• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.682-691
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• 2023

Cell transformation induced by epidermal growth factor (EGF) and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) is a critical event in cancer initiation and progression, and understanding the underlying mechanisms is essential for the development of new therapeutic strategies. Licorice extract contains various bioactive compounds, which have been reported to have anticancer and anti-inflammatory effects. This study investigated the cancer preventive efficacy of licochalcone D (LicoD), a chalcone derivative in licorice extract, in EGF and TPA-induced transformed skin keratinocyte cells. LicoD effectively suppressed EGF-induced cell proliferation and anchorage-independent colony growth. EGF and TPA promoted the S phase of cell cycle, while LicoD treatment caused G1 phase arrest and down-regulated cyclin D1 and up-regulated p21 expression associated with the G1 phase. LicoD also induced apoptosis and increased apoptosis-related proteins such as cleaved-caspase-3, cleaved-caspase-7, and Bax (Bcl2-associated X protein). We further investigated the effect of LicoD on the AKT signaling pathway involved in various cellular processes and found decreased p-AKT, p-GSK3β, and p-NFκB expression. Treatment with MK-2206, an AKT pharmacological inhibitor, suppressed EGF-induced cell proliferation and transformed colony growth. In conclusion, this study demonstrated the potential of LicoD as a preventive agent for skin carcinogenesis.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.230-243
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• 2023

Objective: High temperatures can trigger cellular oxidative stress and disrupt spermatogenesis, potentially leading to male infertility. We investigated the effects of retinoic acid (RA), chitosan nanoparticles (CHNPs), and retinoic acid loaded with chitosan nanoparticles (RACHNPs) on spermatogenesis in mice induced by scrotal hyperthermia (Hyp). Methods: Thirty mice (weighing 25 to 30 g) were divided into five experimental groups of six mice each. The groups were as follows: control, Hyp induced by a water bath (43 ℃C for 30 minutes/day for 5 weeks), Hyp+RA (2 mg/kg/day), Hyp+CHNPs (2 mg/kg/72 hours), and Hyp+RACHNPs (4 mg/kg/72 hours). The mice were treated for 35 days. After the experimental treatments, the animals were euthanized. Sperm samples were collected for analysis of sperm parameters, and blood serum was isolated for testosterone measurement. Testis samples were also collected for histopathology assessment, reactive oxygen species (ROS) evaluation, and RNA extraction, which was done to compare the expression levels of the bax, bcl2, p53, Fas, and FasL genes among groups. Additionally, immunohistochemical staining was performed. Results: Treatment with RACHNPs significantly increased stereological parameters such as testicular volume, seminiferous tubule length, and testicular cell count. Additionally, it increased testosterone concentration and improved sperm parameters. We observed significant decreases in ROS production and caspase-3 immunostaining in the RACHNP group. Moreover, the expression levels of bax, p53, Fas, and FasL significantly decreased in the groups treated with RACHNPs and RA. Conclusion: RACHNPs can be considered a potent antioxidative and antiapoptotic agent for therapeutic strategies in reproductive and regenerative medicine.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.21.1-21.16
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• 2024

IL-1, a pleiotropic cytokine with profound effects on various cell types, particularly immune cells, plays a pivotal role in immune responses. The proinflammatory nature of IL-1 necessitates stringent control mechanisms of IL-1-mediated signaling at multiple levels, encompassing transcriptional and translational regulation, precursor processing, as well as the involvement of a receptor accessory protein, a decoy receptor, and a receptor antagonist. In T-cell immunity, IL-1 signaling is crucial during both the priming and effector phases of immune reactions. The fine-tuning of IL-1 signaling hinges upon two distinct receptor types; the functional IL-1 receptor (IL-1R) 1 and the decoy IL-1R2, accompanied by ancillary molecules such as the IL-1R accessory protein (IL-1R3) and IL-1R antagonist. IL-1R1 signaling by IL-1β is critical for the differentiation, expansion, and survival of Th17 cells, essential for defense against extracellular bacteria or fungi, yet implicated in autoimmune disease pathogenesis. Recent investigations emphasize the physiological importance of IL-1R2 expression, particularly in its capacity to modulate IL-1-dependent responses within Tregs. The precise regulation of IL-1R signaling is indispensable for orchestrating appropriate immune responses, as unchecked IL-1 signaling has been implicated in inflammatory disorders, including Th17-mediated autoimmunity. This review provides a thorough exploration of the IL-1R signaling complex and its pivotal roles in immune regulation. Additionally, it highlights recent advancements elucidating the mechanisms governing the expression of IL-1R1 and IL-1R2, underscoring their contributions to fine-tuning IL-1 signaling. Finally, the review briefly touches upon therapeutic strategies targeting IL-1R signaling, with potential clinical applications.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.217-240
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• 2023

