• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.339-355
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• 2024

The pulmonary system is a highly complex system that can only be understood by integrating its functional and structural aspects. Hence, in vivo animal models are generally used for pathological studies of pulmonary diseases and the evaluation of inhalation toxicity. However, to reduce the number of animals used in experimentation and with the consideration of animal welfare, alternative methods have been extensively developed. Notably, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) have agreed to prohibit animal testing after 2030. Therefore, the latest advances in biotechnology are revolutionizing the approach to developing in vitro inhalation models. For example, lung organ-on-a-chip (OoC) and organoid models have been intensively studied alongside advancements in three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting and microfluidic systems. These modeling systems can more precisely imitate the complex biological environment compared to traditional in vivo animal experiments. This review paper addresses multiple aspects of the recent in vitro modeling systems of lung OoC and organoids. It includes discussions on the use of endothelial cells, epithelial cells, and fibroblasts composed of lung alveoli generated from pluripotent stem cells or cancer cells. Moreover, it covers lung air-liquid interface (ALI) systems, transwell membrane materials, and in silico models using artificial intelligence (AI) for the establishment and evaluation of in vitro pulmonary systems.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.103-110
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• 2015

In this study, we evaluated the fatty acid composition and physiological activities of oils extracted from eight types of seeds, pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), green tea (Camellia sinensis L.), perilla (Perilla frutescens var. japonica Hara), peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), cotton (Gossypium indicum LAM.), sesame (Sesamum indicum L.), walnut (Juglans regia L.), and safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.). The composition and quality analysis showed that the oils were potentially suitable for foo-grade applications. The composition analysis showed that the oils were mostly composed of unsaturated fatty acids including linoleic acid and oleic acid. In 3T3-L1 adipocytes, green pepper, perilla, and peanut seed oils inhibited lipid accumulation, and green pepper, perilla, peanut, sesame, walnut, and safflower seed oils induced leptin secretion. These results show that the inhibitory effect of edible seed oils on lipid accumulation, and induction of leptin secretion may be useful for obesity management.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.54-64
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• 2006

Chromated copper arsenate (CCA), a wood preservative, has been widely used to protect wood products from attacks by bacteria, fungi and insects. However, the use of CCA is currently forbidden or limited to some applications in many countries because the toxic elements (Cr, Cu, and As) of CCA are released into the environments during outdoor uses, which may cause adverse health effects on humans and ecological systems. This study was conducted to investigate the distributions of chromium, copper and arsenic in soils adjacent to two CCA-treated wood structures. In a 7 month old pond entry structure, ten surface soil samples (0-2.5 cm) were collected at lateral distances of 0, 0.5, and 1 m from the stairway, and nine surface soil samples were collected beneath the deck. Nine top soil samples were taken from a 2 year old sound barrier structure at lateral distances of 0, 1, and 2 m. Background surface soil samples were also collected from each structure. Samples were analyzed for some physicochemical properties such as pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter content, and soil texture. Following the extraction of the elements with a microwave digestion system, samples were analyzed for Cr, Cu, and As. The concentrations of the three elements in soils adjacent to the structures were significantly elevated compared to the background levels, indicating that the elements have been leached out of the structures. Released e1ements showed lateral concentration gradients within 1 m. The elevations of the three elements in soils underneath the deck did not seem different (background-corrected concentrations: Cr, 5.01 mg/kg; Cu, 5.50 mg/kg; As, 4.91 mg/kg), while the elements in soils near the sound barrier were elevated in the order of As>Cu>Cr with measured concentrations of 49.7, 44.7 and 52.5 mg/kg, respectively. Background As, Cu, and Cr concentrations near the sound barrier were 9.88, 30.8, and 46.5 mg/kg, respectively. These results showed that CCA constituents are released into the environment and it is suggested that risk assessment need to be conducted to investigate harmful effects of the released elements on humans and ecological systems.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.617-622
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• 1998

