 activity because both are major upstream effectors of Bcl2. Alteration in Bcl2 responses might result in an imbalance in the Bcl2/Bax ratio, which could ultimately bring about mitochondria mediated apoptosis in A549 cells. Conclusion: Overall, the finding of this study indicates that a quercetin induced anti-inflammatory pathway in A549 cells appeared to make a significant contribution towards induction of apoptosis in NSCLC and, thus, may have a therapeutic use such as a strong apoptosis inducer in cancer cells.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.215-220
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• 2010

Aerosol observation with Raman LIDAR in NIES (National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan) LIDAR network was conducted from 17 April to 12 June 2008 over Beijing, China. The aerosol optical properties derived from Raman LIDAR were compared with the retrieved data from sun photometer and sky radiometer observations in the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET). The comparison provided the complete knowledge of aerosol optical and physical properties in Beijing, especially in pollution and Asian dust events. The averaged aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 675 nm was 0.81 and the Angstrom exponent between 440 nm and 675 nm was 0.99 during experiment. The LIDAR derived AOD at 532 nm in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) was 0.48, which implied that half of the total AOD was contributed by the aerosol in PBL. The corresponding averaged LIDAR ratio and total depolarization ratio (TDR) were 48.5sr and 8.1%. The negative correlation between LIDAR ratio and TDR indicated the LIDAR ratio decreased with aerosol size because of the high TDR associated with nonspherical and large aerosols. The typical volume size distribution of the aerosol clearly demonstrated that the coarse mode radius located near 3 ${\mu}m$ in dust case, a bi-mode with fine particle centered at 0.2 ${\mu}m$ and coarse particle at 2 ${\mu}m$ was the characteristic size distribution in the pollution and clean cases. The different size distributions of aerosol resulted in its different optical properties. The retrieved LIDAR ratio and TDR were 41.1sr and 19.5% for a dust event, 53.8sr and 6.6% for a pollution event as well as 57.3sr and 7.2% for a clean event. In conjunction with the observed surface wind field near the LIDAR site, most of the pollution aerosols were produced locally or transported from the southeast of Beijing, whereas the dust aerosols associated with the clean air mass were transported by the northwesterly or southwesterly winds.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.119-128
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• 2016

Angelica polymorpha Maxim root extract (APRE) is a popular herbal medicine used for treating stomachache, abdominal pain, stomach ulcers, and rheumatism; however the effect of APRE on cancer cells has not yet been explored. Here, we examined APRE cytotoxicity seen on target neuroblastoma cells (NB) using cell viability assays, DAPI visualization of fragmented DNA, and Western blotting analysis of candidate signaling pathways involved in proliferation and apoptosis. We demonstrated that APRE reduced cell viability in NB to a greater extent than in fibroblast cells. In addition, we found that APRE could inhibit the three classes of MAPK proteins and could also down-regulate the PI3K/AKT/GSK-$3{\beta}$ activity all being relevant for proliferation and survival. APRE could also up-regulate Bax expression and down-regulate Bcl-2 and Mcl-1. With APRE treatment, depolarization of mitochondria membrane potential and activation of caspase-3 was demonstrated in the SH-SY5Y cells. We could not found increased activity of death receptor and caspase-8 as markers of the extrinsic apoptosis pathway for the APRE treated cells. In presence of a caspase-3 siRNA and a pan-caspase inhibitor, APRE could not reduce the viability of NB cells to a significant degree. So we predicted that with APRE, the intrinsic pathway was solely responsible for inducing apoptosis as we also showed that the non-caspase autophagy pathway or ER stress-ROS mediated pathways were not involved. These findings demonstrate that an intrinsic mitochondria-mediated apoptosis pathway mediates the apoptotic effects of APRE on SH-SY5Y cells, and that APRE shows promise as a novel agent for neuroblastoma therapy.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2019.10a
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• pp.91-91
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• 2019

Hibiscus syriacus L. is widely distributed throughout Eastern and Southern Asia and its root bark has been used as a traditional remedy. Recently, the extracts of H. syriacus L. exerts anti-cancerous, anti-microbial, and anti-inflammatory activities. However, the effect of anthocyanin-rich fraction of H. syriacus L. petals (PS) has not been studied under excessive oxidative stress. In this study, we evaluated the cellular protective effect of PS in HaCaT human skin keratinocytes under hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$)-induced oxidative stress conditions. PS at below $400{\mu}g/ml$ did not show any cell death; however, over $800{\mu}g/ml$ of PS gradually increased cell death. PS at below $400{\mu}g/ml$ significantly inhibited $H_2O_2$-induced apoptosis in HaCaT cells concomitant with downregulation of Bax and upregulation of pro-PARP and p-Bcl-2. Additionally, PS remarkably reversed $H_2O_2$-induced excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and apoptosis, and also significantly inhibited mitochondrial ROS production concomitant with suppression of $H_2O_2$-induced mitochondrial depolarization. $H_2O_2$-mediated ratio of Bax to Bcl-2, and caspase-3 activation were markedly abolished in the presence of PS. Moreover, the inhibition of HO-1 function using zinc protoporphyrin, an HO-1 inhibitor, significantly attenuated the cellular protective effects of PS against $H_2O_2$, indicating the significance of HO-1 in PS mediated cytoprotective effect, which was mediated by activating nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor-2 (Nrf2). Taken together, our results suggest that cytoprotective effect of PS in HaCaT keratinocytes against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis is mediated by inhibiting cellular and mitochondrial ROS production, which is downregulated by activating Nrf2/HO-1 axis.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 1991.10a
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• pp.87-102
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• 1991

