• Toxicological Research
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.233-239
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• 2004

The present study was designed to determine the impact of mercury on endotoxin-induced inflammatory cytokine expression and corresponding signal transduction in mouse kidney. Male BALB/c mice were exposed continuously to 0, 0.3, 1.5, 7.5, or 37.5 ppm of mercury in drink-ing water for 14 days and at the end of the treatment period, lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 0.5 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally 2 h prior to euthanasia. The doses of mercury and LPS did not cause hepatotoxicity or renal toxicity as indicated by unaltered plasma alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels, and terminal UTP nucleotide end-labeling assay from kidney, respectively. Mercury decreased kidney glutathione (GSH) and with LPS, it additively decreased GSH. Mercury activated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and additively increased LPS-induced p38 MAPK phosphorylation. In contrast, mercury inhibited LPS-induced activation of extra-cellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) but had no effect alone. Mercury increased the gene expression of tumor necrosis factor $\alpha$ (TN F$\alpha$) and potentiated LPS-induced TNF$\alpha$ expression. Mercury did not affect LPS-induced interleukin-1$\beta$ (IL-1$\beta$) expression but decreased LPS-induced IL-6 expression. These results suggest that low levels of mercury might augment LPS-induced TNF$\alpha$ expression by altering GSH and p38 MAPK. Mercury modulates LPS-induced p38 and ERK activation, and downstream TNF$\alpha$ and IL-6 expression in kidney, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.69-72
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• 2005

In this study, effects of IHPs with various resting times to cell adhesion were investigated through the measurements of cell adhesive force, number and area of focal contacts (stained vinculin spots), and projected cell area, perimeter and circularity. In addition correlation tests and curve estimations using the experimental results were performed fur the finding an essential factor for increment of cell adhesive force. Tn the results, immediately after mechanical stimuli (150 minutes after seeding) and one hour later (210 minutes after seeding), the average adhesive force of experimental group 5 (resting time: 15min) compared with that of control group at same culture time was increased significantly (p<0.05). Average projected area and perimeter of cells at Group 5 were increased significantly (p<0.05), while average circularity of cells at Group 5 incubated fur 210 minutes was decreased significantly (p<0.05). In the digital image analysis of focal contacts containing vinculins, area and numbers of focal contacts per cell at Group 5 were higher than those of the other groups. This study indicated that IHP with appropriate resting time could contribute in improving cell adhesive force, cell spreading, development of cytoskeleton and formation of focal contacts. And cell adhesive force was correlated to the morphological aspects of cell and development of focal contacts. Particularly, area of focal contacts was closely related to cell adhesive force.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.305-314
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• 2007

We studied spatial and temporal distributions of the phytoplankton and their relationships to physico-chemical environmental factors in the western Jinhae Bay, Korea from November 2003 to August 2004. In most cases, physico-chemical environmental factors showed homogeneous distribution. The phytoplankton communities were composed of mainly diatoms and dinoflagellates, and their standing crops ranged from $16{\times}10^3\;cells\;l^{-1}\;to\;5,845{\times}10^3\;cells\;l^{-1}$ (with a mean value of $555{\times}10^3\;cells\;l^{-1}$). The bloom of phytoplankton was observed in Gohyun Port in the summer. Seasonal variation of phytoplankton standing crops was higher in winter and summer than in spring and autumn. The dominant species were Skeletonema costatum, Akashiwo sanguinea, Pseudo-nitzschia pungens, Dactyliosolen sp., Leptocylindrus danicus, cryptomonads and etc. Especially, S. costatum was predominant in the summer and A. sanguinea (spring and autumn), Pseudo-nitzschia sp. (summer), Guinardia striata (spring), unidentified flagellates (summer) and cryptomonads (spring) appeared to be an opportunistic species. Concentrations of Chl a ranged from $0.6{\mu}g{\cdot}l^{-1}\;to\;16.7{\mu}g{\cdot}l^{-1}$ (with a mean value of $3.4{\mu}g{\cdot}l^{-1}$). The results of the canonical correspondence analysis implies the study area was grouped into the 2 water masses (inner and outer waters of Gohyun Port) and inner waters had higher abundance and Chl a concentration than outer waters. Also, phytoplankton sanding crops were related with temperature, DO and nutrients ($SiO^2$, TN, TP and etc.) in inner waters. Inner water-mass of Gohyun Port expanded between Gacho Is. and Chilchon Is. during the winter.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2021

