• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.sup3
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• pp.119-123
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• 2016

Thyroid cancer, the most common endocrine neoplasia, consists of four main types of carcinomas: papillary, follicular, and anaplastic, all with thyroid follicular origin, and medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) related to para-follicular cells. Cronic diseases such as diverse cancers may be associated with cachexia, especially at advanced stage. Cancer-induced cachexia is associated with diminished quality of life, functional performance, reduced response to antitumor therapy, and increased morbidity and mortality. Myostatin (Mst) is one of the outstanding molecules in the skeletal muscle loss process in cancer and it may be released by both skeletal muscle and cachexia-inducing tumors. Recently changes in serum levels of Mst have been identified as an important factor of cancer-induced cachexia. The goal of this study was to assessserum Mst levels in MTC patients. In this descriptive and case-control study, 90 participants were selected, comprising 45 MTC patients (20 males, $29{\pm}13.9years$, 25 females, $29{\pm}14.5years$) and 45 control individuals (25 males, $23.1{\pm}11.6years$, 20 females, $31.5{\pm}14.4years$). Serum Mst was determined using an ELISA kit and body mass index (BMI) was calculated by weight and height measurements. The Kolmogorov Simonov test showed a normal distribution for log transformed Mst serum levels in both case and control groups. Geometric means were 5.9 and 8.2 ng/ml respectively, and a significant difference was found according to the independent t-test results (P<0.01). There was also a significant difference mean of Mst between females in control and MTC groups, but not for the males. Pearson correlation test showed no correlation between age and BMI with Mst serum levels. The findings of this study support the hypothesis that Mst serum levels may have a potential ability for early diagnosis of cachexia in MTC patients, especially in females.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.564-574
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• 2022

Microbial diversity in the soil is responsive to changes in soil composition. However, the impact of soil amendments on the diversity and structure of rare and abundant sub-communities in agricultural systems is poorly understood. We investigated the effects of different Chinese herb residue (CHR) soil amendments and cropping systems on bacterial rare and abundant sub-communities. Our results showed that the bacterial diversity and structure of these sub-communities in soil had a specific distribution under the application of different soil amendments. The CHR soil amendments with high nitrogen and organic matter additives significantly increased the relative abundance and stability of rare taxa, which increased the structural and functional redundancy of soil bacterial communities. Rare and abundant sub-communities also showed different preferences in terms of bacterial community composition, as the former was enriched with Bacteroidetes while the latter had more Alphaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria. All applications of soil amendments significantly improved soil quality of newly created farmlands in whole maize cropping system. Rare sub-communitiy genera Niastella and Ohtaekwangia were enriched during the maize cropping process, and Nitrososphaera was enriched under the application of simple amendment group soil. Thus, Chinese medicine residue soil amendments with appropriate additives could affect soil rare and abundant sub-communities and enhance physicochemical properties. These findings suggest that applying soil composite amendments based on CHR in the field could improve soil microbial diversity, microbial redundancy, and soil fertility for sustainable agriculture on the Loess Plateau.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.205-223
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• 2023

