• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.62 no.10
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• pp.400-404
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• 2019

Background: An increase in the numbers of patients with gastrointestinal symptoms has recently been observed. Purpose: To investigate the effects of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy on intestinal inflammation in children and adolescents as confirmed by clinical manifestations and objectively assessed by fecal calprotectin (FC) level measurement. Methods: Consecutive children (aged 3-18 years) who presented with gastrointestinal symptoms and were treated with or without PPI for at least 1 month were enrolled. Patients were divided into PPI and non-PPI groups. The PPI group was further subdivided by treatment duration and type of PPI used. Stool samples were collected for FC evaluation at baseline and after treatment and clinical data and FC levels were compared between the groups. Results: Fifty-one patients (15 boys, 36 girls) were enrolled in the study. The PPI group included 37 patients, while the non-PPI group included 14 patients. Clinical symptoms were not significantly different. FC levels and laboratory results, including C-reactive protein levels, white blood cell count, and absolute neutrophil count, were not statistically different before versus after PPI treatment. After treatment, FC levels decreased to 8.1 mg/kg (-575.4 to 340.3 mg/kg) in the PPI group and increased to 5.6 mg/kg (-460.0 to 186.9 mg/kg) in the non-PPI group compared to those before treatment (P=0.841). The number of patients with increased FC levels was not significantly different between the 2 groups (48.6% vs. 64.3%, P=0.363), similar to that observed in patients with an FC level > 50 mg/kg (24.3% and 7.1%, P=0.250). PPI therapy type and duration did not affect the FC levels (P=0.811 and P=0.502, respectively). Conclusion: Although we aimed to confirm the evidence of intestinal inflammation due to PPI use in children and adolescents through clinical symptoms and FC measurement, no significant changes were observed.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.700-705
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• 2009

Several studies have demonstrated that chlorophyll has many beneficial properties, including anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, and antioxidant properties. Chlorophyll has been also shown to have an excellent chemopreventive potential against skin tumor. Its preventive mechanism against skin tumor, however, has not been examined in detail. Furthermore, the effects of chlorophyll on UVB-induced cellular responses have not been investigated. Solar UV radiation, in particular its UVB component, is the primary cause of many adverse biological effects, which is responsible for the photoaging and skin cancer. We investigated the preventive effects of chlorophyll a on UVB-mediated responses in human immortalized HaCaT kerationocytes and normal human fibroblast. We found that treatment of chlorophyll a markedly inhibited UVB-induced generation of reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation. Chlorophyll a also prevented UVB-induced MMP-1 expression and MMP-2 activation and increased Type I pN collagen synthesis. These results suggest that chlorophyll a is a potent candidate for the prevention and treatment of UVB-induced skin cancer and photoaging.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.107-111
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• 2017

Objectives: Radiation is one of the most important sources of free radical (such as reactive oxygen species) production, which plays an essential role in the etiology of over hundred diseases. The aim of the study was to investigate some immune parameters and hematological indices in healthy workers of the Radiology Department, University Hospital of Mashhad, Iran. Methods: The study was performed on 50 healthy workers: 30 radiology staff as the case group and 20 laboratory workers as the control group. The radiation dose received by the radiology staff participating in the study was less than the annual maximum permissible level, 50 millisievert. Hematological parameters, lymphocyte proliferation and cytokine production were studied in both groups. Results: Among healthy radiology workers, the hematological indices did not differ statistically; however, their proliferation indices and $IFN-{\gamma}$ levels showed significant increases in parallel with decreases in the IL-4 levels as compared to controls. The immune system of workers exposed to low-dose ionizing radiation was found to be shifted from a Type 2 to a Type 1 response to promote cellular immunity. Conclusion: Based on our data, exposure to low-dose ionizing radiation may decrease the prevalence, frequency, and recurrence of various cancers and infectious diseases because of an increase in Th1-cell-based response, thus leading to more protection of the human body against tumor cells and foreign agents and possibly increased longevity. However, due to high rate of fluoroscopy use for interventional radiology, we suggest continuing research projects on radiation protection and hazards to prevent irreversible damage. As a recommendation, in future studies, radiology staff with a weakened immunity due to high radiation exposure should be considered as good choices to be treated using acupuncture techniques because acupuncture has been demonstrated to enhance the function and the number of immune cells.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.156-161
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• 2009

