• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.166-182
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• 2005

Background: Cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitors are family of molecules that regulate the cell cycle. The CDKN2, a CDK4 inhibitor, also called p16, has been implicated in human tumorigenesis. The CDKN2 inhibits the cyclin/CDK complexes which regulate the transition from G1 to S phase of cell cycle. There is a previous report that homozygous deletion of CDKN2 region on chromosome 9p21 was detected frequently in astrocytoma, glioma and osteosarcoma, less frequently in lung cancer, leukemia and ovarian cancer, but not detected in colon cancer and neuroblastoma. However, little is known about the relationship between CDKN2 and laryngeal cancer. Therefore this study was initiated to investigate the role of CDKN2 in human laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma development.1) Materials and methods: We used 5 human laryngeal carcinoma cell lines whether they have deletions or losses of CDKN2 gene expression by DNA-PCR or RT-PCR, respectively. We examined 8 fresh frozen human laryngeal cancer tissues to detect the loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of CDKN2. PCR was performed by using microsatellite markers of short arm of human chromosome 9 (D9S126, D9S144, D9S156, D9S161, D9S162, D9S166, D9S171, D9S200 and D9SIFNA). For informative cases, allelic loss was scored if the signal of one allele was significantly decreased in tumor DNA when compared to the same allele in normal DNA. Results: The CDKN2 DNA deletion was observed in 3 cell lines. The CDKN2 mRNA expression was observed in only one cell line, which was very weak. LOH was detected in 7 cases (87.5%). Conclusion: These results suggest that CDKN2 plays a role in the carcinogenesis of human laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1042-1047
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• 2011

Copper and Zinc are essential trace elements for all living organisms. When presenting in excess amount in soils, however they can be toxic to plants. In order to examine the transfer of Cu and Zn from soils to plants and to predict their contents in plants using soil factors, we investigated total and mobile contents of Cu and Zn in soils and their uptake by lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in plastic film houses. Total Cu and Zn contents in soils were $17.5{\sim}65.9mg\;kg^{-1}$ (mean: $39.3mg\;kg^{-1}$) and $63.2{\sim}200mg\;kg^{-1}$ (mean: $137mg\;kg^{-1}$), respectively. Mobile Cu and Zn contents in soils were $(0.04){\sim}0.55mg\;kg^{-1}$ (mean: $0.18mg\;kg^{-1}$) and $(0.05){\sim}2.62mg\;kg^{-1}$ (mean: $0.47mg\;kg^{-1}$), respectively. Soil pH ranged from 5.4 to 7.3 and OM from 24.1 to $59.9g\;kg^{-1}$. Mean Cu contents in leaves and roots of lettuce were 9.20 and $17.2mg\;kg^{-1}$, respectively which showed that Cu was accumulated mainly in root parts of lettuce and not easily transported to leaves. In contrast, Zn was fairly evenly distributed in leaves and roots with mean values of 54.5 and $56.7mg\;kg^{-1}$, indicating relative high mobility of Zn in lettuce. Transfer factors of Cu and Zn from soil total contents to roots and leaves of lettuce ($TFS_tR$ and $TFS_tL$) were between 0.1 and 1, while transfer factors from soil mobile contents to roots and leaves ($TFS_mR$ and $TFS_mL$) were between 10 and 1000. Transfer factors of Zn were higher than those of Cu, showing Zn was more easily absorbed by plants than Cu. Cu and Zn uptake was stronger influenced by soil pH and mobile contents than total contents and OM and could be significantly described by multiple regression equations including soil pH and soil mobile contents as variables.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2019.04a
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• pp.21-22
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• 2019

