본 연구는 하라케케(Harakeke)로 불리는 신서란(Phormium tenax)를 화장품 및 의약품산업의 기능성 소재로서의 이용 가능 성을 확인하기 위하여 신서란 잎을 대상으로 70% 에탄올 추출물과 용매 분획물을 제조하여, 이것들의 항염증 및 항아토피의 효과를 조사하였다. LPS로 유도된 RAW 264.7 세포에서 신서란 에탄올 추출물과 용매 분획물의 항염증 효과를 조사한 결과, methylene chloride와 ethyl acetate 분획물에서 NO와 PGE2 생성 억제 활성이 가장 높게 나타났으며, 농도 의존적으로 NO와 PGE2 생성 억제 활성을 보였다. 또한, 이들 분획물에서는 iNOS 및 COX-2 발현 억제 활성을 보였다. 신서란 잎 조추출물과 용매 분획물에 의한 NO, PGE2 생성 억제 활성이 NOS 및 COX-2 발현 억제에 의한 것임을 제시한다. 더불어, hIFN-γ로 자극된 HaCaT 세포에 용매 분획물을 처리하여 MDC 및 TRAC 생성억제 효과를 조사한 바, methylene chloride 분획물은 MDC 및 TATC의 생성을 각각 65%, 52% 생성억제 시켰으며, ethyl acetate 분획물은 MDC 및 TATC의 생성을 각각 93%, 84% 억제 효과를 보였다. 이상의 결과는 신서란 잎 조추출물과 용매 분획물을 이용한 항염증 및 항아토피 효능을 갖는 유효성분 분리 및 활용화 연구에 중요한 기초자료가 될 것이며, 기능성 화장품, 의약외품 및 의약품 소재 개발에 적용 가능성이 높다고 사료 된다.

This study aimed to assess the impact of livestock excreta discharged from an Intensive Livestock Farming Area (ILFA) on river water quality during a rainfall event. The Bangcho River, which is one of the 7 tributaries in the Cheongmi River watershed, was the study site. The Cheongmi River watershed is the second largest area for livestock excreta discharge in Korea. Our results clearly showed that, during the rainfall event, the water quality of the Bangcho River was severely deteriorated due to the COD, NH4-N, T-N, PO4-P, T-P, and heavy metals (Cu, Zn, and Mn) in the run-off from nearby farmlands, where the soil comprised composted manure and unmanaged livestock excreta. In addition, stable isotope analysis revealed that most of nitrogen (NH4-N and NO3-N) in the run-off was from the ammonium and nitrate in the livestock excreta. The values of δ15NNH4 and δ15NNO3 for the Bangcho River water sample, which was obtained from the downstream of mixing zone for run-off water, were lower than those for the run-off water. This indicates that there were other nitrogen sources upstream river in the river. It was assumed from δ15NNH4 and δ15NNO3 stable isotope analyses that these other nitrogen sources were naturally occurring soil nitrogen, nitrogen from chemical fertilizers, sewage, and livestock excreta. Therefore, the use of physicochemical characteristics and nitrogen stable isotopes in the water quality impact assessment enabled more effective analysis of nitrogen pollution from an ILFA during rainfall events.

Background: The plant Aster koraiensis has long been used as an ingredient in folk medicine. It has been reported that Aster koraiensis extract (AKE) prevents the progression of diabetes-induced retinopathy and nephropathy. However, although these beneficial effects of AKE on diabetes complications have been identified, the antidiabetic effects of AKE have not yet been completely investigated and quantified. In the present study, the glucose-lowering and antioxidant effects of aqueous and ethanolic AKEs were evaluated. Methods and Results: The glucose-lowering effects of aqueous and ethanolic (30%−, 50%−, and 80%-ethanol) AKEs were investigated via α-glucosidase inhibitory assays. The mode of inhibition by AKEs on α-glucosidase was identified through kinetic analysis. The total antioxidant capacity of each of the 4 AKEs was evaluated by assessing their conversion rate of Cu2+ to Cu+. The content of chlorogenic acid and 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid, the bioactive compounds in AKE, in each extract were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The AKEs showed potent α-glucosidase inhibitory activity with mixed inhibition mode, and significant antioxidant capacity. Conclusions: These results of this study suggested that the AKEs tested had α-glucosidase inhibitory and antioxidant effects. Among the extracts, the 80% ethanol extract showed the most significant α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, with a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50 value) of 1.65 ± 0.36㎎/㎖ and a half maximal effective concentration (EC50 value) for its antioxidant activity of 0.42 ± 0.10㎎/㎖. It can therefore be used as a source of therapeutic agents to treat diabetes patients.

