• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.197-206
• /
• 2021

Carnosol is a phenolic diterpene phytochemical found in rosemary and sage with reported anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-carcinogenic activities. This study aimed to investigate the effect of carnosol on the lineage commitment of mouse bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (mBMSCs) into osteoblasts and adipocytes. Interestingly, carnosol stimulated the early commitment of mBMSCs into osteoblasts in dose-dependent manner as demonstrated by increased levels of alkaline phosphatase activity and Alizarin red staining for matrix mineralization. On the other hand, carnosol significantly suppressed adipogenesis of mBMSCs and downregulated both early and late markers of adipogenesis. Carnosol showed to induce osteogenesis in a mechanism mediated by activating BMP signaling pathway and subsequently upregulating the expression of BMPs downstream osteogenic target genes. In this context, treatment of mBMSCs with LDN-193189, BMPR1 selective inhibitor showed to abolish the stimulatory effect of carnosol on BMP2-induced osteogenesis. In conclusion, our data identified carnosol as a novel osteoanabolic phytochemical that can promote the differentiation of mBMSCs into osteoblasts versus adipocytes by activating BMP-signaling.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.197-222
• /
• 2006

In this paper, the non-linear time-dependent closed-form, discrete and combined solutions for the post-elastic response of a geometrically and physically non-linear suspended cable to a uniformly distributed load considering the creep effects, are presented. The time-dependent closed-form method for the particularly straightforward determination of a vertical uniformly distributed load applied over the entire span of a cable and the accompanying deflection at time t corresponding to the elastic limit and/or to the elastic region, post-elastic and failure range of a suspended cable is described. The actual stress-strain properties of steel cables as well as creep of cables and their rheological characteristics are considered. In this solution, applying the Irvine's theory, the direct use of experimental data, such as the actual stress-strain and strain-time properties of high-strength steel cables, is implemented. The results obtained by the closed-form solution, i.e., a load corresponding to the elastic limit, post-elastic and failure range at time t, enable the direct use in the discrete non-linear time-dependent post-elastic analysis of a suspended cable. This initial value of load is necessary for the non-linear time-dependent elastic and post-elastic discrete analysis, concerning incremental and iterative solution strategies with tangent modulus concept. At each time step, the suspended cable is analyzed under the applied load and imposed deformations originated due to creep. This combined time-dependent approach, based on the closed-form solution and on the FEM, allows a prediction of the required load that occurs in the post-elastic region. The application of the described methods and derived equations is illustrated by numerical examples.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.147-160
• /
• 2008

The present study was designed to examine effects of polyphenolic compounds isolated from red wine (PCRW) on the release of catecholamines (CA) from the isolated perfused model of the rat adrenal medulla, and to clarify its mechanism of action. PCRW (20${\sim}$180 ${\mu}$g/mL), given into an adrenal vein for 90 min, caused inhibition of the CA secretory responses evoked by ACh (5.32 mM), high $K^+$ (a direct membrane-depolarizer, 56 mM), DMPP (a selective neuronal nicotinic $N_N$ receptor agonist, 100 ${\mu}$M) and McN-A-343 (a selective muscarinic $M_1$ receptor agonist, 100 ${\mu}$M) in dose- and time-dependent fashion. PCRW itself did not affect basal CA secretion (data not shown). Following the perfusion of PCRW (60 ${\mu}$g/mL), the secretory responses of CA evoked by Bay-K-8644 (a L-type dihydropyridine $Ca^{2+}$ channel activator, 10 ${\mu}$M), cyclopiazonic acid (a cytoplasmic $Ca^{2+}$-ATPase inhibitor, 10 ${\mu}$M) and veratridine (an activator of voltage-dependent $Na^+$ channels, 10 ${\mu}$M) were also markedly blocked, respectively. Interestingly, in the simultaneous presence of PCRW (60 ${\mu}$g/mL) and L-NAME (a selective inhibitor of NO synthase, 30 ${\mu}$M), the inhibitory responses of PCRW on the CA secretion evoked by ACh, high $K^+$, DMPP, McN-A-343, Bay-K-8644 and cyclpiazonic acid were recovered to considerable level of the corresponding control release compared with those effects of PCRW-treatment alone. Practically, the amount of NO released from adrenal medulla after loading of PCRW (180 ${\mu}$g/mL) was significantly increased in comparison to the corresponding basal released level. Collectively, these results obtained here demonstrate that PCRW inhibits the CA secretory responses evoked by stimulation of cholinergic (both muscarinic and nicotinic) receptors as well as by direct membrane-depolarization from the isolated perfused adrenal gland of the normotensive rats. It seems that this inhibitory effect of PCRW is mediated by blocking the influx of both ions through $Na^+$ and $Ca^+{2$} channels into the rat adrenomedullary chromaffin cells as well as by inhibiting the release of $Ca^{2+}$ from the cytoplasmic calcium store, which are due at least partly to the increased NO production through the activation of nitric oxide synthase. Based on these data, it is also thought that PCRW may be beneficial to prevent or alleviate the cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension and angina pectoris.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.18 no.10
• /
• pp.1451-1456
• /
• 2005

