• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1611-1615
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• 2012

Triptolide, a diterpenoid obtained from Tripteryglum wilfordii Hook.f, has attracted interest for its antitumor activities against human tumor cell lines in recent years. This report focuses on anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic activities in human melanoma A375 cells assessed by CCK8 assay, Hoechst 33258 staining and flow cytometry. In addition, triptolide-induced arrest in the S phase was also observed. Caspase assays showed the apoptosis induced by triptolide was caspase-dependent and probably through intrinsic apoptotic pathways. Furthermore, expression of NF-${\kappa}B$ (p65) and its downstream factors such as Bcl-2, Bcl-$X_L$ was down-regulated. Taken together, the data indicate that triptolide inhibits A375 cells proliferation and induces apoptosis by a caspase-dependent pathway and through a NF-${\kappa}B$-mediated mechanism.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.549-554
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• 2014

This study was evaluated the applicability of the membrane filtration process (Micro Filtration (MF), nanofiltration membranes (NF), reverse osmosis (RO)) on the major radioactive substances, iodine ($I^-$) and cesium ($Cs^+$) using membranes produced in Korea and domestic raw water. Iodine ($I^-$) or cesium ($Cs^+$) in the microfiltration membrane (MF) process could not be expected removal efficiency by eliminating marginally at the combined state with colloidal and turbidity material. At the domestic raw water (lake water, turbidity 1.2 NTU, DOC 1.3 mg/L) conditions, nanofiltration membrane (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) showed a high removal rate of about 88 ~ 99% for iodine ($I^-$) and cesium ($Cs^+$) and likely to be an alternative process for the removal of radioactive material.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.477-493
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• 2016

Immediate use of activated carbon incorporated polysulfone membrane application for dye separation was reported in this work. Dimethylformamide (DMF) was used as the solvent for the membrane preparation. The membrane thus prepared were characterized in terms of surface morphology, ATR-FTIR, AFM, experimental results as membrane performance. The resultant nanofiltration (NF) membranes were tested with Congo red dye concentration 200 mg/L. The water permeability was found to be considerably higher than that reported in literature. Experimental results show that the real rejection of the Congo red is 99.57% over the transmembrane pressure 100 psi using 30% activated carbon incorporated membrane. Prepared NF membranes shows the corresponding permeates fluxes were $40Lm^{-2}h^{-1}$ to $82Lm^{-2}h^{-1}$ with different activated carbon percentage incorporated in polysulfone membrane. The present study demonstrated that dye rejection enhanced NF may be a feasible method for the dye wastewater treatment. The overall observations thus indicated that toxic residual dyes can be appreciably separated from the membrane technology, provided that the accompanying polymeric membrane, activated carbon as binding agents and the process parameter levels are astutely selected.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.84-95
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• 2003

Objective : This study was carried out to investigate the effects of Kamisopunghwalhyeol-tang (Jiaweishujenghuoxie-tang; Kami-SPHHT) on the immunity responses of the Synoviocytes isolated from the patients on rheumatoid arthritis. Methods : Cells were stimulated by $Interleukin-1{\beta}$ and Tumor Necrosis $Factor-{\alpha}$ in the presence or absence of Kami-SPHHT, and then induced cytokine mRNA levels were determined by RT-PCR and real-time quantitative RT-PCR. Results : Levels of $IL-1{\beta},{\;}IL-6,{\;}TNF-{\alpha}$, COX-2, and NOS II mRNA expressions significantly decreased in Kami-SPHHT treated cells compared to non-treated control cells. Also, DNA-binding activity of $NF-{\kappa}B$ and AP-l decreased in Kami- SPHHT treated hFLSs. Conclusion : These results suggest that Kami-SPHHT may be involved in anti-inflammatory reactions by inducing cytokine gene expression in synoviocytes, and further in vivo examination on its efficacy can provide potential application for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.49-65
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• 2006

