• KSBB Journal
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.223-229
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• 2015

In this study, extract from Artemisia annua in L. (AAE) is known as a medicinal herb that is effective against cancer. The cell cycle is regulated by the activation of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)/cyclin complex. We will focus on regulation of CDK2 by cyclin E. cyclin E is associated with CDK2 to regulate progression from G1 into S phase. Akt is known to play an important role in cell proliferation and cell survival. Activation of Akt increases mTOR activity that promotes cell proliferation and cancer growth. In this study, we investigated that AAE-induced cell cycle arrest at G1/S phase in HCT116 colon cancer. Treatment of AAE shows that reduced activation of Akt decreases mTOR/Mdm2 activity and then leads to increase the activation of p53. The active p53 promotes activation of p21. p21 induces inactivation of CDK2/cyclin E complex and occurs cell cycle arrest at G1/S phase. We treated LY294002 (Akt inhibitor) and Rapamycin (mTOR inhibitor) to know the relationship between the signal transduction of proteins associated with cell cycle arrest. These results suggest that AAE induces cell cycle arrest at G1/S phase by Akt/mTOR pathway in HCT116 colon cancer cell.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.308-312
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• 2012

Argon-plasma jet (Ar-PJ) is generated by ionizing Ar gas, and the resulting Ar-PJ consists of a mixture of neutral particles, positive ions, negative electrons, and various reactive species. Although Ar-PJ has been used in various biomedical applications, little is known about the biological effects on cells located near the plasma-exposed region. Here, we investigated the effects of the Ar-PJ on actin cytoskeleton of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) in response to indirect as well as direct exposure to Ar-PJ. This Ar-PJ was generated at 500 mL/min of flow rate and 100 V electric power by our device mainly consisting of electrodes, dielectrics, and a high-voltage power supply. Because actin cytoskeleton is the key cellular machinery involved in cellular movement and is implicated in regulation of cancer metastasis and thus resulting in a highly desirable cancer therapeutic target, we examined the actin filament architectures in Ar-PJ-treated MEFs by staining with an actin-specific phalloidin labeled with fluorescent dye. Interestingly, the Ar-PJ treatment causes destabilization of actin filament architectures in the regions indirectly exposed to Ar-PJ, but no differences in MEFs treated with Ar gas alone and in untreated cell control, indicating that this phenomenon is a specific cellular response against Ar-PJ in the live cells, which are indirectly exposed to Ar-PJ. Collectively, our study raises the possibility that Ar-PJ may have potential as anti-cancer drug effect through direct destabilization of the actin cytoskeleton.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.116-122
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• 2010

Saengmaeksan (SMS) is a well known Korean traditional herbal prescription, which consists of 3 different herbs, Radix Ophiopogonis, Radix Ginseng, and Fructus Schisandrae. SMS has been commonly used in various disease including respiratory system and cardiovascular System in Korea. The objective of this study is to find out the improving effects of SMS against Dextran Sulfate Sodium (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis. SMS reduced clinical signs of DSS-induced colitis, including body weight loss, shorten colon length, and increased disease activity index. The results showed that SMS significantly inhibited the activation of nuclear factor-${\kappa}B$ p65 in the colon tissues of DSS-treated mice. In addition, we observed that result showed that the levels of IL-6 in plasma were increased in DSS treated group compared to those of the normal group, but these increased levels were reduced by administration with SMS. Taken together, these findings suggest that SMS has improving effects on DSS-induced ulcerative colitis, which may explain its beneficial effect in the regulation of chronic intestinal inflammation.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.149-164
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• 2014