For a while, Functional cosmetics, Cosmeceutical cosmetics, and Derma cosmetics have gained trust and become popular due to the consumers' strong interest in ingredients & efficacy. It's remarkable that Clean or Vegan brands are growing fast because they are emphasizing on different values from the other cosmetic brands. It's needed to attempt to analyze the influence relationship between consumer lifestyle and social value in these changes, and to find out whether the consumption of vegan cosmetics is related to satisfying the need for self-expression in a social atmosphere where ESG is emphasized on. This study analyzed the effect of lifestyle types and self-expression needs on the purchase intention of vegan cosmetics by mediating social values for cosmetics consumers. Lifestyle types were classified into appearance-oriented, health-oriented, and fashion-oriented. For empirical analysis, 321 questionnaires collected from cosmetics consumers living across the country were used. SPSS v26.0 and PROCESS macro v4.2 were used to analyze based on a single mediating model as a single mediator. As a result of the analysis, first, lifestyle types and self-expression needs, excluding appearance-oriented types, were found to have a positive (+) effect on social values. Second, it was found that social value had a positive (+) significant effect on the purchase intention of vegan cosmetics. Third, appearance-oriented, health-oriented, trend-seeking lifestyle types and self-expression needs were all found to have a positive (+) effect on the purchase intention of vegan cosmetics. Fourth, social values were found to mediate lifestyle types, self-expression needs, and purchase intentions, except for appearance-oriented types. Appearance-oriented consumers do not directly affect social values but affect purchase intentions, suggesting that appearance-oriented consumers may not be significantly affected by product-related social values. In a comparison of the relative influence size using standardization coefficients, self-expression needs had the greatest impact on the purchase intention of vegan cosmetics when mediating social values, and health-oriented ones had the least impact. The academic implications of this study include contributing to consumer behavior research by providing insights, mediation mechanisms, and consideration of the niche consumer sector, and directing further research into the cosmetics industry beyond forming marketing strategies and sustainable business practices.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.466-477
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• 2002

It was proposed that proper problem solving practice should improve students' questioning in physics. In the previous researches, improvement in students' questioning was observed after practice of making questions given the examples of desirable questions. In this study, the problem solving strategies used by experts were introduced to students in the form of step-by-step guide to follow in problem solving practice. The directions in the guide were concrete and operational for students to understand the expected behaviors explicitly. It was assumed that students could pinpoint the difficulty specifically through this guide, which would result in positive effects on students' recognition and expression of their own questions. The subjects in this study were college freshmen enrolled in the introductory physics for science or engineering major. The physics problems from the textbook were solved and practiced in the traditional way for controlled group. Worksheets designed to follow experts' problem solving strategies were used for the experimental group. Two groups were taught in the same way during lecture part of the class. Students were asked to describe the difficulties they had during homeworks or tests. Questions in this study means these descriptions written by students although they were not necessarily in the form of interrogative sentences. The questions were analyzed both in quantity and quality. Quantitatively, more students spontaneously turned in their questions in the experimental group than in the controlled group. Regarding the quality, there were more students in the experimental group than in the controlled group who described their difficulties in detail or recognized the need for the procedural knowledge.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.173-186
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of gamification strategies on improving participation and motivation of shared electric scooter users. To this end, this study derived the user type through the first research question of how the shared electric scooter usage behavior and pulse are, and derived user tasks and scenarios. The second research question, a shared electric kickboard app with gamification, was tested by users to see if it helps increase user participation and form motivation. As a result of the analysis, it was found that users were induced to be considerate of other users by using a combination of the motivational, relational, and self-expression strategies of gamification. Second, it was found that the use of motivation, achievement and reward, and reward visualization strategy elements promotes user's voluntary behavior. Third, through relationship, achievement, and reward strategies, users participated to create a positive culture of shared electric scooters, drawing immediate feedback, indicating that convenience has increased. In conclusion, it was found that the user helped to play a positive role in voluntary participation and motivation through the use of the shared electric kickboard service with gamification.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.648-657
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• 2008

