• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.685-698
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• 1996

Southern Louisiana has one of the largest Vitnamese refrgee neighborhoods after the mid-1970s. It is impressive that one of their adaptive strategies comes from their religious lives which are centered on either Catholicism or Buddhism. The Buddhism community, especially, exhibits an exotic symbolic system of value and attitude, and thus contributes to cultural diversity in the adopted country. The landscape of the Buddhist temple is a visible symbol to them that the host socirty accepts their maintenance of their own cultural identity and that they are also an integral part of American society. Their making-place and being-in-place procedures, although their culture is being transformed in the original shape, put an emphasis on interaction with the host xociety. These procedures have been facilitated by consolidating their identity as a minority group as well as by interacting with the host society. The on-going influx of foreign immigrant groups seems not to drive them to assimilate into the melting-pot society, but to contribute to contribute to the increase in the cultural diversity of the United States.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.380-388
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• 2005

Background : Acute drug intoxication has recently become an important issue in the social and clinical areas. There are various complications associated with acute drug intoxication such as pneumonia, but the process is was not fully understood. The aim of this study was to analyze our cases of pneumonia associated with acute drug intoxication and to determine the associated risk factors. Methods : Forty four cases out of 237 patients, who were acute drug intoxicated from May 2000 to Feb. 2005, were diagnosed with pneumonia at the Konyang University hospital. These cases were analyzed by a retrospective review of their medical records. Results : The incidence of pneumonia in acute drug intoxication was 18.6%. There was no gender difference in terms of the incidence, but the age group with the highest incidence was in the $5^{th}$ decade (22.5%) followed by the $7^{th}$ decade (17.9%). Most common drug of associated with pneumonia was organophosphate insecticides, and the others were herbicides. Suicidal attempts were the most common motive of intoxication. The incidence of pneumonia was increased in old age (${\beta}=0.128$, p<0.05). A drowsy or comatous mental status was an independent risk factors of pneumonia (${\beta}=-0.209$, p=0.006). A longer hospital duration was also a risk factor for pneumonia (${\beta}=0.361$, p<0.001). The intubated state, intensive care unit care and longer duration of admission correlated with the course of pneumonia in acute drug intoxicated patients (p<0.05). The culture study revealed MRSA to be most common pathogen. Conclusion : The incidence of pneumonia associated with acute drug intoxication was higher in the older aged patients, those with a decreased initial mental status and a longer hospital duration. The number of days in the intensive care unit and intubation were associated prognostic factors for pneumonia in acute drug intoxication patients.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.67-82
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• 2001

Recently, local traditions and cultural assets have been rediscovered and developed as resources in local societies of Korea and a great deal of effort has been made to develop event tourism. Based on this renewed interest, this study chose as a case the Wang In Cultural Festival in Kurim-ri, Yongam, and examined the background of the early Wang In Cultural Festival and its evolution up to the present focusing on. the festival program. In Cultural Festival first began as the Wang In Cherry Blossom Festival in 1993 with a budget of 50 million won, and has been developed into a large-scale festival with a budget of 340 million won, attracting 500,000 visitors in 2000. Together with such evolution, there has been a great change in the organization and content of the Festival program. The most important change began in the 1997 which included a religious service for Confucian scholars called 'Chunhyang Grand Festival for Dr. Wang In' as a core program. Since then, festival programs related to Dr. Wang In have greatly increased in number. A decisive change became prominent when the festival promotion system was transferred from the Kunseo Young Men's Association during the early period(1993-1996) to Youngam-gun in 1997. It is true that the Wang In Cultural Festival, which began as a purely regional festival initiated by a non-governmental organization, changed a lot in terms of its scale and program when Youngam-gun emerged as a strong leading group in 1997. However, not enough consideration has been given to institutional devices and procedures that are required for the local culture to take a firm root in the community through the festival. Therefore, in order to solve such fundamental problems, a permanent non-governmental organization is required for festival preparation. In addition, in order to promote overall progress of the community and an increase in the quality of the cultural environment of the local society through the festival, it is necessary to discover and promote recognition of cultural groups in the community.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2014

