• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.65-73
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• 2023

Background: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a significant visual disease that induces impaired vision and irreversible blindness in the elderly. However, the effects of ginseng berry extract (GBE) on the retina have not been studied. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the protective effects of GBE on blue light (BL)-induced retinal damage and elucidate its underlying mechanisms in human retinal pigment epithelial cells (ARPE-19 cells) and Balb/c retina. Methods: To investigate the effects and underlying mechanisms of GBE on retinal damage in vitro, we performed cell viability assay, pre-and post-treatment of sample, reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), and western immunoblotting using A2E-laden ARPE-19 cells with BL exposure. In addition, Balb/c mice were irradiated with BL to induce retinal degeneration and orally administrated with GBE (50, 100, 200 mg/kg). Using the harvested retina, we performed histological analysis (thickness of retinal layers), qRT-PCR, and western immunoblotting to elucidate the effects and mechanisms of GBE against retinal damage in vivo. Results: GBE significantly inhibited BL-induced cell damage in ARPE-19 cells by activating the SIRT1/PGC-1α pathway, regulating NF-kB translocation, caspase 3 activation, PARP cleavage, expressions of apoptosis-related factors (BAX/BCL-2, LC3-II, and p62), and ROS production. Furthermore, GBE prevented BL-induced retinal degeneration by restoring the thickness of retinal layers and suppressed inflammation and apoptosis via regulation of NF-kB and SIRT1/PGC-1α pathway, cleavage of caspase 3 and PARP, and expressions of apoptosis-related factors in vivo. Conclusions: GBE could be a potential agent to prevent dry AMD and progression to wet AMD.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.223-232
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• 2000

Comparative study was performed for the assessment of DNA damage and Chromosomal aberration in human lymphocyte exposed to low dose radiation using fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH) and single cell gel electrophoresis(SCGE). Chromosomal aberrations in human lymphocytes exposed to radiation at doses of 5, 10, 30 and 50cGy were analysed with whole chromosome-specific probes by human chromosome 1, 2 and 4 according to PAINT system. FISH with chromosome-specific probe has been used to be a valid and rapid method fer detection of chromosome rearrangements induced by low dose radiation. The frequencies of stable translocation per cell equivalents were 0.0116, 0.0375, 0.040f, 0.0727 and 0.0814 for 0, 5, 10, 30 and 50cGy, respectively, and those of dicentric were 0.00, 0.0125, 0.174, 0.0291 and 0.0407 respectively. Radiation induced DNA damage in human lymphocyte in a dose-dependent manner at low doses from 5cGy to 50cGy, which were analysed by single tell gel electrophoresis(SCGE). From above results, FISH seemed to be useful for radiation biodosimetry by which the frequencies of stable aberrations in human lymphocyte can be observed more easily than by conventional method and SCGE also seemed to be sensitive method f9r detecting DNA damage by low dose radiation exposure, so that those methods will improve our technique to perform meaningful biodosimetry for radiation at low doses.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.601-609
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• 2008

In this study for the development of area due to the increasing of industry, population and spreading of urbanization is rapidly increasing but about seventy percent of our nation's areas consists of the mountainous districts. In such case, when those areas have the heavy rains break, they are washed away by a fast-flowing stream of a valley and overflowed. Thus it could result on human life and property damage and also the widespread of flood damage in the downstream area. To decrease those damage, the construction of flood control reservoir is necessary. This research was aim to construct the flood runoff models of a mountainous small district and to determine the probability rainfall by analyzing precipitation. The study also examined the effects of location and size of flood control reservoir on flood reduction. The result showed that the construction of detention basin was an effective way to ensure the safety of flood control and multiple detention basin had superior result for reducing amount of runoff in the down stream area than the single detention basin.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.379-382
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• 2005

The new cationic meso-substituted N-quarternized 4-pyridylporphyrins and their metal derivatives were synthesized as novel chemotherapeutics. The level of DNA damage induced by porphyrins TOBut4PyP, TOBut4PyP, TOEt4PyPMn and TOBut4PyPMn and its dependence on the chemical structure of compounds were analyzed by the Comet-assay. On the base of data obtained, the investigated porphyrins may be arranged by their genotoxic activity in the following order: TOEt4PyP>TOEt4PyPMn>TOBut4PyP>TOBut4PyPMn. Thus, i) the genotoxicity of the Mn-derivatives of TOEt4PyP and TOBut4PyP is higher than the original porphyrins and ii) the genotoxicity of TOEt4PyP and TOEt4PyPMn is increased after substitution of a butyl radical for ethyl one. The applied Comet-assay permits to reveal the dependence of DNA damage induction on the chemical structure of porphyrins.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.48-55
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• 2013

In this paper, W-DCAP-HTR(Web-based Design Compatibility Assessment Program for High Temperature Reactor) which will be used to check the design criteria for high temperature reactor is newly proposed. To do this, the assessment procedure of the ASME Sec.III Div.5 such as time-dependent primary stress limit, accumulated inelastic strain, and creep-fatigue damage evaluation were investigated. Furthermore, the trend of candidate materials for high temperature reactor was also reviewed. Then, all assessment procedures for high temperature reactor have been computerized to enhance the efficiency and to reduce the possibility of human error during calculating procedure by hand calculation. It can be directly conducted by adopting the actual thermal and structural analysis results. The validation of W-DCAP-HTR has been demonstrated by benchmark analysis.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.290-298
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• 2014

