• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.255-263
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• 2019

Glycyrrhizae radix is one of the most frequently prescribed ingredients in Oriental medicine, and Glycyrrhizae radix extract has been shown to exert anti-cancer effects. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of programed cell death (apoptosis) by Glycyrrhizae radix are poorly defined. In the present study, it was examined the molecular mechanisms of apoptosis by water extracts of Glycyrrhizae radix (GRW) in human bladder T24 cancer cells. It was found that GRW could inhibit the cell growth of T24 cells in a concentration-dependent manner, which was associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death, as evidenced by the formation of apoptotic bodies, DNA fragmentation and increased populations of annexin-V positive cells. The induction of apoptotic cell death by GRW was connected with an up-regulation of pro-apoptotic Bax protein expression and down-regulation of anti-apoptotic proteins (Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL), and inhibition of apoptosis family proteins (XIAP, cIAP-1 and cIAP-2). In addition, apoptosis-inducing concentrations of GRW induced the activation of caspase-9, an initiator caspase of the mitochondrial-mediated intrinsic pathway, and caspase-3, accompanied by proteolytic degradation of PARP. GRW also induced apoptosis via a death receptor-mediated extrinsic pathway by caspase-8 activation, resulting in the down-regulation of total Bid and suggesting the existence of cross-talk between the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways. Taken together, the present results suggest that GRW may be a potential chemotherapeutic agent for the control of human bladder cancer cells.

• Strategy21
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• s.46
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• pp.239-276
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• 2020

The failure of early economic sanctions aimed at hurting the overall economies of targeted states called for a more sophisticated design of economic sanctions. This paved way for the advent of 'smart sanctions,' which target the supporters of the regime instead of the public mass. Despite controversies over the effectiveness of economic sanctions as a coercive tool to change the behavior of a targeted state, the transformation from 'comprehensive sanctions' to 'smart sanctions' is gaining the status of a legitimate method to impose punishment on states that do not conform to international norms, the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction in this particular context of the paper. The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council proved that it can come to an accord on imposing economic sanctions over adopting resolutions on waging military war with targeted states. The North Korean nuclear issue has been the biggest security threat to countries in the region, even for China out of fear that further developments of nuclear weapons in North Korea might lead to a 'domino-effect,' leading to nuclear proliferation in the Northeast Asia region. Economic sanctions had been adopted by the UNSC as early as 2006 after the first North Korean nuclear test and has continually strengthened sanctions measures at each stage of North Korean weapons development. While dubious of the effectiveness of early sanctions on North Korea, recent sanctions that limit North Korea's exports of coal and imports of oil seem to have an impact on the regime, inducing Kim Jong-un to commit to peaceful talks since 2018. The purpose of this paper is to add a variable to the factors determining the success of economic sanctions on North Korea: preventing North Korea's evasion efforts by conducting illegal transshipments at sea. I first analyze the cause of recent success in the economic sanctions that led Kim Jong-un to engage in talks and add the maritime element to the argument. There are three conditions for the success of the sanctions regime, and they are: (1) smart sanctions, targeting commodities and support groups (elites) vital to regime survival., (2) China's faithful participation in the sanctions regime, and finally, (3) preventing North Korea's maritime evasion efforts.

• 재활복지
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.1-30
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• 2018

