• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.320-324
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• 2018

Chunkookjang, fermented soybean is rich in diverse oligopeptides which derived from cleavage of soybean proteins during fermentation. Microarray data containing differently expressed genes in breast cancer cells treated with fermented soybean extract and well known breast cancer metastasis markers were combined, and a new network was constructed. It is used to check interactions between the marker proteins and the differently expressed genes. Based on the network analysis, PLAU (plasminogen activator, urokinase, uPA) and ERBB2 (epidermal growth factor receptor 2) are chosen as possible metastasis genes. We treated breast cancer MCF7 cells with fermented soybean extract and measured expression levels of PLAU and ERBB2. Fermented soybean extract suppressed PLAU and ERBB2 expressions conspicuously. In the cancer cells treated with fermented soybean extracts, an inflammation marker, NO production was also reduced. It will be interesting to find specific peptides to suppress PLAU and ERBB2 expressions in human breast cancer cells.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.550-572
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• 2009

This paper investigates the textile negotiations between Korea and the U.S. which Korea, as a weaker party in the bilateral trade negotiation, was recognized as making a good performance by Odell(1985). Using the documents of Korean governments at the time - Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry - telegrams and reports from various sources the paper picks a leveling factor during the negotiations. In the paper, we used a dynamic concept of power for describing the negotiating power, and showed Korea succeeded in making the negotiation symmetric using the Special Cooperative Relationship(SCR) as one of the most conspicuous leveling factors during the textile negotiations with the U.S. The paper contributes to finding the factors that can be used in the negotiations with power asymmetry as a leveling factor for weaker country. Also, based on the findings from the paper, future negotiators can get insights on which factors be used, and how to use those factors for leveling the negotiations with a stronger counterpart.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.152-162
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• 2008

The objectives of this study were to: a) examine foreign customers’ satisfaction and expectations for the food and service attributes of Korean restaurants located in the U.S., b) measure the gap between the satisfaction and expectations for food and service attributes, c) analyze through IPA analysis the crucial attributes needing improvement in order to minimize the discrepancy between customers’ expectations and performance, and d) analyze the effects of factors related to the food and service attributes on overall customer satisfaction in regard to Korean restaurant selection. A total of 255 American customers who had visited four Korean restaurants located within metropolitan and rural areas of the U.S. were surveyed for this study. Statistical analyses, including t-tests, factor analysis, and multiple regression, were performed using the SPSS statistical package (12.0). The American customers’ overall satisfaction of the food and services offered by the Korean restaurants was relatively high, with the exception of tangible service attributes such as comfortable chairs, restroom cleanliness, and restaurant interior. The urban foreign customers, however, were dissatisfied with the use of healthful ingredients in Korean food, because their expectation level toward this aspect exceeded their satisfaction level. In terms of Korean restaurant selection, tangible services related to the restaurant facilities were identified as the critical factor having an effect on American customer satisfaction.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1343-1352
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• 1997

Background : Heat-treated cells are known to be protected from lysis by TNF, which is considered to play a central role in the pathogenesis of sepsis-induced acute lung injury. The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of heat shock response by heat-pretreatment on the acute lung injury of the rats induced by intratracheally administered TNF-$\alpha$, Methods : We intratracheally instilled either saline or TNF (R&D, 500ng) with and without heat pretreatment in Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 250~350 g. The heated rats were raised their rectal temperature to $41^{\circ}C$ and was maintained thereafter for 13 minutes at 18 h before intratracheal administration of saline or TNF. After 5 h of intratracheal treatment, lung leak, lung myeloperoxidase activity (MPO) and heat shock proteins were measured in rats. Lung leak index was defined as counts per minute of $I^{25}$ in the right lung divided by counts per minutes of $I^{25}$ in 1.0 ml of blood. All data are expressed as means ${\pm}$SE. Results : There is no difference in acute lung leak index ($0.099{\pm}0.024$ vs $0.123{\pm}0.005$) among the rats given saline intratracheally with and without heat pretreatment, but MPO activity showed a decreased tendency in heat-pretreated rats ($4.58{\pm}0.79\;U/g$) compared with heat-unpretreated rats ($7.32{\pm}0.97\;U/g$) (P=0.064). Rats administered TNF intratracheally with heat-pretreatment had decreased lung leak index ($0.137{\pm}0.012$) and lung MPO activity ($5.51{\pm}1.04\;U/g$) compared with those of heat-unpretreated and TNF-administered rats ($0.186{\pm}0.016$, $14.34{\pm}1.22\;U/g$) (P<0.05 in each). There were no significant difference of lung leak index and MPO activity between TNF-treated rats with heat-pretreatment and saline-treated rats with and without heat-pretreatment. Conclusion : The heat shock response attenuated neutrophil recruitment and acute lung leak induced by intratracheal instillation of TNF-in rats.

