• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.528-533
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• 2002

To evaluate the antithrombotic and antiallergic properties of rhaponticin extracted from Rhei Rhizoma, the in vitro and ex vivo inhibitory activities of rhaponticin and its metabolite, rhapontigenin, were measured. These compounds inhibited in vitro ADP- and collagen-induced platelet aggregation. Rhapontigenin was more potent, with $IC_{50}$ values of 4 and $70{\;}{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. In ex vivo ADP- and collagen-induced rat platelet aggregation, these compounds also exhibited a potent inhibitory effect. The antiplatelet aggregation effects of rhaponticin and rhapontigenin were more potent than those of aspirin. Rhapontigenin showed significant protection from death due to pulmonary thrombosis in mice. Rhapontigenin also showed the strongest inhibitory activity against $\beta-hexosaminidase$ release induced by DNP-BSA. These compounds inhibited PCA reaction in mice. Rhapontigenin intraperitoneally administered showed the strongest inhibitory activity and significantly inhibited PCA at doses of 25 and 50 mg/kg, with inhibitory activities of 48 and 85%, respectively. The inhibitory activity of orally administered rhaponticin was stronger than that of intraperitoneally administered rhaponticin. These results suggest that rhaponticin, in the rhizome of Rhei Rhizoma, is a prodrug that has extensive antiallergic and antithrombotic properties.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.2923-2943
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• 2021

The double helix structure of DNA makes it diverse, stable and can store information with high density, and these characteristics are consistent with the requirements of molecular communication for transport carriers. In this paper, a specific structure of molecular communication system based on DNA length coding is proposed. Transmitter (Tx) adopts the multi-layer golden foil design to control the release of DNA molecules of different lengths accurately, and receiver (Rx) adopts an effective and sensitive design of nanopore, and the biological information can be converted to the electric signal at Rx. The effect of some key factors, e.g., the length of time slot, transmission distance, the number of releasing molecules, the priori probability, on channel capacity is demonstrated exhaustively. Moreover, we also compare the transmission capacity of DNA-based molecular communication (DNA-MC) system and concentration-based molecular communication (MC) system under the same parameter setting, and the peak value of capacity of DNA-MC system can achieve 0.08 bps, while the capacity of MC system remains 0.025 bps. The simulation results show that DNA-MC system has obvious advantages over MC system in saving molecular resources and improving transmission stability.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.251-258
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• 2021

Flos magnoliae (FM), the dry flower buds of Magnolia officinalis or its related species, is a traditional herbal medicine commonly used in Asia for symptomatic relief of and treating allergic rhinitis, headache, and sinusitis. Although several studies have reported the effects of FM on store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) via the ORAI1 channel, which is essential during intracellular calcium signaling cascade generation for T cell activation and mast cell degranulation, the effects of its isolated constituents on SOCE remain unidentified. Therefore, we investigated which of the five major constituents of 30% ethanoic FM (vanillic acid, tiliroside, eudesmin, magnolin, and fargesin) inhibit SOCE and their physiological effects on immune cells. The conventional whole-cell patch clamp results showed that fargesin, magnolin, and eudesmin significantly inhibited SOCE and thus human primary CD4+ T lymphocyte proliferation, as well as allergen-induced histamine release in mast cells. Among them, fargesin demonstrated the most potent inhibitory effects not only on ORAI1 (IC50 = 12.46 ± 1.300 μM) but also on T-cell proliferation (by 87.74% ± 1.835%) and mast cell degranulation (by 20.11% ± 5.366%) at 100 μM. Our findings suggest that fargesin can be a promising candidate for the development of therapeutic drugs to treat allergic diseases.

• Journal of the Korean Medical Association
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• v.61 no.11
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• pp.680-686
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• 2018

Acne vulgaris is a very common condition affecting up of about 80% to 90% of adolescents. The patients with acne have been shown to be adversely impacted by the effect of acne on their quality of life. Four factors are believed to play a key role in the development of acne lesions: excess sebum production, disturbed keratinization within the follicle, colonization of the pilosebaceous duct by Propionibacterium acnes, and the release of inflammatory mediators into the skin. Consequently, the target for acne therapy is these well-known pathogenic factors responsible for this disease state. Topical retinoids correct abnormal keratinization, but it should be applied cautiously because of irritation. Benzoyl peroxide is an effective bactericidal agent against P. acnes. Main topical antibiotics are erythromycin and clindamycin. Fixed combination topical products with retinoids, benzoyl peroxide and antibiotics have been introduced. Use of systemic antibiotics, including tetracyclines and macrolides rapidly improves inflammatory acne lesions. Oral isotretinoin is effective against all of the main pathogenic features of acne but is contraindicated in pregnant women and has been associated with cheilitis and dry skin. Hormonal therapy has been found to improve acne in some selective patients and should be considered for appropriate candidates. This review will present the general aspects of the pharmacological treatments for acne.

• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.249-259
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• 2018

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between dental technology students' life stress and smartphone addiction in order to detect smartphone over-users early, prevent them from getting addicted, and obtain basic data for creating a positive environment for academic achievement by using smartphone in a right way. Methods: The subjects of this study were university students at D University and G University in Daejeon Metropolitan City and Gangwon-do. A questionnaire survey was conducted to the subjects who understood the purpose of this study and participated in it from March 1 to June 10, 2018, and 243 were finally analyzed except 24 questionnaires without sufficient answers. Results: As a result of multiple regression analysis with variables, which were significant in univariate analysis, as independent variables, there were gender and smartphone dependency as general characteristics affecting the degree of smartphone addiction, and family relations and future problems among stress sub-factors were selected as significant variables. Conclusion : In the case of college students, they choose the smartphone as the easiest way to relieve stress because they lack the time and space to actually release stress. Therefore, club activities or on-campus and extra-curricular activities are recommended, and it needs to seek a way to get rid of stress by solving the cause of stress through counseling.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1205-1214
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• 2018

During the past few decades, significant increase in the consumption of coffee has led to rapid increase in the production of coffee waste in South Korea. Spent coffee waste is often treated as a general waste and is directly disposed without the necessary treatment. Spent Coffee Grounds (SCGs) can release several organic contaminants, including caffeine. In this study, leaching tests were conducted for SCGs and oxidative degradation of caffeine were also conducted. The tested SCGs contained approximately 4.4 mg caffeine per gram of coffee waste. Results from the leaching tests show that approximately 90% of the caffeine can be extracted at each step during sequential extraction. Advanced oxidation methods for the degradation of caffeine, such as $UV/H_2O_2$, photo-Fenton reaction, and $UV/O_3$, were tested. UV radiation has a limited effect on the degradation of caffeine. In particular, UV-A and UV-B radiations present in sunlight cause marginal degradation, thereby indicating that natural degradation of caffeine is minimal. However, $O_3$ can cause rapid degradation of caffeine, and the values of pseudo-first order rate constants were found to be ranging from $0.817min^{-1}$ to $1.506min^{-1}$ when the ozone generation rate was $37.1g/m^3$. Additionally, the degradation rate of caffeine is dependent on the wavelength of irradiation.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.196-200
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• 2019

Effect of retinoids, i.e., all-trans retinoic acid and 13-cis retinoic acid, on the activity of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) was evaluated in human malignant keratinocytes to examine the possible correlation of retinoids with NOS activities. All-trans retinoic acid and 13-cis retinoic acid did not alter the nitric oxide (NO) production. However, in the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, $1{\mu}g/mL$), they significantly increased NO release in a dose-dependent manner until 48 h at concentrations of $50{\sim}100{\mu}M$. The degree of upregulation of NO by all-trans retinoic acid and 13-cis retinoic acid increased up to 35% and 37%, respectively, compared to that by the control, which demonstrated the upregulation of LPS-inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)-dependent generation of NO as well as showing a crucial link between retinoids-induced activity and NOS. Findings of this study now suggest that the upregulation of LPS-iNOS activity may be associated with modulation of retinoids-induced control of cellular developmental processes, which may produce new therapeutics of retinoids in the complexity of how NO affects human keratinocytes.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.320-329
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• 2019

This study was performed by the numerical approach to investigate chemical behaviors of homogeneous syngas ($CO/H_2$) with nitric monoxide (NO) in pressurized oxy-fuel conditions. Hydrogen had a dominant effect to the ignition delay time of syngas due to the fast chemistry of its oxidation. Combustion was promoted by NO at the low temperature region. It was by the additional heat release through NO oxidation and production and consumption of major radicals related to the ignition. Two stage ignition behavior was shown in the pressurized condition by the accumulation of $H_2O_2$ produced from $HO_2$ radical. Additional NO oxidation was induced by the pressurized oxy-fuel condition to produce $NO_2$.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.175-184
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• 2019

Mast cells are crucial as effector cells in the immediate-type allergic reaction. Lentinus edodes has been the popular edible mushroom in oriental countries and reported to have immunomodulatory, anti-tumor, anti-atherogenic, anti-viral, and anti-allergic activities. However, the roles of L. edodes in mast cell-mediated anaphylactic reaction have not been fully elucidated. In this research, we have demonstrated the effects of the methanol extract of L. edodes (MELE) on mast cell-mediated anaphylaxis-like and anaphylactic reactions. MELE suppressed systemic anaphylaxis-like reaction, plasma histamine levels, and ear swelling response in mice treated with compound 48/80. MELE also suppressed passive systemic and cutaneous anaphylaxis mediated by anti-dinitrophenyl IgE. In accordance with these findings, MELE dose-dependently decreased histamine release from RPMC evoked by compound 48/80 or the antigen-antibody reaction. To clarify the mechanism of degranulation system, intracellular cAMP levels as well as calcium influx in RPMC was evaluated. In compound 48/80-treated RPMC, MELE blocked calcium uptake into the cells. In addition, MELE elevated the intracellular cAMP content and significantly attenuated compound 48/80-induced cAMP reduction in RPMC. Taken together, we propose the clinical use of MELE in mast cell-mediated immediate-type allergic diseases.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.63-70
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• 2019

An electro-aerodynamic lens for improving the performance of virtual impactor has been proposed in this study. ANSYS FLUENT Release 16.1 was used for numerical analysis of virtual impactor with and without the electro-aerodynamic lens, used to collimate the incoming aerosol particles into a particle beam before injecting the particles into the virtual impactor. Particles supplied to the electro-aerodynamic lens were assumed to be highly charged. By using an aerodynamic lens before the virtual impactor, without any electrostatic effect, it was found that the cut-off diameter of the virtual impactor was reduced from $4.2{\mu}m$ to $0.68{\mu}m$ and that the fine particle contamination problem became more serious. However, by employing the combined electrostatic and aerodynamic effects, that is, by applying electric voltage potential to the electro-aerodynamic lens, the cut-off diameter was found to be further reduced to $0.45{\mu}m$ and the fine particle contamination was eliminated.