• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.42 no.1
• /
• pp.116-121
• /
• 2018

Background: Black ginseng (BG) has greatly enhanced pharmacological activities relative to white or red ginseng. However, the effect and molecular mechanism of BG on muscle growth has not yet been examined. In this study, we investigated whether BG could regulate myoblast differentiation and myotube hypertrophy. Methods: BG-treated C2C12 myoblasts were differentiated, followed by immunoblotting for myogenic regulators, immunostaining for a muscle marker, myosin heavy chain or immunoprecipitation analysis for myogenic transcription factors. Results: BG treatment of C2C12 cells resulted in the activation of Akt, thereby enhancing hetero-dimerization of MyoD and E proteins, which in turn promoted muscle-specific gene expression and myoblast differentiation. BG-treated myoblasts formed larger multinucleated myotubes with increased diameter and thickness, accompanied by enhanced Akt/mTOR/p70S6K activation. Furthermore, the BG treatment of human rhabdomyosarcoma cells restored myogenic differentiation. Conclusion: BG enhances myoblast differentiation and myotube hypertrophy by activating Akt/mTOR/p70S6k axis. Thus, our study demonstrates that BG has promising potential to treat or prevent muscle loss related to aging or other pathological conditions, such as diabetes.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.537-542
• /
• 1999

Removal of sulfur compounds in the petroleum products is essential for the prevention of sulfur oxides. However, conventional methods involving catalytic reactions are found to have some limitations in complete removal of harmful sulfur compounds and to require relatively high cost. Recently, desulfurization process using microorganisms is known to be promising in terms of excellent sulfur removal efficiency and reasonably low treatment cost. For the biodesulfurization process to be effective, the solubilization of sulfur compounds into aqueous solution is a prerequisite. In this study, polyoxyethylene nonionic surfactants were used in order to enhance the solubilization of sulfur spectrophotometer. The solubilization of sulfur compounds was found to increase with temperature and to bo abruptly increased at above 1 wt % surfactant solutions. It was also observed that the longer the hydrophobic chain of the surfactant molecule, the higher solubilizing power of a nonionic surfactant. It was found that the Tergitol series surfactants showed higher solubilizing capacity than Neodol series presumably due to the disruption of the regular packing in the hydrocarbon region of the surfactant aggregates.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.91-101
• /
• 1996

In recent years, phytoremediation, the use of plants to detoxify hydrocarbons, has been a promising new area of research, particularly in situ cleanup of large volumes of slightly contaminated soils. There is increasing need for a mathematical model that can be used as a predictive tool prior to actual field implementation of such a relatively new technique. Although a number of models exist for solute-plant interaction in the vegetated zone of soil, most of them have focused on ionic nutrients and some metals. In this study, we developed a mathematical model for simulation of bioremediation of hydrocarbons in soil, associated with plant root systems. The proposed model includes root interactions with soil-water and hydrocarbons in time and space, as well as advective and dispersive transport in unsaturated soil. The developed model considers gas phase diffusion and liquid-gas mass exchanges. For simulation of temporal and spatial changes in root behavior on soil-water and with hydrocarbons, time-specific distribution of root quantity through soil was incorporated into the simulation model. Hydrocarbon absorption and subsequent uptake into roots with water were simulated with empirical equations. In addition, microbial activity in the rhizosphere, a zone of unique interaction between roots and soil microorganisms, was modeled using a biofilm theory. This mathematical model for understanding and predicting fate and transport of compound in plant-aided remediation will assist effective application of plant-aided remediation to field contamination.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.27 no.10
• /
• pp.1426-1435
• /
• 2014

Saponins have been considered as promising natural substances for mitigating methane emissions from ruminants. However, studies reported that addition of saponin-rich sources often arrived at contrasting results, i.e. either it decreased methane or it did not. The aim of the present study was to assess ruminal methane emissions through a meta-analytical approach of integrating related studies from published papers which described various levels of different saponin-rich sources being added to ruminant feed. A database was constructed from published literature reporting the addition of saponin-rich sources at various levels and then monitoring ruminal methane emissions in vitro. Accordingly, levels of saponin-rich source additions as well as different saponin sources were specified in the database. Apart from methane, other related rumen fermentation parameters were also included in the database, i.e. organic matter digestibility, gas production, pH, ammonia concentration, short-chain fatty acid profiles and protozoal count. A total of 23 studies comprised of 89 data points met the inclusion criteria. The data obtained were subsequently subjected to a statistical meta-analysis based on mixed model methodology. Accordingly, different studies were treated as random effects whereas levels of saponin-rich source additions or different saponin sources were considered as fixed effects. Model statistics used were p-value and root mean square error. Results showed that an addition of increasing levels of a saponin-rich source decreased methane emission per unit of substrate incubated as well as per unit of total gas produced (p<0.05). There was a decrease in acetate proportion (linear pattern; p<0.001) and an increase in propionate proportion (linear pattern; p<0.001) with increasing levels of saponin. Log protozoal count decreased (p<0.05) at higher saponin levels. Comparing between different saponin-rich sources, all saponin sources, i.e. quillaja, tea and yucca saponins produced less methane per unit of total gas than that of control (p<0.05). Although numerically the order of effectiveness of saponin-rich sources in mitigating methane was yucca>tea>quillaja, statistically they did not differ each other. It can be concluded that methane mitigating properties of saponins in the rumen are level- and source-dependent.

