• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.139-143
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• 2009

We examined the vertical distribution of specific microbial groups and the patterns of microbial community structure within the soil profile using phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA). Samples were collected from the soil surface down to 15 cm in depth from paddy and upland fields located in Daegu, Korea. The two fields have been fertilized with only chemical fertilizers N, P, K for 33 years. Principal component analysis of the PLFA signatures indicated that the composition of the soil microbial communities changed significantly with the cultivation practices and soil depth, suggesting that cultivation practices of paddy and upland fields had more significant influence on soil microbial community than the soil depth did. The soil microbial communities changed more drastically with soil depth in upland field than in paddy field, with making thicker soil surface in paddy field in terms of soil microbial community. The ratios of cyclopropyl/monoenoic precursors and total saturated/total monounsaturated fatty acids increased with soil depth, suggesting that the deeper soil horizons are more carbon-limited and anaerobic than surface soil. The community analysis using PLFAs as biomarkers revealed that Gram-positive bacteria and actinomycetes tended to increase in proportional abundance with increasing soil depth, while the abundance of Gram-negative bacteria and fungi were highest at the soil surface and substantially lower in the subsurface.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.1266-1273
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• 2011

Saponin is a main component of ginseng widely known as an oriental traditional medicinal ingredient. A variety of biological effects of saponin has been reported, but its action related to skin regeneration has remained unclear so far. In this study, the effect of saponin on matrix metalloproteinase as well as its antioxidant effect in cell free system was examined in human dermal fibroblasts. First of all, as a result of investigating the effect of saponin on cell viability using MTT assay, it was shown to increase cell viability below 10 ${\mu}g$/ml, but it also showed cytotoxicity above 25 ${\mu}g$/ml. The antioxidant effect of saponin was exerted by inhibition of $H_2O_2$ in addition to reducing power above 1 ${\mu}g$/ml. In particular, saponin showed a protective effect on DNA oxidation. Furthermore, it was observed that saponin activates MMP-2 and increases MMP-1 activity in gelatin and casein zymography analyses, respectively, indicating that saponin could have potential a therapeutic agent for anti-aging and skin regeneration.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2019.10a
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• pp.87-87
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• 2019

The consumption of herbal medicine and related products (herbal products) have increased in South Korea. At the same time the quality, safety, and efficacy of herbal products is being raised. Currently, the herbal products are standardized and controlled according to the requirements of the Korean Pharmacopoeia, the National Institute of Health and the Ministry of Public Health and Social Affairs. The validation of herbal products and their medicinal component is important, since many of these herbal products are composed of two or more medicinal plants. However, there are no tools to support the validation process. Interest in deep learning has exploded over the past decade, for herbal medicine using algorithms to achieve herb recognition, symptom related target prediction, and drug repositioning have been reported. In this study, individual images of four herbs (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer, Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz, Poria cocos Wolf, Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fischer), actually sold in the market, were achieved. Certain image preprocessing steps such as noise reduction and resize were formatted. After the features are optimized, we applied GoogLeNet_Inception v4 model for herb image recognition. Experimental results show that our method achieved test accuracy of 95%. However, there are two limitations in the current study. Firstly, due to the relatively small data collection (100 images), the training loss is much lower than validation loss which possess overfitting problem. Secondly, herbal products are mostly in a mixture, the applied method cannot be reliable to detect a single herb from a mixture. Thus, further large data collection and improved object detection is needed for better classification.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.18.1-18.12
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• 2021

Background: We previously elucidated the protective mechanism of Korean red ginseng oil (RGO) against Brucella abortus infection, and our phytochemical analysis revealed that palmitic acid (PA) was an abundant component of RGO. Consequently, we investigated the contribution of PA against B. abortus. Objectives: We aimed to investigate the efficacy of PA against B. abortus infection using a murine cell line and a murine model. Methods: Cell viability, bactericidal, internalization, and intracellular replication, western blot, nitric oxide (NO), and superoxide (O₂^-) analyses and flow cytometry were performed to determine the effects of PA on the progression of B. abortus infection in macrophages. Flow cytometry for cytokine analysis of serum samples and bacterial counts from the spleens were performed to determine the effect of PA in a mouse model. Results: PA did not affect the growth of B. abortus. PA treatment in macrophages did not change B. abortus uptake but it did attenuate the intracellular survivability of B. abortus. Incubation of cells with PA resulted in a modest increase in sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) expression. Compared to control cells, reduced nitrite accumulation, augmented O₂^-, and enhanced pro-inflammatory cytokine production were observed in PA-treated B. abortus-infected cells. Mice orally treated with PA displayed a decreased serum interleukin-10 level and enhanced bacterial resistance. Conclusions: Our results suggest that PA participates in the control of B. abortus within murine macrophages, and the in vivo study results confirm its efficacy against the infection. However, further investigations are encouraged to completely characterize the mechanisms involved in the inhibition of B. abortus infection by fatty acids.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.7-13
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• 2012

