• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.235-241
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• 2021

Sogunjung-tang (SGJT) is traditional herbal prescriptions used to treat abdominal pain. In this study, we evaluated the effect on inflammation and gastritis through SGJT formulation development. SGJT composition herbal medicine was boiled in water at 95~100℃ for 3 hours and then concentrated. Sogunjung-tang mix soft extract (STM) was prepared using pharmaceutical excipients such as purified water, sodium benzoate, β-cyclodextrin and CMC-Na. Anti-inflammatory experiment was conducted using STM and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in RAW 264.7 cells. Cell survival was measured by MTT method. Nitric oxide (NO) was measured using griess reagents, and pro inflammatory cytokines were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and RT-PCR. Also, we verified STM validity in acute gastritis using the ICR mouse. STM was administered oral for three days. And 150 mM HCl in 60% ethanol was oral administered 0.5 mL one hour after the last drug administration. Mice were sacrificed 1 hour after 150 mM HCl in 60% ethanol administration. The gastric mucosa was visually observed. STM were not toxic in RAW 264.7 cells. Treatment of STM inhibited the production of NO and inflammatory cytokine at the protein and mRNA levels. Also, in the acute gastritis model with the mouse, the treatment of STM improved gastric mucosal bleeding and edema. In summary, it was confirmed that the treatment of STM exerts anti-inflammatory and anti-gastritis effects. Therefore, we suggest that STM may provide a preclinical evidence for the prevention and treatment of inflammatory and gastritis diseases.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.64 no.6
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• pp.1245-1258
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• 2022

This study was conducted to determine the effect of natural ingredient seasoning on the reduction of heterocyclic amine (HCA) production that may occur when pork belly is cooked at a very high temperature for a long time. Pork belly seasoned with natural ingredients, such as natural spices, blackcurrant, and gochujang, was cooked using the most common cooking methods, such as boiling, pan fry, and barbecue. HCAs in pork belly were extracted through solid-phase extraction and analyzed via high-performance liquid chromatography. For short-term toxicity, a mouse model was used to analyze weight, feed intake, organ weight, and length; hematology and serology analysis were also performed. Results revealed that HCAs formed only when heating was performed at a very high temperature for a long time, not under general cooking conditions. Although the toxicity levels were not dangerous, the method showing the relatively highest toxicity among various cooking methods was barbecue, and the natural material with the highest toxicity reduction effect was blackcurrant. Furthermore, seasoning pork belly with natural materials containing a large amount of antioxidants, such as vitamin C, can reduce the production of toxic substances, such as HCAs, even if pork belly is heated to high temperatures.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.199-205
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• 2023

Arsenic is a highly toxic element, and its contamination is widespread around the world. The natural materials with high selectivity and efficiency toward pollutants are important in wastewater treatment technology. In this study, the mesoporous synthetic hectorite was synthesized by facile hydrothermal crystallization of gels comprising silica, magnesium hydroxide, and lithium fluoride. Additionally, the naturally available clay was modified using zirconium at room temperature. Both synthetic and modified natural clays were employed in the removal of arsenate from aquatic environments. The materials were fully characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) analyses. The synthesized materials were used to remove arsenic (V) under varied physicochemical conditions. Both materials, i.e., Zr-bentonite and Zr-hectorite, showed high percentage removal of arsenic (V) at lower pH, and the efficiency decreased in an alkaline medium. The equilibrium-state sorption data agrees well with the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms, and the maximum sorption capacity is found to be 4.608 and 2.207 mg/g for Zr-bentonite and Zr-hectorite, respectively. The kinetic data fits well with the pseudo-second order kinetic model. Furthermore, the effect of the background electrolytes study indicated that arsenic (V) is specifically sorbed at the surface of these two nanocomposites. This study demonstrated that zirconium intercalated synthetic hectorite as well as zirconium modified natural clays are effective and efficient materials for the selective removal of arsenic (V) from aqueous medium.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.621-629
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• 2016

Recently, the researches on quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) for describing toxicities or activities of chemicals based on chemical structural characteristics have been widely carried out in order to estimate the toxicity of chemicals in multiuse facilities. Because the toxicity of chemicals are explained by various kinds of molecular descriptors, an important step for QSAR model development is how to select significant molecular descriptors. This research proposes a statistical selection of significant molecular descriptors and a new QSAR model based on partial least square (PLS). The proposed QSAR model is applied to estimate the logarithm of partition coefficients (log P) of 130 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and lethal concentration ($LC_{50}$) of 14 PCBs, where the prediction accuracies of the proposed QSAR model are compared to a conventional QSAR model provided by OECD QSAR toolbox. For the selection of significant molecular descriptors that have high correlation with molecular descriptors and activity information of the chemicals of interest, correlation coefficient (r) and variable importance of projection (VIP) are applied and then PLS model of the selected molecular descriptors and activity information is used to predict toxicities and activity information of chemicals. In the prediction results of coefficient of regression ($R^2$) and prediction residual error sum of square (PRESS), the proposed QSAR model showed improved prediction performances of log P and $LC_{50}$ by 26% and 91% than the conventional QSAR model, respectively. The proposed QSAR method based on computational toxicology can improve the prediction performance of the toxicities and the activity information of chemicals, which can contribute to the health and environmental risk assessment of toxic chemicals.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.218-231
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• 2012