Hyperglycemia in the diabetic state increases oxidative stress and antioxidant therapy can be strongly correlated with decreased risks for diabetic complications. The purpose of this study is to determine antioxidant effect of garlic and aged black garlic in animal model of type 2 diabetes. The antioxidant activity of garlic and aged black garlic was measured as the activity in scavenging free radicals by the trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay. Three week-old db/db mice were fed AIN-93G diet or diet containing 5% freeze-dried garlic or aged black garlic for 7 weeks after 1 week of adaptation. Hepatic levels of lipid peroxides and activities of antioxidant enzymes were measured. TEAC values of garlic and aged black garlic were $13.3{\pm}0.5$ and $59.2{\pm}0.8{\mu}mol/g$ wet weight, respectively. Consumption of aged black garlic significantly decreased hepatic thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) level compared with the garlic group which showed lower TBARS level than control group (p<0.05). Activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) of garlic and aged black garlic group were significantly elevated compared to the control group. Catalase (CAT) activity of aged black garlic group was increased compared with the control group. These results show that aged black garlic exerts stronger antioxidant activity than garlic in vitro and in vivo, suggesting garlic and aged black garlic, to a greater extent, could be useful in preventing diabetic complications.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.456-464
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• 2007

This paper proposes a novel three-phase current-fed active clamp DC-DC converter for fuel cells. A single common active clamp branch is used to limit transient voltage across the three-phase full bridge and to realize zero-voltage switching(ZVS) in all switches. To apply for the power generation system current-fed type has been combined with the three-phase power conversion system. The proposed approach has the following advantages: an increase (by a factor of three) of input current and output voltage chopping frequencies; lower RMS current through the inverter switches with higher power transfer capability; reduction in size of reactive later components and the power conditioning system; better transformer utilization; increase of the system reliability. Therefore, the proposed three-phase current-fed active clamp DC-DC converter is appropriate for the boost type DC-DC converter for fuel cells and also applicable for the photovoltaic and battery charge system. The paper details the analysis, simulation and hardware implementation of the proposed system. Finally, experimental results with the proposed PWM strategy demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed scheme on a 500W prototype converter.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.417-423
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• 2007

Oxy-gasification or oxygen-blown gasification, enables a clean and efficient use of coal and opens a promising way to CO2 capture. The coal gasification process of a slurry feed type, entrained-flow coal gasifier was numerically predicted in this paper. The purposes of this study are to develop an evaluation technique for design and performance optimization of coal gasifiers using a numerical simulation technique, and to confirm the validity of the model. By dividing the complicated coal gasification process into several simplified stages such as slurry evaporation, coal devolatilization, mixture fraction model and two-phase reactions coupled with turbulent flow and two-phase heat transfer, a comprehensive numerical model was constructed to simulate the coal gasification process. The influence of turbulence on the gas properties was taken into account by the PDF (Probability Density Function) model. A numerical simulation with the coal gasification model is performed on the Conoco-Philips type gasifier for IGCC plant. Gas temperature distribution and product gas composition are also presented. Numerical computations were performed to assess the effect of variation in oxygen to coal ratio and steam to coal ratio on reactive flow field. The concentration of major products, CO and H2 were calculated with varying oxygen to coal ratio (0.2-1.5) and steam to coal ratio(0.3-0.7). To verify the validity of predictions, predicted values of CO and H2 concentrations at the exit of the gasifier were compared with previous work of the same geometry and operating points. Predictions showed that the CO and H2 concentration increased gradually to its maximum value with increasing oxygen-coal and hydrogen-coal ratio and decreased. When the oxygen-coal ratio was between 0.8 and 1.2, and the steam-coal ratio was between 0.4 and 0.5, high values of CO and H2 were obtained. This study also deals with the comparison of CFD (Computational Flow Dynamics) and STATNJAN results which consider the objective gasifier as chemical equilibrium to know the effect of flow on objective gasifier compared to equilibrium. This study makes objective gasifier divided into a few ranges to study the evolution of the gasification locally. By this method, we can find that there are characteristics in the each scope divided.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.540-547
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• 2009