Melanin is a mixture of pigmented biopolymers synthesized by epidermal melanocytes that determine the skin, eye, and hair colors. Melanocytes produce two different kinds of melanin, eumelanin (dark brown/black insoluble pigments found in dark skin and dark hair and pheomelanin (lighter red/yellow). The biological role of melanin is to prevent skin damage by ultraviolet (UV) radiation. However, the overproduction or deficiency of melanin synthesis could lead to serious dermatological problems, which include melasma, melanoderma, lentigo, and vitiligo. Therefore, regulating melanin production is important to prevent the pigmentation disorders. Myanmar has a rich in natural resources. However, the chemical constituents of these natural resources in Myanmar have not been fully investigated. In the effort to search for compounds with anti-melanin deposition activity from Myanmar natural resources, five plants were collected in Myanmar. Extracts of these collected five plants were tested for anti-melanin deposition activity against a mouse melanoma cell line (B16-F10) induced with ${\alpha}$-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (${\alpha}$-MSH) and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX), and their anti-melanin deposition activities were compared with the positive control, arbutin. Among the tested extracts, the CHCl3 extracts of the Premna serratifolia (syn: P. integrifolia) wood showed anti-melanin deposition activities with IC50 values of $81.3{\mu}g/mL$. Hence, this study aims to identify secondary metabolites with anti-melanin deposition activity from P. serratifolia wood of Myanmar. P. serratifolia belongs to the Verbenaceae family and is widely distributed in near western sea coast from South Asia to South East Asia, which include India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka. People in Tanintharyi region located in the southern part of Myanmar utilize the P. serratifolia, Sperethusa crenulata, Naringi crenulata, and Limonia acidissima as Thanaka, traditional cosmetics in Myanmar. Thanaka is applied in the form of paste onto skins to make it smooth and clear, as well as to prevent wrinkles, skin aging, excessive facial oil, pimples, blackheads, and whiteheads. However, the chemical constituents responsible for their cosmetic properties are yet to be identified. Moreover, the chemical constituents of P. serratifolia was almost uncharacterized. Investigation of the P. serratifolia chemical constituents is thus an attractive endeavor to discover new anti-melanin deposition active compounds. The investigation of the chemical constituents of the active CHCl3 extract of P. serratifolia led to isolation of four new lignoids, premnan A (1), premnan B (2), taungtangyiol C (3), and 7,9-dihydroxydolichanthin B (4), together with premnan C (5) (assumed to be an artifact), one natural newlignoid,(3R,4S)-4-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-ylcarbonyl)-3-[(R)-1-(1,3-benzo dioxol-5-yl)-1-hydroxy methyl]tetrahydro-2-furanone (6), and five known compounds (7-11)1,2). The structures of all isolated compounds were determined on the basis of their spectroscopic data and by comparison with the reported literatures. The absolute configurations of 1-3 and 5 were also determined by optical rotation and circular dichroism (CD) data analyses1). The anti-melanin deposition activities of all the isolated compounds were evaluated against B16-F10 cell line. 7,9-Dihydroxydolichanthin B (4) and ($2{\alpha},3{\alpha}$)-olean-12-en-28-oic acid (11) showed strong anti-melanin deposition activities with IC50 values of 18.4 and $11.2{\mu}M$, respectively, without cytotoxicity2). On the other hand, compounds 1-3, 5, and 7 showed melanogenesis enhancing activities1). To better understand their anti-melanin deposition mechanism, the effects of 4 and 11 on tyrosinase activities were investigated. The assay indicated that compounds 4 and 11 did not inhibit tyrosinase. Furthermore, we also examined the mRNA expression of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF), tyrosinase (TYR), tyrosinase-related protein-1 (TRP-1), and tyrosinase-related protein-2 (TRP-2). Compounds 4 and 11 down-regulated the expression of Tyr and Mitf mRNAs, respectively. Although the P. serratifolia wood has been used as traditional cosmetics in Myanmar for centuries, there are no scientific evidences to support its effectiveness as cosmetics. Investigation of the anti-melanin deposition activity of the chemical constituents of P. serratifolia thus provided insight into the effectiveness of the P. serratifolia wood as a cosmetic agent.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.424-431
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• 2018

Stormwater runoff containing considerable amounts of pollutants such as particulates, organics, nutrients, and heavy metals contaminate natural bodies of water. At present, best management practices (BMP) intended to reduce the volume and treat pollutants from stormwater runoff were devised to serve as cost-effective measures of stormwater management. However, improper design and lack of proper maintenance can lead to degradation of the facility, making it unable to perform its intended function. This study evaluated an infiltration trench (IT) that went through a series of maintenance operations. 41 monitored rainfall events from 2009 to 2016 were used to evaluate the pollutant removal capabilities of the IT. Assessment of the water quality and hydrological data revealed that the inflow volume was the most relative factor affecting the unit pollutant loads (UPL) entering the facility. Seasonal variations also affected the pollutant removal capabilities of the IT. During the summer season, the increased rainfall depths and runoff volumes diminished the pollutant removal efficiency (RE) of the facility due to increased volumes that washed off larger pollutant loads and caused the IT to overflow. Moreover, the system also exhibited reduced pollutant RE for the winter season due to frozen media layers and chemical-related mechanisms impacted by the low winter temperature. Maintenance operations also posed considerable effects of the performance of the IT. During the first two years of operation, the IT exhibited a decrease in pollutant RE due to aging and lack of proper maintenance. However, some events also showed reduced pollutant RE succeeding the maintenance as a result of disturbed sediments that were not removed from the geotextile. Ultimately, the presented effects of maintenance operations in relation to the pollutant RE of the system may lead to the optimization of maintenance schedules and procedures for BMP of same structure.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.77-85
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• 2018

