• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.196-201
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• 2010

The phenethyl ester of caffeic acid (CAPE), an active component of honeybee propolis extract, is shown to inhibit cancer growth previously. However, studies on human ovarian cancer are largely obscure. This study evaluated the effects of CAPE as a potential anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic agent in the human ovarian cancer line, OVCAR-3. CAPE treated OVCAR-3 cells showed inhibition of cell viability and proliferation in a dose-dependent manner by WST-1 assay, LDH assay and bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation assay. Furthermore, CAPE-mediated OVCAR-3 cell growth inhibition was associated with apoptotic changes as evident by cell cycle arrest and accumulation of cells in the apoptotic phase and DNA fragmentation. Taken together, CAPE inhibits cell proliferation via DNA synthesis reduction and induces apoptotic cell death via DNA damage, thus elucidating a novel, plausible mechanism of CAPE anti-tumorigenic property in OVCAR-3 cells.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.1513-1519
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• 2007

Yukwool-tang (YWT) is a traditional Chinese medicine, which has been used for patients suffering from a uterine disease in Oriental medicine. In the present study, it was examined the biochemical mechanisms of apoptosis by YWT in human cervical carcinoma HeLa cells. It was found that YWT could inhibit the cell growth of HeLa cells in a dose-dependent manner, which was associated with apoptotic cell death such as formation of apoptotic bodies and DNA fragmentation. Flow cytometry analysis confirmed that YWT treatment increased populations of apoptotic-sub-G1 phase of the cell cycle. We observed the p53-independent induction of p21 proteins, down-regulation of anti apoptotic Bcl-2 expression and proteolytic activation of caspase-3 in YWT-treated HeLa cells. YWT treatment also concomitant degradation and/or inhibition of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), phospholipase C-1 ($PLC{\gamma}1$), ${\beta}-catenin$ and DNA fragmentation factor 45/inhibitor of caspase-activated DNase (DFF45/ICAD). Taken together, these findings partially provide novel insights into the possible molecular mechanism of the anti-cancer activity of YWT.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.293-296
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• 2003

Prunellae Spica is a flower petal of Prunella vulgaris var. lilacina used for treatment of lymphoma, breast cancer, hepatitis and pathological fluid related diseases in oriental medicine. We tried to evaluate the mechanism of Prunellae Spica in the treatment of cancer. The ethyl acetate layer of Prunellae Spica showed a good cytotoxicity on U937 cells with IC50 of 8 ug/ml. It induced apoptosis in U937 dose-dependently by cell cycle analysis following PI staining. We also confirmed it induced DNA fragmentation in U937 cells from the concentration of 10 ug/ml. From western blot assay we observed the ethyl acetate layer of Prunellae Spica downregulated procaspase-3 and cleaved PARP in a dose dependent manner, whereas it didn't affect bax and bcl-2. Taken together, these results indicate the ethyl acetate layer of Prunellae Spica can induce apoptosis in U937 cells suggesting it can be potently applied to cancer.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.23-34
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• 2002

Dynamic storage allocation (DSA) is a field fairly well studied for a long time as a basic problem of system software area. Due to memory fragmentation problem of DSA and its unpredictable worst case execution time, real-time system designers have believed that DSA may not be promising for real-time application service. Recently, the need for an efficient DSA algorithm is widely discussed and the algorithm is considered to be very important in the real-time system. This paper proposes an efficient DSA algorithm called QSB (quick semi-buddy) which is designed to be suitable for real-time environment. QSB scheme effectively maintains free lists based on quick-fit approach to quickly accommodate small and frequent memory requests, and the other free lists devised with adaptation upon a typical binary buddy mechanism for bigger requests in harmony for the .improved performance. Comprehensive simulation results show that the proposed scheme outperforms QHF which is known to be effective in terms of memory fragmentation up to about 16%. Furthermore, the memory allocation failure ratio is significantly decreased and the worst case execution time is predictable.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.sup1
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• pp.5-12
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• 2001

This study was designed to investigate the mechanism of cell death after cisplatin treatment in human glioblastoma A172 cells. Cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(Cisplatin) demonstrated cytostatic or cytotoxic effects on A172 cells in a dosedependent manner. Cisplatin-mediated cytotoxity in A172 cells was revealed as an apoptosis characterized by high molecular weight DNA fragmentation by agarose electrophoresis as well as nuclear fragmentation by Hoechst staining. Cisplatin also resulted in the activation of caspase 3-like protease as well as poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase(PARP) cleavage. Interestingly, the anti-apoptotic Bcl2 protein was degraded and furthermore, expression of p53 protein was increased by cisplatin in a time-dependent manner. Taken together, these results suggest that anticancer drug, cisplatin induces the apoptotic death of human glioblastoma A172 cells via the activations of caspase 3-like protease, degradation of anti-apoptotic Bcl2 protein and increase in the expression of p53.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.59 no.5
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• pp.501-505
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• 2021

The pathogenic free-living amoeba Naegleria fowleri causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a fatal infection, by penetrating the nasal mucosa and migrating to the brain via the olfactory nerves. N. fowleri can induce host cell death via lytic necrosis. Similar to phosphorylation, O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) glycosylation (O-GlcNAcylation) is involved in various cell-signaling processes, including apoptosis and proliferation, with O-GlcNAc addition and removal regulated by O-GlcNAc transferase and O-GlcNAcase (OGA), respectively. However, the detailed mechanism of host cell death induced by N. fowleri is unknown. In this study, we investigated whether N. fowleri can induce the modulation of O-GlcNAcylated proteins during cell death in Jurkat T cells. Co-incubation with live N. fowleri trophozoites increased DNA fragmentation. In addition, incubation with N. fowleri induced a dramatic reduction in O-GlcNAcylated protein levels in 30 min. Moreover, pretreatment of Jurkat T cells with the OGA inhibitor PUGNAc prevented N. fowleri-induced O-deGlcNAcylation and DNA fragmentation. These results suggest that O-deGlcNAcylation is an important signaling process that occurs during Jurkat T cell death induced by N. fowleri.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.295-305
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• 2019

