• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.34 no.1 s.132
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• pp.100-108
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• 2003

The regulation of plasma lipid level, particularly LDL cholesterol, represents the focus of current therapy for atherosclerosis. And $Lp-PLA_2$ is able to hydrolyse oxidized phosphatidylcholine within LDL into lyso-PC and oxidized fatty acids. $Lp-PLA_2$ is a potential biomarker of coronary heart disease and plays an important proinflammatory role in the progression of atherosclerosis. We investigated the inhibitory effects of methanol extracts of 224 natural plants on $Lp-PLA_2$ activity. Seven kinds of methanol extracts of tested plants showed above 50% inhibitory effect with the concentration of $100\;{\mu}g/ml$. The concentrated aqueous suspensions of each methanol extract were partitioned with n-hexane, $CHCl_3$, and EtOAc. Among them, EtOAc extracts of Astilbe chinensis var. davidii (root) and Pourthiaea villosa var. brunnea (leaf) significantly inhibited $Lp-PLA_2$ activity at the same concentration.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.116-119
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• 2015

Globotriaosylsphingosine (lyso-Gb3) is considered as one of the biological marker for Fabry disease. To date, a reliable biomarker that reflects disease severity and progression has not been discovered to guide the management of Fabry disease. A new method included a simple protein precipitation with acetonitrile in 100 μL of plasma following analyte separation on an Phenomenex Kintex- C18 column using a gradient elution (0.1% formic acid in 5-90% acetonitrile). Total run time was within 12 min including sample preparation and MS/MS analysis. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation were 1 ng/mL and 2 ng/mL, respectively. The calibration curve was linear over the concentration range of 2.0-200.0 ng/mL (r² = 0.9999). Inter-day accuracy and precision at 7 level were 93.4-100.7% with RSD of 0.55-5.97%. Absolute recovery was 97.6-98.6%. The method was applied to human and mice plasma, proved the suitability for quantification of lyso-Gb3 for screening, diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of Fabry disease patients.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.19-34
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• 2015

Objectives: This study was performed to investigate the anti-tumor effect of O. japonicus extracts on intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma cell line SNU-1079. Methods: Cholangiocarcinoma SNU-1079 cells were treated with various concentrations of O. japonicus DW and EtOH extracts ($0-300{\mu}g/ml$) for 24, 48 or 72 h. Cell viability was evaluated through a PMS/MTS assay, and the apoptosis rate was examined through ELISA assay and flow cytometry analysis. The mRNA expression of apoptosis- and cell cycle progression-related genes (Bcl-2, Mcl-1, Bax, Survivin, Cyclin D1, and p21) was evaluated using real-time PCR, and the caspase activity was examined using immunoblot analysis. Results: O. japonicus extracts inhibited cell proliferation and increased apoptosis rate in both ELISA assay and flow cytometry analysis. O. japonicus extracts decreased Bcl-2, Mcl-1, Survivin, and Cyclin D1 mRNA expression and increased Bax mRNA level. O. japonicus extracts also increased Caspase-3 activation. Overall, O. japonicus DW extracts were more effective than EtOH extracts. Conclusions: O. japonicus inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in SNU-1079 cells via mitochondria -mediated intrinsic pathway, which leads to Caspase-3 activation. The results indicate that O. japonicus is a potential therapeutic herb with anti-tumor effect against intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.9 no.12
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• pp.1580-1587
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• 2006

The term molecular imaging can be broadly defined as the in vivo characterization and measurement of biologic processes at the cellular and molecular level. Optical imaging that has highly reproducibility and repetition used in molecular imaging research. In the bioluminescence imaging, animals carrying the luciferase gene are imaged with a cooled CCD(Charge-Coupled Device) camera to pick up the small number of photons transmitted through tissues. Molecular imaging analysis will allow us to observe the incipience and progression of the disease. But hardware device for molecular imaging and software for molecular image analysis were dependent on imports. In this paper, we suggest image processing methods and designed software for bioluminescence signal analysis. And we demonstrated high correlation(r=0.99) between our software's photon counts and commercial software's photon counts. ROI function and processing functions were accomplished without error. This study have the importance of the development software for bioluminescence image processing and analysis. And this study built the foundations for creative development of analysis methods. We expected this study lead the development of image technology.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.13-25
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• 2020

One of the most important aspects in structural health monitoring is the detection of fatigue damage. Structural components such as heavy-duty bolts work under high dynamic loads, and thus are prone to accumulate fatigue damage and cracks may originate. Those heavy-duty bolts are used, for example, in wind power generation and mining equipment. Therefore, the investigation of new and more effective monitoring technologies attracts a great interest. In this study the acoustic emission (AE) technology was employed to detect incipient damage during fatigue testing of a M36 bolt. Initial results showed that the AE signals have a high level of background noise due to how the load is applied by the fatigue testing machine. Thus, an advanced signal processing method in the time-frequency domain, the Hilbert-Huang Spectrum (HHS), was applied to reveal AE components buried in background noise in form of high-frequency peaks that can be associated with damage progression. Accordingly, the main contribution of the present study is providing insights regarding the detection of incipient damage during fatigue testing using AE signals and providing recommendations for further research.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.2459-2463
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• 2015

