• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.304-310
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• 2011

To evaluate the effect of curing treatment using a newly developed simplified curing unit (SCU) on the physicochemical quality of stored sweet potatoes was investigated for six months. The SCU consisting of a heater, an air circulation fan, exhaust fans, and a humidifying duct was installed in a cold storage room where the harvested sweet potatoes were stacked. During the six days of curing treatment, air temperature and relative humidity in the storage room were set at $32^{\circ}C$ and 90%, respectively. Physical and chemical properties of sweet potatoes were measured at 1-month intervals from the first day of storage. McKinney index showing the incidence and severity of decay was 0.83% in the curing treatment, while that of untreated control was 5.08% over the same storing period. Firmness, soluble solids content, and dry matter content in the cured sweet potatoes were greater than those of untreated control. Moreover, the changes of skin color in uncured potatoes occurred rapidly than cured one which showed delay of skin discoloration during the long-term storage. Results suggest that the SCU treatment improves the physicochemical quality of stored sweet potatoes and extends their storability. Therefore, the SCU can be effectively used for curing treatment of sweet potatoes with a relatively low cost.

• Experimental and Molecular Medicine
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• v.50 no.12
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• pp.2.1-2.12
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• 2018

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) has a broad spectrum of biological activity by regulating metabolic processes via both the direct activation of the class B family of G protein-coupled receptors and indirect nonreceptor-mediated pathways. GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists have significant therapeutic effects on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and steatohepatitis (NASH) in animal models. However, clinical studies indicated that GLP-1 treatment had little effect on hepatic steatosis in some NAFLD patients, suggesting that GLP-1 resistance may occur in these patients. It is well-known that the gut metabolite sodium butyrate (NaB) could promote GLP-1 secretion from intestinal L cells. However, it is unclear whether NaB improves hepatic GLP-1 responsiveness in NAFLD. In the current study, we showed that the serum GLP-1 levels of NAFLD patients were similar to those of normal controls, but hepatic GLP-1R expression was significantly downregulated in NAFLD patients. Similarly, in the NAFLD mouse model, mice fed with a high-fat diet showed reduced hepatic GLP-1R expression, which was reversed by NaB treatment and accompanied by markedly alleviated liver steatosis. In addition, NaB treatment also upregulated the hepatic p-AMPK/p-ACC and insulin receptor/insulin receptor substrate-1 expression levels. Furthermore, NaB-enhanced GLP-1R expression in HepG2 cells by inhibiting histone deacetylase-2 independent of GPR43/GPR109a. These results indicate that NaB is able to prevent the progression of NAFL to NASH via promoting hepatic GLP-1R expression. NaB is a GLP-1 sensitizer and represents a potential therapeutic adjuvant to prevent NAFL progression to NASH.

• Asia-pacific Journal of Multimedia Services Convergent with Art, Humanities, and Sociology
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• v.9 no.9
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• pp.721-736
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• 2019

In this paper, the behavior of the fire smoke due to the operation of the ventilation systems when the fire occurred in the underground station (6 basement floors) and the tunnel at the great depth was measured. Fire smoke was generated by using a smoke generator which realized heat buoyancy effect by using hot air blower. The two locations of the fire were selected on the platform and on the platform of the tunnel located outside the screen door. A ventilation mode is generally used in which smoke is exhausted through a vent hole provided in a platform when a platform fire occurs. The tests were performed by operating the exhaust through the ventilation holes of the tunnel part located at both ends of the platform. The smoke density and the wind speed/velocity were measured at various positions, and the videos were taken to analyze the movement and smoke of the smoke. In both cases for fire inside the platform and in the railway tunnel, due to the ventilation mode operation of the fan for the platform and the exhaust of the fans in the tunnel smoke were well exhausted and the smoke propagation to the area near the smoke zone was suppressed. The smoke-control mode, which is applied to both fans for the platform and fans for in the tunnel at both ends of the platform, can provide a safer evacuation environment to the passengers from the fire smoke when the platform fire or fire train stops.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.156-166
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• 2022

Background: Panax ginseng Meyer (P. ginseng), a herb distributed in Korea, China and Japan, exerts benefits on diverse inflammatory conditions. However, the underlying mechanism and active ingredients remains largely unclear. Herein, we aimed to explore the active ingredients of P. ginseng against inflammation and elucidate underlying mechanisms. Methods: Inflammation model was constructed by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in C57BL/6 mice and RAW264.7 macrophages. Molecular docking, molecular dynamics, surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRi) and immunofluorescence were utilized to predict active component. Results: P. ginseng significantly inhibited LPS-induced lung injury and the expression of proinflammatory factors, including TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β. Additionally, P. ginseng blocked fluorescencelabeled LPS (LPS488) binding to the membranes of RAW264.7 macrophages, the phosphorylation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). Furthermore, molecular docking demonstrated that ginsenoside Ro (GRo) docked into the LPS binding site of toll like receptor 4 (TLR4)/myeloid differentiation factor 2 (MD2) complex. Molecular dynamic simulations showed that the MD2-GRo binding conformation was stable. SPRi demonstrated an excellent interaction between TLR4/ MD2 complex and GRo (K_D value of 1.16 × 10^-9 M). GRo significantly inhibited LPS488 binding to cell membranes. Further studies showed that GRo markedly suppressed LPS-triggered lung injury, the transcription and secretion levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β. Moreover, the phosphorylation of NF-κB and MAPKs as well as the p65 subunit nuclear translocation were inhibited by GRo dose-dependently. Conclusion: Our results suggest that GRo exerts anti-inflammation actions by direct inhibition of TLR4 signaling pathway.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.999-1009
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• 2022