To characterize novel biologically-active ingredients in traditional Korean soy sauces, polysaccharide fractions were isolated from two different soy sauces made either commercially (CSP-0) or through a traditional Korean process (KTSP-0), after which their intestinal immune-modulating activities were examined. CSP-0 and KTSP-0 showed enhanced production of interleukine-6 (IL-6) in culture supernatant of Peyer's patch cells. However, KTSP-0 activity was more potent than that of CSP-0. Only KTSP-0 increased in vitro immunoglobulin A (IgA) production by Peyer's patch cells in a dose-dependent manner. KTSP-0 also showed the higher bone marrow cell proliferation activity through Peyer's patch cells than that of the CSP-0 group. To investigate the in vivo effects on the intestinal immune system, CSP-0 and KTSP-0 were administered orally to four experimental groups of mice (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, and 5.0 mg/mouse/day, 30 days). Oral administration of CSP-0 and KTSP-0 induced IgA production by Peyer's patch cells and increased IgA excretion into mouse stools in a dose-dependent manner. Peyer's patch cells from the mice administered both CSP-0 and KTSP-0 showed significantly higher IL-6 production than that of the untreated or CSP-0 groups. However, oral administration of KTSP-0 was more effective at the same dosage. KTSP-0 administration augmented IL-6 content in mouse sera, whereas CSP-0 did not show any effect on IL-6 induction. The above data lead us to conclude that the intestinal immune-stimulating activities of polysaccharides from Korean traditional soy sauce are much better than those of commercial ones.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.62 no.2
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• pp.98-104
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• 2007

Background: Although there is an increasing incidence of Mycobacterium abscessus pulmonary disease in Korea, the optimal therapeutic regimen has not yet been established and there are no reports of the long-term treatment outcomes. This study examined the long-term treatment outcomes of M. abscessus pulmonary disease. Methods: Twenty-nine patients diagnosed with M. abscessus pulmonary according to the American Thoracic Society criteria and treated from January 1996 to December 2003 were enrolled in ghis study. The clinical characteristics, radiological findings, treatment outcome, and follow up data were analyzed retrospectively. Results: The mean age of the 29 patients was 56.1 (${\pm}13.6$) years and there was a female (22/29) dominance. The chest radiography revealed the nodular bronchiectatic type to be dominant (69%, 20/29). Twenty-seven (93.1%) were prescribed clarithromycin-containing regimens, and injectable drugs, mainly aminoglycosides, were included in the regimen of nineteen patients. The most predominant regimen (48.3%) consisted of clarithromycin and amikacin. The treatment success, failure, and default were achieved in 19(65.5%), 9(31.0%), and 1(3.4%), respectively. The median duration to culture conversion was 42 days (range 15-362) and the median duration of treatment in the success group was 543 days (range 176-1,160). An adjunctive surgical resection was performed in five patients, which resulted in treatment success in two patients. After the completion of treatment, nineteen patients were followed up for a median duration of 931 days (range 230-2,294). Only one (5.3%) patient relapsed 45 days after completing treatment. Conclusion: Treatment with clarithromycin-containing regimens resulted in a successful treatment in approximately two thirds of patients with M. abscessus pulmonary disease. The long-term relapse rate was also quite low.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.253-259
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• 2018

This study set out to select a system to realize an optimal environment for strawberry cultivation greenhouses based on data about the growth and development of strawberry and its environment and to provide basic data for the research of its improved productivity. For these purposes, the investigator conducted a field survey with greenhouses for strawberry cultivation in western Gyeongnam. The findings show that farmers in their fifties and sixties accounted for the biggest part in the age groups of strawberry farmers. While those who were under 50 were accounted for approximately 67.5%, those who were 60 or older accounted for 32.5%. As for cultivation experiences, the majority of the farmers had ten years of cultivation experiences or less with some having 30 years of cultivation experiences or more. All the farmers built an arch type single span greenhouse. Those who used nutrient solutions were about 75.0%, being more than those who used soil. All of the farmers that used a nutrient solution adopted an elevated hydroponic system. The single span greenhouses were in the range of 7.5~8.5m, 1.3~1.8m and 2.5~3.5m for width, eaves, and ridge height, respectively, regardless of survey areas. The rafters interval was about 0.7~0.8m. In elevated hydroponic cultivation, the width, height, and interval of the beds were about 0.25m, 1.2m and 1.0m, respectively. As for the strawberry varieties, the domestic ones accounted for approximately 97.5% with Seolhyang being the most favorite one at about 65.0%. As for the internal environment factors of greenhouses, 38 farmers measured only temperature and relatively humidity. As for hydroponics, the farmers used a hydroponics control system. Except for the farmers that introduced a smart farm system for temperature and humidity control, approximately 85.0% controlled temperature and humidity only with a control panel for side windows and ventilation fans. As for heating and heat insulation, all of the farmers were using water curtains with many farmers using an oil or electric boiler, radiating lamp or non-woven fabric, as well, when necessary.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.122-129
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• 2005

