• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.208-215
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• 2023

In recent decades, the field of aging research has progressed from the genetic and cellular levels to in vivo models of blood exchange. Since genes capable of extending the lifespan in C. elegance have been reported, various potential target molecules have been discovered through genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and transcriptomics. Accordingly, research on the interactions between target molecules has also been increasing. The parabiosis method, in which two experimental animals are surgically combined, was introduced, and a factor that could reverse the aging phenomenon was discovered using this method. The parabiosis method is used to find more accurate and effective aging-reversal factors that could exist in young blood. As more new evidence has been revealed, the parabiosis method has established a new paradigm for aging research. Moreover, a device capable of exchanging blood elaborately in laboratory animals was published in 2022 and presented new results necessary for aging reversal. Since GDF11, was reported, many other anti-aging candidates that are soluble factors in blood, such as β2m, TIMP2, VCAM1, Gpld1, and clusterin, have been discovered. In addition, mcicroglia cells and neuroinflammation have been directly proven to be aging factors. These latest research results were obtained by parabiosis, the newly designed device for plasmapheresis, and injecting young blood or conditioned blood methods. In this review, we discuss the latest research results using the device and young blood administration in old mice.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.87-106
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• 2022

This study compared working arrangements, interest in rural migration, and life satisfaction in Japan in two periods: immediately after the COVID-19 (2019 coronavirus disease) pandemic and two years after the global outbreak. The comparison was based on data from the "Survey on Changes in Attitudes and Behaviors in Daily Life under the Influence of Novel Coronavirus Infection, 2020, 2021", which was conducted four times by the Japanese Cabinet Office directly after the COVID crisis (May 2020 and September 2021). The respondents who participated in both the first and fourth surveys were employed individuals aged 20 years or older. The results are as follows. First, the proportion of Tokyo residents engaging in telework immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic was 36.1%, which is higher than the levels observed nationwide. Second, individuals involved in telework and those working under flexible arrangements were more highly interested in moving to rural areas than those who commute to work. Third, among people engaged in telework, life satisfaction diminished immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the period before this crisis. After two years of the pandemic, however, life satisfaction among this group improved. Changes in working arrangements due to the pandemic can be expected to promote migration, as well as help revitalize regions and encourage the discovery of new lifestyles.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.339-349
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• 2020

Objectives : Wiryeong-tang (WRT) is a traditional herbal medicine used to treat kidney-related diseases. However, the anti-inflammatory and anti-gastritis effect of Wiryeong-tang was not well known. Therefore, we experimented to confirmed the anti-inflammatory and anti-gastritis effects of Wiryeong-tang. Methods : The RAW 264.7 cells were pre treated with Wiryeong-tang mix soft extract (WRT-mse; 50, 100 and 200 ㎍/mL) for 1 hrs, and then incubated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 500 ng/mL). Cell viability was measured by the MTT method, and nitric oxide (NO) was measured with griess reagent. In addition, pro-inflammatory cytokines were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). For anti-gastritis effect in vivo, acute gastritis was induced using 150 mM HCl/60% ethanol used ICR mice. WRT-mse (133 mg/kg) was pre treated for 3 days and then treated with 150 mM HCl/60% ethanol 1 hrs later. Then gastritis was observed and inflammatory cytokines in the gastric tissue was measured. Results : The 8 marker components of the WRT-mse were determined by simultaneous analysis using HPLC. WRT-mse was not toxic and inhibited pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α at NO production, protein and mRNA levels. Also, it was confirmed that WRT-mse improved bleeding and edema in gastritis, and suppresses inflammatory cytokines. Conclusion : In summary, our results suggest that the treatment of the WRT-mse reduced and improved the 150 mM HCl/60% ethanol induced acute gastritis and the inflammation caused by LPS stimulation in RAW 264.7 cells. Therefore, this study may provide useful drug or clinical evidence for WRT-mse to prevent inflammation.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.40 no.5 s.110
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• pp.571-583
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• 2005

This paper presents a paleoenvironmental study on Hoya San Nicolas, a maar lake in Valle de Santiago in Central Mexican Bajio. Maar lake sediments have been widely used for high-resolution reconstruction of paleoenvironment. Many different paleoenvironmental proxy data such as stable isotopes, pollen, and sediment chemistry were produced in this study. These data help to reveal paleoenviromental changes throughout the whole period covered by sediment materials from this study site. The evidence indicates that during ca. 11,000 - ca. 8,900 cal yr B.P. there was dry climate; during ca. 8,900 - ca. 7,000 cal yr B.P. it was wetter; during ca. 7,000 - ca. 4,000 cal yr B.P. drier; during ca. 4,000 cal yr B.P - the present wetter. Prominent dominance of Pinus pollen during ca. 11,000 - ca. 8,900 cal yr B.P. and during ca. 7,000 - ca. 4,000 cal yr B.P. may reflect very low lake levels resulting in poor preservation of pollen. Pinus pollen, the most resistant pollen type, may have been able to survive severe deterioration due to arid climate, but other pollen types may not. Due to likely droughts in these periods, a sedimentation gaps are probably present in the core.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.53-66
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• 1980