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the physico-chemical water quality, trophic and tolerance guilds in the control ($C_o$) and impacted streams of the abandoned mine, along with the ecological health, using a multimetric health model and physical habitat conditions of Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI), during the period of three years, 2005~2007. Also, eco-toxicity ($EE_t$) enclosure tests were conducted to examine the toxic effects on the outflows from the mine wastewater, using the sentinel species of Rhynchocypris oxycephalus, and we compared the biological responses of the control ($C_o$) and treatment (T) to the effluents through a Necropybased Health Assessment Index ($N_b$-HAI). Tissue impact analysis of the spleen, kidney, gill, liver, eyes, and fins were conducted in the controlled enclosure experiments (10 individuals). According to the comparisons of the control ($C_o$) vs. the treatment (T) in physicochemical water quality, outflows from the abandoned mine resulted in low pH of 3.2, strong acid wastewater, high ionic concentrations, based on an electrical conductivity, and high total dissolved solid (TDS). Physical habitat assessments, based on Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) did not show any statistical differences (p>0.05) in the sampling sites, whereas, the $M_m$-EH model values in a multimetric ecological health ($M_m$-EH) model of the Index of Biological Integrity (IBI), using fish assemblages, were 16~20 (fair condition) in the control and all zero (0, poor condition) in the impacted sites of mine wastewater. In addition, in enclosure eco-toxicity ($EE_t$) tests, the model values of $N_b$-HAI ranged between 0 and 3 in the controls during the three years, indicating an excellent~good condition (Ex~G), and were >100 (range: 100~137) in the impacted sites, which indicates a poor condition (P). Under the circumstances, organ tissues, such as the liver, kidney, and gills were largely impaired, so that efficient water quality managements are required in the outflow area of the abandoned mine watershed.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.87-101
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• 2012

In gas industries, the potential risks of serious accidents have been increased due to high technology application and process complexities. Especially, in case of gas-related accidents, the extent of demage is out of control since gas plants handle and produce combustible, flammable, explosive and toxic materials in large amounts. The characteristics of this kind of disaster is that accident frequency is low, while the impact of damage is high, extending to the neighboring residents, environment and related industries as well as employees involved. The hydrogen gases treated important things and it used the basic material of chemical plants and industries. Since 2000, this gas stood in the spotlight the substitution energy for reduction of the global warming in particular however it need to compress high pressure(more than 150 bar.g) and store by using the special cylinders due to their low molecular weight. And this gas led to many times the fire and explosion due to leak of it. To reduce these kinds of risks and accidents, it is necessary to improve the new safety management system through a risk management after technically evaluating potential hazards in this process. This study is to carry out the quantitative risk assesment for hydrogen filling plant which are very dangerous(fire and explosive) and using a basic materials of general industries. As a results of this risk assessment, identified the elements important for safety(EIS) and suggested the practical management tools and verified the reliability of this risk assessment model through case study of accident.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.340-360
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• 1982

Because of the continuing rapid increase in pesticide usage in Taiwan, much attention has been focus on pesticide contamination of food and effect of pesticides on human and environmental health. The Plant Protection Center (PPC) conducts safety evaluation of pesticides usee! in Taiwan. The pesticides are classified into different groups based on their acute toxicities. Pesticides which are classified into extremely toxic group are not allow to used on short term crops or the continuously harvest crops. The acute toxicity of pesticides to the beneficial insects are also studied, special attention has been paid to the two predators of rice brown planthopper. 60% of cultivated land in Taiwan are paddy field; therefore, acute fish toxicity was taken into consideration when a pesticide was applied for registration to be used in the paddy. Fish toxicities were evaluated by the dangerous rating value which is the amount of pesticide residue in the field water over the TLM value. Mutagenicity of pesticides was continuously evaluated by using Arne's microbial testing method. Island wide survey of residual levels of pesticides of known pollutants such as chlorinated hydrocarbon . insecticides, mercurial compounds in soil, water and biological samples were carried out constantly. The potential of a new1y Imported esticides to pollute the environment were studied by using model ecosystem. Ecological magnification (EM) of a chemical was calculated from model ecosystem. A chemical was considered as a pollutant when its EM value over 5000. In order to ensure the levels of pesticides residue of the crop within the safety limit. The 'tolerance' of pesticides on different crop groupings were established base on 1) acceptable daily intake value of individual pesticides, 2) average daily consumption of each crop groupings by Chinese person, 3) Actual residues of pesticides. on different crops obtained from supervised trials. Total about 79 pesticides for which the tolerances have been established on different crop groupings. Because the intensive agricultural system was adopted in Taiwan. The phytotoxicity of pesticides to the non-target crops was therefore become one of the important factor in the safety evaluation of pesticide usage. These will include 1) direct injury, 2) injury caused by pesticide polluted irrigation water, 3) injury caused by the pesticide polluted soil, 4) reduction of growth caused by the effect of pesticide on the soil microorganisms. This paper will reviewed all the aspects mentioned in the previous .paragraphs. Most the works have done in Taiwan by the PPC.y the PPC.

