• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.112-117
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• 2008

This experiment was carried out to obtain the basic information on processing for product of high quality goods in Artemisia capillaris. We investigated antioxidant and antimicrobial activities by harvesting date and plant parts in Artemisia capillaris. Contents of total polyphenol compounds and flavonoids were the highest in leaf, followed by capitulum and stem. Leaf on June 30 contained 76.7 mg/g DW total phenolic compounds and 78.2 mg/g DW flavonoids. As $RC_{50}$ value, that was, the concentration of sample required for 50% reduction of DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-l-picrylhydrazyl) absorbance, was very low as $5.42\;{\mu}g$ in leaf on June 30, antioxidant activity was the highest. In addition, $RC_{50}$ of BHA, BHT and ${\alpha}-tocopherol$ were $3.09\;{\mu}g$, $24.30{\mu}g$ and $2.87{\mu}g$, respectively. And capitulum had antimicrobial activities against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter aerogenes, Citrobacter freundii, Vibrio vulnificus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. By the way, leaf and stem rarely had antimicrobial activity. Antimicrobial activities of capitulum according to harvesting date were very various. Capitulum on August 30 had the highest antimicrobial activities against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio vulnificus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and on July 30 against Enterobacter aerogenes, Citrobacter freundii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.80-88
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• 2016

Seven kinds (acacia, cochineal, catechu, grape peel, persimmon, gallnut and clove) of color powders obtained from natural resources and their mixtures were evaluated for their biological activities, such as antioxidant (ABTS and DPPH radicals scavenging), cholesterol absorption, and COX-2 inhibitory activities. Catechu, gallnut and clove were selected for the further studies due to its the best activities. The cholesterol absorption, COX-2 inhibitory, ${\alpha}$-amylase inhibitory and ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activities were measured using the mixtures of catechu, gallnut and clove. The ABTS radical scavenging activity of the seven types of natural color powders were higher than the DPPH radical scavenging activity. The cholesterol absorption activity was significantly higher in cloves. The COX-2 inhibitory activity was significantly lower in acacia. The ${\alpha}$-amylase inhibitory activity was higher in catechu and gallnut, indicating that there were no significant difference between two mixtures. The ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activity was the highest in catechu, which was higher than that of the catechu-containing mixtures. From all these results, a synergistic effect could be obtained when utilizing a mixture of powders rather than using only individual type. Since the activity of each powder was different, further studies will be required for clarifying the interactions between mixtures.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.13-25
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• 2007

The water treatment plants in Seoul Metropolitan Area, which are under Korea Water Resources Corporation(KOWACO)'s management, take water from Paldang Reservoir in Han River System for drinking water supply. There are taste and odor (T&O) problems in the finished water because the conventional treatment processes do not effectively remove the T&O compounds. As part of countermeasures for taste and odor control, KOWACO is planning to introduce advanced water treatment process such as ozone and GAC in near future. This study evaluated the removal characteristics of T&O and dissolved organic matter (DOM) to find design and operation parameters of advanced water treatment processes in a pilot-scale treatment plant. The GAC adsorption capacity for DOC in the two GAC system (GAC and $O_3$-GAC) at an EBCT of 14min was mostly exhausted after 9months. The differency of the removal efficiency of DOC between $O_3$-GAC and GAC increased with increasing operation time because the bioactivity in $O_3$-GAC process was enhanced by post-ozone process. Removal by conventional treatment was unable to reach the target TON(threshold odor number) of 3 but GAC systems at an EBCT(empty bed contact time) of 14 min were able to archive the target with few exception. During the high T&O episodes, PAC as a pretreatment together with GAC could be useful option for T&O control. However, substantial TON removal continued for more than two year (> 90,000 bed volumes). At the spiking of less concentration 26 to 61 ng/L in the influent of GAC systems, GAC absorber and $O_3$-GAC processes could meet the treatment target. The better spike control after 12 and 19 months of operation compared to that after 7 months of operation is a strong indication of biological control. The results presented in this study had shown that $O_3$-GAC process was found to be more effective for T&O control than GAC process. And the main removal mechanism in GAC systems were adsorption capacity and biodegradation.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.356-364
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• 2010

