• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.949-956
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• 1994

The effect of zinc deficiency on certain immunological parameters was investigated using intragastric tube feeding to obviate decreased food intake and altered eating pattern. Male, Fischer 344 rats were bilaterally adrenalectomized(ADX) or sham operated(SHAM). ADX rats received 0.9% NaCl in their drinking water and corticosterone injections at the dose of 1mg/kg of body weight three times per day. After recovery, one half of ADX and SHAM animals were tube-fed a purified, liquid diet containing either two ppm of zinc(zinc-deficient, force-fed ; ZDF) or 50ppm(zinc-replete, force-fed ; ZRF) for 19 days. They received identical amounts of diet based on the intake of ad libitum-fed, zinc-replete rats. Although they received identical amounts of food, ZDF rats grew at a slower rate compared to ZRF rats in both SHAM and ADX rats. Regardless of surgery, force-feeding rats the zinc-deficient diet resulted in a substantial decrease in serum zinc levels. The weights of the thymus, lymph node, and spleen were lower in SHAM-ZRF rats compared to SHAM-ARF rats. Marginal zinc deficiency caused lymphopenia in SHAM animals. However, these differences in lymphoid tissues and cells between SHAM-ZDF and SHAM-ZRF rats disappeared in ADX rats. These results indicate that the impaired growth of lymphoid tissues observed in zinc-deficient, sham-operated animals can be attributed to elevated serum corticosterone levels under the conditions of our experiments.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.66-78
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• 2010

Acute (24 h) and chronic (90 days) oral toxicity studies on the ethanol extract of Trigonella foenumgraecum Leguminosae (L.) seeds were carried out. Acute dosages were 0.5, 1.0 and 3 g/kg while chronic dosage was 100 mg/kg per day of the extract. All morphological, biochemical, haematological and spermatogenic changes, in addition to mortality, body weight changes and any change in vital organs were recorded. Histopathological investigations were done on vital organs. Growth arrest in the treated animals was observed. The treated mice gained no significant weight during chronic treatment while there was a significant gain in body weight of the control group mice. Biochemical studies revealed a significant decrease in blood sugar levels of fenugreek treatment groups while haematological parameters remained comparable to the control. In the treatment, male group there was a significant decrease in weight of testes as compared to the control. There was a marginal weight gain in kidney weight of mice after chronic treatment as compared to the control. Fenugreek chronic treatment caused a highly significant spermatotoxic effects in male mice.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.249-255
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• 2013

Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that is widely used as a natural sugar substitute. Thus, the safety of its usage is very important. In the present study, short-term genotoxicity assays were conducted to evaluate the potential genotoxic effects of erythritol. According to the OECD test guidelines, the maximum test dose was 5,000 ${\mu}g$/plate in bacterial reverse mutation tests, 5,000 ${\mu}g/ml$ in cell-based assays, and 5,000 mg/kg for in vivo testing. An Ames test did not reveal any positive results. No clastogenicity was observed in a chromosomal aberration test with CHL cells or an in vitro micronucleus test with L5178Y $tk^{+/-}$ cells. Erythritol induced a marginal increase of DNA damage at two high doses by 24 hr of exposure in a comet assay using L5178Y $tk^{+/-}$ cells. Additionally, in vivo micronucleus tests clearly demonstrated that oral administration of erythritol did not induce micronuclei formation of the bone marrow cells of male ICR mice. Taken together, our results indicate that erythritol is not mutagenic to bacterial cells and does not cause chromosomal damage in mammalian cells either in vitro or in vivo.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.51-56
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• 2012

This research was to investigate the polyester preparation using waste ethylene glycol (EG) generated from the wastepaper pretreatment process. Waste EG was obtained from using EG five times repeatedly in the pretreatment of wastepaper. The hydroxyl value of the waste EG was 441 mg KOH/g and its composition was 0.68% cellulose, 6.5% hemicellulose, 6.1% lignin, and 86.7% EG. Maleic acid was used as carboxylic acid. The effect of reaction temperature and time except carboxyl group/hydroxyl group ratio on the crosslinkage of the prepared polyester was marginal. Citric acid, lithium hydroxide and dicumyl peroxide were used as additive or catalyst to enhance the crosslinkage of polyester. Among them, 10% of citric acid was found to be most effective. The crosslinkage was 86% when the polyester was prepared at an optimum condition such as $130^{\circ}C$ and 15 minutes, 1.5 of C/H ratio, and 10% of citric acid, and its insoluble percentage in boiling water for 6 hours was 47%. The weight loss of the prepared polyester was approximately 40% when it was buried in damp soil for 5 months, indicating that it is readily biodegradable. This results can provide some information for future development of wastepaper pretreatment by organic solvent.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1205-1214
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• 2018

