• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.1273-1280
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• 2019

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of blindness in the elderly population, and damage to retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells due to oxidative stress contributes to the development of AMD. Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fischer is one of the most widely used herbal medicines for the treatment of various diseases in Asian countries. Although recent studies indicated that treatment with G. uralensis can protect cells from oxidative stress, its mechanisms in RPE cells remain unknown. We evaluated the effect of a G. uralensis ethanol extract (GU) on $H_2O_2$-induced oxidative injury in ARPE-19 RPE cells. The GU pretreatment attenuated reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation induced by $H_2O_2$, which was associated with induced expression of nuclear factor erythroid-derived-2-like 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). GU also suppressed $H_2O_2$-induced DNA damage and mitochondrial dysfunction. The inhibitory effect of GU on $H_2O_2$-induced apoptosis was associated with the protection of caspase-3 activation. Overall, GU appeared to protect RPE cells from oxidative injury by inhibiting DNA damage and reducing apoptosis. Further studies are needed to determine the regulation of Nrf2-mediated HO-1 expression, but our results suggest the possibility of using GU to reduce the risk of AMD.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.70-75
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• 1981

The ammonia volatilization from two different soils, an acidic normal soil and a neutral tidal soil applied with different nitrogen sources was investigated through a laboratory incubation experiment conducted at about $30^{\circ}C$ for 18 days. Results obtained were summerized as follows; 1. The ammonia volatilizat ion was increased by the urea application that increased soil pH. 2. Ammonium sulfate and ammonium chloride did not raise reduced soil pH over 7.30 and showed little ammonia volatilization keeping the $pK_b$ value of 4.72-3 3. An organic fertilizer (Miweon Co. made) raised pH of the tidal land soil little more than ammonium sulfate or ammonium chloride ; however, it did not increase the ammonia volatilization as much as from other fertilizer treatment plots of the same pH, which may mean that the organic fertilizer is effective in reducing ammonia volatilization. 4. It seemed that easier volatilization of ammonia from urea may occor in ordinary soil low in original pH than from tidal soil by the application of urea which may mean that if the pH of soils are the same, greater volatilization would result from the former than the latter. 5. Application of raw straw to tidal soil lowed pH and reduced ammonia volatilization.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.463-476
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• 2017

Climate change is considered as the greatest threat to our future and descendants. The Korean government has set a target for 2030 to reduce emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) by 37% from the business-as-usual levels which are projected to reach 851 million metric tons of $CO_2eq$ (Carbon dioxide equivalent). In Korea, GHGs emission from agriculture account for almost 3.1% of the total of anthropogenic GHGs. The GHGs emitted from agricultural land are largely classified into three types: carbon dioxide ($CO_2$), methane ($CH_4$), and nitrous oxide ($N_2O$). In Korea, rice paddies are one of the largest agricultural $CH_4$ sources. In order to analyze domestic research trends related to $CH_4$ emission from rice paddies, 93 academic publications including peer reviewed journals, books, working papers, reports, etc., published from 1995 to September 2017, were critically reviewed. The results were classified according to the research purposes. $CH_4$ characteristics and assessment were found to account for approximately 65.9% of the research trends, development of $CH_4$ emission factors for 9.5%, $CH_4$ emission reduction technology for 14.8%, and $CH_4$ emission modeling for 6.3%, etc. A number of research related to $CH_4$ emission characteristics and assessment have been studied in recent years, whereas further study on $CH_4$ emission factors are required to determine an accurate country-specific GHG emission from rice paddies. Future research should be directed toward both studies for reducing the release of $CH_4$ from rice paddies to the atmosphere and the understanding of the major controlling factors affecting $CH_4$ emission.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.199-204
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• 2015

Thermoplastic road markings are one of the most widely used road markings in the world. However, the durability of domestic road markings is relatively shorter than that of the global average of, approximately, three years. To overcome it, the conventional thermoplastic road markings were prepared by adding polyolefin and oxidized PE wax to conventional petroleum resin. In addition, the melting viscosity was designed below 500 cP at $220^{\circ}C$ as well as the optimum viscosity for spray painting, and embedding ratio of glass beads were controlled about 50~60% by spraying in an interval of 1 second. Also the glass bead adhesive ratio was improved by reducing the amount of $CaCO_3$ below 40 wt%. The retroreflectivity was tested under four different conditions to evaluate the abrasion resistance of thermoplastic road markings. The retroreflectivity coefficient satisfied the international standard ($150mcd{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}lux^{-1}$) in this study, and TPRM-7 was determined as an optimal ratio.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.183-189
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• 2013