Objectives : This study aimed to investigate the level of distress using the distress thermometer (DT) and the factors associated with distress in postoperative breast cancer (BC) patients. Methods : DT and WHOQOL-BREF (World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Abbreviated Version) along with sociodemographic variables were assessed in patients undergoing surgery for their first treatment of BC within one week postoperatively. The distress group consisted of participants with a DT score ${\geq}4$. The prevalence and associative factors of distress were examined by descriptive, univariable, and logistic regression analysis. Results : Three hundred seven women were recruited, and 264 subjects were finally analyzed. A total of 173 (65.5%) were classified into the distress group. The distress group showed significantly younger age (p=0.045), living without a spouse (p=0.032), and worse quality of life (QOL) as measured by overall QOL (p=0.009), general health (p=0.005), physical health domain (p<0.000), and psychological health domain (p=0.002). The logistic regression analysis showed that patients aged 40-49 years were more likely to experience distress than those aged ${\geq}60years$ (Odds ratios [OR]=2.992, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.241-7.215). Moreover, the WHOQOL-BREF physical health domain was a predictive factor of distress (OR=0.777, 95% CI 0.692-0.873). Conclusions : A substantial proportion of patients are experiencing significant distress after BC surgery. It would be expected that distress management, especially in the middle-aged patients and in the domain of physical QOL (e.g., pain, insomnia, fatigue), from the early BC treatment stage might reduce chronic distress.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.12
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• pp.1078-1084
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• 2020

Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis is an insect belonging to the order Coleoptera. This insect is reported to contain large amounts of physiologically active substances useful for liver protective effect and improvements in blood circulation as well as a broad source of edible protein. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are found in a variety of species, from microorganisms to mammals, and play an important role in the innate immune systems of living things. Microglia are the main source of proinflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide (NO) in the central nervous system. Activated microglia secrete large amounts of neuroinflammatory mediators (e.g., TNF-α, NO, and ROS), which are the main cause of neuronal cell death. In the present study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of Protaetiamycine 6 (PKARKLQKLSAYKTTLRN-NH2), an AMP derived from Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis, on LPS-induced neuroinflammation in BV-2 microglia. Protaetiamycine 6 significantly inhibited NO production without cytotoxicity and decreased the expression levels of inducible NO synthase and cyclooxygenase-2. In addition, Protaetiamycine 6 also reduced the production of neuroinflammatory cytokines on activated BV-2 microglia. These results suggest that Protaetiamycine 6 could be a good source of functional substance to prevent neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.67-77
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• 2022

Purpose: Tegafur/gimeracil/oteracil (S-1) and capecitabine plus oxaliplatin (CAPOX) are standard adjuvant chemotherapies (ACs) administered after gastrectomy to patients with stage II or III gastric cancer. However, the efficacy of AC in elderly patients remains unclear. The objective of this retrospective multicenter cohort study was to compare the efficacies of S-1 and CAPOX AC in patients aged ≥70 years. Materials and Methods: Nine hundred eighty-three patients who were treated with AC using S-1 (768 patients) or CAPOX (215 patients) were enrolled in this study. Each patient underwent AC after curative gastrectomy for stage II or III gastric cancer at one of 27 hospitals in the Republic of Korea between January 2012 and December 2013. Relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed according to AC regimen and age group. Results: Of the 983 patients, 254 (25.8%) were elderly. This group had a similar RFS (P=0.099) but significantly poorer OS (p=0.003) compared with the non-elderly group. Subgroup analysis of the non-elderly group revealed no AC-associated differences in survival. Subgroup analysis of the elderly group revealed significantly better survival in the S-1 group than in the CAPOX group (RFS, P<0.001; OS, P<0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that the CAPOX regimen was an independent poor prognostic factor for RFS (hazard ratio [HR], 1.891; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.072-3.333; P=0.028) and OS (HR, 2.970; 95% CI, 1.550-5.692; P=0.001). Conclusions: This multicenter observational cohort study found significant differences in RFS and OS between S-1 and CAPOX AC among patients with gastric cancer aged ≥70 years.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.11-18
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• 2021

