• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.143-150
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• 2009

Deicing salt is used to melt snow and ice on the road for traffic safety during the winter season, which accumulates in the roadside vegetation and induces visible injuries. The damage may accelerate particularly when it coincides with early spring leaf out. In order to better understand the response mechanisms, C. kousa (3-year-old) was irrigated twice prior to leaf bud in a rhizosphere with solutions of 0.5, 1.0, and 3.0% calcium chloride ($CaCl_2$) concentration, that were made by using an industrial $CaCl_2$ reagent practical deicing material in Seoul. Physiological traits of the mature leaves were progressively reduced by $CaCl_2$ treatment, resulting in reductions of total chlorophyll contents, chlorophyll a:b, photosynthetic rate, quantum yield, stomatal conductance, $F_V/F_M$, and NPQ. On the contrary, light compensation point and dark respiration were increased at high $CaCl_2$ concentration. A decrease in intercellular $CO_2$ concentration by stomatal closure first resulted in a reduced photosynthetic rate and then was accompanied by low substance metabolic rates and photochemical damage. Based on the reduction of physiological activities at all treatments ($CaCl_2$ 0.5%, 1.0%, and 3.0%), C. kousa was determined as one of the sensitive species to $CaCl_2$.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.445-451
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was carried out to examine the effects of onion kimchi extract supplementation on blood glucose level and serum lipid components in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats for 4 weeks. STZ was administered as a single dose (50 mg/kg BW) to induce diabetes, and the diabetic rats were divided into eight groups (normal, diabetic control, and six treatment groups). The dose of onion kimchi extract 100 (OK-100), 200 (OK-200), and 400 (OK-400) mg/kg/day or quercetin as a main compound of onion 5 (Q-5), 10 (Q-10), and 20 (Q-20) mg/kg/day were orally administered daily to STZ-induced diabetic rats for 4 weeks after STZ injection. The diabetic control rats (465.6 mg/dL) showed significantly higher blood glucose level than the normal rats (76.3 mg/dL) after 4 weeks, but was significantly reduced with onion kimchi extract and quercetin supplementation (p<0.001). Changes in body weight, kidney weight and urine volume were not significantly different in diabetic control rats, and in onion kimchi extract and quercetin treated rats. The serum total cholesterol levels of control were significantly decreased in onion kimchi extract and quercetin supplementation groups, respectively (p<0.001). The blood urea nitrogen level and urinary protein excretion in diabetic rats were not significant different among the groups. These results suggest that onion kimchi extract supplementation in STZ-induced diabetic rats may be a very important factor for the reduction of blood glucose and serum cholesterol profiles.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.496-502
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• 2015

Facilitated transport is one of the possible solutions to simultaneously improve permeability and selectivity, which is challenging in conventional polymer-based membranes. Olefin/paraffin separation using facilitated transport membrane has received much attention as an alternative solution to the conventional distillation process. Herein, we report olefin separation composite membranes based on the polymer blends containing $AgBF_4/Al(NO_3)_3$ mixed salts. Free radical polymerization process was used to synthesize an amphiphilic graft copolymer of poly(dimethyl siloxane)-graft- poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PDMS-g-POEM). In addition, poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) was introduced to the PDMS-g-POEM graft copolymer to form polymer blends with various ratios. The propylene/propane mixed-gas selectivity and permeance reached up to 5.6 and 10.05 GPU, respectively, when the PEO loading was 70 wt% in polymer blend. The improvement of olefin separation performance was attributed to the olefin facilitating silver ions as well as the highly permeable blend matrix. The stabilization of silver ions in the composite membrane was achieved through the introduction of $Al(NO_3)_3$ which suppressed the reduction of silver ions to silver particles.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.98-104
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• 2001

