• Title/Summary/Keyword: potential for utilization

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Effect of Cinnamomum camphora Leaf Fractions on Insulin Action (3T3-L1 지방세포에서 녹나무 잎 추출분획물이 인슐린작용에 미치는 효과)

  • Ko, Byoung-Seob;Lee, Mi-Young;Kim, Ho-Kyoung;Chun, Jin-Mi;Choi, Soo-Bong;Jun, Dong-Wha;Jang, Jin-Sun;Park, Sunmin
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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    • v.34 no.9
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    • pp.1336-1343
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    • 2005
  • In the present study, we screened candidates for enhancing insulin action and secretion from Cinnamomum camphora (CC) fractions, in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and Min6 cells by investigating insulin- stimulated glucose uptake and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, respectively. CC were extracted by $70\%$ ethanol followed by XAD-4 column chromatography with serial mixture solvents of methanol and water, and the fractional extractions were utilized for determining insulin action and secretion, and $\alpha$-glucoamylase suppressing activity, A significant insulin-stimulated glucose uptake was observed in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, giving 0.5 or $5{\mu}g/mL$ of $40\%\;and\;60\%$ methanol fractions plus 0.2 nM insulin, compared to the treatment of DMSO plus 0.2 nM insulin. The treatments of $40\%\;and\;60\%$ methanol fractions plus 0.2 nM insulin reached the glucose uptake of 10 nM insulin treatment. The $40\%$ methanol fraction increased triglyceride accumulation by stimulating differentiation and triglyceride synthesis similar to pioglitazone, PPAR-$\gamma$ agonist. No inhibition of $\alpha$-glucoamylase activity of CC fractions was observed. They did not modulate the insulin secretion capacity In either low or high glucose media. These results suggest that $40\%$ methanol fraction contains a potential insulin sensitizer to have a similar function of PPAR-$\gamma$ agonist. Crude CC extract may improve glucose utilization by enhancing insulin-stimulated glucose uptake without elevating glucose stimulated insulin secretion.

Efficacy and Safety Evaluation of an Air Sterilizer Equipped With an Electrolytic Salt Catalyst for the Removal of Indoor Microbial Pollutants (염촉매 전기분해 공기살균기의 효능 평가)

  • Sun Nyoung Yu;Ho-Yeon Jeon;Bu Kyung Kim;Ae-Li Kim;Kyung Il Jung;Gye Rok Jeon;Soon Cheol Ahn
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.34 no.7
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    • pp.500-508
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    • 2024
  • Recently, there has been increasing interest in enhancing the indoor air quality, particularly in response to the growing utilization of public facilities. The focus of this study was on assessing the efficacy and safety of an air sterilizer equipped with electrolytic salt catalysts. To that end, we evaluated the antimicrobial activity of the vapor spraying from the air sterilizer and its cytotoxicity in condensed form on human cell lines (HaCaT, BEAS-2B, and THP-1). Against the test organisms, which comprised five bacterial strains (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium) and one fungal strain (Candida albicans), the air sterilizer exhibited relatively high antimicrobial activities ranging from 10.89 to 73.98% following 1 and 3 hr of vapor spraying, which were notably time-dependent. Importantly, cytotoxicity assessments on human cells indicated no significant harmful effect even at a 1.0% concentration. Comprehensive safety evaluations included morphological observations, gene expression (Bcl-2, Bax) tests, and FACS analysis of intracellular ROS levels. Consistent with previous cytotoxicity findings, these estimates demonstrated no significant changes, highlighting the air sterilizer's safety and antimicrobial activities. In a simulated 20-hr operation within an indoor environment, the air sterilizer not only showed an 89.4% removal of total bacteria but also a 100.0% removal of Escherichia sp. and fungi. This research outlines the potential of the developed electrolytic salt catalyst air sterilizer to effectively remove indoor microbial pollutants without compromising human safety, underscoring the solution that it offers for improving indoor air quality.

