This study examines the rise of the Body Positive Movement on TikTok and its role as a form of online content activism influencing the fashion design and industry. Through a combination of literature review and case study methodology, the study explores the expression techniques and thematic types of Body Positive Movement on TikTok. Reviews of literature, previous studies, online articles, fashion journals, and relevant search terms on TikTok informed a definition of Body Positive Movement and an analysis of its formation and rise. The research findings confirm the impact TikTok content on Body Positive Movement has on the fashion industry in addressing external factors (i.e., ‘Appearance’, ‘Race’, ‘Aging’, ‘Physical Disability’) and intrinsic factors (i.e., ‘Acceptance of Diversity’, ‘Self-Esteem’, ‘Rejection of Stereotypes’, ‘Appropriate Representation’, ‘Information Provision’). The key external factor , ‘Appearance’, includes subcategories such as ‘Body Shape’, ‘Body Hair’, ‘Skin’, and ‘Facial Features’. TikTok content creators on fashion creatively combine music, emojis, and visual storytelling to exhibit positive self-perception concerning these factors. A significant finding of the study is that short clips predominantly manifesting external factors differentiate into informative or enlightening videos associated with intrinsic factors. The study underscores Body Positive Movement's important influence on the fashion industry from design to presentation.

Hongjam is a natural health food that has been shown to have various health-promoting effects, but studies on immunity enhancement have not been done so far. In this study, we investigated whether HongJam extracts could be enhancing innate immunity by protomoting proliferatin of macrophages and their phagocytic or pinocytic abilities to pathogens. (Grant No. PJ017024022023)

Immunity is largely divided into innate immunity and adaptive immunity. We conducted a study using HongJam extract to confirm its innate immunity-enhancing effect. Our data using Natural Killer (NK) cells, which play an important role in innate immunity, confirmed that HongJam extract promotes the proliferation of NK cells and also enhances the function of NK cells to attack and destroy cancer cells. (Grant No. PJ017024022023)

The enzyme digestion of foods is known to have certain advantages, such as enhancing health improvement functions of functional foods. In this study, we investigated whether the memory enhancement effects of HongJam could be enhanced by enzymatic digestions. We found that enzyme digested HJ had more enhanced functionality than undigested HJ. We also found the molecular basis of memory enhancement by performing various biochemical and molecular biological experiments. (Grant No. PJ016908032023)

Recently, the occurrence of the fall webworm, one of the foreign invasive pests, is rapidly increasing due to the increase in average annual temperature due to global climate changes. In this study, we are presenting diverse eco-friendly technologies to control the fall webworm. (Grant No. PJ014845032023).

Ischemic stroke leads to severe brain damage and high mortality. Chlorogenic acid is a phenolic compound known to have neuroprotective properties. Bcl-2 family protein plays an important role in the regulation of apoptosis. We investigated whether chlorogenic acid exerts neuroprotective effects against ischemic injury by modulating Bcl-2 and Bax proteins. Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was performed to induce cerebral ischemia and rats were injected intraperitoneally with phosphate buffered saline or chlorogenic acid (30 mg/kg) for 2 h after MCAO. Cortical tissues were collected 24 h after MCAO injury and reverse transcription-quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analyses were performed to investigate the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax. The regulation of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins by chlorogenic acid during glutamateinduced cell damage were examined. Cells were collected at 24 h after administration of glutamate (5 mM) and chlorogenic acid (10, 30, 50 μM). These results showed a decrease in Bcl-2 expression and an increase in Bax expression in MCAO animals, but chlorogenic acid treatment alleviated these changes by MCAO damage. Glutamate significantly reduced cell viability, and chlorogenic acid treatment alleviated this reduction in a dose-dependent manner. Glutamate induced a decrease in Bcl-2 expression and an increase in Bax expression, but chlorogenic acid treatment alleviated these changes. We found that chlorogenic acid alleviates changes in the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins induced by brain injury. Therefore, our findings provide an evidence that chlorogenic acid has neuroprotective effects against MCAO damage by modulating Bcl-2 and Bax proteins.

