The objective of this experiment was to investigate the effect of drip irrigation volume on tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) grown in a greenhouse using perlite medium. Plants were treated by three different irrigation treatment I0, I25, and I50 (where irrigation volume of I25 and I50 was 25% and 50% higher than I0, having limited or no leaching). Growth characteristics of plants, yield and water use efficiency were measured. The result showed that plant height, leaf length and leaf width were lowest in the I0 treated plants. However, these parameters were not statistically significant differences between the plants that were grown in the I25 and I50 treatment. Soluble solids content, acidity and dry matter of 111th, 132nd, and 143rd days harvested tomato were higher in the plants irrigated with lowest volume (I0) than the higher volume (I25 or I50). In addition, water content was lower in the 111th and 132nd days of harvested tomatoes from the I0 treatment. The number of big-size tomatoes (>180 g) was significantly higher in the I25 irrigated plants. There was no significant difference in the total number of harvested fruits among the treatments. The average fruit weight and total yield of harvested tomatoes were lowest in the I0 treated plants. The water consumption of tomato was not significantly different amongst the treatments but water use efficiency was lowest in the I0 treatment. Principal component analysis revealed that total soluble solid and acidity of tomato showed a positive correlation between each other. These results suggest that I25 was the optimum irrigation treatment for tomato based on its measured growth characteristics, yield and water use efficiency.

Extracts from Aloe vera leaves, Aloe arborescens leaves, Aloe vera callus, Portulaca oleracea and cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) bean husk (CBH) were prepared using acetone, chloroform, ethanol, hexane, and water. Solvent extracts of Aloe vera leaf had very high antioxidant activities showing IC50 values in the ranges of 0.02-0.17 mg/ mL, and had the highest total phenolic and flavonoid content among the tested samples. We hypothesized that Aloe vera leaf and CBH extracts might possess considerable in vitro anti-glycation activities. Indeed, these extracts strongly inhibited the formation of advanced glycation end-products from RNase in the presence of ribose. The chloroform extract of Aloe vera leaf showed the strongest inhibition of AGE formation (99.9%), followed by the 95% acetone extract (92.8%) at a concentration of 1 mg/mL, exhibiting higher anti-glycation activities than those of AG and rutin (73.4% and 96.1% at 1 mg/mL, respectively). The anti-glycation activity of all extracts was correlated positively with their total contents of phenolics and flavonoids. We conclude that Aloe vera leaf extracts and their constituents may be used as anti-glycation agents.

The influenza virus is an important respiratory risk affecting humans, and effective treatments are needed. Some oriental medicines are currently applied for treatment of common colds as well as influenza infection. Previous studies have reported that the therapeutic properties of MA-128 are effective for treatment of psoriasis antiasthmatic and atopic dermatitis. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic properties of the novel herbal medicine, MA-128, for treatment of influenza virus infection by oral administration. MA-128 is an active natural biological compound from herbal-marine origin. The results showed that oral administration of MA-128 in mice could confer a survival benefit against Type A influenza virus infection. Daily oral administration of MA-128 resulted in delayed death in infected mice for three days against mouse adapted H3N2 (A/Philippines/2/82). However, it protected more than 60% of mice from lethal infection of 2009 pandemic H1N1 (A/Korea/CJ01/2009) influenza virus. In addition, lung viral titers were significantly reduced at seven days post infection (~100 times) compared with mock-treated mice and viruses were cleared at 9 dpi only in the MA-128 treated groups. This study demonstrated the potential of the novel herbal medicine, MA-128, as an herbal remedy against influenza A viruses.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of macrophages on growth of human colon cancer cells. The results showed that co-culture of colon cancer cells with macrophages inhibited the growth of colon cancer cells (HCT116 and SW620) depending on the number of macrophages, RAW 264.7 cells, and activated THP-1 cells accompanied by down regulation of pSTAT3 in cancer cells. We also found that expression and release of cancer cell growth inhibitory cytokines, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) and IL-10, was increased in macrophages. Blocking of the STAT3 pathway with specific inhibitor and siRNA of STAT3 abolished the growth of colon cancer cells and expression of IL-1ra and IL-10. In addition, neutralization of IL-1ra and IL-10 with antibodies resulted in reversal of macrophage-induced inhibition of cancer cell growth. These data showed that IL-1ra and IL-10 released from macrophages inhibit growth of colon cancer cells through inhibition of the STAT3 pathway.