Objectives : Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been associated with pathogenic processes including carcinogenesis through direct effect on DNA directly and by acting as a tumor promoter. Therefore, it has been regarded that ROS may be a major target for cancer prevention. The root of Paeonia lactiflora pall (PL), a traditional Chinese herb, has been a component of effective prescriptions for treatment of liver disease. Also, there are some reports about the antioxidant activities of the extracts from PL. However, little has been known about the effects of PL against oxidative damage. This work aimed to elucidate the anti-oxidant effects of Paeonia lactiflora pall (PL) in the non-cellular system and cellular system. Methods : Antioxidant activities of PL were evaluated by hydroxyl radical scavenging assay and $Fe^{2+}$ chelating assay. Anti-oxidative effect of PL was evaluated by ${\varphi}X$-174 RF I plasmid DNA cleavage assay in non-cellular system. In addition, DNA migration assay, expression level of phospho-H2AX, MTT assay and lipid peroxidation assay were performed for evaluate the anti-oxidative effect of PL in cellular system. Results : PL had a dose-dependent hydroxyl radical scavenging and $Fe^{2+}$ chelating capacity. In addition, PL inhibited oxidative DNA and cell damage induced by hydroxyl radical in non-cellular system and cellular system. Conclusion : Taken together, P. lactiflora pall may be possible for the application to a potential drug for treating the oxidative diseases such as cancer.

• Journal of Convergence Korean Medicine
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.5-12
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• 2021

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to fabricate an ultra-fine ginsenoside particle atomizer that can provide a new treatment method by delivering ginsenoside components that have a therapeutic effect on respiratory diseases directly to the lungs. Methods: We fabricated the AAO vibrating mesh by using the micromachining process. The starting substrate of an AAO wafer has a 350nm pore diameter with 50㎛ thickness. A photomask having several 5㎛ opening holes with a 100㎛ pitch was used to separate each nanopore nozzle. The photoresist structure was optimized to pattern the nozzle area during the lift-off process precisely. The commercial vibrating mesh was removed from OMRON's NE-U100 product, and the fabricated AAO vibrating mesh was installed. A diluted sample of 20mL with 30% red ginseng concentrate was prepared to atomize from the device. Results: As a result of liquid chromatography analysis before spraying the ginsenoside solution, ginsenoside components such as 20S-Rg3, 20R-Rg3, and Rg5 were detected. After spraying through the AAO vibrating mesh, ginsenosides of the same component could be detected. Conclusion: A nutrient solution containing ginsenosides was successfully sprayed through the AAO vibrating mesh with 350 nm selective pores. In particular, during the atomizing experiment of ginsenoside drug solution having excellent efficacy in respiratory diseases, it was confirmed that atomizing through the AAO vibrating mesh while maintaining most of the active ingredients was carried out.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.22-32
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• 1997

