• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1384-1392
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• 2015

Sagantang (SGT), a Korean multiherb formula comprising six medicinal herbs, Paeonia lactiflora Pall., Belamcanda chinensis (L.) DC, Gardenia jasminoides Ellis, Poria cocos Wolf, Cimicifuga heracleifolia Komarov, and Artractylodes japonica Koidzumi, was recorded in “Dongeuibogam.” The present study investigated the anticancer potential of SGT in AGS human gastric carcinoma cells. The results indicated that SGT treatment significantly inhibited the growth and viability of AGS cells in a dose-dependent manner, which was associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death, as evidenced by the formation of apoptotic bodies, in addition to chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation, and the accumulation of annexin-V positive cells. The induction of apoptotic cell death by the SGT treatment was associated with up-regulation of Fas protein expression, truncation of Bid, and down-regulation of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein. The SGT treatment also effectively induced the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, which was associated with the activation of caspases (caspase-3, -8, and -9) and degradation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase. However, a pan-caspase inhibitor significantly blocked the SGT-induced apoptosis and growth suppression in AGS cells. This study suggests that SGT induces caspase-dependent apoptosis through an extrinsic pathway by upregulating Fas, as well as through an intrinsic pathway by modulating Bcl-2 family members in AGS cells. The results suggest that SGT may be a potential chemotherapeutic agent for the control of human gastric cancer cells. However, further studies will be needed to confirm the potential of SGT in cancer prevention and therapy in an in vivo model and to identify biological active compounds of SGT.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.569-581
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• 2012

The levee is the facility which is constructed along with river for the protection of landside and for passage of water when there is a flood. When the seepage is exposed to the atmosphere on the landside surface of levee, it may eventually lead to levee failure. The seepage water may be removed from the landside surface by a properly designed drainage system. The purpose of the study is to show seepage control effect of a pervious toe drain, and to compare two drainage methods of a pervious toe drain. One is the pervious toe drain suggested by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the other is that suggested by Japan Institute of Construction Engineering (JICE). The levee model constructed has the following dimension: the base width is 2.6 m; the crest width is 0.4 m; the side slope 1 : 2. The water depth in the riverside is 0.5 m. The shape of the toe drain by USACE is triangular. The shape of the toe drain by JICE is rectangular. They were installed with the base length of 0.4 m. The levee model without the toe drain showed saturation surface on the land side in the experiment but not with the toe drain. The experiment results was applied to a numerical analysis model using SEEP/W to calibrate and verify. The numerical analysis results for 35 cm and 30 cm drain width showed that the drain by JICE is a little bit safer than the drain by USACE. It is also easier to construct the toe drain by JICE. The results in the study would be applied to plan the seepage control for a levee with pervious toe drain.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.307-318
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• 2010

This study was to analyze the ecological conditions, based on physical habitat, chemical, and biological conditions before (2006, 2007) and after ecological restoration (2009) in five sites of Changwon Stream (CS) and six sites of Nam Stream (NS), respectively, and then to compare ecological health between the two period. The analysis of ecological health was based on the multimetric models of Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) and Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) along with water chemistry in the streams. For the study, the models of IBI and QHEI were modified as 8 and 11 metric attributes, respectively. For the evaluations, the survey was conducted in the period of 2006~2007 before the restoration and in 2009 after the restoration by the city. Chemical conditions, based on conductivity, in both streams showed a typical longitudinal declines along the axis of the upstream-to-downstream. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in water quality between the two periods. Values of IBI in the CS and NS averaged 21.6 and 19.7, respectively, indicating a C grade in the criteria of Ministry of Environment, Korea, and there was no significant differences in the IBI between the two periods. Values of QHEI after the restoration averaged 29.2 and 63.2 in the CS and NS, respectively and the values decreased markedly especially, in the NS (35.3) after the restoration. The habitat disturbance was mainly attributed to destructions (i.e., the narrower width of riparian vegetation and higher substrate exposure by the air) of artificial materials by massive flood in 2009. Overall, our results suggest that the restoration was not effective in the two streams between the two periods, even if the budget was used a lot and that such ecological restoration, not considered the natural disaster, may not effect for the stream restoration.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.155-163
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• 2017

