• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.129-138
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• 2019

Purpose: Medicinal herbs have recently attracted attention as health beneficial foods and source materials for drug development. Recent studies have demonstrated that extracts of Lycium's fruits and roots have a range of physiologically active substances. The extract of Lycium's leaves has been reported to have excellent anti-oxidant and anti-microbial activity, but its anti-inflammatory efficacy is not known. The chlorophyll present in the leaves can act as an anti-oxidant or pro-oxidant depending on the presence of light. Therefore, this study analyzed the anti-inflammatory effects of Lycium's fruit extract (LFE), leaf extract (LLE), and leaf extract with chlorophyll removal (LLE with CR). Methods: This study examined the inhibitory effects of LFE, LLE, and LLE with CR on pro-inflammatory mediator production as well as on the expression of iNOS and COX-2 in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 cells and BALB/c mice. Results: LFE, LLE, and LLE with CR inhibited the production of pro-inflammatory mediators (NO, $TNF-{\alpha}$, IL-6, and $IL-1{\beta}$) and the expression of iNOS and COX-2 in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the administration of LLE and LLE with CR inhibited the serum pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and suppressed DNA damage in BALB/c mice. In particular, LLE with CR exhibited the highest anti-inflammatory activity. Conclusion: These results suggest that the fruit and leaves of Lycium are potential therapeutic agents against inflammation.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.379-392
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• 2019

The current study investigated the effect of Gabjubaekmok (Diospyros kaki) ethanolic extract (GEE) on $H_2O_2$-induced human neuroblastoma MC-IXC cells and amyloid beta $(A{\beta})_{1-42}$-induced ICR (Institute of Cancer Research) mice. GEE showed significant antioxidant activity that was evaluated based on ABTS, DPPH scavenging activity, and inhibition of malondialdehyde (MDA) and acetylcholinesterase activity. Further, GEE inhibited ROS production and increased cell viability in $H_2O_2$-induced MC-IXC cells. Administration of GEE ameliorated the cognitive dysfunction on $A{\beta}$-induced ICR mice as evaluated using Y-maze, passive avoidance, and Morris water maze tests. Results of ex vivo test using brain tissues showed that, GEE protected the cholinergic system and mitochondrial functions by increasing the levels of antioxidants such as ROS, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) against $A{\beta}$-induced cognitive dysfunction. Moreover, GEE decreasd the expression levels of apoptosis-related proteins such as $TNF-{\alpha}$, p-JNK, p-tau, BAX and caspase 3. While, expression levels of p-Akt and $p-GSK3{\beta}$ increased than $A{\beta}$ group. Finally, gallic acid was identified as the main compound of GEE using high performance liquid chromatography.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.6-16
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• 2019

Purpose: Dyslipidemia is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Pine needles (Pinus densiflora seib et Zucc) are a traditional medicine used to treat dyslipidemia in clinical settings. This study examined the potential effects of sulgidduk, a Korean traditional rice cake containing pine needle juice to protect against dyslipidemia induced by a high-fat/sugidduk diet in a rat model. Methods: Twenty one male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into three groups: normal control (NC), Sulgidduk diet (SD), Sulgidduk diet containing pine needle juice (PSD). The blood lipid levels, production of lipid peroxide in the plasma and liver, total cholesterol and triglyceride in the liver and feces, antioxidant enzyme activities in plasma and erythrocytes were measured to assess the effects of PSD on dyslipidemia. Results: A high-fat/Sulgidduk diet induced dyslipidemia, which was characterized by significantly altered lipid profiles in the plasma and liver. The food intake was similar in the three groups, but weight gain and food efficiency ratio (FER) were reduced significantly in the PSD group compared to those in the SD group. The level of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and TBARS in the plasma showed tendencies to decrease in the PSD group compared to those in the SD group. The levels of high-fat/Sulgidduk diet-induced sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (SREBP2) gene expression were reduced significantly in the PSD group. The supplementation of PSD reduced the hepatic triglyceride and total cholesterol levels significantly, and enhanced the fecal excretion of triglyceride and hepatic antioxidant enzyme activities compared to the SD group. Conclusion: These results suggest that the addition of 0.4% pine needle juice to Sulgidduk may be an alternative snack to control dyslipidemia.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.149-155
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• 2021

Early warning systems for weather risk management in the agricultural sector have been developed to predict potential wind damage to crops. These systems take into account the daily maximum wind speed to determine the critical wind speed that causes fruit drops and provide the weather risk information to farmers. In an effort to increase the accuracy of wind risk predictions, an artificial neural network for binary classification was implemented. In the present study, the daily wind speed and other weather data, which were measured at weather stations at sites of interest in Jeollabuk-do and Jeollanam-do as well as Gyeongsangbuk- do and part of Gyeongsangnam- do provinces in 2019, were used for training the neural network. These weather stations include 210 synoptic and automated weather stations operated by the Korean Meteorological Administration (KMA). The wind speed data collected at the same locations between January 1 and December 12, 2020 were used to validate the neural network model. The data collected from December 13, 2020 to February 18, 2021 were used to evaluate the wind risk prediction performance before and after the use of the artificial neural network. The critical wind speed of damage risk was determined to be 11 m/s, which is the wind speed reported to cause fruit drops and damages. Furthermore, the maximum wind speeds were expressed using Weibull distribution probability density function for warning of wind damage. It was found that the accuracy of wind damage risk prediction was improved from 65.36% to 93.62% after re-classification using the artificial neural network. Nevertheless, the error rate also increased from 13.46% to 37.64%, as well. It is likely that the machine learning approach used in the present study would benefit case studies where no prediction by risk warning systems becomes a relatively serious issue.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.261-270
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• 2021

