• Title/Summary/Keyword: Natural source

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Himalayan Medicinal Resources: Present and Future. A Case Study: Andidiabetic Activity of Shilajit

  • Basnet, Purusotam
    • Plant Resources
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    • v.4 no.3
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    • pp.161-170
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    • 2001
  • A major portion of drugs used in Ayurvedic system of medicine which has been practiced since the early human civilization in Indian subcontinent were of plant origin. It should be noted that 70% of the population in this region depends on Ayurveda for their medical treatment and 60% of the drug resources are obtained from the Himalayan region. Therefore, Nepal becomes a potential source of plant drug resource since it occupies a major portion of the Himalaya. In the present paper, in general a current status of medicinal plant resources of Himalayan region especially Nepal will be discussed. In addition to this, a typical example of antidiabetic activity of Shilajit will be taken for the discussion. Shilajit is one of the crucial elements in several formulations including those of Rasayana, a therapy in Ayurveda, which has been practiced in the prevention of ageing and mental disorder. Although, Shilajit is widely used for the treatment of diabetes, no satisfactory scientific reports are available up to now. The crude Shilajit in the market is a dark brown or black rock-like substance collected from the Himalayan region with a strong smell of cow's stale urine. In our studies, Shilajit (collected in the central Himalayan region) prevented the diabetes in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice model. Shilajit also prevented the diabetes in the rats against the action of multiple low-dose (10 mg/kg, i.v., 5 times) of streptozotocin. On the other hand, Shilajit did not show antioxidative activity. The preventive action of Shilajit on diabetes is mainly focused on the Thl and Th2 cell activities, since Th2 cells activity was found to be significantly upregulated. Shilajit, however, showed a mild action in controlling the blood sugar level in young, old, and mild diabetic rats, but not in the severe diabetic rats. It also stimulated the nitric oxide production in macrophages. Based on these evidences, the antidiabetic activities of Shilajit appear to be immunomodulative probably by protecting or strengthening insulin-producing b-cells in the pancreas. Further systematic research on constituents of Shilajit and its quality evaluation is necessary to enable the use of natural medicines in the treatment of diabetes.

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Analysis of Some Korean Terminologies on the Reproductive Structures of Seed Plants in Plant Morphology (식물형태학에서 사용하는 종자식물의 생식구조에 관한 한글 용어의 분석)

  • Lee, Kyu Bae
    • Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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    • v.1 no.3
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    • pp.195-209
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    • 2008
  • Some Korean terminologies on reproductive structures of seed plants in plant morphology, written incorrectly in many books, were analysed to propose accurately expressed terminologies. 31 books in areas such as general biology, plant biology, plant morphology, and biological dictionaries and glossaries were selected to analyse the accuracy of the terminologies for reproductive structures in gymnosperms, e.g., cone or strobilus, seed (or ovulate) cone and pollen cone, and conifer(s) or coniferous plants, and for flower structures in angiosperms, e.g., corolla, anther, filament, pistillate (or female) flower and staminate (or male) flower, apocarpous, and syncarpous. The definition and etymology of the terminologies were traced in 4 textbooks of plant anatomy and 2 dictionaries of biology and botany written in English. On the basis of the definition, etymology, and principles for terminology formation according to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 704:2000), reasonably expressed Korean terminologies were proposed. All of the 8 terminologies examined in this study were included in the glossary of biological terminologies, published by the Korean Association of Biological Sciences in 2005, and designated as an editorial source for science and biology textbooks for middle and high schools by Ministry of Education in 2007. However, the only 1 of the 8 terminologies described in the glossary were consistent with the proposed expression in the present study. These inconsistencies indicated the need for a reassessment of this glossary of biological terminologies. The newly proposed terminologies would facilitate mutual understanding between teachers and students of plant biology.

