• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.197-205
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• 2015

This study was conducted to investigate the bioconversion of ginsenosides as well as anti-inflammatory activities of fresh ginseng Kkakdugi during fermentation. Fresh ginseng Kkakdugi reached proper ripeness, pH 4.30, and acidity 1.69% at $15^{\circ}C$ after 10 days. Lactic acid bacteria grew until reaching $1.10{\times}10^9CFU/mL$ after 20 days of fermentation, and ${\beta}$-glucosidase activity increased from 1.154 to 1.885 units/g. The bioconversion of ginsenosides was confirmed based on increased content of Rg3, an aglycone, from 0.13 to 0.17 mg/g during fermentation through HPLC. Fresh ginseng Kkakdugi did not display cytotoxicity up to the concentrations of $80{\mu}g/mL$, regardless of ripening period. Nitrite production and expression of inflammation-related proteins, iNOS and COX-2, decreased in a dose-dependent manner regardless of ripening period. From these results, fresh ginseng Kkakdugi showed the bioconversion of ginsenosides to aglycone during the lactic acid fermentation as well as an anti-inflammatory effect through the reduction of NO production and iNOS and COX-2 expression.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.63-69
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• 2016

Objectives : The aerial parts of Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb (Agrimoniae Herba; AH) has been traditionally used as a Korean medicine to treatment of abdominal pain, sore throat, headaches, bloody discharge, parasitic infections and eczema. In this study, we investigated the effect of AH ethanol extract on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation in RAW264.7 macrophage cells.Methods : AH was extracted by 30% ethanol (AH-E). Raw264.7 cells were treated with AH-E extract at different concentrations for 30 min and then stimulated with LPS (1㎍/㎖) or without for indicated times. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay, and nitric oxide (NO) production was measured by Griess assay. The expression of inflammatory mediators, iNOS and COX-2 and inflammatory cytokines, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 was detected by RT-PCR, and the phosphorylation of ERK1/2, p38 and JNK MAP kinases (MAPKs) was analyzed by Western blot. Also, the expression of NF-κB in nuclear and cytosol was detected by Western blot.Results : AH-E extract significantly decreased LPS-induced NO production in RAW264.7 cells. AH-E extract inhibited the mRNA expression of iNOS, COX-2, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 in LPS-stimulated cells with a dose-dependent manner. In addition, the phosphorylation of ERK, p38 and JNK MAPKs was also inhibited by AH-E extract. AP-E extract inhibited the nuclear translocation of NF-κB in LPS-stimulated cells.Conclusions : Our results suggest that AH-E extract has an anti-inflammatory activity in macrophages-mediated inflammation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.186-186
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• 2009

Most liquid crystal display modes, including the twisted nematic (TN) $mode^1$, the in-plane switching (IPS) $mode^2$, the fringe field switching (FFS) $mode^3$, and the vertically aligned (VA) $mode^4$ are based on either a horizontal or a vertical alignment. However, for some applications, such as no-bias-bend (NBB) pi cell or bistable bend-splay display, an intermediate pretilt angle is essential$^5$. NBB pi cells have been a focus of interest because of their fast response time; however, the reliable control of the intermediate pretilt angle of liquid crystals that is required for the fabrication of NBB pi cells is challenging. The controllable pre-tilt angle of liquid crystals was investigated using a blend of horizontal and vertical polyimide prepared by a rubbing method. Various pretilt angles in the range from 0^{\circ}$ to 90^{\circ}$ were achieved as a function of the vertical polyimide content. We observed uniform liquid crystal alignment on the rubbing-treated blended polyimide layer. A NBB pi cell with an intermediate pretilt angle of 47.8^{\circ}$ was manufactured. This cell had no initial bias voltage and a low threshold voltage, which indicates that it has low power consumption. In addition, the response time of the NBB pi cell was rapid.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.338-338
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• 2009

To date, rubbing has been widely used to align LC molecules uniformly. Although rubbing can be simple, it has fundamental problems such as the generation of defects by dust and static electricity, and difficulty in achieving a uniform LC alignment on a large substrate. Therefore, noncontact alignment has been investigated. Ion beam induced alignment method, which provides controllability, nonstop process, and high resolution display. We investigated the high pretilt angle effects on electro-optical properties of ion beam (IB)-irradiated liquid crystal cells. on a blended polymer surface. High pretilt angle of liquid crystals IB-irradiated on a blended polymer surface including such as 5% and 10% of homeotropic polymer contents can' be achieved. The threshold voltages of IB-irradiated twisted nematic (TN) cells on a blended polymer surface decrease with increasing the pretilt angle. Also, the rising time of IB-irradiated TN cells decreases with increasing the pretilt angle. However the decay time of IB-irradiated TN cells increases with increasing the pretilt angle. Consequently, the electro-optical properties of IB-irradiated TN cells depend strongly on the pretilt angle in a blended polymer surface.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.51-57
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• 2011

Objectives : Achyranthes japonica (AJ) has been used as an anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory agent. However, it is unclear that AJ could show the anti-inflammatory effects in macrophages. In this experiment, we studied whether AJ could inhibit the inflammatory responses in macrophages. Methods : To measure out the cytotoxicity of AJ, we performed the MTT assay. We evaluated the nitric oxide (NO) production, and cytokine production such as interleukin (IL)-1b, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a. We also investigated the cellular mechanims such as mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPK)s and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB). Results : AJ inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced NO production. AJ also inhibited production levels of IL-1b, IL-6 and TNF-a in LPS-stimulated macrophage. Finally, western blot analysis showed that AJ treatment inhibited the activation of p38 but not of extracellular signal-regulated kinase, c-jun NH2-terminal kinase and NF-kB. Conclusions : These results showed that AJ down-regulated the inflammatory response via p38 in macrophages, which suggest that AJ could be a candidate on treating inflammatory diseases.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.291-298
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• 2019