This study was carried out to investigate the exposure pathway of PBDEs in human breast milk collected from new mothers residing in Chuncheon, a comparatively clean area in Korea. The congeners of PBDE in 22 human breast milk samples were analyzed using a high resolution gas chromatography with a high resolution mass detector. The residue level of ${\sum}PBDEs$ was higher in primipara subjects than in multipara subjects (p<0.05). The levels in this study were similar to those of people in some Asian and European countries, but were lower than those of people in north America. In the congener profiles, BDE-47 (mean contribution=36.1%) was predominant, followed by BDE-153 (27%), BDE-99 (11.7%), BDE-100 (11.1%), BDE-28 (7.9%) and BDE-183 (3.5%). The sum of BDE-47 and BDE-153 accounted for more than 50% of ${\sum}PBDEs$ in most samples. BDE-47 was highly correlated with ${\sum}PBDEs$ (r=0.94, p<0.001). No strong trend was observed between PBDE levels and a number of key biological factors (women's age, weight, height and body mass index) examined in this study, however, weak correlations were observed in PBDE levels measured against dietary habits, particularly in fish consumption frequency. It seems that Korean people might be exposed to multiple sources including products of PBDEs, and particularly food resources.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.482-499
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• 2017

Allergic diseases have increased over the past several decade worldwide including developing countries. Allergic inflammatory responses are caused by Th (T helper)2 immune responses, triggered by allergen ingestion by antigen presenting cells such as dendritic cells (DCs). Intestinal microorganisms control the metabolism and physiological functions of the host, contribute to early immune system maturation during the early life, and homeostasis and epithelial integrity during life. Bifidobacteria have strain-specific immunostimulatory properties in the Th1/Th2 balance, inhibit TSLP (thymic stromal lymphopoietin) and IgE expression, and promote Flg (Filaggrin) and FoxP3 (Treg) expression to alleviate allergies. In addition, unmethylated CpG motif ODN (oligodeoxynucleotides) is recognized by TLR (toll-like receptors)9 of B cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) to induce innate and adaptive immune responses, while the butyrate produced by Clostridium butyricum activates the GPR (G-protein coupled receptors)109a signaling pathway to induce the expression of anti-inflammatory gene of pDCs, and directly stimulates the proliferation of thymically derived regulatory T (tTreg) cells through the activation of GPR43 or inhibits the activity of HADC (histone deacetylase) to differentiate naive $CD4^+$ T cells into pTreg cells through the histone H3 acetylation of Foxp3 gene intronic enhancer.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.32-39
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• 2016

Coastal plant species Tetragonia tetragonoides (Pall.) Kuntze native to the Dokdo islands was sampled and then 17 endophytic fungi were purely isolated based on morphological differences. The fungal isolates were characterized by their growth properties under NaCl concentration or pH gradient. Culture filtrates of the 17 fungal isolates were treated to Waito-c rice (WR) seedlings for verifying plant growth-promoting activity. As the results, YH103 strain showed the highest plant growth-promoting activity among them. Phylogenetic analysis of the isolates was done by the maximum likelihood method based on partial internal transcribed spacer region (ITS region: contaning ITS1, 5.8S, and ITS2), beta-tubulin (BenA), and calmodulin (CaM) gene sequences. Chromatographic analysis of the strain YH103 culture filtrate showed the existence of gibberellins ($GA_4$, $GA_7$, $GA_8$, and $GA_{19}$). Finally, the strain YH103 was identified as Aspergillus tubingensis by microscopic observation and molecular analysis and, to our knowledge, this is the first report of GAs producing A. tubingensis.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.173-185
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• 2014

