• Atmosphere
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.73-83
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• 2013

In recent several years, East Asia, Europe and North America have suffered successive cold winters and a number of historical records on the extreme weathers are replaced with new record-breaking cold events. As a possible explanation, several studies suggested that cryospheric conditions of Northern Hemisphere (NH), i.e. Arctic sea-ice and snow cover over northern part of major continents, are changing significantly and now play an active role for modulating midlatitude atmospheric circulation patterns that could bring cold winters for some regions in midlatitude. In this study, a dynamical seasonal prediction system for NH winter is newly developed using the snow depth initialization technique and statistically predicted sea-ice boundary condition. Since the snow depth shows largest variability in October, entire period of October has been utilized as a training period for the land surface initialization and model land surface during the period is continuously forced by the observed daily atmospheric conditions and snow depths. A simple persistent anomaly decaying toward an averaged sea-ice condition has been used for the statistical prediction of sea-ice boundary conditions. The constructed dynamical prediction system has been tested for winter 2012/13 starting at November 1 using 16 different initial conditions and the results are discussed. Implications and a future direction for further development are also described.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.323-327
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• 2004

Whitening effect, which decreases the skin pigmentation, is the one of important targets in cosmetics. This study was investigated the effects of Scirpi rhizoma on ant ioxidation and melanogenesis. S.rhizoma is a rhizome of Scirpus fluviatilis G. a perennial Cyperaceae species of wide occurrence in Asia, Europe, Africa and North America. S.rhizoma shown scavenging activities of free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) with the IC50 of 638${\mu}g/ml$ against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and 21.7${\mu}g/ml$ against superoxide radicals in the xanthine/xanthine oxidase system, respectively. S.rhizoma treatment (48 h) suppressed the biosynthesis of melanin up to 27% and reduced tyrosinase activity up to 31% at 100${\mu}g/ml$ in B16 melanoma cells. S.rhizoma was also able to significantly inhibit tyrosinase and TRP-1 expres- sion in protein level. These results suggest that S.rhizoma inhibited melanin biosynthesis by regulating tyrosinase activity and expression in B16 melanoma cells. Therefore S.rhizoma may be useful as new whitening agent due to the antioxidant effect and the inhibitory effect against melanogenesis.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.266-271
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• 2015

Elaeagnus pungens Thunb., belongs to the family Elaeagnaceae, was recently recorded for the first time in Mt. Miruk, Tongyeong-si, Gyeongsangnam-do. The native distribution range of this species includes China and Japan in East Asia, while it is considered as an invasive species in North America. Elaeagnus pungens is related to E. glabra, but the species can be distinguished from its congeners by having revolute and repand leaf blades, silvery white and brown scales on the abaxial surface of the leaf, and a campanulate calyx. We propose the new Korean name 'Tong-yeong-bol-re-na-mu,' based on its first collecting site. A detailed description of vegetative and floral characteristics, trichome scanning electron micrographs, dichotomous keys, and the habitat of this species are also provided.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.355-360
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• 2002

ElectroSlag Strip Overlaying (ESSO) process has been around since 1970. ESSO process had limited acceptance due to a few problems associated with the use of this process in its very early stage. Limited knowledge and, most significantly, poor quality of the equipment and welding flux gave the ESSO process a bad name. However, this process is well accepted today and used in North America, Europe and Japan. The ESSO process provides low dilution overlays at high deposition rates, excellent and consistent deposit chemistry with excellent surface quality, and virtually no defects. Capitan has taken this process one step further through extensive research and development of the process itself as well as the equipment. The improvement brought to the process warranted the issuance in May 2000 of an US patent. This study demonstrates the feasibility of this process with immediate positive production results. The main achievements of this work are as follows: $\textbullet$ Development of six various strip-flux combinations on three different base materials: carbon steel, $\frac{1}{4}$ Cr/.5 Mo and 2 $\frac{1}{4}$ Cr/l Mo, fully tested with: penetrant, ultrasound, bends, hardness, overlay chemistry, corrosion and hydrogen disbonding. $\textbullet$ 12" dia. 90 hot formed elbows from straight pipe electroslag overlayed with "1 layer" and "2 layer" Alloy 625 $\textbullet$ a very unique development of miniaturized overlaying equipment able to perform overlay in pipe with diameters as low as 10" (254 mm). This development has large applications in the field of offshore, petrochemical, refining, pulp and paper and power generation industries. The aftermath of this development was its immediate acceptance by major end users with the completion of four projects of overlayed pipe in the USA and Far East Asia.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.294-298
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• 2008