• 한국벤처창업학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2008.04a
• /
• pp.33-59
• /
• 2008

Since the late 20th century, due to the globalization of markets and the rapid developments of information and communication technologies, the world has entered into the age of fierce competition. With their abundant low-cost labor, former communist countries such as China, Russia and East Europe and low-developed countries such as India and Brazil have received investments from major industrial companies. There are no other alternatives for Korea and OECD countries to move the industrial economy to the knowledge based innovation system. In knowledge based innovation system, economic development and employment of a region and nation depend solely on the number of its companies and their competitiveness. In this research, after reviewing the current state of technological innovation small companies in korea, we provide a theoretical framework to promote the level of technological innovative entrepreneurship. The framework is based on a value system model that consist of supply factors, demand factors, and supporting institutions. In order to create more innovative small businesses, we insist on the followings. First, more R&D activities related with promising new technologies should be performed. Second, more R&D funds for technological innovation small companies should be provided from governments. Third, more M&A transactions and technology transactions should be marketed freely and competitively. Fourth, more business incubating services and venture capital services should be provided. Fifth, entrepreneurship and innovation culture should be popular and institutionized among people.

• Journal of Broadcast Engineering
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.584-595
• /
• 2012

Recently, 3D stereoscopic video and HTTP adaptive streaming technologies have received a lot of attention from relevant industrial fields and markets in terms of multimedia contents and delivery services, respectively. It is expected that promising and marketable service models can be created by means of these noticeable two technologies. However, current standard specifications do not provide a method for organized connection between those two technologies. 3D stereoscopic video services are weighted in broadcasting and storage services that are only available under environments in which the network bandwidth is guaranteed or free. Also, HTTP adaptive streaming technologies only provide plain 3D service methods that are dependent on particular Codec. Therefore, this paper proposes 3D video delivery format for HTTP adaptive streaming service which enables stable and seamless display for various stereoscopic video sequences over internet networks. The proposed technology is designed on the basis of Stereoscopic Video Application Format which is a service-oriented standard specification for storing stereoscopic video sequences. Also, this delivery format is directly applicable over DASH that is the representative standard technology for HTTP adaptive streaming services. The delivery format proposed in this paper has been submitted to MPEG and it has been accepted as a working draft, thus it expected to pave the way for practical industrialization in relevant fields from now on.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2014.02a
• /
• pp.409-409
• /
• 2014

Recently hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), III-V compound of boron and nitrogen with strong covalent $sp^2$ bond, is a 2 dimensional insulating material with a large direct band gap up to 6 eV. Its outstanding properties such as strong mechanical strength, high thermal conductivity, and chemical stability have been reported to be similar or superior to graphene. Because of these excellent properties, h-BN can potentially be used for variety of applications such as dielectric layer, deep UV optoelectronic device, and protective transparent substrate. Ultra flat and charge impurity-free surface of h-BN is also an ideal substrate to maintain electrical properties of 2 dimensional materials such as graphene. To synthesize a single or a few layered h-BN, chemical vapor deposition method (CVD) has been widely used by using an ammonia borane as a precursor. Ammonia borane decomposes into hydrogen (gas), monomeric aminoborane (solid), and borazine (gas) that is used for growing h-BN layer. However, very active monomeric aminoborane forms polymeric aminoborane nanoparticles that are white non-crystalline BN nanoparticles of 50~100 nm in diameter. The presence of these BN nanoparticles following the synthesis has been hampering the implementation of h-BN to various applications. Therefore, it is quite important to grow a clean and high quality h-BN layer free of BN particles without having to introduce complicated process steps. We have demonstrated a synthesis of a high quality h-BN monolayer free of BN nanoparticles in wafer-scale size of $7{\times}7cm^2$ by using CVD method incorporating a simple filter system. The measured results have shown that the filter can effectively remove BN nanoparticles by restricting them from reaching to Cu substrate. Layer thickness of about 0.48 nm measured by AFM, a Raman shift of $1,371{\sim}1,372cm^{-1}$ measured by micro Raman spectroscopy along with optical band gap of 6.06 eV estimated from UV-Vis Spectrophotometer confirm the formation of monolayer h-BN. Quantitative XPS analysis for the ratio of boron and nitrogen and CS-corrected HRTEM image of atomic resolution hexagonal lattices indicate a high quality stoichiometric h-BN. The method presented here provides a promising technique for the synthesis of high quality monolayer h-BN free of BN nanoparticles.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.47 no.4
• /
• pp.637-646
• /
• 2005