Objective: To improve the feeding value of rice straw (RS), this study evaluated the potential of rice straw fermented with Pleurotus sajor-caju (FRS) as dairy goat feed. Methods: Spent Pleurotus sajor-caju mushroom substrate was used as fungi inoculum to break the lignocellulose linkage of rice straw, which was solid-fermented at 25℃ to 30℃ for 8 weeks. The ruminal degradation of pangolagrass hay (PG), FRS, and RS were measured in situ for 96 hours in three dry Holstein cows, respectively. Effect of fungi fermented RS on milking performance was studied in feeding trials. A total of 21 Alpine goats a trial were divided into 3 groups: a control group in which PG accounted for 15% of the diet dry matter, and FRS or RS was used to replace the PG in the control group. Goats were fed twice a day under two 28-day trial in individual pens. Meanwhile, a 3×3 Latin square trial (14 days/period) was conducted to study the rumen digestion of three diets by using three fistulated dry goats. Rumen contents were collected for metabolite analyses every one to three hours on the last two days. Results: In situ study showed that fermentation could elevate the rumen degradable fraction and effective degradability of RS (p<0.05). Effective degradability of FRS dry matter was significantly increased from 29.5% of RS to 41.7%. Lactating trial results showed that dry matter intake and milk yield in the PG group and FRS group were similar and higher than those in RS group (p<0.05). The concentration of propionic acid and total volatile fatty acid in the RS group tended to be lower than those in PG group (p<0.10). There were no differences in rumen pH value and ammonia nitrogen level among the groups tested. Conclusion: Fermentation of rice straw by spent Pleurotus sajor-caju mushroom substrate could substantially enhance its feeding value to be equivalent to PG as an effective fiber source for dairy goat. The fermented rice straw is recommended to account for 15% in diet dry matter.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.65-88
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• 2022

Companies actively engage with the public through social media to enhance sales and promote brand awareness, which was further encouraged by the pandemic. However, previous studies tend to consider companies as a group of identical features. This study focuses on the differences between B2B and B2C companies' social media content strategy in relation to user engagement. This study categorized KOSPI 100 companies that manage Facebook corporate fan pages into B2B and B2C, and then analyzed the contents they posted from January 1 to December 31, 2020. The result showed that B2C companies tended to use videos over images, prefer hashtags, and comment its product name more often compared to B2B companies. B2B companies preferred images, used more hyperlinks, and mentioned its company name more often. In B2B companies, images and length of text had positive effects on user engagement, while hyperlink and URL had negative effects. B2C companies' text length had positive effect on user engagement. This study provides practical implications to PR practitioners for establishing a social media strategy which enhances user engagement.

• Asia-pacific Journal of Multimedia Services Convergent with Art, Humanities, and Sociology
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• v.8 no.7
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• pp.485-496
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• 2018

In this paper, the smoke behavior in an underground station on operation of the fans in the ventiliation of the station was measured by the experimental method when the fire occurred in the underground station platform where the platfrom screen door was installed. The ventilation characteristics were compared when the ventilation system was operated and when the ventilation system was not operated when a fire occurred at the platform where the clean door was closed. To simulate the fire smoke, the smoke generated from the smoke generator was heated using a hot air fan. The transmittance was measured using a smoke density meter to quantitatively measure fire smoke. If the screen door is closed and the ventilation system of the underground station does not work, it is confirmed that if a fire occurs in the platform, smoke accumulates inside the platform, evacuating passengers is very difficult and can lead to a very dangerous situation. On the other hand, under the condition that the ventilation facility of the subway station is operated, the smoke evacuates to the outside through the ventilation facility of the underground station, and airflow is formed in the direction from the waiting room to the waiting area, so that the passenger located on the platform can safely evacuate toward the concourse. In the following paper, we will discuss the concurrent effect of tunnel ventilation through tunnel vent near the platform.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.521-531
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• 2023