Snow cover is a potential water resource for later spring and summer seasons as well as a thermal mirror with high reflectivity causing decreases of surface air temperature during cold winter seasons. In this study, current and future changes in Northern Hemisphere snow extent and their potential linkages with atmospheric circulation are examined. The NOAA AVHRR visible snow extent (1967-2006) data as well as observational (NCEP-DOE 1979-2006) and modeled (GFDL 2.1 2081-2100) pressure and surface air temperature data are used. Analyses of observational data demonstrate that the snow extent in meteorological spring (March to April) and summer (June to August) has significantly decreased since the late 1980s. The offset of snow seasons (the timing of snow melt in spring) have also significantly advanced particularly in Europe, East Asia, and northwestern North America. Analyses of pressure fields reveal that the spatial patterns of the earlier snow melt are associated with changes in atmospheric circulation such as the Arctic Oscillation (AO). In the positive winter AO years, multiple positive pressure departure cores in the upper troposphere (200hPa) are observed over the mid-latitude regions from March to mid-April, while a negative pressure departure core (70hPa) prevails over the Arctic Ocean. The reversed anomaly patterns related to later snow melt occur in negative winter AO years. The comparison between current and future thermal spring onsets suggest that snow melt patterns will intensify with larger greenhouse gas emissions, indicating earlier hydrological spring onset.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.21
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• pp.9065-9070
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• 2014

The incidence of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is high in Western and Northern Europe and North America, and low in Asia. Although the incidence of RCC in Japan is lower than the rates in the other industrialized countries, there is no doubt that it is increasing. In this paper, we would like to introduce the summary of findings of JACC study, which evaluate the risk factors for RCC in a Japanese population. JACC study suggests nine risk factors (i.e., smoking, obesity, low physical activity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, kidney diseases, beef, fondness for fatty food and black tea) and one preventive factor (i.e., starchy roots such as taro, sweet potato and potato) in a Japanese population. In Japan, however, drinking black tea may be a surrogate for westernized dietary habits while eating starchy roots may be a surrogate for traditional Japanese dietary habits. Further studies may be needed to evaluate risk factors for RCC because the number of cases is small in our studies.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.413-418
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• 2011

Human alveolar echinococcosis (AE), a hepatic disorder that resembles liver cancer, is a highly aggressive and lethal zoonotic infection caused by the larval stage of the fox tapeworm, Echinococcus multilocularis. E. multilocularis is widely distributed in the northern hemisphere; the disease-endemic area stretches from north America through Europe to central and east Asia, including northern parts of Japan, but it has not been reported in Korea. Herein, we represent a first case of AE in Korea. A 41-year-old woman was found to have a large liver mass on routine medical examination. The excised mass showed multinodular, necrotic, and spongiform appearance with small irregular pseudocystic spaces. Microscopically, the mass was composed of chronic granulomatous inflammation with extensive coagulation necrosis and parasite-like structure, which was revealed as parasitic vesicles and laminated layer delineated by periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) stain. Clinical and histologic features were consistent with AE. After 8 years, a new liver mass and multiple metastatic pulmonary nodules were found and the recurred mass showed similar histologic features to the initial mass. She had never visited endemic areas of AE, and thus the exact infection route is unclear.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.336-340
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• 2007

