• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.53-60
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• 2021

The number of visually impaired and blind people is increasing, but braille translation textbooks for them are insufficient, which violates their rights to education despite their will. In order to guarantee their rights, this paper develops a learning system, HunMinJeomUm, that helps them access textbooks, documents, and photographs that are not available in braille, without the assistance of others. In our system, a smart phone app and web pages are designed to promote the accessibility of the blind, and a braille kit is produced using Arduino and braille modules. The system supports the following functions. First, users select documents or pictures that they want, and the system extracts the text using OCR. Second, the extracted text is converted into voice and braille. Third, a membership registration function is provided so that the user can view the extracted text. Experiments have confirmed that our system generates braille and audio outputs successfully, and provides high OCR recognition rates. The study has also found that even completely blind users can easily access the smart phone app.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.326-332
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• 2021

Swabs are useful and common sampling tools in various research fields, such as medicine, ecology, biotechnology, forensic medicine, and pollutant monitoring systems. Collection reagents are one of the essential components in sampling. It is important to develop a sample collection kit and designate an appropriate storage temperature because samples need to be stored for a long time. The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of three collection reagents and three storage temperatures on the recovery of living bacteria without media. We selected Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus as representative environmental bacteria. Distilled water (DW), phosphate buffered saline (PBS), and Tris-EDTA (TE) buffer were used as collection reagents and stored at 22℃, 4℃, and -70℃ after sampling. The results of using each collection reagent and storage temperature on the bacteria were compared using relative light units (RLU) and the number of colony forming units (CFU). When using -70℃ storage temperature and the TE buffer, the number of living bacteria and the RLU values remained constant. It is therefore recommended that the sample be stored at -70℃ immediately after collection and a TE buffer solution be used as the collection reagent.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.479-486
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• 2019

This study investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of mixed extracts of Achyranthes japonica Nakai (Aj) and Aralia continentalis Kitagawa (Ac) (ratios of 1 : 2, 1 : 3, 1 : 5, 2 : 1, 3 : 1 and 5 : 1) on RAW264.7 macrophages. Cell toxicity was determined using a cell counting kit (CCK) assay. We evaluated anti-inflammatory effects of the mixed extracts of Aj and Ac by measuring interleukin $(IL)-1{\beta}$, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor $(TNF){\alpha}$ using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit assay. The mixed extracts of Aj and Ac inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced $IL-1{\beta}$ and $TNF{\alpha}$ in LPS-stimulated macrophages. Comparing different ratios of the mixed extracts, the 2 : 1 ratio of Aj and Ac has much more potency and inhibited the production of $TNF{\alpha}$ in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. The results of the present study showed that the mixed extracts of Aj and Ac have potential anti-inflammatory effects on RAW264.7 macrophages. Therefore, these extracts may be used as a good source of functional foods for the protection against inflammatory diseases.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.58-64
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• 2019

In the current study, 109 commercial nut samples were collected from different Korean markets and analyzed for the contamination of 5 different mycotoxins (aflatoxin, ochratoxin A, deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, and T-2 toxin) using ELISA kits. The results revealed that the most frequently detected mycotoxin was zearalenone (n=36, 33%), followed by aflatoxin (n=31, 28.4%) and ochratoxin A (n=30, 27.5%). Deoxynivalenol and T-2 toxin were also detected in 22 (20.3%) samples, respectively. Among 109 nut samples, 33 samples (30.3%) were contaminated only with one kind of mycotoxin, whereas 43 samples had at least 2 kinds of mycotoxins. Two samples were contaminated with as many as 4 different mycotoxins, and they were both walnuts. Although the monitoring results revealed the amount of aflatoxin contamination was under the safety criteria, there is no current safety guideline for other kinds of mycotoxins or multiple contaminations in Korea. Therefore, further studies should be performed to reveal the distribution of mycotoxin in different foods and propose appropriate safety guidelines for Korean markets.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.201-209
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• 2020

In Korea, bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a representative zoonotic disease that causes considerable economic loss. In determining the positive bTB, the ELISA method for examining the amount of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) is included in Korea's diagnostic standard method. Recently, commercially available BIONOTE TB-Feron ELISA Plus (TB-Feron Plus) that detects IFN-γ has been introduced. However, since the scientific basis for the performance is limited, we evaluated performance by comparing it with the results of another IFN-γ ELISA assay kit (BOVIGAM®) certified by Office International des Epizooties. In our research, 42 positive blood samples preliminarily tested with a tuberculin skin test and/or BOVIGAM® and 54 negative blood samples collected from three bTB free farms were subjected to IFN-γ assay using the TB-Feron Plus and the BOVIGAM®, respectively. The result shows that the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 81.0% (34/42), 100% (54/54), 91.7% (88/96) in TB-Feron Plus kit and 78.6% (33/42), 100% (54/54), 90.6% (87/96) in BOVIGAM® kit, respectively. Moreover, the overall accordance percentage of the two kits was 99.0% (95/96) and there was almost perfect agreement between two assays (Kappa=0.977, P<0.0001). Furthermore, additional studies confirmed that elevated lymphocyte numbers in blood did not interfere with the results of the TB-Feron Plus kit. And, delayed time from sampling to culture decreased the optical density (OD) value. Therefore, we concluded that the TB-Feron Plus kit was not inferior to BOVIGAM® in performance. High lymphocyte numbers in blood did not impact on TB-Feron Plus results, while delayed time before culture interfered with OD value.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.41-43
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• 2021

