• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.20-34
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• 2006

This study was undertaken to assess the anthropogenic impact on trace metal concentrations (Zn, Cu, Pb, Cr, Ni, and Cd) of roadside sediments (N = 70) from No.7 national road within the watershed of Hoidong Reservoir in Pusan City and to estimate the potential mobility of selected metals using sequential extraction. We generally found high concentrations of metals, especially Zn, Cu and Pb, affected by anthropogenic inputs. Compared to the trace metal concentrations of uncontaminated stream sediments, arithmetic mean concentrations of roadside sediments were about 7 times higher for Cu, 4 times higher for Zn, 3 times higher for Pb and Cr and, 2 times higher for Ni and As. Speciation data on the basis of sequential extraction indicate that most of the trace metals considered do not occur in significant quantities in the exchangeable fraction, except for Cd and Ni whose exchangeable fractions are appreciable (average 29.3 and 25.8%, respectively). Other metals such as Zn (51.4%) and Pb (45.2%) are preferentially bound to the reducible fraction, and therefore they can be potentially released by a pH decrease and/or redox change. Copper is mainly found in the organic fraction, while Cd is highest in the exchangeable fraction, and Cr and Ni in the residual fraction. Considering the proportion of metals bound to the exchangeable and carbonate fractions, the comparative mobility of metals probably decreases in the order of Cd>Ni>Pb>Zn>Cr>Cu. Although the total concentration data showed that Zn was typically present in potentially harmful concentration levels, the data on metal partitioning indicated that Cd, Ni and Pb pose the highest potential hazard for runoff water. As potential changes of redox state and pH may remobilize the metals bound to carbonates, amorphous oxides, and/or organic matter, and may release and flush them through drain networks into the watershed of Hoidong Reservoir, careful monitoring of environmental conditions appears to be very important.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.786-794
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• 2018

Silkworm (Bombyx mori) pupae have been widely worked in wound dressing, hepatoprotective activity, antigenotoxicity, control of glucose level and anti-cancer activity. To investigate the anti-obesity activity of ethanol extract of silkworm pupae powder fermented with Cordyceps militaris (ESfC), the free glycerol release and cAMP concentration as well as fat accumulation were measured in the primary adipocytes of SD (Sprague Dawley) rats and high fat diet (HFD)-treated C57BL/6 mice treated with 12 weeks. Firstly, the presence of the cordycepin with lipid lowering effect was confirmed in ESfC using HPLC analysis. The level of free glycerol and cAMP concentration was significantly increased in the primary adipocytes treated with high dose of ESfC ($400{\mu}g/ml$) although these levels were consistently maintained in other dose ESfC treated groups. In HFD-induced obesity model, the increased fat weight and size of adipocytes in HFD+Vehicle treated group was recovered in HFD+ESfC treated group. Also, the liver weight and the number of lipid droplets were higher in HFD+Vehicle treated group than No treated group. But, this level was significantly decreased in HFD+ESfC treated group compared with HFD+Vehicle treated group. Furthermore, a similar recovery was detected on the phosphorylation of periliphin and HSL, and ATGL expression. Overall, the results of the present study provide some scientific evidences that ESfC can stimulate lipolysis in primary adipocytes and prevent fat accumulation in HFD-treated obesity model, and therefore have the potential for use as anti-obesity agents to treat obese patient.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.383-390
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• 2018