Immunization of layers against Salmonella gallinarum(S.G.) which causes fowl typhoid resulted in production of anti-S.G. IgY rich eggs. Water soluble fraction was obtained from egg yolk using various gum solutions such as 0.1%(Sigma C-3889) λ-carrageenan; 1% and 2% cold water soluble carrageenan; 1% and 2% hot water soluble carrageenan; and 1% cold water soluble carrageenan with 1% hot water soluble carrageenan. Among them, λ-carrageenan 0.1% treatment showed a high recovery rate, possessing high IgY contents. In the range of pH 5-9, more than 70 percent of IgY was existent. Moreover, Anti-S.G. IgY was relatively heat-stable. This study revealed that immunoglobulin against fowl typhoid could be produced successfully by layers and the IgY was sustainable to further processing due to its pH and heat stability. IgY is promising to be utilized for prevention and treatment of fowl typhoid in industrial scale.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.60 no.5
• /
• pp.14.1-14.12
• /
• 2018

Background: Sheep production is a major component of the livestock sector in Ethiopia. The country owing to the large population of 30.70 million estimated numbers of sheep in the country and out of which about 72.14% are females, and 27.86% are males with diverse genetic resources. The real value of indigenous breeds was often under-estimated mostly due to their poor appearance and relatively low productivity. Developing countries in most cases opt for exotic breeds to increase animal productivity through crossbreeding or breed substitution without properly investigating the production potential of the indigenous breeds. The main objective of the research was to identify sheep flock composition and structure, farmers' traits of interest and breeding objective of Wollo highland sheep, and their $F_1$ crossbreed progenies. Results: Smallholder farmers' flock synthesized from breeding ewes, breeding rams, pre-weaned ewe lambs, pre-weaned ram lambs, unproductive ewes, castrated and fattened rams, with the percentage coverage of 29.2, 13.3, 15.5, 16.5, 12.4, and 12.5%, respectively. The maximum number of flock size was 289.0 sheep per flock and higher in the third stratum. The off-take rate percentage of the three strata presented as 21.9% in 1st stratum, 12% in the 2nd stratum, and 16.4% in the 3rd stratum and higher off-take rate recorded in the first stratum. Sheep producer's traits of interest ranked by growth rate (first), body size (second) and marketing value was third rank. Communal breeding (random mating), village based controlled breeding, mixed type and private ram controlled breeding practice were comprised of 39.7, 61.7, 52 and 71.3%, respectively. The percentages of ewes per flock composition were presented as 36.5, 27.1 and 25.5%, respectively in the 3rd stratum, 2nd stratum and 3rd stratum in the order of their importance's. Conclusion: Genetic improvement practices at smallholder sheep producers situation was showing promising outcome with indigenous Washera $F_1$ crossbred lambs and which designated for weaning rate, body size, marketing age, age at first lambing, good temperament and large litter size in the order of their rank. The contemporary breeding practice tendency indicated that, reduced flock size to improve flock productivity via crossbreeding practices.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.40 no.6
• /
• pp.686-690
• /
• 2008

Recent research has shown that curcumin has beneficial effects in a variety of skin diseases, including scleroderma, psoriasis, and skin cancer. In this study, we assessed the effects of curcumin on epidermal permeability barrier function in vivo and in vitro. In order to evaluate the effects of curcumin on epidermal permeability barrier function in vivo, hairless rats were exposed to UVB irradiation, and curcumin was administered orally at a dosage of 150 mg/kg per day for 8 weeks. Transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and epidermal thickness were measured at the end of the experiment. The expression of filaggrin, a marker of keratinocyte differentiation, and serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT), a marker of the formation of the stratum corneum lipid barrier, in human HaCat keratinocytes were analyzed. The in vivo results showed that an 8 week administration of curcumin markedly prevented the UVB-induced increase in TEWL. The UV-induced increase in epidermal thickness was also reduced significantly by curcumin treatment. The in vitro results demonstrated the concentration-dependent effects of curcumin on the expression of both filaggrin and SPT in HaCat cells, reflecting the notion that curcumin can induce epidermal keratinocyte differentiation and can improve the recovery of skin barrier functions. These results show that curcumin is a promising candidate for the improvement of epidermal permeability barrier function.