• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.1383-1392
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• 2021

It has been reported that emodin, a major pharmacologically active ingredient of herbal medicines such as Polygonum cuspidatum, Polygonum multiflorum, Rheum palmatum, and Aloe vera, is effective in antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and liver protection. In this study, to investigate the potential of emodin to be used as a skin disease and functional material, the activity related to the improvement of inflammation and skin barrier function was confirmed. To observe the anti-inflammatory effect on HaCaT cells, which are human keratinocytes, cytokine inhibition was confirmed by ELISA kit and protein expression by western blot. In HaCaT cells activated with TNF-α (10 ng/mL)/IFN-γ (10 ng/mL), emodin was treated with each concentration (5, 10, 20, 40) µM. As a result, It was confirmed that the production amount of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 decreased as the concentration of emodin increased. In the experimental results on the expression levels of inflammation-related proteins iNOS and COX-2, it was confirmed that 48% of iNOS and 29% of COX-2 were inhibited compared to control at a concentration of 20 µM of emodin. As an indicator of skin barrier function improvement, the mRNA expression level of filaggrin, involucrin, and loricirn and the production amount of filaggrin, involucrin, and loricirn were confirmed. and excellent results were obtained with an emodin concentration-dependent increase. In particular, filaggrin, which was produced twice as much as the control at a concentration of 20 µM, is a protein involved in the formation of NMF, a natural moisturizing factor, and is known to play an important role in moisturizing the stratum corneum. In conclusion, it was confirmed that emodin can be used as a material for improving inflammation and improving skin barrier function, which is part of the potential for use as a skin disease and functional material. It is believed that if additional research is performed in the future, the scope of its application can be further expanded.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.42-56
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• 2023

In deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW), the natural barrier must physically support the disposal facility and delay the movement of radionuclides for at least hundreds of thousands of years. To evaluate the long-term geological evolution of the natural barriers, it is essential to analyze the long-term behavior of rock joints, including the frictional healing behavior. This study aimed to experimentally analyze the frictional healing behavior of rock joints under hydro-mechanical (H-M) conditions through the slide-hold-slide (SHS) test. The SHS tests were performed under mechanical and H-M conditions for joint specimens of different roughness. In the H-M conditions, the frictional healing rate tended to increase, which was more evident in the specimens with large roughness. In addition, it was confirmed that the effect of the hydro-mechanical conditions was more significant when the effective normal stress acting on the joint surface was small. These results are expected to be used as fundamental data to understand the frictional healing behavior of rock joints in the natural barriers.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.146-154
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• 2012

As Damyang has preserved both beautiful natural environment and tradition very well, it needs colors which can coexist with Damyang while preserving it as it is rather than colorful and refined colors. However, the present Damyang deteriorates the quality of beautiful natural scenes by chaotic uses of colors. Therefore, colors which can represent symbolism based on the present colors of Damyang should be used so that everyone can be pleased with them. Finally, the basic colors decided were classified into main, supplement and highlight colors in consideration of characteristics of each scene and they were effectively arranged based on the colors decided. If such colors and color schemes are properly applied according to characteristics of scenes, ecological, historical, cultural and traditional scenes of Damyang can be preserved consistently. Academic literature uses the abstract to succinctly communicate complex research. An abstract may act as a stand-alone entity instead of a full paper. As such, an abstract is used by many organizations as the basis for selecting research that is proposed for presentation in the form of a poster, platform/oral presentation or workshop presentation at an academic conference. Most literature database search engines index only abstracts rather than providing the entire text of the paper. Full texts of scientific papers must often be purchased because of copyright and/or publisher fees and therefore the abstract is a significant selling point for the reprint or electronic version of the full-text. Abstracts are protected under copyright law just as any other form of written speech is protected. However, publishers of scientific articles invariably make abstracts publicly available, even when the article itself is protected by a toll barrier. For example, articles in the biomedical literature are available publicly from medline which is accessible through design. It is a common misconception that the abstracts in medline provide sufficient information for medical practitioners, students, scholars and patients. The abstract can convey the main results and conclusions of a scientific article but the full text article must be consulted for details of the methodology.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.65-71
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• 2013