Most neurodegenerative diseases are known to be influenced by oxidative stress. We investigated the anti-oxidative activity of the concentrate of fermented wild ginseng root culture (HLJG0701) containing ginsenosides Rg5 and Rk1. HLJG0701 showed effective DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging ability ($IC_{50}$: 16- and 4-fold dilution, respectively) and was inhibited dose-dependently by the $FeSO_4$-induced lipid peroxidation group (8- and 4-fold dilution: 2.3 and 1.5 nM, respectively). In MTT and LDH assays, 8-, 16-, 32- and 64-fold diluted HLJG0701 significantly increased cell viability by 70, 53, 35, and 26%, respectively. LDH released by HLJG0701 was reduced 1.3-fold with 8-fold diluted HLJG0701 compared to the $H_2O_2$-treated control. In addition, the inhibitory effect of HLJG0701 on oxidative stress in PC12 cells was confirmed by DCF-DA analysis (16-, 4-fold diluted HLJG0701: 50 and 68% ROS inhibition, respectively), TBARS (16- and 4-fold diluted HLJG0701: 50.7 and 46.5% inhibition, respectively), GPx (16- and 4-fold diluted HLJG0701: 133.3 and 227.3% release, respectively), and SOD analysis (16- and 4-fold diluted HLJG0701: 118.2 and 218.2% release, respectively). These results suggested that HLJG0701 protects neuronal cells by its anti-oxidative effects and hence can be a potential preventive material against neurodegenerative diseases.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.61-71
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• 2009

Most deciduous trees in temperate zone are dormant during the winter to overcome cold and dry environment. Dormancy of deciduous fruit trees is usually separated into a period of rest by physiological conditions and a period of quiescence by unfavorable environmental conditions. Inconsistent and fewer budburst in pear orchards has been reported recently in South Korea and Japan and the insufficient chilling due to warmer winters is suspected to play a role. An accurate prediction of the flowering time under the climate change scenarios may be critical to the planning of adaptation strategy for the pear industry in the future. However, existing methods for the prediction of budburst depend on the spring temperature, neglecting potential effects of warmer winters on the rest release and subsequent budburst. We adapted a dormancy clock model which uses daily temperature data to calculate the thermal time for simulating winter phenology of deciduous trees and tested the feasibility of this model in predicting budburst and flowering of Niitaka pear, one of the favorite cultivars in Korea. In order to derive the model parameter values suitable for Niitaka, the mean time for the rest release was estimated by observing budburst of field collected twigs in a controlled environment. The thermal time (in chill-days) was calculated and accumulated by a predefined temperature range from fall harvest until the chilling requirement (maximum accumulated chill-days in a negative number) is met. The chilling requirement is then offset by anti-chill days (in positive numbers) until the accumulated chill-days become null, which is assumed to be the budburst date. Calculations were repeated with arbitrary threshold temperatures from $4^{\circ}C$ to $10^{\circ}C$ (at an interval of 0.1), and a set of threshold temperature and chilling requirement was selected when the estimated budburst date coincides with the field observation. A heating requirement (in accumulation of anti-chill days since budburst) for flowering was also determined from an experiment based on historical observations. The dormancy clock model optimized with the selected parameter values was used to predict flowering of Niitaka pear grown in Suwon for the recent 9 years. The predicted dates for full bloom were within the range of the observed dates with 1.9 days of root mean square error.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.555-563
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• 2019

This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of an ethanol extract of Elaeagnus umbellata leaves (EUL-EE) on skin-related biological activities. Previously, we have reported that gallic acid was the major phenolic compound in EUL-EE through quantitative analysis and that EUL-EE had an inhibitory effect against the proliferation of liver cancer HepG2 cells. In the present study, the inhibitory effects of EUL-EE on melanin production and tyrosinase activity in ${\alpha}$-melanocyte-stimulated hormone-stimulated B16-F0 cells were determined to assess the effects of EUL-EE on skin whitening. The anti-wrinkle effect using UVB-irradiated CCD-986sk cells was examined by the expression of type I procollagen and metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 release. The EUL-EE significantly decreased intracellular melanin production (33.0% inhibition at $100{\mu}g/ml$) when compared with untreated B16-F0 cells. Tyrosinase activities in the stimulated B16-F0 cells were also decreased by EUL-EE (47.8% inhibition at $100{\mu}g/ml$). The EUL-EE also dose-dependently increased the production of type I procollagen (up to 1.74-fold at $250{\mu}g/ml$) in CCD-986sk cells when compared with UVB-irradiated controls. EUL-EE showed no cytotoxicity at concentrations up to $500{\mu}g/ml$. In addition, EUL-EE at $10-500{\mu}g/ml$ inhibited the release of MMP-1 to the medium from UVB-irradiated CCD-986sk cells. Taken together, these observations indicate that EUL-EE has high potential for use as inner beauty and cosmetic materials due to its whitening and anti-wrinkle effects.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.618-630
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• 2021

