• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.402-409
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• 2019

Korean red ginseng made from steaming and drying fresh ginseng has long been used as a traditional herbal medicine due to its effects on the immune, endocrine, and central nerve systems and its anti-inflammatory activity. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanism responsible for the anti-inflammatory effects of a formulated Korean red ginseng extract (RGE) in response to lipoteichoic acid (LTA), a cell wall component of gram-positive bacteria. RGE inhibited LTA-induced nitric oxide (NO) secretion and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in BV-2 microglial cells, without affecting cell viability. RGE also inhibited nuclear translocation of nuclear factor kappa B ($NF-{\kappa}B$) p65 and degradation of $I{\kappa}B-{\alpha}$. In addition, RGE increased the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in a dose-dependent manner, and the inhibitory effect of RGE on iNOS expression was abrogated by small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of HO-1. Moreover, RGE induced nuclear translocation of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), a transcription factor that regulates HO-1 expression. Furthermore, the phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI-3K) inhibitor and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitors suppressed RGE-mediated expression of HO-1, and RGE enhanced the phosphorylation of Akt, extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs), p38, and c-JUN N-terminal kinases (JNKs). These results suggested that RGE suppressed the production of NO, a proinflammatory mediator, by inducing HO-1 expression via PI-3K/Akt- and MAPK-dependent signaling in LTA-stimulated microglia. The findings indicate that RGE could be used for the treatment of neuroinflammation induced by grampositive bacteria and that it may have therapeutic potential for various neuroinflammation-associated disorders.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.62 no.2
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• pp.173-179
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• 2019

The aim of this study is to investigate the biological activities of Hericium erinaceus. 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity of H. erinaceus extract was higher than positive control. The inhibitory activities of xanthin oxidase, ${\alpha}$-glucosidase, and hyaluronidase was measured as functional food activity, and inhibitory activities on collagenase, tyrosinase, and astringent effect as beauty food activity in water and ethanol extracts from H. erinaceus. In functional food activity, xanthin oxidase inhibitory activities at $50-200{\mu}g/mL$ phenolic concentration in ethanol extracts from H. erinaceus showed inhibitory activity in dose dependent manner. ${\alpha}$-Glucosidase inhibitory activities at $50{\mu}g/mL$ phenolic concentration showed high activity of higher than 80%. Inhibitory activities on hyaluronidase as anti-inflammation factor showed inhibition effect in dose dependent manner both in water and ethanol extracts. In beauty food activity, Inhibitory activities on collagenase at $200{\mu}g/mL$ phenolic concentration in water and ethanol extracts showed high activity to 65.09 and 58.38% dose dependently. Tyrosinase inhibitory activity in water extract showed 9.4-58.24%. Astringent activity as pore shrink effect in ethanol extracts also showed a very high activity of 18.94-100%. Antimicrobial activity on pathogenic bacteria was highly effective on Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enteritidis, Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Escherichia coli at 2.5 mg/mL or above. Therefore, the extracts from H. erinaceus can be used as a functional food and beauty food resources and natural antimicrobial agent on pathogenic bacteria in food.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.265-282
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• 2022

Sea surface temperature (SST) is a factor that greatly influences ocean circulation and ecosystems in the Earth system. As global warming causes changes in the SST near the Korean Peninsula, abnormal water temperature phenomena (high water temperature, low water temperature) occurs, causing continuous damage to the marine ecosystem and the fishery industry. Therefore, this study proposes a methodology to predict the SST near the Korean Peninsula and prevent damage by predicting abnormal water temperature phenomena. The study area was set near the Korean Peninsula, and ERA5 data from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) was used to utilize SST data at the same time period. As a research method, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) algorithm specialized for time series data prediction among deep learning models was used in consideration of the time series characteristics of SST data. The prediction model predicts the SST near the Korean Peninsula after 1- to 7-days and predicts the high water temperature or low water temperature phenomenon. To evaluate the accuracy of SST prediction, Coefficient of determination (R²), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) indicators were used. The summer (JAS) 1-day prediction result of the prediction model, R²=0.996, RMSE=0.119℃, MAPE=0.352% and the winter (JFM) 1-day prediction result is R²=0.999, RMSE=0.063℃, MAPE=0.646%. Using the predicted SST, the accuracy of abnormal sea surface temperature prediction was evaluated with an F1 Score (F1 Score=0.98 for high water temperature prediction in summer (2021/08/05), F1 Score=1.0 for low water temperature prediction in winter (2021/02/19)). As the prediction period increased, the prediction model showed a tendency to underestimate the SST, which also reduced the accuracy of the abnormal water temperature prediction. Therefore, it is judged that it is necessary to analyze the cause of underestimation of the predictive model in the future and study to improve the prediction accuracy.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.100-117
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• 2022

