• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.227-239
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• 2023

Major depressive disorder is a leading cause of disability in more than 280 million people worldwide. Monoamine-based antidepressants are currently used to treat depression, but delays in treatment effects and lack of responses are major reasons for the need to develop faster and more efficient antidepressants. Studies show that ketamine (KET), a PCP analog, produces antidepressant effects within a few hours of administration that lasts up to a week. However, the use of KET has raised concerns about side effects, as well as the risk of abuse. 4 -F-PCP analog is a novel PCP analog that is also an NMDA receptor antagonist, structurally similar to KET, and might potentially elicit similar antidepressant effects, however, there has been no study on this subject yet. Herein, we investigate whether 4-F-PCP displays antidepressant effects and explored their potential therapeutic mechanisms. 4-F-PCP at 3 and 10 mg/kg doses showed antidepressant-like effects and repeated treatments maintained its effects. Furthermore, treatment with 4-F-PCP rescued the decreased expression of proteins most likely involved in depression and synaptic plasticity. Changes in the excitatory amino acid transporters (EAAT2, EAAT3, EAAT4) were also seen following drug treatment. Lastly, we assessed the possible side effects of 4-F-PCP after long-term treatment (up to 21 days). Results show that 4-F-PCP at 3 mg/kg dose did not alter the cognitive function of mice. Overall, current findings provide significant implications for future research not only with PCP analogs but also on the next generation of different types of antidepressants.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.361-376
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• 2023

Purpose: This study evaluates the potential protective effects of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) seed oil supplementation in rats fed a high-cholesterol diet. Methods: Rats were fed a 1.25% cholesterol diet for 8 weeks, followed by oral administration of either of the two doses of hemp seed oil (HO) (0.5 mL/kg (HOL group) or 1 mL/kg (HOH group) body weight/day) or simvastatin at 10 mg/kg body weight/day. Oxidative stress, lipids, liver enzymes, and renal markers were measured in the serum. Western blot analysis was applied for evaluating the expressions of inflammatory makers. Results: Except for HDL-cholesterol, the altered levels of lipoproteins, aminotransferases, urea, and creatine kinases in hypercholesterolemic rats were significantly corrected by HO administration. Especially, compared to the HOH group, HOL treatment further reduced AST, ALT, creatinine, TC, and LDL-cholesterol levels. Moreover, both the atherogenic index and cardiac risk factor (CRF) in the HOL group were more restrained compared to the HOH group. Increased levels of p-AMPK coincided with the inhibition of SREBP-2 activation which subsequently suppressed the expression of HMGCR. Nuclear factor (NF)-κB activation coincided with the PI3K/Akt pathway activation and the increased phosphorylation of p38; these levels were significantly suppressed by HO treatment. In addition, HO treatment markedly reversed the changes in chemokines such as ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and MCP-1. Histological alterations induced by cholesterol overload in cardiac and hepatic tissues were ameliorated by HO supplementation. Conclusion: Taken together, our results indicate a low concentration of HO demonstrates improved dysfunctions caused by a high-cholesterol diet via inhibition of the PI3K/Akt/NF-κB signaling pathway.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.272-281
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• 2023

Chigger mites are the vector of scrub typhus. This study estimates the infestation status and ecological characteristics of chiggers on the chestnut white-bellied rat Niviventer fulvescens in Southwest China between 2001 and 2019. Chiggers were identified under the microscope, and infestation indices were calculated. The Preston's log-normal model was used to fit the curve of species abundance distribution. A total of 6,557 chiggers were collected in 136 of 342 N. fulvescens rats, showing high overall infestation indices (prevalence=39.8%, mean abundance=19.2, mean intensity=48.2) and high species diversity (S=100, H'=3.0). Leptotrombidium cangjiangense, Neotrombicula japonica, and Ascoschoengastia sifanga were the three dominant chigger species (constituent ratio=42.9%; 2,736/6,384) and exhibited an aggregated distribution among different rat individuals. We identified 100 chigger species, with 3 of them (Leptotrombidium scutellare, Leptotrombidium wenense, and Leptotrombidium deliense) as the main vectors of scrub typhus in China and nine species as potential vectors of this disease. Disease vector occurrence on N. fulvescens may increase the risk of spreading scrub typhus from rats to humans. Chigger infestation on N. fulvescens varied significantly in different environments. The species abundance distribution showed a log-normal distribution pattern. The estimated number of chigger species on N. fulvescens was 126 species.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.9-19
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• 2023

