• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.39 no.3
• /
• pp.281-286
• /
• 2011

This study was performed to investigate the effects of salted and fermented shrimp ethanol extract (SFS) on serum lipid metabolism and hepatocytes in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were administered 60% fat feed to induce hypercholesterolemia and were divided into five groups. Experimental groups were classified according to administered diet: normal diet group (NC), high cholesterol diet group (HC), high cholesterol and low dose shrimp extract (20 mg/kg) group (HC-SFSL), high cholesterol and high dose shrimp extract (200 mg/kg) group (HC-SFSH), and high cholesterol and lovastatin (20 mg/kg) group (HC-Lov). The experimental diets were fed ad libitum for 14 days. Compared with the control group, the serum cholesterol and triglycerides were 40.4 and 64.7% lower in the group fed HC-SFSH respectively. Low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol concentration in serum decreased in the HC-SFSH group compared with the HC group. In a histological assay, hepatocytes in the HC group showed that the vacuolated cells by fat appear clear due to the large amount of intracytoplasmic fat, whereas the liver hepatocytes in the group fed SFS effectively decreased fatty liver and intracytoplasmic fats. These results suggest that the extract of salted and fermented shrimp has an antiatherosclerotic effect and may lessen the effects of cardiovascular disease by reducing the cholesterol level in serum.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.37 no.1
• /
• pp.8-15
• /
• 2008

Saussurea lappa (SL) has been used to reduce abdominal pain and tenesmus in traditional oriental medicine. SL and major compounds of SL, sesquiterpene lactones, have been suggested to possess various biological effects, including anti-tumor, anti-ulcer, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and cardiotonic activities. Recently, it has been reported that ethanol extracts from roots of SL have antiproliferative effects on gastric cancer cells. To explore the possibility that SL has chemopreventive effects on prostate cancer, we examined whether the hexane extract of SL (HESL) inhibits the growth of LNCaP human prostate cancer cells. Cells were incubated with various concentrations ($0{\sim}4$ mg/L) of HESL in DMEM/F12 containing 5% charcoal stripped fetal bovine serum. HESL substantially decreased viable cell numbers and induced apoptosis of LNCaP cells in dose-dependent manners. HESL increased the levels of cleaved caspase-8, -9, -7 and -3, and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase. HESL increased the levels of the pro-apoptotic Bak and truncated-Bid proteins whereas it had no effect on the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, or Mcl-1. The present results indicate that HESL inhibits the growth of human prostate cancer cells by inducing apoptosis, which involves the activation of the caspase cascades.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.49 no.5
• /
• pp.546-557
• /
• 2000

Background : Oligonucleotide chip technology has proven to be a very useful tool in the rapid diagnosis of infectious disease. Rifampin resistance is considered as a useful marker of multidrug-resistance in tuberculosis. Mutations in the rpoB gene coding $\beta$ subunit of RNA polymerase represent the main mechanism of rifampin resistance. The purpose of this study was to develop a diagnosis kit using oligonucleotide chip for the rapid and accurate detection of rifampin-resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Method : The sequence specific probes for mutations in the rpoB gene were designed and spotted onto the glass slide, oligonucleotide chip. 38 clinical isolates of Mycobacterium were tested. A part of rpoB was amplified, labelled, and hybridized on the oligonucleotide chip with probes. Results were analyzed with a laser scanner. Direct sequencing was done to verify the results. Result : The low-density oligonucleotide chip design어 to determine the specific mutations in the rpoB gene of M. tuberculosis accurately detected rifampin resistance associated with mutations in 28 clinical isolates. Mutations at codons 531, 526, and 513 were confirmed by direct sequencing analysis. Conclusion : Mutant detection using oligonucleotide chip technology is a reliable and useful diagnostic tool for the detection of multidrug-resistance in M. tuberculosis.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.317-324
• /
• 2008