This paper attempts to explore the place of human and disability rights from the perspective of Social Welfare within the context of the UN Disability Rights Convention of 2006. The overall discussion is focused especially upon the situations of human and disability rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as it is being challenged to drastically address the issues of human rights in general, and disability rights in particular. The UN Disability Rights Convention challenges every ratified State party to commence legal reforms, legal harmonization, and policy and program developments to implement the Convention. Both North and South Korea are not exceptions to this. Even without drawing upon the UN's the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the dire situation of human rights in North Korea is well documented. However, this paper does not assume South Korea's human rights are any way superior to that of North Korea. This paper spells out areas for further action common to two Koreas and to any other nations for that matter. Apart from the general discussion on disability rights, the distinctive contribution of this paper lies in the fact that it has endeavored to draw upon any latest information and data on North Korea. It relied on various sources from UN and also from North Korea itself. One can note that North Korean disability authorities are making strenuous efforts to improve human rights of persons with disabilities in their desires to seek assistance from outside. It also shows an enormous need for international cooperation in seeking financial and material supports. This paper notes the latest political development between North and South Korea in taking "phased" steps for peace and stability as a positive sign for North and South Koreans' DPOs collaboration under the banner of International Cooperation of the article 32 of the UN Disability Rights Convention. More critically, this paper points to the further need to improve the overall data bases to ensure balanced legal reforms, policy developments and sharpen the areas of international collaboration.

• Proceedings of the Korean Aquaculture Society Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.147-148
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• 2003

동해안의 강릉 연안에 자생하는 토종 다시마인 개다시마는 산업적으로 개발의 여지가 매우 크다. 그러나 천연 자원량에 의존하고 있는 가공산업은 해황에 따라 원료 공급이 좌우되는 불안정성을 가지고 있어서 이 식물의 산업적 생산량을 확보하기 위한 방안으로 대량양식의 필요성이 대두되고 있다. 본 연구는 동해안 토종 다시마인 개다시마의 종묘생산기술 개발을 위해서 항온배양기와 실내수조배양을 실시하고 바다 가이식 양성에 의한 환경적응성 실험을 수행하였다. 연구 방법은 2001년 10월에 강릉연안 수심 20m에서 분포하는 개다시마 군락의 모조로부터 유주자액을 받아 온도 5, 10, 15, 20, $25^{\circ}C$, 조도 40, 80, 120 $\mu$mol m$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$의 조건에서 6주간 정치배양하였다. 유주자의 발아 및 아포체 생장 실험 이후 바다 가이식 및 양성실험은 2002년 1~2월까지 1개월간 실시하였다. 유주자의 발아 및 아포체 형성은 1$0^{\circ}C$, 120$\mu$mo1 m$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$에서 배양 2주만에 가장 먼저 아포체의 발아가 관찰되었으며, 이후 15$^{\circ}C$와 5$^{\circ}C$에서 순차적으로 아포체의 발아가 이루어졌다. 2$0^{\circ}C$는 80, 120$\mu$mol m$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$에서 소수의 아포체만이 관찰되었으며, $25^{\circ}C$에서는 아포체가 형성되지 않았다. 아포체는 1$0^{\circ}C$에서 가장 좋은 생장을 보였고, 15$^{\circ}C$와 1$0^{\circ}C$에서는 비슷한 생장을 나타냈으며, 2$0^{\circ}C$에서는 80$\mu$mol m$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$에서만 아포체의 형성이 관찰되어 가장 낮은 생장을 보였다. 동일 온도에서는 조도에 따른 생장의 차이가 많이 났는데, 40$\mu$mol m$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$에서 가장 좋은 생장을 나타냈다. 80과 120$\mu$mol m$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$에서는 120$\mu$mol m$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$이 약간 좋은 생장을 보였지만 큰 차이는 나지 않았다. 생장이 가장 좋은 조건은 1$0^{\circ}C$, 40$\mu$mol m$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$으로 엽장 1.28mm까지 생장했다. 전체적으로 수심이 깊은 곳에 서식하는 특성상 저수온과 저조도에서 좋은 생장 경향을 보였다. 실내배양을 통해 얻은 엽장 약 1~2mm의 종묘를 2002년 1월말에 삼척 호산에 위치한 바다 양성장에서 종묘들과 함께 2주간 수심별로 가이식(수온 12$^{\circ}C$)을 실시한 결과, 수심 1m에서 좋게 나타나 엽장이 약 5mm정도 생장하였다. 수심 0m에서는 강한 조도에 의해 엽상체가 사그라드는 기형이 나타났으며, 수심 5m에서는 엽상체의 기형이나 생장의 차이는 없었지만, 색택이 약간 바랜 것을 볼 수 있었다. 종합적으로 볼 때 종묘의 관리나 생장에는 수심 1~2m가 양호할 것으로 생각된다. 바다 가이식을 통해 엽장 5mm의 종묘로 생장시킨 후 바로 본양성장에 씨줄감기를 하여 양성을 실시하였다 양성 1개월 후 엽상체는 약 2~3cm, 최대 4~5cm까지 생장하였다. 이를 통해 강릉연안 토종 다시마인 개다시마에 대한 종묘 생산과 대량 양성의 가능성을 확인하였다.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.39-44
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• 2016