The research work is concerned with the analytical and experimental studies on the heat transfer phenomenon around the underground concrete digester used for biogas production Systems. A mathematical and computational method was developed to estimate heat losses from underground cylindrical concrete digester used for biogas production systems. To test its feasibility and to evaluate thermal parameters of materials related, the method was applied to six physical model digesters. The cylindrical concrete digester was taken as a physical model, to which the model,atical model of heat balance can be applied. The mathematical model was transformed by means of finite element method and used to analyze temperature distribution with respect to several boundary conditions and design parameters. The design parameters of experimental digesters were selected as; three different sizes 40cm by 80cm, 80cm by 160cm and l00cm by 200cm in diameter and height; two different levels of insulation materials-plain concrete and vermiculite mixing in concrete; and two different types of installation-underground and half-exposed. In order to carry out a particular aim of this study, the liquid within the digester was substituted by water, and its temperature was controlled in five levels-35。 C, 30。 C, 25。 C, 20。C and 15。C; and the ambient air temperature and ground temperature were checked out of the system under natural winter climate conditions. The following results were drawn from the study. 1.The analytical method, by which the estimated values of temperature distribution around a cylindrical digester were obtained, was able to be generally accepted from the comparison of the estimated values with the measured. However, the difference between the estimated and measured temperature had a trend to be considerably increased when the ambient temperature was relatively low. This was mainly related variations of input parameters including the thermal conductivity of soil, applied to the numerical analysis. Consequently, the improvement of these input data for the simulated operation of the numerical analysis is expected as an approach to obtain better refined estimation. 2.The difference between estimated and measured heat losses was shown to have the similar trend to that of temperature distribution discussed above. 3.It was found that a map of isothermal lines drawn from the estimated temperature distribution was very useful for a general observation of the direction and rate of heat transfer within the boundary. From this analysis, it was interpreted that most of heat losses is passed through the triangular section bounded within 45 degrees toward the wall at the bottom edge of the digesten Therefore, any effective insulation should be considered within this region. 4.It was verified by experiment that heat loss per unit volume of liquid was reduced as the size of the digester became larger For instance, at the liquid temperature of 35˚ C, the heat loss per unit volume from the 0. 1m$^3$ digester was 1, 050 Kcal/hr m$^3$, while at for 1. 57m$^3$ digester was 150 Kcal/hr m$^3$. 5.In the light of insulation, the vermiculite concrete was consistently shown to be superior to the plain concrete. At the liquid temperature ranging from 15。 C to 350 C, the reduction of heat loss was ranged from 5% to 25% for the half-exposed digester, while from 10% to 28% for the fully underground digester. 6.In the comparison of heat loss between the half-exposed and underground digesters, the heat loss from the former was fr6m 1,6 to 2, 6 times as much as that from the latter. This leads to the evidence that the underground digester takes advantage of heat conservation during winter.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.262-274
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• 1999

Several alternatives for increasing the fluoride concentration in the mouth, such as water fluoridation, ingestion of fluoride supplements, fluoride paste, fluoride mouthrinse, application of fluoride gel are available. There is an impressive body of evidence that the topically deliverd fluorides are clinically effective in inhibiting the progression of dental caries. Recent studies on the cariostatic action of fluoride have indicated the importance of fluoride in the fluid environment of the teeth. The fluoride levels in unstimulated whole saliva can be considered indicative of F in the aqueous phase available for interaction with the tooth surface at a given time. The retention of F in the mouth after topical fluoride treatment is considered to be an important factor in the clinical efficacy of F. The aim of this study was to determine the elevation and clearance of fluoride in whole saliv after the following topical flouride treatments using HMDS-diffusion technique and fluoride ion electrode. The obtained results were as follow: 1. Average salivary fluoride concentration in the unstimulated whole saliva was $0.0152ppm{\pm}0.0091ppm$. Unstimulated salivary flow rate was between 0.34-0.36ml/min and there was no statistically significant difference among the groups(p>0.05). 2. Except for the immediate time after treatment, fluoride levels followed as APF gel>neutral gel>F-rinse>F-paste. There was no statistical difference between the salivary F concentration of F-paste group and that of control group after 2 hours. In case of F-rinse group, after 3 hours the concentration had dropped to baseline value. But there was statistically significant difference among the F concentraion of F gel groups and that of control group(p<0.05). 3. The mean $AUC_{0-120min}$ values were followed as neutral gel>APF gel>F-rinse>F-paste, and the values of the two former groups were significantly higher than those of the two latter groups(p<0.05).