To study the acute effect of dietary docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, $C_{22:6}$) on the expression of adipocyte determination and differentiation-dependent factor 1 (ADD1) mRNA in pig tissues, weaned, crossbred pigs (28 d of age) were fed with either 10% (on as-fed basis) tallow (high stearic acid), soybean oil (high linoleic acid), or high DHA algal oil for 2 d. The plasma and liver DHA reflected the composition of the diet. The adipose tissue and skeletal muscle DHA did not reflect the diet in the short term feeding. The results also showed that the diet containing 10% algal DHA oil significantly decreased the total plasma cholesterol (39%) and triacylglycerol (TG; 46%) in the pigs. Soybean oil significantly decreased plasma TG (13.7%; p<0.05), but did not have an effect on plasma cholesterol. The data indicate that different dietary fatty acid compositions have different effects on plasma lipids. The ADD1 mRNA was decreased (p<0.05) in the liver of DHA oil-treated pigs compared with the tallow-treated pigs. The diets did not have significant effect on the ADD1 mRNA in adipose tissue. Addition of algal DHA oil in the diet increased acyl CoA oxidase (ACO) mRNA concentration in the liver, suggesting that dietary DHA treatment increases peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation in the liver. However, dietary soybean oil supplementation did not affect mRNA concentrations of ADD1 or ACO in the tissues of pigs. Because ADD1 increases the expression of genes associated with lipogenesis, and ACO is able to promote fatty acid oxidation, feeding DHA oil may change the utilization of fatty acids through changing the expression of ADD1 and ACO. Therefore, feeding pigs with high DHA may lead to lower body fat deposition.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.12
• /
• pp.5071-5076
• /
• 2014

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is one of the aggressive cancers with a very poor prognosis. Several efforts have been made to identify and develop new agents for prevention and treatment of this deadly disease. In the present study, we examined the anticancer effect of luteolin on human CCA, KKU-M156 cells. Sulforhodamine B assays showed that luteolin had potent cytotoxicity on CCA cells with IC50 values of $10.5{\pm}5.0$ and $8.7{\pm}3.5{\mu}M$ at 24 and 48 h, respectively. Treatment with luteolin also caused a concentration-dependent decline in colony forming ability. Consistent with growth inhibitory effects, luteolin arrested cell cycle progression at the G2/M phase in a dose-dependent manner as assessed by flow cytometry analysis. Protein expression of cyclin A and Cdc25A was down-regulated after luteolin treatment, supporting the arrest of cells at the G2/M boundary. Besides evident G2/M arrest, luteolin induced apoptosis of KKU-M156 cells, demonstrated by a distinct sub-G1 apoptotic peak and fluorescent dye staining. A decrease in the level of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein was implicated in luteolin-induced apoptosis. We further investigated the effect of luteolin on JAK/STAT3, which is an important pathway involved in the development of CCA. The results showed that interleukin-6 (IL-6)-induced JAK/STAT3 activation in KKU-M156 cells was suppressed by treatment with luteolin. Treatment with a specific JAK inhibitor, AG490, and luteolin diminished IL-6-stimulated CCA cell migration as assessed by wound healing assay. These data revealed anticancer activity of luteolin against CCA so the agent might have potential for CCA prevention and therapy.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.12-18
• /
• 2002