The bedding plane has a significant influence on the effect of blasting fragmentation and the overall performance of underground mining. This paper explores the effects of fragmentation of the bedding plane and different angles by using the numerical analysis. ANSYS/LS-DYNA code was used for the implementation of the models. The models include a dynamic compressive and tensile failure which is applied to simulate the fractures generated by the explosion. Firstly, the cracks propagation with the non-bedding plane in the coal with two boreholes detonated simultaneously is calculated and the particle velocity and maximum principal stress at different points from the borehole are also discussed. Secondly, different delay times between the two boreholes are calculated to explore its effects on the propagation of the fractures. The results indicate that the coal around the right borehole is broken more fully and the range of the cracks propagation expanded with the delay time increases. The peak particle velocity decreases first and then increases with the distance from the right borehole increasing. Thirdly, different angles between the bedding plane and the centerline of the two boreholes and the transmission coefficient of stress wave at a bedding plane are considered. The results indicated that with the angles increase, the number of the fractures decreases while the transmission coefficient increases.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.150-155
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• 2021

Objective: Oxidative stress (OS) plays a key role in the etiology of unexplained male infertility. Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a potent antioxidant that may improve semen quality and OS in infertile men with idiopathic oligoasthenoteratospermia (OAT), but the underlying mechanism is unknown. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of CoQ10 on OS markers and sperm DNA damage in infertile patients with idiopathic OAT. Methods: This prospective controlled study included 50 patients with idiopathic OAT and 50 fertile men who served as controls. All patients underwent a comprehensive medical assessment. Patients and controls received 200 mg of oral CoQ10 once daily for 3 months. Semen and blood were collected and analyzed for sperm parameters, seminal CoQ10 levels, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, total antioxidant capacity, catalase, sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF), and serum hormonal profile. Results: The administration of CoQ10 to patients with idiopathic OAT significantly improved sperm quality and seminal antioxidant status and significantly reduced total ROS and SDF levels compared to pretreatment values. Conclusion: CoQ10, at a dose of 200 mg/day for 3 months, may be a potential therapy for infertile patients with idiopathic OAT, as it improved sperm parameters and reduced OS and SDF in these patients.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.1012-1018
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• 2014

Sasa quelpaertensis Nakai (Korean name, Jeju-Joritdae) is one of the most abundant plants on Mt. Halla, Jeju Island, and it has long been used in traditional medicines. Recent studies have reported it as possessing various beneficial functions, including anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-hypertension, anti-gastritis, anti-oxidant, and anti-cancer effects. However, the molecular mechanisms of its anti-cancer activity have not been clearly elucidated. In this study, we investigated the anti-cancer effects and mechanism of S. quelpaertensis on human colon cancer HT-29 cells. Cell growth inhibition by S. quelpaertensis was determined by MTT assay. Apoptosis was performed by DNA fragmentation, flow cytometry with propidium iodide staining (PI), and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to confirm the anti-apoptotic factors, such as inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) family members. $NO^{\bullet}$ production was determined by Griess assay. S. quelpaertensis treatment resulted in the time- and dose-dependent inhibition of the cell viability of HT-29 cells by inducing apoptosis, as evidenced by the accumulation of the sub-G1 cell population stained by PI, as well as the ladder-like DNA fragmentation in a dose-dependent manner. S. quelpaertensis-inducing apoptosis was accompanied by the induction of S cell cycle arrests, increasing $NO^{\bullet}$ concentrations, and the down-regulation of IAPs, including X-chromosome-linked IAP (XIAP), cellular IAP-1 (cIAP-1), cIAP-2, and survivin. Taken together, these findings have important implications for future clinical developments of S. quelpaertensis in colon cancer treatment.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.83 no.4
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• pp.495-513
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• 2022

This paper aims to study the fracture mechanism of rocks under the 'u'shape cutters considering the effects of crack (pre-existing crack) distances, crack spacing and crack inclination angles. The effects of loading rates on the rock fragmentation underneath these cutters have been also studied. For this purpose, nine experimental samples with dimensions of 5 cm×10 cm×10 cm consisting of the non-persistent cracks were prepared. The first three specimens' sets had one non-persistent crack (pre-existing crack) with a length of 2 cm and angularity of 0°, 45°, and 90°. The spacing between the crack and the "u" shape cutter was 2 cm. The second three specimens" set had one non-persistent crack with a length of 2 cm and angularity of 0°, 45°, and 90° but the spacing between pre-existing crack and the "u" shape cutter was 4 cm. The third three specimens'set has two non-persistent cracks with lengths of 2 cm and angularity of 0°, 45° and 90°. The spacing between the upper crack and the "u" shape cutter was 2 cm and the spacing between the lower crack and the upper crack was 2 cm. The samples were tested under a loading rate of 0.005 mm/s. concurrent with the experimental investigation. The numerical simulations were performed on the modeled samples with non-persistent cracks using PFC2D. These models were tested under three different loading rates of 0.005 mm/s, 0.01 mm/sec and 0.02 mm/sec. These results show that the crack number, crack spacing, crack angularity, and loading rate has important effects on the crack growth mechanism in the rocks underneath the "u" shape cutters. In addition, the failure modes and the fracture patterns in the experimental tests and numerical simulations are similar to one another showing the validity and accuracy of the current study.