Purpose In nuclear medicine blood tests, hemolysis samples are considered as inappropriate sample and are recommended not to be used for blood test. So, the lab are required to collect the blood again in the blood collection room However, The effect of hemolyzed samples on radioimmunoassay has not studied yet. This study was designed to evaluate effects of hemolysis on radioimmunoassay. Materials and Methods The kit manuals of 23 test items were reviewed to confirm whether hemolyzed samples were used. The subjects were 19 general applicants(male : 9, female : 13) and the samples were collected by each two SST tubes, one tube was obtained by centrifugation normally, and the other was obtained hemolyzed sample by centrifugation after external shock. It has been known that highly hemolyzed samples can affect the test results, so the test was performed using the severe hemolyzed sample. The test was performed for each test item using 23 normal serum and hemolysis serum, and SPSS19 program was used for statistical comparison of the test result. Results There was no significant difference between normal serum and hemolysis serum in 21 of 23 test items, but the results of insulin and C-peptide were significantly different(P<0.05). Conclusion It has been known that hemolysis in blood samples can affect the results of biochemical and hematological test, However, hemolysis effect is relatively low. Similarly, this study showed that hemolysis had not much effect on most of immunological radioimmunoassay except for some tests. Therefore, it is thought that the demand for re-collection due to hemolysis will be reduced in the laboratory, which will improve the work process of the laboratory.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.337-348
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• 2021

Objectives: To determine the usefulness of MiriChek^TM Oral Bacter as compared to traditional clinical methods in the periodontal assessment of dogs with and without periodontitis. Methods: In this study, 61 dogs were clinically examined using the MiriChek^TM Oral Bacter test kit, and information regarding breed, age (months), sex, weight, presence of disease, and periodontitis stage was recorded. The test used a sample of supragingival plaque from the upper left premolar of the dogs. Results: This study included 30 and 31 dogs with and without periodontitis, respectively. Periodontitis was more common in older dogs than in younger dogs. The average positive and negative sensitivity rates of the MiriChek^TM Oral Bacter test kit were 73.3% and 80.7%, respectively, and were both strongly correlated with the severity of periodontitis. Conclusions: The findings of this study encourage the use of new diagnostic assist test kits, such as MiriChek^TM Oral Bacter, for appropriately detecting and diagnosing periodontal disease in dogs.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.425-438
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to analyze local cultural festivals hosted contact-free in the corona era and to suggest the direction for sustainable festivals in the post-corona era. To this end, by analyzing the cases of well-known festivals held contact-free in 2020 and 2021, we tried to get implications for the festivals in the post-corona era from there. As a result of this study, contact-free festivals had the following characteristics. First, the on-tact method, which produces and transmits a video or allows interaction through real-time participation, was prominent. Second, in order to compensate for the shortcomings of the contact-free method, various efforts have been made to enable on-tact experience by making and delivering experience kits in the case of experiential elements of the festival in advance. Third, communication was secured through real-time comments, and fourth, products were sold through the Internet and live commerce channels, and a certain effect was obtained. In particular, in the case of online festivals, there is a problem of loss of the sense of place of the festival, but there are cases of online festivals with more participation than offline festivals. It is judged that the problem of how to achieve this will become a reference material for the future development of contact-free festival contents.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.79-94
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• 2022

Due to the highly contagious nature and severity of the respiratory diseases caused by COVID-19, economical and accurate tests are required to better monitor and prevent the spread of this contagion. As the structural and molecular properties of SARS-CoV-2 were being revealed during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, many manufacturers of COVID-19 diagnostic kits actively invested in the design, development, validation, verification, and implementation of diagnostic tests. Currently, diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2 are the most widely used and validated techniques for rapid antigen, and immuno-serological assays for specific IgG and IgM antibody tests and molecular diagnostic tests. Molecular diagnostic assays are the gold standard for direct detection of viral RNA in individuals suspected to be infected with SARS-CoV-2. Antibody-based serological tests are indirect tests applied to determine COVID-19 prevalence in the community and identify individuals who have obtained immunity. In the future, it is necessary to explore technical problems encountered in the early stages of global or regional outbreaks of pandemics and provide future directions for better diagnostic tests. This article evaluates the commercially available and FDA-approved molecular and immunological diagnostic assays and analyzes their performance characteristics.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.695-709
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• 2022

This study examined the mothers' stress level as it related to meal preparation and a change in food consumption during the Covid-19 pandemic. I asked mothers about the difficulties related to meal preparation, changes in food consumption, and their interest in food and health information using in-depth research methods. As a result, food delivery and online food consumption have markedly expanded as eating out has decreased. Mothers tried to serve fresh food at home because they perceived delivery food as unhealthy. They stick to it more vigorously with their younger children. As the result of analysis on determinants of food consumption, their interest in organic food is higher when mothers' ages are younger with higher income. However, mothers with a low level of education tend to be uninterested in it. Therefore, the ages of the children and mothers, household income, and education levels all had an effect on food consumption behaviors.