A cryotherapy system using cold air was developed. The developed system had superior low-temperature characteristics with various flow rates and nozzle sizes, and used R-404A, as a coolant, which has no destructive effects of Ozone layers. Flow rates and the treatment time can be easily altered during the operation. In addition, and alarm system was designed for the overload, overheat, and over-charge of the machine. For clinical applications, skin temperatures, intra-articular temperatures of the knee joint and intra-muscluar temperatures of the gluteal muscles were measured during and after the cryotherapy. After a 5-minute therapy, skin and intra-articular temperatures decreased by $23.3{\pm}4.7 and 4.1 {\pm}1.0^{circ}C$, respectively. A 5-minute cryotherapy was good enough to maintain low intra-articular temperatures for 2-3 hours. Resting intra-muscular temperatures in 2, 4, and 6cm deep in the gluteal muscle were $36.5{\pm}1.2, 36.9{\pm}0.2, 37.1{\pm}0.2^{circ}C$, respectively (p<0.05). Lowest temperatures in 2, 4, and 6cm depth were $35.1{\pm}0.7, 36.2{\pm}0.4, 36.9{\pm}0.3^{circ}C$, respectively (p<0.05). Temperatures after a 2-hour cold air application on the skin and in the muscle in dept도 of 2, 4, and 6cm were $32.2{\pm}1.1, 36.2{\pm}0.5, 36.6{\pm}0.3, 36.9{\pm}0.3^{circ}C$respectively (p<0.05). Temperatures on the skin and in the muscle significantly decreased after 2 hours, compared with before cold air application (p<0.05). The intra-muscular temperature was changed more slowly than the skin temperature, and the deeper the muscle, the lesser temperature changes. The effect of a 5-minute cold air application lasts up to 2 hours, and it seems that the rebound-rise of the temperature dut to the reactive vasodilatation does not occur in the gluteal muscle.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.210-218
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• 2003

Background : Sex specific cross sectional reference values for the lung function indices usually employ a linear model with a term for age and height. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of the body mass index (BMI), the fat percentage of the body mass and the fat-free mass index (FFMI) on the forced expiratory volume curve. Methods : Between January 2000 and December 2001, a total of 300 subjects, 150 men and 150 women (mean age : $45{\pm}13$ years), with a normal lung function were enrolled in the study sample. This study measured the $FEV_1$, FVC and $FEF_{25-75%}$ from the forced expiratory volume curve by a spirometer and the body composition by a bioelectrical impedance method in all subjects. Multiple regression analysis was used in order to examine the effects of the body composition on the parameters derived from the forced expiratory volume curve. Results : After adjusting for age, the BMI and Fat percentage improved the descriptions of the FVC (p<0.05, $r^2=0.491$) and $FEV_1$ (p<0.05, $r^2=0.654$) in women. In contrast, the FFMI contributed significantly to the FVC (p<0.05, $r^2=0.432$) and $FEV_1$ (p<0.05, $r^2=0.567$) in men. The $FEF_{25-75%}$ correlated with the fat percentage in women (p<0.05, $r^2=0.337$). Conclusion : These results suggest that the BMI, the fat percentage and the FFMI are significant determinants of the forced expiratory volume curve. The plmonary function test, when considering the BMI, the fat percentage and the FFMI, might be useful in clinical applications.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.277-282
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• 2010

The study is to verify non-uniform dose distribution in Field-In-Field (FIF) technique using two-dimensional ionization chamber (MatriXX, Wellhofer Dosimetrie, Germany) for breast tangential irradiation. The MatriXX and an inverse planning system (Eclipse, ver 6.5, Varian, Palo Alto, USA) were used. Hybrid plans were made from the original twenty patients plans. To verify the non-uniform dose distribution in FIF technique, each portal prescribed doses (90 cGy) was delivered to the MatriXX. The measured doses on the MatriXX were compared to the planned doses. The quantitative analyses were done with a commercial analyzing tool (OmniPro IMRT, ver. 1.4, Wellhofer Dosimetrie, Germany). The delivered doses at the normalization points were different to average 1.6% between the calculated and the measured. In analysis of line profiles, there were some differences of 1.3-5.5% (Avg: 2.4%), 0.9-3.9% (Avg: 2.5%) in longitudinal and transverse planes respectively. For the gamma index (criteria: 3 mm, 3%) analyses, there were shown that 90.23-99.69% (avg: 95.11%, std: 2.81) for acceptable range ($\gamma$-index $\geq$ 1) through the twenty patients cases. In conclusion, through our study, we have confirmed the availability of the FIF technique by comparing the calculated with the measured using MatriXX. In the future, various clinical applications of the FIF techniques would be good trials for better treatment results.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.223-249
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• 2005