Purpose. The aim of this study was (1) to compare the reverse engineering technique with other existing measurement methods and (2) to analyze the effect of implant angulations and impression coping types on implant impression accuracy with reverse engineering technique. Materials and methods. Three different master models were fabricated and the distance between the two implant center points in parallel master model was measured with different three methods; digital caliper measurement (Group DC), optical measuring (Group OM), and reverse engineering technique (Group RE). The 90 experimental models were fabricated with three types of impression copings for the three different implant angulation and the angular and distance error rate were calculated. One-way ANOVA was used for comparison among the evaluation methods (P < .05). The error rates of experimental groups were analyzed by two-way ANOVA (P < .05). Results. While there was significant difference between Group DC and RE (P < .05), Group OM had no significant difference compared with other groups (P > .05). The standard deviations in reverse engineering were much lower than those of digital caliper and optical measurement. Hybrid groups had no significant difference from the pick-up groups in distance error rates (P > .05). Conclusion. The reverse engineering technique demonstrated its potential as an evaluation technique of 3D accuracy of impression techniques.

• Journal of Korean Society of Disaster and Security
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.61-75
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• 2021

Recently, as the occurrence frequency of sudden floods due to climate change increased and the aging of the existing spillway, it is necessary to establish a plan to utilize an auxiliary spillway to minimize the flood damage of downstream rivers. Most studies have been conducted on the review of flow characteristics according to the operation of auxiliary spillway through the hydraulic experiments and numerical modeling. However, the studies on examination of flood damage in the downstream rivers and the stability of the revetment according to the operation of the auxiliary spillway were relatively insufficient in the literature. In this study, the stability of the revetment on the downstream river according to the outflow conditions of the existing and auxiliary spillway was examined by using 3D numerical model, FLOW-3D. The velocity, water surface elevation and shear stress results of FLOW-3D were compared with the permissible velocity and shear stress of design criteria. It was assumed the sluice gate was fully opened. As a result of numerical simulations of various auxiliary spillway operations during flood season, the single operation of the auxiliary spillway showed the reduction effect of maximum velocity and the water surface elevation compared with the single operation of the existing spillway. The stability of the revetment on downstream was satisfied under the condition of outflow less than 45% of the design flood discharge. However, the potential overtopping damage was confirmed in the case of exceeding the 45% of the design flood discharge. Therefore, the simultaneous operation with the existing spillway was important to ensure the stability on design flood discharge condition. As a result of examining the allocation ratio and the total allowable outflow, the reduction effect of maximum velocity was confirmed on the condition, where the amount of outflow on auxiliary spillway was more than that on existing spillway. It is because the flow of downstream rivers was concentrated in the center due to the outflow of existing spillway. The permissible velocity and shear stress were satisfied under the condition of less than 77% of the design flood discharge with simultaneous operation. It was found that the flood damage of downstream rivers can be minimized by setting the amount allocated to the auxiliary spillway to be larger than the amount allocated to the existing spillway for the total outflow with simultaneous operation condition. However, this study only reviewed the flow characteristics around the revetment according to the outflow of spillway under the full opening of the sluice gate condition. Therefore, the various sluice opening conditions and outflow scenarios will be asked to derive more efficient utilization of the auxiliary spillway in th future.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.267-274
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• 2020

This study was conducted to estimate genetic parameters for growth and egg production traits in Black Korean native chicken (L strain) and Korean White Leghorn (F, K strains) using a multi-traits animal model BLUP. Traits used for this study were body weight at 150 days (BW150) and 270 days (BW270), age at first egg (DAY1st), egg weight at first egg (EW1st) and 270 days (EW270), and number of eggs laid by 270 days (EP270), and included 68,688 pedigree and 123,905 performance records collected from 2001 to 2013. In L, F, K strains, heritability estimates of BW150 were high (0.48, 0.52 and 0.50, respectively); of BW270 were high (0.56, 0.57 and 0.56); of DAY1st were medium to high (0.45, 0.39 and 0.31); of EW1st were low (0.15, 0.16 and 0.15); of EW270 were high (0.58, 0.55 and 0.59) and of EP270 were moderate (0.22, 0.21 and 0.20). The genetic and phenotypic correlation of DAY1st with EP270 were highly negative (-0.73 to -0.63 and -0.48 to -0.42). The genetic and phenotypic correlation of EP270 with BW150 and BW270, respectively were low negative (-0.16 to 0.01 and -0.14 to -0.03) and low to moderate positive (-0.08 to 0.07 and -0.13 to 0.04). The genetic and phenotypic correlation of EW270 with BW150 and BW270, respectively were moderate to high positive (0.39 to 0.49 and 0.36 to 0.46) and (0.29 to 0.33 and 0.34 to 0.37). The study showed that there is a potential for genetic improvement of Korean Indigenous chicken through selection program.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.38 no.6_1
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• pp.1505-1514
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• 2022