Automatic Detection of Stage 1 Sleep Utilizing Simultaneous Analyses of EEG Spectrum and Slow Eye Movement (느린 안구 운동(SEM)과 뇌파의 스펙트럼 동시 분석을 이용한 1단계 수면탐지)

  • Shin, Hong-Beom;Han, Jong-Hee;Jeong, Do-Un;Park, Kwang-Suk
    • Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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    • v.10 no.1
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    • pp.52-60
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    • 2003
  • Objectives: Stage 1 sleep provides important information regarding interpretation of nocturnal polysomnography, particularly sleep onset. It is a short transition period from wakeful consciousness to sleep. The lack of prominent sleep events characterizing stage 1 sleep is a major obstacle in automatic sleep stage scoring. In this study, utilization of simultaneous EEG and EOG processing and analyses to detect stage 1 sleep automatically were attempted. Methods: Relative powers of the alpha waves and the theta waves were calculated from spectral estimation. A relative power of alpha waves less than 50% or relative power of theta waves more than 23% was regarded as stage 1 sleep. SEM(slow eye movement) was defined as the duration of both-eye movement ranging from 1.5 to 4 seconds, and was also regarded as stage 1 sleep. If one of these three criteria was met, the epoch was regarded as stage 1 sleep. Results were compared to the manual rating results done by two polysomnography experts. Results: A total of 169 epochs were analyzed. The agreement rate for stage 1 sleep between automatic detection and manual scoring was 79.3% and Cohen’s Kappa was 0.586 (p<0.01). A significant portion (32%) of automatically detected stage 1 sleep included SEM. Conclusion: Generally, digitally-scored sleep staging shows accuracy up to 70%. Considering potential difficulty in stage 1 sleep scoring, accuracy of 79.3% in this study seems to be strong enough. Simultaneous analysis of EOG differentiates this study from previous ones which mainly depended on EEG analysis. The issue of close relationship between SEM and stage 1 sleep raised by Kinnari remains a valid one in this study.

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Effect of Sasa Borealis and White Lotus Roots and Leaves on Insulin Action and Secretion In Vitro (In vitro에서 조릿대, 연근과 연잎이 인슐린 작용 및 분비에 미치는 영향)

  • Ko, Byoung-Seob;Jun, Dong-Wha;Jang, Jin-Sun;Kim, Ju-Ho;Park, Sun-Min
    • Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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    • v.38 no.1
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    • pp.114-120
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    • 2006
  • Anti-diabetic effects of extracts and fractions of Sasa borealis (SB), white lotus roots (LR) and leaves (LL), and their mixture were determined in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and Min6 cells by investigating insulin-sensitizing activity and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, respectively. SB, LR, LL, and mixture of SB, LR, and LL (3 : 2 : 3) were extracted using 70% ethanol, and m mixture extract was fractionated by XAD-4 column chromatography with serial mixture solvents of methanol and water. Fractional extractions were utilized for anti-diabetic effect assay. SB and LR extracts increased insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, but not as much as mixture of SB, LR, and LL. Significant insulin-sensitizing activities of 20 and 80% methanol fractions of SB, LR, and LL mixture extract were observed in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, giving 0.5 or $5\;{\mu}g/mL$ each fraction with 0.2 nM insulin to attain glucose uptake level similar to that attained by 10 nM insulin alone. Similar to pioglitazone, peroxisome proliferators-activated $receptor-{\gamma}\;(PPAR-{\gamma})$ agonist, 20 and 80% methanol fractions increased adipocytes by stimulating differentiation from fibroblasts and triglyceride synthesis. LL extract and 20, 60, and 80% methanol fractions of the mixture suppressed ${\alpha}-amylase$ activity, but did not modulate insulin secretion capacity of Min6 cells in both low and high glucose media. These data suggest 20 and 80% methanol tractions contain potential insulin sensitizers with functions similar to that of $PPAR-{\gamma}$ agonist. Crude extract of SB, LR, and LL mixture possibly improves glucose utilization by enhancing insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and inhibiting carbohydrate digestion without affecting insulin secretion in vivo.

