• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.71-78
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• 2018

Objectives : This study was fulfilled to investigate nominee materials as anti-inflammatory agent from ethanol extract of Chinese medicinal plants in Yanjin. Among the 20 candidates, we selected most effective one, the ethanol extract of Cicuta virosa L. (CVL). The mechanism underlying the anti-inflammatory effects of CVL is not clearly identified as yet. Accordingly, we clarified the anti-inflammatory effects of CVL and its underlying molecular mechanisms in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. Methods : RAW264.7 macrophages were incubated with CVL (12.5, 25, or $50{\mu}M$) and/or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) ($1{\mu}g/m{\ell}$). Cytotoxicity was determined using a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide assay and the level of nitric oxide (NO) production was measured with Griess reagent. The prostaglandin $E_2$ ($PGE_2$) production was measured with enzyme immunoassay kits and the protein expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was determined using Western blot analysis. Results : Among the 20 ethanol extract of Chinese medicinal plants of Yanjin tested, CVL significantly reduced the production of NO in a dose-dependent manner via inhibition the protein expressions of iNOS without cytotoxicity on the LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. In addition, CVL also effectively declined the production of $PGE_2$ in LPS-simulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. Conclusions : Taken together, these data presented in this study demonstrate that CVL possesses anti-inflammatory activity by suppressing the production of pro-inflammatory mediators NO and $PGE_2$, and pro-inflammatory protein iNOS expression in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.373-392
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• 2022

The present study aimed to emprically verify the materialistic pursuits process of undergraduates by applying the escape theory of materialism(Donnelly et al., 2016). Among the six steps of Donnelly's model, the first step is percieving that the fall short of high standards of life, as measured by external contingencies of self-worth. The second step is blaming the self for falling short of standards, as measured by self-discrepancy. The third step of high aversive self-awareness is measured by low stability of self-esteem. A total of 465(203 male and 262 female) college students participated in the online survey and the model was tested using structural equation model. We found that the relationship of external contingencies of self-worth and materialism was mediated by self-discrepancy and there was a sequential mediation effect of self-discrepancy and the stability of self-esteem. The direct effect of external contingencies of self-worth on materialism was also significant. This study is meaningful in that it used the escape theory to emprically verify the materialistic pursuit process of Korean undergraduates living in a meritocratic society.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.170-177
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• 2022

In mountainous regions, wild herbs which can also be edible in nature for humans and animals possess a wide array of biologically diversified properties. It is because of the fact that due to the cold weather of mountains; they are enriched in certain kinds of phytochemicals such as anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatory and many more. One such kind of an herb is Aster scaber (AS) in Korean. It is a widely cultivated culinary herb in Korean peninsula and used as a side dish in Korean culinary cuisine. In view of its extensive use in cuisine, we geared to unravel the anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of AS in murine alveolar macrophage cell line (MH-S). 2,2'-Azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) assays revealed a dose dependent (7.8~1,000 ㎍/mL) inhibition of oxidation by AS 70% ethanol (ASE) extract as compared to Trolox and Ascorbic acid respectively. Nitric oxide assay (NO) showed a dose dependent decrease (5~40 ㎍/mL) in MH-S cells with ASE when stimulated with Coal Fly Ash (CFA). Moreover, this dose for NO reduction was also found to be least cytotoxic for cells as determined by cellular viability (MTT) assay. The gene expression of pro-inflammatory mediators (iNOS and COX-2) and cytokines (IL-6 and IL-1β) and were also dose dependently inhibited by ASE in MH-S cells through RT-PCR. Therefore, in light of these findings, AS exhibited a strong anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. These results also justify the extensive use of this mountainous herb in culinary practices for beneficial effects on human health.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.213-227
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to identify factors that are causal and intention to revisit healing agricultural facilities and to identify the relationship between factors. the effect of experience type was analyzed on revisit intention by using facility experience satisfaction as a meditator for healing agriculture participants. The sub-variables of experience types were divided into educational experience, devious experience, entertainment experience, and aesthetic experience. 259 questionnaires collected from the people who experienced healing agriculture programs in the whole country were used for empirical analysis. The PROCESS macro v3.4 and SPSS v22.0 were used to analyze based on the singular simple mediation model which contains a single mediator. First, all types of experience had a positive (+) effect on satisfaction. Second, satisfaction had a positive (+) effect on revisit intention independently of experience type. Third, all types of experience had a positive (+) effect on revisit intention. Fourth, satisfaction mediated between experience type and revisit intention except for deviating experience among experience types. As a follow-up study, it is necessary to study for the adjustment of mediators other than the mediator introduced in the study or the controlled mediated analysis through the conditional process model in which the moderator variable is introduced.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.51-69
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• 2021