Angelica gigas Nakai (AGN) is a perennial plant belonging to the family Apiaceae. Its root has been utilized as a traditional medicine especially in Korea. This study was carried out to evaluate the potential use of extracts from AGN root parts as a cosmetic material. The dried AGN roots are divided into body (B), thick root (TkR), medium root(MR) and thin root (TnR) according to their diameter before cutting into medicine. B, TkR and MR of AGN are combined and used as medicinal herbs (MH). The extracts from AGN each root part (B, TkR, MR, TnR, MH) were used to test the effect on cell viability using MTS assay and to examine inhibitory effect on melanin accumulation in B16F10 melanoma cells. All extracts (50 - 200 ㎍/mL) from the each root part did not affect the cell viability. And inhibitory effect of all root extracts (200 ㎍/mL) on melanin accumulation was 12-19%. Especially, TnR showed similar inhibitory effect on melanin accumulation to MH. In addition, DPPH and ABTS free radical scavenging activity were higher in the TnR extract compared to MH. This study showed that the TnR extract exhibit high inhibitory effect on melanin accumulation and antioxidant activity compared to MH, suggesting that TnR extract has potential as a cosmetic ingredient.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.69-78
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• 2010

The distributions of planktonic and periphytic algae were studied from April 2003 to February 2004 at Gwangju Stream. A total of 274 species, belongs to 8 classes, 19 orders, 6 suborders, 35 families, 4 subfamilies, 79 genera, was identified as algal flora of Gwangju Stream. The most diverse phytoplankton flora was observed at Bangrim bridge and Yangdong market sites with 137 species, and followed by Yuchon bridge site (118 species). The richness of phytoplankton fluctuated throughout the studied period from all the sampled sites. The precipitation was a major factor affected the richness of phytoplankton. The diatoms predominated the phytoplankton of Gwangju Stream with 57.7~77.0% of total phytoplankton. The maximum cells of phytoplankton was observed at Yuchon bridge site with 23,792 cells $mL^{-1}$ in August 2003, and minimum at Jeungsimsa site with 82 cells $mL^{-1}$ in April 2003. The periphyton of Gwangju Stream was predominated by the diatoms. In February 2004, all the periphyton of Yuchon bridge site were diatoms. Other sites also showed the predominance of diatoms throughout the studied period. The standing crops of phytoplankton were highly correlated with chlorophyll-a concentration with R=0.795. TN and TP also showed high relationships with phytoplankton standing crops in Yangdong market site with R=0.796 and R=0.760, respectively. The rains of 7-days ago showed high relationships with phytoplankton standing crop at Dongsan tower site with R=0.810. However, other climatic factors showed no clear relationships with phytoplankton cells.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.4 s.109
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• pp.411-422
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• 2004

A limnological survey was conducted in a reservoir, Lake Hoengsung located in Kangwondo, Korea, from July 2000 to September 2001 on the monthly basis. Phosphorus loading from the watershed was estimated by measuring total phosphorus concentration in the main tributary. Secchi disc transparency, epilimnetic (0-5 m) turbidity, chlorophyll a (Chl-a), total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen(TN) and silica concentration were in the range of 0.9-3.5 m, 0.1-8.5 NTU, 0.3-32.4 mgChl $m^{-3}$, 5-46 mgP $m^{-3}$, 0.83-3.55 mgN $L^{-1}$ and 0.5-9.6 mgSi $L^{-1}$, respectively. Green algae and cyanobacteria dominated phytoplankton community in warm seasons, from July through October, 2000. In July a green alga (Scenedesmus sp.) was dominant with a maximum cell density of 10,480 cells mL. Cyanobacteria (Microcystics sp.) dominated in August and September with cell density of 3,492 and 295 cells mL ,respectively. Species diversity of phytoplankton was highest (2.22) in July. The trophic state of the reservoir can be classified as eutrophic on the basis of TP, Chl-a, and Secchi disc transparency. Because TP concentration was high in flood period, most of phosphorus loading was concentrated in rainy season. TP loading was calculated by multiplying TP and flow rate. The dam managing company measured inflow rate of the reservoir daily, while TP was measured by weekly surveys. TP of unmeasured days was estimated from the empirical relationship of TP and the flow rate of the main tributary; $TP=5.59Q^{0.45}\;(R^2=0.47)$. Annual TP loading was calculated to be 4.45 tP $yr^{-1}$, and the areal P loading was 0.77 gP $m^{-2}\;yr^{-1}$ which is similar to the critical P loading for eutrophication by Vollenweider's phosphorus model, 0.72 gP $m^{-2}\;yr^{-1}$.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.511-518
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• 2011

