• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.12
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• pp.1002-1014
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• 2023

The root of Cirsium japonicum var. maackii (Maxim.) has long been used in traditional medicine to prevent the onset and progression of various diseases and has been reported to exert a wide range of physiological effects, including antioxidant activity. However, research on its effects on hepatocytes remains scarce. This study used the human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cell line to investigate the antioxidant activity of ethanol extract of C. japonicum root (EECJ) on hepatocytes. Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) was used to mimic oxidative stress. The results showed that EECJ significantly reverted the decrease in cell viability and suppressed the release of lactate dehydrogenase in HepG2 cells treated with H₂O₂. Moreover, an analysis of changes in cell morphology, flow cytometry, and microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3) expression showed that EECJ significantly inhibited HepG2 cell autophagy induced by H₂O₂. Furthermore, it attenuated H₂O₂-induced apoptosis and cell cycle disruption by blocking intracellular reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial superoxide production, indicating strong antioxidant activity. EECJ also restored the decreased levels of intracellular glutathione (GSH) and enhanced the expression and activity of superoxide dismutase and GSH peroxidase in H₂O₂-treated HepG2 cells. Although an analysis of the components contained in EECJ and in vivo validation using animal models are needed, these findings indicate that EECJ is a promising candidate for the prevention and treatment of oxidative stress-induced liver cell damage.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.181-191
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• 2024

In the realm of cement manufacturing, concerted efforts are underway to mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases. A significant portion, approximately 60%, of these emissions during the cement clinker sintering process is attributed to the decarbonation of limestone, which serves as a fundamental ingredient in cement production. Prompted by these environmental concerns, there is an active pursuit of alternative technologies and admixtures for cement that can substitute for limestone. Concurrently, initiatives are being explored to harness technology within the cement industry for the capture of carbon dioxide from industrial emissions, facilitating its conversion into carbonate minerals via chemical processes. Parallel to these technological advances, economic growth has precipitated a surge in construction activities, culminating in a steady escalation of construction waste, notably waste concrete. This study is anchored in the innovative production of calcium silicate cement clinkers, utilizing finely powdered waste concrete, followed by a thorough analysis of their mineral phases. Through X-ray diffraction(XRD) analysis, it was observed that increasing the substitution level of waste concrete powder and the molar ratio of SiO₂ to (CaO+SiO₂) leads to a decrease in Belite and γ-Belite, whereas minerals associated with carbonation, such as wollastonite and rankinite, exhibited an upsurge. Furthermore, the formation of gehlenite in cement clinkers, especially at higher substitution levels of waste concrete powder and the aforementioned molar ratio, is attributed to a synthetic reaction with Al₂O₃ present in the waste concrete powder. Analysis of free-CaO content revealed a decrement with increasing substitution rate of waste concrete powder and the molar ratio of SiO₂/(CaO+SiO₂). The outcomes of this study substantiate the viability of fabricating calcium silicate cement clinkers employing waste concrete powder.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.113 no.3
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• pp.282-291
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• 2024

In Korea, pine forests are continuously declining as they mature. Along with vegetation succession, mushroom succession also occurs. The productivity of pine mushroom, a mycorrhizal species that was introduced as a source of short-term forest income in the late 20th century, is also declining. Although the forest fires was originally blamed as the main cause of pine forests decline, it has not been identified as a significant factor in the decline of pine mushroom productivity. Pine mushrooms are mainly produced in pine-dominant stands ranging in age classes from 3 to 8, with the highest productivity occurring between 4 and 6 classes. Accordingly, the aging of pine forests and their succession to mixed forests were evaluated as the most important factors contributing to the decrease in pine mushroom productivity. Since tending practices in pine mushroom-producing forests contribute to maintaining and increasing the productivity of pine mushrooms in mature pine forests, production can be sustained through proactive forest/soil management. In recent years, attempts have been made to cultivate pine mushrooms. The method of producing a mycorrhizae-infected pine tree by planting a pine in front of a fairy ring of Tricholoma matsutake and then transplanting it to create a new pine mushroom-producing stand has been successful. However, the method may cause damage to the fairy ring and has difficulties to preserve the viability of mycorrhizal fungus during transplantation. Mycorrhizae-inoculated seedling production is proposed as an alternative technology, but difficulties remain in keeping the fungus in the seedling during transplantation. Research on the microbiome of the fairy ring of T. matsutake is being conducted to solve this problem. Bacteria and fungi that contribute to the mycelial growth of T. matsutake have been discovered. It is expected that the era of industrial cultivation of pine mushroom will soon be possible through a microbial ecological approach.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.167-176
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• 1997

