• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.441-448
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• 2023

Brucellosis is a contagious zoonotic disease that infects millions of people annually with hundreds of millions more being exposed. It is caused by Brucella, a highly infectious bacterial species capable of infecting humans with an estimated dose of 10-100 organisms. Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) has been reported to contribute to prevention of viral diseases as well as a chronic infection caused by Mycobacterium bovis. Here, we investigated the role of SIRT1 in the establishment of Brucella abortus infection in both in vitro and in vivo systems using the reported SIRT1 activators resveratrol (RES), piceatannol (PIC), and ginsenoside Rg3 (Rg3). In RAW264.7 cells, SIRT1 activators did not alter the adherence of Brucella or Salmonella Typhimurium. However, reduced uptake of Brucella was observed in cells treated with PIC and Rg3, and survival of Brucella within the cells was only observed to decrease in cells that were treated with Rg3, while PIC treatment reduced the intracellular survival of Salmonella. SIRT1 treatment in mice via oral route resulted in augmented Brucella resistance for PIC and Rg3, but not RES. PIC treatment favors Th2 immune response despite reduced serum pro-inflammatory cytokine production, while Rg3-treated mice displayed high IL-12 and IFN-γ serum production. Overall, our findings encourage further investigation into the complete mechanisms of action of the different SIRT1 activators used as well as their potential benefit as an effective alternative approach against intracellular and extracellular pathogens.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.393-408
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• 2009

The drastic growth of transnational marriage since the mid-1990s has been a new challenge to Korea. This article aims to provide a comprehension of new ethnicity by focusing on transnational marriage migration in Korea. A steep increase of foreign brides from China and Southeast countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines can be understood in terms of globalization from below. In this context, Korean trend is similar to Taiwan and Japanese ones. But, there are also some differences between them. The inflow of foreign brides has been gradually weakened since 2005 in Korea, as Taiwan has experienced since 2003. In the ratio of foreign brides among total marriage in Korea, rural area show in average two-fold higher than urban areas. However, most foreign brides have settled down in urban areas in aspect of absolute number. Korean Chinese wives most densely concentrate in urban area, followed by Chinese wives, Nevertheless, there are significant differences among foreign brides' residential areas with their nationalities. In this point, the geography of new ethnicity with foreign brides in Korea is likely to be a multi-dimensional space.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.159-169
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to investigate Korean food adaption, eating behavior and dietary intakes of married female immigrants by age, number of residence years in Korea and level of income. The survey included 67 female marriage immigrants attending the Korean language class at the multicultural family support center within the northern part of Kyonggi province from October 2010 to July 2011. General characteristics, Korean dietary life adaptation, and eating behavior were collected and dietary intakes were assessed using 24-hour recall. The home countries with regards to all subjects were Vietnam (40.3%), China (23.9%), Japan (11.9%), Philippines (7.0%), and Mongolia (3.0%). Total energy intake was 1432.5kcal and there were significant differences in nutritional intake concerning vitamin B1 and vitamin B2 by age (p < 0.05). More than 50% of subjects did not meet estimated average requirements for calcium (56.7%), zinc (52.2%), vitamin C (55.2%), and folic acid (76.1%). Food adaptation scores were significantly correlated with general characteristics (age, residence year, drinking alcohol and acquisition of nationality), total scores of eating behavior, and nutritional intake (energy, protein, fat, fiber, calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, niacin, vitamin E, and zinc). These results might suggest that the better their Korean food adaptation, the more desirable their eating behavior and nutritional status.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.18
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• pp.8113-8117
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• 2016

