Cytokines are known to function as regulatory molecules that can be produced by virtually every nucleated cell type in the body, including lymphocytes, monocytes/macrophages, epithelial cells, fibroblasts, and many others. Cytokines include lymphocyte-derived factors (lymphokines), monocyte-derived factors (monokines), hematopoietic factors (colony-stimulating factors), connective tissue/ growth factors, and chemotactic chemokines. Cytokines released in response to infection can affect tumor development in different ways. When exposed to infectious agents, cytokines are secreted by sentinel cells, such as macrophages and dendritic cells. These cytokines include interleukin 1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor-α, as well as others, such as IL-6, IL-12, and IL-18. When released in sufficient quantities, these molecules can cause inflammation. Chronic inflammation is highly associated with tumor initiation, promotion, and progression. In this article, we review the roles and mechanisms of cytokines in tumor development.

The near explosion of attention given to graphene has attracted many to its research field. As new studies and findings about graphene synthesis, properties, electronic quality control, and possible applications simultaneous burgeon in the scientific community, it is quite hard to grasp the breadth of graphene history. At this stage, graphene's many fascinating qualities have been amply reported and its potential for various electronic applications are increasing, pulling in ever more newcomers to the field of graphene. Thus it has become important as a community to have an equal understanding of how this material was discovered, why it is stirring up the scientific community and what sort of progress has been made and for what purposes. Since the first discovery, the hype has expediently led to near accomplishment of industrial-sized production of graphene. This review covers the progress and development of synthesis and transfer techniques with an emphasis on the most recent technique of chemical vapor deposition, and explores the potential applications of graphene that are made possible with the improved synthesis and transfer.

The aim of this study was to investigate the suppressive activity of 70% ethanol extract and its dichloromethane fraction from Auricularia auricula-judae against adipogenesis and lipogenesis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. The ethanol extract and its dichloromethane fraction suppressed the differentiation and decreased lipid droplets in vitro. The dose-dependent increasing concentration of glycerol and lower triglycerides accumulation were found significantly (P < 0.05) with the treatment of both fractions from 70% ethanolic Auricularia auricula-judae extract and the glycerol-3-3phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) activity was also inhibited by both extracts. Further, the expression of adipogenic mRNAs were investigated by RT-PCR amplification. The key transcriptional factors, PPARγ and C/EBPα were decreased significantly at dose-dependent manner by both extracts of Auricularia auricula-judae. The expressions of LPL and FAS were also decreased by presence of these extracts. The decreased expressions of C/EBPβ, C/EBPγ and ACC1 were observed only by ethanol extract at 300 μg/ml concentration, while the expression of SREBP-1c, GLUT4 and aP2 were not altered in the 3T3-L1 adipocytes. These changes were occurred without the cytotoxic effect of both extracts against 3T3-L1 adipocytes in vitro. A positive control, fenofibrate inhibited the differentiation, triglycerides accumulation through PPARγ signaling by 2/3 reduction of PPARγ expression. Thus, these findings suggest that both extracts of Auricularia auricula-judae might be used to inhibit the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and reduction of triglycerides accumulation.

The aim of this study was to investigate the antitumor activity of solvent fractions from Auricularia auricula-judae 70% ethanol extract and confirmed the active components of dichloromethane fraction showing a potent antitumor activity than other fractions in the broncheoalveolar and gastric cancer cells. The solvent fractions of Auricularia auricula-judae extract, inhibited the growth proliferation of tumor cells in dose-dependent manner. The principle components of dichloromethane fraction were 5,11,17,23-tetrakis (1,1-dimethyl)-28-methoxypentacyclo [19.3.1.1 (3,7).1 (… (65.85%) and diazane (6.17%). The antitumor active components, diazane and gibberellic acid (GA3) were identified in this fraction by GC-MS analysis and lower antitumor activities than dichloromethane fraction. The unknown components of dichloromethane fraction were responsible for its cytotoxic effects on tumor cells. Based on IC50 value, gibberellic acid was little cytotoxic itself. According to PCR amplification, the apoptosis of tumor cells were induced by the down-regulation of Bcl-2 and over-expression of P53 on the presence of solvent fractions, diazane and gibberellic acid. Thus, these findings suggest that the dichloromethane might be used as functional feed additive that suppress the tumor growth in the body than other solvent fractions of Auricularia auricula-judae extracts.

