• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.243-249
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• 2013

Fibers of microbial polyesters, poly(3-hydroxy butyrate) (PHB) and poly(3-hydroxy butyrate-co-3-hydroxy valerate) (HB-co-HV) were prepared by electrospinning method. The obtained fibers were evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, and oil absorption. The formation of fibers was strongly dependent on a concentration of solution. At a low concentration, the fibers contained beads which is from aggregation of polymer due to short evaporation time. The fine fibers with $2-5{\mu}m$ diameter were obtained at 20 wt% concentration. The contact angle measurement showed that the fiber had higher water contact angle than the film due to the lotus-like effect. Oil absorbency showed that the fiber had higher than the film. Specially, the HB-co-HV fiber which was spinned from 20 wt% absorbed 65% oil which is much higher than that of a normal polypropylene-based oil paper.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.379-398
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• 2014

This pilot study explored the effect of mental demand on a Web searcher's thoughts, emotions, efforts, and performance in Web searches in order to address whether or not there is any difference between searchers exposed to mental demand manipulation and searchers not exposed. Research data were collected via think-aloud protocol (TAP) with a dual-task in experiments and interviews with 10 subjects who participated in this study. For the searcher's thoughts, relevance judgment was found to be hindered by mental demand. For the searcher's emotions, the experimental group was more frustrated than the control group. With respect to the searcher's efforts, searchers for the experimental group with mental demand manipulation were more likely to spend more time, make fewer queries, and visit fewer pages but work harder to find more relevant information that they needed. Lastly, with regard to the searcher's performance, it is likely that performance was highly dependent upon the completion of the search tasks for both groups. The NASA-TLX six components and cognitive load scores of searchers did not make a significant difference in the outcome. The findings support the use of a dual-task methodology as a promising approach for the assessment of cognitive load induced by complex Web searches.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.1452-1461
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• 1997

The hot press apparatus to obtain the solidified rocks with 60mm of diameter against rock waste was developed, and the optimum conditions for solidification were founded out, of which were 300.deg. C of temperature and 1hr of holding time. The solidified rocks reinforced with the fibers (carbon, steel) were made by means of a hydrothermal hot press method. Fracture toughness of those was obtained using the round compact tension(RCT) specimens. Load and displacement behaviours of the solidified rocks reinforced with the fibers were dependent upon the fiber volume fraction and kind of the fibers. Strength and fracture energy of the solidified rocks with steel were much larger than those of the solidified ones with carbon because of the Bridge's effect, multiple cracking and crack branching phenomena.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.244-249
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• 2004

Background: Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone (CRH), an important regulator of stress response, has a potent immunoregulatory effect with the ability to promote the growth of various cancer through CRH receptor type 1 under stress. Although the metastasized cancers through cell migration are more aggressive than the primary cancers, little is known about the effect of CRH on cell migration. Gastric cancer is prone to metastasize to other tissues and it is reported that gastric cancer is response to various stresses such as oxidative stress. Herein, we studied the relationship between CRH and gastric cancer cell migration. Methods: We used gastric cancer cell line, MKN-28 and tested the CRH receptor type 1 expression on MKN-28 by RT-PCR. To examine the change in the ability of migration by CRH in MKN-28, cells were incubated with CRH and then migration ability was measured using a cell migration assay. Results: We confirmed that CRH receptor type 1 was expressed in MKN-28 and HaCaT cells. The migration ability of MKN-28 cells was increased by CRH in a time-, dose- dependent manner. Conclusion: These data suggest that CRH increases migration ability in gastric cancer cell line and that CRH may be a critical regulator in the metastasis of gastric cancer cell.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.53-59
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• 2016

Alcoholism is a significant health problem in the world. The liver is the first and primary target organ for alcohol metabolism. Alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase play important roles in the metabolism of alcohol and aldehyde. In this study, I aimed to investigate the eliminatory effects of a Phellinus spp. extract on alcohol metabolism in drunken Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Male SD rats were given Phellinus spp. extract at 30 min after 40% (5 g/kg) alcohol ingestion. To assay the effect of Phellinus spp. extract on blood alcohol concentration, blood samples were taken from the tail vein at 1, 3 and 5 h after alcohol ingestion. The concentrations of alcohol, alcohol dehydrogenase, and aldehyde dehydrogenase in Phellinus spp. extract treated rat were significantly lower than that of the control with a time-dependent manner. In addition, the alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities of Phellinus spp. extract-treated groups were altered compared to those of the control group. These results suggest that Phellinus spp. extract intake can have a positive effect on the reduction of alcohol, alcohol dehydrogenase, and aldehyde dehydrogenase concentrations in the blood and may alleviate acute alcohol-induced hepatotoxicity by altering alcohol metabolic enzyme activities. Phellinus spp. extract is thus a good nutraceutical candidate.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.215-230
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• 1993

