• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.153-162
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• 2000

A field study was performed to test effectiveness of a bloluminescent genetically engineered microorganism (GEM) for bioremediation process monitoring and control. The study employed Pseudomonas fluorescens HK44 that was the first strain approved for field application in the U.S. for bioremediation purposes. HK44 contains lux gene fused within a naphthalene degradative pathway, allowing this GEM to bioluminesce as it degrades naphthalene as well as substituted naphthalenes and other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) , Results showed that HK44 was maintained in both PAH-contarninated and uncontaminated soils even 660 days after inoculation. HK44 was able to produce bioluminescence in response to PAHs in soil. Although effectiveness of chemical remediation was not assessed due to heterogeneous distribution of contaminants, decreased concentration of naphthalene was shown in the soils, Taken together, HK44 was useful for in situ bioremediation process monitoring and control. This work is so far the only field release of a GEM for bioremediation purposes.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.671-679
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• 2018

Glasswort has attracted an attention because of its interesting physiological actions. In this study, the effects of glasswort on inflammatory events including nitric oxide (NO) synthesis and arachidonic acid metabolism in cultured RAW264.7 macrophages were investigated. A series of solvent fractions, including fractions of hexane (Fr.H), ethyl ether (Fr.E), ethyl acetate, butanol, and water, were prepared from a 70% methanol extract of glasswort. Among the fractions, Fr.E showed the strongest inhibition of NO synthesis and inducible NO synthase (iNOS) expression in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages. At a concentration of $80{\mu}g/mL$, Fr.E decreased the NO and iNOS levels by 73 and 77%, respectively, after 24 h. Fr.E showed the most potent inhibitory effects on the expressions of cytosolic phospholipase $A_2$ and cyclooxygenase-2 with $IC_{50}$ values of 33.4 and $27.9{\mu}g/mL$, respectively. Fr.H and Fr.E also significantly inhibited 5-lipoxygenase expression in LPS-stimulated macrophages. These results suggest that the hydrophobic fractions of glasswort possess anti-inflammatory activities through modulating the arachidonic acid metabolism and NO synthesis.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.87-95
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• 2022

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the effect of associating calcium butyrate with tannin extract, compared to an antimicrobial on the growth performance, incidence of diarrhea, intestinal histology, immune-expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) in piglets. Methods: Seventy-two piglets (36 barrows and 36 gilts) weaned at 28±2 d and initial body weight of 7.17±1.07 kg were allocated to 3 treatments in a randomized complete block design with 8 replicates per treatment and 3 animals per experimental unit. Treatments were composed of NC, negative control: basal diet without additives; PC, positive control: basal diet + 40 mg/kg of colistin sulfate; or BT, basal diet + calcium butyrate + tannin extract. The butyrate and tannin inclusion levels were 0.15% in the pre-starter phase and 0.075% in the starter phase. Incidence of diarrhea was monitored daily, and on d 14 and 35 of experiment, 1 animal from each experimental unit was slaughtered to collect intestinal samples. Results: No significant differences were observed for growth performance. The butyrate-and tannin-based additive resulted in reduced (p<0.05) incidence of diarrhea in piglets during d 1 to 14 and d 1 to 35 in comparison with the other treatments. Piglets that consumed the diet containing the calcium-butyrate and tannin showed a lower (p<0.05) crypt depth in the duodenum than those receiving the NC treatment at 14 d of experimentation. The BT treatment provided a lower (p<0.05) immune-expression of COX-2 at 14 d and TNF-α at 35 d in the duodenum. Conclusion: Association between calcium butyrate and tannin extract resulted in a significant decrease in the incidence of diarrhea and inflammatory process in the duodenum of piglets. Therefore, calcium-butyrate combined with tannin could be a part of an alternative program to reduce the use of antimicrobials in the diet of weaned piglets.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.67-87
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• 2020

