• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.44-51
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• 2012

Purpose: Tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$) polymorphism has been suggested to play an important role in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in obese adults, and known to be a mediator of insulin resistance. In this study, we evaluated the role of TNF-${\alpha}$ promoter polymorphisms and insulin resistance in the development of NAFLD in obese children. Methods: A total of 111 obese children (M:F=74:37; mean age, $11.1{\pm}2.0$ yrs) were included. The children were divided into 3 groups: controls (group I, n=61), children with simple steatosis (group II, n=17), and children with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (group III, n=33). Serum TNF-${\alpha}$ levels, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and TNF-${\alpha}$ -308 and -238 polymorphisms were evaluated. Results: There were no differences in TNF-${\alpha}$ polymorphism at the -308 or the -238 loci between group I and group II + III ($p$=0.134 and $p$=0.133). The medians of HOMA-IR were significantly different between group I and group II + III ($p$=0.001), with significant difference between group II and group III ($p$=0.007). No difference was observed in the HOMA-IR among the genotypes at the -308 locus ($p$=0.061) or the -238 locus ($p$=0.207) in obese children. Conclusion: TNF-${\alpha}$ promoter polymorphisms at the -308 and -238 loci were not significantly associated with the development of NAFLD in children; nevertheless, insulin resistance remains a likely essential factor in the pathogenesis of NAFLD in obese children, especially in the progression to NASH.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.85-92
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• 2015

Recently more and more shortened of corporation's sustainable longevity at the enterprise, and enterprise environment is also changing drastically. In this study, we wanted to obtain a solution that enable to continue the company's corporate longevity through critical factor analysis of the Japan Shinise. In the analysis results of Japan corporation as Doraya, Deicoko, Shinise longevity, we can explain about critical factors like that credit, tradition, customization, products development, changes of management methods and finding a global new markets. Also, In this study, analyzed a significance of critical factors for focusing on each cases and theories using Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP), and did prediction and analysis about critical longevity factors. However, it need to collect sufficient data and a lots of variables for input. because the sample may be it insufficient. Results of the study, will be expected to be a useful guide for analysis of longevity factors at the company in the future.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.16-21
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• 2012

The characteristics of decoction water are important for the extraction of herbal drugs. In this study, the relationship between the characteristics of water and extraction efficiency of bioactive compounds from Corydalis tuber was investigated. Six different types of decoction water, including three types of mineral water from Jeju Island and three types of bottled water sold in market, were used as decoction water for the extraction of bioactive compounds from Corydalis tuber. The contents of minerals in six types of water were analyzed by ICP-AES and ICP-MS; the contents of extracted bioactive compounds were analyzed by HPLC. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to analyze the differences in total extraction and bioactive compounds extracted with six types of water. Multiple factor analysis was used to analyze the relationship among the pH, content of mineral, anion, total extractions and content of bioactive components as factors. There was a significant difference among the six types of water in the total extracts and the bioactive compounds. The results proved that the content of extracted compounds from Corydalis tuber was influenced by the types of decoction water.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.141-150
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• 2020

Purpose: High-quality nursing care must be provided for women with infertility, and their nursing needs must be identified. Although scales have been developed to assess infertility-related stress, quality of life, and psychosocial status, there is a lack of scales that assess the nursing needs of women with infertility. The purpose of this study was to develop a needs assessment scale for nursing care in women with infertility and to verify its reliability and validity. Methods: The 250 subjects in this study were women with infertility recruited from four hospitals. The scale was developed following the framework of DeVellis, through a literature review, in-depth interviews, development of preliminary items, verification of content validity, development of secondary items, verification of construct validity, and extraction of the final items. Date were analyzed using item analysis, factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, Pearson correlation coefficients, and Cronbach's alpha. Reliability was tested using Cronbach's alpha, and validity was evaluated using item analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and criterion validity. Results: The final version of the nursing needs assessment scale for woman with infertility consisted of 18 items. Four factors (physical and psychological nursing needs, needs for information regarding treatment, needs for infertility-related understanding and concern, and supportive needs) explained 66.0% of the total variance. Cronbach's alpha was .92 for the overall instrument and ranged from .88 to .91 for the subscales. Conclusion: These results suggest that this needs assessment scale for nursing care in women with infertility demonstrated acceptable validity and reliability and contained items suitable for assessing the level of nursing care needed by women with infertility.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.1022-1032
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• 2019

Probiotics are known to provide the host with immune-modulatory effects and are therefore of remarkable interest for therapeutic and prophylactic applications against various disorders, including inflammatory diseases. Weissella cibaria JW15 (JW15) has been reported to possess probiotic and antioxidant properties. However, the effect of JW15 on inflammatory responses has not yet been reported. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory potential of JW15 against lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. The production of pro-inflammatory factors and the cellular signaling pathways following treatment with heat-killed JW15 was examined in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. Treatment with heat-killed JW15 decreased nitric oxide and prostaglandin $E_2$ production via down-regulation of the inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2. In addition, treatment with heat-killed JW15 suppressed the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, interleukin $(IL)-1{\beta}$, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$. The anti-inflammatory properties of treating with heat-killed JW15 were associated with mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway-mediated suppression of nuclear factor-${\kappa}B$. These results indicated that JW15 possesses anti-inflammatory potential and provide a molecular basis regarding the development of functional probiotic products.

