• Herbal Formula Science
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.179-191
• /
• 2017

Objectives : Increased oxidative stress by reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been suggested as a major cause of muscle fatigue. Although several studies have demonstrated the various biological properties of Sophora flavescens Aiton, Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fischer and Dictamnus dasycarpus Turcz, but the antioxidative potentials have not been clearly demonstrated. The present study was designed to investigate the protective effects of their water and ethanol extract mixtures (medicinal herbal mixtures, MHMIXs) on hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$)-induced cell damage and apoptosis in C2C12 myoblasts. Methods : Cytotoxicity was assessed by an MTT assay. Quantitative evaluation of apoptosis induction and ROS production was evaluated by flow cytometry analysis. Expression levels of apoptosis regulatory and DNA-damage proteins were detected by Western blotting. Result : The inhibition of $H_2O_2$-induced cell proliferation was effectively blocked in extracts of 3: 1: 1 (EMHMIXs-1) or 2: 2: 1 (EMHMIXs-2) of S. flavescens, G. uralensis and D. dasycarpus Turcz, ethanol extracts from various complex extracts in C2C12 myoblasts. EMHMIXs-1 and EMHMIXs-2 also effectively attenuated $H_2O_2$-induced C2C12 cell apoptosis, which was associated with the restoration of the upregulation of Bad and death receptor 4, and downregulation of XIAP and cIAP-1 induced by $H_2O_2$. In addition, these herbal mixtures significantly blocked the $H_2O_2$-induced ROS generation and phosphorylation of $p-{\gamma}H2A.X$, which suggests that they can prevent $H_2O_2$-induced cellular DNA damage. Conclusions : The results suggest that EMHMIXs-1 and EMHMIXs-2 could block the DAN damage and apoptosis of C2C12 myoblasts by oxidative stress through blocking ROS generation.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.15 no.9
• /
• pp.5585-5593
• /
• 2014

This study tested the hypothesis that the significance of the heterogeneous dispersion parameter in safety performance function (SPF) used to estimate the expected crashes is affected by the endogenous heterogeneous prior distributions, and analyzed the impacts of the mis-specified dispersion parameter on the evaluation results for traffic safety countermeasures. In particular, this study simulated the Poisson means based on the heterogeneous dispersion parameters and estimated the SPFs using both the negative binomial (NB) model and the heterogeneous negative binomial (HNB) model for analyzing the impacts of the model mis-specification on the mean and dispersion functions in SPF. In addition, this study analyzed the characteristics of errors in the crash reduction factors (CRFs) obtained when the two models are used to estimate the posterior means and variances, which are essentially estimated through the estimated hyper-parameters in the heterogeneous prior distributions. The simulation study results showed that a mis-estimation on the heterogeneous dispersion parameters through the NB model does not affect the coefficient of the mean functions, but the variances of the prior distribution are seriously mis-estimated when the NB model is used to develop SPFs without considering the heterogeneity in dispersion. Consequently, when the NB model is used erroneously to estimate the prior distributions with heterogeneous dispersion parameters, the mis-estimated posterior mean can produce large errors in CRFs up to 120%.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.14 no.12
• /
• pp.845-853
• /
• 2014

In this study, we measured the dose reaching the OSLD dosimeter by using the regular lead apron, and air gap apron through 3 experiments, and researched the reductive effect of air gap apron on exposure dose based on the 140 keV gamma ray radiating from $^{99m}technetium$, which is the most commonly used in nuclear medicine. As a result, when the gap between the dosimeter and 0.2mm lead plate is 0 Cm, the average value of 10 dosimeters was 0.515 mSv, and when the gap between the dosimeter and lead plate is 20 Cm, the average value of 10 dosimeters was 0.138 mSv, which shows reductive effect of dose as much as 0.388 mSv. When the gap between the dosimeter and 0.5mm lead plate is 0 Cm, the average value of 10 dosimeters was 0.296 mSv, and when the gap between the dosimeter and lead plate is 20 Cm, the average value of 10 dosimeters was 0.075 mSv, which shows reductive effect of dose as much as 0.221 mSv. As we check the cumulative dosage for 3 days, the lead apron without air layer shows average 0.239 mSv, and the air gap apron shows 0.176 mSv, which is actually reduced by 0.062 mSv. As we check the cumulative dosage for a month, the lead apron without air layer shows 0.59 mSv, and the air gap apron shows 0.54 mSv, which is reduced by 0.05 mSv.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.15 no.6
• /
• pp.3658-3666
• /
• 2014

