• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.938-945
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• 2009

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of ingestion of low-molecular-weight collagen peptides on lipid composition, blood glucose level, and enzyme activities in the serum of hyperlipidemic rats fed experimental diets for 5 weeks. Concentrations of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, free cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), phospholipid (PL), and blood glucose, the atherosclerotic index, and the cholesteryl ester ratio were higher in serum of the hyperlipidemic group (CW group), and the cholesterol-plus-collagen peptides extract group (CCP group) than in the control group (BG group basal diet plus water). However, the concentrations of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, free cholesterol, TG, PL, and blood glucose, the atherosclerotic index, and the cholesteryl ester ratio in serum were lower in the CCP group than in the CW group. By contrast, the ratio of HDL-cholesterol to total cholesterol and the absolute HDL-cholesterol level in the CCP group were higher than in the CW group. The activities of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and aminotransferases (AST, ALT) in serum were lower in the CCP group than in the hyperlipidemic CW group. The results indicate that an extract of low-molecular-weight collagen peptides effectively inhibited increases in lipid elevation, blood glucose level, and enzyme activities, in the serum of hyperlipidemic rats.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.117-122
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• 2011

Endothelial cells are a vital constituent of most mammalian organs and are required to maintain the integrity of these tissues. These cells also play a major role in angiogenesis, inflammatory reactions, and in the regulation of thrombosis. Angiogenesis facilitates pulp formation and produces the vessels which are essential for the maintenance of tooth homeostasis. These vessels can also be used in bone and tissue regeneration, and in surgical procedures to place implants or to remove cancerous tissue. Furthermore, endothelial cell regeneration is the most critical component of the tooth generation process. The aim of the present study was to stimulate endothelial regeneration at a site of acute cyclophosphamide (CP)-induced endothelial injury by treatment with human umbilical cord-derived endothelial/mesenchymal stem cells (hEPCs). We randomly assigned 16 to 20-week-old female NOD/SCID mice into three separate groups, a hEPC ($1{\times}10^5$ cells) transplanted, 300mg/kg CP treated and saline (control) group. The mice were sacrificed on days 5 and 10 and blood was collected via the abdominal aorta for analysis. The alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), serum alkaline phosphatase (s-ALP), and albumin (ALB) levels were then evaluated. Tissue sections from the livers and kidneys were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) for microscopic analysis and were subjected to immunohistochemistry to evaluate any changes in the endothelial layer. CP treatment caused a weight reduction after one day. The kidney/body weight ratio increased in the hEPC treated animals compared with the CP only group at 10 days. Moreover, hEPC treatment resulted in reduced s-ALP, AST, ALT levels compared with the CP only group at 10 days. The CP only animals further showed endothelial injuries at five days which were recovered by hEPC treatment at 10 days. The number of CD31-positive cells was increased by hEPC treatment at both 5 and 10 days. In conclusion, the CP-induced disruption of endothelial cells is recovered by hEPC treatment, indicating that hEPC transplantation has potential benefits in the treatment of endothelial damage.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.185-192
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• 2007

The present experiment was carried out to study the effects of light intensity on growth, survival, caudal fin shape, body composition, skin color and blood component of river puffer, Takifugu obscurus. Four light intensities (0, 500, 1,000, 2,000 lx) were tested in duplicates for 60 days. Specific growth rate (SGR), daily feeding rate (FR) and food coefficient (FC) were reduced following to the decrease of light intensity. However in survival rate there was not significantly different among groups. The damage extent of caudal fin was increased in more strong light intensity. In body composition, moisture and crude protein were only significantly difference according to light intensity. In body color, L and a were the highest in 0 lx. In blood analysis, the content of AST, ALT, GLU significantly increased in more powerful the intensity groups. It is concluded that the supplement of low light intensity (e.g. 0 lx) recommended for the commercial scale aquaculture of river puffer in land-based tank without growth and survival retardation.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.185-193
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• 1998