Field sequential 액정 디스플레이(FSLCD)는 컬러필터를 사용하지 않아 높은 투과율 특성을 보이고 광 원으로 LED를 사용함으로써 색재현성이 매우 우수하다. 하지만 FSLCD(60Hz 구동)를 실현하기 위해서는 액정의 응답속도가 5ms이하로 고속응답 특성을 보여야 한다. 따라서 본 논문에서는 고속응답 ECB(electrically controlled birefringence) 셀의 최적 구조를 연구하여 5ms 이하의 응답시간을 얻었다. 그리고 ECB 모드에서 높은 구동전압과 시야각을 개선하기 위해 필름 보상을 연구하였다. 판상형 액정필름(discotic film)과 TAC(triacetyl cellulose) 필름의 위상차 값을 최적화함으로써 구동전압을 5V로 낮추고 상하좌우에서 160° 이상(CR>10:1)의 시야각을 실현하였다.

Backgoound : This study was conducted to serve as a basis for the selection of superior lines by analyzing the content of antioxidant component and antioxidant activity in Schisandra chinensis Collections Methods and Results : In order to examine antioxidant component and antioxidant activity, 154 species of Schisandra chinensis from whole country were used. Antioxidant component was investigated by total flavonoid content and total phenolic content and antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH radical scavenging activity and ABTS radical scavenging activity. As a result, the total amounts of flavonoids was highest in SC-20 with 5.03 ㎎/g. However the content of polyphenols showed highest in SC-22 with 2.76 ㎎/g. In addition antioxidant activity results were also relatively high in SC-22. The IC50 value was 548 ㎍/㎖ in DPPH radical scavenging and 640 ㎍/㎖. in ABTS+ radical scavenging. Conclusion : As demand for high income crop has increased, new cultivar breeding is required to produce high quality Schisandra chinensis From this study, analyses of antioxidant component and antioxidant activity in collection can be used for new Schisandra chinensis breeding. Especially SC-22 can be superior lines with high antioxidant component and antioxidant activity.

In order to determine the short-term impact induced by chloride ionic, CaCl2 was used to study the chloride ionic effects of salinity on substrate and growth of Dracacena braunii grown in ornamental hydro-culture. A distilled water (control) was enriched with 10, 20, 50, 100, and 150 g･L -1 of CaCl2, respectively. Before planting, acidity and electronic conductivity values remarkably increased with increasing concentration of CaCl2. However, 4 weeks after planting, acidity values decreased to a slightly acidic pH, while there were not significant differences among electronic conductivity values obtained. Number of root, fresh weight, and total chlorophyll content were significantly decreased in response to CaCl2 concentration in comparison with control, whereas dry weight, water content, and color of stem were no significant effect of CaCl2 concentration less than 20 g･L -1 . These results showed that initial CaCl2 concentrations above 20 g･L -1 is considered to be the threshold value that will sustain the Dracacena braunii in the growth condition and above which plant growth will be retarded.

Background : Tooth vitality is reflected by the health of dental pulp. Schisandrin C is a natural compound extracted from the fruit of Schisandra chinensis which has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. The role of Schisandrin C on human dental pulp cells (HDPCs) has not been studied yet. This study examined the properties of Schisandrin C as an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant compound, and whether its characteristics promote mitochondrial biogenesis in HDPCs. Methods and Results : HDPCs were extracted from fresh third molars and cultured. Reactive oxidative stress (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) formation were analyzed by a Muse cell analyzer. Western blotting and gelatin zymography were used to identify the presence of anti-oxidants, as well as inflammatory and mitochondrial biogenesis. Confocal microscopy was used for the detection of mitochondrial activity. Schisandrin C inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated inflammatory molecules; intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9 (MMP-2/9), NO production, ROS formation and the mitogen-activated protein (MAPK) pathway through minimizing the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) translocation. Schisandrin C increased the expression of superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzymes as well as heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1a) through the phosphorylated-protein kinase B (p-AKT) and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor-2 (Nrf-2) pathways. The anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties of Schisandrin C promoted mitochondrial biogenesis. Conclusions : These results suggest that Schisandrin C may be used as an anti-inflammatory compound to reduce oral inflammation such as pulpitis.