• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2021

Demethoxycurcumin (DMC), which is a curcuminoid found in turmeric, has anti-proliferative effects on cancer cells. However, the effect of DMC on osteosarcoma has not been established. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of DMC on cell growth and apoptosis induction in MG-63 human osteosarcoma cells. This study was investigated using 3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromid assay, Live/Dead cell assay, 4', 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole staining, and immunoblotting in MG-63 cells. DMC induced MG-63 cell death in a dose-dependent manner, with an estimated IC50 value of 54.4 µM. DMC treatment resulted in nuclear condensation in MG-63 cells. DMC-induced apoptosis in MG-63 cells was mediated by the expression of Fas and activation of caspase-8, caspase-3, and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase. Immunoblotting results showed that Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL were downregulated, while Bax and Bad were upregulated by DMC in MG-63 cells. These results indicated that DMC inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptotic cell death in MG-63 human osteosarcoma cells via the death receptor-mediated extrinsic apoptotic pathway and mitochondria-mediated intrinsic apoptotic pathway.

• Philosophy of Medicine
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• v.15
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• pp.3-37
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• 2013

George Canguilhem(1904-1995) is one of the rare French philosophers of the 20th century to develop an approach that was shaped by a medical education. For him, medicine is considered as "a technique or an art at the junction of many different sciences, rather than a proper science." The thesis that medicine is a technique is presented not at a practical level, but on an axiological horizon which reflects the totality of humanity. This character of medicine became a motive that concretized Canguilhem's philosophical thinking. Medical knowledge is not an application of physiology, but is derived from clinical observations which are based on the personal experiences of each patient. If medicine were based on scientific knowledge and its practice the very application of this pure knowledge, the patient might be a passive object. However, the patient doesn't remain passive, but reacts to the menace of disease according to attitude that the patient developed over the course of his or her life. Canguilhem characterizes this point as 'normativity', the core of individual life, which eludes positivist medicine. Here appear the essential contents of his vitalism. Although they emphasized the activity of individual living being, other modern French vitalists didn't consider this dimension of norms. Since the normativity in Canguilhem concerns the subjectivity of the first person, it avoids a mechanical form of explanation. Thus Canguilhem's originality is found in his derivation of the essence of medicine from individuality, values and norms.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.545-552
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• 2017

Julbernardia globiflora, a tropical African tree widespread in Miombo woodland, has been used in folk medicine for the treatment of depression and stomach problems. However, the antioxidative and anticancer activities of J. globiflora remain unclear. The objective of this study is to evaluate the antioxidative and anticancer effects of methanol extract of J. globiflora (MEJG) and the molecular mechanism of its anticancer activity in human colon carcinoma HT29 cells. MEJG exhibited significant antioxidative effect with an $IC_{50}$ (concentration at 50% inhibition) value of $1.23{\mu}g/ml$ measuring by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and inhibited cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner in HT29 cells. We found that MEJG induced apoptosis of HT29 cells with the increase of apoptotic cells and apoptotic bodies using Annexin V staining and 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining, respectively. The MEJG treatment showed the increase of Fas, a death receptor, and Bax, a pro-apoptotic protein, and the decrease of Bcl-2, an anti-apoptotic protein, resulting in the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria into the cytosol and activation of caspase-3, -8 and -9. The apoptotic effects of MEJG were confirmed by cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Collectively, these results suggest that MEJG may exert the anticancer effect in HT29 cells by inducing apoptosis via both the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.757-764
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• 2015

The immature fruit of Rubus coreanus Miquel (bokbunja in Korean) is mainly consumed as a fruit wine due to its sour taste and low sugar content. The lees (LBW) remaining after the production of bokbunja wine are discarded as they have no specific usage. The aim of this study was to develop high-value-added biomaterials for functional foods and beauty/health products by investigating the anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, and anti-thrombosis activities of LBW using ethanol and hot water extracts and their subsequent organic solvent fractions. The ethyl acetate (EA) fraction of LBW extracts has a high polyphenol content (413–459 mg/g), and showed strong anti-microbial activity against gram-positive bacteria. The EA fraction also showed excellent radical-scavenging activity against DPPH anion, ABTS cation, and nitrite, with strong reducing power. The polyphenol-enriched EA fraction strongly inhibited thrombin, prothrombin, and blood coagulation factors. The butanol fraction showed a specific inhibition of coagulation factors, as measured in activated partial thromboplastin time assay, which is linked to intrinsic blood coagulation. The butanol fraction also showed strong inhibition of platelet aggregation, at levels comparable to aspirin. The residue of the hot-water extract, which is produced by sequential solvent fractionation of the LBW extract, showed superior inhibition against platelet aggregation when compared to aspirin. Our results suggest that the LBW, which are currently discarded, are a promising source of novel functional foods and beauty/health products.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.282-289
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• 2016

A term that has been used since ancient times, 'trickster' means 'a person who performs general tricks'. In other words, a trickster is a person who exhibits his or her intrinsic characteristics by using tricks, or who has a special ability to make any situation work well only for him or herself. This thesis looks for basic concepts and features of tricksters in research undertaken into tricksters to date. It also aims to uncover the trickster side of Maltugi in Talchum (a traditional mask dance). A trickster is a person who tricks, but the characteristic itself is unclear and abnormal. A trickster also has borderline, duplicitous or multi-value characteristics, so it is impossible to merely define him or her as 'a person who tricks'. When dealing with a trickster's characteristics, the 'Liminality' element is very important, because he or she is a person who exists in all the borderlines of space, time, society, and language, and assaults the social order via deceit, play, and the fulfillment of greed. Maltugi in Talchum is a man of humble birth, but he is a character who attacks the Yangban (aristocrats) without hesitation. He is a kind of representative of the people who speaks for the commoners' feelings. At a time of the Three Policies' Disorder and frequent external aggressions, the commoners felt a sense of helplessness against the Yangban, who they viewed as immoral. Maltugi laughs at and depreciates the Yangban through the use of puns, and shows a faithful attitude to the present without being afraid of the result caused by his activity. This implies that he has the characteristics of a trickster.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.583-589
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• 1989

