• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.536-542
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• 2007

Behcet's disease (BD) is a chronic inflammatory disorder, involving several organs. Inflammation in the disease is thought to be mediated by cytokines derived from T-helper type 1 (Th1) lymphocytes. Although the exact pathogenesis for BD is not completely understood, it has been suggested that the disease is triggered in genetically susceptible individuals by environmental factors, such as microbial agents. It is noted that multiple genes, including MHC (major histocompatibility complex) and non-MHC genes, are implicated in the pathogenesis of BD. This study tries to determine whether HLA-B51, IL-18, SLC11A1 and TNF-α polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to Behcet's disease in Koreans. As a results, HLA-B51 was a genetic factor with the strongest association with BD. But it is still uncertain whether this HLA molecule is directly involved in the pathogenesis of BD. Although the IL-18 gene polymorphisms were not associated with a susceptibility to BD in the Korean population, the patients carrying the GG genotype at position 137 had a higher risk of developing the ocular lesions. This study suggests that the allele 3 and the genotype allele 3 / allele 3 of 5'-promoter (GT)n polymorphism in the SLC11A1 gene may have a protective effect for the development of BD in the Korean population. There were no evidences for genetic association conferred by the TNF-α gene with respect to susceptibility to BD.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2003

Immunoenhancing effects of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) isomers (l0t-l2c CLA, 9c-11t CLA, CLA mixture, 9c-11c CLA and 9t-11t CLA) on chemotactic activity of porcine peripheral blood polymorphonuclear cells (PMN) were examined. The chemotactic activity of PMN was evaluated by a modified Boyden chamber assay. CLA isomers at higher concentration of 50 to 200$\mu$M exhibited a low viability of cells by trypan blue exclusion. CLA isomers were used at concentration of 20uM showing no cytotoxic effect and high cell viability. CLA isomers themselves were not active or slight chemotactic for PMN. But culture supernatant from mononuclear cells (MNC) treated with 10t-12c CLA, 9c-11t CLA and CLA mixture except for 9c-11c. CLA and 9t-11t CLA enhanced remarkably chemotactic activity or porcine PMN PMN migration by culture supernatant from MNC treated with CLA mixture was found to be true chemotaxis by checkboard assay. This migration was also induced by porcine recombinant interleukin (rIL)-8. PMN chemotaxis caused both culture supernatant from MNC treated with CLA mixture and porcine rIL-8 was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by addition of anti-porcine IL-8 polyclonal antibody. Therefore, these results strongly suggested that CLA (10t-12c CLA, 9c-11t CLA and CLA mixture) could stimulate porcine MNC to release and IL-8 like chemotactic activity.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.361-371
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• 2000

It has been recently reported that 2-bromopropane (2-BP) induces male reproductive toxicity in both human and experimental animals. However, delayed effects of 2-BP on male reproductive system have not been investigated in detail. The present study was conducted to investigate the testicular toxicity of 2-BP and to determine the recovery of normal spermatogenesis in Sprague-Dawley rats. Male rats aged 5 weeks were administered 1,000mg/kg 2-BP by gavage daily for 4 weeks and sacrificed sequentially at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 12 weeks after initiation of 2-BP treatment. Testicular toxicity was evaluated qualitatively by histopathological examinations and quantitatively by reproductive organ weights, spermatid head count, and repopulation index. In the 2-BP treated rats, the body weights was significantly suppressed and the weights of testes and epididymides were also decreased in a time-dependent manner. On histopathological examination, spermatogonia in stages I-VI and preleptotene and leptotene spermatocytes in stages VII-IX were strongly depleted at 1 week of dosing. Spermatogonia were depleted extensively in all spermatogenic stages at 2 weeks. Continuing with the evolution of spermatogenic cycle, zygotene spermatocytes, pachytene spermatocytes, and round spermatids were sequentially depleted at 2, 3, and 4 weeks of dosing due to the depletion of their precursor cells. Vacuolization of Sertoli cells and spermatid retention were also observed at all time points, suggesting that 2-BP induced Sertoli cell dysfunction. At 12 weeks, after 8 weeks recovery, most of the tubules appeared severely atrophic and were lined by Sertoli cells only. Leydig cell hyperplasia in the interstitial tissue was also found. In addition, dramatic reductions in the number of spermatid heads and repopulation index were observed, indicating that 2-BP-induced testicular injury is irreversible. These results indicate that 4 weeks repeated-dose of 1,000mg/kg 2-BP results in a progressive germ cell loss due to the depletion of spermatogonia followed by long-term testicular atrophy in SD rats.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1598-1604
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• 2009

