• International Journal of Oncology
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.630-640
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• 2020

Plant flavonoid 2',3,4',5,7-pentahydroxyflavone (morin hydrate), isolated from the family Moraceae (Morus alba L.), is known to have anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects. However, its pharmaceutical effects on metastasis have not been fully elucidated to date. Therefore, the current study investigated the effects of morin hydrate on cancer metastasis in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. The results showed that morin hydrate suppressed 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced cell migration and invasion via the inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 activity. Furthermore, gene expression level of MMP-9, MMP-7, urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), uPA receptor (uPAR) and fibronectin were significantly decreased by morin hydrate treatment. Morin hydrate inhibited the phosphorylation of Akt and glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3β, and downregulated the expression of an activator protein-1 subunit c-Fos. In addition, the GSK-3β phosphorylation and c-Fos expression were suppressed by PI3K/Akt pathway inhibitors, LY294002 and wortmannin. Taken together, these results demonstrated that morin hydrate reduced the metastatic potential in TPA-treated MCF-7 human breast cancer cells via the inhibition of MMPs, uPA and uPAR, and the underlying Akt/GSK-3β/c-Fos pathway. Therefore, the present investigation suggested that morin hydrate may be a natural substance with a preventive potential for metastasis in breast cancer cells.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.8-27
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• 2000

Components of extracellular matrix and the matrix-degrading enzymes are some of the key regulators of tumor metastasis and angiogenesis. Hyaluronic acid (HA), a matrix glycosaminoglycan, is known to promote tumor adhesion and migration, and its small fragments are angiogenic. Until now, we have compared levels of hyaluronidase, an enzyme that degrade HA, in normal adult prostate, benign prostate hyperplasia and prostate cancer tissues and in conditioned media from epithelial explant cultures, using a substrate (HA)-gel assay and ELISA-like assay (Kim et al., unpublished results). The present review described an overall characterization of hyaluronidases and its application to human diseases. The hyaluronidases are a family of enzymes that have, until recently, deed thorough explication. The substrate for these enzymes, hyaluronan, is becoming increasingly important, recognized now as a major participant in basic processes such as cell motility, wound healing, embryogenesis, and implicated in cancer progression. And in those lower life forms that torment human beings, hyaluronidase is associated with mechanisms of entry and spread, e.g. as a virulence factor for bacteria, for tissue dissection in gas gangrene, as a means of treponema spread in syphilis, and for penetration of skin and gut by nematode parasites. Hyaluronidase also comprises a component of the venom of a wide variety of organisms, including bees, wasps, hornets, spiders, scorpions, sh, snakes and lizards. Of particular interest is the homology between some of these venom hyaluronidases and the enzyme found in the plasma membrane of mammalian spermatozoa, attesting to the ancient nature of the conserved sequence, a 36% identity in a 300 amino acid stretch of the enzyme protein. Clearly, hyaluronidase is of biological interest, being involved in the pathophysiology of so many important' human disorders. Greater effort should be made in studying this family of enzymes that have, until recently, been overlooked. Also, oriental medical application of the hyaluronidase will be discussed with respect to inhibition and suppression of inflammation and malignacy.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.21-29
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• 2017

Methylation of CpG islands in the promoter region of genes acts as a significant mechanism of epigenetic gene silencing in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). DNA methylation markers are particularly advantageous because DNA methylation is an early event in tumorigenesis, and the epigenetic modification, 5-methylcytosine, is a stable mark. In the present study, we assessed the genome-wide preliminary screening and were to identify novel methylation biomarker candidate in HNSCC. Genome-wide methylation analysis was performed on 10 HNSCC tumors using the Methylated DNA Isolation Assay (MeDIA) CpG island microarray. Validation was done using immunohistochemistry using tissue microarray of 135 independent HNSCC tumors. In addition, in vitro proliferation, migration/invasion assays, RT-PCR and immunoblotting were performed to elucidate molecular regulating mechanisms. Our preliminary validation using CpG microarray data set, immunohisto-chemistry for HNSCC tumor tissues and in vitro functional assays revealed that methylation of the Homeobox B5 (HOXB5) and H6 Family Homeobox 2 (HMX2) could be possible novel methylation biomarkers in HNSCC.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.413-419
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• 2020