This study was performed to investigate the whitening effects of Lactobacillus rhamnosus in addition to its antioxidative activities. The cytotoxicity of the Lactobacillus rhamnosus was 7.6% at 10.0% (v/v) concentration. Its cytotoxicity was lower than 3.2% of Lactobacillus casei when adding the same concentration. Lactobacillus rhamnosus exhibited high antioxidative activities at 14.9% of DPPH radical scavenging activity, and a lower reducing power was measured. Lactobacillus casei exhibited relatively lower antioxidative activities at 13.4%. The tyrosinase inhibition activity of Lactobacillus rhamnosus was observed at 31.3% when adding 10.0% (v/v), as compared to 17.7% for Lactobacillus casei. Lactobacillus rhamnosus demonstrated strong inhibition activity for melanin synthesis at 58.6% when adding 10.0% (v/v), while Lactobacillus casei increased to 80.6%. It was also observed that the high antioxidative activities of Lactobacillus rhamnosus were strongly correlated to whitening activities, due to the inhibition of both tyrosinase and melanin synthesis. These results support the expanded use of lactic acid bacteria as a functional bioresources in the cosmetics industry.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.7-11
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• 2012

This study was conducted to determine the effects of the humidity and gas composition on the quality of satsuma mandarins during their heat treatment, in an effort to reduce their acidity. To come up with different humidity and gas conditions, various plastic films were used. The fruits were wrapped with an 18-${\mu}m$ high-density polyethylene (HDPE) punched film, a 30-${\mu}m$ low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film, or a 100-${\mu}m$ LDPE film just before treatment at $30^{\circ}C$ for 55 hours. After heat treatment, the titratible acidity (TA) was significantly reduced while the soluble-solid content (SSC) showed no differences, which resulted in increased SSC/TA ratios in all the treatments. The fruits that were not wrapped with a film, however, which had low RH, developed higher ethanol and acetaldehyde contents than those wrapped with an 18-${\mu}m$ HDPE punched film, which had high RH and a similar gas composition. Among the films, the higher the $CO_2$ concentration in the film was, the more the ethanol and acetaldehyde contents increased, which induced more off-flavor. It was thus concluded that high humidity and normal gas composition are favorable conditions for heat treatment to reduce the acidity of satsuma mandarins.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.165-174
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• 2004

In order to simultaneously vitrify the ion exchange resin(IER) and combustible dry active waste(DAW) generated from Korean nuclear power plants, a vitrification pilot test was conducted using an induction cold crucible melter(CCM) . The energy necessary for startup of the glass using a Ti-ring was evaluated as about 290 kWh. The power supplied from a high frequency generator to melt the glass properly was ranged from 160 to 190 kW without any interruption. When the mixture of the IER and DAW was fed into the CCM, the concentration of CO was lowered up to 1/40 compared to feeding the IER solely. It may be caused by the DAW which can produce about 1.8 times higher heat compared to the IER. When the swelling phenomenon occurred in the glass melt, the concentration of $NO_2$, oxidizing gas, was higher than NO, reducing gas. Total feed amounts of the IER and DAW were 368 and 751 kg, respectively. And then, about 74 of volume reduction factor was achieved.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.19-40
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• 1971

