• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• 제39권2호
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• pp.65-73
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• 2014

Chios Gum Mastic (CGM) is a natural resin extracted from the leaves of Pistacia lentiscus, a plant endemic to the Greek island of Chios. It has been used by traditional healers, and it has antibacterial, antifungal properties, and therapeutic benefits for the skin. The CGM reduces the formation of dental plaque and bacterial growth in oral saliva, and recent studies have demonstrated the role of antioxidant activity of CGM. Although CGM has been widely investigated, its protective effect against oxidative-damage to keratinocytes, as well as the relationship between CGM and autophagy, has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to assess the protective effect of CGM against $H_2O_2$-induced oxidative stress and to evaluate the autophagic features induced by CGM in human keratinocytes. The pretreatment with CGM significantly reduced apoptosis in $H_2O_2$-exposed HaCaT cells. It promoted the degradation of caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9; and it induced the formation of the processed PARP. The treatment with CGM caused an increase in vesicle formation compared to control group. The level of p62 was reduced and the conversion of LC3-I to LC3-II was increased in CGM treated HaCaT cells. Also, the treatment with CGM increased cleavage of ATG5-ATG12 complex. In summary, CGM helps the cells to survive under stressful conditions by preventing apoptosis and enhancing autophagy. Besides, the present investigation provides evidence to support the antioxidant potential of CGM in vitro and opens up a new horizon for future experiments.

• 한국환경과학회지
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• 제17권12호
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• pp.1343-1351
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• 2008

The activated sludge obtained from wastewater coke oven plant was immobilized by entrapment with polyethylene glycol (PEG). The effects of several factors on the biodegradation of $CN^-$ from. synthetic wastewater were investigated using batch and continuous reactors. The degradation rate of $CN^-$ increased with increasing of the immobilized bead volume in the reactor. Approximately 7.65mg/L of $NH_4-N$ was produced upon the degradation of 35mg/L of $CN^-$. When high concentrations of the toxic cyanide complex were used in the testing of cyanide degradation, the free activated sludge could be inhibited more than that of the immobilized activated sludge. When the phenol concentration was higher than 400mg/L in the synthetic wastewater, approximately 98.4% of $CN^-$ was removed within 42 hours by the immobilized activated sludge. However, the cyanide was not completely degraded by the tree activated sludge. This indicates that high phenol concentrations can act as a toxic factor for the free activated sludge. A $CN^-$ concentration of less than 1mg/L was achieved by the immobilized sludge at the loading rate of 0.025kg $CN^-/m^3-d$. Moreover, it was found that the HRT should be kept for 48 hours in order to obtain stable treatment conditions.

• 한국전기전자재료학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국전기전자재료학회 2002년도 춘계합동학술대회 논문집
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• pp.21-25
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• 2002

Activated sludge processes are widely used in biological wastewater treatment processes. The main motivation of this research is to develop an intelligent control strategy for activated sludge process (ASP). ASP is a complex and nonlinear dynamic system because of the characteristic of wastewater, the change in influent rate, weather conditions, and so on. The mathematical model of ASP also includes uncertainties which are ignored or not considered by process engineer or controller designer. The ASP model based on Matlab/Simulink is designed in this paper. The performance of the model is tested by IWA (International Water Association) and COST (European Cooperation in the filed of Scientific and Technical Research) data that include steady-state results during 14 days. In this paper, fuzzy logic control approach is applied to control the DO (dissolved oxygen) concentration. The fuzzy logic controller that includes two inputs and one output can adjust air flowrate. Also, this paper introduces the remote monitoring and control system that is applied for the CSTR (Continuously Stirred Tank Reactor) wastewater treatment system. The CSTR plant has a local control and the remote monitoring system which is contained communication parts which consist of LAN (Local Area Network) network and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) wireless module. Remote control and monitoring systems are constructed in the laboratory.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.313-323
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• 2014

Significant alteration in the microbial community can occur across reclamation areas suffering subsidence from mining. A reclamation site undergoing fertilization practices and an adjacent coal-excavated subsidence site (sites A and B, respectively) were examined to characterize the bacterial diversity using 454 high-throughput 16S rDNA sequencing. The dominant taxonomic groups in both the sites were Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Betaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Firmicutes. However, the bacterial communities' abundance, diversity, and composition differed significantly between the sites. Site A presented higher bacterial diversity and more complex community structures than site B. The majority of sequences related to Proteobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Chloroflexi, Nitrospirae, Firmicutes, Betaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria, and Anaerolineae were from site A; whereas those related to Actinobacteria, Planctomycetes, Bacteroidetes, Verrucomicrobia, Gammaproteobacteria, Nitriliruptoria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Phycisphaerae originated from site B. The distribution of some bacterial groups and subgroups in the two sites correlated with soil properties and vegetation due to reclamation practice. Site A exhibited enriched bacterial community, soil organic matter (SOM), and total nitrogen (TN), suggesting the presence of relatively diverse microorganisms. SOM and TN were important factors shaping the underlying microbial communities. Furthermore, the specific plant functional group (legumes) was also an important factor influencing soil microbial community composition. Thus, the effectiveness of 454 pyrosequencing in analyzing soil bacterial diversity was validated and an association between land ecological system restoration, mostly mediated by microbial communities, and an improvement in soil properties in coal-mining reclamation areas was suggested.

