• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.92-103
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• 2011

Ginseng has been used as a general tonic agent to invigorate human body. In the present study, we isolated novel glycolipoproteins from ginseng that activate $Ca^{2+}$-activated $Cl^-$ channel (CaCC) in Xenopus oocytes and transiently increase intracellular free $Ca^{2+}$ concentration ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$) in mouse Ehrlich ascites tumor cells. We named the active ingredients as gintonin. Gintonin exists in at least six different forms. The native molecular weight of gintonin is about 67 kDa but its apparent molecular weight is about 13 kDa, indicating that gintonin might be a pentamer. Gintonin is rich in hydrophobic amino acids. Its main carbohydrates are glucose and glucosamine. Its lipid components are linoleic, palmitic, oleic, and stearic acids. Gintonin actions were blocked by U73122, a phospholipase C inhibitor, 2-aminoethxydiphenyl borate, an inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor antagonist, or bis (o-aminophenoxy) ethane-N,N,N0,N0-tetracetic acid acetoxymethyl ester, a membrane permeable $Ca^{2+}$ chelator. In the present study, we for the first time isolated novel gintonin and showed the signaling pathways on gintonin-mediated CaCC activations and transient increase of $[Ca^{2+}]_i$. Since $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ as a second messenger plays a pivotal role in the regulation of diverse $Ca^{2+}$-dependent intracellular signal pathways, gintonin-mediated regulations of $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ might contribute to biological actions of ginseng.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.63 no.2
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• pp.145-153
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• 2007

Background: Asthma is a syndrome that is characterized by a variable degree of airflow obstruction, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, and airway inflammation. Colchicine is an inexpensive and safe medication with unique anti-inflammatory properties. IL-1Ra (Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist) mediates the anti-inflammatory effect in human inflammatory diseases, including asthma. This study examined whether IL-1Ra mediates the anti-inflammatory effect of colchicine in normal human bronchial epithelial cells (NHBE), RAW 264.7 cells (murine macrophage cell line), and a mouse lung. Methods: NHBE, RAW 264.7 cells and BALB/c mice were stimulated with colchicine, and the increase in the IL-1Ra level was estimated by ELISA, Western analysis and RT-PCR analysis. Results: Colchicine stimulated NHBE and RAW 264.7 cells to release IL-1Ra into the supernatant in a dose-and time-dependent manner. The major isoform of IL-1Ra in NHBE and RAW 264.7 cells is type I icIL-1Ra, and sIL-1Ra, respectively. IL-1Ra up-regulation was blocked by PD98059, a specific inhibitor in MAPK pathways. Colchicine also stimulated the secretion of IL-1Ra into the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid of BALB/c mouse. Conclusion: Colchicine stimulates an increase in the IL-1Ra level both in vivo and in vitro, and might have an anti-inflammatory effect.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.48-61
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• 2020

The objective of this study is to estimate traffic capacity based on the heavy-vehicle ratio in a two-lane freeway work zone where one lane is blocked by construction. For this, closed circuit television (CCTV) video data of the freeway work zone was collected, and the congestion at an upstream point was observed. The traffic volume at a downstream point was analyzed after a bottleneck was created by the blockage due to the upstream congestion. A distribution model was estimated using observed-time headway, and the road capacity was analyzed using a goodness-of-fit test. Through this process, the general capacity and an equation for capacity based on the heavy-vehicle ratio passing through the work zone were presented. Capacity was estimated to be 1,181~1,422 passenger cars per hour per lane (pcphpl) at Yeongdong, and 1,475~1,589pcphpl at Jungbu Naeryuk. As the ratio of heavy vehicles increased, capacity gradually decreased. These findings can contribute to the proper capacity estimation and efficient traffic operation and management for two-lane freeway work zones that block one lane due to a work zone.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.1-24
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• 2016