This study examines the hazard rate of reemployment by conducting the Cox regression analysis. In addition, two gender groups are subjected to comparative analysis to identify the effect of the factors related to the human capital and human capability perspective on reemployment. For this purpose, 1,871 cases are selected from the 5th year data from Korea Labor and Income Panel Study. The results of study are as follows. First, the factors of human capital, such as education, appropriateness of skill level, and job tenure hold negative impact on the probability of reemployment, while factors of human capability, such as basic learning ability, health insurance, social insurance, residential area(living in the Seoul metropolitan area) hold positive on the probability of reemployment. It is interesting note that there are different sets of factors that affect the probability of reemployment in the two gender groups. This trend is even more apparent in the case of factors that pertain to human capability. The results of this study imply that the factors of human capability, which stress the socio-institutional characteristics, should be considered as comparably significant compared to the factors that pertain to human capital when it comes to the estimation of reemployment. Also, results of this comparative study teach us that various perspectives, such as dual labor market theory and gender-segmented labor market theory, should be factored in for reemployment discussion as well. In conclusion, this research delivers several significant messages since it introduces the concept of human capability perspective, subjected to few empirical analyses in the past, and also heralds the way for comparative analysis on the impact of the factors pertaining to human capability on reemployment.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.28-35
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• 2016

Species identification of animal tissues in meat products is an important issue to protect the consumer from illegal and/or undesirable adulteration; for economic, religious and health reasons. In this reason, accurate analytical methods are needed for the labeling of meat products with requiring simple and fast procedure. Recently, applications of PCR in food analysis have been increased because of their simplicity, specificity and sensitivity. Therefore, in this study, a multiplex PCR assay was developed for the simultaneous identification of eight species of cow, pig, chicken, duck, goat, sheep, horse and turkey from raw meats. The primers were designed in different regions of mitochondrial 16S RNA after alignment of the available sequences in the GenBank database. Two multiplex primer sets were designed as Set 1 (cow, pig, chicken, duck) and Set 2 (goat, sheep, horse, turkey), respectively. Total 274 samples from cow (n = 55), pig (n = 30), chicken (n=30), and duck (n = 30), goat (n = 40), sheep (n = 33), horse (n = 41), and turkey (n = 15) were tested. The primers generated specific fragments of 94, 192, 279, 477 bp (pig, chicken, cow, duck), 670, 271, 152, 469 bp (goat, sheep, horse, turkey) lengths for eight species, respectively. The animal species specificity was 100% in all eight samples in the multiplex PCR assay. The detection limit of the multiplex PCR assay showed from 100 fg to 1 pg of template DNA from extracted from raw meats. When applying multiplex PCR assays to sample from pork/beef and pork/chicken, beef/chicken tested raw mixed meats and heat-treated ($83^{\circ}C$ for 30min, $100^{\circ}C$ for 20min, and $121^{\circ}C$ for 10min) mixtures, detection limit was 0.1% level beef, pork and pork in beef and chicken in pork and 1.0% level pork in chicken. This study suggest that the developed multiplex PCR assay can be used for rapid and simultaneous species identification of cow, pig, chicken, duck, goat, sheep, horse and turkey from meats.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.34-41
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• 2016

