• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.347-354
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• 2014

Larrea nitida is a plant that belongs to the Zygophyllaceae family and is widely used in South America to treat inflammatory diseases, tumors and menstrual pain. However, its pharmacological activity remains unclear. In this study we evaluated the property of selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) of Larrea nitida extracts (LNE) as a phytoestrogen that can mimic, modulate or disrupt the actions of endogenous estrogens, depending on the tissue and relative amount of other SERMs. To investigate the property of SERM of LNE, we performed MCF-7 cell proliferation assays, estrogen response element (ERE)-luciferase reporter gene assay, human estrogen receptor (hER) binding assays and in vivo uterotrophic assay. To gain insight into the active principles, we performed a bioassay-guided analysis of LNE employing solvents of various polarities and using classical column chromatography, which yielded 16 fractions (LNs). LNE showed high binding affinities for $hER{\alpha}$ and $hER{\beta}$ with $IC_{50}$ values of $1.20{\times}10^{-7}$ g/ml and $1.00{\times}10^{-7}$ g/ml, respectively. LNE induced $17{\beta}$-estradiol (E2)-induced MCF-7 cell proliferation, however, it reduced the proliferation in the presence of E2. Furthermore, LNE had an atrophic effect in the uterus of immature rats through reducing the expression level of progesterone receptor (PR) proteins. LN08 and LN10 had more potent affinities for binding on $hER{\alpha}$ and ${\beta}$ than other fractions. Our results indicate that LNE had higher binding affinities for $hER{\beta}$ than $hER{\alpha}$, and showed SERM properties in MCF-7 breast cancer cells and the rat uterus. LNE may be useful for the treatment of estrogen-related conditions, such as female cancers and menopause.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.119-131
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• 2001

A mean characteristic remanent magnetization was obtained for the first time in Korea from volcanic and pyroclastic sedimentary rocks distributed in Haenam Area, located in southwestern part of the Korean Peninsula. The age of the prevailing rocks in this area belongs mostly to Late Cretaceous, with a few exceptions of Early Cretaceous, mainly based on K/Ar whole rock age dating. Characteristic remanent magnetizations of these have both normal and reverse polarities with antipodal direction, which were interpreted to be the primary remanent magnetizations obtained by the ambient Earth's magnetic field at the time of formation of the concerned rocks. The source magnetic minerals of the remanent magnetization has been identified as magnetite. The mean direction of characteristic remanent magnetization obtained from the Late Cretaceous rocks in this study is Dm/Im=21.4 supper(o)/57.1 supper(o) (${\alpha}_{95}=13.4^{\circ}$, k=350.0). The paleomagnetic pole position calculated from this result for the Late Cretaceous, is $72.5^{\circ}N/199.9^{\circ}E$ (dp/dm= $14.2^{\circ}/19.5^{\circ}E$), which matches well with those of 80 Ma ($76.2^{\circ}N/198.9^{\circ}E$) and 90 Ma ($76.2^{\circ}N/200.1^{\circ}E$) of the Eurasian Continent's APWP (Apparent Polar Wander Path). This result strongly indicates that the studied area, belonging to the Eurasian Continent, have suffered very little geotectonic movement after the Late Cretaceous. The deflection of declination of remanence from Early Cretaceous rocks in the study area may indicate that the micro-block was counterclockwisely rotated with vertical axis between the late of Early Cretaceous and the early of Late Cretaceous.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.202-213
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• 2007

The Odaesan earthquake $(M_L=4.8)$ occurred near Mt. Odae, Jinbu-Myon, Pyongchang-Gun, Kangwon Province on January 20, 2007. It has a shallow focal depth about 10 km. Its felt area covers most of the southern peninsula except some southern and western inland area. The maximum MM intensity was VI in the areas including Jinbu, Doam, Kangreung, Jumunjin, and Pyongchang. In these areas, there was a very strong shaking that caused several cracks on the walls of buildings and houses, slates falling off the roof, tiles being off the wall, things falling off the desk, and rock falling from the mountains. In order to get fault plane solutions, grid searches were performed by fitting distributions of P-wave first-motion polarities and SH/P amplitude ratios for each event. The results showed that the main shock represented right-lateral strike-slip sense and two aftershocks, reverse sense. It seems that the seismogenic fault may be the NNE-SSW trending Weoljeongsa fault near the epicenter based on the distribution of epicenters (foreshock, main shock, and aftershocks), damage area, and fault plane solution. The distribution of the epicenters indicates that the length of the subsurface rupture is estimated to be about 2 km.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.1053-1058
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• 2003