This study was performed in order to investigate perceptions on environment and environment-friendly agricultural products, knowledge level and opinion about these products. The subjects were 387 college students in Seoul and Incheon area. This survey was conducted by self-administered questionnaire. The statistical analysis was conducted using the SPSS 12.0 program. Male subjects were 53.2% and female subjects were 46.8%. 52.9% of the subjects have knowledge about environment-friendly agricultural products. Also 50.9% of the subjects knew certification label of environment-friendly agricultural products whereas 13.4% knew certification authority of environment-friendly agricultural products. The average scores of 'image of environment-friendly agricultural products', 'attitude towards environment', 'attitude towards agrichemical' were $3.84{\pm}0.68,\;3.51{\pm}0.73\;and\;3.58{\pm}0.87$, respectively. In regard to 'image of environment- friendly agricultural products', the scores were significantly affected by gender (p<0.05), self-recognition of health status (p<0.05) and self-knowledge about environment-friendly agricultural products (p<0.001). In regard to 'attitude towards environment', the scores were significantly affected by self-recognition of health status (p<0.05), self-knowledge about environment-friendly agricultural products (p<0.001), and information about environment friendly agricultural products certificate authority (p<0.01). In regard to 'attitude towards agrichemical', the scores were significantly affected by gender (p<0.001), self-recognition of health status (p<0.05), supplements for health (p<0.05) and self-knowledge about environment-friendly agricultural products (p<0.001). Therefore, various education programs on environment-friendly agricultural products are necessary for college students to make right food choices.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.21-42
• /
• 2006

The object of this research is to analyze the contents and amount of articles on gifted education in major daily newspapers dated January 1990 to December 2003, and to review the trend of social perception of gifted education with the passage of time. Following are the research question : 1. How many articles belonging to the same category appeared in the newspapers within the period of time covered by the study? 2. What kinds of articles appeared in the newspapers within the period of time covered by the study? To arrive at the answers to the problems mentioned above, 714 articles on gifted education. The period from 1990 to 2003 were divided into time frames of 5 years to facilitate the analysis of social consciousness regarding gifted education before and after the enforcement of the Early School Entering Law in 1995 and the Law for Promotion of Gifted Education in 2000. The researcher defined Period I as the years from 1990 to 1994, Period II from 1995 to 1999, and Period III from 2000 to 2003. The articles were classified by content which were significance and trend of gilled education, current policies on gifted education, information on gifted education, and social environment of gifted education. The results of the analysis are as follows: (1) The articles from 1990 to 2003 totalled 714. 130 articles were found within Period I, 213 within Period II, and 371 within Period III. Since the year 2000, when the Law for Promotion of gifted education was enforced, the amount of articles considerably increased. The articles on the trend of gifted education numbered 42 within Period I, 49 within Period II, and 81 within Period III, showing a huge increase in the last period. The articles on current policies numbered 56 within Period I, 77 within Period II, and 143 within Period III, numbering the most in the last period. This means that, even before the Law for Promotion of gifted education was enforced, there has been much interest in and discussion of the appropriate educational system for gifted children in preparation for the legal and institutional foundation of such system. Since the enforcement of the law, many institutions were established and the problem became an important social issue. The articles that most frequently appeared were about current policies on and status of gifted education. This category showed the largest numbers through all the three periods and on all the subjects. This subject represented 43.1% of the articles on gifted children within Period I, 36.2% within Period II, and 38.6% within Period III. As to the significance and trend of gifted education, this subject showed a decrease from 32.3% within Period I, 23% within Period II, and 21.8% within Period III. However, the articles in the category of information on gifted education gradually increased from they represented 5.4% of the articles on brilliant children within Period I, 7.5% within Period II, and 8.4% within Period III. The social environment articles showed an increase from Period I to Period II-- from 19.2% to 33.3%, but it went down to 31.3% within Period III. (2) As to articles on the trend of gifted education, there were many such articles found, mainly on researches and trends in other countries. As greater importance is accorded to gifted children and as the recognition of the necessity of providing specific education for them grows, more related studies are conducted and people try to adopt new trends from other countries. For the articles on the current policies of gifted education, most of them were about institutions. This means that many educational institutions have been established since the Law for Promotion of Gifted Education was enforced. Informative articles on gilled education were mostly about distinctive features of gifted children and how to tell who the brilliant children are. This fact shows the importance of identifying gifted children in order to educate them systemically and effectively.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.44 no.1
• /
• pp.21-27
• /
• 2012