Recently, several theories on the digital speech signal processing expanded the communication boundary between human beings and machines drastically. The aim of this study is to collect dialectal speech in Korea on a large scale and to establish a digital speech data base in order to provide the data base for further research on the Korean dialectal and the creation of value-added network. 528 informants across the country participated in this study. Acoustic characteristics of vowels and consonants are analyzed by Power spectrum and Spectrogram of CSL. Test words were made on the picture cards and letter cards which contained each vowel and each consonant in the initial position of words. Plot formants were depicted on a vowel chart and transitions of diphthongs were compared according to dialectal speech. Spectral times, VOT, VD, and TD were measured on a Spectrogram for stop consonants, and fricative frequency, intensity, and lateral formants (LF1, LF2, LF3) for fricative consonants. Nasal formants (NF1, NF2, NF3) were analyzed for different nasalities of nasal consonants. The acoustic characteristics of dialectal speech showed that young generation speakers did not show distinction between close-mid /e/ and open-mid$/\epsilon/$. The diphthongs /we/ and /wj/ showed simple vowels or diphthongs depending to dialect speech. The sibilant sound /s/ showed the aspiration preceded to fricative noise. Lateral /l/ realized variant /r/ in Kyungsang dialectal speech. The duration of nasal consonants in Chungchong dialectal speech were the longest among the dialects.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.1-13
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• 2015

Objective : This study investigated the inflammatory reaction is characterized by over production of inflammatory mediators due to an up-regulation of inflammatory pathways.Methods : We investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of water extracts fromLonicera japonicaandScutellaria baicalensisin lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated U937 cells. Each extract suppressed the production of inflammatory mediators (NO, IL-1${\beta}$, TNF-${\beta}$, and PGE₂) and the expression of inducible NO synthase and cyclooxygenase-2 in LPS- stimulated U937 cells in a dose-dependent manner.Results : These suggest that the suppression effects were synergistically increased by their combination. Their combination extract also inhibited NF-${\kappa}B$-DNA complex of NF-${\kappa}B$ binding activity and translocation of NF-${\kappa}B$ from cytosol to nucleus.Conclusions : Our study suggest that the combination of water-extractable components ofL. japonicaandS. baicalensismay be useful for therapeutic drugs against inflammatory immune diseases, probably by suppressing the production of inflammatory mediators.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.317-320
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• 2004

Physiological effects of curcumin, major yellow-colored pigment in tumeric (Curcuma longa L.), extracted by traditional extracting methods, ethanol and hot-water extractions, and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) using supercritical carbon dioxide as new extracting method. Antioxidative activity of ethanol extract was higher than those of SFE and hot-water extracts. Results of Ames mutagenicity test on SFE, ethanol, and hot-water extracts revealed no mutagen in the extracts. Antimutagenicity rates of SFE, ethanol, and hot-water extracts against direct mutagen, 2-nitrofluorene (2-NF), were 20.1, 9.3, and 15.2%, respectively. Antimutagenicity rate of SFE extract against TA98 derived from indirect mutagen, 2-acetamidofluorene (2-AF), was 12.2%, whereas none was observed in ethanol and hot-water extracts. Nitrite-scavenging ability of SFE extract was higher than those of ethanol and not-water extracts.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.286-296
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• 2023

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of soil microbial fertilizer (SMF) containing Saccharomyces cerevisiae HS-1 and Streptococcus thermophiles HS-2 on the growth of creeping bentgrass. For the pot experiment, the treatments were as follows: no fertilizer (NF), control (3 N g/m²/month), SMF-1 (control+SMF 2 mL/m²/time), and SMF-2 (control+SMF 4 mL/m²/time). For the plot experiment, the treatments were as follows: NF, control, SMFp-1 (control+SMF 1 mL/m²/time), SMFp-2 (control+SMF 2 mL/m²/time), and SMFp-3 (control+SMF 4 mL/m²/time). In the pot experiment, visual turfgrass quality and the uptake amount of nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) were increased under the SMF treatments, whereas the content of chlorophyll (a, b, and a+b) and clipping yield were not considerably different compared with the control. In the pot experiment, the amount of SMF positively correlated with visual turfgrass quality and uptake amount of N and K. In the plot experiment, turfgrass density was increased by 12.9-19.2% under SMFp treatments compared with the control. These results indicated that the application of SMF containing Sa. cerevisiae HS-1 and St. thermophiles HS-2 improved the quality, density, and growth of creeping bentgrass via prompting the uptake of N and K.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.22.1-22.17
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• 2021

