The objective of this study was to evaluate the anti-inflammation effect of extract of Carthamus tinctorious seed, on skin obtained from Gyeong buk, Korea. Regulatory mechanisms of cytokines and nitric oxide (NO) involved in immunological activity of Raw 264.7 cells. Tested cells were pretreated with 70% ethanol extracted of Carthamus tinctorious seed and further cultured for an appropriated time after the addition of lipopolyssacharide (LPS). During the entire experimental period, 5, 10, 25 and 50 µg/ml of Carthamus tinctorious seed showed no cytotoxicity. In these concentrations, ethyl acetate layer of ethanol extracted Carthamus tinctorius seed (CT-E/E) inhibited the production of NO and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), tumor necorsis factor-a (TNF-a), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6) expression of inducible NO synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). At a 50 µg/ml level of CT-E/E, PGE2, iNOS and COX-2 inhibition activity were shown 60%, 38%, and 42%, respectively. In addition, CT-E/E reduced the release of inflammatory cytokines including TNF-a, IL-1β and IL-6. These results suggest that Carthamus tinctorious seed extracts may be a potential anti-inflammatory therapeutic agent due to the significant effects on inflammatory factors.Key words : Anti-inflammatory, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), PGE2, cytokines, Carthamus tinctorious seed *Corresponding author *Tel：+82-53-810-0320, Fax：+82-53-801-0399 *E-mail : bio115@kotmin.kr This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the skin whitening effect of the extracts of 3 herbs, Ligularia fischeri, Solidago virga-aurea and Aruncus dioicus, which were collected from Ullung island.Tyrosinase inhibition activities were 33% in pre-fermented extracts and 45% in post-fermented ones. When tyrosinase activities in B16F10 murine melanoma cells were tested, activities in pre-and post-fermented extracts were 41 and 56.5%, respectively. Thus, the post-fermented extracts might have greater skin whitening effects. The protein expression of MITF, TRP-1, TRP-2, and tyrosinase, which are all skin-whitening related transcription factors, showed that both pre-and post-fermented herbs inhibited protein biosynthesis in B16F10 melanoma cells. Post-fermented herb extracts especially showed a greater decrease of protein expressions. The expression of MITF, a regulatory transcription factor, was also decreased by both extracts but was greater in the post-fermented ones. From the results, it can be concluded that the 3 herb extracts from Ullung island may inhibit melanin biosynthesis by the suppression of MITF activity in a signaling pathway. Results indicate that the post-fermented herbs tested in the present study had skin whitening activities and can be used as functional ingredients for food and cosmetic compositions.

This study was performed to determine the whitening effect of several solvent fractions of Diospyros kaki extracts. Fractions from ethanol extracts of D. kaki were prepared by a systematic fractionation procedure using hexane, ethyl acetate, butanol, and H2O. The ethyl acetate fractions were used to evaluate the inhibitory effects on tyrosinase activity and melanin synthesis in B16F10 melanoma cells. Ethyl acetate fractions suppressed the expression of tyrosinase, TRP-1 and TRP-2 in B16F10 melanoma cells. These results showed that ethyl acetate fractions of D. kaki could be developed as a skin whitening material in cosmetics.Key words : Diospyros kaki, tyrosinase, TRP-1, TRP-2, melanin *Corresponding author *Tel：+82-54-810-0320, Fax：+82-54-810-0399 *E-mail : bio115@hanmail.net This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

This study noted that elementary school students were unable to accurately comprehend the principles of moon phase changes and that teachers themselves lacked a full understanding of it as well. Therefore, this study classifies conception types through 161 5th grade respondents and suggests how to change students' conception types through the use of reconstructed teaching and learning materials (that have been developed in existing studies). It verified the changes in the learning achievement of 129 5th grade respondents and analyzed how to think about reconstructed teaching and learning materials through four teacher respondents and four 5th grade respondents from the same study. The results of this study are as follows: First, the conception types on moon phase changes were classified into C and W types. W types consisted of W1, W2, W3, W4, and W5 types. Students had difficulty in understanding the principles of a waxing crescent moon and first quarter phase changes. Second, the group taking classes, which implemented reconstructed teaching and learning materials, showed greater improvement in learning achievement posttest and long-term tests compared to those who have not. Finally, teachers and students reacted positively to the reconstructed teaching and learning materials as shown in exit survey results. In conclusion, it is suggested that teachers are better off utilizing reconstructed teaching and learning materials so that elementary school students may fully understand the principles of moon phase changes rather than just memorizing the results.

Monoterpenoids were recently found as main biologically active compounds which is responsible for various physiological effect in goat's beard (Aruncus dioicus). Ethyl acetate extract of A. dioicus (ADE) was treated to B16F10 melanoma cells for the examination of whitening activity. MTT assay was performed to evaluate cell toxicity and the result showed that slight cell toxicity (> 10%) by over 500 μg･mL-1. Thus, 0, 5, 10, or 50 μg･mL-1 ADE was used for further experiments. We found that tyrosinase activity was decreased according to ADE concentration, and the total melanin content was also dramatically reduced. Especially with 50 μg･mL-1 ADE treatment tyrosinase activity was reduced to 35.6%, and 58.8% of melanin content was lowered. In addition, whitening related proteins including tyrosinase, tyrosinase related protein 1 (TRP1), TRP2, microphthalmia associated transcription factor (MITF) and cAMP and protein kinase A (PKA) were reduced by ADE treatment. It caused decreased phosphorylation of cAMP response binding protein (CREB) but increased phosphorylation of extracellular signal related kinase (ERK). Therefore, in this paper we would like to suggest the potent usage of A. dioicus natively grown in Ulleungdo, Korea as materials of functional cosmetics by confirming whitening activity related with melanin content.