• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.31 no.5
• /
• pp.726-732
• /
• 2021

In this study, we evaluated the immune-enhancing activity of kimchi-derived Lactobacillus plantarum 200655 on immune suppression by cyclophosphamide (CP) in ICR mice. Animals were fed distilled water or 1×10⁹ colony-forming unit/kg B.W. 200655 or Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG as a positive control for 14 days. An in vivo model of immunosuppression was induced using CP 150 and 100 mg/kg B.W. at 7 and 10 days, respectively. Body weight, spleen index, spleen weight, and gene expression were measured to estimate the immune-enhancing effects. The dead 200655 (D-200655) group showed an increased spleen weight compared to the sham control (SC) group. Similarly, the spleen index was significantly higher than that in the CP-treated group. The live 200655 (L-200655) group showed an increased mRNA expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin (IL)-6 in splenocytes. Also, the iNOS and COX-2 mRNA expression was upregulated in the L-200655 group compared to the CP-only (SC) group. The phosphorylation of ERK and MAPK was also upmodulated in the L-200655 group. These results indicate that L. plantarum 200655 ameliorated CP-induced immune suppression, suggesting that L. plantarum 200655 may have the potential to enhance the immune system.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.64-69
• /
• 2021

In the developed NMR hyperpolarization techniques, Signal amplification by reversible exchange (SABRE) technique is thought to be a promising method to overcome the low sensitivity of bio-NMR/MRI. Most experiments using SABRE have been done in methanol, which is biologically harmful solvent. Therefore, more biological friendly solvent, such as ethanol can be more appropriate solvent to be applicable in bio-NMR and MRI. As the proof of concept, successful hyperpolarization on pyridine via SABRE is carried out in ethanol and its enhancement factor is calculated to be more than 150 folds. To investigate more about its possibility of hyperpolarization in different alcohol solvents, methanol and propanol are used for SABRE in the same condition. The overall polarization trend in different external magnetic field is similar but its polarization number is decreased with higher molecular weight solvents (the order from methanol to propanol). This result indicates that the efficiency of SABRE is different from solvent system despite its same functional group and similar properties. Higher para-hydrogen concentration, higher partial pressure of para-hydrogen, and deuterated solvent can increase the hyperpolarization in any solvents. With these series of successful SABRE results, future studies on SABRE in more biofriendly environment, on more various solvent systems, and with more substrates are needed and it will be the firm basis for applying the SABRE system on the future bio-NMR/MRI.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
• /
• v.35 no.3
• /
• pp.92-103
• /
• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to prepare basic data for education and policy proposals related to enhancement of happiness by identifying factors affecting the subjective happiness among Korean adolescents by family type. Methods: The study was a secondary analysis using the raw data of the 16th Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (2020). A complex sample multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors affecting adolescent happiness by family type. Results: As a result, the factors that commonly affect the subjective happiness of adolescents for all family types were identified as economic status, academic performance, perceived stress, and loneliness. Additional factors that affect the subjective happiness of adolescents of both Korean two-parent and single parent families were sleep and subjective health status. Financial assistance, number of toilets, breakfast, exercise, depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempt were also reported for Korean two-parent families. Conclusion: This study provided empirical basic data for enhancing adolescent happiness in consideration of priority targets and family composition characteristics by identifying factors affecting subjective happiness by family type. Adolescent happiness is a factor that should be actively pursued at home, school, and society, and it should be the goal of education for holistic growth of students.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
• /
• v.42 no.5
• /
• pp.723-743
• /
• 2022

Beef muscles from mature cows and bulls, especially those originating from the extremities of the carcass, are considered as underutilized due to unsatisfactory palatability. However, beef from culled animals comprises a substantial proportion of the total slaughter in the US and globally. Modern consumers typically favor cuts suitable for fast, dry-heat cookery, thereby creating challenges for the industry to market inherently tough muscles. In general, cull cow beef would be categorized as having a lower extent of postmortem proteolysis compared to youthful carcasses, coupled with a high amount of background toughness. The extent of cross-linking and resulting insolubility of intramuscular connective tissues typically serves as the limiting factor for tenderness development of mature beef. Thus, numerous post-harvest strategies have been developed to improve the quality and palatability attributes, often aimed at overcoming deficiencies in tenderness through enhancing the degradation of myofibrillar and stromal proteins or physically disrupting the tissue structure. The aim of this review is to highlight existing and recent innovations in the field that have been demonstrated as effective to enhance the tenderness and palatability traits of mature beef during the chilling and postmortem aging processes, as well as the use of physical interventions and enhancement.