This study was carried out to evaluate the potential for preselection of transgenic embryos prior to transfer into recipient animals. In these experiments, I used a 3.2 kb transgene which contained the neomycin resistance gene (neo) and lac Z gene driven by the $\beta$ actin promoter (iacZ Ineo). Oocytes were aspirated from abattoir ovaries, matured in TCM-199 supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), 5 ${\mu}\textrm{g}$/ml LH, 0.5 ${\mu}\textrm{g}$/ml FSH, 100 unit/ml penicillin, and 100 ${\mu}\textrm{g}$/ml streptomycin for 22 to 24 hrs then inseminated with a sperm suspension of 1 X 10$^6$ sperm/ml containing 5 ${\mu}\textrm{g}$/ml of heparin. At 18-20 hrs after insemination, cumulus cells were removed by vortexing and pronuclei of centrifuged zygotes microinjected with the lacZ/neo construct (3 ng/$\mu$l). All cultures were carried out in CR1aa with transfected BRL monolayers containing 3 mg/ml BSA, 20 $\mu$/ml NEM amino acids and 40 $\mu$I/ml BME amino acids. To identify the appropriate concentration of G418 for selection, non-microinjected zygotes were cultured in the presence of 0, 50, 100 and 200 $\mu$g/ml of G418. After 8 days of culture in these treatments, 44/145 (30.3%), 13/150 (8. 7%), 1/151 (0.7%) and 0/134 (0.0%) devel-oped to the blastocyst stage in 0, 50, 100 and 200 $\mu$g/ml of G418, respectively. A total of 1,127 zygotes were microinjected and placed into culture (without G418) and subsequently 710 (63.0%) cleaved. At 48 hrs post-injection, embryos ($\geq$2-cell) were randomly assigned to control (medium alone) or G418 (100 ${\mu}\textrm{g}$/ml) treatments. A control culture of 740 non-microinjected embryos from the same replicates of embryos were also placed into control medium. After 8 days in culture, 54/343 (15.7%) and 22/367 (6.0 %) of the microinjected embryos developed to the blastocyst stage in control and G418 media, respectively. A total of 151/740 (27.2%) of the non-microinjected embryos placed in the control medium developed to the blastocyst stage. The blastocysts in the control treatment had a mean of 70.7 ${\pm}$ 4.7 cells of which 23.1 ${\pm}$ 2.6 (32.7%) stained for $\beta$-Gal activity. B1astocysts in the G418 treatment had a mean of 48.8${\pm}$7.5 cells of which 40.3 ${\pm}$ 4.1 (82.6%) stained for $\beta$-Gal ac tivity (P<0.05). In the control treatment 26 of 30 (87.0%) blastocysts had some cells with $\beta$-Gal activity while all of the blastocysts in the G418 treatment had some cell with $\beta$-Gal ac tivity (P<0.05). However, ICM colonies in either control or G418 treatments were not expressed any epiblast cell except of trophetoderm celIs. The $\beta$-actin promoter/lacZ gene may not be e expression or silence expression in epiblast cells These results clearly show an enrichment of blastocysts expressing the transgene in the majority of their cells after culture in the presence of G418. The exogeneous gene was not express a and silence in ICM colonies especiallly epiblast cells except of trophectederm cells. Even though the higher rate cell number expressed of exogeneous gene in the G418 treatments, a total cell number was decrease significantly (P<0.05) of which might be also drop of the establishment of ES like-cell colonies and production of transgenic animals. However, futher studies need to determine the viability of these selected embryos and the avability of production of transgenic offspring.