This study examines the spatio-temporal characteristics of the macrobenthic community in the coastal areas of South Korea for the past six years(2015-2020). The relationship between the number of individuals of macrobenthic species and the benthic environments were investigated using data collected at a total of 154 stations located in the West (70), the South (61), and the East Seas (23), except for the Jeju Sea. We examined the benthic environmental characteristics such as water depth, sediment, grain size, ignition loss, and total organic carbon. A total of 1,614 macrobenthic species were found in the coastal area, with a mean density of 0.62 ind./m² by station. The mean density was relatively high in the spring and summer seasons (May to August) with more than 450 species. The most dominant species belong to Polychaetes and the top five of them accounted for more than 20% of the total number of populations. The top five species were Heteromastus filiformis, Scoletoma longifolia, Sigambra tentaculata, Sternaspis scutata, and Notomastus latericeus. Cluster analysis was performed on the top five dominant species. The stations were clustered into three groups with similar locations on the West, South, and East Sea. Cluster 1 and 3 represent Heteromastus filiformis (44% each), but cluster 2 represents Scoletoma longifolia (66%). Each cluster has different benthic environmental characteristics, especially in the sediment's sand (31.0%, 51.9%) and clay (15.9%, 9.7%) contents.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.68-76
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• 1996

To elucidate the optimum fertilizer level and application method for band application under puddled-soil drill seeding in Jeonbuk series of fluvio-marine alluvial soil at National Honam Agricultural Experiment Station in 1995, using Dongjinbyeo, slow releasing compound fertilizer of 100％ and 80％ to conventional application level was applied totally as basal fertilizer simultaneously with seeding under 3cm and 5cm depth from soil surface in a distance of 4cm from the seeded row. Plant height was taller and tiller number was higher in band application than conventional application but ratio of effective tiller was vice versa. Panicle number was more but ratio of effective tiller ratio was lower in 100％ than 80％ level of band application and they were higher in 3cm than 5cm depth from soil surface. Leaf area index and dry weight was higher in conventional application at early growth stage but was vice versa after maximum tillering stage, and they were higher in 3cm depth at early growth stage but 5cm depth after maximum tillering stage. NH$_4$-N in soil was higher in conventional application at 25 days after seeding but, thereafter was lower than band application and it was higher in 3cm than 5cm depth till 40 days after seeding but was versa, thereafter. Lodging degree was slightly higher in band application, 100％ level and 5cm depth than in their counterparts. Panicle number and grain number per $m^2$ was lower in conventional application than 80％ or 100％ level of band application without significant difference between band application levels or application methods. Yield was higher at 80％ level of band application under 3cm depth than conventional application, but no significantly different among other application methods. Therefore, 80％ level of band application under 3cm depth of soil surface was more effective for puddled-soil drill seeding on the basis of the reduction of application efforts, better plant growth and higher yield in rice.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.808-819
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• 2023