Image matching is a crucial preprocessing step for effective utilization of multi-temporal and multi-sensor very high resolution (VHR) satellite images. Deep learning (DL) method which is attracting widespread interest has proven to be an efficient approach to measure the similarity between image pairs in quick and accurate manner by extracting complex and detailed features from satellite images. However, Image matching of VHR satellite images remains challenging due to limitations of DL models in which the results are depending on the quantity and quality of training dataset, as well as the difficulty of creating training dataset with VHR satellite images. Therefore, this study examines the feasibility of DL-based method in matching pair extraction which is the most time-consuming process during image registration. This paper also aims to analyze factors that affect the accuracy based on the configuration of training dataset, when developing training dataset from existing multi-sensor VHR image database with bias for DL-based image matching. For this purpose, the generated training dataset were composed of correct matching pairs and incorrect matching pairs by assigning true and false labels to image pairs extracted using a grid-based Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) algorithm for a total of 12 multi-temporal and multi-sensor VHR images. The Siamese convolutional neural network (SCNN), proposed for matching pair extraction on constructed training dataset, proceeds with model learning and measures similarities by passing two images in parallel to the two identical convolutional neural network structures. The results from this study confirm that data acquired from VHR satellite image database can be used as DL training dataset and indicate the potential to improve efficiency of the matching process by appropriate configuration of multi-sensor images. DL-based image matching techniques using multi-sensor VHR satellite images are expected to replace existing manual-based feature extraction methods based on its stable performance, thus further develop into an integrated DL-based image registration framework.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.11-22
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• 2022

N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors have received considerable attention regarding their involvement in glutamate-induced neuronal excitotoxicity. Resveratrol has been shown to exhibit neuroprotective effects against this kind of overactivation, but the underlying cellular mechanisms are not yet clearly understood. In this study, HT-22 neuronal cells were treated with NMDA in Mg²⁺-free buffer and subsequently used as an experimental model of glutamate excitotoxicity to elucidate the mechanisms of resveratrol-induced neuroprotection. We found that NMDA treatment causes a drop in MTT reduction ability, disrupts inside-negative transmembrane potential of mitochondria, depletes cellular ATP levels, and stimulates intracellular ROS production. Double fluorescence imaging studies demonstrated an increased formation of mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) pores accompanied by apoptotic cell death, while cobalt protoporphyrin and bilirubin showed protective effects against NMDA-induced mitochondrial injury. On the other hand, zinc protoporphyrin IX significantly attenuated the protective effects of resveratrol which was itself shown to enhance heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) mRNA and protein expression levels. In cells transfected with HO-1 small interfering RNA, resveratrol failed to suppress the NMDA-induced effects on MTT reduction ability and MPT pore formation. The present study suggests that resveratrol may prevent mitochondrial injury in NMDA- treated HT-22 cells and that enhanced expression of HO-1 is involved in the underlying cellular mechanism.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.56-65
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• 2022

Copper is one of the non-ferrous metals used in the electrical/electronic manufacturing industries due to its superior properties particularly the high conductivity and less resistivity. The effluent generated from the surface finishing process of these industries contains higher copper content which gets discharged in to water bodies directly or indirectly. This causes severe environmental pollution and also results in loss of an important valuable metal. To overcome this issue, continuous R & D activities are going on across the globe in adsorption area with the purpose of finding an efficient, low cost and ecofriendly adsorbent. In view of the above, present investigation was made to compare the performance of a plant root (Datura root powder) as a bio-adsorbent to that of the synthetic one (Tulsion T-42) for copper adsorption from such effluent. Experiments were carried out in batch studies to optimize parameters such as adsorbent dose, contact time, pH, feed concentration, etc. Results of the batch experiments indicate that 0.2 g of Datura root powder and 0.1 g of Tulsion T-42 showed 95% copper adsorption from an initial feed/solution of 100 ppm Cu at pH 4 in contact time of 15 and 30 min, respectively. Adsorption data for both the adsorbents were fitted well to the Freundlich isotherm. Experimental results were also validated with the kinetic model, which showed that the adsorption of copper followed pseudo-second order rate expression for the both adsorbents. Overall result demonstrates that the bio-adsorbent tested has a potential applicability for metal recovery from the waste solutions/effluents of metal finishing units. In view of the requirements of commercial viability and minimal environmental damage there from, Datura root powder being an effective material for metal uptake, may prove to be a feasible adsorbent for copper recovery after the necessary scale-up studies.