The solvent extracts of Houttuynia cordata root, which were extracted by using several solvents with different polarities, were prepared for utility as a natural preservatives. The antimicrobial activity was investigated by disc diffusion method against 22 microorganisms consisting of food borne pathogens, food poisioning microorganisms and food-related bacteria. The extraction yields were 15.7%, 3.7%, 0.13%, 0.5% and 5.9% in ethanol, chloroform ethylacetate, butanol and aqueous fractions, respectively. Antimicrobial activities were shown in ethanol, ethylacetate and butanol fraction of Houttuynia cordata root. However chloroform and aqueous fractions showed weak antimicrobial activity against the tested bacteria. Among the four fractions, ethylacetate fraction showed the strongest antimicrobial activities against microorganisms tested, such as B. megaterium, E. coli, K. pneumoniae and S. typhimurium. The polyphenolic compounds widely occuring in the traditional medicine plants have been reported to possess high antimicrobial activity. The polyphenolic compound in ethylacetate and butanol fraction were 35.9% and 16.0%, ethanol, chloroform and aqueous fraction were 5.0%, 2.3% and 1.7%, respectively. There are some relationship between antimicrobial activity and polyphenol content in natural plants. The ethylacetate fraction could be suitable for the development of a food preservative.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.663-669
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• 2007

The solvent extracts of Sargassum muticum, which were extracted by using several solvents with different polarities, were prepared for use as natural preservatives. The S. muticum extract with 80% ethanol was sequentially fractionated with n.hexane, dichloromethane, ethylacetate, and butanol. In order to effectively screen for natural preservatives agents, we first investigated the antioxidant activities such as DPPH radical scavenging capacity, superoxide radical scavenging capacity, and xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity of the S. muticum extracts. Through the screening system, we found that dichloromethane and ethylacetate fraction had high antioxidant activity with increments of the extract concentration. The antimicrobial activities and cell growth inhibition were investigated for each strain with the different concentrations of S. muticum extracts. Antimicrobial activities were shown in ethanol, dichloromethane, and n.hexane fractions of S. muticum. However, butanol, ethylacetate and water fractions showed weak antimicrobial activity against the tested microorganisms. Among the five fractions, dichloromethane fraction showed the highest antimicrobial activities against microorganisms tested, such as Bacillus sublitis, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella Enteritidis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The polyphenolic compounds from ethanol, n.hexane, dichloromethane, ethylacetate, butanol, and water fractions were 63.96 mg/g, 8.49 mg/g, 28.11 mg/g, 172.64 mg/g, 114.56 mg/g, and 34.91 mg/g, respectively. The dichloromethane fraction could be suitable for development as a food preservative.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.312-321
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• 2012

The electric potential of plasma column is measured with the high voltage probe in a pair of atmospheric plasma jets operated by AC-voltage. According to the polarity of voltage applied to the electrodes, the polarity of plasma column potential has the same polarity of applied voltage. The high potential of plasma column at the side of high voltage electrode is decreased linearly along the plasma column to the ground side. Therefore, the plasma column seams to be a kind of resistor whose resistivity is a few 10s $M{\Omega}/m$. In the experiment of double-jets system, the polarity of plasma potential is verified to be the same polarity to the applied voltage. When the different voltage polarities are applied to the electrodes of double plasma jets, the attractive force is acted between two plumes at the merged plasma and the plasma potential is measured to be low as a few 10s V. When the same polarity of voltage is applied to the electrode, the repulsive force is acted and the plasma potential is measured to be high as a several 100s V at the merged plumes. In the exposure of plasma plume on the bio-substrate with the double plasma jets, the electric shock and thermal damage might be proportional to the plasma power which is the multiplication of the plasma potential and the plasma current.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.360-369
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• 2016