Purpose - Based on literature studies of movie reviews and movie ratings, this study raised two research questions on the contents of online word of mouth and the number of movie screens as mediator variables. Research question 1 wanted to figure out which topics of word groups had a positive or negative impact on movie ratings. Research question 2 tried to identify the role of the number of movie screens between movie ratings and box office outcomes. Design/methodology/approach - Through R program, this study collected about 82,000 movie reviews and movie ratings posted on Naver's movie website to examine the role of online word of mouths and movie screen counts in 10 movies that were considered commercially unsuccessful with fewer than 2 million viewers despite securing about 1,000 movie screens. To confirm research question 1, topic modeling, a text mining technique, was conducted on movie reviews. In addition, this study linked the movie ratings posted on Naver with information of KOBIS by date, to identify the research question 2. Findings - Through topic modeling, 5 topics were identified. Topics found in this study were largely organized into two groups, the content of the movie (topic 1, 2, 3) and the evaluation of the movie (topics 4, 5). When analyzing the relationship between movie reviews and movie ratings with 5 mediators identified in topic modeling to probe research question 1, the topic word groups related to topic 2, 3 and 5 appeared having a negative effect on the netizen's movie ratings. In addition, by connecting two secondary data by date, analysis for research question 2 was implemented. The outcomes showed that the causal relationship between movie ratings and audience numbers was mediated by the number of movie screens. Research implications or Originality - The results suggested that the information presented in text format was harder to quantify than the information provided in scores, but if content information could be digitalized through text mining techniques, it could become variable and be analyzed to identify causality with other variables. The outcomes in research question 2 showed that movie ratings had a direct impact on the number of viewers, but also had indirect effects through changes in the number of movie screens. An interesting point is that the direct effect of movie ratings on the number of viewers is found in most American films released in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.43-59
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• 2022

This study conducted a multiple mediation analysis using sub-factors of basic psychological needs (BPNs) as mediators in the relationship between problem gambling and stress of gambling addicts to confirm that BPNs and stress, which affect gambling addiction, may be the result of problem gambling and to find effective intervention strategies. A total of 206 adults gambling addicts were screened by using CPGI. Descriptive statistics, correlation, hierarchical regression, and mediation analysis were conducted. Hierarchical regression analysis results yielded that problem gambling and sub-factors of BPNs were significant predictors of stress when controlling for gender and debt. The sub-factors of BPNs mediated the relationship between problem gambling and stress. These results indicated that BPNs and stress are not only the causes of gambling addiction but also the results from the harmful consequences of gambling addiction. The study supported the possibility of the psychological process of "Deficits of BPNs (of gambling users) → stress (of gambling users) → problem gambling → gambling addiction (of gambling addicts) → problem gambling → Deficits of BPNs (of gambling addicts) → stress (of gambling addicts)" among the variables and provided clinical implications for problem gambling counseling. Lastly, the limitations of this study and suggestions for further study were discussed.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.243-250
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• 2008

