• 한국농촌건축학회논문집
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• 제14권4호
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• pp.1-9
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• 2012

Recently, the central and local government support various improvement projects on existing public buildings and areas. Improving public use and environment of these areas is adequate because financial condition of local city is not enough to build new infrastructures. As one of the projects, Geochang-Eup(Geochang-Gun, Gyeongnam Province) is selected as the project site since most of the public buildings and areas of the city are located close each other in downtown but not streamlined in function and use nor easily accessible. The purpose of this study is to analyze the causes of decline in local city and to present strategies to vitalize the city through improving environment of public areas. And we analyzed the problems by discussion with local officer, field investigation on the site and paper survey. The analysis shows that public infrastructures are grouped by function: administration, education, life support, culture, health, etc, but not well-connected, easily accessible, adequately located, various in use nor enough in quantity. This study summarized the problems into five categories: Access&Linkage, Safe&Comfort, Identity&Image, Usage&Activity and Ownership&Management and proposes strategy in three phases. The first phase is to improve functions and design of public places per each area: more consistent design on public buildings, better civil facilities and better accessibility to public areas. The second is to vitalize of the areas and to improve efficiency in use through linking each other physically and sharing uses. The third is to encourage citizen's participation and by developing civil programs to streamline public areas each other.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제21권5호
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• pp.332-337
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• 2013

Microglial activation plays an important role in the development and progression of various neurological disorders such as cerebral ischemia, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer's disease. Thus, controlling microglial activation can serve as a promising therapeutic strategy for such brain diseases. In the present study, we showed that kalopanaxsaponin A, a triterpenoid saponin isolated from Kalopanax pictus, inhibited inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$ expression in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated microglia, while kalopanaxsaponin A increased anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-10 expression. Subsequent mechanistic studies revealed that kalopanaxsaponin A inhibited LPS-induced DNA binding activities of NF-${\kappa}B$ and AP-1, and the phosphorylation of JNK without affecting other MAP kinases. Furthermore, kalopanaxsaponin A inhibited the intracellular ROS production with upregulation of anti-inflammatory hemeoxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression. Based on the previous reports that JNK pathway is largely involved in iNOS and proinflammatory cytokine gene expression via modulating NF-${\kappa}B$/AP-1 and ROS, our data collectively suggest that inhibition of JNK pathway plays a key role in anti-inflammatory effects of kalopanaxsaponin A in LPS-stimulated microglia.

• 한국콘텐츠학회논문지
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• 제9권5호
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• pp.249-256
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• 2009

본 연구는 2007년 12원 7일 태안지역에서 갑자기 발생한 허베이 스피리트호 기름유출사고로 인한 재난 지역의 공동체 파괴와 재난취약성에 대한 극복 방안으로서의 재난에 강한 지역공동체 형성 전략 방안을 제시하는데 연구목적이 있다. 이러한 연구목적을 달성하기 위하여 본 연구에서는 지역맥락 접근, 거버넌스 전략, 지역사회 중심 접근 측면에서의 문제점을 도출하고 이를 바탕으로 재난에 강한 지역공동체 형성 전략 방안을 제시하였다. 분석결과 첫째, 스피리트호 기름유출사고 시 재난지역에 대한 지역연구의 부족과 지역안전관리계획의 비현실성 등이 문제점으로 지적되었고, 이를 극복하기 위하여 향후 지역연구의 활성화와 지역안전관리계획의 상향식 접근의 필요성 등을 제시하였다. 둘째, 자원봉사의 활성화가 이루어지는 계기가 마련되었지만, 여전히 거버넌스에 기반 한 효율적 재난관리의 문제점이 있었고 이를 극복하기 위한 방안으로 정부-기업-민간 부문의 상호 협력과 협조를 핵심으로 하는 네트워크 거버넌스를 구축하여 야 할 것이다. 셋째, 지역사회 중심의 재난에 강한 공동체를 형성하는데 있어서 사회적 네트워크와 사회적 관계를 의미하는 사회적 자본의 형성이 무엇보다 중요하다.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제19권6호
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• pp.491-497
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• 2015