Northeast Asia is changing rapidly, including becoming an increasingly important part of the world economy. Various logistical systems and networks are being established in this area, including South and North Korea, China, Japan, Russia, and Mongolia. Thus, a new systematic logistical network and development strategy is required. The division of the Korean peninsula has for a long time made the region ineffective in terms of land logistics. South Korea's connection to Eurasia is blocked by North Korea, which means it is essentially treated as an island. Furthermore, South Korea does not have an efficient logistics system or effective vision and strategy. Northeast Asia has the potential to be one of the largest economic communities in the world, similar to the EU and North America. Thus, a united Korea can play an important role as the land bridge of Northeast Asia and the logistical hub of the region. This study reviews the logistical position, tasks, and problems of the Korean peninsula and suggests a desirable development strategy and vision. Specifically, after examining the conditions for a land logistical system, focusing on railways, this study proposes several future-oriented development strategies and tactics that will position the peninsula as a logistical hub in Northeast Asia. We anticipate that this study will serve as the basis for future research that will investigate the topics presented here in more detail.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.936-941
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• 2010

This study was conducted to investigate formaldehyde removals by silver nano-particles attached on the surface of granular activated carbon (Ag-AC) and to compare the results to those obtained with ordinary activated carbon (AC). The BET analysis showed that the overall surface area and the fraction of micropores (less than $20{\AA}$ diameter) of the Ag-AC were significantly decreased because the silver particles blocked the small pores on the surface of the Ag-AC. The formaldehyde removal capacity of the Ag-AC determined using the Freundlich isotherm was higher than that of AC. Despite the decreased BET surface area and micropore volume, the Ag-AC had the increased removal capacity for formaldehyde, presumably due to catalytic oxidation by silver nano-particles. In contrast, the adsorption intensity of the Ag-AC, estimated by 1/n in the Freundlich isotherm equation, was similar to that of the ordinary AC, indicating that the surface modification using silver nano-particles did not affect the adsorption characteristics of AC. In a column experiment, the Ag-AC also showed a longer breakthrough time than that of the AC. Simulation results using the homogeneous surface diffusion model (HSDM) were well fitted to the breakthrough curve of formaldehyde for the ordinary AC, but the predictions showed substantial deviations from the experimental data for the Ag-AC. The discrepancy was due to the catalytic oxidation of silver nano-particles that was not incorporated in the HSDM. Consequently, a new numerical model that takes the catalytic oxidation into accounts needs to be developed to predict the combined oxidation and adsorption process more accurately.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2002

The frequencies of gamma-ray-induced micronuclei (MN) in cytokinesis-blocked (CB) lymphocytes at several doses were measured in three donors of three species (human, rabbit, dog). Measurements performed after irradiation showed a dose-related increases in MN frequency in each of the donors studied. When analysed by linear-quadratic model the line of best fit was : human : $y=0.1184D+0.01867D^2+0.01$, rabbit : $y=0.0387D+0.00528D^2+0.01$ (y = number of MN/CB cells and D = irradiation dose in Gy). The relative sensitivity of rabbit lymphocytes compared with human lymphocytes was estimated by best fitting linear-quadratic model based on the radiation-induced MN data over the range from 0 Gy to 4 Gy. In the case of MN frequency with 0.2, the relative sensitivities of rabbit lymphocytes was 0.39. These data indicate that the induction of MN in rabbit CB cells following irradiation was much less sensitive to the MN induction effects of gamma-irradiation than those from human. The MN assay with dog lymphocytes was very difficult and time-consumed because the dog PHA-stimulated lymphocytes yielded cultures with very low level of CB cells formation in the condition of this experiment. Our in vitro radiobiological study confirmed that the cytogenetic response obtained in blood from rabbit can be utilized for application in environmental studies.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.83-91
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• 2020

Tryptamines are monoamine alkaloids with hallucinogenic properties and are widely abused worldwide. To hasten the regulations of novel substances and predict their abuse potential, we designed and synthesized four novel synthetic tryptamine analogs: Pyrrolidino tryptamine hydrochloride (PYT HCl), Piperidino tryptamine hydrochloride (PIT HCl), N,N-dibutyl tryptamine hydrochloride (DBT HCl), and 2-Methyl tryptamine hydrochloride (2-MT HCl). Then, we evaluated their rewarding and reinforcing effects using the conditioned place preference (CPP) and self-administration (SA) paradigms. We conducted an open field test (OFT) to determine the effects of the novel compounds on locomotor activity. A head-twitch response (HTR) was also performed to characterize their hallucinogenic properties. Lastly, we examined the effects of the compounds on 5-HTR1a and 5-HTR2a in the prefrontal cortex using a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assay. None of the compounds induced CPP in mice or initiated SA in rats. PYT HCl and PIT HCl reduced the locomotor activity and elevated the 5-HTR1a mRNA levels in mice. Acute and repeated treatment with the novel tryptamines elicited HTR in mice. Furthermore, a drug challenge involving a 7-day abstinence from drug use produced higher HTR than acute and repeated treatments. Both the acute treatment and drug challenge increased the 5-HTR2a mRNA levels. Ketanserin blocked the induced HTR. Taken together, the findings suggest that PYT HCl, PIT HCl, DBT HCl, and 2-MT HCl produce hallucinogenic effects via 5-HTR2a stimulation, but may have low abuse potential.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.757-763
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• 2018