Cultivation area of the plastic film-house has been continuously increased with the increase of consumers' income. Intensive land use without fallowing or crop rotation caused severe problem such as salt accumulation in soils and in turn retarded growth and low productivity. This study was carried out to solve them derived from longterm intensive farming practices. Seven farmers who are practicing plastic film-house cultivation were recommended for case study by municipal government and selected for their excellency of cultivation and soil management. The cultivation periods of these systems were in the range of 5 to 40 years in the regions mainly located in alluvial soil cultivated with cucumber, tomato and red pepper. The soils texture of the excellent farmers' fields were silt loam or sandy loam, ranged from 7 to 15 percents of clay contents. Soil bulk density, depth of plowing layer and soil aggregates contents of the farmers' soils were 0.89, 23.1 cm, 61.6% whereas those in neighboring soils were 1.10, 17.8 cm, 54.2 %, respectively. And pH, OM and $NO_3-N$ of the farmers' soils also were better than those of neighboring soils. There was no difference in population densities of nematode between the good farmers' and neighboring soils, but actinomyces and Fusarium densities of recommended farmers' soils were better than neighboring soils. The major farming practices by the good farmers were characterized by deep plowing with flooding, amendment of crude organic matter, and reduction of chemical fertilizer application before transplanting, and also drip irrigation and liquid manure application after planting. They also conducted solar sterilization with or without flooding, removal of plastic films during rainy days and culturing rice or corn as rotation crops to avoid the problems mentioned above.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.743-750
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• 1997

Direct measurement of the kinetics of free fatty acid transfer between phospholipid model membrane is technically limited by the rapid nature of the transfer process. Separation of membrane-bound fatty acid by centrifugation has shown that although the equilibrium distribution of free fatty acid is determined by this method, fatty acid transfer occurs too rapidly for accurate kinetic measurements. Recently fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET) assay has been developed to examine transfer of fatty acids between membranes. Donor membranes which has fluorescent fatty acid, anthroyloxy fatty acid(AOFA), is mixed with acceptor membranes which has non-interchangeable fluorescent quencher, nitrobenzo-xadiazol(NBD), using stopped flow apparatus. As the fluorescent fatty acids transfer from donor membrane to acceptor membrane, fluorescence intensity would be decreased and the rate and degree of fatty acid transfer can be analyzed. Fatty acid transfer between micelles is more complicated because of bile salt. Therefore in experiments with micelles, fluorescence self quenching assay is used. At high concentrations, a fluorophore tends to quench its own fluorescence causing a reduction in fluorescence intensity. Donor micelles contained self quenching concentrations of fluorophore and acceptor micelles had no fluorophore. Upon mixing of donor and acceptor micelles, the rate of transfer of the fluorophore from the donor to the acceptor was measured by monitoring the release in self quenching when its concentration in donor decreased over time.

• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.255-260
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• 2021

A drawback in the CO₂ capture process using an aqueous amine solution is the high energy requirement for the regeneration process. In order to overcome this disadvantage, this study investigated CO₂ capture characteristics using a biphasic absorbent in which isopropanol (IPA) was introduced into an aqueous solution of diethylenetriamine (DETA). When the IPA composition exceeded 20 wt% in 20 wt% DETA aqueous solution, the absorbent phase was liquid-liquid separated into a CO₂-rich phase and a CO₂-lean phase because of the low solubility of the salt formed by the reaction of CO₂ with DETA in isopropanol. When the isopropanol composition in the DETA aqueous solution increased, the phase volume ratio of the CO₂-rich phase to the volume of the CO₂-lean phase increased; and, accordingly, the CO₂ in the CO₂-rich phase was more concentrated. The results of absorbing CO₂ in a packed tower using 20 wt% DETA + IPA + water absorbent confirmed that both the CO₂ absorption capacity and the absorption rate were higher than that of the 20 wt% DETA aqueous solution. When a biphasic absorbent composed of DETA + IPA + water is applied to CO₂ capture, it can be expected to concentrate CO₂ because of phase separation and thereby reduce regeneration energy owing to volume reduction of the CO₂-rich phase.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.465-472
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• 2019

Candida albicans is an opportunistic human pathogen that causes infections. Candidiasis is often related to antifungal resistance because the pathogen has the ability to form biofilms. In a previous study, we found that the Salvia miltiorriza ethanol extract demonstrated anticandidal activity by altering membrane permeability and inhibiting the cell wall synthesis in C. albicans. Our results here demonstrate that $78{\mu}g/ml$ of the S. miltiorriza extract significantly diminished the early stage biofilms formed by 10 clinical C. albicans isolates by 51.3%; this was analyzed by 2,3-Bis-(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide salt (XTT) reduction assay. The effect of the S. miltiorrhiza extract on the adhesion of C. albicans cells to polystyrene plates and germ tube formation was examined via microscopic investigation. Although the density of the adhered cells was remarkably reduced up on incubation with $39{\mu}g/ml$ S. miltiorrhiza extract, germ tube formation by C. albicans was rarely affected. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed that the S. miltiorrhiza extract downregulated the expression of C. albicans hypha-specific genes, EAP1 by 34.7% (p < 0.001), ALS1 by 45.0% (p < 0.001), ALS3 by 48.1% (p < 0.001), and ECE1 by 21.3% (p = 0.006), respectively. Our data suggest that the S. miltiorrhiza ethanol extract significantly inhibited the early stage of biofilm formation by C. albicans by interfering with cell adhesion, by downregulating EAP1, ALS1 and ALS3, and presumably by modifying the cell wall and membrane structure.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.114-119
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• 2019