Glehnia littoralis (GL) is widely used as an oriental medicine for cough, fever, stroke and other disease conditions. However, the anti-cancer properties of GL on MCF-7 human breast cancer cells have not been investigated. In order to elucidate anti-cancer properties and underlying cell death mechanisms, MCF-7cells ($5{\times}10^4/well$) were treated with Glehnia littoralis root extract at 0-400 ug/ml. A hot water extract of GL root inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Analysis of the cell cycle after treatment of MCF-7 cells with increasing concentrations of GL root extract for 24 hours showed significant cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase. RT-PCR and Western blot analysis both revealed that GL root extract significantly increased the expression of p21 and p27 with an accompanying decrease in both CDK4 and cyclin D1. Our reuslts indicated that GL root extract arrested the proliferation of MCF-7 cells in G1 phase through inhibition of CDK4 and cyclin D1 via increased induction of p21 and p27. In summary, the current study showed that GL could serve as a potential source of chemotherapeutic or chemopreventative agents against human breast cancer.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.179-206
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• 2001

This study examines degree of fairness migrant workers in Korea feel with their wages in comparison to those of their homeland and Korean workers who do the same job in Korea as theirs, and what factors affect the feelings. For the study, 742 migrant workers from China, Vietnam, Philippines, and Indonesia employed by manufacturing firms in Seoul and Gyenggi areas were surveyed. The results show that most migrant workers in Korea feel unfair about their wages, and the feeling of unfairness appears more strongly when comparing with the Korean workers than with their homeland workers. The effectiveness of variables affecting fairness also varies according to the object of comparison: in comparison to homeland workers, age, sex, monthly income before migration, money spent for employment, and satisfaction with working conditions are significant: in comparison to Korean workers, ethnicity, sex, legal status, satisfaction with working conditions are significant.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.306-306
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• 2017

Screening for drought and salinity tolerance was undertaken for selected Philippine upland rice landraces during germinative and seedling stages to identify varieties which can potentially be grown in marginally dry and saline soils. While increasing PEG and NaCl concentrations caused obvious signs of injury to all rice genotypes, considerable varietal differences were noted in the nature of responses providing evidence that these genotypes possess broad intraspecific genetic variations for drought and salt tolerance. Inconsistent responses of these varieties during both growth stages highlight complexities involved in stress responses and underscore the futility of utilizing a single stage in the rice plant's life cycle for physiological screening. Notwithstanding these perplexing responses, G_Katiil and Ml-Pilit Tapul were observed to thrive relatively well despite increased salt and drought stress during early growth stages and may therefore possess genes needed in crop improvement efforts for drought and salinity tolerance. While these results do not reflect the entire spectrum of adaptive expression to drought and salinity stress during the life cycle of the upland rice plant, they nonetheless provide an easy, reliable and reproducible method for preliminary identification of drought and salt tolerant rice varieties.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.577-587
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• 2007

Single-copy chloroplast loci are used widely to infer phylogenetic relationship at different taxonomic levels among various groups of plants. To test the utility of chloroplast loci and to provide additional data applicable to hybrid evolution in Musa, we sequenced two introns, rpl16 and ndhA, and two intergenic spacers, psaA-ycf3 and petA-psbJ-psbL-psbF and combined these data. Using these four regions, Musa acuminata Cola(A)- and M. balbisiana Colla (B)-containing genomes were clearly distinguished. Some triploid interspecific hybrids contain A-type chloroplasts (the AAB/ABB) while others contain B-type chloroplasts (the BBA/BBB). The chloroplasts of all cultivars in 'Namwa' (BBA) group came from the same wild maternal origin, but the specific parents are still unrevealed. Though, average sequence divergences in each region were little (less than 2%), we propose that petA-psbJ intergenic spacer could be developed for diversity assessment within each genome. This segment contains three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and two indels which could distinguish diversity within A genome whereas this same region also contains one SNP and an indel which could categorize B genome. However, an inverted repeat region which could form hairpin structure was detected in this spacer and thus was omitted from the analyses due to their incongruence to other regions. Until thoroughly identified in other members of Musaceae and Zingiberales clade, utility of this inverted repeat as phylogenetic marker in these taxa are cautioned.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.298-311
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe levels of multiple stress factors and depression, and to examine the effects of the stress factors on depression among female marriage immigrants in Korea. Methods: Participants were 322 female marriage immigrants currently residing in Korea, who migrated from China, Vietnam, the Philippines, and other Asian countries. Stress of female marriage immigrants was measured on the SMFMI (Stress Measure of Female Marriage Immigrants in Korea), consisting of 21 items in four factors (cultural, household economic, emotional, and parenting and discrimination stress). CES-D was used to assess depression among marriage immigrants. Descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA with Scheffe's post hoc tests, and multiple regressions were performed for data analyses. Results: The average score for stress was 1.34 (SD=.98, theoretical range: 0-4) and the average score for depression was 17.07 (SD=10.09) in these female marriage immigrants. Adjusting for household income, employment status, duration since immigration, and Korean language proficiency, household economic stress (p<.001) was identified as the strongest predictor in explaining depression of female marriage immigrants (Adjusted $R^2=.331$). Conclusion: Health care professionals should prioritize intervention strategies to alleviate household economic stress for mental health promotion in female marriage immigrants in Korea.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.5397-5402
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• 2013