A novel microwave dielectric composite material for ultra-low temperature co-fired ceramics (ULTCC) with (1-x)BaWO₄-xBaV₂O₆ (x=0.54~0.85) composition was prepared by firing a mixture of BaWO₄ and BaV₂O₆. Shrinkage tests showed that the ceramic composite begins to densify at a temperature as low as 550℃ and can be sintered at 650℃ with 98% of relative density under the influence of BaV₂O₆. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that BaWO₄ and BaV₂O₆ coexisted and no secondary phase was detected in the sintered bodies, implying good chemical compatibility between the two phases. Near-zero temperature coefficients of the resonant frequency (𝛕_f) could be achieved by controlling the relative content of the two phases, due to their positive and negative 𝛕_f values, respectively. With increasing BaV₂O₆ (x from 0.53 to 0.85), the 𝛕_f value of the composites increased from -7.54 to 14.49 ppm/℃, ε_r increased from 10.08 to 11.17 and the quality factor (Q×f value) decreased from 47,661 to 37,131 GHz. The best microwave dielectric properties were obtained for x=0.6 samples with ε_r=10.4, Q×f=44,090 GHz, and 𝛕_f=-2.38 ppm/℃. Chemical compatibility experiments showed the developed composites are compatible with aluminum electrode during co-firing process.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.592-602
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• 2022

This study aimed to check habitat distribution and analyze influencing factors by analyzing the mating calls of Auritibicen intermedius inhabiting limited locations in South Korea by applying bioacoustic detection techniques. The study sites were 20 protection areas nationwide. The mating call analysis period was 4 years from 2017 to 2021, excluding 2020. The bioacoustic recording system installed at each study site collected recordings of mating calls every day for 1 minute per hour. Climate data received from the Meteorological Agency, such as temperature, humidity, rainfall, cloudiness, and sunshine, were analyzed. The results of this study identified A. intermedius habitat only in four national parks in the highlands of Gangwon Province (Mt. Seorak, Mt. Odae, Mt. Chiak, and Mt. Taebak) out of 20 study sites. During the four years of study, the mating call period of A. intermedius was between August 5 and September 28, and the duration of the mating call was 31 to 52 days. The temperature analysis during the appearance period of A. intermedius showed that A. intermedius mainly produced mating calls at temperatures between 13.1℃ and 35.3℃, and the average temperature during the circadian cycle of mating calls (09:00 to 16:00) was 24.4 to 24.9℃. The analysis of the circadian cycle of mating calls at four study sites where A. intermedius appeared in 2019 showed that A. intermedius produced mating calls from 06:00 to 16:00 and that they peaked around 11:00 to 12:00. During the appearance period of A. intermedius, four species appeared in common: Hyalessa maculaticollis, Meimuna opalifera, Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata, and Suisha coreana. A logistic regression analysis confirmed that sunlight was the environmental factor affecting the mating call of A. intermedius. Regarding interspecific influence, it was confirmed that A. intermedius exchanged interspecific influence with 4 other common species (H. maculaticollis, M. opalifera, G. nigrofuscata, and S. coreana). The above results confirmed that A. intermedius habitats were limited in the highlands of Gangwon Province highlands in Korea and produced mating calls at a lower temperature compared to other species. These results can be used as basic data for future research on A. intermedius in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.87-97
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• 2023

In this study, we examined the effects of a large wildfire in the coastal area of Uljin-gun. The analysis of water quality and the dominant species, species composition, and community structure of marine algal was conducted quarterly in 2022 at Nagok (F-1), Hujeong (F-2), Bongpyeong (F-3), and Gongse Port (F-C) in Uljin-gun. As a result of water quality analysis, the pH, a factor of wildfire impact was 8.07~8.30 and 8.12~8.48 in surface and bottom layers, respectively, which are normal values in coastal waters of the East Sea, suggesting no direct impact from wildfires. By marine algal species composition, the coastal areas show the following order: Rhodophyta (58.1%) > Ochrophyta (25.8%) > Chlorophyta (14.5%) > Magnoliophyta (1.6%). By season, Undaria pinnatifida was the most dominant at Nagok and Hujeong in March and June, which in September and November, Gelidium elegans and Lithophyllum sp. were the most dominant in Bongpyeong and Gongse Port, respectively. In the cluster analysis, the stations were divided into two groups according to presence and absence of specific marine algal by season. The dominant species were U. pinnatifida, G. elegans and D. divaricata in group A, and Lithophyllum sp. was mainly present in group B. Thus, the species composition and group structure reflected the normal seasonal change pattern with water temperature variation and showed little significant difference from the control site, suggesting no direct effects of the wildfire on algae distribution in Uljin.