Background: The hamstring is a muscle that crosses two joints, that is the hip and knee, and its flexibility is an important indicator of physical health in its role in many activities of daily living such as sitting, walking, and running. Limited range of motion (ROM) due to hamstring tightness is strongly related to back pain and malfunction of the hip joint. High-frequency diathermy (HFD) therapy is known to be effective in relaxing the muscle and increasing ROM. Objects: To investigate the effects of HFD on active knee extension ROM and hamstring tone and stiffness in participants with hamstring tightness. Methods: Twenty-four participants with hamstring tightness were recruited, and the operational definition of hamstring tightness in this study was active knee extension ROM of below 160° at 90° hip flexion in the supine position. HFD was applied to the hamstring for 15 minutes using the WINBACK device. All participants were examined before and after the intervention, and the results were analyzed using a paired t-test. The outcome measures included knee extension ROM, the viscoelastic property of the hamstring, and peak torque for passive knee extension. Results: The active knee extension ROM significantly increased from 138.8° ± 9.9° (mean ± standard deviation) to 143.9° ± 10.4° after the intervention (p < 0.05), while viscoelastic property of the hamstring significantly decreased (p < 0.05). Also, the peak torque for knee extension significantly decreased (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Application of HFD for 15 minutes to tight hamstrings immediately improves the active ROM and reduces the tone, stiffness, and elasticity of the muscle. However, further experiments are required to examine the long-term effects of HFD on hamstring tightness including pain reduction, postural improvement around the pelvis and lower extremities, and enhanced functional movement.

목 적: 안경구매자의 구매결정요인과 브랜드 자산인식이 구매만족과 구전의도에 미치는 영향에 대한 상호 관계를 알아보고자 하였다. 방 법 : 2011년 10월부터 12월까지 광주지역, 대구지역, 대전지역의 안경원 구매고객을 대상으로 437부의 설문지가 자료분석에 사용되었다. SPSS 18.0 통계 프로그램을 이용하여 구매결정요인에 대한 상관관계분석 과 구매만족과 구전의도에 대해여 다중회귀분석을 실시하였다. 결 과 : 구매결정요인은 고객서비스 및 디자인요인, 상품특성요인, 구매경험요인, 컨텐츠 및 커뮤니티요인 순으로 나타났고, 안경구매 소비자의 브랜드자산 인식에 대한 구매만족 및 구전의도는 브랜드에 대한 지각된 품질, 브랜드 인지도, 브랜드 이미지 순으로 나타났다. 결 론 : 안경구매자의 구매만족과 구전의도를 향상시키기 위해서 고객서비스 및 디자인에 대해 경쟁력을 갖추어야 하며 브랜드에 대한 지각된 품질을 향상시키는 노력이 필요하겠다.

Background : Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a secondary air pollutant that negatively affects numerous agricultural crop and forest. The tropospheric ozone is constantly increasing due to fossil fuel air pollutants. Here, we study the response of tartary buckwheat to ozone gas includes physiological and biochemical changes such as change in gene expression and metabolism. Methods and Results : Tartary buckwheat plants have green stems and leaves under normal conditions, while the plants exposed to the ozone have red stems and reddish green leaves. The expression of most flavonoid biosynthetic genes were significantly upregulated in ozone-treated buckwheat plants, exceting the expression of FtF3’H2. The contents of two anthocyanins, cyanidin 3-O-glucoside and cyanidin 3-O-rutinoside, were significantly increased by ozone treatment. From the metabolic profiling based on the GC-TOF-MS analysis, we identified the effect of ozone on thirty-five metabolites, including sugars, amino acids, and organic acids. Most of the metabolites result in significantly decreased or nearly remain unchanged in the ozone-treated plants compared with untreated plants, excepting alanine, proline, tryptophan, sucrose, and raffinose. To identify the effect of ozone on the leaf, we analyzed the epidermal cells on the leaf surface by scanning electron microscopy. Interestingly, amount of epidermal cells were partially destructed in ozone-treated plants. Conclusion : By analyzing both primary and secondary metabolites of tartary buchwheat without or with ozone, we identified that ozone affects the modulation of the metabolites as well as gene expression in tartary buchwheat.

Background : Solanum nigrum Lin. is an annual herbaceous plant which belongs to the family Solanaceae as known the important medicinal herb and health-benefiting plant. Phytochemical investigation of whole plant reported that contain total alkaloids, steroid alkaloids, steroidal saponins, flavonoids, tannins, glycosides, proteins, carbohydrates, coumarins and phytosterols, and glycoproteins, exhibiting antitumor activity. Methods and Results : The accumulation of anthocyanin known as synthesis by flavonoid biosynthesis pathway is increased by AtPAP1 transcriptional factor. To identify the effect of AtPAP1 in S. nigrum, we generate AtPAP1-overexpressed S. nigrum and investigate total anthocyanin in these transgenic lines. The transgenic lines resulted in increasing the total anthocyanin amount compared with control line. Thus, the transgenic lines appeared purple colored leave as well as light purple in flower petal and dark purple in flower anther. To identify that AtPAP1 affects the genes profiling of anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway in S. nigrum, we harvested the AtPAP1-overexpressed S. nigrum transgenic lines and proceeded to qRT-PCR analysis. The result indicated that AtPAP1 gene highly induces in transgenic lines and the most upstream pathway genes of flavonoid such as SnPAL, SnC4H, Sn4CL, SnCHI and SnHCT are induced by AtPAP1 overexpression, excepting UGT75C1. According to these results, those functional genes may be regulated by AtPAP1 transcription factor. Thus, the purple color appearing in AtPAP1-overexpressed S. nigrum plants may be regulated by those genes. Conclusion : When AtPAP1 is overexpressing, the most genes in flavonoid pathway upregulate and activate resulting in accumulation of anthocyanin compound in leave and flower organs in S. nigrum. Ultimately, our data will be helpful for further research in S. nigrum molecular and physiology and better strategies for exploiting its phytochemical properties.