Fresh mushrooms are vulnerable to browning and tissue changes after harvest. This study monitored the external appearance, physicochemical quality indicators, and nutritional and functional components of a white beech mushroom (Hypsizygus marmoreus) variety (EG2020) newly developed in Korea during cold storage for up to 42 days. Two existing varieties of white H. marmoreus, namely H6 from Korea and HKT from Japan, were used for comparison. The mechanical texture of EG2020 was superior to H6 and HKT due to the increasing hardness of the pileus with time. Browning, in terms of the total color difference during storage, was found to be the most severe in HKT. In terms of composition, EG2020 had the highest total free sugar content, a large amount of organic acids, and higher sugar content than H6 and HKT. EG2020 also contained the largest amount of 𝛽-glucan, and its amount increased during storage. In sensory evaluation, EG2020 received higher scores than HKT in flavor, taste, appearance, and texture. Therefore, the EG2020 variety is more stable than HKT during storage and distribution.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.248-254
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to investigate the distribution of stress within the regenerated bone surrounding the implant using three dimensional finite element stress analysis method. Using ANSYS software revision 6.0 (IronCAD LLC, USA), a program was written to generate a model simulating a cylindrical block section of the mandible 20 mm in height and 10 mm in diameter. The $5.0{\times}11.5-mm$ screw implant (3i, USA) was used for this study, and was assumed to be 100% osseointegrated. And it was restored with gold crown with resin filling at the central fossa area. The implant was surrounded by the regenerated type IV bone, with 4 mm in width and 7 mm apical to the platform of implant in length. And the regenerated bone was surrounded by type I, type II, and type III bone, respectively. The present study used a fine grid model incorporating elements between 250,820 and 352,494 and nodal points between 47,978 and 67,471. A load of 200N was applied at the 3 points on occlusal surfaces of the restoration, the central fossa, outside point of the central fossa with resin filling into screw hole, and the functional cusp, at a 0 degree angle to the vertical axis of the implant, respectively. The results were as follows: 1. The stress distribution in the regenerated bone-implant interface was highly dependent on both the density of the native bone surrounding the regenerated bone and the loading point. 2. A load of 200N at the buccal cusp produced 5-fold increase in the stress concentration at the neck of the implant and apex of regenerated bone irrespective of surrounding bone density compared to a load of 200N at the central fossa. 3. It was found that stress was more homogeneously distributed along the side of implant when the implant was surrounded by both regenerated bone and native type III bone. In summary, these data indicate that concentration of stress on the implant-regenerated bone interface depends on both the native bone quality surrounding the regenerated bone adjacent to implant and the load direction applied on the prosthesis.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.299-308
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• 2016

Seoul metropolitan has established a vision as 'Healthy water-cycle city' to resolve urban water-environmental deterioration. And it established administrative structure to expand Low Impact Development (LID) facilities to recover aggravated water-cycle and water-environment. Therefore, various LID facilities are constructed and operated, however, benefit analytic plans for systematic valuation are insufficient. In this study, to analyze economic, environmental and social benefits of LID facilities, contents for benefit analysis were selected and categorized as water, energy, air quality and climate changes. As a result of quantification and valuation to the beneficial effects, LID facilities showed the total benefit as 1,191~3,292 won/yr. Characteristics of benefit distribution by analysis contents were various reflecting functional characteristics of each LID facility (Water: 30~90%, Energy: 4~44%, Air quality: <1~2%, Climate change: 5~22%). As a result of Triple Bottom Line analysis, economic benefit showed the greatest portion as 75~90%. As further studies, suggested benefit assessment plans for each LID facility should be applied to inter-connected LID systems on complex-scaled area, and synergy effects by various LID systems would be evaluated such as prevention of heat island and flood disasters.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2018

In this study, we aimed to increase the utilization of non-commercializable peach fruits collected during harvesting and distribution and to promote the transition of a high value-added industry. After producing pastes from the flesh of different peach varieties, we used these pastes as ingredients in the production of Kochujang. We then performed a comparative analysis on the quality characteristics of the peach-added Kochujang and commercially available Kochujang products. Peach-added Kochujang exhibited a lower pH and reduced sugar, salinity, reducing sugar, ash, and calorie content than those of commercially available Kochujang products. However, the Kochujang had slightly higher pH and moisture content than commercially available products due to high organic acid and moisture contents of peach flesh. In terms of content of inorganic elements, commercial Kochujang products exhibited higher sodium and magnesium content, whereas peach-added Kochujang had higher potassium content. In particular, the lower sodium and higher potassium content of peach-added Kochujang indicates that this product could be used as a functional food to prevent various diseases caused by excessive sodium intake among Koreans. After comparing the products in terms of phenol and flavonoid content, we concluded that ethanol extracts of peach-added Kochujang showed higher phenol content than those of the commercially available Kochujang products. In contrast, the distilled water extracts of peach Kochujang showed higher DPPH free radical scavenging activity than that of commercially available Kochujang products.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.320-333
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• 2019