Objective : In order to develop a novel nerve guidance channel using porcine small intestinal submucosa (SIS) for nerve regeneration, we investigated the possibility of SIS, a tissue consisting of acellular collagen material without cellular immunogenicity, and containing many kinds of growth factors, as a natural material with a new bioactive functionality. Methods : Left sciatic nerves were cut 5 mm in length, in 14 Sprague-Dawley rats. Grafts between the cut nerve ends were performed with a silicone tube (Silicon group, n=7) and rolled porcine SIS (SIS group, n=7). All rats underwent a motor function test and an electromyography (EMG) study on 4 and 10 weeks after grafting. After last EMG studies, the grafts, including proximal and distal nerve segments, were retrieved for histological analysis. Results : Foot ulcers, due to hypesthesia, were fewer in SIS group than in Silicon group. The run time tests for motor function study were 2.67 seconds in Silicon group and 5.92 seconds in SIS group. Rats in SIS group showed a better EMG response for distal motor latency and amplitude than in Silicon group. Histologically, all grafts contained some axons and myelination. However, the number of axons and the degree of myelination were significantly higher in SIS group than Silicon group. Conclusion : These results show that the porcine SIS was an excellent option as a natural biomaterial for peripheral nerve regeneration since this material contains many kinds of nerve growth factors. Furthermore, it could be used as a biocompatible barrier covering neural tissue.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.49-56
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• 2017

In the human airway, mucus exists to protect the respiratory system as a primary barrier of the innate immune system. However, hyperexpressed mucus limits airflow, resulting in a decrease of lung function. Among more than 20 mucin family members, MUC5AC and MUC5B are major glycoproteins in human airway mucus. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling pathway is one of the mechanisms of these mucins expression and specificity protein-1 (Sp1) transcription factor is the downstream signal of this pathway, playing pivotal roles in mucin expression. Even though there are some drugs for treating mucus hypersecretion, no drug has proven effects on humans. We found that the flavonoid tilianin regulated MUC5AC expression and also inhibited Sp1 phosphorylation. In this study, we investigated how tilianin would modulate EGFR signaling and regulate mucin production. In conclusion, tilianin inhibited MUC5AC expression mediated via modulating the EGFR-MEK-ERK-Sp1 signaling pathway in NCI-H292 human airway epithelial cells. This study may provide the basis for the novel treatment of mucus hypersecretion.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.65-68
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• 2006

It was examined the effect of fermented rice wine using mycelium of Phellinus linteus (FWPL) on the gastric mucosa of rat. The gastric mucosal lesions were not seen macroscopically in normal, but ethanol-administrated rats produced congestion and edema with a few local lesions. The administration of FWPL showed a similar pattern as like normal except trace histopathological changes. The results of Western blot analyses showed that the higher expression of inducible nitric oxygenase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase (COX)-1, COX-2, tumor necrosis factor-$\alpha$ and c-fos, especially COX-2, in the ethanol-administrated rat compared with normal rat. But FWPL-administrated rat showed a trace increase of these expression compared to normal rat. About immunohistochemical observations, weaker iNOS reactions were detected in mucous cells of epithelim of ethanol administrated rat compared with normal and FWPL-administrated rat. These results suggested that FWPL-administrated rat showed a trace changes on the mucus barrier-related protein expression compared with ethanol-administrated rat and thus FWPL may be use to develop a functional alcoholic beverage.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.357-364
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• 2018

Manganese (Mn) is used as main materials in various chemical processes of industry, but it suggested that Mn brings about its toxicant by fume or dust through respiratory system and skin barrier. Mn toxicant induces the loss of mental health and life quality by cerebrovascular and skin diseases. Nevertheless, it lefts much unknown on the mechanism and the effectively therapeutic methods about Mn toxicant. Therefore, this study was evaluated the cytotoxicity induced by manganese dioxide ($MnO_2$) in cultured NIH3T3 fibroblasts, and also, the correlation between $MnO_2$-induced cytotoxicity and oxidative stress was examined. While, the effect of Eclipta prostrata L. (EP) extract belong to Compositae was assessed against $MnO_2$-induced cytotoxicity in the view of antioxidative effect for searching the natural resources mitigating or preventing the $MnO_2$-induced cytotoxicity. In this study, $MnO_2$-induced cytotoxicity was revealed as mid-toxic by Borenfreud and Puerner's toxic criteria, and catalase (CAT), an antioxidant prevented $MnO_2$-induced cytotoxicity by the remarkable increase of cell viability in these cultures. While, in the protective effect of EP extract on $MnO_2$-induced cytotoxicity, EP extract effectively prevented the cytotoxicity induced by $MnO_2$ via antioxidative effects such as xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitory ability and DPPH-radical scavenging ability. From the above results, EP extract showed the effective prevention against $MnO_2$-induced cytotoxicity correlated with oxidative stress by antioxidative effects. Conclusively, this study may be useful to research or development the alternatively therapeutic agent from natural resources like EP extract for the treatment of diseases resulted in oxidative stress.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.115-134
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• 2020