• Korean Journal of Exercise Nutrition
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.23-27
• /
• 2021

[Purpose] Functional beverages are intended to support those who want to maintain optimal physical condition and improve their quality of life through the enhancement of heart health, immunity, and digestion. The purpose of this study was to investigate the performance of top-level athletes consuming immune-strengthening conditioning nutritional drinks. [Methods] A total of 107 top-level athletes (baseball (56 players), pro volleyball (17), athletics (16), cycling (8), golf (6), and fencing (6)) participated in the experiment. They consumed an immune-enhancing functional beverage once a day for 8 weeks and responded to a survey before, during, and after drinking the beverage. [Results] Three total aspect-based subfactors were drawn from 24 questions in the factor analysis: physical, satisfaction with mental stability, and activity in performance. The physical, mental stability and performance changes of athletes significantly increased in period 2 (4 weeks after intake) and period 3 (after 8 weeks of intake). [Conclusion] We evaluated the efficacy of a new conditioned beverage containing Lactobacillus B240 and protein in improving the performance and physiological utility of top athletes. This functional drink may gain popularity among those seeking health benefits and improved exercise performance.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.28-34
• /
• 2022

Echinacea purpurea (Asteraceae family) is widely used in the European countries and the United States due to its proven immune enhancement and anti-inflammatory effects. Echinacea purpurea has been reported prevent and treat upper respiratory tract infections and common cold, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are not well understood. In the present study, we examined the anti-inflammatory effects and molecular mechanisms of Echinacea purpurea (EP) extract using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated signal pathways in RAW264.7 cells. Our results suggest that EP extract exerts anti-inflammatory effects by down-regulating the expression of LPS-induced toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), subsequently inhibiting the activation of nuclear factor (NF)-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways and suppression of the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. These results suggest that EP extract is a potential therapeutic agent for inflammatory diseases.

• Advances in nano research
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.261-271
• /
• 2023

The present study follows three main goals. First, an analytical solution with high accuracy is developed to assess the effects of embedding pre-strained shape memory alloy (SMA) wires on the critical buckling temperatures of rectangular sandwich plates made of soft core and graphite fiber/epoxy (GF/EP) face sheets based on piecewise low-order shear deformation theory (PLSDT) using Brinson's model. As the second goal, this study compares the effects of SMAs on the thermal buckling of sandwich plates with those of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The glass transition temperature is considered as a limiting factor. For each material, the effective ranges of operating temperature and thickness ratio are determined for real situations. The results indicate that depending on the geometric parameters and thermal conditions, one of the SMAs and CNTs may outperform the other. The third purpose is to study the thermal buckling of sandwich plates with advanced hybrid SMA/CNT/GF/EP composite face sheets. It is shown that in some circumstances, the co-incorporation of SMAs and CNTs leads to an astonishing enhancement in the critical buckling temperatures of sandwich plates.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.1276-1295
• /
• 2023

Sensor networks are now an essential aspect of wireless communication, especially with the introduction of new gadgets and protocols. Their ability to be deployed anywhere, especially where human presence is undesirable, makes them perfect choices for remote observation and control. Despite their vast range of applications from home to hostile territory monitoring, limited battery power remains a limiting factor in their efficacy. To analyze and transmit data, it requires intelligent use of available battery power. Several studies have established effective routing algorithms based on clustering. However, choosing optimal cluster heads and similarity measures for clustering significantly increases computing time and cost. This work proposes and implements a simple two-phase technique of route creation and maintenance to ensure route reliability by employing nature-inspired ant colony optimization followed by the fuzzy decision engine (FDE). Benchmark methods such as PSO, ACO and GWO are compared with the proposed HRCM's performance. The objective has been focused towards establishing the superiority of proposed work amongst existing optimization methods in a standalone configuration. An average of 15% improvement in energy consumption followed by 12% improvement in latency reduction is observed in proposed hybrid model over standalone optimization methods.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.131-139
• /
• 2009

The decision makers of IT projects are faced to situations to choose a best development method between inhouse development and solution purchase when companies must develop a new system or enhance the existed system. For those decision makers related to the IT projects, this study provides them with meaningful results through the ISBSG project repositary, how each development method, such as a development inhouse, a solution purchased, a combined method, impact the function point, which is a critical factor to measure the required time, efforts, cost of IT project development.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2022.09a
• /
• pp.92-92
• /
• 2022

Under the COVID-19 pandemic, interest in immune enhancement is increasing. Although the immune-enhancing activity of plants of the genus Hibiscus has been reported, there is no study on the immune-enhancing activity of H. syriacus. Thus, in this study, we investigated the immune-enhancing activity of Hibiscus syriacus leaves (HSL) in mouse macrophages, RAW264.7 cells, and immunosuppressed mice. HSL increased the production of immunostimulatory factors such as nitric oxide (NO), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and activated the phagocytosis in RAW264.7 cells. The HSL-mediated production of immunostimulatory factors was dependent on toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), p38, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in RAW264.7 cells. In the immunosuppressed mouse model, HSL increased the spleen index, the levels of the cytokines, and the numbers of lymphocytes, neutrophils, and monocytes. Taken together, HSL may be considered to have immune-enhancing activity and be expected to be used as a potential immune-enhancing agent.