Climate change has caused detrimental phenomena such as heavy rainfall which could aggravate soil erosion. Accordingly, it is needed to evaluate the groundwater recharge, baseflow, and soil erosion for the efficient management of water resources and quality. In this study, future climate change scenarios were applied to the H aean-myeon watershed which is a steep sloping watershed in South Korea to analyze groundwater recharge, baseflow, sediment. Also, the variation of groundwater recharge, baseflow, sediment was analyzed according to the change of slope (5 %). Simulated periods were divided into three terms (2013 ~ 2040 years, 2041 ~ 2070 years, 2071 ~ 2100 years). As a result of this study, average groundwater recharge and baseflow increased by 50 %, 42 %, and sediment decreased by 72 %, respectively. In these regards, the suggested method will positively contribute to hydro-ecosystem and reduction of muddy water at a steep sloping watershed.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.143-154
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• 2012

As demand of water resources and attentions to changes in climate (e.g., due to ENSO) increase, long/short term prediction of precipitation is getting necessary in water planning. This research evaluated the ability of MM5 to predict precipitation in the Tampa Bay region over 23 year period from 1986 to 2008. Additionally MM5 results were statistically bias-corrected using observation data at 33 stations over the study area using CDF-mapping approach and evaluated comparing to raw results for each ENSO phase (i.e., El Ni$\tilde{n}$o and La Ni$\tilde{n}$a). The bias-corrected model results accurately reproduced the monthly mean point precipitation values. Areal average daily/monthly precipitation predictions estimated using block-kriging algorithm showed fairly high accuracy with mean error of daily precipitation, 0.8 mm and mean error of monthly precipitation, 7.1 mm. The results evaluated according to ENSO phase showed that the accuracy in model output varies with the seasons and ENSO phases. Reasons for low predictions skills and alternatives for simulation improvement are discussed. A comprehensive evaluation including sensitivity to physics schemes, boundary conditions reanalysis products and updating land use maps is suggested to enhance model performance. We believe that the outcome of this research guides to a better implementation of regional climate modeling tools in water management at regional/seasonal scale.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.148-155
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• 2014

The transfer pattern of chlorpyrifos present in soil to cucumber plants were assessed and reported with plant growth, concentration dependency, and duration. Cucumber seedlings cultivated in a growth chamber for 30 days and a greenhouse for 120 days. Weight and length of cucumbers cultivated in the chamber increased with the increasing time, while the uptake of chlorpyrifos by cucumber increased a period from 0 to 15 days and decreased after 15 days. Uptake rates of chlorpyrifos into a cucumber plant were 1.0~1.3% to initial amounts treated with 20 and 40 mg/kg to soil. Most chlorpyrifos residues were detected in root, followed by stem and leaf. Results of the greenhouse test showed that chlorpyrifos amounts in cucumber fruits were present less than LOQ (0.02 mg/kg), and chlorpyrifos was mainly found in the root of the cucumber plant. Chlorpyrifos absorbed in a cucumber under greenhouse condition was smaller than that in chamber condition as 0.03~0.04%. Degradation patterns of chlorpyrifos in soils were similar during indoor and outdoor tests with half-lives of 25.8~73.0 days. These results may be useful for establishing the management strategy of residual pesticides in soil environment.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.275-284
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• 2014

This study was orchestrated with the purpose of uncovering new nutraceutical resources possessing biological activities in the plant kingdom. To fulfill our objective, we analyzed several Chinese plants and selected three possessing powerful anti-oxidative activities. The anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects these three Chinese plants, Malus hupehensis, Ophiorrhiza cantonensis, and Psychotria rubra ethanol extracts were then evaluated. First of all, they possessed potent scavenging activity against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl, similar with that of ascorbic acid, used as a positive control. Moreover, they inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- and hydrogen peroxide-induced reactive oxygen species, in a dose-dependent manner, in RAW 264.7 cells. Also, they induced the expression of an anti-oxidative enzyme, heme oxygenase 1, and its upstream transcription factor, nuclear factor-E2-related factor 2. Furthermore, they suppressed LPS-induced nitric oxide (NO) formation, without cytotoxicity. The inhibition of NO formation was the result of the down regulation of inducible NO synthase (iNOS). The suppression of NO and iNOS by the three extracts might be the result of modulation by the upstream transcription factors, nuclear factor ${\kappa}B$ and activator protein-1. Taken together, these results indicate that these three Chinese plants possess potent anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities. Therefore, they might be utilized as promising materials in the field of nutraceuticals.