This study was conducted to develop a selection marker for the identification of the Bacillus licheniformis K12 strain in microbial communities. The strain not only demonstrates good growth at moderate temperatures but also contains enzymes that catalyze the decomposition of various polymer materials, such as proteases, amylases, cellulases, lipases, and xylanases. To identify molecular markers appropriate for use in a microbial community, a search was conducted to identify variable gene regions that show considerable genetic mutations, such as recombinase, integration, and transposase sites, as well as phase-related genes. As a result, five areas were identified that have potential as selection markers. The candidate markers were two recombinase sites (BLK1 and BLK2), two integration sites (BLK3 and BLK4), and one phase-related site (BLK5). A PCR analysis performed with different Bacillus species (e.g., B. licheniformis, Bacillus velezensis, Bacillus subtilis, and Bacillus cereus) confirmed that PCR products appeared at specific locations in B. licheniformis: BLK1 in recombinase, BLK2 in recombinase family protein, and BLK3 and BLK4 as site-specific integrations. In addition, BLK1 and BLK3 were identified as good candidate markers via a PCR analysis performed on subspecies of standard B. licheniformis strains. Therefore, the findings suggest that BLK1 can be used as a selection marker for B. licheniformis species and subspecies in the microbiome.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.253-262
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• 1995

To develop a device for measuring fish freshness which could be move accurate and reliable than used freshness measuring systems. A new device based on digital circuit was designed using a microcomputer. The device was composed of a sensor part, 8096 microprocessor and a segment display. The effectiveness of device has been evaluated by the coefficient of correlation among the measured freshness stores such as electrical Q-value, K-value and amount of volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) of plaice, Paralichthys Olivaceus, during storage at $-3^{\circ}C,\;0^{\circ}C,\;5^{\circ}C,\;10^{\circ}C,\;and\;25^{\circ}C$. Q-values measured by a new device were more closely correlated with K-value (r=-0.978-\;-0.962,\;p<0.05) and VBN (r=-0.888-\;-0.988,\;p<0.05) in case of plaice meat. If more data would achieve using various fishes, this new designed device could be a valuable kit in fish market by its compact portability.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.161-174
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• 1997

Omega-3 fatty acids have been major research interests in medical and nutritional science relating to life sciences since after the epidemiologic data on Green3and Eskimos reported by several researchers clearly showed fewer per capita deaths from heart diseases and a lower incidence of adult diseases. Linolenic acid(LNA) is an essential fatty acid for human beings as well as linoleic acid(LA) due to the fact that vertebrates lack an enzyme required to incorporate a double bond beyond carbon 9 in the chain. In addition the ratio of omega-6 and 3 fatty acids seems to be important in terms of alleviation of heart diseases since LA and LNA competes for the metabolic pathways of eicosanoids synthesis. High consumption of omega-3 fatty acids in seafoods may control heart diseases by reducing blood cholesterol, triglyceride, VLDL, LDL and increasing HDL and by inhibiting plaque development through the formation of antiaggregatory substances like PGI$_2$, PGI$_3$ and TXA$_3$ metabolized from LNA. Omega 3 fatty acids also play an important role in neuronal developments and visual functioning, in turn influence learning behaviors. Current dietary sources of omega-3 fatty acids are limited mostly to seafoods, leafy vegetables, marine and some seed oils and the most appropriate way to provide omega-3 fatty acids is as a part of the normal dietary regimen. The efforts to enhance the intake of omega-3 fatty acids due to several beneficial effects have been made nowadays by way of food processing technology. Two different ways can be applied: one is add Purified and concentrated omega-3 fatty acids into foods and the other is to produce foods with high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids by raising animals with specially formulated feed best for the transfer of omega-3 fatty acids. Recently, items of manufactured and marketed omega-3 fatty acids fortified foodstuffs are pork, milk, cheese, egg, formula milk and ham. In domestic food market, many of them are distributed already, but problem is that nutritional informations on the amounts of omega-3 fatty acids are not presented on the labeling, which might cause distrust of consumers on those products, result in lower sales volumes. It would be very much wise if we consume natural products, result in lower sales volumes. It would be very much wise if we consume natural products high in omega-3 fatty acids to Promote health related to many types of adult diseases rather than processed foods fortified with omega-3 fatty acids.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.635-649
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• 2007