It is very difficult to achieve sufficient data rate and required quality of service due to the time-varying nature of the radio channel and various jammers such as path loss, delay, Doppler, shadowing and interference. Especially, the propagation path between the transmitting antenna and the tracking antenna mounted on the fuselage during the test and evaluation of the projectile system considered in this paper is based on the rapid movement of the projectile, the interference due to multipath fading due to the terrain, The propagation path may be blocked. In order to effectively improve the multipath fading occurring in the wireless communication system, a diversity combiner technique is required. In this paper, to derive the design and improvement schemes for the space diversity combiner technique among the diversity combiner schemes, the BER performance of maximum ratio combining (MRC) and selection combining (SC) In an adaptive SC / MRC diversity combiner that operates with MRC when it is lower than the specified threshold criterion when comparing the SNR between two signals received from the channel and operates with SC at high and combines the two received signals The BER performance of the system was compared and analyzed.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.175-180
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• 2019

Torilis Japonica (TJ) has been used as an anti-allergy, antifungal, and antibacterial agent. Recent studies have reported that it also shows anti-cancer effects. It is report that TJ inhibits melanin synthesis in melanocyte in the skin. However, the effect and mechanism of TJ extract (TJE) on Ultraviolet (UV)B-induced photoaging are unknown. In this study, we investigated the preventive effects of TJE on matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 and MMP-3 expressions and the underlying molecular mechanism in UVB-irradiated primary human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs). The effect of TJE on HDF cell viability was determined using the XTT assay and cell counting. MMP-1 and MMP-3 expressions levels were measured by western blotting and real-time PCR analysis. Activations of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPKinase), nuclear $factor-{\kappa}B$ ($NF-{\kappa}B$), and activator protein-1(AP-1) were measured by western blotting. Our results showed that TJE effectively reduced UVB-induced MMP-1 and MMP-3 protein and mRNA levels. Moreover, TJE significantly blocked the UVB-induced activation of MAPK (p38 and JNK) and transcription factors ($NF-{\kappa}B$ and AP-1), but not ERK. Taken together, our results suggest that the TJE inhibits UVB-induced MMP expressions in HDFs and its may be a potential agent for the prevention and treatment of skin photoaging.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-22
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• 2022

Lavie's perceptual load theory (Lavie, 1995) proposes that the influence of distractors would be blocked as the load gets higher. Studies of perceptual load have usually adopted the flanker task, developed by Eriksen and Eriksen (1974), which measures reaction time on the target flanked by distractors. In the post-cueing forced task, participants should report the identity of the target cued later, and negative repetition effect (NRE) has often been observed. NRE means the effect that the accuracy of identification is worse when the target is flanked by the same nontargets than when flanked by different nontargets. This study has tried to check whether perceptual load has an effect on identification rate and NRE. Experiment 1 manipulated the similarity between targets and a distractor, and observed a tendency of NRE, but not the effect of perceptual load. Experiment 2 used 4, 2 (in two kinds of diagonal arrangement), or none distractors of the same identity to burden more perceptual load. NRE was significant and perceptual load showed significance but not a linear trend. Experiment 3 checked again whether NRE would be varied according to two levels of perceptual load strengthened by positional variability of load stimuli, but did not find the effect of perceptual load. It is concluded that perceptual load might have a limited effect on the early stage of perceptual processing due to divided attentional processing of the targets briefly exposed. Implications of this study were discussed.