Mori Folium, the leaf of Morus alba, is a traditional medicinal herb that shows various pharmacological activities such as antiinflammatory, antidiabetic, antimelanogenesis, antioxidant, antibacterial, antiallergic, and immunomodulatory activities. However, the mechanisms of their inhibitory effects on adipocyte differentiation and adipogenesis remain poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated the inhibition of adipocyte differentiation and adipogenesis by ethanol extracts of Mori Folium (EEMF) in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Treatment with EEMF suppressed the terminal differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes in a dose-dependent manner, as confirmed by a decrease in the lipid droplet number and lipid content through Oil Red O staining. EEMF significantly reduced the accumulation of cellular triglyceride, which is associated with a significant inhibition of pro-adipogenic transcription factors, including sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-${\gamma}$ ($PPAR{\gamma}$), and CCAAT/enhancer-binding proteins ${\alpha}$ ($C/EBP{\alpha}$) and ${\beta}$ ($C/EBP{\beta}$). In addition, EEMF potentially downregulated the expression of adipocyte-specific genes, including adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (aP2) and leptin. Furthermore, EEMF treatment effectively increased the phosphorylation of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC); however, treatment with a potent inhibitor of AMPK, compound C, significantly restored the EEMF-induced inhibition of pro-adipogenic transcription factors and adipocyte-specific genes. These results together indicate that EEMF has preeminent effects on the inhibition of adipogenesis through the AMPK signaling pathway, and further studies will be needed to identify the active compounds in Mori Folium.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.716-723
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• 1995

The fucoidan purified from Korean brown seaweed, Ecklonia stolonifera was characterized on molecular structure and blood anticoagulant activities. Extraction was conducted at $100^{\circ}C$ with water and repeated twice. The crude fucodian was 151.1g out of 20.0 kg of Ecklonia stolonifera. The Fucoidan-1, which was purified from crude fucoidan using calcium chloride and cetyl pyridium chloride (CPC), was 35.2% against crude fucoidan. Fucoidan-5 was obtained approximately 28.1% from Fucoidan-1 through DEAE-Toyopearl 650 M ion-exchange column chromatography and showed one band by cellulose acetate electrophoresis. The molecular weight of Fucoidan-5 was estimated to be about 21,000∼23,000 dalton by Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration chromatography. Fucoidan-5 consists of 35.7% of fucose and 4.3% of galactose and the molar ratio of fucose and sulfate was about one to one. IR spectrum of Fucoidan-5 showed absorption at $1240\;cm^{-1}\;and\;850\;cm^{-1}$ and specific rotation value, $[\alpha]$, was $[\alpha]$. These results suggests that the sulfate maybe bind at $C_{4}$ carbon on ${\alpha}-L-fucose$. Gas chromatograph of methyl alditol acetate revealed that Fucoidan-5 is a fucose containing sulfated polysaccharide with $({\alpha}l-2)\;or\;({\alpha}l-2)$ glycosidic linkage. Anti-thrombin activity of the Fucoidan-5 was estimated as 1.4 time stronger than heparin. From above results, the purification methods using CPC and ion exchange chromatography is effective tools for obtaining highly purified fucoidan from Gompi, Ecklonia stolonifera.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1207-1213
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• 2016

Schisandrae fructus (SF) and Mori folium (MF) have been used as traditional medicines for thousands of years in parts of Asia, including Korea, China, and Japan. Recent researches on SF and MF have documented a wide spectrum of therapeutic properties, including anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, immunomodulatory and anti-angiogenesis effects. However, the toxicity and safety of SF and MF, and their mixture (medicinal herber mixture, MHMIX) were not confirmed. Therefore, this study was performed to evaluate the acute toxicity and safety of SF, MF and MHMIX. SF, MF and MHMIX were orally administered at a dose of 5,000 mg/kg in ICR mice. Animals were monitored for the mortality and changes in the body weight, clinical signs and gross observation during the 14 days after dosing, upon necropsy. We also measured parameters of organ weight, clinical chemistry, and hematology. No dead and no clinical signs were found during the experiment period after administration of a single oral dose of SF, MF and MHMIX. There were no adverse effects on clinical signs, body weight, or organ weight and no gross pathological findings in any treatment group. Therefore, LD50 value of SF, MF and MHMIX may be over 5,000 mg/kg and it may have no side toxic effect to ICR mice. The results on the single-dose toxicity of SF, MF and MHMIX indicate that it is not possible to reach oral dose levels related to death or dose levels with any harmful side effects.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.46 no.12
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• pp.1193-1207
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• 2013