The laws and policies governing Korea's game regulations are becoming more and more topics for debate as we enter the Age of Internet. The nature of the basis for Internet regulations and policies are not rooted in freedom of speech or fundamental values of democracy, but rather focused on solving real-world problems such as protection of the youth. Furthermore, the reality is that regulatory devices for keeping the social order such as regulating gambling are being applied directly to games without consideration on the characteristics of Internet gaming, raising concerns that the expansion of constitutional values and innovative empowerment inherent to the Internet are being weakened. The Geun-Hye Park Administration which succeeded Myung-Bak Lee's Administration, even went so far as to implement the so-called "Shutdown Policy", which prohibits access to Internet games during pre-defined time zones and also instigated a time zone selection rule. In order to curb the gambling nature of Internet games, government-led policies such as the mandatory personal identification and prohibition of player selection or in other words mandatory random player selection are being implemented. These institutions can inhibit freedom of speech, which is the basis of democracy, violate the right of equality through unreasonable discrimination between domestic and foreign service providers, and infringe upon the principles of administrative law, such as laws, due process in policies, and balance in among policies and governmental bodies. Going forward, if Korea's Internet game regulations and polices is to develop in a rational manner, regulatory frameworks will need to be designed to protect the nature of the Internet and its innovative values that enable the realization of constitutional values; for example, the Internet acting as the "catalytic media for freedom of expression as a fundamental human right ", which has already been acknowledged by the Korea's Constitutional Court. At the same time, transparent procedures should be put into place that will allow diverse participation of stakeholders including game service providers, game users, the youth and parents in the legislation and enforcement process of regulatory institutions; policies will also need to be transformed to enable not only regulatory laws but also self-regulation system to be established. And in this process, scientific and empirical analysis on the expected effects before introducing regulations and the results of enforcing regulations after being introduced will need to be strengthened.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.298-305
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• 2019

Cudrania tricuspidata has been reported to have many biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and antioxidant properties. However, the effects of C. tricuspidata root extract (CTE) on human platelet aggregation induced by collagen as well as the signaling pathways involved remain unknown. In the present study, we investigated the effect of CTE on human platelets. CTE inhibited platelet aggregation via down-regulation of thromboxane A₂ (TXA₂) by blocking cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) activity and intracellular Ca²⁺ mobilization in collagen-induced platelets. CTE also reduced the phosphorylation of phospholipase C (PLC) γ2 and syk. CTE regulated platelet aggregation via cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP)-dependent phosphorylation of vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) Ser²³⁹. In addition, administration of CTE (50 and 100 mg/kg) significantly reduced hyper-aggregated platelet aggregation by collagen (5 ㎍/mL) without hepatotoxicity in HFD (high fat diet)-fed rats. Taken together, these results suggest that CTE has anti-platelet effects both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, CTE may be an effective therapeutic and preventive agent for cardiovascular disease, and is a safe and natural product.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.521-528
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• 2017

Excessive alcohol consumption is one of the leading causes of many neurological diseases, such as dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and many efforts are under way to solve them. Red ginseng is known to enhance neuronal survival, inhibit apoptosis, and promote nerve regeneration of nerve cells. This study examined whether Rg3-enriched Korean red ginseng extract (KRG) inhibits the apoptosis of PC12 cells caused by alcohol-induced neurotoxicity and how KRG regulates several factors related to the caspase mediated pathway. In this way, the cell survival rate and apoptosis rate of PC12 cells were measured using an EZ-Cytox cell viability assay kit and flow cytometry, respectively. The expression of the apoptosis-related proteins (Bcl-2, Bid, Bax and caspase-3) were analyzed by western blotting, and the significance of the measured results was confirmed using the ANOVA method. As a result, KRG increased the expression of Bcl-2; inhibited the expression of Bid, Bax, and caspase-3; and inhibited the apoptosis of alcohol-induced PC12 cells. These results mean that the KRG-induced increase in Bcl-2 expression and down-regulation of Bid and Bax expression down-regulate caspase-3 expression, which in turn inhibits the mitochondrial apoptotic pathways. This study suggests that KRG is worth developing as a neuroprotective agent candidate.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.264-275
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• 2017

Objective: This study examines the effects of children's art activities through forest experience in relation with Nuri curriculum on environmental sensitivity. Method: A survey was administered to an experimental group of 20 children as well as a control group of 20 children for statistical analysis. after 16-class art activities through forest experience were performed to children aged 4 at a daycare center for 50 days. Result: Children's art activities through forest experience in relation with Nuri curriculum had a positive effect on their environmental sensitivity. In particular, their art activities had a positive effect on their self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy and motivation in the experimental group, supporting the educational effects and benefits of developmental children's art activities through forest experience in relation with Nuri curriculum. In other words, art activities through forest experience are useful in terms of providing children with creative expression activities in art by leading to observation and exploration, as well as educational experiences that have positive attitudes toward the environment. Conclusion: As children's art activities through forest experience have a positive effect on their environmental sensitivity, more useful information on teaching-learning methods will be able to be provided to early childhood teachers in the field. Consequently, children's art activities through forest experience need to be actively introduced in the field of early childhood education as an alternative for learning nature and improving environment-friendly emotional intelligence.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.474-481
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• 2018