Mast cells containing a variety of mediators in their cytoplasmic granules are widely distributed in connective tissues and mucosal surfaces of skin, airways, and guts. Within these tissues, mast cells are involved in the pathophysiological conditions such as inflammation, self-defense, tissue-remodeling, and autoimmunity. In order to understand the functional roles of master cells in the uterus, we histologically examined the distribution and density of uterine mast cells in the different aged mice. Until 6 weeks mast cells were sparsely detected in the uterus. But at 7 weeks after birth, when estrous cycle begins, the number of mast cells within uterine tissues increased dramatically and the increment of mast cell density continued up to 32 weeks-age. After then, uterine glandular tissue degenerated gradually and density of uterine mast cell decreased. Uterine mast cells were mainly found in the myometrium and they were closely associated with smooth muscle cells, fibroblasts, and collagens, which contents were changed according to the uterine development in the myometrium. These results suggest that uterine mast cells could be involved in myometrial contractions mediated by smooth muscle cells and tissue reconstitution or remodeling during estrous cycle and parturition including the various immunological functions.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.574-583
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• 2022

Ficus vasculosa Wall. ex Miq. (FV) has been used as a herbal medicine in Southeast Asia and its antioxidant activity has been shown in previous studies. However, it has not yet been elucidated whether FV exerts anti-inflammatory effects on activated-macrophages. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the ameliorative property of FV methanol extract (FM) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory responses and the underlying molecular mechanisms in RAW264.7 macrophages. The experimental results indicated that FM decreased the production of inflammatory mediators (NO/PGE2) and the mRNA/protein expression of iNOS and COX-2 in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. FM also reduced the secretion of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Results also demonstrated that FM improved inflammatory response in LPS-stimulated A549 airway epithelial cells by inhibiting the production of cytokines, such as IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α. In addition, FM suppressed MAPK activation and NF-κB nuclear translocation induced by LPS. FM also upregulated the mRNA/protein expression levels of heme oxygenase-1 and the nuclear translocation of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 in RAW264.7 cells. In an experimental animal model of LPS-induced acute lung injury, the increased levels of molecules in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid were suppressed by FM administration. Collectively, it was founded that FM has anti-inflammatory properties on activated-macrophages by suppressing inflammatory molecules and regulating the activation of MAPK/NF-κB signaling.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.397-405
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• 2023

Although glutathione (GSH) has been shown to play an important role in the prevention of oxidative damage as an antioxidant, studies on immune regulation by it have not been properly conducted. In this study, we investigated whether luthione^®, a reduced GSH, has an immune enhancing effect in murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. The results of flow cytometry and immunofluorescence experiments indicated that luthione increased phagocytic activity, a representative function of macrophages, compared to the control cells. According to the results of the cytokine array, the expression of interleukin (IL)-5, IL-1β, and IL-27 was significantly increased in the luthione-treated cells. Luthione also enhanced the production of tumor necrosis factor-α and IL-1β through increased expression of their proteins, and increased release of the immune mediators such as nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E₂ was associated with increased expression of inducible NO synthase and cyclooxygenase-2. In addition, the expression of cluster of differentiation 86, an M1 macrophage marker, was dramatically enhanced in RAW 264.7 cells treated with luthione. Furthermore, as a result of heat map analysis, we found that cytokine signaling 1/3-mediated signal transducer and activator of transcription/Janus tyrosine kinase signaling pathway was involved in the immunomodulatory effect by luthione. In conclusion, our data suggested that luthione could act as a molecular regulator in M1 macrophage polarization and enhance immune capacity by promoting macrophage phagocytic function.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.99-115
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• 2023

Given the ongoing discussion regarding remote music therapy following the COVID-19 pandemic and the pivotal role of parental involvement in it, this study investigated parents' perceptions on their roles in a synchronous videoconferencing music therapy for their children with developmental disabilities. A total of 32 participants participated in an online survey comprising 68 questions. Descriptive statistics summarized the collected responses, and Pearson's correlation was conducted to examine the relationship between perceived parental roles, psychological burden, and willingness to participate in future remote music therapy. The findings showed that parents of children with developmental disabilities acknowledged the benefits of tele-music therapy and possessed substantial information about its implementation. Furthermore, they reported their roles of providing physical, participatory, and mediating support. As parents exhibited greater satisfaction with their role in supporting their children's participation or managing their off-task behaviors, they perceived reduced psychological burden. These findings hold significant implications for expansion of tele-music therapy strategies to address the unique needs of children with developmental disabilities and support their parents as immediate mediators for their children.