Plants from the genus Centaurea (C.) (Family: Asteraceae alt. Compositae), widely distributed in Asia, Europe and North America, have traditionally been used in the treatment of various ailments. As a part of our on-going studies on the plants from the genus C. for their phytochemistry and biological activities, extracts of the seeds of Turkish endemic C. species, C. bornmuelleri and C. huber-morathii, were tested for their cytotoxicity towards the CaCo2 colon cancer cell line as well as for the toxicity towards the brine shrimps, using the MTT and the brine shrimp lethality assays, respectively. Among the extracts, the MeOH extract of these plants showed significant toxicity towards the brine shrimps ($LD_{50}=55.2{\times}10^{-2}\;and\;42.4{\times}10^{-2}mg/ml$, respectively). The MeOH extract of both C. species also inhibited the growth of CaCo2 colon cancer cells in the MTT assay ($IC_{50}$=29.9 and 33.0 g/ml, respectively). As the most prominent activities in both assays were observed with the MeOH extracts, it can be assumed that the compound(s) responsible for these activities are polar in nature.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.145-180
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• 2017

Alternanthera mosaic virus (AltMV) is a member of the genus Potexvirus which has been known for less than twenty years, and has been detected in Australasia, Europe, North and South America, and Asia. The natural host range to date includes species in at least twenty-four taxonomically diverse plant families, with species in at least four other families known to be infected experimentally. AltMV has been shown to differ from Potato virus X (PVX), the type member of the genus Potexvirus, in a number of ways, including the subcellular localization of the Triple Gene Block 3 (TGB3) protein and apparent absence of interactions between TGB3 and TGB2. Differences between AltMV variants have allowed identification of viral determinants of pathogenicity, and identification of residues involved in interactions with host proteins. Infectious clones of AltMV differing significantly in symptom severity and efficiency of RNA silencing suppression have been produced, suitable either for high level protein expression (with efficient RNA silencing suppression) or for Virus-Induced Gene Silencing (VIGS; with weaker RNA silencing suppression), demonstrating a range of utility not available with most other plant viral vectors. The difference in silencing suppression efficiency was shown to be due to a single amino acid residue substitution in TGB1, and to differences in subcellular localization of TGB1 to the nucleus and nucleolus. The current state of knowledge of AltMV biology, including host range, strain differentiation, host interactions, and utility as a plant viral vector for both protein expression and VIGS are summarized.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.19-19
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• 2012

The Colchicaceae comprising 250 species and 15-19 genera of rhizomatous or cormous perennials, the moderate sized family in Liliales, distributes widely through the temperate and tropical areas of Africa, Asia and North America. The division of two subfamilies in Colchicaceae is still unclear because of different results in previous studies. Moreover, sister taxa of this family has not been determined. In genus level, it was uncertain that whether expand circumscription of three genera of Colchicum, Gloriosa, and Wurmbea which are include Androcymbium, Littonia and Onixotis, respectively, is reasonable or not. In this study, three coding genes of atpB, matK and rbcL were analyzed to reconstruct phylogenetic relationship of Colchicaceae and both of maximum parsimony (MP) and Bayesian analysis were conducted. Among three genes, matK region was most variable and provided more parsimony-informative sites, whereas the atpB and rbcL regions were similar in the variation and number of informative characters. Monophyly of Colchicaceae was strongly supported and it was divided into two subfamilies (Wurmbeoideae and Uvulariodeae). Uvularia-Disporum clade, comprises the subfamily Uvularioideae, is a sister of the rest Colchicaceae and subsequently differentiated Burchardia was a sister within subfamily Wurmbeoideae. Burchadia was used to be supposed to be a sister of the family in the previous studies. It was clear the monophyly and phylogenetic relationship among six tribes sensu Vinnersten and Manning (2007) within the family. In addition, the expanded circumscription of three genera was also strongly supported; Colchicum-Androcymbium (BP99), Wurmbea-Onixotis (BP100), and Littonia-Gloriosa (BP100). Here, we propose a re-circumscription among taxa of Colchicaceae.