• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.541-556
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• 2022

Myocardial fibrosis is a key link in the occurrence and development of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Its etiology is complex, and the effect of drugs is not good. Cardiomyocyte apoptosis is an important cause of myocardial fibrosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of gaseous signal molecule sulfur dioxide (SO₂) on diabetic myocardial fibrosis and its internal regulatory mechanism. Masson and TUNEL staining, Western-blot, transmission electron microscopy, RT-qPCR, immunofluorescence staining, and flow cytometry were used in the study, and the interstitial collagen deposition, autophagy, apoptosis, and changes in phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathways were evaluated from in vivo and in vitro experiments. The results showed that diabetic myocardial fibrosis was accompanied by cardiomyocyte apoptosis and down-regulation of endogenous SO₂-producing enzyme aspartate aminotransferase (AAT)_1/2. However, exogenous SO₂ donors could up-regulate AAT_1/2, reduce apoptosis of cardiomyocytes induced by diabetic rats or high glucose, inhibit phosphorylation of PI3K/AKT protein, up-regulate autophagy, and reduce interstitial collagen deposition. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that the gaseous signal molecule SO₂ can inhibit the PI3K/AKT pathway to promote cytoprotective autophagy and inhibit cardiomyocyte apoptosis to improve myocardial fibrosis in diabetic rats. The results of this study are expected to provide new targets and intervention strategies for the prevention and treatment of diabetic cardiomyopathy.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.111 no.2
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• pp.234-241
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• 2022

We performed this study to determine the foliar nutrient concentration and the nutrient stocks of restoration areas and adjacent Pinus densiflora S. et. Z. (red pine) stands in opencast kaolinite mines in Sancheong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, southern Korea. We chose six sites to determine foliage nutrient concentrations and the nutrient stocks of soils (0-10 cm depth). The dominant vegetation planted in restoration areas comprised Quercus acutissima Carruth., P. koraiensis S. et. Z., Festuca arundinacea Schreb., and Lespedeza cuneata G. Don. Invading vegetation in the restoration areas comprised Alnus incana (L.) Medik., Robinia pseudoacacia L., and Lespedeza spp., among others. The carbon and nitrogen stocks at 10 cm soil depth were significantly higher in the red pine stands than those in the restoration areas, whereas those of phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium were not significantly different between the two areas. However, calcium stocks were significantly higher in the restoration areas than in the red pine stands. Nitrogen concentration in foliage was higher in L. cuneata (20.28 mg N g^-1) than that in F. arundinacea (5.67 mg N g^-1), whereas potassium concentration was twice as high in F. arundinacea (18.8 mg K g^-1) as that in L. cuneata (9.07 mg K g^-1). Foliar nitrogen concentrations in invasive vegetation such as A. incana, R. pseudoacacia, and Lespedeza spp. were twice or four times higher than those of Q. acutissima and P. koraiensis. Our results indicate the development of suitable vegetation and soil amendment treatments to improve poor soil environmental conditions in restoration areas are necessary following opencast kaolinite mining.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.5-16
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• 2007

The monitoring and investigation of underwater landslide help to understand its mechanism, increase the usefuless of design and construction and reduce the losses. This paper presents three high resolution geophysical techniques electrical resisitance, ultrasonic wave reflection imaging, and shear wave tomography conducted to determine the lab-scaled submerged landslide. Electrical resistance profiles of a soil mass obtained by an electrical resistance probe provide detailed information to assess the spatial distribution of the soil mass with milimetric resolution. An ultrasonic wave image obtained by recording the reflections from interfaces of different impedance materials permits detecting layers and landslide with submilimetric resolution. The pixel based image of immersed landslides is created by the inversion of the boundary information achieved from the traveling time of shear waves. The experimental results show that the ultrasonic wave imaging and the electrical resistance can provide complementary information; and their association with S-wave tomography image can produce a 3-D view of the underwater landslide. This study suggests that geophysical techniques may be effective tools for the detection of the underwater landslides and spatial distribution offshore.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.458-468
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• 2023