During the past few decades, significant increase in the consumption of coffee has led to rapid increase in the production of coffee waste in South Korea. Spent coffee waste is often treated as a general waste and is directly disposed without the necessary treatment. Spent Coffee Grounds (SCGs) can release several organic contaminants, including caffeine. In this study, leaching tests were conducted for SCGs and oxidative degradation of caffeine were also conducted. The tested SCGs contained approximately 4.4 mg caffeine per gram of coffee waste. Results from the leaching tests show that approximately 90% of the caffeine can be extracted at each step during sequential extraction. Advanced oxidation methods for the degradation of caffeine, such as $UV/H_2O_2$, photo-Fenton reaction, and $UV/O_3$, were tested. UV radiation has a limited effect on the degradation of caffeine. In particular, UV-A and UV-B radiations present in sunlight cause marginal degradation, thereby indicating that natural degradation of caffeine is minimal. However, $O_3$ can cause rapid degradation of caffeine, and the values of pseudo-first order rate constants were found to be ranging from $0.817min^{-1}$ to $1.506min^{-1}$ when the ozone generation rate was $37.1g/m^3$. Additionally, the degradation rate of caffeine is dependent on the wavelength of irradiation.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.79-85
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• 1981

As one of the fundamental studies for the breeding of marine algae, the effects of several plant hormones (IAA, Gibberellin, 2.4-D, NAA, Kinetin) on the growth of Porphyra-fronds, P. tenera Kjell. form tamatsuensis Miura, were investigated from January 21 to February 21 1981. The fronds used for the experiment were dissected out at $25mm^2$ size, and cultured in modified Provasoli's ESP medium supplemented with various concentrations of each plant growth regulators. The culture was kept under constant water temperature of $5^{\circ}C$ in 14 hrs. photoperiod and illuminated with 2,400 lux by fluorescent light. Based on the results of first experiment, the culture of fronds for the secondary experiment was carried out at $5^{\circ}C\;and\;10^{\circ}C$ in medium containing various levels of Kinetin from April 6 to 24, and compared the growth of two groups at each concentrations with each other, The results obtained are summarized as follows : (1) The best growth efficiencies were observed at 5.0mg/1 of each plant hormones except Gibberellin. Among them, the highest growth-rate was $312.5\%\;(345.3\%\;in\;frond\;size)$ in contrast with control at 5.0mg/1 of Kinetin, and was followed by $257.5\%\;(236.1\%)$ in 2.4-D,$166.7\%(147.6\%)$ in IAA and $141.7\%\;(167.7\%)$ in NAA, but that in Gibberellin was $247.9\%(241.9\%)$ at 10.0mg/l. (2) Especially, the fronds cultured at 5.0mg/1 of Kinetin were deep black-brown in colour, and had vivid, healthy chloroplasts in their all cells. On the contrary, the fronds cultured in other media were discoloured to light black-brown or green-drown, and almost all cells were vacuolated or shrunk gradually into death.(3) There was an obvious difference between the best growth-rates of the fronds cultured at 5.0mg/l of Kinetin at $5^{\circ}C$ and those at $10^{\circ}C$. The former was $366.7\%$, the latter $318.8\%$ but the difference was little at lower concentrations. (4) Many abnormal cells grown up to $25.0-27.5\mu$ in diameter were found among the marginal cells of fronds which showed the best growth in Kinetin, and the fronds wire $41.0-42.0\mu$ in thickness which was thicker by $10.0\mu$ or so than the others. (5) In two fronds at 1.0mg/1 of Kinetin cell-divisions were observed, which might developed into antheridium, but it was doubtful whether due to the efficiency of Kinetin.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.193-198
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• 2011

Polyester was prepared through the esterification reaction between watsepaper liquefied by ethylene glycol and carboxylic acid. Liquefaction was carried out at the previously determined condition of 100 minutes, $160^{\circ}C$, and 3% sulfuric acid, and the hydroxyl value of the liquefied product was 411 mg KOH/g. In order to remove bubbles produced during the curing step, the method to introduce a slight nitrogen stream into reaction vessel and/or the method to preheat a polyester film at $85^{\circ}C$ before curing step were used alone or in combination. But if curing temperature was $130^{\circ}C$, simple method to cure a film for 5 hours at $130^{\circ}C$ without using both methods was found to be most effective. The polyesters prepared with various carboxylic acids showed significant different physical properties, and maleic acid was best among them. Also, the effect of reaction time and temperature, C/H (carboxyl group/hydroxyl group) ratio, and type of additive on the crosslinkage of polyester was investigated. Lithium hydroxide or citric acid as additive was used to enhance the crosslinkage of polyester and citric acid was proved to be much more effective than lithium hydroxide. The effect of reaction temperature on the crosslinkage was marginal, but the crosslinkage decreased above $130^{\circ}C$. The crosslinkage was 86% when the polyester was prepared at an optimum condition such as $130^{\circ}C$ and 15 minutes of reaction condition, 1.5 of C/H ratio, $130^{\circ}C$ and 5 hours of curing condition, and 10% addition of citric acid.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.103-109
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• 2004