The Optimal Operation on Auxiliary Spillway to Minimize the Flood Damage in Downstream River with Various Outflow Conditions (하류하천의 영향 최소화를 위한 보조 여수로 최적 활용방안 검토)

  • Yoo, Hyung Ju;Joo, Sung Sik;Kwon, Beom Jae;Lee, Seung Oh
    • Journal of Korean Society of Disaster and Security
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    • v.14 no.2
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    • pp.61-75
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    • 2021
  • Recently, as the occurrence frequency of sudden floods due to climate change increased and the aging of the existing spillway, it is necessary to establish a plan to utilize an auxiliary spillway to minimize the flood damage of downstream rivers. Most studies have been conducted on the review of flow characteristics according to the operation of auxiliary spillway through the hydraulic experiments and numerical modeling. However, the studies on examination of flood damage in the downstream rivers and the stability of the revetment according to the operation of the auxiliary spillway were relatively insufficient in the literature. In this study, the stability of the revetment on the downstream river according to the outflow conditions of the existing and auxiliary spillway was examined by using 3D numerical model, FLOW-3D. The velocity, water surface elevation and shear stress results of FLOW-3D were compared with the permissible velocity and shear stress of design criteria. It was assumed the sluice gate was fully opened. As a result of numerical simulations of various auxiliary spillway operations during flood season, the single operation of the auxiliary spillway showed the reduction effect of maximum velocity and the water surface elevation compared with the single operation of the existing spillway. The stability of the revetment on downstream was satisfied under the condition of outflow less than 45% of the design flood discharge. However, the potential overtopping damage was confirmed in the case of exceeding the 45% of the design flood discharge. Therefore, the simultaneous operation with the existing spillway was important to ensure the stability on design flood discharge condition. As a result of examining the allocation ratio and the total allowable outflow, the reduction effect of maximum velocity was confirmed on the condition, where the amount of outflow on auxiliary spillway was more than that on existing spillway. It is because the flow of downstream rivers was concentrated in the center due to the outflow of existing spillway. The permissible velocity and shear stress were satisfied under the condition of less than 77% of the design flood discharge with simultaneous operation. It was found that the flood damage of downstream rivers can be minimized by setting the amount allocated to the auxiliary spillway to be larger than the amount allocated to the existing spillway for the total outflow with simultaneous operation condition. However, this study only reviewed the flow characteristics around the revetment according to the outflow of spillway under the full opening of the sluice gate condition. Therefore, the various sluice opening conditions and outflow scenarios will be asked to derive more efficient utilization of the auxiliary spillway in th future.

Changes in Phytosterol Content in Cobs and Kernels During Physiological Maturity of Corn Ears (옥수수 이삭 등숙 기간 동안 속대와 종실의 Phytosterol 함량 변화)

  • Jun Young Ha;Young Sam Go;Jae Han Son;Mi-Hyang Kim;Kyeong Min Kang;Tae Wook Jung;Beom Young Son;Hwan Hee Bae
    • KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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    • v.68 no.4
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    • pp.392-401
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    • 2023
  • Corn (Zea mays L.) is one of the world's most important crops, along with wheat and rice, with a global corn production expected to reach 1,154.5 million tons in 2023. Considering this grain production, The generation of corn cob is expected to reach approximately 207.8 million tons in 2023. However, as an agricultural by-product, corn cobs are often considered waste and remain underutilized. Phytosterols, which are abundant in vegetable oils such as corn oil, provide a number of health benefits, including liver health, cholesterol reduction, and protection against chronic diseases such as diabetes. In this study, we investigated the potential of Kwangpyeongok ears, which are commonly used as grain and silage corn in Korea. We also examined the variation in phytosterol content with the maturity of corn ears to identify the optimal time for utilization. At the beginning of physiological maturity, corn cobs had 113.3 mg/100g DW of total phytosterols, which was highest phytosterol abundance during the growth stage. Corn kernels also had the highest phytosterol content at the beginning of physiological maturity. While previous studies on corn bioactive compounds have mainly focused on the kernels, the results of this study highlight that cobs are an excellent source of these compounds. Furthermore, phytosterol levels were influenced by genetic factors and developmental stages, suggesting the to increase the use of cobs as a source of bioactive compounds.