Objective: The Shanghai Holstein cattle breed is susceptible to severe mastitis and other diseases due to the hot weather and long-term humidity in Shanghai, which is the main distribution centre for providing Holstein semen to various farms throughout China. Our objective was to determine the genetic mechanisms influencing economically important traits, especially diseases that have huge impact on the yield and quality of milk as well as reproduction. Methods: In our study, we detected the structural variations of 1,092 Shanghai Holstein cows by using next-generation sequencing. We used the DELLY software to identify deletions and insertions, cn.MOPS to identify copy-number variants (CNVs). Furthermore, we annotated these structural variations using different bioinformatics tools, such as gene ontology, cattle quantitative trait locus (QTL) database and ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA). Results: The average number of high-quality reads was 3,046,279. After filtering, a total of 16,831 deletions, 12,735 insertions and 490 CNVs were identified. The annotation results showed that these mapped genes were significantly enriched for specific biological functions, such as disease and reproduction. In addition, the enrichment results based on the cattle QTL database showed that the number of variants related to milk and reproduction was higher than the number of variants related to other traits. IPA core analysis found that the structural variations were related to reproduction, lipid metabolism, and inflammation. According to the functional analysis, structural variations were important factors affecting the variation of different traits in Shanghai Holstein cattle. Our results provide meaningful information about structural variations, which may be useful in future assessments of the associations between variations and important phenotypes in Shanghai Holstein cattle. Conclusion: Structural variations identified in this study were extremely different from those of previous studies. Many structural variations were found to be associated with mastitis and reproductive system diseases; these results are in accordance with the characteristics of the environment that Shanghai Holstein cattle experience.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.175-181
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• 2013

These studies were identified the effect of four types of non-perforated breathable (NPB) packing film and three sizes on storage ability of fresh-cut for ready to eat packaging at $5^{\circ}C$ for 25 days and $10^{\circ}C$ for 15 days storage in Salicornia herbacea. The fresh weight loss was less than 2% in every films at $5^{\circ}C$ condition after 25 days storage, and the $10^{\circ}C$ also had same result on 15 days storage except 100,000 cc NPB film. Compare with storage after 15 days, storage condition at $5^{\circ}C$ had shown better result under the 1% fresh weight loss rate. The 5,000 cc and $5^{\circ}C$ condition had been shown the characteristics of MA packaging in carbon dioxide and oxygen concentrations. The ethylene concentration in vacuum film was higher 10 to 100 times than in NPB film treatments during storage. But ethylene concentration was not statistically significant differences among size treatments. Every conditions had been measured the anti-oxidant activity by DPPH method after storage at $5^{\circ}C$ for 25 days and $10^{\circ}C$ for 15 days. S. herbacea at $5^{\circ}C$ had been more than twice of activity compare with that at $10^{\circ}C$. 100,000 cc NPB film had been higher contents of anti-oxidant activity at $5^{\circ}C$ and $10^{\circ}C$. As the fresh-cut sizes, 3 cm and 5 cm sizes had changed depending on film types but 10 cm were not effected by the film types in the DPPH activity. When panel test had been tried to measure the visual quality and off-flavor after storage, $5^{\circ}C$ with a filme of 5,000 cc treatment had established higher value than other treated conditions. As these results, it's may be suggested that the $5^{\circ}C$ with 5,000 cc non-perforated breathable film for MA storage in Salicornia herbacea at fresh cut distribution system. Fresh cut size 10 cm with 100,000 cc NPB film also had the good quality for 15 dyas storage at $10^{\circ}C$, and this result can be applied for short term distribution system in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.508-519
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• 2017