This research was carried out as a survey on the contents of lead, cadmium, and arsenic in processed foods (milk, vegetable oil, and margarine) in Korea. The limits of quantification (LOQs) were Pb 0.3 ${\mu}g/kg$, Cd 0.15 ${\mu}g/kg$, and As 0.45 ${\mu}g/kg$ for milk and Pb 0.61 ${\mu}g/kg$, Cd 0.31 ${\mu}g/kg$, and As 0.91 ${\mu}g/kg$ for vegetable oil and margarine. The recoveries were 92.6-98.0% for Pb, 91.2-98.9% for Cd, and 97.9-104.7% for As. The average levels of Pb were 2.395 ${\mu}g/kg$ for milk, and 7.656 ${\mu}g/kg$ for vegetable oil. The average levels of Cd were 0.483 ${\mu}g/kg$ for milk, and 0.380 ${\mu}g/kg$ for vegetable oil, and levels of As were 0.781 ${\mu}g/kg$ for milk, and 1.241 ${\mu}g/kg$ for vegetable oil. The results of this study showed that Pb, Cd, and As contents in the whole samples were less than the maximum residual levels in the processed foods that were specified by the Codex standard.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartB
• /
• v.10B no.3
• /
• pp.281-286
• /
• 2003

A large number of features are collected for problem solving in real life, but to utilize ail the features collected would be difficult. It is not so easy to collect of correct data about all features. In case it takes advantage of all collected data to learn, complicated learning model is created and good performance result can't get. Also exist interrelationships or hierarchical relations among the features. We can reduce feature's number analyzing relation among the features using heuristic knowledge or statistical method. Heuristic technique refers to learning through repetitive trial and errors and experience. Experts can approach to relevant problem domain through opinion collection process by experience. These properties can be utilized to reduce the number of feature used in learning. Experts generate a new feature (highly abstract) using raw data. This paper describes machine learning model that reduce the number of features used in learning using heuristic function and use abstracted feature by neural network's input value. We have applied this model to the win/lose prediction in pro-baseball games. The result shows the model mixing two techniques not only reduces the complexity of the neural network model but also significantly improves the classification accuracy than when neural network and heuristic model are used separately.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2006

Puroose: To present preliminary results of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) using the simultaneous modulated accelerated radiation therapy (SMART) boost technique in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Materials and Methods: Twenty patients who underwent IMRT for non-metastatic NPC at the Asan Medical Center between September 2001 and December 2003 were prospectively evaluated. IMRT was delivered using the 'step and shoot' SMART technique at prescribed doses of 72 Gy (2.4 Gy/day) to the gross tumor volume (GTV), 60 Gy (2 Gy/day) to the clinical target volume (CTV) and metastatic nodal station, and 46 Gy (2 Gy/day) to the clinically negative neck region. Eighteen patients also received concurrent chemotherapy using cisplatin once per week. Results: The median follow-up period was 27 months. Nineteen patients completed the treatment without interruption; the remaining patient interrupted treatment for 2 weeks owing to severe pharyngitis and malnutrition. Five patients (25%) had RTOG grade 3 mucositis, whereas nine (45%) had grade 3 pharyngitis. Seven patients (35%) lost more than 10% of their pretreatment weight, whereas 11 (55%) required intravenous fluids and/or tube feeding. There was no grade 3 or 4 chronic xerostomia. All patients showed complete response. Two patients had distant metastases and loco-regional recurrence, respectively. Conclusion: IMRT using the SMART boost technique allows parotid sparing, as shown clinically and by dosimetry, and may also be more effective biologically. A larger population of patients and a longer follow-up period are needed to evaluate ultimate tumor control and late toxicity.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.49 no.7
• /
• pp.737-744
• /
• 2006