Purpose: The ginger rhizome (Zingiber officinale) is widely cultivated as a spice for its aromatic and pungent components. One of its constituents, 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) is usually thought to cross the cell membrane through dopamine uptake transporters, and induce inhibition of mitochondrial respiration and the generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). This study examines the neuroprotective effect and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity of fermented ginger extracts (FGEs) on 6-OHDA induced toxicity in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells. Methods: Ginger was fermented using 2 species of Bacillus subtilis, with or without enzyme pretreatment. Each sample was extracted with 70% ethanol. Neurotoxicity was assessed by applying the EZ-Cytox cell viability assay and by measuring lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) release. Morphological changes of apoptotic cell nuclei were observed by Hoechst staining. Cell growth and apoptosis of SH-SY5Y cells were determined by Western blotting and enzyme activity analysis of caspase-3, and AChE enzymatic activity was determined by the colorimetric assay. Results: In terms of cell viability and LDH release, exposure to FGE showed neuroprotective activities against 6-OHDA stimulated stress in SH-SY5Y cells. Furthermore, FGE reduced the 6-OHDA-induced apoptosis, as determined by Hoechst staining. The occurrence of apoptosis in 6-OHDA treated cells was confirmed by determining the caspase-3 activity. Exposure to 6-OHDA resulted in increased caspase-3 activity of SH-SY5Y cells, as compared to the unexposed group. However, pre-treatment with FGE inhibited the activity of caspase-3. The neuroprotective effects of FGE were also found to be caspase-dependent, based on reduction of caspase-3 activity. Exposure to FGE also inhibited the activity of AChE induced by 6-OHDA, in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusion: Taken together, our results show that FGE exhibits a neuroprotective effect in 6-OHDA treated SH-SY5Y cells, thereby making it a potential novel agent for the prevention or treatment of neurodegenerative disease.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.554-560
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• 2014

To investigate the applicability of montmorillonite to capping material for the remediation of contaminated marine sediment, adsorption characteristics of $PO{_4}{^{3-}}$ onto montmorillonite were studied in a batch system with respect to changes in contact time, initial concentration, pH, adsorbent dose amount, competing anions, adsorbent mixture, and seawater. Sorption equilibrium reached in 1 h at 50 mg/L but 3 h was required to reach sorption equilibrium at 300 mg/L. Freundlich model was more suitable to describe equilibrium sorption data than Langmuir model. The $PO{_4}{^{3-}}$ adsorption decreased as pH increased, due to the $PO{_4}{^{3-}}$ competition for favorable adsorption site with OH- at higher pH. The presence of anions such as nitrate, sulfate, and bicarbonate had no significant effect on the $PO{_4}{^{3-}}$ adsorption onto the montmorillonite. The use of the montmorillonite alone was more effective for the removal of the $PO{_4}{^{3-}}$ than mixing the montmorillonite with red mud and steel slag. The $PO{_4}{^{3-}}$ adsorption capacity of the montmorillonite was higher in seawater than deionized water, resulting from the presence of calcium ion in seawater. The water tank elution experiments showed that montmorillonite capping blocked well the elution of $PO{_4}{^{3-}}$, which was not measured up to 14 days. It was concluded that the montmirillonite has a potential capping material for the removal of the $PO{_4}{^{3-}}$ from the aqueous solutions.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.62-67
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• 2009