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary supplemental Astragalus membranaceus on performance and meat quality of broiler chicks for 5 weeks. Basal diets based on corn and soybean meal contained 21％ crude protein for the first three weeks and 19％ for the rest of two weeks. Four levels of dietary Astragalus membranaceus(0, 0.25, 0.50, 1.00％) were fed in a one way design. There were four replicates of 50 chicks per treatment. Weight gain, feed intake, feed efficiency, blood component, breast meat lipid and protein were measured at the end of experiment. No increased growth rate was observed in chicks fed the basal diet supplemented with Astragalus membranaceus. Chicks fed the diet containing 0.5 and 1.00％ Astragalus membranaceus tended to depress the growth rate. Feed intake of 0.25％ Astragalus membranaceus treatment was significantly lower than control group(P<0.05), Dietary supplemental Astragalus membranaceus improved the feed efficiency compared to the control group, but was not significantly different between them. However, Astragalus membranaceus treatment exhibited decreased serum cholesterol and AST compared to those of control group, but was not significantly different between supplemental groups. Serum hematocrit, triglyceride, phosphate and BUN decreased at 0.25％ Asparagus membranaceous supplementation. Growth hormone and IGF-1 (ng/ml) of chicks fed more than 0.50％ Astragalus membranaceus significantly decreased compared to those of control(P<0.05). The total lipid and protein content of chicks fed 0.25 and 0.50％ Astragalus membranaceus tended to increase, but did not show consistency at more than 0.50％ supplement. The results of this experiment indicated that optimum dietary Astragalus membranaceus level to improve the performance and meat quality of broiler chicks may be less than 0.25％.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.1157-1163
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• 2017

This study, analyzed the general and minerals composition of kamut and investigated its effect on blood components in mice fed a high fat diet. The content of each general component of kamut was as follows: $11.02{\pm}0.75%$ water, $13.16{\pm}1.28%$ crude protein, $1.85{\pm}0.19%$ crude fat, and $1.97{\pm}0.13%$ ash. The leptin level was the highest in the HF group($30.00{\pm}0.00ng/mL$) when compared to the control group. There was a significant decrease of $23.65{\pm}5.54ng/mL$ in the HFK group when compared to the HF group (p<0.05). The blood LDL-cholesterol concentration was the lowest in the control group at $10.00{\pm}2.00mg/dL$. The level was highest in the HF group at $28.00{\pm}0.00mg/dL$ when compared with the other groups (p<0.05). The aspartate transaminase (AST) level was significantly higher in the HFK group ($179.33{\pm}173.88U/L$) than in the control ($61.00{\pm}12.73U/L$) and HF groups ($132.00{\pm}0.00U/L$). According to the results of this study, the consumption of kamut lowers the blood LDL-cholesterol level more than the consumption of wheat flour. Additionally, kamut contains antioxidant substances such as selenium and zinc, which are thought to contribute to vascular health and thus aid in maintaining good health. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a variety of health foods using kamut; it should be used as a functional food for the maintenance of good health.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.85-93
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• 2011

To protect the steel structure in a high story buildings from fire, the sprayed fire-resistive materials are applied during the construction. Current standard methods to check the quality of sprayed fire-resistive materials are real fire test in lab, which take a long time (several weeks) and expensive. In this study, a simple analytical method to check the quality of sprayed fire-resistive materials is developed using Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIR). Total 9 kinds of sprayed fire-resisted materials and 3 kinds of normal sprayed material sets were used for the analysis. Each set of materials was 50 to 100 samples. Samples are grinded and make a fine powder. The spectral data acquisition was carried out using FT-NIR spectrometer with a integrating sphere. NIR methods successfully identify the sprayed fire resistive materials by a principle component analysis (PCA) after a vector normalization (SNV) pretreatment.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.1026-1034
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• 2019

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the lipid-lowering effect and safety of Daeshiho-tang in patients with uncontrolled lipid levels by statins. Methods: We investigated patients who had an abnormal lipid profile even when taking statins and who were administered Daeshiho-tang at Kyung-Hee University Korean Medical Hospital for at least one day between January 2008 and December 2018. Their basal characteristics and examinations were reviewed retrospectively with respect to lipid profile, AST, ALT, GGT, BUN, and creatinine. The lipid profile was composed of total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-cholesterol, and HDL-cholesterol. Subgroup analysis was performed on each component of dyslipidemia. Results: Among 20 participants, there were 10 males and 10 females. The mean BMI was 23.52. Eighty five percent of the participants were diagnosed as having cerebral infarction. After the administration of Daeshiho-tang, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol were significantly reduced, to 41.3 mg/dl and 33.95 mg/dl, respectively. In subgroup analyses, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol were significantly decreased, to 63 mg/dl and 54.6 mg/dl, respectively. Liver and kidney function showed no significant difference after taking Daeshiho-tang. Conclusions: Daeshiho-tang as a decoction or powder had significant lipid-lowering effects on total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in patients with dyslipidemia. The lipid-lowering effect on total and LDL cholesterol increased in patients with hypercholesterolemia and hyper-LDL-cholesterolemia, respectively. Based on the minimal changes in the liver and kidney function test, Daeshiho-tang would be safe enough to be used in clinics.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.1035-1042
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• 2019