Since the iron balance is maintained by regulated intestinal absorption rather than regulated excretion, there have been many reports concerning the factors which may influence the intestinal iron absorption. As the liver is the largest iron storage organ of the body, any hepatocellular damage may result in disturbances in iron metabolism, e,g., frequent co-existence of hemochromatosis and liver cirrhosis, or elevated serum iron level and increased iron absorption rate in patients with infectious hepatitis or cirrhosis. In one effort to demonstrate the influence of hepatocellular damage on intestinal iron absortion, the iron absorption rate was measured in the rabbits whose livers were injured by a single subcutaneous injection of carbon tetrachloride (doses ranging from 0.15 to 0.5cc per kg of body weight) or by a single irradiation of 2,000 to 16,000 rads with $^{60}Co$ on the liver locally. A single oral dose of $1{\mu}Ci\;of\;^{59}Fe$-citrate with 0.5mg of ferrous citrate was fed in the fasting state, 24 hours after hepatic damage had been induced, without any reducing or chelating agents, and stool was collected for one week thereafter. Serum iron levels, together with conventional liver function tests, were measured at 24, 48, 72, 120 and 168 hours after liver damage had been induced. All animals were sacrificed upon the completing of the one week's test period and tissue specimens were prepared for H-E and Gomori's iron stain. Following are the results. 1. Normal iron absorption rate of the rabbit was $41.72{\pm}3.61%$ when 0.5mg of iron was given in the fasting state, as measured by subtracting the amount recovered in stool collected for 7 days from the amount given. The test period of 7 days is adequate, for only 1% of the iron given was excreted thereafter. 2. The intestinal iron absorption rate and serum iron level were significantly increased when the animal was poisoned by a single subcutaneous injection of 0.15cc. per kg. of body weight of carbon tetrachloride or more, or the liver was irradiated with a single dose of 12,000 rads or more. The results of liver function tests which were done simultaneously remained within normal limit except SGOT and SGPT which were somewhat increased. 3. In each case, there has been good correlation between the extent of liver cell damage and degree of increased iron absorption rate or serum iron level. 4. The method of liver damage appeared to make no obvious difference in the pattern of iron deposit in liver. This may be partly due to the fact that tissue specimens were obtained too late, for by this time the elevated serum iron level had returned within normal range and the pathological changes were almost healed. 5. The possible factors and relationship between intestinal iron absorption and hepatic parenchymal cell damage has been discussed.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.10-18
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• 2016

A front-end loader (FEL) mounted on an agricultural tractor is one of the most commonly used implements to mechanize routine agricultural tasks. When the FEL is used with a loaded bucket, careful operation is required to maintain safety and avoid spillage when the tractor passes a bump because a change in the gravity center of the tractor due to varied loadings can affect the stability of the tractor. Use of a boom suspension system consisting of accumulators and orifice dampers can be instrumental in reducing pitching vibrations while increasing the handling performance of the FEL-mounted tractor. The objective of this research was to reduce bump shocks by adding an orifice and a flow control valve to the original hydraulic circuit composed solely of accumulators. A simulation study was performed using the SimulationX program to investigate the effects of an accumulator and an orifice-throttle damper on bump shocks. Results showed that the peak pressure on a boom cylinder and the vertical acceleration of a bucket were significantly affected by use of both an accumulator and an orifice damper. In a field test conducted with a 75-kW tractor, the peak pressure of the boom cylinder, and the root mean square (RMS) vertical acceleration of the bucket and seat were reduced by on average, 23.0, 42.2, and 44.9% respectively, as compared to those measured with the original accumulator system, showing that an improved design for the accumulator hydraulic circuit can reduce bump shocks. Further studies are needed to design a tractor suspension system that includes the effects of cabin suspension and tires as well as dynamic analysis.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.30 no.4 s.48
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• pp.439-444
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• 2004

UV irradiation produces free radicals and related reactive oxygen species (ROS), and these are injury to all most of organisms of skin cells and extracellular matrix (ECM). In addition, free radicals and ROS stimulate the overexpression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) that can degrade most components of ECM such as collagen. Since collagen constitutes almost of skin connective tissue, their disarrangement causes wrinkle formation and droop of skin. Therefore, scavenging activity on free radicals, ROS and suppression of MMP-1 is expected to prevent skin photoaging. In this study, to investigate the relationship between photoaging and Draconis sanguis, we examined the effects of antioxidant, in vitro MMP inhibition and expression of UVA-induced MMP-1 in human dermal fibroblasts. Draconis sanguis was found to show scavenging activities of radicals and ROS with the $IC_{50}$ values of $183{\;}{\mu}g/mL$ against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and $30{\;}{\mu}g/mL$ against superoxide radicals in the xanthine/xanthine oxidase system, respectively. Draconis sunguis inhibited the activities of MMP-1 in a does-dependent manner and the $IC_{50}$ value calculated from semi-log plots was $200{\;}{\mu}g/mL$. Also, UVA induced MMP expression was reduced $74\%$ by treatment with Draconis sanguis, and MMP-1 mRNA expression was reduced in a dose-dependent manner. Therefore Draconis sanguis was able to significantly inhibit MMP expression in protein and mRNA level. All these results suggested that Draconis sanguis may act as an anti-photoaging agent by antioxidation and reducing UVA-induced MMP-1 production.