Phlox subulata is a perennial herbaceous flower and is a member of the Polemoniaceae family. This plant is known to resist to various stresses including salt, drought, heat, and cold stresses. In this investigation, we evaluated the ant-inflammatory effect of the methanolic extract of P.subulata(PSM) on lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induced RAW264.7 macrophages and BV2 microglia. PSM reduced the production of nitric oxide(NO) in LPS-stimulated both RAW264.7 and BV2 cells, but did not affect to the production of prostaglandin E2(PGE₂). It inhibited the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS) and cyclooxygenase(COX)-2 in both cells. In addition, PSM suppressed the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines including interleukin(IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α. These inhibitory effects were contributed by inactivation of nuclear factor kappa B(NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinases(MAPKs) pathways by PSM. Thus, these results suggested that P.subulata can be a candidate material to treat inflammatory diseases.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.373-379
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• 2011

Paeoniae Radix Rubra is a preparation consisting of desiccated roots of Paeonia lactiflora PALL (belonging to Ranunculaceae). Paeoniae Radix Rubra is used as a medicinal herb in Asian countries to treat many diseases. Ethanol- or water-based extracts of Paeoniae Radix Rubra were prepared and tested on RAW 264.7 cells, a murine macrophage cell line. The expression of some pro-inflammatory proteins, including inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) and phosphorylated ERK1/2 was detected by Western blot analyses, while PGE2 expression was quantified by ELISA. Both the water and ethanol extracts of Paeoniae Radix Rubra suppressed LPS-induced nitric oxide (NO) production and exhibited cell toxicity in accordance with increased NO production. Also, both extracts reduced the expression of COX-2 and iNOS, and inhibited phosphorylation of ERK1/2 in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Extracts prepared from Paeoniae Radix Rubra contain anti-inflammatory agents that inhibit the iNOS and MAPK pathways.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.44-44
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• 2008

To date, rubbing has been widely used to align LC molecules uniformly. Although rubbing can be simple, it has fundamental problems such as the generation of defects by dust and static electricity, and difficulty in achieving a uniform LC alignment on a large substrate. Therefore, non contact alignment has been investigated. Ion beam induced alignment method, which provides controllability, nonstop process, and high resolution display. In this study, we investigated liquid crystal (LC) alignment with ion beam (IB) that non contact alignment technique on polyimide and electro-optical characteristics of twisted nematic (TN)-liquid crystal display (LCD) on the polyimide under various ion beam angles. In this experiment, Polyimide layer was coated on glass by spin-coating and Voltage-transmittance(VT) and response time characteristics of the TN cell were measured by a LCD evaluation system. The good characteristics of the nematic liquid crystal (NLC) alignment with the ion beam exposure polyimide surface was observed. The tilt angle of NLC on the PI surface with ion beam exposure can be measured under $1^{\circ}$ for all of irradiation angles. In addition, it can be achieved the good EO properties, and residual DC property of the ion beam aligned TN cell on polyimide surface.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.43-43
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• 2008

Recently, it is widely studied to liquid crystal (LC) alignment using ion-beam exposure. Because conventional rubbing method has some problems such as defects from dust and electrostatic charges and rubbing scratch during rubbing process. Moreover rubbing method needs cleaning process to remove these defects. Therefore rubbing-free techniques like ion-beam method are strongly required. We studied LC alignment by controlling ion-beam irradiation angles and electro-optical (EO) characteristics of twisted nematic LC on the polyimide surface. In this experiment, a good uniform alignment of the nematic liquid crystal (NLC) with the ion-beam exposure on the polyimide (PI) surface was observed. We also achieved low pretilt angle as function of ion-beam irradiation angles. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) analysis provided chemical evidence for LC alignment by controlling ion-beam irradiation angles. In addition, it can be achieved the good EO properties of the ion-beam-aligned twisted nematic liquid crystal display (TN-LCD) on PI surface. Some other experiments results and discussion will be included in the presentation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.42-42
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• 2008

Considerable attention has been focused on the applications of flexible liquid crystal (LC)-based displays because of their many potential advantages, such as portability, durability, light weight, thin packaging, flexibility, and low power consumption. To develop flexible LCDs that are capable of delivering high-quality moving images, like conventional glass-substrate LCDs, the LC device structure must have a stable alignment layer of LC molecules, concurrently support uniform cell gaps, and tightly bind two flexible substrates under external tension. However, stable LC molecular alignment has not been achieved because of the layerless LC alignment, and consequently high-quality images cannot be guaranteed. To solve these critical problems, we have proposed a PDMS pixel-wall based bonding method via the IB irradiation was developed for fasten the two substrates together strongly and maintain uniform cell gaps. The effect of the IB irradiation on PDMS with PI surface was also evaluated by side structure configuration and a result of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis of PDMS interlayer as a function of binder with substrates. large number of PDMS pixel-walls are tightly fastened to the surface of each flexible substrate and could maintain a constant cell gap between the LC molecules without using any other epoxy or polymer. To enhance the electro-optical performance of the LC device, we applied an alignment method that creates pretilt angle on the PI surface via ion beam irradiation. Using this approach, our flexible LCDs have a contrast ratio of 132:1 and a response time of about 15 ms, resulting in highly reliable electro-optical performance in the bent state, comparable to that of glass-substrate LCDs.