Purpose: To ascertain the increase of the farm income that predominantly relies on human resources by mechanizing Welsh onion harvesting, a tractor-mounted Welsh onion harvester was developed in this study. Method: An experiment for evaluating harvesting performance was performed for the developed Welsh onion harvester in an actual Welsh onion farm. The harvest performance was evaluated at the tractor running speeds of 5.0 cm/s, 11.4 cm/s and 15.8 cm/s, by comparing the operating efficiency, harvest rate, and damage rate of the Welsh onion harvester. Results: The performance of the harvester was rated as very good, with a 100% harvest rate, regardless of tractor running speed. Furthermore, it is shown that work efficiency of the harvester is expected to increase as the running speed increases. Nonetheless, the damage rate of the harvested Welsh onions at running speeds 5.0 cm/s, 11.4 cm/s, and 15.8 cm/s, increased correspondingly and proportionally to speeds from 4.55% to 6.53% and to 11.29%. The residual amount of soil on the harvested Welsh onions was about 0.24% of their weight showing excellent soil-removal performance of the harvester. Conclusion: The developed Welsh onion harvester is believed to improve the labor productivity and cultivation environment of Welsh onion farmhouses by the mechanization of the harvesting process that is currently associated with the largest amount of labor hours.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.851-858
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• 2003

Sister chromatid exchange (SCE) has recently become a common cytogenic assay system for detecting exposure to chemical mutagens and carcinogens. One application of SCE is the monitoring of populations believed to have been exposed to such agents. A cross-sectional study of SCE frequency in peripheral blood lymphocytes from 45 Koreans aged 61 to 84 years was conducted. The effect of cigarette smoking and age on SCE was assessed by different degrees of smoking status such as smokers (n = 14), ex-smokers (n = 16) and non-smokers (n = 15). Mean spontaneous SCE per cell for the smokers (11.5 $\pm$ 1.1) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that for the non-smokers (8.8 $\pm$ 0.3). However, mean SCE frequencies per cell for the ex-smokers (10.3 $\pm$ 0.6) were not significantly different from those of the smokers or the non-smokers. The smokers showed an increased number of high SCE frequency cells (HFCs) when compared to the ex-smokers and non-smokers (p < 0.05). The mean SCE frequencies of the non-smokers showed a statistically significant increase (p < 0.05) with the subject's age. These results show that age and smoking habits contribute a great deal in setting a higher degree of basal DNA damage in elderly Koreans, and smoking appeared to be a more significant damaging factor than age.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.75-83
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• 2008

The R.C Building will be superannuated as time passes by heavy load and serviceability. Methods of damage detection are used a visual angle of human or non-destructive test in the R.C Building. In case of the latter, Problems of damage detection are occurred to directions of steel bar. Elastic waves are difficult to assaying test using 1 axial type of accelerometer in reinforced concrete. In this study, fundamental studies for estimations using 3 axial type of accelerometer are discussed oscillator of elastic waves when embedded glass tube pipe or steel bar in flexible concrete specimens.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.187-194
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• 2016

Background: Alopecia areata (AA) is a very disturbing and expensive disorder in which the exact etiology is not known and it is yet to be treated completely well. Most alopecia patients exhibit some inflammation in the hair follicles regardless of the causes. The clinical symptoms of alopecia present very diversely while the prime symptom is local intermittent fever which are related to inflamed cells. Methods: This study aimed to evaluate how repetitive intermittent fever can damage the normal human dermal fibroblast (NHDF) cells and investigated the cytotoxic and proliferative effects after application of new candidate drugs (ibuprofen, menthol, cetirizine) for alopecia in comparison to minoxidil. Results: This study demonstrated that ibuprofen, menthol, or/and cetirizine can prevent or slow down the damage of NHDF cells from intermittent fever in early alopecia. Aggressive preventative intervention with those drugs before complete destruction of hair follicle by excessive repetitive fever, is a very important step for alopecia therapy and these drugs are recommended as candidate drugs for alopecia in the future. Conclusion: Aggressive preventative intervention with drugs before complete destruction of hair follicles (NHDF cells) by excessive repetitive fever is a very important step for alopecia therapy or progression.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2017

The scale of disaster and damage witnessed in the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the 2011 Great East Japan Tsunami has motivated researchers in developing foolproof disaster mitigation techniques for safety of coastal communities. This study focuses on developing tsunami hazard map by numerical modeling at Imwon Port to minimize losses of human beings and property damage when a real tsunami event occurs. A hazard map is developed based on inundation maps obtained by numerical modeling of 3 past and 11 virtual tsunami cases. The linear shallow-water equations with manipulation of frequency dispersion and the non-linear shallow-water equations are employed to obtain inundation maps. The inundation map gives the maximum extent of expected flooded area and corresponding inundation depths which helps in identifying vulnerable areas for unexpected tsunami attacks. The information can be used for planning and developing safety zones and evacuation structures to minimize damage in case of real tsunami events.