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 1997

As it has been reported that the depolarization induced acetylcholine (ACh) release is modulated by activation of presynaptic $A_1$ adenosine heteroreceptor and various evidence suggest that indicate the $A_2$ adenosine receptor is present in the striatum, this study was undertaken to delineate the role of adenosine receptors on the striatal ACh release. Slices from the rat striatum were equilibrated with $[^3H]$choline and then the release amount of the labelled product, $[^3H]$ACh, which was evoked by electrical stimulation (rectangular pulses, 3 Hz, 2 ms, 24 mA, $5\;Vcm^{-1}$, 2 min), was measured, and the influence of various agents on the evoked tritium outflow was investigated. And also, quantitative receptor autoradiography and drug-receptor binding assay were performed in order to confirm the presence and characteristics of $A_1$ and $A_2$ adenosine receptors in the rat striatum. Adenosine $(10{sim}100\;{mu}M)$ and $N^6$-cyclopentyladenosine (CPA, $1{sim}100\;{mu}M)$ decreased the $[^3H]$ACh release in a dose-dependent manner without changing the basal rate of release in the rat striatum. The reducing effects of ACh release by adenosine and CPA were abolished by 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropy-Ixanthine (DPCPX, 2 ${mu}M$), a selective $A_1$, adenosine receptor antagonist, treatment. The effect of adenosine was potentiated markedly by 3,7-dimethyl-1-propargylxanthine (DMPX, 10 ${mu}M$), a specific $A_2$ adenosine receptor antagonist. 2-P-(2-carboxyethyl)phenethylamimo-5'-N- ethylcarboxamidoadenosine hydrochloride (CGS-21680C), in concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 10 ${mu}M$, a recently introduced potent $A_2$ adenosine receptor agonist, increased the $[^3H]$ACh release in a dose related fashion without changing the basal rate of release. These effects were completely abolished by DMPX $(10\;{mu}M)$. In autoradiograrhy experiments, $[^3H]$2-chloro-$N^6$-cyclopentyladenosine ($[^3H]$ CCPA) bindings were highly localized in the hippocampus and the cerebral cortex. Additionally, lower levels of binding were found in the striatum. However, $[^3H]$CGS-21680C bindings were highly localized in the striatal region with the greatest density of binding found in the caudate nucleus and putamen. Lower levels of binding were also found in the nucleus accumbens and olfactory tubercle. In drug-receptor binding assay, binding of $[^3H]$ CCPA to $A_1$ adenosine receptors of rat striatal membranes was inhibited by CPA ($K_i$ = 1.6 nM) and N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine (NECA, $K_i$ = 12.9 nM), but not by CGS-21680C ($K_i$ = 2609.2 nM) and DMPX ($K_i$ = 19,386 nM). In contrast, $[^3H]$CGS-21680C binding to $A_2$ denosine receptors was inhibited by CGS-21680C ($K_i$ = 47.6 nM) and NECA ($K_i$ = 44.9 nM), but not by CPA ($K_i$ = 2099.2 nM) and DPCPX ($K_i$ = 19,207 nM). The results presented here suggest that both types of $A_1$ and $A_2$ adenosine heteroreceptors exist and play an important role in ACh release in the rat striatal cholinergic neurons.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.4421-4426
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• 2013