Background: Cylindrocarpon destructans (Zins) Scholten is an important pathogenic fungus that causes ginseng root rot in many ginseng growing areas in China. Although C. destructans have been studied worldwide, research on its chemotaxis towards ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) root exudates in the rhizosphere remains limited. Methods and Results: In this study, we collected ginseng root exudates with three different polarities from three-year-old ginseng roots, and performed chemotaxis and spore germination assays to investigate the ability of these exudates to induce the response in C. destructans. The results showed that, compared with other conditions, when C. destructans cultivated at $20^{\circ}C$ and a pH of 6 exhibited a strong positive chemotactic response toward $2mg/{\ell}$ aqueous phase, $20mg/{\ell}$ butanol phase, and $0.2mg/{\ell}$ petroleum ether from ginseng root exudates, the chemotactic moving indexes were 0.1581, 0.1638 and 0.1441, respectively. In addition, the spore germination rate with optimal chemotactic parameters were 48%, 53%, and 41% in the aqueous phase, butanol phase and petroleum ether groups, respectiviely, which were significantly higher than that in the control group (23%) (p < 0.05). The mycelial growth rate with optimal chemotactic parameters increased with culture time, and the maximum growth rates in the aqueous phase, butanol phase and petroleum ether groups were 0.425, 0.406 and 0.364 respectively, on the 4th day. The optimal chemotactic parameters were $39.73mg/50mg/{\ell}$, $48.93mg/50mg/{\ell}$, and $31.43mg/50mg/{\ell}$, in aqueous phase, butanol phase and petroleum ether respectively, from ginseng root exudates, compared with $5.5mg/50mg/{\ell}$, in the control group. Conclusions: The present study revealed that certain ginseng root exudates containing chemical attractants act as nutritional sources or signals for C. destructans and support its colonization of ginseng roots.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.107-119
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• 2002

Early spermatocytes of U. unicinctus are found in cluster floating in the coelomic fluid. The spermatocytes in a cluster form a syncytium or cytoplasmic mass, but there are no indications that the cytoplasmic mass is a component of a somatic cell. This work suggested that this type of spermatogenesis can be subordinated to solitary spermatogenesis in the sense excluding structural and functional support of a somatic cell for sperm developments. The solitary spermatogenesis in U. unicinctus is different in appearances and developmental details of sperm organelles and stage distributions from that of localized spermatogenesis. The acrosomal rudiments and centrioles can be observed in the early single cells of spermatogonia and clearly disclosed in the primary spermatocyte. In the stage of secondary spermatocyte, the acrosomal precursor and the centrioles begin to move to each cytoplasmic poles. The polarities of the organelles are attained at stage of spermatids. The spermatocytes and spermatids are arranged circumferentially along the cytoplasmic mass in which some amorphological cytoplasmic components are included. The spermatids reveal to be detached from the cytoplasmic mass into coelomic fluid. It suggests that the spermatogenesis are progressed in support of coelomic fluid, and the fact take into consideration that the spermatogenic cells can be in vitro cultured without somatic cells and with supplements of coelomic fluid.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.89-103
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• 2020

A frizz hair is referred to the fly-away hairs that have become bulky or deviated from the regular hair and the cause of that is not clear known. The internal lipids are related to the physical properties of hair such as elasticity and tensile strength and interracial studies have previously conducted to relate the lipid mass and Afrikaan hair, which has a lot of frizzy hair. Although washing hair is the only way to control the hair loss without damage of hair surface, the number of washing and lipid loss are not linearly correlated. In this study, the amount of lipid hair was analyzed by washing the hair with a few different types of shampoos containing various conditioning polymers and oils of different polarities. The results confirmed that the higher the polarity of the oil, the higher the lipid content. This method was applied to Indian frizzy hair to evaluate the degree of frizziness and found that the frizzy volume was more severe for a hair with less lipids. On the other hand, the frizzy hair volume of fly-away hairs was observed more broadly for the hairs with higher lipid contents. In addition, the friction on the surface of the hair did not differ due to the oil treatment. Taken together, it was concluded that hair frizzing was affected by the amount of lipids in the hair rather than by the adhesion between the oils. Thus, this study suggests that controlling the lipid contents in hair may be an important solution in the development of hair anti-frizzy technology.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.85-88
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• 2016

The new rocks of the oceanic crust, like basalt, are created in the mid-oceanic ridge, and the magnetic polarities of the rocks are supposed to be oriented as following the Earth's magnetic field. An extensive magnetic survey of total field at sea level reveals mainly unusual north-south magnetic stripes parallel to the axis of the mid-oceanic ridge, especially in the Atlantic Ocean. From this stripes the Earth's magnetic field is considered as repeatedly 'flipped'(the N pole becoming the S pole, and vice versa) and many times over geological time. The discovery of stripes of alternately normal and reversed-magnetized rocks forming the ocean floor has been a key evidence for the sea-floor spreading, continental drift, and plate tectonics. This study introduces a simple apparatus to explain a possible mechanism of the magnetic reversal in the new oceanic crust, which makes a magnetic stripe adjacent to the mid-oceanic ridge. The apparatus shows a bar magnet effect of adjoined stripes to have a special magnetic polarity on the rocks in the center of the mid-oceanic ridge. The new magnetic stripe seems to be generated not only by Earth's magnetic field, but also by neighbored stripes in the mid-oceanic ridge, acting as a bar magnet.