In-situ rock mass demonstrates the variety of structural features, and especially the mechanical and spatial characteristics of joint (or joint system) greatly affect the deformation and fallure strength of the rock mass. In this study finite element model capable of analyzing the viscoplastic behavior of reinforced jointed rock mass has been developed based on equivalent material approach. Accuracy and reliability of the numerical model have verified by simuiating the behavior of simplified block model and comparing the results with analytic solutions. Practical applicability was also demonstrated by analyzing the time-dependent behavior of underground oil storage tunnel and assessing the reinforcement effect of rockbolt.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.70-81
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• 2010

A mathematical model is formulated to study the effect of wall mass on the thermal performance of four different houses of different construction. This analytical study was motivated by the experimental work of Burch et al. An analytical solution of one -dimensional, linear, partial differential equation for wall temperature profiles and room air temperatures is obtained using the Laplace transform method. Typical Meteorological Year data are processed to yield hourly average monthly values. These discrete data are then converted to a continuous, time dependent form using a Fast Fourier Transform method. This study is conducted using weather data from four different locations in the United States: Albuquerque, New mexico; Miami, Florida; Santa Maria, California; and Washington D.C. for both winter and summer conditions. A computer code is developed to calculate the wall temperature profile, room air temperature, and energy consumption loads. Three sets of results are calculated one for no auxiliary energy and two for different control mechanism -- an on-off controller and a proportional controller. Comparisons are made for the cases of two controllers. Heavy weight houses with insulation in mild weather areas (such as August in Santa Maria, California) show a high comfort level. Houses using proportional control experience a higher comfort level in comparison to houses using on-off control. The result shows that there is an effect of mass on the thermal performance of a heavily constructed house in mild weather conditions.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.333-339
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• 1998

Sambutoxin, a newly purified mycotoxin in Koea, caused hemorrhage in the stomach and intestine of rats. To elucidate the mechanism of hemorrhage, effects of sambutoxin on rabbit platelet aggregation were investigated. First of all, the effects of sambutoxin on the platelet aggregation response and ATP release from platelet by various appregating factors were investigated. And then the role of $Ca^{2+}$ on the platelet aggregation was investigated by flow cytometer. Finally, morphological effect of sambutoxin on platelet ultrastructure was examined by transmission electron microscope. Sambutoxin inhibited aggregation induced by ADP, collagen, thrombin, and arachidonic acid and decreased platelet activating factor-induced disaggregation time in a dose dependent manner. Sambutoxin also decreased thrombin and arachidonic acid-induced ATP release, but increased all factors induced $Ca^{2+}$ release. Sambutoxin showed severe ultrastructural changes of platelet such as appearance of disorganization debri of cellular organelle in intercellular space. Our results indicate that sambutoxin inhibitis rabbit platelet aggregation, and it may be party due to the decrease of ATP release. However, it is not clear whether the antiaggregating effect of sambutoxin is related to $Ca^{2+}$ increase.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.37 no.4 s.147
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• pp.283-289
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• 2006

Ethanol extracts of the whole herb of Agastachis Herba (A) and of Pueraria Radix (P) alone and of their mixture (A+P) downregulated the cell growth, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression, prostaglandin $E_2\;(PGE_2)$, and cGMP production. A, P, and A + P inhibited the cell growth of HT-29 colon cancer cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner but not the growth of normal colon cell, CCD-112CoN. In addition, they markedly inhibited the productions of $PGE_2$ and cGMP as well as the mRNA expression of COX-2. These data suggest that non-toxic concentration of A, P, and A + P have a significant effect on the in vitro growth of HT-29 cells, specifically through the inhibition of the $PGE_2$ production via COX-2.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.149-155
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• 2015

Our previous study demonstrated that yuzu has an anti-platelet effect in rat blood. In the present study, we examined whether the anti-platelet effect of yuzu can be extended to human blood by investigating its ability to inhibit aggregations induced by various agonists in human platelet rich plasma (PRP). This study also investigated the underlying mechanism of yuzu focusing on ADP granule secretion, $TXB_2$ formations, and $PLC{\gamma}$/Akt signaling. The results from this study showed that ethanolic yuzu extract (YE), and its components, hesperidin and naringin, inhibited human platelet aggregation in a concentration-dependent manner. YE, hesperidin and naringin also inhibited $TXB_2$ formation and ADP release. The phosphorylation of $PLC{\gamma}$ and Akt was significantly inhibited by YE, heperidin and naringin. Furthermore, we demonstrated that YE, heperidin and naringin has anti-platelet effects in rat ex vivo studies, and lower side effects in mice tail bleeding time studies. The results from this study suggest that YE, hesperidin and naringin can inhibit human platelet aggregation, at least partly through the inhibition of $PLC{\gamma}$ and Akt, leading to a decrease in $TXB_2$ formation and granule secretion.