The leaf beetle, Chrysolina aurichalcea (Coleoptera: Chysomelidae), is a pest damaging plants of Compositae. In order to understand the genetic diversity and geographic variation we sequenced a portion of mitochondrial COI gene (658 bp) and complete nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) of the species collected from seven Korean localities. A total of 17 haplotypes (CACOI01 ~ CACOI17), with the maximum sequence divergence of 3.04% (20 bp) were obtained from COI gene sequence, whereas 16 sequence types (ITS2CA01 ~ ITS2CA16), with the maximum sequence divergence of 2.013% (9 bp) were obtained from ITS2, indicating substantially larger sequence divergence in COI gene sequence. Phylogenetically, the COI gene provided two haplotype groups with a high nodal support (≥ 87%), whereas ITS2 provided one sequence type group with a high nodal support (≥ 92%). The result of COI gene may suggest the presence of historical biogeographic barriers that bolster genetic subdivision in the species. Different grouping pattern between COI gene and ITS2 sequences were interpreted in terms of recent dispersal, reflected in the ITS2 sequence. Finally, finding of unique haplotypes and sequence types only from Beakryeng-Islet population was interpreted as an intact remnant of ancient polymorphism. As more samples are analyzed using further hyper-variable marker, further fruitful inference on the geographic contour of the species might be available.

The phylogenetic relationships among the Nymphalidae (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) have been controversial in several perspective. The present study sequenced a total of ~ 3,500 bp from cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA), and elongation factor-1 alpha (EF-1α) in 80 nymphalid species belonging to seven subfamilies (Linmenitidinae, Heliconiinae, Nymphalinae, Apaturinae, Libytheinae, Satyrinae, and Danainae), along with those of six lycaenid species as outgroups. Phylogenetic analyses via Bayesian Inference (BI) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) algorithms concordantly supported the subfamilial relationships of (((((Linmenitidinae + Heliconiinae) + (Nymphalinae + Apaturinae)) + Libytheinae) + Satyrinae) + Danainae), with high nodal support for monophyletic subfamilies and tribes. This result is largely consistent with a previous study performed with a substantially large sequence information and morphological characters, except for the position of Libytheinae that has previously been placed as the sister to all reminder of Nymphalidae.

The notion that dental amalgam is a potential source of mercury exposure remains a controversial issue. However, there are few epidemiological analyses that have addressed whether this occurs in children. We aimed in our current study to identify the relationship between dental amalgam filling surfaces and the blood mercury levels in a cohort of 711 South Korean children aged between 8-9 years. Oral examinations were conducted to detect the number of amalgam filling surfaces on the teeth of these individuals. Blood samples were also taken from these children to assess the levels of mercury accumulation in the body. The amalgam filling surfaces were classified into four groups based on their number: 0 (n = 368), 1-5 (n = 219), 6-10 (n = 89), and 11+ (n = 35). The blood mercury levels in the children with more than 10 amalgam surfaces was 0.47 μg/L higher on average than those with no amalgam surfaces after adjusting for the frequency of fish or seafood consumption, age, and gender (P < 0.05). We found from our data that a higher number of dental amalgam fillings correlated with a higher blood mercury level in Korean children. Further studies are needed to investigate whether these elevated mercury levels exert neurotoxic or nephrotoxic effects.

원자전달 라디칼 중합(ATRP)에 의해 poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) 주사슬과 poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PSSA) 곁사슬로 되어있는 양쪽성 PVC-g-PSSA 가지형 공중합체를 합성하였다. PVC-g-PSSA 가지형 공중합체 고분자를 템플레이트로 사용하고 졸겔법을 적용하여, 결정성 아타네제상의 미세기공 이산화티타튬 필름을 제조하였다. TiO2 전구체인 TTIP를 친수성인 PSSA 영역과 선택적으로 작용시켜 TiO2 메조기공 필름을 성장하였으며, 이를 주사전자 현미경 (SEM)과 엑스레이회절 (XRD)분석을 통해 분석하였다. 스핀코팅 횟수와 P25 도입에 따른 염료감응 태양전지 성능을 체계적으로 분석하였다. 그 결과 준고체 고분자 전해질을 이용하였을 때, 100 mW/㎠ 조건에서 에너지 변환 효율이 2.7%에 이르렀다.