• 한국산학기술학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국산학기술학회 2004년도 춘계학술대회
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• pp.253-257
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• 2004

Platelet aggregation is a complex phenomenon that probably involves several intracellular biochemical pathways. When activated, platelets change shape, aggregate and release the contents of their intracellular granules. The interactions between platelets and blood vessel walls are important in the development of thrombosis and cardiovascular diseases. When blood vessels are damaged, platelet aggregation occurs rapidly to form haemostatic Plugs or arterial thrombi at the sites of vessel injury or in regions where blood flow is disturbed. These thrombi are the source of thromboembolic complications of atherosclerosis, heart attacks, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. Therefore, the inhibition of platelet function represents a promising approach for the prevention of thrombosis. Plants constitute a rich source of bioactive chemicals such as phenolics, terpenoids and alkaloids. Plant extracts may be an alternative to currently used medicinal source because they constitute a rich source of bioactive chemicals. This study was performed to investigate the antiplatelet activity of extract of Tabebuia impetiginosa Martius ex DC (Taheebo) and find out which fractions to this activity in rabbit platelet. Taheebo was methanol extracted and solvent fractionated in to five fractions (hexane, chloroform, ethylacetate, butanol and water). And each fractions were investigated inhibitory effects on platelet aggregation induced by various agonists using washed rabbit platelets in vitro.

• 대한한방부인과학회지
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• 제18권1호
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• pp.181-191
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• 2005

Purpose : ${\beta}$-sitosterol is kind of phytosterols or plant which are structurally similar to cholesterol. This study was aimed to investigate the inhibitory effect of the ${\beta}$-sitosterol on the proliferation of human uterine leiomyoma cells and the expression of gene related the mechanism of cell apoptosis. Methods : We counted the number of death cells treated with indicated time of the ${\beta}$-sitosterol and investigated cell death rate by cell count assay. Furthermore, flow cytometry analysis and DNA fragmentation assay were used to dissect between necrosis and apoptosis. and then we observed the differential gene expression by western blot analysis. Results : 1) The inhibitory effect on the growth of uterine leiomyoma cell treated with the ${\beta}$-sitosterol $16{\mu}M$ was increased in a time dependent. 2) The result of flow cytometry analysis, subG1 phase arrest related cell apoptosis was investigated 16.97% in uterine leiomyoma cell treated with the ${\beta}$-sitosterol $16{\mu}M$ and showed the fashion of proportional time dependent. 3) The gene expression of p27, p21 related cell cycle was increased according to increasing time interval but cyclin E-CDK2 complex was decreased expression. 4) The character of apoptosis, DNA fragmentation was significantly observed on the time dependent. 5) The expression of pro-caspase 3 and PARP were decreased dependent on treatment with time dependent. Conclusion : This study showed that the ${\beta}$-sitosterol have the inhibitory effect on the proliferation of human uterine leiomyoma cell and the effect was related with apoptosis.

• 한국약용작물학회지
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.109-116
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• 2015

The HWND_G02 (Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, Crataegus pinnatifida, Polygonum multiflorum Thunberg, Cnidium officinale Makino) and HWND_G03 (Cinnamonum cassia Blume, Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, Crataegus pinnatifida, Polygonum multiflorum Thunberg, Cnidium officinale Makino, Allium macrostemon Bunge) are new natural mixture composed with several oriental herbs. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of HWND extracts on high cholesterol diet (HCD)-induced hyperlipidemic rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups: control, HCD, atorvastatin (5 mg/kg, po), ethanolic extracts of HWND_G02 (1,000 mg/kg, po) and HWND_G03 (1,000 mg/kg, po) were administered to the HCD-induced hyperlipidemic rats for 4 weeks to evaluate their anti-hyperlipidemic activities. HWND extracts markedly decreased body and liver wight gain, and recovered serum lipid levels, such as total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) in the HCD-induced hyperlipidemic rats. Furthermore, the lipid levels (TC and TG) and the lipid accumulation were significantly lowered in the liver tissue of HWND-administrated rats. After a HCD, each group had a lower atherogenic index (AI) compared to the HCD group. In conclusion, these data suggest that HWND extracts could be the candidate for the material to prevent hyperlipidemia.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제46권3호
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• pp.153-156
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• 2008