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Analysis of Some Korean Terminologies on the Stem Structures in Plant Morphology (식물형태학 분야에서 사용하는 줄기의 구조에 관한 한글 용어의 분석)

  • Lee, Kyu Bae
    • Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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    • v.1 no.3
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    • pp.234-246
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    • 2008
  • Korean terminologies on stem structures in plant morphology, written incorrectly in many books, were analysed to propose accurately expressed terminologies. 35 books in areas such as general biology, plant biology, plant morphology, and biological dictionaries and glossaries were selected to analyse the accuracy of the terminologies for seed structures, e.g., shoot and shoot system, rhizome, apical dominance, anticlinal and periclinal divisions, and intercalary and lateral meristems. The definition and etymology of the terminologies were traced in 4 textbooks of plant anatomy and 2 dictionaries of biology and botany written in English. On the basis of the definition, etymology, and principles for terminology formation according to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 704:2000), reasonably expressed Korean terminologies were proposed. All of the 8 terminologies examined in this study were included in the glossary of biological terminologies, published by the Korean Association of Biological Sciences in 2005, and designated as an editorial source for science and biology textbooks for middle and high schools by Ministry of Education in 2007. However, the only 1 of the 8 terminologies described in the glossary were consistent with the proposed expression in the present study. These inconsistencies indicated the need for a reassessment of this glossary of biological terminologies. The validity of the proposed Korean terminologies was tested in a questionnaire sent to 17 professors teaching plant morphology or/and taxonomy at universities. A mean of 91.9% of the total respondents agreed with the Korean expressions proposed in this study. The new, proposed terminologies would facilitate mutual understanding between teachers and students of plant biology.

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Map based cloning of resistance to bacterial leaf blight gene using QTL analysis in rice

  • Du, Xiao-Xuan;Kim, Kyung-Min
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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    • 2017.06a
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    • pp.138-138
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    • 2017
  • Agriculture is the most primitive civilized Activities of mankind but also the propellant of civilization development. Because it is the most basic material goods source of mankind. Among these materials rice is one of the most important part of these, we call them the substance of survival. From the beginning of the agricultural activities to the present we have experienced three industrial revolutions and are experiencing the Fourth Industrial Revolution. With the development of science and technology makes the efficiency of agricultural production is higher and higher, but compared with the original we are facing the same problem: natural disasters; pests and diseases; now also face the depletion of resources, environmental degradation and other issues. Therefore, improve and cultivate new crop varieties to make it better resistance and more production for better develop modern agriculture. It's very helpful for human social development. And also it is the responsibility and task of modern molecular breeding. In this study, I used bacterial leaf blight to find a better resistance gene to improve the resistance of rice. Frist Cultivate k3 of bacterial leaf blight, than inoculation by leaf clipping method (Kauffman,1973) in CNDH and SNDH population at 40days after rice transplanting. Check the lesion length by inoculation plants at 14days after inoculation, and record data for QTL analysis program. Than I get 4 intervals in 3 different chromosomal regions. I found these defense genes in the 4 intervals. So I used NCBI Justbio, Rapdb, etc. to finding these genes in physical map, than design primer for map base cloning. At last these defense genes will be employed in further research for introduction of the gene to the parental plant and rice breeding for solving food crisis.

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Proteome characterization of hormone-induced diploid and tetraploid roots of Platycodon grandiflorum