Purpose - International trade leads to the international division of labor, improving the efficiency of the global economic system. Transport costs are a more serious barrier to international trade than customs tariffs. An increase in competition in the transport sector may thus lead to a reduction in transport costs. However, if a carrier's nationality significantly influences transport costs, simply adding more competing carriers of different nationalities would be ineffective. Therefore, it is necessary to establish national or regional carriers to influence competition and reduce transport costs. This study investigates this "nationality effect" by treating Hanjin Shipping's collapse as a natural experiment. Design/methodology - The theoretical basis of this study is the 3rd-degree price discrimination in container shipping market. By using the monthly data of container freight rates of Korea, China and Japan, this study shows the so-called Korea Premiums, which are the empirical counterparts of nationality effect in Korea container shipping market. For this empirical investigation, the structural model with state-space form is used and the dummy models are also estimated. In addition, because China has been also affected by the Hanjin's collapse, the China premiums are considered too. Findings - Compared with Japan's case, it is shown that there had been the so-called Korea premiums since the collapse of Hanjin Shipping. These results are robust from both the state-space model and dummy models. The time pattern of Korea premiums was consistent with the market evolution, especially the pattern of substitutability in container shipping markets. In addition, this paper shows the magnitude of Korea premiums. Originality/value - The argument of this study that the nationality effect can be interpreted as an extended concept of the home market effect is original, which is expected to evoke future research efforts. Further, the discussion on the shipping industrial policy from both horizontal and vertical aspects will provide the relevant policy makers with solid information, especially for the policy coordination in a global scale.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.66
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• pp.311-319
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• 2023

Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) is the main structural component of the caveolae on the plasma membrane, which regulates various cellular processes, including cell growth, differentiation, and endocytosis. Although a recent study demonstrated that Cav-1 might be involved in diabetes-associated inflammation, its exact role in the intestine was unclear. In this study, we examined the intestinal expression of Cav-1 in diabetic conditions. We also investigated its effect on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation by expressing this protein in human intestinal Caco-2 cells lacking Cav-1. We observed that increased Cav-1 levels and decreased expression of tight junction proteins affected intestinal permeability in high-fat diet-induced diabetic mice. When Caco-2 cells were treated with LPS, Cav-1 enhanced the NF-κB signaling. Moreover, LPS reduced the expression of tight junction proteins while it increased cell-cell permeability and reactive oxygen species generation in Caco-2 cells and this effect was amplified by cav-1 overexpression. LPS treatment promoted phosphorylation of tyrosine-14 (Y14) on Cav-1, and the LPS-induced NF-κB signaling was suppressed in cells expressing non-phosphorylatable Cav-1 (tyrosine-14 to phenylalanine mutant), which reduced intestinal barrier permeability. These results suggest that Cav-1 expression promotes LPS-induced inflammation in Caco-2 cells, and phosphorylation of Y14 on Cav-1 might contribute to the anti-inflammatory response in LPS-induced NF-κB signaling and cell permeability.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.145-148
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• 2009

To understand whether experience of cold season in reproductive behaviors in the adults of Amaurobius ferox, the paired adults of a female and a male were exposed under 'cold-treated environment' and 'not cold-treated environment', respectively. I investigated effects of the cold treatment on the brood production of A. ferox. In not cold treatment in which male-female pairs were formed in October at a temperature of $20^{\circ}C$ (${\pm}2^{\circ}C$) and continuously kept under not cold-treated environment, only 3 of 50 pairs successfully reproduced (reproduction was defined as the emergence of spiderlings). In cold treatment where individuals were kept in cold conditions for 3 months prior to pair formation, 57 out of 60 couples succeeded in reproducing. Females which did not experience the low temperature displayed strong aggressiveness toward males. This behavioral inhibition might the primary barrier to copulation of A. ferox that decrease following a period of low temperature. The reproductive inhibition might help the females to allocate the maximum amount of energy in a given environment to reaching the adult stage and to delay reproduction in unfavorable wintering conditions.