Black chokeberries (scientific name Aronia melanocarpa) have been reported to have major effects due to anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer capabilities. In this study, we investigated the anti- wrinkle effects of A. melanocarpa, including collagenase inhibition effects and their molecular biological mechanisms, such as oxidative stress-induced matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, and activator protein (AP)-1 expression and/or phosphorylation. In collagenase inhibition activity, the ethyl acetate fraction of black chokeberry (AE) was 77.2% at a concentration of 500 μg/ml, which was a significant result compared to that of Epigallocatechin gallate (positive control, 83.9% in 500 μg/ml). In the reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay, the AE produced 78% of ROS in 10 μg/ml and 70% of ROS in 75 μg/ml, which was a much lower percentage than the ROS production of H₂O₂-induced CCRF S-180II cells. In the MTT assay, cell viability was increased dose-dependently with AE in H₂O₂-induced cells. In protein expression by western blot assay, the AE suppressed the expression and phosphorylation of MMPs (MMP-1, -3, -9), MAPK (ERK, JNK, and p38), and AP-1 (c-Fos and c-Jun), and expressed the pro-collagen type I in H₂O₂-induced cells. These results suggest that black chokeberries have anti-wrinkle and collagen-production effects, and they may be used in applications for material development in the functional food and cosmetic industries.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Food Science of Animal Resources Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.89-119
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• 2004

This study was conducted to isolate lactobacilli having probiotic characteristics to be used as health adjuncts with fermented milk products. Acid tolerant strains were selected in Lactobacilli MRS broth adjusted to pH 4.0 from 80 healthy persons (infants, children and adults). And bile tolerant strains were examined in Lactobacilli MRS broth in which 1.0% bile salt was added. By estimation above characteristics, the strains No. 27, which was isolated from adult feces, was selected and identified as Lactobacillus salivarius subsp. salivarius based on carbohydrate fermentation and 16S rDNA sequencing. It was used as a probiotic strain in fermented milk products. The pH of fermented milk decreased from pH 6.7 to 5.0 and titratable acidity increased from 0.3% to 1.0% by L. salivarius subsp. salivarius (isolation strain 20, 35, and 37), when incubated for 36 h at $37^{\circ}C$. The number of viable cell counts of fermented milk was maximized at this incubation condition. The SDS-PAGE evidenced no significant change of casein but distinct changes of whey protein were observed by isolated L. salivarius subsp. salivarius for titratable acidity being incubated by $0.9{\sim}1.0%$ at $37^{\circ}C$. All of the strains produced 83.43 to 131.96 mM of lactic acid and 5.39 to 26.85 mM of isobutyric acid in fermented products. The in vitro culture experiment was performed to evaluate ability to reduce cholesterol levels and antimicrobial activity in the growth medium. The selected L. salivarius subsp. salivarius reduced $23{\sim}38%$ of cholesterol content in lactobacilli MRS broth during bacterial growth for 24 hours at $37^{\circ}C$. All of the isolated L. salivarius subsp. salivarius had an excellent antibacterial activity with $15{\sim}25$ mm of inhibition zone to E. coli KCTC1039, S. enteritidis KCCM3313, S. typhimurium M-15, and S. typhimurium KCCM40253 when its pH had not been adjusted. Also, all of the isolated L. salivarius subsp. salivarius had partial inhibition zone to E. coli KCTC1039, E. coli KCTC0115 and S. enteritidis KCCM3313 when it had been adjusted to pH 5.7. The selected strains were determined to have resistances of twelve antibiotic. Strains 27 and 35 among the L. salivarius subsp. salivarius showed the highest resistance to the antibiotics. Purified ${\alpha}$-galactosidase was obtained by DEAE-Sephadex A-50 ion exchange chromatography, Mono-Q ion exchange chromatography and HPLC column chromatography from L. salivarius subsp. salivarius 27. The specific activity of the purified enzyme was 8,994 units/mg protein, representing an 17.09 folds purification of the original cell crude extract. The molecular weight of enzyme was identified about 53,000 dalton by 12% SDS-PAGE. Optimal temperature and pH for activity of this enzyme were $40^{\circ}C$ and 7.0 respectively. The enzyme was found to be stable between 25 and $50^{\circ}C$. ${\alpha}$-galactosidase activity was lost rapidly below pH 5.0 and above pH 9.0. This enzyme was liberated galactose from melibiose, raffinose, and stachyose, and also the hydrolysis rate of substrate was compound by HPLC. These results indicated that some of the L. salivarius subsp. salivarius (strain 27 and 35) are considered as effective probiotic strains with a potential for industrial applications, but the further study is needed to establish their use as probiotics in vivo.