There have been many studies on monitoring of biodiversity changes and preservation of Gwangneung Forest Biosphere Reserve (GFBR) in South Korea in recognition of the rare ecosystem that has been preserved for a long period. However, there are few studies on diversity and community characteristics of benthic macroinvertebrates as an indicator of stream health of GFBR. The purpose of this study was to assess the water quality of Bongseonsa Stream that penetrated through Gwangneung Forest and the nearby torrents by analyzing the benthic macroinvertebrates community during April to September 2016. The investigation collected a total of 114 species of benthic macroinvertebrates belonging to 56 families, 17 orders, 8 classes, and 5 phyla from the Bongseonsa Stream and Kwangneung Stream. Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera were the largest groups in species diversity with 30 species (32.3%) and 16 species (17.2%), respectively, and Tubificidae sp., Baetis fuscatus, Antocha KUa, and Cheumatopsyche brevilineata, which usually habit in contaminated streams, appeared frequently. Among the feeding function groups, the gatherers and hunters appeared relatively frequently, and the shredders and scrapers appeared frequently in the torrents. Among the habitat oriented groups, the clingers and burrower appeared more frequently and represented the microhabitats in the shallow areas. The result of the analysis of benthic macroinvertebrates community showed that the dominant index was $0.48{\pm}0.10$ in average while it was lowest with 0.33 in GS 8 of the Gwangneung Forest torrent and highest in BS 1 of Bongseonsa Stream. The diversity and richness indices were inversely proportional to the dominant index and were 2.53 and 4.22, respectively, in GS 8 where the dominant index was low. The result of the analysis of community stability showed that area I, which had high resistance and restoration, was high in Bongseonsa Stream while the area III, which had low resistance and restoration, was high in Gwangneung Forest, indicating that the water system in Gwangneung Forest had a wider distribution of specifies sensitive to agitation. The biological water quality assessment showed ESB of $50.88{\pm}17.69$, KSI of $1.11{\pm}0.57$, and BMI of $78.55{\pm}11.05$. GS 8 of Gwangneung Forest torrent was judged to be the highest priority protective water area with the best water environment and I class water quality with ESB of 63, KSI of 0.55, and BMI of 89.9. On the contrary, BS 1 of Bongseonsa Stream was judged to be the high priority improvement area that had the lowest water quality rating of III with ESB of 25, KSI of 2.13, and BMI of 62.7. Although the diversity of water beetle was higher in the water system of nearby Bongseonsa Stream than the water system inside the Gwangneung Forest, the annual community structure appeared to have distinct differences.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.424-428
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• 2013

Microbiological contamination of 4 vegetables (garlic, red pepper, perilla leaf and lettuce) collected from 10 restaurants around university was examined. The vegetables were evaluated for total plate count, coliforms, psychrophiles, yeast, and Staphylococcus aureus. The results of total plate count showed the highest value as $5.4{\pm}0.69$ log CFU/g in lettuce, following by $4.8{\pm}1.53$ log CFU/g in red pepper, $4.5{\pm}1.65$ log CFU/g in perilla leaf and $3.4{\pm}1.27$ log CFU/g in garlic. The contamination level of coliforms and psychrophiles were highest in red pepper with maximum as 4.7 log CFU/g and 8.2 log CFU/g, respectively. Red pepper of psychrophiles showed the highest average value as $5.0{\pm}1.82$ log CFU/g followed by $4.2{\pm}1.91$ log CFU/g in lettuce, $4.7{\pm}1.55$ log CFU/g in perilla leaf and $2.4{\pm}2.10$ log CFU/g in garlic. The average number of yeasts were highest in perilla leaf with $4.4{\pm}1.41$ log CFU/g and were lowest in garlic with $0.9{\pm}1.41$ log CFU/g. The contamination level of S. aureus was detected in 27 samples among the total 40 samples with the range of 0.5-5.2 log CFU/g. In conclusion, the microbial quality of the fresh vegetables evaluated in this study was not very good. Therefore, it needs to be enhanced through the good sanitation management and production and distribution methods to improve the safety of fresh vegetables.