  • Kwon, Soo Jeong;Roy, Swapan Kumar;Cho, Seong-Woo;Kim, Hag Hyun;Boo, Hee Ock;Song, Beom-Heon;Woo, Sun-Hee
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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    • 2017.06a
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    • pp.132-132
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    • 2017
  • Plants, including Platycodon grandiflorum have been used globally across varied cultures as a safe natural source of medicines. From time immemorial, humans have relied on plants that could meet their basic necessities such as food, shelter, fuel and health. This study was executed to profile proteins from the hormone induced diploid and tetraploid roots using high throughput proteome approach. Two dimensional gels stained with CBB, a total of 64 differential expressed proteins were identified from the diploid root using image analysis by Progenesis SameSpot software. Out of total differential expressed spots, 20 differential expressed protein spots ( ${\geq}1.5-fold$) were analyzed using LTQ-FTICR MS whereas a total of 13 protein spots were up regulated and 7 protein spots were down-regulated. However, in the case of tetraploid root, a total of 78 differential expressed proteins were identified from tetraploid root of which a total of 28 differential expressed protein spots (${\geq}1.5-fold$) were analyzed by mass spectrometry whereas a total of 16 protein spots were up regulated and a total of 12 protein spots were down-regulated. However, proteins identified using iProClass databases revealed that the identified proteins from the explants were mainly associated with the nucleic acid binding, oxidoreductase activity, transporter activity and isomers activity. The exclusive protein profile may provide insight clues for better understanding the characteristics of protein function and its metabolic activity that can help for the development of the nutritional and breeding aspects of this economically important medicinal plant.

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Textures, Mineralogy and Genesis of Manganese Nodules on the Blake Plateau, Northwestern Atlantic Ocean (북대서양상(北大西洋上)의 망간단괴(團塊)의 조직(組織), 광물(鍵物) 및 성인(成因))

  • Kim, Soo Jin
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.14 no.1
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    • pp.27-33
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    • 1981
  • The manganese nodule from the Blake Plateau consists mainly of microcrystalline to cryptocrystalline todorokite, with minor quartz, clays, carbonates and phillipsite. The nodule in cross section shows concentric layers, core structure, unconformity and fissure-filling structure megascopically, and colloform, fragmental and diagenetic textures microscopically. A new classification of colloform textures which are applicable to any nodule of any source shows that the colloform textures consist of three basic textural units: banded, cuspate and globular. They occur independently or in combination with each other to form various types of textures. The presence of three predominant textural types suggests that there are three different major modes of nodule growth which are controlled by physical and chemical environments.

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Comparison of Prunus yedoensis Matsumura bark ethanol extract and solvent fraction antioxidant activities (왕벚나무 껍질의 에탄올 추출물과 용매 분획물의 항산화활성 비교)

  • Joo, Shin Youn
    • Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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    • v.52 no.4
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    • pp.350-356
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    • 2020
  • This study was conducted to investigate the antioxidant compounds and activities of Prunus yedoensis Matsumura bark (PYMB) ethanol extracts (EE) and various other fractions. Among them, the highest total phenol content was 496.80 mg gallic acid equivalent/g in the ethyl acetate fractions (EAF). The flavonoid contents were 7.26-265.52 rutin equivalent mg/g, with the EAF showing the highest levels. The highest proanthocyanidin content was determined to be 326.31 catechin equivalent mg/g in the EAF and the remaining values in descending order were as follows: n-butanol, ethanol, dichloromethane, water, and n-hexane. EAF exhibited the highest DPPH, ABTS+, superoxide- radical scavenging activities, and reducing power, whereas the nitrite scavenging activities were the highest in the case of the EE. The n-hexane and water fraction antioxidant compounds and activities were lower than those of the other fractions. In summary, these results suggest that the PYMB EAF is a potential source of natural antioxidants.

Adsorption of Heavy Metals Cd, Cu and Zn on Peat (Peat에 의한 중금속(重金屬) Cd, Cu, Zn의 흡착(吸着))

  • Han, Kang-Wan;Choi, Hyun-Ok
    • Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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    • v.11 no.3
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    • pp.195-200
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    • 1992
  • Heavy metal adsorption on peat was studied to examine the utilization of abundant natural resouces as pollution control. The smaller the peat particle size, the more the heavy metals studied were adsorbed. Adsorption of heavy metals on peat was greater in single metal solutions than in mixed solutions, and the order of adsorption amount on peat was Cu > Cd > Zn. The most effective pH range of the adsorption of Cd, Zn, and Cu was between 4 and 6. With increasing the concentration of heavy metals the amount of adsorption on peat was increased, but the adsorption ratio was decreased. The adsorption of heavy metals on peat was fitted to the Freundlich isotherm and peat was appeared to be an effective adsorbent of the heavy metals. The treatment of polyethyleneimine(PEI) on the peat surface effectively increased adsorption capacity of the heavy metals. Because of its higher energy content, the heavy metal adsorbed peat could be utilized as a energy source. After burning the peat, the reduced peat volume could be save the expenses for waste disposal.

