• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.743-750
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• 2013

The aim of this study is to develop a supplementary therapeutic agent capable of promoting vascular circulation. The effects of Acai berry ethanolic extracts (ABEE) on activity of angiotensin converting enzyme from rabbit lung, production of nitro oxide in both murine macrophage cells and vascular endothelial cells as well as antioxidant effects were investigated in this study. First of all, it was observed the direct effects of ABEE on reducing power and antioxidant effect lipid peroxidation. In addition, ABEE showed a protective effect on DNA oxidation induced by hydroxyl radical. Furthermore, ABEE at 0.01% exerted approximately 50% inhibition on activity of angiotensin converting enzyme. ABEE increased the production of nitric oxide in endothelial cells, but decreased the induction of nitric oxide stimulated by lipopolysaccharide in microphage. The expression levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD)-2 and -3 were enhanced by ABEE treatment, however, the expression level of SOD-1 remained constant. Moreover, the expression level of nitric oxide synthases-1 (NOS-1), a constitutive enzyme, was increased by ABEE, but that of NOS-2, a inducible enzyme, was constant. It was also found that the level of Nrf-2, a transcription factor of SOD, was increased by ABEE. Therefore, these results demonstrate that ABEE could promote blood circulation via above actions, suggesting that may be helpful for health of blood vessel.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 2005

This study was performed to investigate the effects of very low calorie diet (VLCD) using meal replacements that contain the wild grass extracts that are consisted of mainly Samul-tang ingredients on weight reduction and health promotion in the obese women (BMI$\geq$25 kg/$m^2$) for four weeks. Fifty six premenopausal women participated in this experiment. Each subject was either classified as part of the control group (C group, n=28) that consumed 3 regular meals a day or the meal replacement group (MR group, n=28) that consumed 1 regular meal and 2 meal replacements within 600 kcal/day. Anthropometric measurements, body composition, health related factors, and psychological factors were assessed before (the initial) and after (the 4$^{th}$ week) the study. Obesity was significantly decreased after the diet intervention. Anthropometric measurements such as weight, waist and hip circumference, and BMI and body composition such as body fat, and fat mass were significantly decreased in all groups after the diet intervention. Anthropometric measurements and body composition of the MR group were significantly decreased more than those of the C group. Serum total cholesterol was significantly decreased in the MR groups but not in the C group and serum triglyceride concentration was significantly decreased in all groups after the diet intervention. All the biochemical measurements were within normal ranges after the diet intervention. Psychological factors such as stress and depression were significantly decreased in two groups after the diet intervention. Therefore, VLCD using meal replacements is very effective for weight reduction in the obese premenopausal women.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.470-479
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• 2009

The local scour in waves can be thought of as very complex synthetic processes which is influenced by geology of bed material, bed flow in the sea and hydraulics condition. The most research until now be targeted at the scour depth and therefore the local scour width in waves has not been investigated as well. The size of wave or bottom velocity at the bed is direct cause of the local scour among lots of the scour effect factors, and the scour depth and width can be estimated through interrelationship analysis with scour area to use the dimensionless parameters including these such as Keulegan-Carpenter number, Ursell number etc. In this paper, to find out closely relation with the dimensionless parameters and scour width, performed an experiment with the variations of pipe diameters, wave heights and wave periods and then analyzed it. As the result, while Reynolds number and period parameter were seen to disperse local scour width largely, Shields number, KC number and Ursell number appeared good interrelationship. Specially, Shields number doesn't much affect the scour depth but has good relation for the scour width.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.189-194
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• 2011

Effect of Sargassum confusum extract on the reduction of body weight gain and lipid contents in obese rats were evaluated to find natural materials with anti-obesity benefits. After inducing obesity by feeding 42.5% high-fat diet for 5 weeks, each 10 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to high-fat diet control (HFD) group and high-fat diet group containing 3% Sargassum confusum extract (HFDSC). Weight gain of HFD group ($2.96{\pm}0.31g/day$) was significantly (p<0.05) higher as compared to that of normal diet (ND) group ($2.19{\pm}0.17g/day$). Weights of adipose tissues of HFD group were higher than those of ND group. Body weight gain of HFDSC group, however, was $2.36{\pm}0.24g/day$, which was significantly (p<0.05) lower by 21% than that of HFD group. In addition, weights of epididymal and perirenal adipose tissues were lower by 15% and 16%, respectively, as compared to those of HFD group. Biochemical analyses showed that concentration of triglyceride, total cholesterol, and fatty acids were significantly (p<0.05) lower in HFDSC group. These results suggest that Sargassum confusum extract has a high potential as an anti-obesity material by reducing weight gain and obesity-related factors in serum.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.39 no.1 s.115
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• pp.13-20
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• 2006