In vitro Antioxidant, Anti-allergic and Anti-inflammatory Effects of Ethanol Extracts from Korean Sweet Potato Leaves and Stalks (한국산 고구마잎과 고구마줄기 에탄올 추출물의 in vitro 항산화, 항알레르기 및 항염증효과)

  • Kwak, Chung Shil;Lee, Kun Jong;Chang, Jin Hee;Park, June Hee;Cho, Ji Hyun;Park, Ji Ho;Kim, Kyung Me;Lee, Mee Sook
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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    • v.42 no.3
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    • pp.369-377
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    • 2013
  • In order to increase the utilization of sweet potato leaves and stalks as much as roots, it is necessary to study their beneficial potential. In this study, the antioxidant, antiallergic and anti-inflammatory effects of sweet potato leaves and stalks were evaluated by measuring total polyphenol and flavonoid contents, DPPH radical scavenging effects, the reducing power and inhibition effects on xanthine oxidase (XO), 5-lipoxygenase (LOX), and cyclo-oxygenase (COX)-2 activities. Blanched sweet potato leaves (SL), raw whole purple stalks (ST) and peeled stalks (PST) were freeze-dried and extracted with 95% ethanol. Total polyphenol content was highest in SL (11.03 mg/g), followed by ST (0.87 mg/g), and PST (0.37 mg/g). Total flavonoid content was highest for SL (9.01 mg/g), followed by ST (0.50 mg/g) and PST (0.25 mg/g). The $IC_{50}$ for DPPH radical scavenging effects was highest for SL ($43.6{\mu}g/mL$), followed by ST ($308.4{\mu}g/mL$) and PST ($1,631.3{\mu}g/mL$). The reducing power was highest for SL ($59.72{\mu}g$ ascorbic acid eq./mL), followed by ST ($12.56{\mu}g$ ascorbic acid eq./mL) and PST ($2.18{\mu}g$ ascorbic acid eq./mL) with $1,000{\mu}g/mL$ of ethanol extract. The inhibition rate on XO activity was highest for SL (13.06%), followed by ST (5.05%) and PST (0.0%) at $250{\mu}g/mL$ extract treatment. The inhibition rate on COX-2 activity was highest for SL (55.34%), followed by ST (2.18%) and PST (0.0%) at $250{\mu}g/mL$ extract treatment. The inhibition rate on 5-LOX activity was highest for SL (91.16%), followed by ST (33.38%) and PST (14.93%) at $50{\mu}g/mL$ treatment. Taken together, sweet potato leaves showed high antioxidative, anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory activities, especially with very strong inhibition effects on 5-LOX activity. These beneficial effects of sweet potato leaves might be mainly caused by the high content of polyphenols and flavonoids.

The Policy of Win-Win Growth between Large and Small Enterprises : A South Korean Model (한국형 동반성장 정책의 방향과 과제)