Objective: The present study employed 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-CdR) to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell line A549 to investigate the effects on proliferation and expression of the TFPI-2 gene. Methods: Proliferation was assessed by MTT assay after A549 cells were treated with 0, 1, 5, 10 ${\mu}mol/L$ 5-Aza-CdR, a specific demethylating agent, for 24, 48 and 72h. At the last time point cells were also analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM) to identify any change in their cell cycle profiles. Methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSPCR), real time polymerase chain reaction(real-time PCR) and western blotting were carried out to determine TFPI-2 gene methylation status, mRNA expression and protein expression. Results: MTT assay showed that the growth of A549 cells which were treated with 5-Aza-CdR was significantly suppressed as compared with the control group (0 ${\mu}mol/L$ 5-Aza-CdR). After treatment with 0, 1, 5, 10 ${\mu}mol/L$ 5-Aza-CdR for 72h, FCM showed their proportion in G0/G1 was $69.7{\pm}0.99%$, $76.1{\pm}0.83%$, $83.8{\pm}0.35%$, $95.5{\pm}0.55%$ respectively (P<0.05), and the proportion in S was $29.8{\pm}0.43%$, $23.7{\pm}0.96%$, $15.7{\pm}0.75%$, $1.73{\pm}0.45%$, respectively (P<0.05), suggesting 5-Aza-CdR treatment induced G0/G1 phase arrest. MSPCR showed that hypermethylation in the promoter region of TFPI-2 gene was detected in control group (0 ${\mu}mol/L$ 5-Aza-CdR), and demethylation appeared after treatment with 1, 5, 10 ${\mu}mol/L$ 5-Aza-CdR for 72h. Real-time PCR showed that the expression levels of TFPI-2 gene mRNA were $1{\pm}0$, $1.49{\pm}0.14$, $1.86{\pm}0.09$ and $5.80{\pm}0.15$ (P<0.05) respectively. Western blotting analysis showed the relative expression levels of TFPI-2 protein were $0.12{\pm}0.01$, $0.23{\pm}0.02$, $0.31{\pm}0.02$, $0.62{\pm}0.03$ (P<0.05). TFPI-2 protein expression in A549 cells was gradually increased significantly with increase in the 5-Aza-CdR concentration. Conclusions: TFPI-2 gene promoter methylation results in the loss of TFPI-2 mRNA and protein expression in the non-small cell lung cancer cell line A549, and 5-Aza-CdR treatment could induce the demethylation of TFPI-2 gene promoter and restore TFPI-2 gene expression. These findings provide theoretic evidence for clinical treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer with the demethylation agent 5-Aza-CdR. TFPI-2 may be one molecular marker for effective treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer with 5-Aza-CdR.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.50-60
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• 2019

In the late 1980s, a financial crisis and Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) in green space services brought with it a profound impact on the quality of parks in the UK. Such government projects, e.g. Urban Task Force (1999) and Public Parks Assessment (2001), aimed to raise the awareness of the severity of the declining standards of urban parks. Since the late 1990s, the UK governments (The New Labour (1997-2010) and The Conservative Government (2010-2019)), have often adopted community-led governance schemes to enhance the quality of parks and address problems derived from the financial crisis. Accordingly, community groups, notably 'Friends of', enlarged their involvement in the decision-making process of park management. However, there is little empirical evidence concerning the impact of community-led governance on park management, in particular, the effect on the users' perceptions of park use. This study explored the context of community-led park management to reclassify the level of build-up of governance underlined by 'A Ladder of Citizen Participation'. In addition, questionnaire surveys were conducted around two Sheffield district parks, which are located in deprived areas. As a result, community involvement in the status quo of UK urban park management has changed its form of governance based on the extent of involvement in the decision-making process. The forms of governance could be categorised in three levels: general, active, and predominant governance, where the extents of decision-making and sharing responsibility vary. The results obtained through the questionnaires show that one park (active governance), which has a stronger tendency of sharing responsibility to get involved in park management, had better contribution to park management and positive impacts on users' satisfaction than the other park (general governance). The findings highlight that stronger governance in partnerships with the non-public sectors can shed light on current and future park management through a shift in sharing responsibility for park management.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.1134-1146
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• 1998

Background: The tumor suppressor gene p53 is one of the most frequently altered genes in human tumors, including those of the lung. There is now a compelling evidence that wild-type p53 can negatively influence cell growth by causing G1 arrest or by inducing apoptosis. The possibilities of using p53 for gene therapy are also gathering much interest. Material and Method: Our approach towards understanding p53 function would be to study the biological consequences of overexpression of wild-type p53 in normal and tumor cells by using adenovirus vectors capable of giving high levels of the p53 gene product in cells. We have used this vector containing wild-type p53 to infect tumor cells with different p53 status (null, mutant, or wild-type) to confirm that expression of p53 in null or mutant cell lines becomes possible by Adenovirus-p53 transduction, to examine the effects of high levels of p53 expression on the growth properties of tumor cells, to evaluate the role of apoptosis in p53-mediated biological effects, and to examine the effect of Adenovirus-p53 on the tumorigenicities of the lung cancer cell lines in vitro. Result: The results of our study showed that cells expressing endogenous mutant p53 and those devoid of p53 expression altogether were significantly more sensitive to Adenovirus-p53-mediated cytotoxicity compared to tumor cells expressing endogenous wild-type p53 and that overexpression of wild-type p53 induced programmed cell death. Also we knew that Adenovirus-p53 significantly reduced tumor colony formation of human non-small cell lung cancer cell lines, and decreased the growth of pre-formed colonies in vitro. Conclusion: These results suggest that adenovirus is an efficient vector for mediating transfer and expression of tumor suppressor genes in human non-small cell lung cancer cells and that the tumor cells null for p53 or expressing mutant p53 readily undergo apoptosis by Adenovirus-p53.