One of the most common drugs used against a wide variety of anaerobic protozoan parasites is metronidazole. However, this drug is mutagenic for bacteria and is a potent carcinogen for rodents. Thymus vulgaris is used for cough suppression and relief of dyspepsia. Also it has antibacterial and antifungal properties. The aim of this study was to investigate antiamebic effect of Thymus vulgaris against Entamoeba histolytica in comparison with metronidazole. One hundred gram air-dried T. vulgaris plant was obtained and macerated at $25^{\circ}C$ for 14 days using n-hexane and a mixture of ethanol and water. For essential oil isolation T. vulgaris was subjected to hydrodistillation using a clevenger-type apparatus for 3 hr. E. histolytica, HM-1: IMSS strain was used in all experiments. It was found that the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) for T. vulgaris hydroalcoholic, hexanic extracts, and the essential oil after 24 hr was 4 mg/mL, 4 mg/mL, and 0.7 mg/mL, respectively. After 48 hr the MIC for T. vulgaris hydroalcoholic and hexanic extracts was 3 and 3 mg/mL, respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that the Iranian T. vulgaris is effective against the trophozoites of E. histolytica.

• 한국수자원학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국수자원학회 2015년도 학술발표회
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• pp.220-220
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• 2015

Water, energy, and food security already became a risk that threatens people around the world. Increasing of resources demand, rapid urbanization, decreasing of natural resources and climate change are four major problems inducing resources' scarcity. Indeed, water, energy, and food are interconnected each other thus cannot be analyzed separately. That is, for simple example, energy needs water as source for hydropower plant, water needs energy for distribution, and food needs water and energy for production, which is defined as W-E-F nexus. Due to their complicated linkage, it needs a computer model to simulate and analyze the nexus. Development of a computer simulation model using system dynamics approach makes this linkage possible to be visualized and quantified. System dynamics can be defined as an approach to learn the feedback connections of all elements in a complex system, which mean, every element's interaction is simulated simultaneously. Present W-E-F nexus models do not calculate and simulate the element's interaction simultaneously. Existing models only calculate the amount of water and energy resources that needed to provide food, water, or energy without any interaction from the product to resources. The new proposed model tries to cope these lacks by adding the interactions, climate change effect, and government policy to optimize the best options to maintain the resources sustainability. On this first phase of development, the model is developed only to learn and analyze the interaction between elements based on scenario of fulfilling the increasing of resources demand, due to population growth. The model is developed using the Vensim, well-known system dynamics model software. The results are amount of total water, energy, and food demand and production for a certain time period and it is evaluated to determine the sustainability of resources.

• 한국컴퓨터정보학회논문지
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• 제15권9호
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• pp.165-172
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• 2010

커뮤니케이션은 다양한 산업 분야에서 심각한 문제를 야기하는 주요 원인 중에 하나로 여기 지고 있다. 이런 이유로 인간 공학의 한 분야로서 커뮤니케이션에 대한 광범위한 연구가 진행되어왔다. 대형화 및 고도화된 산업 시스템의 안전성을 유지하기 위하여 운전원들의 양질의 커뮤니케이션 품질을 유지하는 것이 중요한 것으로 간주되고 있다. 비상 및 비정상 상황 등의 위급 상황 하에서의 운전원의 커뮤니케이션 품질은 상황 대처 성능을 결정짓는 주요 요인이라 할 수 있다. 양질의 커뮤니케이션은 대화자간의 대화 내용을 상호간에 올바르게 이해 및 숙지한 것이라고 규정할 때, 이는 대화 메시지의 충실도 및 유사도 등을 기반으로 판단할 수 있을 것이다. 본 연구에서는 이러한 필요성에 따라, 원자력발전소 주제어실 운전원들이 비상 및 비정상 상황 하에서의 대응 운전 직무를 수행하기 위해 발생하는 대화 내용의 유사성을 코사인 유사도를 이용하여 측정함으로써, 운전원 커뮤니케이션 품질을 평가할 수 있는 프레임워크를 제안하였다. 모의 훈련 실습에 대해 각 실습조별 수행도 정량 평가 결과와 본 시스템을 이용한 실습조 대화 품질 평가 결과를 비교한 결과 커뮤니케이션 품질이 좋은 실습조가 직무 수행도 평가에서도 높은 점수를 취득하고 있음을 확인하였다.