To avoid hyperacute rejection of xenografts, ${\alpha}1,3$-galactosyltransferase knock-out (GalT KO) pigs have been produced. In this study, we examined whether Sia-containing glycoconjugates are important as an immunogenic non-Gal epitope in the pig liver with disruption of ${\alpha}1,3$-galactosyltransferase gene. The target cells were then used as donor cells for somatic cell nuclear transfer (scNT). A total of 1,800 scNT embryos were transferred to 10 recipients. One recipient developed to term and naturally delivered two piglets. Real-time RT-PCR and glycosyltransferase activity showed that ${\alpha}2,3$-sialyltransferase (${\alpha}2,3ST$) and ${\alpha}2,6$-sialyltransferase (${\alpha}2,6ST$) in the heterozygote GalT KO liver have higher expression levels and activities compared to controls, respectively. According to lectin blotting, sialic acidcontaining glycoconjugate epitopes were also increased due to the decreasing of ${\alpha}$-Gal in heterozygote GalT KO liver, whereas GalNAc-containing glycoconjugate epitopes were decreased in heterozygote GalT KO liver compare to the control. Furthermore, the heterozygote GalT KO liver showed a higher Neu5Gc content than control. Taken together, these finding suggested that the deficiency of GalT gene in pigs resulted in increased production of Neu5Gc-bounded epitopes (H-D antigen) due to increase of ${\alpha}2,6$-sialyltransferase. Thus, this finding suggested that the deletion of CMAH gene to the GalT KO background is expected to further prolong xenograft survival.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.395-402
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• 2007

Concentrative samplings of 35 times on standing crops of phytoplankton and physicochemical factors were conducted at five sites over Seongsu Bridge to Seongsan Bridge in lower parts of the Ban River from January to December 2006. Over the study, all physicochemical factors showed no large differences among the sampling sites except station 2 having high concentrations of BOD, TN, and TP. Heavy rain also cause these concentrations to decrease. The phytoplankton species and abundance (88 taxa and $1{\sim}41$,104 cells $mL^{-1}$) were varied according to the season, and sharply decreased during heavy rains. In particular, cyanobacteria dominated the phytoplankton community during dry seasons, while green algae and diatom dominated during the rainy seasons. However, after the termination of rain, high water temperatures over $20^{\circ}C$ and low N/P ratios $(9.4{\sim}18.9)$ evoked the cyanobacterial bloom. These results indicate that although the heavy rain (huge outflows of Paltang Dam) temporarily diluted the nutrient level and effected the cyanobacterial bloom in the lower parts of the Han River, cyanobacterial abundance was recovered by the high temperature and low N/P ratio as the rainfall discontinued.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.133-140
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• 2012

The overall performance of BNR-MBR, so-called Anoxic-Anaerobic-Aerobic Membrane Bioreactor ($A^3$-MBR), developed for nutrient removal was studied to determine the efficiencies and mechanisms under different solid retention time (SRT). The reactor was fed by synthetic high-rise building wastewater with a COD:N:P ratio of 100:10:2.5. The results showed that TKN, TN and phosphorus removal by the system was higher than 95%, 93% and 80%, respectively. Nitrogen removal in the system was related to the simultaneous nitrification-denitrification (SND) reaction which removed all nitrogen forms in aerobic condition. SND reaction in the system occurred because of the large floc size formation. Phosphorus removal in the system related to the high phosphorus content in bacterial cells and the little effects of nitrate nitrogen on phosphorus release in the anaerobic condition. Therefore, high quality of treated effluent could be achieved with the $A^3$-MBR system for various water reuse purposes.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.148-153
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• 1997

The immunomodulating effects of polysaccharide extracted from Ganoderma lucidum(PSG) on macrophage were evaluated using murine macrophage cell line ATCC TIB 71 cells or peritoneal exudate cells of BALB/c mice. The cell were incubated with various content of PSG for 24 hours at 0.5% $CO_2$ incubator under varying experimental conditions. PSG stimulated the non-specific activites of macrophage such as mitotic activity and expression of surface interleukin-2 receptors by dose-dependent pattern with statistic significance(p<0.001): however, PSG had little immunoregulatory effects on cytokines derived from peritoneal macrophages of BALB/c mice. There were no significant changes in the se-cretion of interleukin-6, interleukin-6, or tumor necrosis factors(Tn) of PSG treated cells compared to the control group. But PSG increased secretion of cytokines(IL-1 and TNF) when the cells were primed and trigged with BCG and IFN-${\gamma}$.