• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.64-73
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• 2009

Background: 15d-$PGJ_2$ has been known to act as an anti-inflammatory agent and has anti-hypertensive effects. As a result of these properties, we examined the effect of 15d-$PGJ_2$ on the LPS-induced IL-8/CXCL8 mRNA expression in VSMCs from SHR. Methods: Effect and action mechanism of 15d-$PGJ_2$ on the expression of LPS-induced IL-8/CXCL8 mRNA in VSMCs from SHR and WKY were examined by using real-time polymerase chain reaction, electrophoretic mobility shift assay for NF-${\kappa}B$ avtivity, Western blotting analysis for ERK and p38 phosphorylation and flow cytometry for NAD(P)H oxidase activity. Results: 15d-$PGJ_2$ decreased the expression of LPS-induced IL-8/CXCL8 mRNA in WKY VSMCs, but increased the expression of LPS-induced IL-8/CXCL8 mRNA in SHR VSMCs. The upregulatory effect of 15d-$PGJ_2$ in SHR VSMCs was mediated through PPAR${\gamma}$, and dependent on NF-${\kappa}B$ activation and ERK phosphorylation. However, inhibition of the p38 signaling pathway augmented the upregulatory effect of 15d-$PGJ_2$ on LPS-induced IL-8/CXCL8 mRNA. A NAD(P)H oxidase inhibitor inhibited the upregulatory effect of 15d-$PGJ_2$ on LPS-induced IL-8/CXCL8 mRNA expression in SHR VSMCs, and an increase in NAD(P)H oxidase activity was detected in SHR VSMCs treated with 15d-$PGJ_2$/LPS. Conclusion: Our results indicate that the upregulatory effect of 15d-$PGJ_2$ on LPS-induced IL-8/CXCL8 expression in SHR VSMCs is mediated through the PPAR${\gamma}$ and ERK pathway, and may be related to NAD(P)H oxidase activity. However, p38 inactivation may also play an important role in 15d-$PGJ_2$/LPS-induced IL-8/CXCL8 expression in SHR VSMCs.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.307-313
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• 2015

The present study investigated the immunomodulatory effects of Curcuma longa L. ethanol extracts on natural killer (NK) cells and T cells. We treated Curcuma longa L. ethanol extracts at concentrations of 20, 50, 100, and $150{\mu}g/mL$ to murine NK cells co-incubated with YAC-1 cells. Curcuma longa L. ethanol extracts resulted in increased NK cell activity compared to the control group at all concentrations. In the groups treated with Curcuma longa L. ethanol extracts, CD69 and IFN-${\gamma}$ expression levels significantly increased compared to the control group at 100 and $150{\mu}g/mL$. In addition, Curcuma longa L. ethanol extracts induced significant elevation of CD8+ T cell numbers in a dose-dependent manner. However, Curcuma longa L. ethanol extracts also led to reduction of CD4+ T cell and MHCII numbers. The findings of this study suggest that Curcuma longa L. ethanol extracts could enhance the immune response through activation of NK and cytotoxic T cells due to a proliferative shift of antigen presentation from MHCII to MHCI, presumably.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.29 no.1 s.52
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• pp.113-131
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• 1996