Background: As a complication of Type II Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), the etiology, pathogenesis, and treatment of cognitive dysfunction are still undefined. Recent studies demonstrated that Ginsenoside Rg1 (Rg1) has promising neuroprotective properties, but the effect and mechanism in diabetes-associated cognitive dysfunction (DACD) deserve further investigation. Methods: After establishing the T2DM model with a high-fat diet and STZ intraperitoneal injection, Rg1 was given for 8 weeks. The behavior alterations and neuronal lesions were judged using the open field test (OFT) and Morris water maze (MWM), as well as HE and Nissl staining. The protein or mRNA changes of NOX2, p-PLC, TRPC6, CN, NFAT1, APP, BACE1, NCSTN, and Ab1-42 were investigated by immunoblot, immunofluorescence or qPCR. Commercial kits were used to evaluate the levels of IP3, DAG, and calcium ion (Ca²⁺) in brain tissues. Results: Rg1 therapy improved memory impairment and neuronal injury, decreased ROS, IP3, and DAG levels to revert Ca²⁺ overload, downregulated the expressions of p-PLC, TRPC6, CN, and NFAT1 nuclear translocation, and alleviated Aβ deposition in T2DM mice. In addition, Rg1 therapy elevated the expression of PSD95 and SYN in T2DM mice, which in turn improved synaptic dysfunction. Conclusions: Rg1 therapy may improve neuronal injury and DACD via mediating PLC-CN-NFAT1 signal pathway to reduce Aβ generation in T2DM mice.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.15-27
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• 2023

Bordetella (B.) bronchiseptica, Mycoplasma (M.) cynos, and M. canis are the major bacterial pathogens that cause canine infectious respiratory disease complex (CIRDC). In this study, we developed a triplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (tqPCR) assay for the differential detection of these bacteria in a single reaction. The assay specifically amplified three bacterial genes with a detection limit of below 10 copies/reaction. The assay showed high repeatability and reproducibility, with coefficients of intra- and inter-assay variations of less than 1%. The diagnostic results of the assay using 94 clinical samples from household dogs with CIRDC clinical signs, the prevalence of B. bronchiseptica, M. cynos, and M. canis was 22.3%, 18.1%, and 20.2%, respectively, indicating that the diagnostic sensitivity was comparable to those of previously reported qPCR assays. The dual infection rate of B. bronchiseptica and M. cynos, B. bronchiseptica and M. canis, and M. cynos and M. canis was 5.3%, 7.4%, and 3.1%, respectively. Moreover, the triple infection rate of B. bronchiseptica, M. cynos, and M. canis was 2.1%. These results indicate that coinfections with B. bronchiseptica, M. cynos, and M. canis have frequently occurred in the Korean dog population. The newly developed tqPCR assay in the present study will be a useful tool for etiological and epidemiological studies on these three CIRDC-associated bacterial pathogens. The prevalence and coinfection data revealed through this study will contribute to expanding knowledge on the epidemiology of CIRDC in the recent Korean dog population.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2021.06a
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• pp.385-385
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• 2021