Background: Herbal medication is widely used in the Korean Medicine Hospital, and drug-induced liver injury (DILI) in Korea has increased proportionally. Herb-induced liver injury now accounts for approximately 40% of cases of hepatotoxicity in Korea, according to research data. Currently, however, the component responsible for the toxicity is usually unknown or can only be suspected. Objective: To study the hepatotoxicity of Cheongsimyeonja-tang in DILI. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of 82 inpatients between April 2010 and March 2017 with suspected drug-induced liver injury (n=5). The standard criteria (RUCAM scale) for drug-induced liver injury (DILI) were applied. The electronic medical records (EMRs) were retrospectively reviewed to identify the relevant database. Aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and total bilirubin (T. Bili) were analyzed in blood samples before and after the administration of Cheongsimyeonja-tang. Results: Five cases out of 82 patients had a criterion-referenced probable (RUCAM) score ranging from 6 to 8 points DILI. However, statistical analysis of the liver function parameters results of the 82 patients did not show a statistically meaningful elevation after taking Cheongsimyeonja-tang. Conclusions: These data suggest a relationship between Cheongsimyeonja-tang and DILI. More studies are needed to validate these observations and to explore their implications.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.98-107
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• 2020

Methamphetamine (MA) is currently the most abused illicit drug in Korea. MA is produced by chemical synthesis, and the final target drug that is produced contains small amounts of the precursor chemicals, intermediates, and by-products. To identify and quantify these trace compounds in MA seizures, a practical and feasible approach for conducting chromatographic fingerprinting with a suite of traditional chemometric methods and recently introduced machine learning approaches was examined. This was achieved using gas chromatography (GC) coupled with a flame ionization detector (FID) and mass spectrometry (MS). Following appropriate examination of all the peaks in 71 samples, 166 impurities were selected as the characteristic components. Unsupervised (principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), and K-means clustering) and supervised (partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), support vector machines (SVM), and deep neural network (DNN) with Keras) chemometric techniques were employed for classifying the 71 MA seizures. The results of the PCA, HCA, K-means clustering, PLS-DA, OPLS-DA, SVM, and DNN methods for quality evaluation were in good agreement. However, the tested MA seizures possessed distinct features, such as chirality, cutting agents, and boiling points. The study indicated that the established qualitative and semi-quantitative methods will be practical and useful analytical tools for characterizing trace compounds in illicit MA seizures. Moreover, they will provide a statistical basis for identifying the synthesis route, sources of supply, trafficking routes, and connections between seizures, which will support drug law enforcement agencies in their effort to eliminate organized MA crime.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.190-198
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• 2013

Ambers have been used mostly as beads, jewelry and ornaments from ancient times and excavated as a buried artifact. When excavated, they are severely weathered to be cracked, exfoliated and disintegrated. Monitoring of changes in composition of amber according to weathering is very important for diagnosing the condition of amber and applying conservation materials and techniques. In this study, we tried to find the components of amber by analyzing amber with pyrolysis/GC/MS. The changes in the composition of pyrolzates after artificial ageing for 60 days under heat and oxygen were also observed. Abietic acid was detected as a main component of fresh amber and monoterpene, alkene, aromatic hydrocarbon were detected as major pyrolyzates. Changes with artificial ageing was estimated by comparing the peak area ratio of 23 components, and it was found that abietic acid abruptly decreased in the presence of heat and oxygen together, revealing that oxygen is a key factor to the deterioration of amber. It was also tried to understand the weathered surface of original amber gemstone based on the result of this ageing experiment.