Background: To investigate the expression and clinical significance of zinc finger protein 217 (ZNF217) in human colorectal carcinoma (CRC). Materials and Methods: The expression of ZNF217 in 60 CRC tissues and matched tumor adjacent tissues, collected between January 2013 and June 2014, was assessed immunohistochemically. The relationship between the expression of ZNF217 and clinicopathlogical features was analyzed by Pearson chi-square test. In addition, siRNA was used to down-regulate the expression of ZNF217 in CRC cells. The effects of ZNF217 for cell migration and invasion were measured by wound healing assay and transwell assay, respectively. Results: The expression level of ZNF217 was significantly higher in CRC tissues than in tumor adjacent tissues (p<0.05), positively correlating with tumor size, lymphatic metastasis and advanced TNM stage (p<0.05). Down-regulation of ZNF217 in CRC cells could significantly suppress cell migration and invasion. Conclusions: ZNF217 is overexpressed in colorectal carcinoma tissues and is associated with tumor malignant clinicopathological features. ZNF217 may promote CRC progression by inducing cell migration and invasion.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.381-384
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• 2014

Background: Evidence indicates that Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) levels may be a biomarker for cancer risk. The aim of this study was to assess DKK-1 and its correlation with clinic-pathological features in patients with bladder cancer. Materials and Methods: DKK-1 levels were determined in serum samples from 90 patients with bladder cancer before transurethral tumor resection. The concentrations of DKK-1 were determined by using enzyme linked immune-sorbent assay (ELISA). Results: Elevated preoperative DKK-1 levels were associated with tumor stage (p<0.001), grade (p<0.001) and histological grade (p<0.001). Conclusions: The results of our study demonstrated that the level of serum DKK-1 is correlated with both disease progression and increase in the tumor grade. Preoperative serum DKK-1 elevation may thus represent a novel marker for the determination of bladder cancer and the detection of patients with a likely poor clinical outcome.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.509-518
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• 2017

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common primary intracranial tumor in adults and has poor prognosis. The GBM-specific tumor microenvironment (TME) plays a crucial role in tumor progression, immune escape, local invasion, and metastasis of GBM. Here, we demonstrate that hypoxia, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and differential concentration of glucose influence the expression of cytokines and chemokines, such as IL-6, IL-8, and IP-10, in human glial cell lines. Treatment with cobalt chloride ($CoCl_2$) and hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$) significantly increased the expression levels of IL-6, IL-8, and IP-10 in a dose-dependent manner in CRT-MG and U251-MG astroglioma cells, but not in microglia cells. However, we found strikingly different patterns of expression of cytokines and chemokines between $H_2O_2$-treated CRT-MG cells cultured in low- and high-glucose medium. These results suggest that astroglioma and microglia cells exhibit distinct patterns of cytokine and chemokine expression in response to $CoCl_2$ and $H_2O_2$ treatment, and different concentrations of glucose influence this expression under either hypoxic or oxidant-enriched conditions.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.176-181
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• 1999

The variations of gene expression and pituitary contents of GTH subunits during the ovarian development of masu salmon, Oncorhynchus masou, were investigated. The pituitary GTHs contents was measured by radioimmunoassays (RIAs) using purified GTH subunits and their antibodies. Pituitary contents of GTH $I\beta$ gradually increased from April through August, and reached the maximum in October. On the other hand, pituitary contents of GTH $II\beta$ remained low until August, but they rapidly increased in October. Total RNAs were prepared from pooled pituitaries and the GTH subunits mRNA in pituitaries was quantified by Northern blot hybridization using masu salmon cDNA probes for each GTH subunit. GTH $I\beta$ mRNA level increased with the progression of ovarian maturity. However, GTH $II\beta$ mRNA was detected only at a more advanced stage, and were extremly high at ovulation. A high levels for GTH a mRNA was detected only at ovulation stage. The synchronous increase in pituitary contents and mRNA levels suggested that ovarian maturity in masu salmon was regulated by both GTH I and GTH II.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.259.3-260
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• 2003

Alzheimer's disease(AD) is the most common cause of senile dementia in elderly people and the causes of AD are currently not fully understood. However, AD is generally understood to be associated with reduced levels of acetylcholine in the brain as cholinergic neurons are lost and cholinergic neurotransmission declines. There are growing evidences that two types of cholinesterase(ChE), i.e., acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) both play important roles in the regulation of acetylcholine level in brain and thus may have a crucial role in the development and progression of AD. (omitted)