Eosinophilia occurs commonly in many diseases including allergic diseases and helminthic infections. Toxocariasis has been suggested as one cause of eosinophilia. The present study was undertaken to examine the prevalence of toxocariasis in patients with eosinophilia and to identify the risk factors for toxocariasis. This prospective cohort study recruited a total of 81 patients with eosinophilia (34 males and 47 females) who visited the outpatient clinic at Seoul National University Hospital from January 2017 to February 2018 and agreed to participate in this study. The prevalence of toxocariasis was examined by T. canis-specific ELISA, and the various risk factors for toxocariasis were evaluated by a questionnaire survey. Among 81 patients with eosinophilia, 18 were positive for anti-T. canis antibodies (22.2%); 88.9% were male (16/18) and 11.1% were female (2/18). Multivariate statistical analysis revealed that males (OR 21.876, 95% CI: 1.667-287.144) with a history of consuming the raw meat or livers of animals (OR 5.899, 95% CI: 1.004-34.669) and a heavy alcohol-drinking habit (OR 8.767, 95% CI: 1.018-75.497) were at higher risk of toxocariasis in patients with eosinophilia. Toxocariasis should be considered a potential cause of eosinophilia when the patient has a history of eating the raw meat or livers of animals in Korea. A single course of albendazole is recommended to reduce the migration of Toxocara larvae in serologically positive cases with eosinophilia.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.53-59
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• 2024

The novel "The Grapes of Wrath" shows the painful reality of Americans during the Great Depression through the migration journey of the Tom Jod's family, who had no choice but to move from Oklahoma to California and their hardships in California. This presents empathy for their wrath and offers hope for a brotherly solution. This article presents institutional solutions against each novel situation from the perspective of the Constitution, labor law, and competition law. From a constitutional perspective, the poverty of Oklahoma's smallholders is not a result of choice, but is caused by the natural environment and capital concentration, so it is suggested that the government have to intervene to guarantee a minimum standard of living to realize equal rights. From a labor law perspective, worker supply projects are unconstitutional because they constitute intermediate exploitation of labor, and immigrants like the Joad family have the right to form labor unions. From a competition law perspective, it was shown that the large landowners' setting of fruit prices constitutes predatory pricing, and the farmers' attempts to pay similarly low wages constitute collusion. Through this, the attempt was made to recognize that the law is a means to resolve the public wrath that may currently exist, and to show that the story in the novel can bring empathy and understanding to minorities. It is hoped that reading novels can be a way to help interpret the law and sympathize with others as an indicator of a just society.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.84-110
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• 1993