In this study, we used functional genomic strategies, proteomics and quantitative real-time (qRT)-PCR, to advance our understanding of genes associated with fumonisin production in the fungus Fusarium verticillioides. Earlier studies have demonstrated that deletion of the FCC1 gene, which encodes a C-type cyclin, leads to a drastic reduction in fumonisin production and conidiation in the mutant strain (FT536). The premise of our research was that comparative analysis of F. verticillioides wild-type and FT536 proteomes will reveal putative proteins, and ultimately corresponding genes, that are important for fumonisin biosynthesis. We isolated proteins that were significantly upregulated in either the wild type or FT536 via two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and subsequently obtained sequences by mass spectrometry. Homologs of identified proteins, e.g., carboxypeptidase, laccase, and nitrogen metabolite repression protein, are known to have functions involved in fungal secondary metabolism and development. We also identified gene sequences corresponding to the selected proteins and investigated their transcriptional profiles via quantitative real-time (qRT)-PCR in order to identify genes that show concomitant expression patterns during fumonisin biosynthesis. These genes can be selected as targets for functional analysis to further verify their roles in $FB_1$ biosynthesis.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.62 no.5
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• pp.1-15
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• 2012

In a fast changing postmodern society, contemporary fashion is becoming more complicated and ambiguous along with other genres of art than ever before. This phenomenon reigning as a sociocultural paradigm can be defined as 'indeterminacy' and it means 'undecidability'. The purpose of this study is to clarify and analyze the indeterminate characteristics of contemporary fashion reviewing the theoretical background and the architectural formativeness as a comparative research. The core idea of deconstructivism dismantles a causal relationship between function and form in fashion and the conventional notion about clothes. Complexity theory, which is the study of chaotic dynamical systems, suggests the creative idea and concept of infinite possibilities on a formative method. Meanwhile, catastrophe theory of discontinuous change can be used as interpretative strategies for the process of deconstruction and reconstruction. As a result of this study, the indeterminacy of fashion can be analyzed into five semantic categories: irregularity, immateriality, randomness, complexity and changeability. The intrinsic value of the indeterminacy in contemporary fashion is the interaction with a sociocultural ideology and a technological environment as well as an expansion of formative expression. To conclude, it can be said that the indeterminacy in fashion is a new interpretation of the relationship among body and space, clothes and society.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.1210-1218
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• 2020

This study selected brand logos of six South Korean and Chinese banks including KB, IBK, SH, ICBC, ABC, and SISB, conducted Eye Tracking experiment among 36 South Korean and Chinese university students(Nine male and female students, respectively), and analyzed the difference of visual attention of consumers on bank brand logo, symbol, Korean/Chinese character logo types as well as the difference of visual attention of these consumers on English logo types. Results were represented by using statistics and visualization including GAZEPLOT, HEATMAP, and visual expression. Results showed that most generally gazed logo types more often and longer than symbols when they watched bank brand logos. A slight difference was observed between both groups in terms of gazing English logo types. This study has a implication that it proposed the possibility of drawing quantitative and reliable outcomes by utilizing eye tracking device and approaching in an objective standpoint beyond a methodological aspect on bank brand logo primarily leaning over the analysis of case research or design development. Moreover, findings are expected to serve as basic data for proposing the direction of special bank brand logo design and marketing strategies.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.169-179
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to improve the quality of fundamental nursing practice course. Methods: Participants were 132 students who took the fundamental nursing practice course at D university in N city. The study included processes of planning, action, observation, and reflection. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0 program and qualitative data were evaluated through content analysis. Results: The 12-step designing college courses model by Fink was applied in the planning. In the acting stage, the course was conducted according to the instruction in designing the course, students wrote reflective journals and the professor gave feedback to the reflective journal and the class observation journal was used for lessons. In the observation stage, the course evaluation was surveyed and analyzed, evaluations were positive with 47.1% of students positively evaluating the teaching strategy. In the reflecting stage, outcomes in course improvement were reflected on and, the number of students at the lower level-of-achievement decreased. Conclusion: Action research was a useful research method that could capture the quality improvement process in college courses. Expression of effort and passion to improve quality of education through action research in various ways and to share quality improvement strategies for nursing education are important.