Body antioxidant status is an important factor for the prevention of many chronic diseases in the elderly. This study was done to investigate antioxidant status and its relationship to immune response by measuring plasma cytokine (IL-2 and IL-6) levels in elderly women. Subjects were 76 elderly women aged over 60 years, visiting Jangwhi Social Welfare Center of Seongbook-Gu in Seoul. Subjects were divided into 3 groups according to age (< 65, 65 - 74, > 75). Dietary intakes were assessed by semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaires (SFFQ). Plasma vitamin C level was measured by 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine method and plasma levels of vitamin E, A and ${\beta}$-carotene were measured by HPLC. Plasma levels of IL-2 and IL-6 were determined with a solid phase sandwich enzyme linked-immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA) using commercial kits. The average intakes of antioxidant vitamins were 96.3mg (137.5% of RDA) for vitamin C and 523.3 ${\mu}$gRE (74.8% of RDA) for vitamin A in elderly women. All of the average plasma levels of antioxidant vitamins were within normal range. However the percentage of the elderly women with deficiency plus marginal values were 7.9% in vitamin C, 9.2% in vitamin A and 7.9% in vitamin E. Plasma levels of IL-2 and IL-6 were 27.1${\pm}$7.1pg/ml and 5.9${\pm}$5.3pg/ml in elderly women. Correlation data showed that plasma IL-2 level was negatively correlated with plasma vitamin C level. In addition, IL-6 level was also negatively correlated with plasma vitamin C, A and E levels, respectively. There was a significant positive correlation between erythrocyte thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance(TB-ARS) level and plasma IL-2 or IL-6 levels. In addition, erythrocyte TBARS level showed a significant positive correlation with plasma total antioxidant status (TAS) level and a significant negative correlation with plasma vitamin C level. Overall results might imply that the decreased levels of antioxidant vitamins result in an increase in oxidative stress and thereby increase cytokine production such as IL-2 and IL-6. However further research is required to elucidate these relationships.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.229-235
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• 2009

This study was carried out to determine whether a short-term zinc supplementation could improve the zinc status without adverse changes in copper status among type 2 diabetic patients. Seventy-six diabetic subjects and 72 normal adults participated in this study. Subjects were randomly divided into supplemented and control groups. Forty-four diabetic patients and 34 normal subjects were supplemented with 50 mg zinc gluconate daily for 4 weeks. Dietary intakes of participants were measured for two non-consecutive days by 24-hour recall method. Nutritional status of zinc and copper were also evaluated by biochemical measurement of fasting plasma samples and spot urinary collection. At baseline, diabetic patients showed significantly lower levels of dietary zinc intake and higher urinary zinc excretion than the normal adult group(p<0.05, p<0.0001). Plasma level of zinc was not significantly different between diabetic and normal adults at baseline. However, plasma zinc level increased significantly in both diabetic patients and normal adults after zinc supplementation. The changes in plasma copper levels following zinc supplementation were not statistically significant in diabetic subjects as well as in normal adults. These results indicated that four weeks of zinc supplementation did not influence Cu status and that it may contribute to improving the zinc status. Therefore, we suggest that Zn supplementation for a short-term period may improve marginal zinc status of diabetic patients without interfering with their copper status

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.58 no.5
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• pp.426-431
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• 2015

Objective : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of continuous low-dose temozolomide (TMZ) chemotherapy for recurrent and TMZ-refractory glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and to study the relationship between its efficacy and microvessel density within the tumor. Methods : Thirty patients who had recurrent GBM following Stupp's regimen received TMZ daily at $50mg/m^2/day$ until tumor progression between 2007 and 2013. The median duration of continuous low-dose TMZ administration was 8 weeks (range, 2-64). Results : The median progression-free survival (PFS) of continuous low-dose TMZ therapy was 2 months (range, 0.5-16). At 6 months, PFS was 20%. The median overall survival (OS) from the start of this therapy to death was 6 months (95% CI : 5.1-6.9). Microvessel density of recurrent tumor tissues obtained by reoperation of 17 patients was $22.7{\pm}24.1/mm^2$ (mean${\pm}$standard deviation), and this was lower than that of the initial tumor ($61.4{\pm}32.7/mm^2$) (p-value=0.001). It suggests that standard TMZ-chemoradiotherapy reduces the microvessel density within GBM and that recurrences develop in tumor cells with low metabolic burden. The efficacy of continuous low-dose TMZ could not be expected in recurrent GBM cells in poor angiogenic environments. Conclusion : The efficacy of continuous low-dose TMZ chemotherapy is marginal. This study suggests the need to develop further treatment strategies for recurrent and TMZ-refractory GBM.