The rates of morbidity and mortality of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not lessened because of difficulty in treating tumor metastasis. Mongolian Saussurea involucrata (SIE) possesses various anticancer activities, including apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. However, detailed effects and molecular mechanisms of SIE on metastasis are unclear. Thus, the present study was undertaken to investigate antimetastatic effects on HCC cells as well as possible mechanisms. Effects of SIE on the growth, adhesion, migration, aggregation and invasion of the SK-Hep1 human HCC cell line were investigated. SIE inhibited cell growth of metastatic cells in dose- and time-dependent manners. Incubation of SK-Hep1 cells with $200-400{\mu}g/mL$ of SIE significantly inhibited cell adhesion to gelatin-coated substrate. In the migration (wound healing) and aggregation assays, SIE treated cells showed lower levels than untreated cells. Invasion assays revealed that SIE treatment inhibited cell invasion capacity of HCC cells substantially. Quantitative real time PCR showed inhibitory effects of SIE on MMP-2/-9 and MT1-MMP mRNA levels, and stimulatory effects on TIMP-1, an inhibitor of MMPs. The present study not only demonstrated that invasion and motility of cancer cells were inhibited by SIE, but also indicated that such effects were likely associated with the decrease in MMP-2/-9 expression of SK-Hep1 cells. From these results, it was suggested that SIE could be used as potential anti-tumor agent.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.403-412
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• 2021

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25(OH)D) status of breastfed infants less than six months old and their mothers, and factors affecting the status. Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on breastfed, term, Filipino infants less than six months old who were seen at local health centers and clinics in an urban area. The serum 25(OH)D levels of these infants and their mothers were determined, and their demographic data, nutritional status, sun exposure behavior, and maternal vitamin D intake were analyzed for correlation using regression models. Results: Among the 131 infants, 101 (77%) had vitamin D deficiency (VDD), which was defined as having 25(OH)D levels <37.5 nmol/L, and 13 (10%) had vitamin D insufficiency (VDI), with levels >37.5-50 nmol/L. Conversely, maternal VDD with levels <50 nmol/L was seen in 31 (24%) mothers and maternal VDI with levels 50-75 nmol/L, in 63 (48%) mothers. Infant age and maternal 25(OH)D status were independent predictors of infant VDD. Infants less than three months old were found to have a six-time increased risk of infant VDD (p=0.004). Infants who had mothers with VDD had a six-time increased risk, whereas those with maternal VDI had a four-time increased risk of infant VDD (p=0.049 and p=0.020, respectively). Conclusion: Both infant and maternal VDD and VDI were seen to be highly prevalent in this tropical, urban community. Young infants and maternal VDD/VDI independently increased the risk of infant VDD, whereas lack of sun exposure of the mothers increased the risk for maternal VDI.