Determination of the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of the magnetically doped bismuth-telluride alloys are drawing lots of interest in the fields of the thermoelectric application as well as the research on magnetic interaction and topological insulator. In this study, we performed the first-principles electronic structure calculations within the density functional theory for the Gd doped bismuth-tellurides in order to study its magnetic properties and magnetic phase stability. All-electron FLAPW (full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave) method is employed and the exchange correlation potentials of electrons are treated within the generalized gradient approximation. In order to describe the localized f-electrons of Gd properly, the Hubbard +U term and the spin-orbit coupling of the valence electrons are included in the second variational way. The results show that while the Gd bulk prefers a ferromagnetic phase, the total energy differences between the ferromagnetic and the antiferromagnetic phases of the Gd doped bismuth-telluride alloys are about ~1meV/Gd, indicating that the stable magnetic phase may be changed sensitively depending on the structural change such as defects or strains.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.849-860
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• 2015

The anti-cancer activities of Rhus verniciflua Stokes (GC), Ulmus davidiana var. japonica Nakai (UGP) and arsenium sublimatum (SS) extracts, which have been used Oriental medicine therapy for various diseases, were investigated. The treatment of GC, UGP and SS alone, and combined treatment with GC, UGP and SS did not affect the cell viability in the mouse normal cell lines (RAW 264.7 macrophages and C2C12 myoblasts). However, co-treatment with GC, UGP and SS markedly induces apoptosis in human gastric cancer AGS cells, but not in other various cancer cell lines (human lung cancer A549, colon cancer HCT116, liver cancer Hep3B and bladder T24 cells) as evidenced by formation of apoptotic bodies, chromatin condensation, and accumulation of annexin-V positive cells. Co-treatment with GC, UGP and SS effectively induced the expression levels of Fas and Fas ligand, and inhibited the levels IAP family proteins such as XIAP, cIAP-1 and survivin, and anti-apoptotic Bcl-xL proteins compared with treatment with either agent alone. Combined treatment also significantly induced the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, which was associated with the activation of caspases (-3, -8, and -9) and degradation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase. However, the cytotoxic effects induced by co-treatment with GC, UGP and SS were significantly attenuated by pan-caspases inhibitor, z-VAD-fmk, indicating an important role for caspases. These results indicated that the caspases were key regulators of apoptosis in response to co-treatment of GC, UGP and SS in human gastric cancer AGS cells and further studies will be needed to identify the active compounds.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.315-326
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• 2017

This study was investigated the biochemical mechanism on reducing blood lipids in second-generation rats fed diet with different omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acid ratio. The experiment treatment groups were classified into the groups with the omega 6 to omega 3 ratios of 0 (control group), 1:1, 8:1, and 19:1, respectively. The levels of the blood triglyceride, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and glucose were lowest in the group with the omega 6 to omega 3 ration of 1:1. The levels of high density lipoprotein-cholesterol and phospholipid were highest in the group with the omega 6 to omega 3 ration of 1:1. The HMG-CoA reductase activity was suppressed in the groups with the omega 6 to omega 3 ratio of 1:1 and 8:1 compared with that in the control group, but the excretion of sterol through feces was promoted. The blood omega 6 to omega 3 ratio decreased in a concentration-dependent manner depending on the increase in the omega 6 to omega 3 ratio within the ingested diet. The results of this study demonstrated a new finding that when the parent generation and second-generation rats ingested the diet with the omega 6 to omega 3 ratio of below 8:1, harmful lipids in the blood were reduced, the liver functions were maintained, and the growth was promoted due to the nutrient metabolism activation mechanism.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.348-361
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• 2015