This study was carried out to evaluate the relations among workers' general characteristics, work-related behaviors and health related behaviors in a steel industry with 1,134 workers in Pohang. The results were as follows; 1. The mean age of workers was 50 years old and working duration was 15 years and over. Most of them were married(94.5%) and had studied beyond high school (53.0%). They performed three shift work and most of them(63.0%) had experienced industial accidents. The frequency of noise and dust exposure was defined by a minimum of 6 hours per day, and workers complained about noise exposure(62.9%) and dust(55.6%). There were current smokers(67.7%), current drinkers(74.3%) and current exercising workers(32.3%) in the industry. The number of cigarette consumption in current drinkers was significantly high $(13.6{\pm}8.4\;pieces/day)$ and the alcohol consumption in current smokers was significantly high$(104.5{\pm}113.5\;g/wk)$. And the number of cigarette consumption of exercisers was significantly low and the alcohol consumption of exercisers was higher than non-exercisers. 3. The ratio of current smokers on frequent noise in exposed workers versus non-exposed workers was not significantly high but the current drinkers in frequent noise and dust exposed workers was significantly higher than non-exposed. 4. The normal levels of SGOT workers in non-smokers were significantly higher than in current smokers, and the normal levels of LFT (SGOT, SGPT, $\gamma-GTP$ workers in nondrinkers were significantly high. The normal levels of SBP and DBP workers in current smokers were not significantly high but were significantly high in non-drinkers. 5. The ratio of current smokers in voters unsatisfied with their job and working condition was higher than non-smokers, but the ratio of current drinkers in workers satisfied with their job and working condition were higher. 6. The significant factors for SGOT and $\gamma-GTP$ were age, the drinking amount and BMI. But the only significant factor for r-GTP was BMI. The significant factors for DBP were age, the alcohol consumption and BMI. And the significant factors for SBP were age, BMI.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.125-131
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• 2006

Dimethyl ether (DME) is a new clean fuel as an environmentally-benign energy resource. DME can be manufactured from various energy sources including natural gas, coal, biomass and spent plastic. In addition to its environmentally friendly properties, DME has similar characteristics to those of LPG. Therefore, it is considered as an excellent substitute fuel for LPG, fuel cells, power plant, and especially diesel and is expected to be the alternative fuel by 2010. The experimental study of the direct synthesis of DME was investigated under various conditions over a temperature range of $220{\sim}280^{\circ}C$, syngas ratio 1.2~3.0. All experiments were carried out with a hybrid catalyst, composed of a methanol synthesis catalyst ($Cu/ZnO/Al_2O_3$) and a dehydration catalyst (${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$). The observed reaction rate follows qualitatively a Langmiur-Hinshellwood model as the reaction mechanism. Such a mechanism is considered with three reactions; methanol synthesis, methanol dehydration and water gas shift reaction. From a surface reaction with dissociative adsorption of hydrogen, methanol, and water, individual reaction rate was determined.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.179-191
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• 2009

Background: The present study examines a hypothesis that short allergen-derived peptides may shift an Aspergillus fumigatus (Afu-) specific TH2 response towards a protective TH1. Five overlapping peptides (P1-P5) derived from Asp f1, a major allergen/antigen of Afu, were evaluated for prophylactic or therapeutic efficacy in BALB/c mice. Methods: To evaluate the prophylactic efficacy, peptides were intranasally administered to naive mice and challenged with Afu-allergens/antigens. For evaluation of therapeutic efficacy, the mice were sensitized with Afu-allergens/antigens followed by intranasal administration of peptides. The groups were compared for the levels of Afu-specific antibodies in sera and splenic cytokines evaluated by ELISA. Eosinophil peroxidase activity was examined in the lung cell suspensions and lung inflammation was assessed by histopathogy. Results: Peptides P1-, P2- and P3 decreased Afu-specific IgE (84.5~98.9%) and IgG antibodies (45.7~71.6%) in comparison with Afu-sensitized mice prophylactically. P1- and P2-treated ABPA mice showed decline in Afu-specific IgE (76.4~88%) and IgG antibodies (15~54%). Increased IgG2a/IgG1 and IFN-${\gamma}$/IL-4 ratios were observed. P1-P3 prophylactically and P1 therapeutically decreased IL-5 levels and eosinophil peroxidase activity. P1 decreased inflammatory cells' infiltration in lung tissue comparable to non-challenged control. Conclusion: Asp f1-derived peptide P1, prophylactically and therapeutically administered to Balb/c mice, is effective in regulating allergic response to allergens/antigens of Afu, and may be explored for immunotherapy of allergic aspergillosis in humans.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.761-769
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• 1999