Seven antimicrobial agents known to be effective in inhibiting the growth of lactic acid bacteria were applied to ensure the microbial safety of low-salted squid and myungran jeotgal with 4-6% salinity. These agents reduced the salt content by 50% compared with the conventional Jeotgal. Lactic acid bacteria such as Lactobacillus sp., Streptococcus sp., and Pediococcus sp. were commonly found to account for 80% of microbial organisms, and yeast and fungi were observed in squid and myungran jeotgal, respectively. The total bacterial counts in squid and myungran jeotgal showed 94.20 and 90.87% reduction after the addition of 0.5% (w/w) glycine. The microbial counts in squid and myungran jeotgal decreased $10^1-10^2CFU/g$ when compared with the control after 21 days at $10^{\circ}C$. Glycine was found to be an effective commercial antimicrobial agent that can be used to control bacterial count in low-salted Jeotgal without affecting sensory qualities such as overall taste and flavor.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.448-458
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• 2021

Purpose: Mulberry (Morus alba L.) fruit is widely grown in Asia and consumed as fresh fruit, jam, and juices. The fruit has beneficial health effects, including anti-diabetic, anti-tumor, and anti-obesity properties. However, the mechanisms by which mulberry fruit juice powder (MJ) regulates inflammatory microRNAs (miRs) are not yet known. This study investigated the effect of mulberry fruit juice powder on the regulation of inflammation and miR-132/143 during 3T3-L1 adipocyte differentiation. Methods: The 3T3-L1 cells were induced to differentiate for 2 days and then treated with various concentrations of MJ for 7 days. Cytotoxicity was determined by evaluating cell viability using a water-soluble tetrazolium salt-8 assay kit. Intracellular lipid accumulation was evaluated by oil-red O staining. The levels of the expression of genes involved in adipogenesis and inflammation, and miR-132/143 were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reactions. Results: MJ showed no cytotoxic effect on 3T3-L1 adipocytes at concentrations below 100 ng/mL. Intracellular lipid accumulation was reduced by MJ treatment at concentrations of 100 ng/mL. The messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of proliferator-activated receptor-γ, cytosine-cytosine-adenosine-adenosine-thymidine/enhancer-binding protein-α, and adipocyte protein 2, which are involved in adipogenesis, were suppressed by MJ. A reduction was also seen in mRNA levels of genes related to the inflammatory response, such as tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and inducible nitric oxide synthase. The expression of the inflammatory miR-132 and miR-143 was also decreased by MJ. Conclusion: These results suggest that MJ may suppress adipogenesis and inflammation through the regulation of miR-132/143 expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Thus, MJ may be useful as a food agent that prevents obesity-associated inflammation.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.145-151
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• 2020

The whiteleg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei can survive in a wide range of salinity (1-40 psu). However, such variation, particularly at low salinity (1-5 psu), can affect various physiological changes such as survival rates, non-specific immunity and disease resistance. In this study, growth, non-specific immunity and disease resistance were measured following simultaneous oral feeding and addition of probiotic microbes into culture water for 73 day period. The salinity of the culture water was maintained at 3 psu by periodical salt additions. The result shows that survival rate increased significantly (5.6 vs. 15.4%) after 73 day rearing. Significant increases were identified in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and phenol oxidase (PO) activity. However, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was not influenced. When the shrimp was artificially challenged with Vibrio alginolyticus, slight mortality reduction was observed in the probiotics-treated group (100 vs. 79%). In conclusion, the production of cultured whiteleg shrimp at low salinity might be increased by probiotics survivable at low salinity levels.