In order to improve the quality and yields of barley tea(water extracts), enzymatic hydrolysis was carried out with using three kinds of mired enzymes of ${\alpha}-amylase,\;{\beta}-amylase$ and protease. The barley treated with enzymes were the crushed , soaked and slightly roasted(light brown) Youngsanbori(hulless) and the physical, chemical and sensory characteristics were investigated. The results showed that enzymatic hydrolysis caused a signigicant increase in solid yields (80%) of barley tea, particularly with the mixed enzyme 5,000 which has higher activity of ${\alpha}-amylase$ than the other enzymes. The intrinsic viscosity of barley tea was reduced by enzymatic hydrolysis as the value of dextrose equivalent increased The Hunter L, a, b values was lower for the enzyme treated barley tea but showed not significant difference with reaction time. The organoleptic evaluation clearly showed that both intensity and acceptability of odor and taste was markedly Increased. The roasted nutty, and sweety odor and taste were particular in increase by mixed enzyme 5,000.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.199-208
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• 2021

Euonymus porphyreus, a species of plant in the Celastraceae family, is widely distributed in East Asia, especially in Southern China. The botanical characteristics of E. porphyreus have been reported, but its antioxidative and anticancer activities remain unclear. In this study, we evaluated the antioxidative and anticancer effects of ethanol extracts of E. porphyreus (EEEP) and the molecular mechanism of its anticancer activity in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells. The total polyphenol and flavonoid compound contents from EEEP were 115.42 mg/g and 23.07 mg/g, respectively. EEEP showed significant antioxidative effects with a concentration at 50% of the inhibition (IC50) value of 11.09 ㎍/ml, as measured by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay. EEEP showed cytotoxic activity by increasing the SubG1 cell population of A549 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Apoptosis in A549 cells treated with EEEP was evident due to increased apoptotic cells and apoptotic bodies, as detected by Annexin V and 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining, respectively. EEEP-induced apoptosis resulted in increased expression of the First apoptosis signal (Fas), p53, and Bax, with decreased expression of Bcl-2 and subsequent activation of caspase-8, -9, and caspase-3, leading to cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Collectively, these results suggest that EEEP may exert an anticancer effect by inducing apoptosis in A549 cells through both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.73-82
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• 2000

Conventional funding system for the university research projects is limited to a grant or subsidy type funding method which does not require an obligation of refund. Such a funding system is known as ideal one for the university research activities which in general is not a profit oriented activities. It is considered ideal in a sense that nonprofit oriented research activities gives more emphasis on creativity than on efficiency or practical value. A venture- business-start-up research activity can not be considered as a pure nonprofit oriented activities. It clearly gives more emphasis on efficiency and practical value than on creativity Recently a large portion of the venture-business-start-up research activities are carried out in the universities. When a conventional research funding system is applied to such a new type of research activities, it turned out that the success rate is much lower than expectancy. This is why a new and differentiated funding system is sought for such a new type of research activities. A funding system of loan type for a venture-business-start-up research activities is proposed herewith. A loan system naturally requires a pay back after the successful start up of the venture business. This loan system nay be considered that a business concept is grafted on a conventional funding system for the university research activities. This means that a rather loose or generous terms and conditions of the money loan case is introduced into this funding system to remedy the short comings of the intrinsic nonprofit nature of the university research activities. The point is how to improve the success rate and how to reduce the undesirable aspect of the conventional university research activities when it is practiced with the new type of research activities. After one and half year of practicing with the new funding system. it can not be asserted that a definitely positive results could be obtained. but a trend of desirable aspects could be observed such as low drop out rate. project selection efficiency, higher sense of responsibility. etc.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.432-441
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• 2016

Machaerium cuspidatum, a canopy liana, is a species of genus legume in the Fabaceae family and contributes to the total species richness in the tropical rain forests. In the present study, we investigated the antioxidative and anti-cancer effects of M. cuspidatum and its mode of action. The methanol extract of M. cuspidatum (MEMC) exhibited anti-oxidative activity with an $IC_{50}$ value of $1.66{\mu}g/ml$, and this was attributable to its 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging capacity. MEMC also exhibited a cytotoxic effect and induced morphological changes in a dose-dependent manner in several cancer cell lines including human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells, human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells, and human colon carcinoma HT29 cells. Moreover, MEMC treatment induced the accumulation of subG1 population, which is indicative of apoptosis in A549 and HepG2 cells. MEMC-induced apoptosis was confirmed by the increase in Annexin V-positive apoptotic cells and apoptotic bodies using Annexin-V staining and DAPI staining, respectively. Further investigation showed that MEMC-induced apoptosis was associated with the increase in p53 and Bax expression, and the decrease in Bcl-2 expression. In addition, MEMC treatment led to proteolytic activation of caspase-3, 8, and 9 and degradation of poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP). Taken together, these results suggest that MEMC may exert a beneficial anti-cancer effect by inducing apoptosis via both the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways in A549 and HepG2 cells.