This experiment was conducted to obtain information for the cultivation of Korean valerian(Valeriana lauriei var. dasycarpa Hara) which will be useful for medicinal and aromatic resources. The effect of different temperature conditions, light intensities and soil water conditions on growth, yield and component of essential oil of V. fauriei were measured at the Dankook University, Cheonan, and a study on the shading treatment was at Umsung, Chungchongbukdo, and Jinbu, Kangwondo, in 1995. V. laudei was planted at five different temperature conditions, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 3$0^{\circ}C$, eight light intensity conditions, 1, 000, 2, 500, 5, 000, 20, 000, 30, 000, 40, 000, 50, 000 and 60, 000lux, six soil water contents, 30, 45, 55, 70, 80 and 90％ of the saturated soil, during growth stage. Shading treatment was three conditions, 0, 25 and 50％, during the daytime in field conditions. Photosynthesis had a highly significant relationship with temperature conditions in a quadratic regression model, from which the temperature for the plant growth was estimated to be 17.7$^{\circ}C$. A highly significant quadratic regression was noted between temperature and leaf width or root weight of V. fauriei. It was estimated from the regression equation that the optimum temperature for root growth was 20.3$^{\circ}C$. The content of essential oil and extract rate of root was the highest in the 15~2$0^{\circ}C$. Photosynthesis also was significantly affected by light intensity in a quadratic regression model, from which the optimum light intensity for the growth was estimated to be 40, 000lux. Root yield was more produced in Jinbu than that of in Umsung. The root yield was increased by the shading treatment in Umsung, whereas it was decreased by the shading treatment in Jinbu. The content of essential oil was not affected by the shading treatment of plants during the cultivation, while the compositions of components of essential oil were related to the growing locations. As soil water content was higher, the growth and content of root extract were increased. The optimum soil moisture for the growth of V. fauriei was 80~90％ of the saturated soil. In summary, the results indicated that the growth, yield and component of essential oil in V. fauriei were affected by environmental factors as well as soil moisture.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.20-28
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• 2011

Crude polysaccharide (CP) was fractionated from the submerged culture (containing both mycelia and culture broth, SC) with Phellinus linteus (PL) in mushroom complete medium (MCM) supplemented with ginseng extract ($65^{\circ}$Bx, GE) to enhance the immune activity. PL-GE-15-CP from SC cultivated in MCM supplemented with GE-15% (v/v, a ratio of MCM volume to GE) showed significantly higher macrophage stimulation (1.45 fold of the saline control at $100{\mu}g$/mL) than PL-GE-5 and 10-CP with GE-5 and 10%, or PL-CP from SC without GE. The potent intestinal immune system modulating activity through Peyer's patch was also obtained by PL-GE-15-CP (1.46 fold). When PL-GE-15-CP further fractionated on DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B (Cl- form), PL-GE-15-CP-II was the significantly higher than others from PL-GE-15-CP or PL-CP on macrophage stimulation, interleukin (IL)-12 production and intestinal immune system modulation (1.54, 3.96 and 1.56 fold, respectively). PL-GE-15-CP-II also had higher anti-metastatic activity against colon 26-M3.1 carcinoma cell (57.3% inhibition of tumor control, $200{\mu}g$/mouse) rather than PL-CP-II. This active fraction (PL-GE-15-CP-II) mainly contained neutral sugar (82.45%) and uronic acid (12.99%), and component sugar analysis showed that PL-GE-15-CP-II consisted mainly of uronic acid, Ara, Man, Gal and Glc (molar ratio of 0.52:0.97:0.63:1.00:0.54). Furthermore, the activity of GE culture was higher compared with culture without GE, indicating that GE helped to enhance the immune activity of P. linteus; also, it is assumed that the polysaccharide plays an important role in immune enhancement.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.84 no.4
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• pp.415-423
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• 1995

This study was conducted to analyze the chemical composition, nutritional contents, and saponin in the xylem sap of Acer mono Max. From Feb 25 to Mar 4, 1994, spring sap was collected by making holes with 1.7cm diameter on the trunk of trees in Mt. Baekwoon and Mt. Jiri. Sugars were quantified by HPIC, amino acids by amino acid analyzer, saponins by TLC, HPLC, and $^1H$ & $^{13}C$ NMR. Major component of the sap was sucrose at a concentration range of 0.68 to 2.01%. Following minor components were found: glucose at 0.03-0.11%, and fructose at 0.01-0.03% as sugars, lipid at 0.03%, threonine at 0.152%, lysine at 0.038%, arginine at 0.068% as amino acids, ash at 0.1%, Ca at 175ppm, Fe at 2ppm, P at 19ppm, K at 16ppm, Na at 31ppm as minerals, vitamin $B_1$ at 0.6ppm, vit. $B_2$ at 0.1ppm, and vit. C at 19ppm. A trace of phenolic compounds was found by TLC, while saponin commonly reported in high-quality ginseng roots was not found in maple sap. It is concluded that sap of Acer mono contains a good variety of natural compounds such as sugars, amino acids, Ca, Fe, and vitamins to serve as an excellent source of very natural and health-promoting drink.