Objectives : Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disorder characterized by reduced bone mineral density and increased risk of fractures. Bisphosphonates and selective estrogen receptors, which are bone resorption inhibitors that are currently widely used as osteoporosis treatments, show serious side effects when administered for a long time. Research on bone resorption inhibitors that complement the problems of existing treatments is needed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of inhibiting osteoclast differentiation and activity on the tuberous root of Ampelopsis japonica (Thunb.) Makino (AM). Methods : After extracting AM using distilled water and ethanol, the inhibitory effects of the two solvents on osteoclast differentiation were compared using the RANKL-induced in vitro experimental model and the TRAP assay kit. The impact of AM on bone resorption was investigated through the pit formation assay, and its effect on F-actin formation was assessed through fluorescent staining. Additionally, protein and mRNA expression levels of osteoclast differentiation markers (NFATc1, c-Fos, TRAP and ATP6v0d2) and resorption markers (MMP-9, CTK, and CA2) were analyzed via western blot and RT-PCR. Results : AM treatment significantly decreased the number of TRAP-positive cells and pit formation area. Furthermore, AM suppressed both the protein and mRNA expression of NFATc1 and c-Fos, key transcription factors involved in osteoclast differentiation and it downregulated the expression of osteoclast-associated genes such as TRAP, CTK, MMP-9, CA2, and ATP6v0d2. Conclusions : These results suggest that AM can inhibit bone resorption and osteoclast differentiation, indicating its potential for use in the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 2023

Golden apple snails (Pomacea canaliculat) (GAS) are widely used for weed control in rice cultivation. However, concerns on the ecological risk of invasive GAS species are increasing. This study aimed to evaluate the overall impacts of GAS on weed control, abundance of aquatic animals and insects, and rice yield, in comparison with that from other biocontrol agents such as loach (Misgurnus mizolepis) and catfish (Silurus asotus), which are alternatives for biological weed control in rice paddy cultivation. Field experiments included five treatments; control, herbicide, GAS, loach, and catfish. During the rice growth, weed appearance and biological abundance were monitored, and at harvest, the rice yield was determined. Weed control efficiency was the highest for GAS treatment (100%), followed by that for herbicide (95.8%), loach (57.5%), and catfish treatments (31.7%). Insect abundance was considerably decreased in GAS treatment due to heavy weed removal, which affects the habitat of aquatic animals and insects. The amount of rice yield (unit: kg 10 a^-1) was in the order of GAS (798.9) > loach (708.1) = herbicide (700.7) > catfish (629.4) > control (496.0). Therefore, considering the weed control efficiency, biological abudance, and rice yield, loach could be a potential alternative for biological weed control in organic rice farming. However, the activity of the biocontrol agents are susceptible to environmental conditions; therefore, further studies under different conditions are essential to confirm these findings.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.20-31
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the consistency of 1-day and 3-day average dietary intake using the 24-hour diet recall method and to investigate the relationship of diet intake with physiological indicators potentially associated with diabetic complications in patients with diabetes. Methods: This study conducted a secondary data analysis using pretest data of a nursing intervention study entitled "Development of deep learning based AI coaching program for diabetic patients with high risk and examination of its effects." Data were analyzed through descriptive analysis, one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation coefficients using SPSS 26.0. Results: The average total daily calorie intake over 3 days was 1,494.48 ± 436.47 kcal/day: 1,510.90 ± 547.76 kcal/day on the first day, 1,414.22 ± 527.58 kcal/day on the second day, 1,558.34 ± 645.83 kcal/ day on the third day, showing significant differences (F = 3.59, p = .031). The correlation coefficient between the 1-day and 3-day average dietary intake was 0.41-0.77 for each nutrient and 0.62-0.80 for each food group. Vegetable intake showed negative correlations with body mass index (BMI; r = -.19, p = .023) and triglycerides (r = -.18, p = .036), whereas dairy intake was positively associated with low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL; r = -0.18, p = .034) and triglycerides (r = .40, p<.001). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that 1-day dietary intake was highly correlated with 3-day average dietary intake using the 24-hour diet recall method. Food groups showed significant associations with physiological indicators of potential diabetic complications such as BMI, triglycerides, and LDL levels. Further studies are needed to improve the knowledge base on the relationships between physiological indicators and food groups.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.41-53
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• 2023

E171, a mixture of titanium dioxide, has been widely used as a food additive due to its whitening effect and low toxicity. However, it has been proven that E171 is no longer safe for public health. So far, there are insufficient studies on the toxic effects of E171 on organisms especially using standardized test methods. In this study, toxicity assessments of E171 to two aquatic species, water flea (Daphnia magna) and zebrafish (Danio rerio), were performed using modified standardized test methods based on the physicochemical properties of E171. The hydrodynamic diameter, polydispersity index, and turbiscan stability index (TSI) were measured to ensure the dispersion stability of E171 in exposure media during the test period. The EC₅₀ for immobilization of water flea was 141.7 mg L^-1 while zebrafish was not affected until 100 mg L^-1 of E171. Measurements of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidant enzyme activities confirmed that E171 induced oxidative stress, leading to the activation of superoxide dismutase and catalase in both water flea and zebrafish, although the expression of antioxidant enzyme genes differed between species. These results suggested the potential risk of E171 to aquatic organisms and provided toxicological insights into the impacts of E171 on the environment.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.73-87
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• 2023