Background : Mulberry (Morus alba L.), renowned for their medicine benefits and the leave as the sole food for silkworm (Bombyx mori). To understanding the molecular mechanism of color formation and nutritive value in different mulberry fruit varieties, we use high-throughput transcriptome sequencing technique to investigated the anthocyanin and betulinic biosynthesis pathway related functional genes. In addition, the total antosyanin and betuinic acid contend were also measured. Methods and Results : The resulting cDNA library was then sequenced using an Illumina HiSeq™ 2000 system. The clean reads were assembled using Trinity software, Then perform gene family clustering to get final unigenes. The pH differential method was used to determine the total anthocyanin content (TAC) of methanol extract from the red and white mulberry, and High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis was used to quantify the triterpenes content. In this study, total 50,149 unigenes with an average length of 1,125 nt and N50 equaling 1,861 nt were generated. Using these transcriptome sequecing, cDNAs encoding anthocyanin biosynthetic genes and triterpene biosynthetic genes were isolated. In addition, total anthocyanins and betulinic acid content were analyzed. A great amount of total anthocyanins (59.16 mg/g) were found in fully ripe fruit of Cheongil. Accumulation of betulin and betulinic acid were also detected in all stages of Cheongil and Turkey fruits with small amount. Conclusion : The results of transcriptome sequencing provide useful information at molecular lever in mulberry research, such as interesting gene discovering, marker assisted molecular breeding, and interesting metabolic pathway investigate. The gene expression results could help us understanding of the molecular mechanisms of different fruit color determining factor.

Background : Momordica charantia L. (M. charantia) is a member of the family Cucurbitaceae, used as a medicine herb in traditional medicine. In this study, we present the sequencing, de novo assembly and analysis of the transcriptome of M. charantia and provide a global description of relationship between putative phenylpropanoid and flavonoid biosynthesis genes and alteration of phenylpropanoid and flavonoid content during different organs and plantlet of M. charantia. Methods and Results : The transcriptome of M. charantia was constructed by using an Illumina Nexteseq500 sequencing system. Out of 68,073,862 total reads, approximately 88,703 unigenes were identified with a length of 898 bp. Alternatively, transcriptomic data, 10cDNAs (McPAL, McC4H, Mc4CL, McCOMT, McCHS, McCHI, McF3H, McFLS, McDFR and Mc3GT) encoded phenylpropanoid and flavonoid biosynthetic genes. The expression levels and the accumulation of trans-cinnamic acid, benzoic acid, 4-hydroxyvbenzoic acid, p-coumaric acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, catechin hydrate, ferulic acid, and rutin were investigated in different organs and plantlets. Mainly, phenylpropanoids and flavonoids accumulated in leaves and flowers, whereas low levels accumulated in roots. Collectively, these results indicate that the putative McPAL, McC4H, McCOMT, McFLS, and Mc3GT might be key factors for controlling phenylpropanoid and flavonoid contents in M. charantia. Conclusion : In this study, we present the sequencing, de novo assembly and analysis of the transcriptome of M. charantia. We also compared gene expression and compound analysis of phenylpropanoid and flavonoid in different organs and plantlet of M. charantia. These results indicate that McPAL, McC4H, McCOMT, McFLS, and Mc3GT are key regulators of phenylpropanoid and flavonoid accumulation in M. charantia

Background : Plants live in restricted spaces that are constantly exposed to various environmental stresses. Under these stressful conditions, plants lead to biosynthesize specialized metabolites to adapt to environmental stresses. Here we investigate the effects of cold on the metabolome of tartaty buckwheat, focusing the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. Methods and Results : From the metabolic profiling based on the GC-TOF-MS analysis, we identified the effect of cold on forty-four metabolites, including sugars, amino acids, and organic acids. Most of sugars and sugar derivatives remain nearly unchanged or slightly decreased in the plants grown at 25 ºC, whereas sugar and sugar derivative contents of cold-treated plants significantly increased, excepting galactose. Some of amino acid and amino acid derivatives contents decrease in cold-treated plants, whereas organic acid derived from tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle were increased the cold-treated plants compared with the plants grown at 25 ºC. Particularly, the contents of two anthocyanins, cyanidin 3-O-glucoside and cyanidin 3-O-rutinoside, were significantly increased by cold treatment. Proanthocyanidins such as epicatechin and catechin were also significantly affected by cold. The expression of most flavonoid biosynthetic genes were significantly upregulated in cold-treated buckwheat seedling. Among the flavonoid biosynthetic genes, the expression of FtANS was notably upregulated in response to cold. Conclusion : By analyzing both primary metabolites and secondary metabolites of tartary buchwheat without or with cold, we showed that cold play a critical role in the modulation of the primary metabolites and flavonoid synthesis pathway in tartary buchwheat. Particularly, anthocyanin and proanthocyanidin biosynthetic pathways are strongly up-regulated in response to cold.

Polyethylene and polystyrene are frequently used resins for making food container including cup noodle bowls. In the pre-sent study, we investigated the potential risks of polyethylene and polystyrene cup noodle containers by cytotoxicity tests such as agar diffusion assay, filter diffusion assay, and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. We exposed CCL-1 mouse fibroblast cell line to the polyethylene and polystyrene cup noodle containers indirectly through agar gel. We also used eluents derived from the cup noodle containers by storing them for 24 h at 70℃ in liquids, such as distilled water or dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). Both polyethylene and polystyrene cup noodle container specimen were found to be non-cytotoxic in agar diffusion assay as well as filter diffusion assay. The eluents from polystyrene using DMSO showed slight cytotoxicity in MTT assay.