Geochemical composition, stable isotopes $({\delta}^{18}O,\;{\delta}D,\;{\delta}^{34}S)$ and noble gases(He, Ne and Ar) of nine hot spring water and three groundwater for five hot springs(Jukam, Hwasun, Dokog, Jirisan, Beunsan) from the Honam area were analyzed to investigate the hydrogeochemical characteristics and the hydrogeochemical evolution of the hot spring waters, and to interpret the source of sulfur, helium and argon dissolved in the hot spring waters. The hot spring waters show low water temperature ranging from 23.0 to $30.5^{\circ}C$ and alkaline characteristics of pH 7.67 to 9.98. Electrical conductivity of hot spring waters is $153{\sim}746{\mu}S/cm$. Groundwaters in this area were characterized by the acidic to neutral pH range$(5.85{\sim}7.21)$, the wide electrical conductivity range $(44{\sim}165{\mu}S/cm)$. The geochemical compositions of hot spring and groundwaters can be divided into three water types: (1) $Na-HCO_3$ water type, (2) Na-Cl water type and (3) $Ca-HCO_3$ water type. The hot spring water of $Ca-HCO_3$ water type in early stage have been evolved through $Ca(Na)-HCO_3$ water type into $Na-HCO_3$ type in final stage. In particular, Jurim alkaline(pH 9.98) hot spring water plotted at the end point of $Na-HCO_3$ type in the Piper diagram is likely to arrive into the final stage in geochemical evolution process. Hydrogen and oxygen isotopic data of the hot spring water samples indicate that the hot spring waters originated from the local meteoric water showing latitude and altitude effects. The ${\delta}^{34}S$ value for sulfate of the hot spring waters varies widely from 0.5 to $25.9%o$. The sulfur source of most hot spring waters in this area is igneous origin. However, The ${\delta}^{34}S$ also indicates the sulfur of JR1 hot water is originated from marine sulfur which might be derived ken ancient seawater sulfates. The $^3He/^4He\;and\;^4He/^{20}Ne$ ratios of the hot spring waters range from $0.0143{\times}10^{-6}\;to\;0.407{\times}10^{-6}\;and\;6.49{\sim}584{\times}10^{-6}$, respectively. The hot spring waters are plotted on the mixing line between air and crustal components. It means that the He gas in the hot spring waters was mainly originated from crustal sources. However, the JR1 hot spring water show a little mixing ratio of the helium gas of mantle source. The $^{40}Ar/^{36}Ar$ ratios of hot spring water are in the range from $292.3{\times}10^{-6}\;to\;304.1{\times}10^{-6}$, implying the atmospheric argon source.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.331-338
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• 2008

Monthly changes in the gonadosomatic index (GSI) and hepatosomatic index (HSI) of wild river puffer Takifugu obscurus, and water quality environment in spawning area during breeding season were investigated from March 1995 to February 1996. Monthly changes in GSI and HSI of T. obscurus, that was cultured in low salinity, were calculated. The external morphology of the gonads, germ cell differentiation during gametogenesis and the reproductive cycle with the gonad developmental phases were investigated by histological analysis. The optimum water quality environment in Ganggyung, Choongcheongnam-do, where is spawning ground of wild T. obscurus, was $15-20^{\circ}C$ (water temperature) and 0 psu (salinity). Monthly changes in the GSI in females and males reached a maximum in May, and then rapidly decreased. Therefore, it is assumed that in the natural condition the spawning period of wild T. obscurus is May to June. In females and males, it showed a negative correlationship between the GSI and HSI. The external morphology of the gonads in female and male T. obscurus, that was cultured in low salinity, is composed of a pair of saccular structure. Based on monthly changes in the GSI, it is assumed that in female T. obscurus, that was cultured in low salinity, spawn from March through May. Therefore, it showed a negative correlationship between changes in the GSI and HSI. On the whole, in females and males, it showed a similar pattern between wild and cultured T. obscurus. The reproductive cycle with the gonad developmental phases can be classified into successive five stages in females: the early growing stage, late growing stage, mature stage, ripe and spent stage, and recovery and resting stage. In males, that can be divided into successive four stages: the growing stage, mature stage, ripe and spent stage, and recovery and resting stage. In case of wild T. obscurus, the spawning period has once a year, however, those cultured in the high water temperature ($20-27^{\circ}C$) - low salinity (under 3.3 psu) condition have reproductive characteristics having possibilities of discharge of eggs and sperms year-round as a multiple spawner.