• 한국노년학
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.65-80
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a wisdom scale among Korean elderly with high validity and reliability. Method: The process of the development of this scale follows: A conceptual framework was identified based on literature a review of the elderly and discussion with experts in physiology and sociology. Total 128 items were developed. Through reliability testing, factor analysis, 60 preliminary items, and 4-points scale were selected. By a means of the internal consistency for 60 items, 33 items were deleted. Finally, 27 items were remained. To verity 27 items, factor analysis, reliability testing, and correlation were done. Data were collected from 480 elderly subjects in Daegu, Kyungpook Province, and Busan, Kyungnam Province from August, 2008 to February, 2009. Results: From the results of the factor analysis for 27 items, 3 factors were extracted. These factors were labeled as 'empathic emotion', 'self-reflection', and 'bitter experience of life'. Cronbach's Alpha for the 27 items was .921 and correlation coefficient of ego-integrity was .69. Conclusion: An exploratory study of the variables related to wisdom among the elderly is needed for criterion validity of this scale. A study on wisdom for different age groups is needed for re-verification.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.20-36
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• 2020

Purpose - As the global product network expands through both internationalization and diversification of the multimodal transportation system, corporate strategies have shifted to emphasize the importance of a high value-added international logistics system. To guide policies and strategies to attract relevant industries, this study aims to analyze the location competitiveness of regional logistics distribution center to serve Northeast Asia. Design/methodology - Multi-criteria techniques are considered to offer a promising framework for evaluating decision-making factors. This paper employed an analytic hierarchy process to analyze the hierarchal structure of determinants for selecting the location of a regional logistics distribution center. Adopting both qualitative and quantitative evaluations, this study suggest political implications for a regional logistics distribution center development, such as the direction of political support, service differentiation and infrastructure development. Findings - This study developed a location competitiveness evaluation model, based on the case study of the major port-cities in Northeast Asia. Evaluation model incorporates five factors underpinning 17 components extracted using factor analysis. The results revealed that the logistics factor is the most significant factor for evaluating the competitiveness of a regional logistics distribution center. The remaining factors were market, costs, and services environment. Comparing qualitative and quantitative evaluations, results provide useful insights for a regional logistics distribution center development in Northeast Asia. Originality/value - This study revealed differences between qualitative and quantitative evaluations. The finding implies that prior works on evaluation models of competitiveness has not successfully measured the gap between quantitative data and expert' evaluations. To overcome this limitation, this paper considered both actual data such as actual distance, cost, the number of companies located, and expert opinions.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.165-183
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• 2022

The main purpose of this paper is to present a competitive strategies for the Logistics Warehouses of Busan New Port. Based on the survey conducted by the Logistics Warehouses of Busan New Port experts, the categorized factors were compared using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to assess the importance of each factor and sub-factor in the case of the Logistics Warehouses of Busan New Port. This is a quantitative study that conducted a face-to-face survey on employees and related public officers at the Logistics Warehouses of Busan New Port. The final sample size consisted of 49 people, including workers at the Busan New Port logistics warehouses and related local customs officers. The data were coded in Microsoft Excel and the imprtance of SWOT factors was derived using "the I make it" program developed by Decision Sience, and it was analyzed using the AHP method. This study quantifies the importance of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats factor of the Logistics Warehouses of Busan New Port and presents strategic guidelines for the key factors for the development of the Logistics Warehouses of Busan New Port. This research provides strategic guidelines to Korea for the development of the Logistics Industries, and development of the Logistics Warehouses of Busan New Port.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.65 no.3
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• pp.29-42
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• 2023

Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) is suggested and employed in the policy to conserve soil resources and to manage the impact of development, since soil loss is very essential to nonpoint source pollution management. The equation requires only five factors to estimate average annual potential soil loss, USLE is simplicity provides benefits in use of the equation. However, it is also limitation of the model, since the estimated results are very sensitive to the five factors. There is a need to examine the application procedures. Three approaches to estimate potential soil loss were examined, In the first approach, all factors were prepared with raster data, soil loss were computed for each cell, and sum of all cell values was determined as soil loss for the watersheds. In the second approach, the mean values for each factor were defined as representing USLE factors, and then the five factors were multiplied to determine soil loss for the watersheds. The third approach was same as the second approach, except that the Vegetative and Mechanical measure was used instead of the Cover and management factor and Support practice factor. The approaches were applied in 38 watersheds, they displayed significant difference, moreover no trends were detected for the soil loss at watersheds with the approaches. Therefore, it was concluded that there is a need to be developed and provided a typical guideline or public systems so that soil loss estimations have consistency with the users.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.300-307
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• 2012

BACKGROUND: The Transfer Factor (TF) of heavy metals from soil to plant is important, because TF is an indicator of heavy metal in soils and a factor that quantifies bioavailability of heavy metals to agricultural products. This study was conducted to investigate the transfer ability of Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd), and Lead (Pb) from soil to agricultural products. METHODS AND RESULTS: We investigated heavy metals (As, Cd and Pb) concentrations in 9 agricultural products (rice, barely, corn, pulse, lettuce, pumpkin, apple, pear, tangerin) and soil. TF of agricultural products was evaluated based on total and HCl-extractable soil concentration of As, Cd, and Pb. Regression analysis was used to predict the relationship of total and HCl-extractable concentration with agricultural product contents of As, Cd, and Pb. The result showed that TF was investigated average 0.006~0.309 (As), 0.002~6.185 (Cd), 0.003~0.602 (Pb). The mean TF value was the highest as rice 0.309 in As, lettuce 6.185, pear 0.717, rice 0.308 in Cd, lettuce 0.602, pumpkin 0.536 in Pb which were dependent on the vegetable species and cereal is showed higher than fruit-vegetables in As. CONCLUSION(S): Soil HCl-extractable concentration of As, Cd, and Pb had the larger effects on thier contents in agricultural products than total soil concentrations. We suggests that TF are served as influential factor on the prediction of uptake. Further study for uptake and accumulation mechanism of toxic metals by agricultural products will be required to assess the human health risk and need TF of more agricultural products.