Ti and Ti-alloys have good biocompatibility, appropriate mechanical properties and excellent corrosion resistance. However, the widely used Ti-6Al-4V is found to release toxic ions (Al and V) into the body, leading to undesirable long-term effects. Ti-6Al-4V has much higher elastic modulus (100 GPa) than cortical bone (20 GPa). Therefore, titanium alloys with low elastic modulus have been developed as biomaterials to minimize stress shielding. The electrochemical behavior of surface-modified and MC3T3-E1 cell-cultured Ti-30(Nb,Ta) alloys with low elastic modulus have been investigated using various electrochemical methods. Surfaces of test samples were treated as follows: $0.3{\mu}m$ polished; $25{\mu}m$, $50{\mu}m$ and $125{\mu}m$ sandblasted. Specimen surfaces were cultured with MC3T3-E1 cells for 2 days. Average surface roughness ($R_a$) and morphology of specimens were determined using a surface profilometer, OM, and FE-SEM. Corrosion behavior was investigated using a potentiostat(EG&G PARSTAT 2273), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was performed (10 mHz to 100 kHz) in 0.9% NaCl solution at $36.5{\pm}1^{\circ}C$. The microstructures of the Ti-30(Ta,Nb) alloys had a needle-like appearance. The $R_a$ of polished Ti-30Ta and Ti-30Nb alloys was lower than that of the sandblasted Ti alloy. Cultured cells displayed round shapes. For polished alloy samples, cells were well-cultured on all surfaces compared to sandblasted alloy samples. In sandblasted and cell-cultured Ti-30(Nb,Ta) alloy, the pitting potential decreased and passive current density increased as $R_a$ increased. Anodic polarization curves of cell-cultured Ti alloys showed unstable behavior in the passive region compared to non-cell-cultured alloys. From impedance tests of sandblasted and cell-cultured alloys, the polarization resistance decreased as $R_a$ increased, whereas, $R_a$ for cell-cultured Ti alloys increased compared to non-cell-cultured Ti alloys.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.215-224
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• 1989

Electrochemical reductions of $trans-[Co(en)_2X_2](ClO_4)_n$ (where X is cyanide, nitrite, ammonia, and isothiocyanate) were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and polarography at mercury and glassy carbon electrode. $trans-[Co(en)_2(CN)_2]ClO_4$ was reduced to Co(II) complex followed by adsorption to the mercury electrode. Cyanide ion was not released from the reduced Co(II) complex but the cyanide and (en) were released after the reduction to metallic cobalt. The other complexes except $trans-[Co(en)_2(CN)_2]ClO_4$ were reduced to cobalt(II) complexes followed by release of monodendate ligand, and (en) was released at the reduction step to metallic cobalt. $trans-[Co(en)_2(NO_2)_2]ClO_4$ was reduced to cobalt(Ⅱ) complex, and $NO_2^-$ ion was released followed by electroreduction through ECE mechanism at pH 2. On glassy carbon electrode, all complexes of Co(III) were reduced to Co(II) complexes with irreversible one-electron diffusion controlled reaction in which (en) was not released at this step. Increasing absorption wave number of complexes caused to negative shift of peak potential.

• Journal of KIISE:Software and Applications
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.503-517
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• 2010

Service-oriented computing, the effective paradigm for developing service applications by using reusable services, becomes popular. In service-oriented computing, service consumer has no responsibility for managing services, just invokes services what service providers are producing. On the other hand, service providers should manage any resources and data for service consumers can use the service anytime and anywhere. However, it is hard service providers manage the quality of the services because an unspecified number of service consumers. Therefore, service scalability for providing services with higher quality of services specified in a service level agreement becomes a potential problem in service-oriented computing. There have been many researches for scalability in network, database, and distributed computing area. But a research about a definition of service scalability and metrics of measuring service scalability is still not mature in service engineering area. In this paper, we construct a service network which connects multiple service nodes, and integrate all the resources to manage it. And we also present a service scalability framework for managing service scalability by using a mechanism of service migration or replication. In section 3, we, firstly, present the structure of the scalability management framework and basic functionalities. In section 4, we propose scalability enhancement mechanism which is needed to release functionality of the framework. In section 5, we design and implement the framework by using proposed mechanism. In section 6, we demonstrate the result of our case study which dynamically manages services in multi-nodes environment by applying our framework. Through the case study, we show the applicability of our scalability management framework and mechanism.