There needs disease-predictable signs in order to enable preventive diagnosis and therapy. Then traditional Chinese medicine applies various medical diagnostic equipments used in western medicine to diagnosing sub-healthy state. But such data are not originated from inherent oriental medicine, and not obtained easily in ordinary clinical practice. This paper is to provide synopsis of the ante-disease diagno-therapeutics partly and to show predictable data based on the facial shapes and signs, especially of gall bladder's versus bladder's body and masculine versus feminine shape. Ante-disease means not only the complete healthy state, but also the state unseen any symptoms in macrographically in the course of outbreak of disease. It contains two stages, first one is the former state of disease and second one is untransmitted state of disease. The patterns of ante-disease consist of latent disease, pre-disease, transmission type like senescent syndrome, abnormal reactive syndrome(變證), syndrome of transmission and transmutation. The classification with gall bladder and bladder type manifests the differences of shape, color and size of each organ in comparison of the universal and standard figures of the human being. On the other hand, the classification with masculine and feminine shape contrasts the innate sexual difference and the shape, characteristics originated from in itself. These two classification theories have their own pathologic types and syndrome types with each disease so that disease-predictable data can be constructed based on such a relationship. In addition, this diagnostic method by facial shapes and signs is able to be applied to whole stages from prenatal to present state of disease even if the cause and inducement are not clear. Ante-disease diagno-theraputic system by Gall Bladder's versus Bladder's Body and Masculine versus Feminine Shape is getting more important in the chronic and internal disease in comparison of the acute and traumatic disease. So this study is able to make up for the limit of diagnosis on ante-disease in the field of oriental medicine clinic.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.390-394
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to determine the optimal storage condition of pre-packed Hanwoo beef without freezing. Hanwoo loin was purchased from a local distributor at 48 h after slaughter, then sliced in $1.5{\pm}0.5$ cm thickness, and packed in a polyethylene (PE) tray covered with linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) film. The studied factors to set the optimal storage condition were chamber temperature (5, 2.5 and $-1^{\circ}C$ for 14 d), cooling method (direct and indirect cooling system), and ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation for beef surface sterilization (0, 30, 60, and 120 min). The changes of pH, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and number of aerobic bacteria were measured during storage. Beef samples stored in $-1^{\circ}C$ showed the minimal increasing rate in TBARS and microbial growth. After 15 d of storage, there was no significant difference in pH and TBARS values. However, the microbial population of beef stored in direct type cooling chamber ($4.25{\pm}0.66$ Log CFU/g) was significantly lower than that of beef stored in indirect type chamber ($6.47{\pm}0.08$ Log CFU/g) (p<0.05). After 4 d of storage, 60 or 120 min UV light irradiated beef samples showed significantly lower microbial population, and at 14 d of storage, 60 min UV irradiated beef sample showed significantly lower microbial population ($3.14{\pm}0.43$ Log CFU/g) than control ($4.46{\pm}0.13$ Log CFU/g) (p<0.05). However, TBARS values of 60 or 120 min UV light irradiated beef samples were significantly higher than non-irradiated beef sample after 4 d of storage (p<0.05).

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.43-48
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• 2017

Conductive $Sn_xO_y$ thin films were fabricated via RF reactive sputtering using SnO:Sn (80:20 mol%) composite target. The composite target was used to produce a chemically stable composition of $Sn_xO_y$ thin film while controlling structural defects by chemical reaction between tin and oxygen. During sputtering pressure, RF power, and substrate temperature were fixed, and oxygen partial pressure was varied from 0% to 12%. Annealing process was carried out at $300^{\circ}C$ for 1 hour in vacuum. Except $P_{O2}=0%$ sample, all samples showed the transmittance of 80~90% and amorphous phase before and after annealing. Electrically stable p-type $Sn_xO_y$ thin film with high transmittance was only obtained from the oxygen partial pressure at 12%. The carrier concentration and mobility for the $P_{O2}=12%$ were $6.36{\times}10^{18}cm^{-3}$ and $1.02cm^2V^{-1}s^{-1}$ respectively after annealing.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.14-32
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• 2022

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma co-activator-1α (PGC-1α) has a central role in regulating muscle differentiation and mitochondrial metabolism. PGC-1α stimulates muscle growth and muscle fiber remodeling, concomitantly regulating lactate and lipid metabolism and promoting oxidative metabolism. Gynostemma pentaphyllum (Thumb.) has been widely employed as a traditional herbal medicine and possesses antioxidant, anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory, hypolipemic, hypoglycemic, and anticancer properties. We investigated whether G. pentaphyllum extract (GPE) and its active compound, gypenoside L (GL), affect muscle differentiation and mitochondrial metabolism via activation of the PGC-1α pathway in murine C2C12 myoblast cells. MATERIALS/METHODS: C2C12 cells were treated with GPE and GL, and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot were used to analyze the mRNA and protein expression levels. Myh1 was determined using immunocytochemistry. Mitochondrial reactive oxygen species generation was measured using the 2'7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate assay. RESULTS: GPE and GL promoted the differentiation of myoblasts into myotubes and elevated mRNA and protein expression levels of Myh1 (type IIx). GPE and GL also significantly increased the mRNA expression levels of the PGC-1α gene (Ppargc1a), lactate metabolism-regulatory genes (Esrra and Mct1), adipocyte-browning gene fibronectin type III domain-containing 5 gene (Fndc5), glycogen synthase gene (Gys), and lipid metabolism gene carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1b gene (Cpt1b). Moreover, GPE and GL induced the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase, p38, sirtuin1, and deacetylated PGC-1α. We also observed that treatment with GPE and GL significantly stimulated the expression of genes associated with the anti-oxidative stress response, such as Ucp2, Ucp3, Nrf2, and Sod2. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that GPE and GL enhance exercise performance by promoting myotube differentiation and mitochondrial metabolism through the upregulation of PGC-1α in C2C12 skeletal muscle.