Maintaining active users who repeatedly share high-quality knowledge is critical for the success of online Q&A sites. This study suggests two paths that lead to active users' continuous knowledge sharing: 1) elaborated decision process, represented by continuance intention, and 2) automated cognitive process, represented by past behavior. The direct and moderating effects of continuance intention and past behavior were verified by analyzing subjective intention data and objective behavior data of 333 active users of Naver Knowledge-iN. Using Cox proportional hazards regression and negative binomial regression, the influences of continuance intention and past behavior on two types of continuous knowledge sharing were examined. The results showed that only past behavior was significantly influential on knowledge sharing continuance and as to the frequency of knowledge sharing, both continuance intention and past behavior's influences were significant. It was also confirmed that past behavior negatively moderates continuance intention's effect on the frequency of knowledge sharing. In order to maintain active users' continuous knowledge sharing, it is important to habituate knowledge sharing through repetitive knowledge sharing behavior. And in order to increase the frequency of knowledge sharing, in addition to the habituation, appropriate benefits that can increase the continuance intention should be provided.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.16-24
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• 2017

The adsorption of various atmospheric harmful gases ($CO_x$, $NO_x$, $SO_x$) on graphene-like boron nitride(BN) and aluminum nitride(AlN) sheets was theoretically investigated using density functional theory (DFT) and MP2 methods. The structures were fully optimized at the $B3LYP/6-31G^{**}$ and $CAM-B3LYP/6-31G^{**}$ levels of theory and confirmed to be a local minimum by the calculation of the harmonic vibrational frequencies. The MP2 single-point binding energies were computed at the $CAM-B3LYP/6-31G^{**}$ optimized geometries. Also the zero-point vibrational energy (ZPVE) and 50%-basis set superposition error (BSSE) corrections were included. The adsorptions of gases on the BN sheet were predicted to be a physisorption process and the adsorptions of gases on the AlN sheet were predicted to be a physisorption process for $CO_x$ and $NO_x$ but to be a chemisorption process for $SO_x$.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.223-227
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• 2008

Human embryonic stem (ES) cells retain the capacity for self-renewal, are pluripotent and differentiate into the three embryonic germ layer cells. The regulatory transcription factors Oct4, Nanog and Sox2 play an important role in maintaining the pluripotency of human ES cells. The aim of this research was to identify unknown genes upregulated in human ES cells along with Oct4, Nanog, and Sox2. This study characterizes an unknown gene, named chromosome 1 open reading frame 31 (C1orf31) mapping to chromosome 1q42.2. The product of C1orf31 is the hypothetical protein LOC388753 having a cytochrome c oxidase subunit VIb (COX6b) motif. In order to compare expression levels of C1orf31 in human ES cells, human embryoid body cells, vascular angiogenic progenitor cells (VAPCs), cord-blood endothelial progenitor cells (CB-EPCs) and somatic cell lines, we performed RT-PCR analysis. Interestingly, C1orf31 was highly expressed in human ES cells, cancer cell lines and SV40-immortalized cells. It has a similar expression pattern to the Oct4 gene in human ES cells and cancer cells. Also, the expression level of C1orf31 was shown to be upregulated in the S phase and early G2 phase of synchronized HeLa cells, leading us to purpose that it may be involved in the S/G2 transition process. For these reasons, we assume that C1orf31 may play a role in on differentiation of human ES cells and carcinogenesis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.4013-4018
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• 2014