The changing patterns of water temperature and turbidity in streams entering Imha Reservoir were studied. The turbidity variation near the intake tower in Imha Reservoir was investigated in relation with the variation of water temperature and turbidity in streams. Water temperature was estimated using multi-regression method with air temperature and dew point as independent variables. Peak turbidity was also estimated using non-linear regression method with rainfall intensity as an independent variable. Although more independent variables representing watershed characteristics seem to be needed to increase estimation accuracies, the methodology used in this study can be applied to estimate water temperature and peak turbidity in other streams.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.258-276
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• 2018

The accurate and quantitative ground information on the hydraulic conductivity characteristics of rock mass is one of the key factors for evaluation of the hydro-geological behaviour of rock mass around an excavated opening under high water pressure. For tunnel and rock structures in seabed, where the sea acts as an infinite source of water, its importance become greater with increasing construction depth below sea level. In this study, to improve the problems related with poor system configuration and incorrect data acquisition of previous hydraulic packer testing equipment, we newly developed an integrated main frame and 30 bar level waterproof downhole sonde apparatus, which were optimized for deep hydraulic packer test in seabed rock mass. Integration of individual test equipment into one frame allows safe and efficient field testing work on a narrow offshore drilling platform. For the integrated type main frame, it is possible to make precise stepwise control of downhole net injection pressure at intervals of $2.0kg_f/cm^2$ or less with dual hydraulic oil volume controller. To ensure the system performance and the operational stability of the prototype mainframe and downhole sonde apparatus, the field feasibility tests were completed in two research boreholes, and using the developed apparatus, the REV(Representative Elementary Volume) scale deep hydraulic packer tests were successfully carried out at a borehole located in the basalt region, Jeju. In this paper, the characteristics of the new testing apparatus are briefly introduced and also some results from the laboratory and in-situ performance tests are shown.

• The Korean Journal of Petroleum Geology
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• v.11 no.1 s.12
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• pp.9-17
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• 2005

In the main target area of the block II, Targe-scale faults occur below the unconformity developed around 1 km in depth. The contrast of seismic velocity around the unconformity is generally so large that the strong multiples and the radical velocity variation would deteriorate the quality of migrated section due to serious distortion. More than 15 kinds of data processing techniques have been applied to improve the image resolution for the structures farmed from this active crustal activity. The bad and noisy traces were edited on the common shot gathers in the first step to get rid of acquisition problems which could take place from unfavorable conditions such as climatic change during data acquisition. Correction of amplitude attenuation caused from spherical divergence and inelastic attenuation has been also applied. Mild F/K filter was used to attenuate coherent noise such as guided waves and side scatters. Predictive deconvolution has been applied before stacking to remove peg-leg multiples and water reverberations. The velocity analysis process was conducted at every 2 km interval to analyze migration velocity, and it was iterated to get the high fidelity image. The strum noise caused from streamer was completely removed by applying predictive deconvolution in time space and ${\tau}-P$ domain. Residual multiples caused from thin layer or water bottom were eliminated through parabolic radon transform demultiple process. The migration using curved ray Kirchhoff-style algorithm has been applied to stack data. The velocity obtained after several iteration approach for MVA (migration velocity analysis) was used instead or DMO for the migration velocity. Using various testing methods, optimum seismic processing parameter can be obtained for structural and stratigraphic interpretation in the Block II, Yellow Sea Basin.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.87-99
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• 2001