Increase of impervious area caused by overdevelopment has led to increase of runoff and then the problem of flooding and NPS were brought up. In addition, as decrease of base flow made groundwater level to decline, a stream that dries up is issued. low impact development (LID) method which is possible to mimic hydrological water cycle, minimize the effect of development, and improve water cycle structure is proposed as an alternative. As introduction of LID in domestic increases, the study on small watershed is in process mainly. Also, analysis of property of hydrological runoff and load on midsize watershed, like sewage treatment district, is required, the study on it is still insufficient. So, area applying LID practices from watershed of Dongrae stream is pinpointed and made the ratio and then expand it to watershed of Oncheon stream. Among low impact development practices, Green Roof, Porous Pavement, and Bio- retention are selected for the application considering domestic situations and simulated with SWMM-LID model of each watershed and improvement of water cycle and reduction of non-point pollution loads was analysed. Improvement of water cycle and reduction of non-point pollution loads were analyzed including the property of rainfall and soil over long term simulation. The model was executed according to scenario based on combination of LID as changing conductivity in accordance with soil type of the watershed. Also, this study evaluated area of LID application that meets the efficiency of conventional management as a criteria for area of LID practices applying to sewer treatment district by comparing the efficiency of LID application with that of conventional method.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.1274-1283
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• 2005

The sensory acceptability, texture profile analysis and nutritional evaluation were peformed in Korean traditional mungbean pancake (MPC) and modified MPC containing squid meat and soybean to standardize the recipes for healthy fast food market potentiality. Optimal ingredient formulations were revealed as mung-bean 55$\%$, pork 13$\%$ and vegetables 32$ \%$ for traditional MPC, and pork 3$\%$, squid 42$\%$ and soybean 55$\%$ for modified MPC using response surface methodology. Flavor and hardness correlated highly with overall accept-ability rather than appearance and color of traditional MPC. Higher squid levels raised adhesiveness, springi-ness and resiliences of modified MPC, but soybean decreased these textural attributes. Protein, lipid and total calorie of modified MPC were lower than those of traditional MPC. Computed protein efficiency ratio (C-PER) and degree of gelatinization of modified MPC were superior than traditional MPC.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.45-55
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• 1986

This paper aims to study the reactions of lipid or oxidized lipid with protein during drying and storing hair tail fish(Trichurus lepturus) and flounder(Kanakius kitaharai) being generally consumed as dried seafood products in Korea and their influence on the drop of in vitro protein digestibility of these fish meat. The results of the study are as follows: The digestibility of the raw materials of flounder and hair tail fish was 87.63% and 86.08% respectively, and that of sundried and hot air dried materials went down $1{\sim}2$ percent with drying process. But in case of defatted and sundried materials, the rate increased 85.15% and 87.15% respectivley. After 30 days of storage, the digestibility decreased in all materials, and hot air dried meat showed a significant decrease. Trypsin indigestible substrate (TIS) contents of flounder and hair tail fish, in case of raw materials were 0.88 and 0.96mg/g. solid repectiveiy and in case of defatted and sundried materials, TIS contents showed a low increase and digestibility showed a high increase. Brown pigment formation had a wide range of increase in case of the sundried and hot air dried materials and it was increased with duration of storage and temperature. The major fatty acids in the fats of hair tail fish and flounder were $C_{18:1},\;C_{16:0},\;C_{22:6}\;and\;C_{16:1}$ and rate of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids was 79.2:20.8 for flounder, 67.8:32.2 for hair tail fish. After 30 days of storage at room temperature. saturated fatty acids increased compared with the raw materials while unsaturated fatty acids showed a tendency to decrease. Avaialble lysine of hair tail fish was higher than that of flounder and both of them lost about 8.23% of that in raw materials after 30 days of storage.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.108 no.4
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• pp.469-483
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• 2019

North Korea has experienced floods and sediment-related disasters annually since the 1970s due to deforestation. It is of paramount importance that technologies and trends related to forest restoration and soil erosion control engineering be properly understood in a bid to reduce damage from sediment-related disasters in North Korea, and to effect national territorial management following unification. This paper presents a literature review and bibliometric analysis including 146 related articles published in North Korea. First, we analyzed the textual characteristics of the articles. We then employed the VOSviewer software package to classify the research topic and analyzed this topic based on the time change. The results showed that articles on the topic have consistently increased since the 1990s. In addition, research related to soil erosion control engineering has been classified into four subjects in North Korea: (i) assessment of hazard area on soil erosion and soil loss, sediment related-disasters; (ii) hydraulic and hydrologic understanding of forests; (iii) reasonable construction of soil erosion control structures; and (iv) effects and management plan of soil erosion control works. The proportion of research related to the (ii) hydraulic and hydrologic understanding of forests had been significant during the reign of Kim Ilsung. However, the proportion of research related to the (i) assessment of hazard area on soil erosion and soil loss, sediment-related disasters, increased during the reign of Kim Jongil and Kim Jongun. Using these results, our analysis indicated that an interest in and need for soil erosion control engineering in North Korea has continually increased. The results of this study are expected to serve as a basis for preparing forestry cooperation between North and South Korea, and to serve as essential data for better understanding soil erosion control engineering in North Korea.