• BMB Reports
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.304-313
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• 2004

Three-dimensional (3D) models for the 65-kDa activated Cry4A and Cry4B $\delta$-endotoxins from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis that are specifically toxic to mosquito-larvae were constructed by homology modeling, based on atomic coordinates of the Cry1Aa and Cry3Aa crystal structures. They were structurally similar to the known structures, both derived 3D models displayed a three-domain organization: the N-terminal domain (I) is a seven-helix bundle, while the middle and C-terminal domains are primarily comprise of anti-parallel $\beta$-sheets. Circular dichroism spectroscopy confirmed the secondary structural contents of the two homology-based Cry4 structures. A structural analysis of both Cry4 models revealed the following: (a) Residues Arg-235 and Arg-203 are located in the interhelical 5/6 loop within the domain I of Cry4A and Cry4B, respectively. Both are solvent exposed. This suggests that they are susceptible to tryptic cleavage. (b) The unique disulphide bond, together with a proline-rich region within the long loop connecting ${\alpha}4$ and ${\alpha}5$ of Cry4A, were identified. This implies their functional significance for membrane insertion. (c) Significant structural differences between both models were found within domain II that may reflect their different activity spectra. Structural insights from this molecular modeling study would therefore increase our understanding of the mechanic aspects of these two closely related mosquito-larvicidal proteins.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.17
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• pp.47-57
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• 2001

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly, and its pathology is characterized by the presence of numerous numbers of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Several genetic and transgenic studies have indicated that excess amount of $\beta$-amyloid protein (A$\beta$) is produced by mutations of $\beta$TEX>$\beta$-amyloid precursor protein and causes learning impairment. Moreover, $A\beta$ has a toxic effect on cultured nerve cells. To prepare AD model animals, we have examined continuous (2 weeks) infusion of $A\beta$ into the cerebral ventricle of rats. Continuous infusion of $A\beta$ induces learning impairment in water maze and passive avoidance tasks, and decreases choline acetyltransferase activity in the frontal cortex and hippocampus. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed diffuse depositions of $A\beta$ in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus around the ventricle. Furthermore, the nicotine-evoked release of acetylcholine and dopamine in the frontal cortex/hippocampus and striatum, respectively, is decreased in the $A\beta$-infused group. Perfusion of nicotine (50 $\mu\textrm{M}$) reduced the amplitude of electrically evoked population spikes in the CA1 pyramidal cells of the control group, but not in those of the $A\beta$-infused group, suggesting the impairment of nicotinic signaling in the $A\beta$-infused group. In fact, Kd, but not Bmax, values for ［$^3H$］ cytisine binding in the hippocampus significantly increased in the $A\beta$-infused rats. suggesting the decrease in affinity of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Long-term potentiation (LTP) induced by tetanic stimulations in CA1 pyramidal cells, which is thought to be an essential mechanism underlying learning and memory, was readily observed in the control group, whereas it was impaired in the $A\beta$-infused group. Taken together, these results suggest that $A\beta$ infusion impairs the signal transduction mechanisms via nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. This dysfunction may be responsible, at least in part, for the impairment of LTP induction and may lead to learning and memory impairment. We also found the reduction of glutathione- and Mn-superoxide dismutase-like immunoreactivity in the brains of $A\beta$-infused rats. Administration of antioxidants or nootropics alleviated learning and memory impairment induced by $A\beta$ infusion. We believe that investigation of currently available transgenic and non-transgenic animal models for AD will help to clarify the pathogenic mechanisms and allow assessment of new therapeutic strategies.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.85-91
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• 2018

Recently, there have been a lot of casualties due to fires in high-rise buildings. The toxic gases and smokes generated by fires in high-rise buildings spread rapidly through the elevator shaft and stairwell, due to the stack effect, and can cause critical casualties. To reduce the number of casualties, smoke control systems have been introduced. Smoke control systems play an essential role in preventing the spread of smoke in high-rise buildings and securing the evacuation route. Also, in high-rise buildings, evacuation by an elevator is considered to be indispensable. However, the pressure field in the shaft is strongly disturbed when the elevator is moving and this can affect the performance of the smoke control system. Therefore, in this study, we experimentally and numerically analyzed the effect of elevator movement on the pressure difference between the vestibule and living room by building a model using the sandwich pressurization method based on the performance based design. To consider the leakage areas in high-rise buildings, e.g. the windows, fire door and elevator, the National Fire Safety Codes and area ratio were used. The elevator speed in the model building was varied between 20 m/s and 100 m/s corresponding to a real elevator speed of 7 m/s~17 m/s. As a result, the relationship between the pressure difference and elevator speed was found to be ${\Delta}P=40{\cdot}{\exp}$(-Ves /-104.7)-23.735. This result can be used to take into consideration the effect of elevator movement when designing smoke control systems.