Purpose: We studied to find out apo-E genotype polymorphism in minimal change nephrotic syndrome(MCNS) and IgA nephropathy(IgAN) and to determine the relationship between apo-E genotype and clinical course of MCNS. Materials and Method: 43 MCNS patients and 15 IgAN patients were examined for apo-E polymorphism. 50 healthy blood donors were examined for apo-E genotype as control. Genomic DNA was prepared front peripheral blood leukocytes according to standard procedures. Results: As compared with control group, e4 allele frequency was significantly increased in MCNS (p<0.01). However, in IgAN e2 allele frequency, however, was 2.6 times higher than normal control (P<0.01). The frequency of e4 allele of frequent relapser group was 4.6 times higher than normal control and was 2 times higher than infrequent relapser group. Conclusion: We think that apo-E typing might be one of the parameters, which should be considered to predict the course of MCNS in children. MCNS with risky HLA profile and E4/4 genotype could indicate the need for a longer steroid administration. And apo-E genotype needs to be considered for the evaluation of therapeutic responses to other drugs. (J, Korean Soc Pediatr Nephrol 2001 ; 5 : 87-99)

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.51-68
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• 2001

This investigation studied the relationship between Body Mass Index(BMI) and dietary intake, levels of serum lipid, lipoprotein(a) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1(PAI-1) of 28.449 Korean adults(16.937 men, 11.542 women) from 1995 to 1999. The dietary assessment was conducted using 24-hour dietary records and food frequency questionnaires. During this five year study, the BMI normal-weight group, as a percentage of the annual test population, decreased from 68.0% to 60.2%, while the BMI overweight and obese groups collectively increased from 25.0% to 29.7%. The levels of serum total cholesterol (TC), LDL-cholesterol(LDL-C), Triacylglycerol(TG) and PAI-1 increased as the values of BMI increased, while the levels of HDL-cholesterol(HDL-C) and lipoprotein(a)(men only) appeared to decrease as values of BMI increased. The levels of daily energy intake also increased as values of BMI increased in both men and women. The obese group had significantly higher levels of carbohydrate, protein, fat(men only), and cholesterol intake than those of the normal-weight, underweight, and overweight groups. In men, BMI positively correlated with the levels of macronutrients and cholesterol intake(p＜0.001), % energy of protein, fat, and alcohol intake(p＜0.001), and the levels of serum TC, LDL-C, TG and PAI-1(p＜0.001), while BMI negatively correlated with % energy of carbohydrate intake, and the levels of Lp(a) and HDL-C(p＜0.001). In women, BMI negatively correlated with level of cholesterol(p＜0.01), fat(p＜0.001), alcohol intake(p＜0.05),% energy of fat (p＜0.001), % energy of alcohol intake and level of and HDL-C(p＜0.001). Subjects who had serum TC, LDL-C, HDL-C, and TG levels greater than the standard reference values(TC＞240mg/㎗, LDL-C＞130mg/㎗, HDL-C＞35, TG＞200mg/㎗) exhibited a higher intake of the three macronutrients, iron, calcium, meat, milk and fatty foods than those subjects who had serum lipid concentrations less-than-or-equal-to the standard reference values. Overall, there was positive correlation between the high risk factors of vascular disease variables, dietary intake, and BMI. Prevalence of hypertension and high blood sugar were increased as BMI increased, but the prevalence of hypertension is decreased as the year goes by. These findings showed that dietary intake, level of serum lipids and other vascular disease risk factors increased as BIM increased. Therefore, middle or upper class Korean adults who have high BMI should improve their eating habits. This involve reducing alcohol, animal fat, high carbohydrate foods, and overall food intake, and balancing intake in order to lower vascular disease risk factors, including obesity.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.557-562
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• 2016

Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis are gram-negative bacteria frequently found in lesions from patients with periodontitis manifesting alveolar bone loss. Lipopolysaccharides are a major virulence factor of gram-negative bacteria. Bone resorption is known to be regulated by bacteria and their virulence factors. In the present study, we investigated the effects of A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. gingivalis on bone resorption. Heat-killed A. actinomycetemcomitans (HKAa) and heatkilled P. gingivalis (HKPg) induced bone loss in the femurs of mice after intraperitoneal administration. HKAa and HKPg augmented the differentiation of committed osteoclast precursors into osteoclasts, while they inhibited the differentiation of bone marrow-derived macrophages into osteoclasts. Concordant with the effects of the heat-killed whole cells, LPS purified from A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. gingivalis also augmented osteoclast differentiation from committed osteoclast precursors but attenuated it from bone marrow-derived macrophages. Taken together, these results suggest that the whole cells and lipopolysaccharides of A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. gingivalis induce the differentiation of committed osteoclast precursors into osteoclasts, potentially contributing to bone resorption in vivo.