• ALGAE
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.235-245
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• 2004

A study on seasonal characteristics of phytoplankton dynamics and environmental factors was carried out at four stations including Mara-do and U-do located in the western and eastern coast of Jeju Island in southern Korea from April 2003 to March 2004. Out of 101 phytoplankton species identified, 84 belong to Bacillariophyceae, 9 Dinophyceae, 6 phytoflagellates and 2 coccolithophorids, and the highest value of species diversity was observed in April. Phytoplankton was more abundant at the western coast than at the eastern coast from March to September and its highest abundance was 49.24 ${\times}$ 10$^3$ cells L$^{-1}$ at Mara-do in July. The pennate diatoms were more abundant at the western coast than at the eastern coast with the highest abundance of 38.75 ${\times}$ 10$^3$ cells L$^{-1}$ at Mara-do in July, and during this period Nitzschia longissima contributed 68.5% of the total phytoplankton abundance. Naviculaceae was more abundant at Gosan (western coast) in November when Stauroneis membranacea represented 80.1% of the abundance. Leptocylindrus dances contributed 49.4% of the abundance at U-do in November. Dinophyceae was more abundant at U-do in August. Water temperature and pH fluctuated from 11.7${^{\circ}C}$ to 27.1${^{\circ}C}$ and from 7.31 to 8.70, respectively. Water temperature of Mara-do was about 1-2${^{\circ}C}$ higher than the other stations. Salinity varied from 30.4 to 35.0 psu with the minimum in rainy season and the maximum at the end of winter. The concentration of NH$_4$-N, NO$_3$-N, NO$_2$-N, PO$_4$-P and SiO$_2$-Si ranged 0.07-6.79, 1.0-62.0, 1.0-8.0, 1.0-7.0 and 7.0-191.0 $\mu$g-at L$^{-1}$, respectively. Chlorophyll a concentrations varied from 0.10 to 1.17 $\mu$g L$^{-1}$. NH$_4$-N concentrations were high at U-do from May to December, and at Mara-do from January to February. The high concentrations of NO$_3$-N were found at Mara-do from June to September and at U-do from January to May. The effects of various physicochemical parameters on the seasonal distribution and succession of phytoplankton population suggest that there is a classical pattern of phytoplankton dynamics in Jeju coastal waters.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.249-255
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• 2009

Esculetin, a coumarin compound, has been known to inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis in several types of human cancer cells. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in esculetin-induced apoptosis are still uncharacterized in human leukemia cells. In this study, we have investigated whether esculetin exerts anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects on human leukemia U937 cells. It was found that esculetin could inhibit cell viability in a time-dependent manner, which was associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death such as increased populations of apoptotic- sub G1 phase. Apoptosis of U937 cells by esculetin was associated with an inhibition of Bcl-2/Bax binding activity, formation of tBid, down-regulation of X-linked inhibitor of apoptotic protein (XIAP) expression, and up-regulation of death receptor 4 (DR4) and FasL expression. Esculetin treatment also induced the degradation of ${\beta}$-catenin and DNA fragmentation factor 45/inhibitor of caspase-activated DNase (DFF45/ICAD). Furthermore, a caspase-3 specific inhibitor, z-DEVD-fmk, significantly inhibited sub-G1 phase DNA content, morphological changes and degradation of ${\beta}$-catenin and DEE45/ICAD. These results indicated that a key regulator in esculetin-induced apoptosis was caspase-3 in human leukemia U937 cells.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.263-269
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• 2015

It is necessary to investigate the electrodeposition behavior of uranium and other elements on the cathode in the electrorefining process to recover the uranium selectively from the reduced metals of the electrolytic reduction process since transuranic elements and rare earth elements is dissolved in the LiCl-KCl eutectic salt. Study on separation factors of U, Ce, Y and Nd based on U and Ce was performed to investigate the deposition behavior of the cathode with respect to the concentration of rare earth elements in LiCl-KCl eutectic salt. After electrorefining with constant current mode by using Ce metal as a sacrifice anode, the contents of U, Ce, Y and Nd in the salt phase and the deposit phase of the cathode were analyzed, and separation factors of the elements were obtained from the analyses. Securing conditions of pure uranium recovery in the elctrorefining process was investigated by considering the separation factors with respect to $UCl_3$ and $CeCl_3/UCl_3$ ratio.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.40 no.9
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• pp.1201-1207
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• 2011