In order to determine chemical components of onion flesh and peel, general nutrients, vitamin C, and total flavonoids were measured. Onion peel showed less moisture (14.3%) and no vitamin C compared to onion flesh. Onion peel contained more amounts of total flavonoids compared to onion flesh. In addition, the inhibitory effects of solvent extracts from onion flesh and peel on $H_2O_$-induced oxidative stress and growth of cancer cell lines (AGS human gastric adenocarcinoma and HT-29 human colon cancer cells) were investigated. Acetone with methylene chloride (A+M) and methanol (MeOH) extracts from onion flesh and peel appeared to significantly reduce the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) (p<0.05) and a greater antioxidant effect was observed in onion peel. Among fractions, 85% aq. methanol showed a higher protective activity against oxidative stress in both flesh and peel and there was no effect in the water and hexane fractions. The growth of cancer cells exposed to medium containing extracts and fractions from onion flesh and peel was inhibited dose-dependently. The growth of AGS was inhibited more in both flesh and peel compared to HT-29, and onion peel was more effective than onion flesh. Among fractions, 85% aq. methanol showed the greatest effect on growth inhibition in both flesh and peel. $IC_{50}$ values of 85% aq. methanol fraction from onion flesh and peel on AGS were 0.04 and 0.03 mg/ml, respectively, while those on HT-29 were 0.23 and 0.04 mg/ml. From our results, 85% aq. methanol fraction had an inhibitory effect against oxidative stress and growth of cancer cells, suggesting that it may contain biological active compounds.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.501-509
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• 2013

Formaldehyde (FA) is widely used in industries, and it is an indoor and outdoor pollutant. Exposure to FA may cause inflammation and respiratory oxidative stress. Studies have demonstrated that FA can cause cancer in animal models. During the regeneration process of injured starfish (Asterina pectinifera), several changes have been observed in the expression of cytokines. In particular, higher TGF-${\beta}1$ expression has been detected in arm cut starfish extract after eight days. The current study was designed to elucidate the in-vitro and the in-vivo pharmacological effects of starfish extract on FA exposure. We investigated the protective effects of intact starfish extract and arm cut starfish extract on an IMR-90 cell line and on mouse lung injury in response to FA exposure. In the presence of FA, inhalation of the arm cut starfish extract was associated with more promising cell proliferation, TNF-${\alpha}$, NF-${\kappa}B$ decrement, and $I{\kappa}-B{\alpha}$ increment. In the experimental group, the pulmonary structure of the arm cut starfish extract-treated group in the presence of FA exposure was similar to the control group, whereas the FA exposure group showed damage to the pulmonary structure. Moreover, the arm cut starfish extracts was more effective than the intact starfish extracts in terms of the expression of TNF-${\alpha}$, NF-${\kappa}B$, $I{\kappa}-B{\alpha}$, and surfactant protein A. The results obtained in this study demonstrate that arm cut starfish extracts are more effective in protecting pulmonary structure and function against FA exposure than intact starfish extracts.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.438-447
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• 2016

This study was conducted in order to investigate the physiochemical properties and antioxidative activity of red ginseng manufactured using the high temperature high pressure (HTHP) process, which is faster and simpler than the conventional process. According to increasing the steaming temperature, pressure and time, the content of minor non-polar ginsenosides, such as Rg3, Rk3, Rh4, Rk1 and Rg5 gradually increased. Also, the contents of acidic polysaccharide, total phenolic compounds and maltol gradually increased. Based on the results of the physiochemical properties and appearance quality, the optimum conditions of HTHP process were estimated as $140^{\circ}C$, $3kg/cm^2$ in 20 min. The total phenolic compounds and maltol contents of the HTHP process red ginseng (1.0% and 2.49 mg%, respectively) were higher than those of conventional red ginseng (0.23% and 0.60 mg%, respectively). In addition, the antioxidative activity was investigated using DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS (2,2'-aziono-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) radical scavenging activity. DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities of HTHP process red ginseng increased by 3.4 and 3.6 folds, respectively, compared with conventional red ginseng. In addition, total phenolic compounds and maltol contents, as well as the antioxidant activity of the HTHP process red ginseng were similar to black ginseng. The present results suggest that the HTHP process is available for the development of value-added red ginseng products.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.301-306
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• 2016

Vitamin K (phylloquinone) is an essential cofactor in the synthesis of active blood-clotting factors II, VII, IX and X. Deficiency of vitamin K leads to inadequate activity of these factors, resulting in bleeding. In this study, we investigated vitamin $K_1$ content of agricultural products that are widely and specifically grown in Korea including 9 leaves and vegetables, 16 fruits, and 11 cereals and specialty crops. Vitamin $K_1$ analysis of the agro-samples was by a validated, modified, reversed phase-HPLC method with fluorescence detection after post-column derivatization. The vitamin $K_1$ content ranged from 1.83 to $682.73{\mu}g$/100 g in leaves and vegetables, 0.17 to $28.22{\mu}g$/100 g in fruits, and ND to $279{\mu}g$/100 g in cereals and specialty crops. Among the 36 samples, high content of vitamin $K_1$ were found in Gugija (Lycium chinense Miller) leaves (average $682.73{\mu}g$/100 g) and Hansan ramie leaves (average $423.12{\mu}g$/100 g); however, mushroom, amaranth and Chinese artichoke showed no detectable levels. The results of ourstudy provide reliable vitamin $K_1$ content of Korean grown agricultural products that expand nutritional information and food composition database.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.271-278
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• 2004