It has been reported that the failure of Carsington Dam in Eng1and occured due to the existence of a thin yellow clay layer which was not identified during the design work, and due to pre-existing shears of the clay layer. The slope stability analyses during the design work, which utilized traditional circular arc type failure method and neglected the existence of the clay layer, showed a safety factor of 1.4. However, the post-failure analyses which utilized translational failure mode considering the clay layer and the pre-existing shear deformation revealed the reduction of safety factor to unity. The post-failure analysis assumed 10。 inclination of the horizontal forces onto each slice based on the results of finite element analyses. In this paper, Bishop's simplified method, Janbu method, and Morgenstern-Price method were used for the comparison of both circular and translational failure analysis methods. The effects of the pre-existing shears and subsquent movement were also considered by varying the soil strength parameters and the pore pressure ratio according to the given soi1 parameters. The results showed factor of safefy 1.387 by Bishop's simplified method(STABL) which assumed circular arc failure surface and disregarding yellow clay layer and pre-failure material properties. Also the results showed factor of safety 1.093 by Janbu method(STABL) and 0.969 by Morgenstern-Price method(MALE) which assumed wedge failure surface and considerd yellow clay layer using post failure material properties. In addition, dam behavior was simulated by Cam-Clay model FEM program. The effects of pore pressure changes with loading and consolidation, and strength reduction near or at failure were also considered based on properly assumed stress-strain relationship and pore pressure characteristics. The results showed that the failure was initiated at the yellow clay layer and propagated through other zones by showing that stress and displacement were concentrated at the yel1ow clay layer.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.174-185
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• 2020

Multiscattering occurs when a laser transmits into dense atmosphere targets (e.g. fogs, smoke or clouds), which can cause depolarization effects even though the scattering particles are spherical. In addition, multiscattering effects have additional information about microphysical properties of scatterers. Thus, multiscattering can be utilized to study the microphysical properties of the liquid water cloud. In this paper, a Monte Carlo method was used to simulate multi-scattering transmission properties of Lidar signals in the cloud. The results showed the slope of the degree of linear polarization (SLDLP) can be used to invert the extinction coefficient, and then the cloud effective size (CES) and the liquid water content (LWC) may be easily obtained by using the extinction coefficient and saturation of the degree of linear polarization (SADLP). Based on calculation results, a microphysical properties inversion method for a liquid cloud was presented. An innovative multiscattering polarization Lidar (MSPL) system was constructed to measure the LWC and CES of the liquid cloud, and a new method based on the polarization splitting ratio of the Polarization Beam Splitter (PBS) was developed to calibrate the polarization channels of MSPL. By analyzing the typical observation data of MSPL observation in the northern suburbs of Nanjing, China, the LWC and CES of the liquid water cloud were obtained. Comparisons between the results from the MSPL, MODIS and the Microwave radar data showed that, the microphysical properties of liquid cloud could be retrieved by combining our MSPL and the inversion method.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.6_2
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• pp.1793-1801
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• 2021

From 2015 to June 2020, the backscattering coefficients of 532 and 1064 nm measured using LIDAR and the depolarization ratio at 532 nm were used to separate the backscattering coefficient at 532 nm as three types as PM₁₀, PM_2.5-10, PM_2.5 according to particle size. The mass extinction efficiency (MEE) of three types was calculated using the mass concentration measured on the ground. The overall mean values of the calculated MEE were 5.1 ± 2.5, 1.7 ± 3.7, and 9.3 ± 6.3 m²/g in PM₁₀, PM_2.5-10, and PM_2.5, respectively. When the mass concentration of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 was low, higher than average MEE was calculated, and it was confirmed that the MEE decreased as the mass concentration increased. When the MEE was calculated for each type according to the mixing degree of Asian dust, PM_2.5-10 was twice at pollution aerosol as high as 2.1 ± 2.8 m²/g, compare to pollution-dominated mixture, dust-dominated mixture, and pure dust of 1.1 ± 1.8, 1.4 ± 3.3, 1.1 ± 1.5 m²/g, respectively. However, PM_2.5 MEE showed similar values irrespective of type: 9.4 ± 6.5, 9.0 ± 5.8, 10.3 ± 7.5, and 9.1 ± 9.0 m²/g. The MEE of PM₁₀ was 5.6 ± 2.9, 4.4 ± 2.0, 3.6 ± 2.9, and 2.8 ± 2.4 m²/g in pollution aerosol (PA), pollution-dominated mixture (PDM), dust-dominated mixture (DDM), and pure dust (PD), respectively, and increased as the dust ratio value decreased. Even if the same type according to the same mass concentration or Asian dust mixture was shown, as the PM_2.5/PM₁₀ ratio decreased, the MEE of PM_2.5-10 decreased and the MEE of PM_2.5 showed a tendency to increase.