This study aims at identifying the recent change in marriage behaviors in Korea. The data used here is the vital statistics compiled from the vital registration system of which registration form is put on one from together with the civil registration form. According to the results of this analysis, since 1970 the number of marriages has steadily increased from about 300, 000 in the former of 1970s to about 400, 000 in the latter of 1980s, appproximately coincided with the change in population size at the marriageable age span. The few exceptions that can be seen in the 1970s seem to result from the impact of social upheavals during 1950s; since the birth cohorts affected by the low fertility during the Korean war and the post-war baby-boom generations chracterized by the high fertility entered the marriage market in the 1970s. However, the marriage rate shows a little increase from around 7 in the former of 1970s to around 9 in the latter of 1980s, indicating that the marriage prevalence has been more or less inconsiderably changed during this period. It is also found that the proportion of remarriage to the total marriages has increased to around 10 per cent in 1989, while decreasing that of first marriage. This fact can be attributable to the higher prevalence of divorces and the collapsing of the Confucianism ethic which contributed to expediting the remarriage of widows. Although this proportion is insignificant compared with that of the of more developed countries, it is not difficult to say that the proportion of remarriages will continue to increase in future. The age first at first marriage(AFM) which directly affects the span exposed to the risks pregnancy has increased to the age about 28 for male and about 25 for female in recent years. However, big difference in AFM between urban and rural areas has narrowed, resultant from the increasing involuntary postponement of marriage of rural young population who have met difficulties in seeking their bride or bridegroom in rural areas characterized by the heavy out-migration of young, particularly female, population. The present study shows the reverse relationship between AFM and educational attainment; i.e, the higher the educational attainment the lower the AFM. The conditions which are taken into considerations were the class and the family in the past time but which are, educational attainment, job and personal characteristics. With regard to the age condition, in recent years the male prefers the female younger than himself on the average by 3 years and vice versa, which is reduced form 4-5 years in beginning of 1970s. The age difference bride and bridegroom tends to decrease with the educational attainment increase. This may be attributable to the fact that the persons with the higher educational attainment prefer the love marriage and hence are more likely to choose their counterparts in the about same age. The education condition is characterized by the bridegroom having the higher educational level than bride. It is also significant to note that the proportion of love marriage has increased, whereas that of traditional arranged marriage has decreased. This is true in the urban areas than the rural areas, indicating that rights as well as responsibilities for marriage have been handed over the young population from their parents. In conclusion, the change in the marriage behaviors in Korea are characterized by increasing tendency for the postponement of first marriage, higher prevalences of divorces and a result remarriages, increase of love marriages, narrowing age difference between bride and bridegroom, etc. which are the main results of rapid industrization, increase in educational and economic activity opportunities and change in the ideals of marriages during the past decades. These phenomena prevailing in Korean society would affect not only the family structure that will become less proliferiated but the population size and structure. The most important is that the changes in marriage behaviors of Koreans and their impact on the society with respect to norms, values, morals, of individual and family in the social aspect, change in population size and structure in the demograpic aspects, and economic development in the economic aspects should be integrated into the plannings towards to the future.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.1590-1598
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• 2008

Cell proliferation and differentiation are critical processes in a developing fetal rat brain, during which programmed cell death (PCD) also plays an important role. One of the decisive factors for PCD is Bcl-2 family proteins, where Bax induces cell death, whereas Bcl-2 acts as an inhibitor of PCD. As maternal drinking is known to cause fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or malformation of the fetal brain during pregnancy, the objective of the present study was to investigate whether maternal ethanol exposure alters the PCD-related Bax and Bcl-2 protein expression during fetal brain development. Pregnant female rats were orally treated with 10% ethanol and the subsequent expressions of the Bax and Bcl-2 proteins examined in the fetal brain, including the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain, from gestational day (GD) 15.5 to GD 19.5, using Western blots, in situ hybridization, and immunohistochemistry. With regard to the ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax proteins (Bcl-2/Bax), the Bax protein was dominant in the forebrain and midbrain of the control GD 15.5 fetuses, except for the hindbrain, when compared with the respective ethanol-treated groups. Moreover, Bcl-2 became dominant in the midbrain of the control GD 17.5 fetuses when compared with the ethanol-treated group, representing an alternation of the natural PCD process by ethanol. Furthermore, a differential expression of the Bcl-2 and Bax proteins was found in the differentiating and migrating zones of the cortex, hippocampus, thalamus, and cerebellum. Thus, when taken together, the present results suggest that ethanol affects PCD in the cell differentiation and migration zones of the prenatal rat brain by modulating Bax and Bcl-2 expression in an age- and area-dependent manner. Therefore, this is the first evidence that ethanol may alter FAS-associated embryonic brain development through the alteration of Bax and Bc1-2 expression.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.163-192
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• 2002

Residential overcrowding, also called density, measured as more than one person per room, is a important variable as a principal indicator of inadequate housing. We investigated how immigrants in the US are assimilated to the host society through a lens of housing density. We estimated the probability of living in overcrowded housing of Korean, Chinese and Japanese immigrants armored with the 1980 and 1990 Public Use Microdata Sample(PUMS, A, 5%) in the US. Along with economic effects, we also consider life-cycle effects on the indicator. We applied "double cohort" method that enables duration of immigration effects to be separated from aging effects, which captures family size fluctuations due to life-cycle effects. The study found that cohort trends sharply changed during 10years. The 1970's immigrants are more likely to live in overcrowded housing than the pre-1970 immigrants. The pre-1970 immigrants are more likely to live in overcrowded housing than native-born persons. This may be explained by different assimilation processes driven by the disparities of individual human capitals or cultural differences among the ethnic groups. Especially, Korean experienced a sharp decline in overcrowding between 1980 and 1990. We also found that the major determinants that affect the level of housing density are years since migration, income, and gender. The present study concluded with some future studies related to the Korean immigrants abroad.ts abroad.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.75-87
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• 2009