Interferon-${\gamma}$ (IFN-${\gamma}$) is well known as a potent inducer in monokine induced by IFN-${\gamma}$ (Mig) mRNA expression. Although lipopolysaccharide (LPS) alone is weakly effective on Mig mRNA expression. the stimulation of LPS and IFN-${\gamma}$ (LPS/IFN-${\gamma}$ simultaneously has been shown to synergize to produce a high level of Mig mRNA in mouse peritoneal macrophages. In this study, interleukin-10 (IL-10) was found to suppress the LPS/IFN-${\gamma}$-induced Mig mRNA expression in cell type- and mouse strain-specific fashion, but IFN-${\gamma}$ alone-induced Mig mRNA was unaffected by IL-10 under identical experimental conditions. The IL-10-mediated suppression of LPS/IFN-${\gamma}$-stimulated Mig mRNA expression was dependent on the concentration of IL-10, and was prevented when the agent was added 2 hours after LPS/IFN-${\gamma}$ treatment. The suppressive action of IL-10 was dependent on a protein synthesis. However, IL-10 did not reduce the stability of LPS/IFN-${\gamma}$-induced Mig mRNA. These data may have important implications for a previously unrecognized role for IL-10 as a regulator of synergistic effect of LPS on the IFN-${\gamma}$-induced expression of the Mig gene in macrophages.

• Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
• /
• v.22 no.6
• /
• pp.543-556
• /
• 2015

We present a survey of contributions that defined the nature and extent of robust statistics for the last 50 years. From the pioneering work of Tukey, Huber, and Hampel that focused on robust location parameter estimation, we presented various generalizations of these estimation procedures that cover a wide variety of models and data analysis methods. Among these extensions, we present linear models, clustered and dependent observations, times series data, binary and discrete data, models for spatial data, nonparametric methods, and forward search methods for outliers. We also present the current interest in robust statistics and conclude with suggestions on the possible future direction of this area for statistical science.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.41 no.1
• /
• pp.80.2-81
• /
• 2016

We investigate the dependence of solar proton events (SPEs) on solar and interplanetary type II bursts associated with solar flares and/or CME-driven shocks. For this we consider NOAA solar proton events from 1997 to 2012 and their associated flare, CME, and type II radio burst data with the following subgroups: metric, decameter-hectometric (DH), and meter-to-kilometric (m-to-km) type II bursts. The primary findings of this study are as follows. First, about half (52%) of the m-to-km type II bursts are associated with SPEs and its occurrence rate is higher than those of DH type II bursts (45%) and metric type II bursts (19%). Second, the SPE occurrence rate strongly depends on flare strength and source longitude, especially for X-class flare associated ones; it is the highest in the central region for metric (46%), DH (54%), and m-to-km (75%) subgroups. Third, the SPE occurrence rate is also dependent on CME linear speed and angular width. The highest rates are found in the m-to-km subgroup associated with CME speed 1500 kms-1: partial halo CME (67%) and halo CME (55%). Fourth, in the relationships between SPE peak fluxes and solar eruption parameters (CME linear speed, flare flux, and longitude), SPE peak flux is mostly dependent on SPE peak flux for all three type II bursts (metric, DH, m-to-km). It is noted that the dependence of SPE peak flux on flare peak flux decreases from metric to m-to-km type II burst.

• Research in Mathematical Education
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.295-310
• /
• 2011

Teachers' attitudes and beliefs are related to teaching practices and are dependent upon their teaching domain. The present study compares conceptual models of creative student oriented teaching practices of mathematics teachers in two OECD countries, South Korea and Turkey to provide an insight for teacher educators and policy makers. Teaching and Learning International Survey 2008 (TALIS 2008) data are used to test the fit of a path analysis model with a subsample of l337 middle school mathematics teachers ($N_{Korea}$ = 562 vs. $N_{Turkey}$ = 775). The study showed that Turkish teachers were younger and less experienced, whereas Korean teachers were better educated. Despite the statistical differences in attitudes, beliefs and practices between countries, it was found that the teaching practices of mathematics teachers in both countries were more complex than to be explained only through attitudes and beliefs.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.34 no.5
• /
• pp.478-483
• /
• 2001

We examined the effect of CsCl and spermine on the induction of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), a key enzyme in polyamine synthesis form Glycine max axes. Transcription of the ODC gene was induced by 0.1 and 1 mM of CsCl, and the amount of putrescine was increased 3.5-fold by 1 mM CsCl treatment. Spermine also induced the expression of the ODC gene in a die dependent manner. However, CsCl provoked an increase in the active phosphorylated ERK (pERK), a central element of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade. Our data demonstrates an interaction between the ODC induction and the MAPK signaling pathway, and suggests that the latter may be involved in cell signaling in salt-stressed plants.