Transmembrane protein TMEM16A, which encodes calcium-activated chloride channel has been implicated in tumorigenesis. Overexpression of TMEM16A is associated with poor prognosis and low overall survival in multiple cancers including lung adenocarcinoma, making it a promising biomarker and therapeutic target. In this study, three structure-related sesquiterpene lactones (mecheliolide, costunolide and dehydrocostus lactone) were extracted from the traditional Chinese medicine Aucklandiae Radix and identified as novel TMEM16A inhibitors with comparable inhibitory effects. Their effects on the proliferation and migration of lung adenocarcinoma cells were examined. Whole-cell patch clamp experiments showed that these sesquiterpene lactones potently inhibited recombinant TMEM16A currents in a concentration-dependent manner. The half-maximal concentration (IC50) values for three tested sesquiterpene lactones were 29.9 ± 1.1 µM, 19.7 ± 0.4 µM, and 24.5 ± 2.1 µM, while the maximal effect (E_max) values were 100.0% ± 2.8%, 85.8% ± 0.9%, and 88.3% ± 4.6%, respectively. These sesquiterpene lactones also significantly inhibited the endogenous TMEM16A currents and proliferation, and migration of LA795 lung cancer cells. These results demonstrate that mecheliolide, costunolide and dehydrocostus lactone are novel TMEM16A inhibitors and potential candidates for lung adenocarcinoma therapy.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.291-302
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• 2024

In this paper, iron ore tailings (IOT) were separated from the tailings field and used to prepare cement stabilized macadam (CSM) with porous basalt aggregate. First, the basic properties of the raw materials were studied. Porous basalt was replaced by IOT at ratios of 0, 20 %, 40 %, 60 %, 80 %, and 100 % as fine aggregate to prepare CSM, and the effects of different cement dosage (4 %, 5 %, 6 %) on CSM performance were also investigated. CSM's durability and mechanical performance with ages of 7 d, 28 d, and 90 d were studied with the unconfined compression strength test, splitting tensile strength test, compressive modulus test and freeze-thaw test, respectively. The changes in Ca²⁺ content in CSM of different ages and different IOT ratios were analyzed by the ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) titration method, and the micro-morphology of CSM with different ages and different IOT replaced ratio were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was found that with the same cement dosage, the strengths of the IOT-replaced CSM were weaker than that of the porous basalt aggregate at early stage, and the strength was highest at the replaced ratio of 60 %. With a cement dosage of 4 %, the unconfined compressive strength of CSM without IOT was increased by 6.78 % at ages from 28 d to 90 d, while the splitting tensile strength increased by 7.89 %. However, once the IOT replaced ratio reached 100 %, the values increased by about 76.24 % and 17.78 %, which was better than 0 % IOT. The CSM-IOT performed better than the porous basalt CSM at 90 d age. This means IOT can replace porous basalt fine aggregate as a pavement base.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.1189-1195
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• 2008

A study was conducted with 48 weaned barrows ($28{\pm}3d$, $8.45{\pm}0.14kg$) to determine the effect of Achyranthes bidentata polysaccharide (ABPS) supplementation on pig performance, immunological, adrenal and somatotropic responses following Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge. The experiment was a $2{\times}2$ factorial design; the main factors included diet (supplementation with 0 or 500 mg/kg ABPS) and immunological challenge (LPS or saline). On d 14 and 21 of the trial, pigs were given an intraperitoneal injection with either $100{\mu}g/kg$ BW of LPS or an equivalent amount of sterile saline. Blood samples were obtained 3 h after injection for analysis of tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$), prostaglandin $E_2$ ($PGE_2$), cortisol, growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I and immunoglobulin G (IgG). On d 2 after LPS challenge, peripheral blood lymphocyte proliferation (PBLP) was measured. LPS administration decreased average daily feed intake (ADFI) (p<0.05), had a tendency to decrease average daily gain (ADG) (p<0.10) during both the first and second challenge periods and increased (p<0.05) feed:gain ratio only during the first challenge period. ABPS tended to improve ADG (p<0.10) during the first challenge period, and improved ADG (p<0.05) and tended to improve ADFI (p<0.10) during the second challenge period. ABPS did not affect feed:gain ratio. An interaction (p<0.05) between LPS challenge and diet was observed for the plasma concentrations of TNF-${\alpha}$, $PGE_2$ and cortisol after both LPS challenges such that, among LPS-treated pigs, pigs fed the ABPS diet were lower for these indices than those receiving the control diet. In contrast, pigs fed the ABPS diet had higher IGF-I (p<0.05) compared with those fed the control diet. No effect of diet, LPS challenge or both on GH and IgG was observed after both LPS administrations. LPS challenge increased PBLP when these cells were incubated with $8{\mu}g/ml$ of LPS during both the challenge periods, and did likewise when incubated with $8{\mu}g/ml$ of concanavalin A only after the first challenge. ABPS had no effect on PBLP. These data demonstrate that ABPS alters the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines following an immunological challenge, which might enable pigs to achieve better performance.