Background : Dry eyes are caused by highly increased osmolarity of tear film, inflammation, and apoptosis of the ocular surface. Polygonum cuspidatum is a herbaceous perennial plant of the genus Polygonum found in Asia and North America. However, the effects of P. cuspidatum aqueous extract (PCE) on hyperosmolarity-induced inflammation and apoptosis in human corneal epithelial cells have not been examined. Methods and Results : Hyperosmotic media induced human corneal epithelial cell (HCEC) cytotoxicity though increased inflammation, apoptosis, and oxidative stress. PCE treatment significantly inhibited expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α), and activation of NF-κB p65 in hyperosmolar stress-induced HCECs. In addition, Hyperosmolarity-induced increase in BAX expression and activation of cleaved poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase and caspase 3 were attenuated in a concentration-dependent manner by PCE. PCE treatment restored anti-oxidative proteins such as Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), Superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD-1), and Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in hyperosmolar stress-induced HCECs. Conclusion : PCE protected against hyperosmolar stress-induced inflammation, apoptosis, and oxidation by inhibiting expression of COX-2, BAX, MMP9; activation of NF-κB, caspase 3, and PARP; and increasing expression of MUC4 and anti-oxidative proteins. Overall, our data provide insight into the protective effects of PCE as a candidate for eye health.

Gold kiwifruit was fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum CK10 derived from kimchi and the fermented products were extracted with ethanol at various fermentation time-points The bacterial cellular density, total titratable acidity, total polyphenol content (TPC), and total flavonoid content (TFC) increased during fermentation, while pH values and total soluble solids decreased. Levels of TPC and TFC were highest after five days, at 1.21±0.13 mg GAE/g dry weight and 0.36±0.04 mg RE/g dry weight, respectively. The antioxidant activities of the fermented gold kiwifruit were analyzed using Fe2+ chelating activity, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)-, and 2,2'-azino-bis(3- ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS)- radical scavenging activities, and superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity. The Fe2+ chelating activity of gold kiwifruit (125-500 μg/mL) peaked after five days of fermentation at 38.40-78.47%. The DPPH radical- scavenging activity and SOD-like activity were somewhat higher after seven days of fermentation (36.01-86.81% and 54.79-93.83% at 2.5-10.0 mg/mL concentration of samples, respectively). On the other hand, the ABTS radical- scavenging activity of fermented gold kiwifruit was similar to that of the non-fermented form. The polyphenol and flavonoid contents were significantly correlated with the antioxidant activity. In conclusion, our results suggest that TPC, TFC, and antioxidant activity were increased after five and seven days of fermentation, respectively. Therefore, fermented gold kiwifruit with its increased antioxidant activity could be useful in the development of functional foods.

This paper applied the ensemble model output statistics (EMOS) with truncated normal distribution, which are easy to implement postprocessing techniques, to calibrate probabilistic forecasts of wind speed that take the form of probability density functions. We also considered the alternative implementations of EMOS, which were EMOS exchangeable model and reduced EMOS model. These techniques were applied to the forecasts of wind speed over Pyeongchang area using 51 members of the Ensemble Prediction System for Global (EPSG). The performances were evaluated by rank histogram, mean absolute error, root mean square error and continuous ranked probability score. The results showed that EMOS models with truncated normal distribution performed better than the raw ensemble and ensemble mean. Especially, the reduced EMOS model exhibited better prediction skill than EMOS exchangeable model in most stations of study area.

This paper used the Bayesian model averaging (BMA) with gamma distribution that takes the form of probability density functions to calibrate probabilistic forecasts of wind speed. We considered the alternative implementation of BMA, which was BMA gamma exchangeable model. This method was applied for forecasting of wind speed over Pyeongchang area using 51 members of the Ensemble Prediction System for Global (EPSG). The performances were evaluated by rank histogram, means absolute error, root mean square error, continuous ranked probability score and skill score. The results showed that BMA gamma exchangeable models performed better in forecasting wind speed, compared to the raw ensemble and ensemble mean.

This paper considers a homogeneous multiple regression (HMR) model and a non-homogeneous multiple regression model, that is, ensemble model output statistics (EMOS), which are easy to implement postprocessing techniques to calibrate probabilistic forecasts that take the form of Gaussian probability density functions for continuous weather variables. The HMR and EMOS predictive means are biascorrected weighted averages of the ensemble member forecasts and the EMOS predictive variance is a linear function of the ensemble variance. We also consider the alternative implementations of HMR and EMOS which constrains the coefficients to be non-negative and we call these techniques as HMR+ and EMOS+, respectively. These techniques are applied to the forecasts of surface temperature over Pyeongchang area using 24-member Ensemble Prediction System for Global (EPSG). The performances are evaluated by rank histogram, residual quantile-quantile plot, means absolute error, root mean square error and continuous ranked probability score (CRPS). The results showed that HMR+ and EMOS+ models perform better than the raw ensemble mean, HMR and EMOS models. In the comparison of HMR+ and EMOS+ models, HMR+ performs slightly better than EMOS+ model in terms of CRPS, however they had a very similar CRPS and if there exists a ensemble spread-skill relationship, it is seen that EMOS is slightly better calibrated than the homogeneous multiple regression model.