Chitinase-3-like-1 (CHI3L1) is known to induce inflammation in the progression of allergic diseases. Previous our studies revealed that 2-({3-[2-(1-cyclohexen-1-yl)ethyl]-6,7-dimethoxy-4-oxo-3,4-dihydro-2-quinazolinyl}sulfanyl)-N-(4-ethylphenyl)butanamide (K284-6111; K284), the CHI3L1 inhibiting compound, has the anti-inflammatory effect on neuroinflammation. In this study, we investigated that K284 treatment could inhibit the development of atopic dermatitis (AD). To identify the effect of K284, we used phthalic anhydride (5% PA)-induced AD animal model and in vitro reconstructed human skin model. We analyzed the expression of AD-related cytokine mediators and NF-κB signaling by Western blotting, ELISA and quantitative real-time PCR. Histological analysis showed that K284 treatment suppressed PA-induced epidermal thickening and infiltration of mast cells. K284 treatment also reduced PA-induced release of inflammatory cytokines. In addition, K284 treatment inhibited the expression of NF-κB activity in PA-treated skin tissues and TNF-α and IFN-γ-treated HaCaT cells. Protein-association network analysis indicated that CHI3L1 is associated with lactoferrin (LTF). LTF was elevated in PA-treated skin tissues and TNF-α and IFN-γ-induced HaCaT cells. However, this expression was reduced by K284 treatment. Knockdown of LTF decreased the expression of inflammatory cytokines in TNF-α and IFN-γ-induced HaCaT cells. Moreover, anti-LTF antibody treatment alleviated AD development in PA-induced AD model. Our data demonstrate that CHI3L1 targeting K284 reduces AD-like skin inflammation and K284 could be a promising therapeutic agent for AD by inhibition of LTF expression.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.306-312
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• 2007

To investigate the effect of N fertigation on the growth, yield, and water and nitrogen use efficiencies during tomato cultivation, seedlings were transplanted in a sandy loam soil under plastic film house condition. 0, 88, 132, 176, $220\;kg\;ha^{-1}$ N rates, which correspond to 0 (NF0), 40 (NF40), 60 (NF60), 80 (NF80), 100% (NF100) N level of soil test-based N fertilization, were injected weekly through drip irrigation system for 15 weeks in N fertigation system, and the control (conventional N treatment) was installed for comparison. Herein, nitrogen was applied by top-dressing with 60% as a basal and 40% as additional fertilizer. There was little different in stem diameter growth among N fertigation treatments, but plant height and dry matter increased with increasing N fertigation rates as well as in N conventional treatment. Tomato yield was increased with increasing the number of marketable fruits in N fertigation treatments, and the fruit yield was maximized in NF 80 treatment ($176\;kg\;ha^{-1}$ N supply or $96.6\;mg\;L^{-1}$ N injection). Dry matter productivity and nitrogen uptake amount were significantly increased with increasing N fertigation rates. The ratio of fruits to the dry weight of whole plant was decreased with increasing N fertigation rates, but this ratio was $2.6{\sim}5.3%$ higher in N fertigation treatments than in the control. In addition, the ratios of nitrogen distributed toward fruits in N fertigation treatments were $3.7{\sim}21.7%$ higher than that of control. The apparent N recovery percentages showed significantly higher values as $71.8{\sim}102.3%$ in N fertigation treatments, compared to 45% in N conventional treatment. Water use efficiency was significantly increased by fertigation system with the maximum $361\;kg/ha\;cm^{-1}$ in NF 80, which is comparable to $324\;kg/ha\;cm^{-1}$ of the conventional treatment. Conclusively, N fertigation system was effective on increasing tomato productivity and nutrient efficiency as well as 20% reduction of N fertilization level.