Furnishing traffic safety information can contribute to providing hazard warnings to drivers, thereby avoiding crashes. A smart road lighting platform that instantly recognizes road conditions using various sensors and provides appropriate traffic safety information has therefore been developed. This study analyzes the short-term traffic safety improvement effects of the smart road lighting's tunnel traffic safety information service using surrogate safety measures (SSM). Individual driving behavior was investigated by applying the vehicle trajectory data collected with RADAR in the Anin Avalanche 1 and 2 tunnel sections in Gangneung. Comparing accumulated speeding, speed variation, time-to-collision, and deceleration rate to avoid the crash before and after providing traffic safety information, all SSMs showed significant improvement, indicating that the tunnel traffic safety information service is beneficial in improving traffic safety. Analyzing potential crash risk in the subdivided tunnel and access road sections revealed that providing traffic safety information reduced the probability of traffic accidents in most segments. The results of this study will be valuable for analyzing the short-term quantitative effects of traffic safety information services.

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.134-151
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• 2011

The strategy for brand alliance is a new type of franchise to iron out the problems like the hotel restaurant's structural contradiction and decreasing profits caused by keen competition with external restaurants. This study is purposed to present the decisive factors for the brand alliance throughexamining the correlations between the brand restaurant designation standards and the expected effects from local low- and mid-priced hotel's brand alliance. The questionnaires were distributed to instructors and professors who have experience in teaching the food and beverage sections at college's hotel and tourism departments and 100 specialists at managerial level of a hotel's food and beverage parts.This survey was conducted for 20 days from December 2 to 22, 2004 and analyzed by independent t-test and canonical correlation analysis. The findings of this survey are as follows.Firstly, the service of the expected effect factors of the brand alliance was recognized relatively high by the specialists in hotel industry, while the sales effect factor of restaurant designation standards was recognized higher by the academic experts.The specialists of the hotel industry recognized the factors of menu and corporate culture higher than the academic experts. Secondly, the entire factors of the brand restaurant designation standards showed a correlation with the whole factors of the restaurant designation standards.In particular, the 'menu' factor presented the most influential to the expected effects of brand alliance.The factors of 'risk reduction' and 'synergy effect' exerted the strongest effect on the restaurant designation standards, which indicated the mutual correlation between the expected effect of brand alliance and the restaurant designation standards. Based on this study, the correlation between the expected effect of brand alliance and brand restaurant designation standards may play a primary role to choose a partner for the brand alliance, a decisive factor for the success.The execution of the brand alliance or the method to designate the alliance partner may vary from the hotel's desirable effects when the brand alliance is determined.In other words, the partner designation standards should be corresponding to the expected effects from the brand alliance between hotel and brand restaurant, and the academic and industrial experts' perceived differences in the expected effects of brand alliance and restaurant designation standards should be clarified to display the direction of decision-making and find the potential risks.

• Korean Journal of Hazardous Materials
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.18-26
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• 2014

We analyzed the demand of competent authorities requiring adequate technical information for initial investigation of chemical accidents. Reflecting technical reports on chemical accident response by environmental agencies in the U.S. and Canada, we presented information on environmental diffusion and toxic effects available for the first chemical accident response. Hydrogen fluoride may have the risk potential to corrode metals and cause serious burns and eye damages. In case of inhalation or intake, it could have severe health effects. The substance itself is inflammable, but once heated, it decomposes producing corrosive and toxic fume. In case of contact with water, it can produce toxic, corrosive, flammable or explosive gases and its solution, a strong acid, may react fiercely with a base. In case of hydrogen fluoride leak, the preventive measures are to decrease steam generation in exposed sites, prevent the transfer of vapor cloud and promptly respond using inflammable substances including calcium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, ground limestone, dried soil, dry sand, vermiculite, fly ash and powder cement. The method for fire fighting is to suppress fire with manless hose stanchions or monitor nozzles by wearing the whole body protective clothing equipped with over-pressure self-contained breathing apparatus from distance. In case of transport accident accompanied with fire, evacuation distance is 1,600m radius. In cae of fire, fire suppression needs to be performed using dry chemicals, CO₂, water spray, water fog, and alcohol-resistance foam, etc. The major symptoms by exposure route are dyspnoea, bronchitis, chemical pneumonia and pulmonary edema for respiration, skin laceration, dermatitis, burn, frostbite and erythema for eyes, and nausea, diarrhea, stomachache, and tissue destruction for digestive organs. In atmosphere, its persistency is low, and its bioaccumulation in aquatic organism is also low.