The policy-making and technological development of eco-friendly automobiles designed to increase their supply is ongoing, but the internal combustion engine still accounts for approximately 95% of automobiles in use. To meet the stricter emission regulations of internal combustion engines based on fossil fuels, the proportion of after-treatments for vehicles and (ocean going) vessels is increasing continuously. As diesel engines have high power and good fuel economy in addition to less CO2 emissions, their market share is increasing not only in commercial vehicles, but also in passenger cars. Because of the characteristics of the diesel combustion, however, NOx is generated in localized high-temperature combustion regions, and particulates are formed in the zones of diffusion combustion. LNT and urea-SCR catalysts have been developed for the after-treatment of exhaust gas to reduce NOx in diesel vehicles. This study examined the effect of a containing promoter on SCR catalysts to cope with the severe exhaust gas regulation. The de-NOx performance of the Mn-SCR catalyst was the best, and the de-NOx performance was improved as the ion exchange rate between Mn ion and Zeolyst was good and the activation energy was low. The de-NOx performance of the 7Cu-15Ba/78Zeoyst catalyst was 32% at $200^{\circ}C$ and 30% at $500^{\circ}C$, and showed the highest performance. The NOx storage material of BaO loaded as a promoter was well dispersed in the Cu-SCR catalyst and the additional de-NOx performance of BaO was affected by the reduction reaction of the Cu-SCR catalyst. Among the three catalysts, the 7Cu-15Ba/Zeolyst SCR catalyst was resistant to thermal degradation. The same type of CuO due to thermal degradation migrates and agglomerates because BaO reduces the agglomeration of the main catalyst CuO particles.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.569-575
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• 2020

Recently, research on renewable energy technologies has come into the spotlight due to rising concerns over the depletion of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions. Demand for portable electronic and wearable devices is increasing, and electronic devices are becoming smaller. Energy harvesting is a technology for overcoming limitations such as battery size and usage time. In this paper, the V-I characteristic curve and internal resistance of thermal electric devices were analyzed, and MPPT control methods were compared. The Perturbation and Observation (P&O) control method is economically inefficient because two sensors are required to measure the voltage and current of a Thermoelectric Generator(TEG). Therefore, this paper proposes a new MPPT control method that tracks MPP using only one sensor for the regulation of the output voltage. The proposed MPPT control method uses the relationship between the output voltage of the load and the duty ratio. Control is done by periodically sampling the output voltage of the DC-DC converter to increase or decrease the duty ratio to find the optimal duty ratio and maintain the MPP. A DC-DC converter was designed using a cascaded boost-buck converter, which has a two-switch topology. The proposed MPPT control method was verified by simulations using PSIM, and the results show that a voltage, current, and power of V=4.2 V, I=2.5 A, and P=10.5 W were obtained at the MPP from the V-I characteristic curve of the TEG.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.568-574
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• 2020

Recently, the installation of energy storage systems (ESSs) that have a range of functions, such as power stabilization of renewable energy sources, demand control, and frequency regulation, has been increasing annually. On the other hand, since the fire accident of ESS occurred at Gochang Power Test Center in August 2017, 29 fire accidents with significant property losses have occurred, including the Gyeongsan substation and Kunsan PV power plant. Because these fire accidents of ESS are arisen regardless of the season and capacity of ESS, an analysis of the fault characteristics in ESS is required to confirm the causes of the fire accidents accurately and ensure the safety of the ESS. This paper proposes the modeling of ESS using PSCAD/EMTDC S/W to identify the fault characteristics and ensure the safety of the ESS. From the simulation results of fault characteristics based on various scenarios, it is clear that the insulation of ESS may be breakdown due to the largely occurring CMV (common mode voltage). Furthermore, the CMV between the PCS and battery can be reduced, and the insulation breakdown of ESS can be prevented if an SPD (surge protect device) is installed in the battery and PCS sides, respectively.