The emulsion and micro-encapsuled formulation from three essential oils, cassia, thyme white and lemon grass were tested for their insecticidal activities against Lycoriella ingenua (Dufour) adults at 0.3% concentration. As a result, the micro-encapsules than emulsion formulation was confirmed to show greater activity. Based on this result, insecticidal activities at several levels of concentration were examined, resulting in more than 80% insecticidal activity after 30 minutes at 0.6% level of cassia formulation. And also, insecticidal activity of three oil-based micro-encapsuled formulations lasted for up to 12 hours at 0.9% concentration. The main ingredients derived from three essential oils were evaluated on the insecticidal activity against Lycoriella ingenua. As a result, in case of thymol from thyme white, it showed more than 80% mortality after over 30 minutes at 0.25%, and in cinnamic aldehyde and citral, exhibited 88% and 82% mortality after 30 minutes at the 0.5% level, respectively. These three compounds were examined for whether the insecticidal activity was maintained depending on being over time. In case of thymol, it maintained good insecticidal activity against Lycoriella ingenua at 0.5% level until 120 hours, while cinnamic aldehyde and citral showed lower activity after 12 hours.

The leaf beetle, Chrysolina aurichalcea (Coleoptera: Chysomelidae), is a pest damaging plants of Compositae. In order to understand the genetic diversity and geographic variation of the species we sequenced a portion of mitochondrial COI gene (658 bp) and complete nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) collected from seven Korean localities. A total of 18 haplotypes (BARCA01 ~ BARCA18), with the maximum sequence divergence of 3.04% (20 bp) were obtained from COI gene sequence, whereas 17 sequence types (ITS2CA01 ~ ITS2CA17), with the maximum sequence divergence of 2.013% (9 bp) were obtained from ITS2, indicating substantially larger sequence divergence in mitochondrial gene sequence. Phylogenetically, the mitochondrial DNA has shown several haplotypes formed independent groups with substantially high node support (≥ 90%), whereas no such grouping was evidenced for ITS2, indicating different behaviors of the two molecules. Such difference may reflect a diverse dynamics of the species such as biogeographic history, mating behaviors, and also possibly different mode of inheritance of the two molecules, but requires further scrutinized examination of the dataset. In terms of population genetic perspective, overall no population subdivision was detected from both molecules, except for locality 7 (Eocheong islet) from mitochondrial DNA. As more scrutinized analysis is performed, further fruitful inference on the geographic contour of the species might be available.

The developmental time and survival of overwintering larvae of Monochamus saltuarius were studied at 7 constant temperatures (16, 20, 23, 25, 27, 30, 34℃), and a photoperiod of 16 : 8 (L : D) h. The total mortality of overwintering M. saltuarius was lowest at 27℃ (7%) and highest at 34℃ (93%). The total developmental time decreased with increasing temperature between 16℃ (49.48 days) and 34℃ (13.00 days). The relationship between the developmental rate and temperature was fitted by five nonlinear developmental rate models (Logan 6, Lactin 1, 2 and Briere 1, 2). The nonlinear shape of temperature development was best described by the Briere 1 model (r2=0.99). The developmental variation of overwintering larvae was well described by the three-parameter Weibull distribution model (r2=0.98). The temperature-dependent developmental models of M. saltuarius developed in this study could be used to predict emergence period of the adult, or to develop a population dynamics model of M. saltuarius.

The sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, is a vector of more than 100 plantdiseased viruses as well as a serious pest to various horticultural crops. Virus acquisition affects the vector’s development and reproduction, but its mechanism is largely unknown. Here we compared the temperature responses between non-viruliferous and TYLCV-viruliferous Q biotype of B. tabaci. When both non-viruliferous and viruliferous whiteflies were exposed for 1 and 3 h at 4, 25, and 35°C, the mortality rate of viruliferous whiteflies is higher than nonviruliferous after exposure at 4°C and 35°C, but no differences at 25°C between them. Analysis of the expression levels of heat shock protein (hsp) genes using the quantitative realtime PCR showed that viruliferous whiteflies has higher expression in hsp70, and hsp90 at both 4°C and 35°C, but no differences at 25°C. The results suggest that vector insects may not be durable to unfavorable temperature conditions when they acquisite plant viruses.

Ursolic acid is a triterpenoid compound present in many plants. This study examined the antimicrobial activity of ursolic acid against mutans streptococci (MS) isolated from the Korean population. The antimicrobial activity was evaluated by the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and time kill curves of MS. The cytotoxicity of ursolic acid against KB cells was tested using an MTT assay. The MIC90 values of ursolic acid for Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus isolated from the Korean population were 2 μg/ml and 4 μg/ml, respectively. Ursolic acid had a bactericidal effect on S. mutans ATCC 25175 T and S. sobrinus ATCC 33478 T at > 2 × MIC (4 μg/ml) and 4 × MIC (8 μg/ml), respectively. Ursolic acid had no cytotoxic effect on KB cells at concentrations at which it exerted antimicrobial effects. The results suggest that ursolic acid can be used in the development of oral hygiene products for the prevention of dental caries.