Ischemic stroke causes severe neuronal damage. Chlorogenic acid is a phenolic substance present in fruits and coffee. It also exerts neuroprotective effects against various brain injuries. The 14-3-3 family protein perform a variety of functions including metabolism, signal transduction, cell differentiation, and apoptosis. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether chlorogenic acid regulates the expression of 14-3-3 protein in stroke animal models. Ischemic stroke was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) surgery. Phosphate buffered saline (PBS) or chlorogenic acid (30 mg/kg) were intraperitoneally injected to adult male rats 2 h before MCAO surgery. Adhesive-removal test was performed 24 h after MCAO surgery and cerebral cortical tissues were collected for further study. MCAO damage caused severe neurological impairment and chlorogenic acid treatment ameliorated this disorder. Our proteomic approach showed a decrease in 14-3-3 expression in MCAO animals with PBS. The decrease in 14-3-3 expression alleviated in MCAO animal with chlorogenic acid. We confirmed changes in various 14-3-3 protein isoforms, including beta/alpha, zeta/delta, gamma, epsilon, eta, and tau through reverse transcription-PCR. These results explained that chlorogenic acid regulates the expression of 14-3-3 protein in MCAO-induced cerebral ischemia. 14-3-3 is considered to be an important protein for cell survival through binding to pro-apoptotic proteins. The maintenance of 14-3-3 levels is an important event in neuroprotection against ischemic injury. Therefore, we can demonstrate that the 14-3-3 protein contributes to the neuroprotective effect of chlorogenic acid in stroke animal models.

Ischemic stroke causes brain damage and neuronal cell death by depriving oxygen and nutrients and releasing excessive levels of glutamate and intracellular calcium. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is a polyphenolic compound present in green tea. It has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective effects. Hippocalcin is a calcium binding protein that regulates calcium concentration, neuronal differentiation, neuronal excitability, and neuronal cell death. In this study, we investigated whether EGCG regulates the expression of hippocalcin in neurons and astrocytes after focal cerebral ischemia. Cerebral ischemia was induced by meddle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). EGCG (50 mg/kg) or PBS was injected into the abdominal cavity just before MCAO surgery. Neurobehavioral tests were performed to evaluate the effect of EGCG on neurological behavioral deficits 24 h after MCAO surgery. Immunofluorescence staining was performed to evaluate the positive response to hippocalcin in the cerebral cortex after MCAO surgery. We also detected the positive reactions of neuronal nuclear protein (NeuN) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) as markers of neuron and astrocyte, respectively. MCAO caused severe neurological impairment and EGCG treatment attenuated these impairments. MCAO damage reduced the number of NeuN-positive cells and increased the number of GFAP-positive cells. This result indicates a decrease in neurons and an increase in astrocytes. However, EGCG alleviated these changes caused by MCAO damage. MCAO reduced the number of hippocalcin-positive cells in neurons and astrocytes, and EGCG treatment attenuated these reductions. Hippocalcin exerts neuroprotective effect through regulating intracellular calcium concentration. In conclusion, EGCG regulates the expression of hippocalcin in neurons and astrocytes and has neuroprotective effects in focal cerebral ischemia.

The geological disposal of spent nuclear fuel is one of the important problems to be solved worldwide. For the safety of the geological disposal, disposal facility is recommended to be constructed in the deep reducing environment of host rocks. As host rocks, rock salt, argillaceous (clay) rock, and crystalline rock have been considered as stable geological formations in various countries. Although various studies have been conducted on crystalline rocks in Korea, there are still few studies on hydrogeochemical evolution in the deep and reducing environment related to the disposal of spent nuclear fuel. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify hydrogeochemical evolution process in granite aquifer which can affect the stability of disposal facility. Groundwater samples for isotope and chemical analysis were collected quarterly adjacent to KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel). As the depth increased, the groundwater changed from Ca-HCO3 type to Na-HCO3 type under the influence of silicate mineral weathering, and the fluorine concentration increased due to the dissolution of fluorine-bearing minerals. However, hydrogeochemical evolution according to the depth was not observed in some wells because of a hydraulic connection through the fracture zone. In addition, the behavior of nitrate and redox-sensitive metals (Fe, Mn, U, Mo) in groundwater was clearly different in the redox condition. Considering these hydrogeochemical processes and hydrogeological factors, a conceptual model of granite aquifers in and around KURT was established. The results of this study will be used as basic data to understand the hydrogeochemical processes and to evaluate and predict the behavior of radionuclides in granite aquifer system.