In this paper the effect of aging heat treatment to the Corrosion behavior for the Nimonic 80A superalloy was studied by AC Impedance methods. Tested solution was 3.5% with tempera-ture $25^{\circ}C$ Electro-chemical corrosion test were carried out for the Nimonic 80A super-alloy which solution heat treated at $1080^{\circ}C$ for 8 hours followed by aging heat treated at $650^{\circ}C,\;700^{\circ}C,\;750^{\circ}C\;800^{\circ}C$ and $850^{\circ}C$ with 16hours under vacuum environment. The obtained results were as follows; 1. Base metal and solution-treated materials were exhibited similar corrosion tendency as Ran-dle equivalent cell. The value of passive film resistance was 579 ohms for the base metal and 124,770 ohms for the solutionized metal such a difference was arose by the ${{\gamma}_^'}$ precipitate on the metal surface during heat treatment. 2. The measure value of $R_p$ for heat-treated at $650^{\circ}C,\;700^{\circ}C,\;800^{\circ}C$and $850^{\circ}C$ were 97,943, 93, 111, 26,961, 15,798 and 11,780ohm respectively. Which indicated that the passive film resistance Rp was reduced as aging temperature increased due to the growth of grain size and sensitization at the grain boundary. 3. The similar tendency was exhibited for corrosion behavior of the electro-chemical corrosion polarization method and AC impedance method and confirmed that AC impedance method was useful tool for corrosion research.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2006

Using a Rheometries Dynamic Analyzer (RDA II), the dynamic viscoelastic properties of a semi-solid ointment base (vaseline) in large amplitude oscillatory shear flow fields were measured over a temperature range of $25{\sim}45^{\circ}C$ and the linear viscoelastic behavior in small amplitude oscillatory shear flow fields was investigated over a wide range of angular frequencies. In this article, the nonlinear viscoelastic behavior was reported from the experimentally obtained data and the effect of temperature on this behavior was discussed in detail. In addition, the angular frequency and temperature dependencies of a linear viscoelastic behavior were explained. Finally, the applicability of a time-temperature superposition principle originally developed for polymeric materials was examined using a shift factor. Main results obtained from this study can be summarized as follows : (1) At very small strain amplitude region, vaseline shows a linear viscoelastic behavior independent of the imposed deformation magnitudes. Above a critical strain amplitude $({\gamma}_{0}=0.1{\sim}0.2%)$, however, vaseline exhibits a nonlinear viscoelastic behavior ; indicating that both the storage modulus and dynamic viscosity are sharply decreased with increasing deformation magnitude. (2) In large amplitude oscillatory shear flow fields, an elastic behavior (storage modulus) has a stronger strain amplitude dependence and begins to show a nonlinear behavior at a smaller strain amplitude region than does a viscous behavior (dynamic viscosity). (3) In small amplitude oscillatory shear flow fields, the storage modulus as well as the loss modulus are continuously increased as an increase in angular frequency and an elastic nature is always superior to a viscous behavior over a wide range of angular frequencies. (4) A time-temperature superposition principle can successfully be applicable to vaseline. This finding allows us to estimate the dynamic viscoelastic behavior of vaseline over an extraordinarily extended range (11 decades) of angular frequencies inaccessible from the experimentally measured range (4 decades).