Purpose : To assess the usefulness of $^{99m}Tc-DISIDA$ scanning in the early evaluation of neonatal cholestasis and to verify the diagnostic value of this test in the differential diagnosis of biliary atresia. Methods : DISIDA scannings were performed and analyzed in 87 children(58 males and 29 females; age, 18-139 days, mean, 59.1 days) with neonatal cholestasis. Five groups according to the final diagnosis and the results of DISIDA scanning were analyzed by scatter plots using the parameters of age and the level of liver function tests(direct bilirubin, AST, ALT, ALP, GGT). The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of DISIDA scanning in the diagnosis of biliary atresia were compared between a higher bilirubin group and a lower bilirubin group(direct bilirubin level >5 mg/dL vs. <5 mg/dL) decided by the pattern of scatter plots. Results : DISIDA scannings in the diagnosis of biliary atresia were analyzed by high sensitivity(100 percent, 16/16) but lower specificity(70.4 percent, 50/71) and accuracy(75.9 percent, 66/87). False positivity(29.6 percent, 21/71) was higher in patients with a higher direct bilirubin level(42.5 percent for >5 mg/dL vs. 9.7 percent for <5 mg/dL, P<0.01). The age and the level of liver function tests(AST, ALT, ALP, GGT) analyzed by scatter plots revealed neither diagnostic value in predicting final diagnosis nor estimated the accuracy rate of DISIDA scanning in the evaluation of neonatal cholestasis. Conclusion : We suggest that DISIDA scannings should not be routinely used in evaluating neonatal cholestasis with elevated direct bilirubin level(>5 mg/dL), especially if it delays early diagnosis and surgical intervention.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.229-234
• /
• 2001

The EDXRF(Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer) technique was applied to the determination of heavy metals in welding fume. The EDXRF method designed in this study was a non-destructive analysis method. Samples were analyzed directly by EDXRF without any pre-treatment such as digestion and dilution. The samples used to evaluate this method were laboratory samples exposed in a chamber connected with a welding fume generator. The samples were first analyzed using a non-destructive EDXRF method. The samples subsequently were analyzed using AAS method to verify accuray of the EDXRF method. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possibility of the non-destructive analysis of heavy metals in welding fume by EDXRF. The results of this study were as follow: 1.When the samples were collected under the open-face sampling condition, a surface distribution of welding fume particles on sample filters was uniform, which made non-destructive analysis possible. 2. The method was statistically evaluated according to the NIOSH(National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) and HSE(Health and Safety Executive) method. 3. The overall precision of the EDXRF method Was calculated at 3.45 % for Cr, 2.57 % for Fe and 3.78 % for Mn as relative standard deviation(RSD), respectively. The limits of detection were calculated at $0.46{\mu}g$/sample for Cr, $0.20{\mu}g$/sample for Fe and $1.14{\mu}g$/sample for Mn, respectively. 4. A comparison between the results of Cr, Fe, Mn analyzed by EDXRF and AAS was made in order to assess the accuracy of EDXRF method. The correlation coefficient between the results of EDXRF and AAS was 0.9985 for Cr, 0.9995 for Fe and 0.9982 for Mn, respectively. The overall uncertainty was determined to be ${\pm}12.31%$, 8.64 % and 11.91 % for Cr, Fe and Mn, respectively. In conclusion, this study showed that Cr, Fe, Mn in welding fume were successfully analyzed by the EDXRF without any sample pre-treatment such as digestion and dilution and a good correlation between the results of EDXRF and AAS was obtained. It was thus possible to use the EDXRF technique as an analysis method of working environment samples. The EDXRF method was an efficient method in a non-destructive analysis of heavy metals in welding fume.