  • Lee, Jang-Woo
    • Korean small business review
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    • v.33 no.4
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    • pp.77-93
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    • 2011
  • Since 2000, the employment rate of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has dwindled while the creation of new jobs and the emergence of healthy SMEs have been stagnant. The fundamental reason for these symptoms is that the economic structure is disadvantageous to SMEs. In particular, the greater gap between SMEs and large enterprises has resulted in polarization, and the resulting imbalance has become the largest obstacle to improving SMEs' competitiveness. For example, the total productivity has continued to drop, and the average productivity of SMEs is now merely 30% of that of large enterprises, and the average wage of SMEs' employees is only 53% of that of large enterprises. Along with polarization, rapid industrialization has also caused anti-enterprise consensus, the collapse of the middle class, hostility towards establishments, and other aftereffects. The general consensus is that unless these problems are solved, South Korea will not become an advanced country. Especially, South Korea is now facing issues that need urgent measures, such as the decline of its economic growth, the worsening distribution of profits, and the increased external volatility. Recognizing such negative trends, the MB administration proposed a win-win growth policy and recently introduced a new national value called "ecosystemic development." As the terms in such policy agenda are similar, however, the conceptual differences among such terms must first be fully understood. Therefore, in this study, the concepts of win-win growth policy and ecosystemic development, and the need for them, were surveyed, and their differences from and similarities with other policy concepts like win-win cooperation and symbiotic development were examined. Based on the results of the survey and examination, the study introduced a South Korean model of win-win growth, targeting the promotion of a sound balance between large enterprises and SMEs and an innovative ecosystem, and finally, proposing future policy tasks. Win-win growth is not an academic term but a policy term. Thus, it is less advisable to give a theoretical definition of it than to understand its concept based on its objective and method as a policy. The core of the MB administration's win-win growth policy is the creation of a partnership between key economic subjects such as large enterprises and SMEs based on each subject's differentiated capacity, and such economic subjects' joint promotion of growth opportunities. Its objective is to contribute to the establishment of an advanced capitalistic system by securing the sustainability of the South Korean economy. Such win-win growth policy includes three core concepts. The first concept, ecosystem, is that win-win growth should be understood from the viewpoint of an industrial ecosystem and should be pursued by overcoming the issues of specific enterprises. An enterprise is not an independent entity but a social entity, meaning it exists in relationship with the society (Drucker, 2011). The second concept, balance, points to the fact that an effort should be made to establish a systemic and social infrastructure for a healthy balance in the industry. The social system and infrastructure should be established in such a way as to create a balance between short- term needs and long-term sustainability, between freedom and responsibility, and between profitability and social obligations. Finally, the third concept is the behavioral change of economic entities. The win-win growth policy is not merely about simple transactional relationships or determining reasonable prices but more about the need for a behavior change on the part of economic entities, without which the objectives of the policy cannot be achieved. Various advanced countries have developed different win-win growth models based on their respective cultures and economic-development stages. Japan, whose culture is characterized by a relatively high level of group-centered trust, has developed a productivity improvement model based on such culture, whereas the U.S., which has a highly developed system of market capitalism, has developed a system that instigates or promotes market-oriented technological innovation. Unlike Japan or the U.S., Europe, a late starter, has not fully developed a trust-based culture or market capitalism and thus often uses a policy-led model based on which the government leads the improvement of productivity and promotes technological innovation. By modeling successful cases from these advanced countries, South Korea can establish its unique win-win growth system. For this, it needs to determine the method and tasks that suit its circumstances by examining the prerequisites for its success as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each advanced country. This paper proposes a South Korean model of win-win growth, whose objective is to upgrade the country's low-trust-level-based industrial structure, in which large enterprises and SMEs depend only on independent survival strategies, to a high-trust-level-based social ecosystem, in which large enterprises and SMEs develop a cooperative relationship as partners. Based on this objective, the model proposes the establishment of a sound balance of systems and infrastructure between large enterprises and SMEs, and to form a crenovative social ecosystem. The South Korean model of win-win growth consists of three axes: utilization of the South Koreans' potential, which creates community-oriented energy; fusion-style improvement of various control and self-regulated systems for establishing a high-trust-level-oriented social infrastructure; and behavioral change on the part of enterprises in terms of putting an end to their unfair business activities and promoting future-oriented cooperative relationships. This system will establish a dynamic industrial ecosystem that will generate creative energy and will thus contribute to the realization of a sustainable economy in the 21st century. The South Korean model of win-win growth should pursue community-based self-regulation, which promotes the power of efficiency and competition that is fundamentally being pursued by capitalism while at the same time seeking the value of society and community. Already existing in Korea's traditional roots, such objectives have become the bases of the Shinbaram culture, characterized by the South Koreans' spontaneity, creativity, and optimism. In the process of a community's gradual improvement of its rules and procedures, the trust among the community members increases, and the "social capital" that guarantees the successful control of shared resources can be established (Ostrom, 2010). This basic ideal can help reduce the gap between large enterprises and SMEs, alleviating the South Koreans' victim mentality in the face of competition and the open-door policy, and creating crenovative corporate competitiveness. The win-win growth policy emerged for the purpose of addressing the polarization and imbalance structure resulting from the evolution of 21st-century capitalism. It simultaneously pursues efficiency and fairness on one hand and economic and community values on the other, and aims to foster efficient interaction between the market and the government. This policy, however, is also evolving. The win-win growth policy can be considered an extension of the win-win cooperation that the past 'Participatory Government' promoted at the enterprise management level to the level of systems and culture. Also, the ecosystemic development agendum that has recently emerged is a further extension that has been presented as a national ideal of "a new development model that promotes the co-advancement of environmental conservation, growth, economic development, social integration, and national and individual development."