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Terpene-Strengthened Ginkgo biloba Extract as a Platelet-Activating Factor Antagonist

  • Quan, Zhe-Jiu;Moon, Tae-Chul;Yang, Ju-Hye;Chang, Hyeun-Wook;Park, Young-Hyun;Kim, Young-Ha;Lee, Kyung-Hee;Chi, Yeon-Sook;Lim, Hyun;Kim, Hyoung-Chun;Kim, Hyun-Pyo
    • Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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    • v.14 no.3
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    • pp.160-165
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    • 2006
  • Since platelet-activating factor (PAF) is involved in inflammation, allergic response and anaphylactic shock, PAF receptor antagonists may have potential for controlling these disease conditions. The extract of the leaves of Ginkgo biloba having a higher content of terpenoids (12%) with flavonoids (24%) (YY1224) was prepared in order to obtain the increasing PAF antagonistic activity. As expected, YY1224 showed a higher PAF antagonistic binding affinity ($IC_{50}\;=\;0.09\;{\mu}g/ml$) using $[^3H]PAF$ and rabbit platelets as ligand and receptor source, compared with an $IC_{50}$ of $>\;100\;{\mu}g/ml$ by Egb 761, a standardized extract. YY1224 also showed a higher inhibitory activity against PAF-induced platelet aggregation and NO production from lipopolysaccharide-treated RAW 264.7 cells. In addition, it protected PAF-induced death in mice by oral administration at 15 mg/kg. All these results suggest that YY1224 may show favorable effects on PAF-related disorders.

Antileishmanial and Cytotoxic Effects of Essential Oil and Methanolic Extract of Myrtus communis L.

  • Mahmoudvand, Hossein;Ezzatkhah, Fatemeh;Sharififar, Fariba;Sharifi, Iraj;Dezaki, Ebrahim Saedi
    • Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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    • v.53 no.1
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    • pp.21-27
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    • 2015
  • Plants used for traditional medicine contain a wide range of substances that can be used to treat various diseases such as infectious diseases. The present study was designed to evaluate the antileishmanial effects of the essential oil and methanolic extract of Myrtus communis against Leishmania tropica on an in vitro model. Antileishmanial effects of essential oil and methanolic extract of M. communis on promastigote forms and their cytotoxic activities against J774 cells were evaluated using MTT assay for 72 hr. In addition, their leishmanicidal activity against amastigote forms was determined in a macrophage model, for 72 hr. Findings showed that the main components of essential oil were ${\alpha}$-pinene (24.7%), 1,8-cineole (19.6%), and linalool (12.6%). Findings demonstrated that M. communis, particularly its essential oil, significantly (P<0.05) inhibited the growth rate of promastigote and amastigote forms of L. tropica based on a dose-dependent response. The $IC_{50}$ values for essential oil and methanolic extract was 8.4 and $28.9{\mu}g/ml$ against promastigotes, respectively. These values were 11.6 and $40.8{\mu}g/ml$ against amastigote forms, respectively. Glucantime as control drug also revealed $IC_{50}$ values of 88.3 and $44.6{\mu}g/ml$ for promastigotes and amastigotes of L. tropica, respectively. The in vitro assay demonstrated no significant cytotoxicity in J774 cells. However, essential oil indicated a more cytotoxic effect as compared with the methanolic extract of M. communis. The findings of the present study demonstrated that M. communis might be a natural source for production of a new leishmanicidal agent.