하천에서 실제로 유속 2.0m/s 이상 발생할 시 유량측정은 매우 급변하는 유속과 수위변화에 따른 측정값의 불확실성, 운영적인 측면에서의 시·공간적 한계 등으로 고유량에 대해 정확한 유량을 산정하기 어려운 실정이다. 그리고 국가하천은 최소 80년 빈도 이상, 지방하천은 최소 50년 빈도 이상의 확률강우량 채택을 통해 고유량에 해당하는 계획홍수량을 산정하고 있으나, 실제로 높은 호우의 빈도는 쉽게 발생하지 않아 유량측정성과가 부재하거나 매우 극소수에 불과한 상황이다. 따라서 유량측정성과는 대상하천의 계획홍수량(계획홍수위) 이하의 수준, 즉 중규모 수위 이하의 구간에서 대부분의 성과를 가지고 있으므로 고유량 산정은 고수위 외삽추정식에 의존할 수밖에 없다. 고수위 외삽추정은 대체로 기 유량측정성과(h, q)와 통수단면적(AD^1/2) 자료를 이용하는 Stevens 방법을 주로 이용하며, 이 방법은 하폭에 비해 수심이 비교적 작은, 얕은 하천과 기 유량측정성과가 추정하려는 고수위 구간에 근접한 경우에 적용성이 매우 용이하다고 할 수 있다. 설마천 유역 전적비교 수위관측소의 경우는 수위 4.110m까지 최대로 통수할 수 있으며, 하폭은 24.230m, 관측 최고수위는 3.194m, 유량측정성과 최대수위는 1.613m(40.303m³/s)이다. 설마천 유역에 대해 Stevens 방법을 적용하는 경우 위 조건을 만족하지 않으므로 다른 방법으로의 접근이 필요하다. AMC-III 조건의 선행강수량과 지속기간 1시간을 갖는 최대강우강도별 관측도달시간 자료를 통해 관계식을 유도하였으며, 강우 빈도해석의 결과인 지속기간 1시간의 빈도별 강우강도에 해당하는 도달시간을 유속으로 환산하는 과정을 거쳤다. 그 결과 유속은 1.808m/s(2년 빈도_43.3mm)~4.254m/s(500년 빈도_101.9mm)이며, 기 유량측정성과의 결과인 수위, 통수단면적, 유속, 유량, 최대강우강도(86.1mm_80년 빈도)가 발생했을 때의 해당 유속(도달시간 환산값), 수위, 통수단면적을 통해 최종적으로 빈도(년)별 유속, 수위, 유량을 결정하였다. 한국하천일람(2018)에서 제시된 설마천 전체 유역의 80년 빈도 계획홍수량(315m³/s, A=17.59km²) 값은 전적비교 수위관측소(A=8.48km²)와 직접적인 비교는 어렵지만, 유역면적비(0.482)를 적용한 추정된 계획홍수량은 약 152m³/s 볼 수 있다. 상기의 빈도별 유속, 수위, 통수단면적 결과인 80년 빈도(86.1mm)-유속(3.594m/s)-수위(3.194m)-통수단면적(53.197m²)에 해당하는 계산된 유량은 191.212m³/s로 분석되었다. 그리고 최대통수가 가능한 수위 4.110m의 계산된 유량은 313.674m³/s(약 424년 빈도 추정, 유속 4.203m/s, 통수단면적 74.761m²)로 결국에는 빈도(년)에 해당하는 수위-유량관계식(고수위 외삽추정식)을 통해 고유량을 산정할 수 있었다.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.10
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• pp.1489-1498
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• 2022

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify polymorphism in olfactomedin like 3 (OLFML3) gene, and association analysis with meat quality, carcass characteristics, retail meat cut, and fatty acid composition in sheep, and expression quantification of OLFML3 gene in phenotypically divergent sheep. Methods: A total of 328 rams at the age of 10 to 12 months with an average body weight of 26.13 kg were used. A novel polymorphism was identified using high-throughput sequencing in sheep and genotyping of OLFML3 polymorphism was performed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Among 328 rams, 100 rams representing various sheep genotypes were used for association study and proc general linear model was used to analyse association between genotypes and phenotypic traits. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used for the expression analysis of OLFML3 mRNA in phenotypically divergent sheep population. Results: The findings revealed a novel polymorphism in the OLFML3 gene (g.90317673 C>T). The OLFML3 gene revealed three genotypes: CC, CT, and TT. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was found to be significantly (p<0.05) associated with meat quality traits such as tenderness and cooking loss; carcass characteristics such as carcass length; retail meat cut such as pelvic fat in leg, intramuscular fat in loin and tenderloin, muscle in flank and shank; fatty acids composition such as tridecanoic acid (C13:0), palmitoleic acid (C16:1), heptadecanoic acid (C17:0), ginkgolic acid (C17:1), linolenic acid (C18:3n3), arachidic acid (C20:0), eicosenoic acid (C20:1), arachidonic acid (C20:4n6), heneicosylic acid (C21:0), and nervonic acid (C24:1). The TT genotype was associated with higher level of meat quality, carcass characteristics, retail meat cut, and some fatty acids composition. However, the mRNA expression analysis was not different among genotypes. Conclusion: The OLFML3 gene could be a potential putative candidate for selecting higher quality sheep meat, carcass characteristics, retail meat cuts, and fatty acid composition in sheep.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.298-309
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• 2024