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of mortality and long-term disability, which can decrease quality of life. In spite of numerous studies suggesting that Epigallocatechin-3- gallate (EGCG) has been used as a therapeutic agent for a broad range of disorders, the effect of EGCG on TBI remains unknown. In this study, a weight drop model was established to evaluate the therapeutic potential of EGCG on TBI. Rats were administered with 100 mg/kg EGCG or PBS intraperitoneally. At different times following trauma, rats were sacrificed for analysis. It was found that EGCG (100 mg/kg, i.p.) treatment significantly reduced brain water content and vascular permeability at 12, 24, 48, 72 hour after TBI. Real-time PCR results revealed that EGCG inhibited TBI-induced IL-$1{\beta}$ and TNF-${\alpha}$ mRNA expression. Importantly, CD68 mRNA expression decreasing in the brain suggested that EGCG inhibited microglia activation. Western blotting and immunohistochemistry results showed that administering of EGCG significantly inhibited the levels of aquaporin-4 (AQP4) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression. TBI-induced oxidative stress was remarkably impaired by EGCG treatment, which elevated the activities of SOD and GSH-PX. Conversely, EGCG significantly reduced the contents of MDA after TBI. In addition, EGCG decreased TBI-induced NADPH oxidase activation through inhibition of $p47^{phox}$ translocation from cytoplasm to plasma membrane. These data demonstrate that EGCG treatment may be an effective therapeutic strategy for TBI and the underlying mechanism involves inhibition of oxidative stress.

• 한국중재학회지:중재연구
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.73-87
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• 2016

Activation Plan for International Health Care through the Resolution of Medical Disputes with Foreign Patients. The field of international health care is currently being expanded and developed into the new industrial field of medical tourism through the convergence of medicine - a public sector - and tourism - a private sector. This study examines problems with medical law regarding the prevention of medical disputes that may occur when attracting foreign patients and the resolution of these disputes. It also introduces the current most ideal resolution plan for medical disputes. Advanced measures for the prevention of medical disputes with foreign patients are as follows: First, when conducting international health care, the obligation to explain a medical treatment should be applied at higher standards for foreign patients. Second, all medical treatment procedures, including appointments, treatments, discharge, post-operation consultations, and follow-up treatments of foreign patients should be charted and recorded. A checklist regarding precautions for each procedure along with a response manual for problems should also be established. These regulations can prevent unexpected conflicts in advance when medical disputes occur. If a medical dispute with a foreign patient occurs despite thorough advance prevention, it can be resolved through reconciliation, mediation, and arbitration. The government and the medical field along with its related industries and authorities should put their efforts into developing these priori/posteriori measures for the activation of international medical health care. The laws and technological/human capabilities in medicine should also be improved in order to activate international medical health care.

• BMB Reports
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• 제53권3호
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• pp.142-147
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• 2020

Lipid accumulation in white adipose tissue is the key contributor to the obesity and orchestrates numerous metabolic health problems such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and cancer. Nonetheless, the prevention and treatment of obesity are still inadequate. Recently, scientists found that brown adipose tissue (BAT) in adult humans has functions that are diametrically opposite to those of white adipose tissue and that BAT holds promise for a new strategy to counteract obesity. In this study, we evaluated the potential of sinapic acid (SA) to promote the thermogenic program and lipolysis in BAT. SA treatment of brown adipocytes induced the expression of brown-adipocyte activation-related genes such as Ucp1, Pgc-1α, and Prdm16. Furthermore, structural analysis and western blot revealed that SA upregulates protein kinase A (PKA) phosphorylation with competitive inhibition by a pan-PKA inhibitor, H89. SA binds to the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) site on the PKA catalytic subunit where H89 binds specifically. PKA-cat-α1 gene-silencing experiments confirmed that SA activates the thermogenic program via a mechanism involving PKA and cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CREB) signaling. Moreover, SA treatment promoted lipolysis via a PKA/p38-mediated pathway. Our findings may allow us to open a new avenue of strategies against obesity and need further investigation.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.27-32
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• 2011

The activation of microglia induces the overproduction of inflammatory mediators that are responsible for the neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The large amounts of prostaglandin $E_2$ ($PGE_2$) produced by inducible cyclooxygenase (COX-2) is one of the main inflammatory mediators that can contribute to neurodegeneration. The inhibition of COX-2 thus may provide therapeutic strategy for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. From the activity-guided purification of EtOAc soluble fraction of Siegesbeckia glabrescens, four compounds were isolated as inhibitors of $PGE_2$ production in LPS-activated microglia. Their structures were determined as 3, 4'-dimethylquercetin (1), 3, 7-dimethylquercetin (2), 3-methylquercetin (3) and 3, 7, 4'-trimethylquercetin (4) by the mass and NMR spectral data analysis. The compounds 1-4 showed dose-dependent inhibition of $PGE_2$ production in LPS-activated microglia with their $IC_{50}$ values of 7.1, 4.9, 4.4, $12.4\;{\mu}M$ respectively. They reduced the expression of protein and mRNA of COX-2 through the inhibition of I-${\kappa}B{\alpha}$ degradation and NF-$\kappa}B$ activity that were correlated with the inactivation of p38 and ERK. Therefore the active compounds from Siegesbeckia glabrescens may have therapeutic effects on neuro-inflammatory diseases through the inhibition of overproduction of $PGE_2$ and suppression of COX-2 overexpression.