Because of its importance in tumor invasion and metastasis, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has become a research focus in the field of cancer. Recently, evidence has been presented that FoxO4 might be involved in EMT. Our study aimed to detect the expression of FoxO4, E-cadherin and vimentin in non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs). We also investigated clinical features and their correlations with the markers. In our study, FoxO4, E-cadherin and vimentin were assessed by immunohistochemistry in a tissue microarray (TMA) containing 150 cases of NSCLC. In addition, the expression level of FoxO4 protein was determined by Western blotting. The percentages of FoxO4, E-cadherin and vimentin positive expression in NSCLCs were 42.7%, 38.7% and 55.3%, respectively. Immunoreactivity of FoxO4 was low in NSCLC when compared with paired normal lung tissues. There were significant correlations between FoxO4 and TNM stage (P<0.001), histological differentiation (P=0.004) and lymph node metastasis (P<0.001), but no significant links with age (P=0.323), gender (P=0.410), tumor size (P=0.084), smoking status (P=0.721) and histological type (P=0.281). Our study showed that low expression of FoxO4 correlated with decreased expression of E-cadherin and elevated expression of vimentin. Cox regression analysis indicated FoxO4 to be an independent prognostic factor in NSCLC (P=0.046). These data suggested that FoxO4 might inhibit the process of EMT in NSCLC, and might therefore be a target for therapy.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.59-65
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• 2015

Objectives : Fermentation of herbs has been known to be helpful in improving the immune systems and protecting body against disease. The present study was conducted to evaluate anti-inflammatory effects of the fermentation extracts (FE) consisting of soybean, red ginseng andCitrus UnshiuPeel in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated Raw264.7 cells.Methods : FE were prepared by the fermentation withBacillus Subtilisand then by extraction with ethanol (95%; prepared by the fermentation process). Cell viability was measured by MTT assay. Nitric oxide (NO) production was measured in culture media by Griess assay. The expression of nuclear factor (NF)-κB and inhibitory kappa B alpha (IκBα) was determined by Western blot.Results : LPS-induced production of NO and PGE₂was dose-dependently decreased by the treatment of FE in Raw264.7 cells. These suppressive effects of FE on NO and PGE₂production were related to the inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression. FE inhibited LPS-induced production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1βin a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, FE inhibited the NF-κB signaling pathway through the prevention of LPS-induced degradation of IκBαin cytosol and the nuclear translocation of NF-κB.Conclusions : These findings suggest that FE could have anti-inflammatory effects on LPS-induced inflammatory responses in macrophages.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2009

Clinical and animal studies have shown that free radical overload is an important cause for a variety of diseases. Although ginseng has been recognized as antioxidant, how it modulates anti-oxidative process at the molecular level remains unknown. Free radical production is induced by tumor necrosis factor-$\alpha$ (TNF-$\alpha$) under the stress condition, and (TNF-$\alpha$) release is activated by TNF-$\alpha$-converting enzyme (TACE). Since TACE inhibitor is also well known for anti-inflammatory agent, ginseng seems to show anti-oxidative activity by repressing TACE pathway. Further studies on signal transduction would be warranted to elucidate molecular action mechanisms of ginseng on anti-oxidation and anti-inflammation.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.179-187
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• 2009

Five kinds of coumarin compounds were successfully purified from Angelica gigas Nakai by using recyclingpreparative HPLC and identified as decursin (1), decursinol angelate (2), 7-demethylsuberosine (3), marmesin (4), and decursinol (5) by NMR analyses. None of the purified compounds in ethanol showed DPPH radical scavenging activity, while the A. gigas extract (AGNEX) displayed a significant level of activity. Interestingly, compounds 3 in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) showed good $ABTS^+$ radical scavenging activity ($IC_{50}=8.1{\mu}g$/mL) as did compounds 4 and 5. The anti-inflammatory activities of the purified compounds were evaluated and compared using the NO concentration assay and western blot analysis on LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. NO production was significantly suppressed by all the compounds in a dose-dependent manner among which compounds 1, 2, and 3 showed very good activities with $IC_{50}$ values of 7.4, 6.5, and $7.6{\mu}g$/mL, respectively. Treatment with compounds 1-5 effectively suppressed the expression levels of iNOS, IL-1$\beta$, and COX-2, which are responsible for promoting the inflammatory process. Thus, the ethanol extract and coumarin compounds of A. gigas Nakai hold promise for use as potential anti-inflammatory agents.