The presence of $^{238}U$, $^{232}Th$ and $^{40}K$, which are naturally residing radionuclides, in the ordinary soil of Busan, the 2nd largest city in Korea, was anlayzed and the residents' radiation exposure to ordinary soil was evaluated. Regarding the measurement methods, to conduct a detailed analysis of the naturally residing radionuclides in the soil of Busan, this study divided the 16 administrative districts into a lattice structure with 3 spots, and collected a total of 48 soil samples (July 2012 and April 2013). ICP-MS was used to analyze the concentration of the radioactivity of $^{238}U$ and $^{232}Th$ in the soil, and a HpGe detector, a gamma ray detector, was used to analyze the radioactivity of $^{40}K$. The measurement values of this study were compared with the concentration of radioactivity of East Asian regions. The concentration of $^{238}U$ nuclides in Korea was lower than the mean, whereas the concentration of $^{232}Th$ and $^{40}K$ nuclides was higher than the mean. The higher mean concentrations of $^{232}Th$ and $^{40}K$ than the mean were attributed to the many granite areas that contain a great deal of naturally occurring radionuclides.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.219-224
• /
• 2009

We investigated the amounts of radiation exposure from $^{238}U$, $^{232}Th$, and $^{40}K$ which are three major radionuclides naturally residing in soil of the Korean peninsula. The experimental results showed that the concentrations of the radionuclides were 15.77$\pm$7.27, 290.05$\pm$73.92 and 750.30$\pm$165.38 Bq/kg respectively. The absorbed dose rate based on the measured concentrations was 213.76$\pm$46.37 nGy/hr, while the spatial gamma absorbed dose rate measured in the same region was 123.90$\pm$19.18 nGy/hr. The effective dose rate was 0.26 mSv/yr, which is significantly higher than the world average effective dose rate 0.07 mSv/yr provided by the UNSCEAR.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.57-64
• /
• 1986

This paper described an improved technical method required for proper evaluation of personnel exposures by means of the photographic dosimeter developed by KAERI in lower gamma or X-ray energy regions, with which response of the dosimeter varies significantly. With calibration of the dosimeter in the energy range from 30 to 300 keV, the beam spectrum was carefully selected and specified it adequately. The absorber combinations and absorber thickness used to obtain the specified X-ray spectra from a constant potential X-ray machine were determined theoretically and also experimentally. A correlation between the density and exposure for the four separate energies, such as $49\;keV_{eff},\;154\;keV_{eff}\;250\;keV_{eff}\;and\;662\;keV$, is experimentally determined. As a result, it can be directly evaluated the exposure from the measured response of dosimeter.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2005

This study was aimed to characterize osteogenic potential of rat bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) isolated with standard flushing method and investigate the plasticity of transdifferentiation between osteoblastic and adipocytic lineage of cultured BMSC. Unlike aspiration method in human, rat bone marrow was extracted by means of irrigation with culture media that elevates the possibility of co-extraction of committed osteoprogenitor, or preosteoblast or other progenitor cells of several types present inside bone marrow. The cultured stromal cells showed high ALP activity which is representative marker of osteoblast without any treatment. Osteogenic inducers such as Dex and BMP-2 were examined for the evaluation of their effect on osteogenic and adipocytic differentiation of stromal cells, because they function as osteoinductive agent in stromal cells, but simultaneously induce adipogenic differentiation. Osteogenic differentiation was evaluated by measuring alkaline phosphatase activity or mRNA expression of osteoblast markers such as osteopontin, bone sialoprotein, collagen type I and CbfaI, and in vitro matrix mineralization by von Kossa staining. Oil red staining method was used to detect adipocyte and adipocytic marker, aP2 and $PPAR{\gamma}2$ expression was examined using RT-PCR. It can be supposed that irrigation procedure resulted in high portion of already differentiation-committed osteoprogenitor cell showing elevated ALP activity and strong mineralization only under the supplement of $100{\mu}M$ ascorbic 2-phosphate and 10mM ${\beta}$-glycerophosphate without any treatment of osteogenic inducers such as Dex and BMP-2. Dex and BMP-2 seemed to transdifferentiate osteoprogenitor cells having high ALP activity into adipocytes temporarily, but continuous treatment redifferentiated into osteoblast and developed in vitro matrix mineralization. This property must be considered either in tissue engineering for bone regeneration, or in research of characterization of osteogenic differentiation, with rat BMSC isolated by the standard irrigation method.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.235-240
• /
• 2017