This paper shows our experiment is performed to understand the exposure tendency of $^{137}Cs$ according to the height of area and also, to supplement it by considering chemical characters of $^{137}Cs$ exposed to the soil. The samples we use for this experiment are from the general flat area of Yeonggwang county where it has NPPs, the high places of Keumjung & Bulgap mountains, and Naejan mountain where it is quite far from the NPPs. The data from this experiment show that the exposure of $^{137}Cs$ is not harmful since its range is around 252 Bq/kg-dry in most of sampled soils such as from the general flat area, the high place of Keumjung mountain where is 2 km away from the NPPs, the other high place of Bulgap mountain where is about 20 km away from the NPPs, and Naejan mountain where it is far from the NPPs. Not like the general flat area, however, the data show that the higher the area is the more $^{137}Cs$ is exposed. That is, at the top of mountains, the more $^{137}Cs$ is exposed compared to at the bottom area. It is almost $2{\~}6$ times more than the general flat area of Yeonggwang county where it has NPPs. The data also show that the spread of $^{137}Cs$ is deeply related to the geographical(the height of area, rainfall, etc..) factors and chemical factors of soils. As the geographical factors, there are far more chances to be exposed of $^{137}Cs$ at the high area of mountains through the air compared to at lower area and therefore, we can get more high-leveled readings of $^{137}Cs$ at the high area while it is low-leveled ones at the general flat area even if both of them have the same soil conditions. Regarding the chemical factors of soil, it is clarified that the CEC is the key factor. The CEC means the capability of sticking $^{137}Cs$ accumulated into the soil. Hence, the more CEC it has the more high-leveled readings of $^{137}Cs$ we get under the same geographical condition.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.344-351
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the thermal expansion characteristics of injectable ther-moplasticized gutta-perchas and a Resilon. The materials investigated are Obtura gutta-percha, Diadent gutta-percha, E&Q Gutta-percha Bar and Epiphany (Resilon). The temperature at the heating chamber orifice of an Obtura II syringe and the extruded gutta-percha from the tip of both 23- and 20-gauge needle was determined using a Digital thermometer. A cylindrical ceramic mold was fabricated for thermal expansion test, which was 27 mm long, with an internal bore diameter of 3 mm and an outer diameter of 10 mm. The mold was filled with each experimental material and barrel ends were closed with two ceramic plunger. The samples in ceramic molds were heated in a dilatometer over the temperature range from $25^{\circ}C$ to $75^{\circ}C$. From the change of specimen length as a function of temperature, the coefficients of thermal expansion were deter-mined. There was no statistical difference between four materials in the thermal expansion in the range from $35^{\circ}C$ to $55^{\circ}C$ (p > 0.05). However, Obtura Gutta-percha showed smaller thermal expansion than Diadent and Metadent ones from $35^{\circ}C$ to $75^{\circ}C$ (p < 0.05). The thermal expansion of Epiphany was similar to those of the other gutta-percha groups.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.530-541
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• 2007

Currently, various Nickel-Titanium rotary files are used in endodontic treatment, but there is no one perfect system that can be applied to any clinical situation. Therefore, the combined uses of various file systems which can emphasize the advantages of each system are introduced as hybrid instrumentation. The ProTaper system is efficient in body shaping and apical pre-enlargement but is reported to have more possibility of transportation and produce more aberrations and deformation in more or less severe curved canals. Recently, new ProTaper system(ProTaper Universal) with different configuration and cross-sectional design to overcome the week points of ProTaper have been marketed. The purpose of this study was to compare and evaluate the shaping abilities of ProTaper, ProTaper Universal system, and two hybrid methods using S-series of ProTaper Universal and Hero Shaper or ProFile. The time lapses for instrumentation were measured and the used files were inspected for distortion. The pre- and post-instrumented root canals were scanned and superimposed to evaluate the aberrations and reduction of root canal curvature and change of radius of canal curvature. The increased canal width and apical centering ratio were calculated at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 mm levels from apical foramen. Under the conditions of this study, the ProTaper Universal seems to have better shaping ability than ProTaper in terms of instrumented width and instrumentation time. It may be suggested that the ProTaper Universal system is efficient as much as hybrid instrumentation using ProTaper and other constant-tapered NiTi file systems in highly experienced operators.