This paper tries to explore the local uniqueness and evolutionary characteristics of the spatial structure of the rural dwelling houses of China's Korean Ethnic. For this purpose, the paper selected 51 typical samples in each district, analyzing their ancestral home, building age, size, construction method, family composition etc. Moreover, the paper classified the pattern of the samples and analyzed the characteristic and evolutionary process of each pattern. Conclusions based on the analysis of the ancestral homes are as follows: 1.The house pattern of these China's Korean ethnics who are originally from the Hamkyung province is mainly jeongji- access type (A-type). A-type is mainly distributed along the Tumen River and Yalu River, in the Sino-Russian borders and the inland areas of Heilongjiang province. With the migration of the China's Korean ethnics, in Sino-Russian borders and the inland areas of Heilongjiang province, A-type with the 'badang' space, vestibule-access type (C-type) and living-centered type (D-type) appeared. 2. House patterns of Korean ethnics who are originally from the Pyongan province include three types: A-type, kitchen type (B-type) and C-type. A-type is mainly distributed along the Yalu River while B-type and C-type are mainly in the inland areas of these three Northeast provinces. With the decrease of population, the merger of rooms happened in A-type; while in the B-type and C-type, bathroom and storage came to exist in the north of the room. 3. The house pattern of Korean ethnics who are originally from the Gyeongsang province is mainly B-type, which is distributed in the inland areas of Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces. Besides, C-type and D-type also exist. They are in Jilin and Liaoning provinces. In the process of evolution, storage was set in the north part of the room or the window was cancelled in order to defend the coldness in Heilongjiang area, while in Jilin and Liaoning provinces, living room came into existence, which is gradually developing to D-type.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 2002

Background and Objectives : Sulfur dioxide gas is one of the major airborne Pollutants noxious to human in industrialized countries. The most vulnerable areas in the human respiratory system were the trachea and main bronchi and a gradient of decreasing damage was observed in the peripheral tracheobronchial tree. Induced functional alteration was increased mucosal permeability, and morphological changes were epithelial sloughing, intracellular edema, mitochondrial swelling, widened intercellular spaces, and ciliary cytoplamic extrusions. The laminins are a family of extracellular matrix glycoproteins localized in the basement membrane. Their primary role is cell-matrix attachment, but many additional biologic activities, including Promoting cell growth and migration, tumor growth and metastasis, wound repair, and graft survival, have been demonstrated. Materials and Methods : Histologic changes and expression of laminin in tracheal mucosa sacrificed at 1 day, 2 day, 3 day, 1 week, 2 weeks, and 3 weeks after continued SO2 exposure of 250 ppm for 30 minutes a day(to 7week) were studied in rats. In this study, mild immune reaction for laminin was noted at the apical cytoplasm of epithelial cells and basement membrane one day after a 7 week $SO_2$ exposure. The cilia and nucleoi of epithelial cells were normal and no immune reaction was noted in Goblet cells. The lamina propria of the tracheal tissue was infiltrated by monocytes and lymphocytes. Results : At 24 hours after exposure, all tracheal cells except Goblet cells revealed a mild immune reaction for laminin. No immune reactions were noted in the basement membrane. At 72 hours after exposure, mild or moderate immune reactions for laminin was seen in the tracheal cell cytoplasm. Irregular faint immune reaction for laminin was noted in the basement membrane. At 1 week after exposure, strong immune reaction for laminin was detected over all tracheal cells, and the basement membrane was seen clearly. At 2~3 weeks after exposure, strong immune reaction for laminin was seen in all tracheal epithelial cells except Goblet cells and a mild immune reaction was partly revealed in the basement membrane. Conclusion : Our study suggests that 502 produces histologic damage on the tracheal mucosa. Longer duration after exposure of $SO_2$ makes more progressive healing on the tracheal mucosa and increased immunoreactivity for laminin.