The purpose of this study is to confirm the safety of the clinical application of image co - registration in steteotactic radiosurgery by evaluating the 3D positioning of magnetic resonance imaging using image co-registration. We performed a retrospective study using three-dimensional coordinate measurement of 32 patients who underwent stereotactic radiosurgery and performed magnetic resonance imaging follow-up using image co-registration. The 3 dimensional coordinate errors were $1.0443{\pm}0.5724mm$ (0.10 ~ 1.89) in anterior commissure and $1.0348{\pm}0.5473mm$ (0.36 ~ 2.24) in posterior commissure. The mean error of MR1 (3.0 T) was lower than that of MR2 (1.5 T). It is necessary to minimize the error of magnetic resonance imaging in the treatment planning using the image co - registration technique and to confirm it.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.56 no.4
• /
• pp.325-334
• /
• 2018

Toxoplasma gondii is an apicomplexan zoonotic protozoan parasite that infects most species of warm-blooded animals, including humans. The heavy incidence and severe or lethal damage caused by T. gondii infection clearly indicate a need for the development of an effective vaccine. T. gondii GRA8 is a member of the dense granules protein family and is used as a marker of acute infection. In the present study, we evaluated the protective immunity induced by DNA vaccination based on a recombinant eukaryotic plasmid, pDsRed2-GRA8, against acute toxoplasmosis in mice. BALB/c mice were intramuscularly immunized with the pDsRed2-GRA8 plasmid and then challenged by infection with the highly virulent GFP-RH strain of T. gondii. The specific immune responses and protective efficacy against T. gondii of this vaccine were analyzed by measuring cytokine and serum antibody titers, splenocyte proliferation assays, and the survival times of mice after challenge. Our results showed that mice immunized with pDsRed2-GRA8 demonstrated specific humoral and cellular responses, induced higher IgG antibody titers with predominant IgG2a production; increased levels of IL-10, IL-12 (p70), $IFN-{\gamma}$, $TNF-{\alpha}$, and splenocyte proliferation; and prolonged survival times compared to those of control mice. The present study showed that DNA immunization with pDsRed2-GRA8 induced humoral and cellular immune responses, and all immunized mice showed greater Th1-type immune responses and longer survival times than those of control mice. These results indicated that T. gondii GRA8 DNA immunization induces a partial protective effect against acute toxoplasmosis.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.21-34
• /
• 1976

The diagnosis of iron deficiency rests upon the correct evaluation of body iron stores. Morphological interpretation of blood film and the red cell indices are not reliable and often absent in mild iron deficiency. Serum iron levels and iron-binding capacity are more sensitive indices of iron deficiency, but they are often normal in iron depletion and mild iron deficiency anemia. They are also subject to many variables which may introduce substantial errors and influenced by many pathologic and physiologic states. Examination of the bone marrow aspirate for stainable iron has been regarded as one of the most sensitive and reliable diagnostic method for detecting iron deficiency, but this also has limitations. Thus, there is still need for a more practical, but sensitive and reliable substitute as a screening test of iron deficiency. Pollack et al. (1965) observed that the intestinal absorption of cobalt was raised in iron-deficient rats and Valberg et al. (1969) found that cobalt absorption was elevated in patients with iron deficiency. A direct correlation was demonstrated between the amounts of radioiron and radiocobalt absorbed. Unlike iron, excess cobalt was excreted by the kidney, the percentage of radioactivity in the urine being directly related to the percentage absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. Recently a test based on the urinary excretion of an oral dose of $^{57}Co$ has been proposed as a method for detecting iron deficiency. To assess the diagnostic value of urinary cobalt excretion test cobaltous chloride labelled with $1{\mu}Ci\;of\;^{58}Co$ was given by mouth and the percentage of the test dose excreted in the urine was measured by a gamma counter. The mean 24 hour urinary cobalt excretion in control subjects with normal iron stores was 6.1% ($1.9{\sim}15.2%$). Cobalt excretion was markedly increased in patients with iron deficiency and excreted more than 29% of the dose. In contrast, patients with anemia due to causes other than iron deficiency excreted less than 27%. Hence, 24 hour urinary cobalt excretion of 27% or less in a patient with anemia suggets that the primary cause of the anemia is not iron deficiency. A value greater than 27% in an anemic subject suggests that the anemia is caused by iron deficiency. The cobalt excretion test is a simple, sensitive and accurate method for the assessment of body iron stores. It may be particularly valuable in the epidemiological studies of iron deficiency and repeated evaluations of the body iron stores.