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.186-195
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• 2000

To study phosphate adsorption on kaolinite, $^{31}$ P MAS NMR(magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy)has been used for kaolinite reacted in 0.1 M phosphate solutions at pH’s from 3 to 11. There are at least 3 different forms of phosphate on kaolinite. One is the phosphate physically adsorbed on kaolinite surface (outer-sphere complexes) or species left after vacuum-filtering. The second is the phosphate adsorbed by ligand exchange (inner-sphere complexes), and the third is Al-phosphate precipitates which are pH dependent. Most of the inner-spherer complexes and surface precipitates are mainly on hydroxided Al(aluminol) rather than hydroxided Si(silanol). These are pertinent with the results obtained from the phosphate adsorption experiments on silica gel and ${\gamma}$-Al$_2$O$_3$ as model compounds, respectively. The two peaks with more negative chemical shifts(more shielded) than the ortho-phosphate peak (positive chemical shift) are assigned to be the inner-sphere complexes and surface precipitates. The $^{31}$ P chemical shifts of the Al-phosphate precipitates are more negative than those of inner-sphere complexes at a given pH due to the larger number of P-O-Al linkages per tetrahedron. The chemical shifts of both the inner-sphere complexes and surface precipitates are more negative than those of inner-sphere complexes at a given pH due to the larger number of P-O-Al linkages per tetrahedron. The chemical shifts of both the inner-sphere complexes and surface precipitates become progressively less shielded with increasing pH. For the inner-sphere complexes, decreasing phosphate protonation combined with peak averaging by rapid proton exchange among phosphate tetrahedra with different numbers of protons is though to be the reason for the peak change. The decreasing shielding with increasing pH for surface precipitates is probably due to the decreasing average number of P-O-Al linkages per tetrahedron combined with decreasing protonation like inner-sphere complexes.

• BMB Reports
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.200-205
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• 2018

Exercise and resveratrol supplementation exhibit anti-obesity functions in the long term but have not been fully investigated yet in terms of their early potential effectiveness. Mice fed with high-fat diet were categorized into control (Cont), exercise (Ex), resveratrol supplementation (Res), and exercise combined with resveratrol supplementation (Ex + Res) groups. In the four-week period of weight loss, exercise combined with resveratrol supplementation exerted no additional effects on body weight loss but significantly improved whole-body glucose and lipid homeostasis. The combined treatment significantly decreased intrahepatic lipid content but did not affect intramyocellular lipid content. Moreover, the treatment significantly increased the contents of mtDNA and cytochrome c, the expression levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1 alpha and its downstream transcription factors, and the activities of ATPase and citrate synthase. However, exercise, resveratrol, and their combination did not promote myofiber specification toward slow-twitch type. The effects of exercise combined with resveratrol supplementation on weight loss could be partly due to enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis and not to fiber-type shift in skeletal muscle tissues.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.302-315
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• 2023

Distribution characteristics and altitudinal gradient of four species (E. strigata, E. separigata, E. orientalis-sachalinensis group) of the mayfly genus Ephemera (Order Ephemeroptera) were analyzed with probability distribution models (exponential, normal, lognormal, logistic, Weibull, gamma, beta, Gumbel). Data was collected from 23,846 sampling units of 6,787 sites in Korea from 2010 to 2021. The beta distribution model showed the best fit for positively skewed E. orientalis-sachalinensis and little-skewed E. strigata along with altitudinal gradient. The reversed lognormal distribution model showed the best-fit for negatively skewed E. separigata. E. orientalis-sachalinensis distributed at the range of altitude 1~700 m (mean 251 m, median 226 m, mode 124 m, and standard deviation 161 m), E. strigata distributed at the range of altitude 5~871 m (mean 474 m, median 478 m, mode 492 m, and standard deviation 200 m), E. separigata distributed at the range of altitude 7~846 m (mean 620 m, median 659 m, mode 760 m, and standard deviation 181 m). Altitudinal habitat suitability ranges were estimated to be 42~257 m for E. orientalis-sachalinensis, 335~644 m for E. strigata, and 641~824 m for E. separigata. Based on the altitudinal spectrum of suitability and altitude-related temperature analysis results, E. orientalis-sachalinensis was estimated to be thermophilic, E. strigata to be mesophilic, and E. separigata to be thermophobic. This is the first national-scale evaluation of the altitudinal distribution of Ephemera in Korea. These results will be used in a further research study on altitudinal shift of the species of Ephemera under climate change.