To reduce the effects of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the government has announced the special platform of technologies as parts of an effort to minimize global climate change, and the government distributed biodiesel since 2006 as the further efforts. Although there are some debates about some quality specifications and unbalanced of source (44% from palm oil), more than 400kton/year of biodiesel was produced in 2013. Moreover the amounts will be increased when the RFS is activated. To solve the unbalanced situation and to achieve the diversity of feeds, it is essential that many researches should be considered. Especially, free and bond glycerines are one of the important properties seriously affected to the combustion system in vehicle & cold properties. Previous method (KS M 2412) couldn't cover the biodiesel derived from lauric oil($C_{12:0}$) such as PKO (Palm Kernel Oil), Coconut oil because those compositions are lighter than other conventional biodiesel sources. In this study, we review the existed method and figure out the factors should improve to analysis the glycerine from PKO and Coconut oil biodiesel. Modifying the analysis conditions to enhance the resolution and change the internal standards to avoid the overlapped- peaks between Capric acid ME ($C_{10:0}$) and standard#1(1,2,4-butantriol). From this revised method, we could solve the restrictions of previous methods. And check the possibility of new method to analyze the glycerine in biodiesel regardless of sources.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.247-253
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• 2016

It confirmed the applicability as an anti-inflammatory material from Rubus occidentalis seed (RSE) extract. In HaCaT cells to evaluate the anti-inflammatory potential as a material RSE extract on the activity of the inflammatory factors caused by UVB and $IFN-{\gamma}/TNF-{\alpha}$. We measured the activity of ROS, interleukin-$1{\beta}$ ($IL-1{\beta}$), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) by ROS-Glo $H_2O_2$ assay and ELISA kit. Our results showed that the RSE extracts inhibit the UVB and $IFN-{\gamma}/TNF-{\alpha}$-induced ROS activities and expression of $IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6 and IL-8 in a dose-dependent manner. Also it was found that inflammatory mediators of the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibition were also brought, the expression of which is increased $PGE_2$ by COX-2 also inhibited. Finally RSE extracts measure the seed expression of filaggrin in the skin barrier, the main factor of the extract could be confirmed to increase the expression of the filaggrin damaged as a result of this concentration-dependent manner. Through this, it was able to confirm that the efficacy RSE extract to protect the inflammation by restoring the damaged layers of the epidermis. Results from more than RSE extract was able to confirm that the extract that has anti-inflammatory effects by improving the inflammation being produced from UVB.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.71-76
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• 1998

Exposure to environmental toxicants can cause cellular problems including the interference of DNA repair processes which may lead to the development of cancer. The existence of toxicant-induced DNA repair abnormality was investigated using mice exposed in vivo to genotoxic chemicals and then challenging their exposed lymphocytes in vitro with bleomycin. The repair of bleomycin-induced DNA damage as estimated by the frequency of chromosome aberrations was determined. Our data indicates that the observed aberration frequencies after in vivo exposure to N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitnsoguanidine (MNNG) and in vitro challenge with bleomycin are consistently higher than expected. The enhanced response is not due to the induction of chromosome damage by 25 or 50 mg/kg MNNG since the chemical did not cause chromosome aberrations in lymphocytes of these mice. The observed response after the combined exposure to benzo[a]pyrene (BP) and bleomycin was significantly lower than expected with low in vivo doses of BP (50 mg/kg) and then significantly higher than expected with the high doses (200 mg/kg). We interpret our data to indicate that in vivo exposure to genotoxic agents can cause abnormal DNA repair activities. The response is, however, independent of the clastogenic activities of the inducing chemicals, but dependent upon the inducing agents and on the exposure doses.