• 대한본초학회지
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• 제31권5호
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• pp.1-6
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• 2016

Objectives : Nardostachys jatamansi (NJ) is a medicinal herb that has been reported in various traditional systems of medicine for its use in antispasmodic, a digestive stimulant, skin diseases. Previous studies have already reported that NJ effectively protects against inflammation. However, the active compound in NJ is unknown. Therefore, in the present study, we analyzed effects of a compound, 8α-hydroxy pinoresinol (HP), isolated from NJ against lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced inflammation in RAW 264.7 cells.Methods : To examine the anti-inflammatory effect of HP against LPS, intraperitoneally pre-treat the HP (100, 200, 500 and 1,000 nM) 1 h prior to LPS challenges. LPS was stimulated with 500 ng/ml in RAW 264.7 cells. To identify the anti-inflammatory effect of HP, we measured inflammatory mediators such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and its derivative nitric oxide (NO), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). Also we evaluated molecular mechanisms including mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) activation by western blot.Results : The HP inhibited production of inflammatory mediators, such as iNOS and its derivative NO, COX-2 and PGE2 in LPS- induced inflammationin RAW 264.7 cells. Additionally, HP also inhibited activation of p38 pathway signaling but not extracellularsignal-regulatedkinase (ERK), c-jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK), and NF-κB.Conclusion : Our results suggest that HP has anti-inflammatory functions through the dephosphorylation of p38 and HP can provide beneficial strategy for prevention and therapy of inflammation.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제19권5호
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• pp.441-449
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• 2015

Flavonoids are plant pigments that have been demonstrated to exert various pharmacological effects including anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti-atherosclerotic, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory activities. However, the molecular mechanisms in terms of exact target proteins of flavonoids are not fully elucidated yet. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory mechanism of scutellarein (SCT), a flavonoid isolated from Erigeron breviscapus, Clerodendrum phlomidis and Oroxylum indicum Vent that have been traditionally used to treat various inflammatory diseases in China and Brazil. For this purpose, a nitric oxide (NO) assay, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), nuclear fractionation, immunoblot analysis, a kinase assay, and an overexpression strategy were employed. Scutellarein significantly inhibited NO production in a dose-dependent manner and reduced the mRNA expression levels of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$ in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW264.7 cells. In addition, SCT also dampened nuclear factor (NF)-${\kappa}B$-driven expression of a luciferase reporter gene upon transfection of a TIR-domain-containing adapter-inducing interferon-${\beta}$ (TRIF) construct into Human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK 293) cells; similarly, NF-${\kappa}B$ nuclear translocation was inhibited by SCT. Moreover, the phosphorylation levels of various upstream signaling enzymes involved in NF-${\kappa}B$ activation were decreased by SCT treatment in LPS-treated RAW264.7 cells. Finally, SCT strongly inhibited Src kinase activity and also inhibited the autophosphorylation of overexpressed Src. Therefore, our data suggest that SCT can block the inflammatory response by directly inhibiting Src kinase activity linked to NF-${\kappa}B$ activation.

• 한국의상디자인학회지
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• 제19권3호
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• pp.193-206
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• 2017

The Seongsu handmade shoes street consists of subsidiaries, leather shoe manufacturers, and shoe stores associated with the business as a domestic shoe business cluster. Since its development in the 1980s, the shoe industry has been a center of shoe manufacturing but since the 2000s, it has lacked a fully developed environment, a uniform distribution system, market-oriented brand, marketing and design, and also suffers from an aging workforce. Seoul officials and Seongsu-dong small business owners must overcome these difficulties through town enterprise development, brand creation and marketing co-promoting composition of the characterization and distance, but the situation is still insignificant. The purpose of this study is to determine the actual situation as targeted at small merchant handmade shoes Seongsu-dong Street, to determine the factors in the problem, and to propose substantial improvements for Seongsu handmade shoes street. This study was a survey of street sales outlets in Seongsu handmade shoes street in Seoul. The spatial extent of the study was to set up the scope by reference to the directions given through the Seongsu handmade shoes street site. To build infrastructure facilities and distribution systems for the betterment of handmade shoes Seongsu-dong street, it is important to gain a competitive edge through a specialized industry such as a marketing strategy to establish branding as a specialized company. Shoemakers should also seek their own activation measures in areas such as training professionals, universities and corporate projects for joint participation in the ongoing development of new content. To pioneer the domestic and international sales channels, it is important to broaden the sales infrastructure. These areas will ultimately enable a significant contribution to strengthening national competitiveness.