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) has been proposed as a potent tool to trigger apoptosis in cancer therapy. However, as many types of cancer cells remain resistant towards TRAIL-induced cytotoxicity, several combined therapy approaches aimed to sensitize cells to TRAIL have been developed. Genistein, a natural isoflavonoid phytoestrogen, has been shown to have anticancer activity by inducing cell cycle arrest at G2M phase as well as apoptosis in various cancer cell lines. In the present study, we showed that treatment with TRAIL in combination with subtoxic concentrations of genistein sensitized U937 human leukemia cells to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis. Combined treatment with genistein and TRAIL effectively activated caspases through Bid truncation (tBid) and down-regulation of cellular caspase-8 (FLICE)-like inhibitory proteinL ($cFLIP_L$). However, the apoptotic effects of co-treatment with genistein and TRAIL were significantly inhibited by specific caspase inhibitors, which demonstrates the important role of caspases in apoptosis induced by genistein and TRAIL. Overall, our results indicate that genistein can potentiate TRAIL-induced apoptosis through down-regulation of $cFLIP_L$ and up-regulation of pro-apoptotic tBid proteins.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.133-140
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• 2019

Triglycerides (TG) are one of the triggers of chronic inflammatory lesions in the blood vessels. In the key factors in the development of inflammatory diseases, Pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha $(TNF-){\alpha}$ and interleukin-1 beta ($IL-1{\beta}$) contribute to the development of inflammatory lesions by recruiting other immune cells in the inflamed area or causing cell necrotic death. In this study, I investigated the effect of Jurkat T lymphocytes and U937 monocytes involved in vascular inflammation development on the expression of $TNF-{\alpha}$ and $IL-1{\beta}$ on exposure to TGs. In Jurkat cells, mRNA expression of $TNF-{\alpha}$ is increased by exposure to TGs. However, the expression levels of $TNF-{\alpha}$ and $IL-1{\beta}$ were increased by TGs in U937 cells. To investigate whether inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is involved in the increase of expression of $TNF-{\alpha}$ and $IL-1{\beta}$ by TGs, treatment of W1400 (an iNOS inhibitor) resulted in recovery of expression level both $TNF-{\alpha}$ and $IL-1{\beta}$. Based on the present study, it was confirmed that the expression of $TNF-{\alpha}$ and $IL-1{\beta}$ in monocytes and T lymphocytes. This increased cytokines contribute to development of vascular inflammatory lesions. In addition, iNOS is involved in the increase of $TNF-{\alpha}$ and $IL-1{\beta}$ expression by TGs.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.544-552
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• 2001

Korea is classified into low and moderate seismic zone from the view-point of seismic hazard level. Korean seismic provisions has been developed based on UBC and ATC 3-06. Thus, in calculation of design base shear according to Korean provisions response modification factor (R) is included in the formula of design base shear. The major role of this factor is to reduce the elastic design base shear whereby structures can behave in inelastic range during design level earthquake ground motions(mean return period of 475 yrs.). R factor is assigned according to material and structural systems. In this study, R factor for bearing wall system is considered. Most of the walls of apartment buildings in Korea resist gravity and seismic loads simultaneously so that this wall system can be classified into bearing wall system. Structural details of these walls are different from those used in Japan and U.S.. They are all rectangular in sectional shape rather than barbell in shape, and also have special lateral reinforcement details at the boundaries of a wall. In Korean seismic design provisions(1988), two different values(3.0 and 3.5) of R factor are assigned to the bearing wall systems according to the wall details. However, in updated seismic provisions(2000), only one value is assigned to R factor(3.0) irrespective of wall details. In this study, the design base shear values in Korean seismic design provisions(1988, 2000), ATC 3-06, UBC are compared. Also experimental study was carried out to evaluate the seismic performance of structural walls. For this purpose, five test specimens were made which have special details used in apartment bearing wall systems in Korea. Based on the results of this study, response modification factor for bearing wall system is discussed.