Background: 20(S)-ginsenoside Rh2(GRh2), an effective natural histone deacetylase inhibitor, can inhibit acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell proliferation. Lactate regulated histone lactylation, which has different temporal dynamics from acetylation. However, whether the high level of lactylation modification that we first detected in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is associated with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) resistance has not been reported. Furthermore, Whether GRh2 can regulate lactylation modification in ATRA-resistant APL remains unknown. Methods: Lactylation and METTL3 expression levels in ATRA-sensitive and ATRA-resistant APL cells were detected by Western blot analysis, qRT-PCR and CO-IP. Flow cytometry (FCM) and APL xenograft mouse models were used to determine the effect of METTL3 and GRh2 on ATRA-resistance. Results: Histone lactylation and METTL3 expression levels were considerably upregulated in ATRA-resistant APL cells. METTL3 was regulated by histone lactylation and direct lactylation modification. Overexpression of METTL3 promoted ATRA-resistance. GRh2 ameliorated ATRA-resistance by downregulated lactylation level and directly inhibiting METTL3. Conclusions: This study suggests that lactylation-modified METTL3 could provide a promising strategy for ameliorating ATRA-resistance in APL, and GRh2 could act as a potential lactylation-modified METTL3 inhibitor to ameliorate ATRA-resistance in APL.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.235-246
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• 2023

Yellowball (Citrus hybrid cv. Yellowball ) is a new citrus hybrid between Haruka (C. tamurana × natsudaidai ) and Kiyomi (C. unshiu × sinensis) and is known to possess strong antioxidant activity. However, detailed information on the antioxidant components of its peel has not yet been reported. This study evaluated the antioxidant activity of the peel and identified the antioxidant components by fractionating a methanolic extract of Yellowball peels using liquid-liquid extraction with n-hexane, ethyl ether (ether), ethyl acetate (EA), butanol, and water. The phenolic contents and antioxidant activities of the n-hexane, ether, and EA fractions were higher than those of the other fractions, and these fractions were further separated by semi-preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Four antioxidant peaks, EA1, EA2, EA3, and He1, were isolated and analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time- of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF MS). Sinapoyl glucoside and hesperidin were identified in EA2 and EA3, respectively, and a polymethoxylated flavone (PMF) complex (5-hydroxy-3,6,7,8,3',4'-hexamethoxyflavone, natsudaidain, tetrameth- oxyflavone, and tangeretin) was identified in He1. A compound in EA1 with m/z 223.0246 [M-H] could not be identified and was named unknown2. The antioxidant activity of unknown2 (IC₅₀=69.17 ㎍/mL) was similar to that of Trolox, which was noted as a major antioxidant in Yellowball peel. Further studies on the antioxidant capacity of Yellowball peel are required; however, these results provide a foundation for using Yellowball peel as an antioxidant.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.772-783
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• 2023

Objective: Imaging-based survival stratification of patients with gliomas is important for their management, and the 2021 WHO classification system must be clinically tested. The aim of this study was to compare integrative imaging- and pathology-based methods for survival stratification of patients with diffuse glioma. Materials and Methods: This study included diffuse glioma cases from The Cancer Genome Atlas (training set: 141 patients) and Asan Medical Center (validation set: 131 patients). Two neuroradiologists analyzed presurgical CT and MRI to assign gliomas to five imaging-based risk subgroups (1 to 5) according to well-known imaging phenotypes (e.g., T2/FLAIR mismatch) and recategorized them into three imaging-based risk groups, according to the 2021 WHO classification: group 1 (corresponding to risk subgroup 1, indicating oligodendroglioma, isocitrate dehydrogenase [IDH]-mutant, and 1p19q-codeleted), group 2 (risk subgroups 2 and 3, indicating astrocytoma, IDH-mutant), and group 3 (risk subgroups 4 and 5, indicating glioblastoma, IDHwt). The progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated for each imaging risk group, subgroup, and pathological diagnosis. Time-dependent area-under-the receiver operating characteristic analysis (AUC) was used to compare the performance between imaging-based and pathology-based survival model. Results: Both OS and PFS were stratified according to the five imaging-based risk subgroups (P < 0.001) and three imaging-based risk groups (P < 0.001). The three imaging-based groups showed high performance in predicting PFS at one-year (AUC, 0.787) and five-years (AUC, 0.823), which was similar to that of the pathology-based prediction of PFS (AUC of 0.785 and 0.837). Combined with clinical predictors, the performance of the imaging-based survival model for 1- and 3-year PFS (AUC 0.813 and 0.921) was similar to that of the pathology-based survival model (AUC 0.839 and 0.889). Conclusion: Imaging-based survival stratification according to the 2021 WHO classification demonstrated a performance similar to that of pathology-based survival stratification, especially in predicting PFS.