Ammonia is the major limiting factor in intensive aquaculture production systems. Therefore, quantification of ammonia excretion is important for the water quality management in aquaculture systems. Ammonia excretion is known to be affected by many factors such as body weight and dietary protein level (DPL). In this study, experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of body weight and DPLs on the rates of ammonia excretion of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus. Three sizes of fishes (mean initial weight; 4.8 g,42.7 g and 176.8 g) were fed each of two dietary protein levels (30.5% and 35.5%). Daily feeding levels for the three fish sizes of 4.8 g, 42.7 g and 176.8 g were 6%, 3%, and 1.5% body weight per day, respectively. Each group of fish was stocked in a 17.1-L aquarium and all treatments were triplicated. Following feeding, the weight-specific ammonia excretion rate of O. niloticus increased, peaked at 4 to 8 h, and returned to pre-feeding levels within 24 h. Total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) excretion.ate per unit weight decreased with the increase of fish weight for each diet (P<0.05). The TAN excretion rate increased with increasing dietary protein content for each fish size (P<0.05). TAN excretion rates (Y) for each diet with different fish weights were described by the following equations: low DPL diet (30.5%): $Y\;(mg\;kg^{-1}\;d^{-1})=955.69-147.12\;lnX\;(r^2=0.95)$, high DPL diet (35.5%): $Y\;(mg\;kg^{-1}\;d^{-1})=1362.41-209.79\;lnX\;(r^2=0.99)$. Where: X=body weight (g wet wt.). The TAN excretion rates ranged 28.5%-37.1% of the total nitrogen ingested for the low DPL diet (30.5%) and 37.4-38.5% for the high DPL diet (35.5%). Total nitrogen losses of fish fed the high DPL diet $(35.5%;\;0.26\sim0.91g\;kg^{-1}\;d^{-1})$ were higher than those fed the low DPL diet $(30.5%;\;0.22\sim0.68g\;kg^{-1}\;d^{-1})$. The losses decreased per kg of fish as fish size increased. Results will provide valuable information fer water quality management and culture of Nile tilapia in recirculating aquaculture systems.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1752-1760
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• 2011

In this study, the effect of the Opuntiahumifusa extracts on proliferation, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, collagen synthesis and ROS level of a cell was investigated using an osteoblast. Opuntiahumifusawas separated intoOpuntiahumifusapeel (OH-P), seed (OH-Se) and stem (OH-St).These were subjected to extraction by using hot water and ethanol. The proliferation of the MC3T3-E1 osteoblastic cells that were treated with OH-Se water extract were increased by approximately 120%. Regarding the effects of OH-Se on ALP activity, the $50{\mu}g/ml$ ethanol extract group showed the highest activity. The synthesis of collagen increased significantly in response to treatment with OH-Se water extract. The ROS scavenging effects of Opuntiahumifusawere investigated for involvement of oxidativedamage, cell culture and staining. Also, when OH-Se water extract $100{\mu}g/ml$ was added, the ROS level decreased by 54%. These results indicate that Opuntiahumifusa extracts have an anabolic effect on bone through the promotion of osteoblastic differentiation, suggesting that it could be used for the treatment of common metabolic bone diseases.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.1027-1033
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• 2010

Liriope platyphylla has traditionally been used in Korea and China as a therapeutic drug for the treatment of coughing, sputum, neurodegenerative disorders, obesity, and diabetes. In an effort to assess the functions of a novel extract from Liriope platyphylla in diabetes therapy, the insulin secretion abilities of 10 extracts were screened via measurements of insulin concentration in the culture supernatant using an Insulin ELISA kit. The results of this assay showed the highest levels of insulin in the LP9M80-H treated group, followed by the LP-H, LP-M, LP-E and LP9M80-C treated groups, whereas other extracts did not induce insulin secretion in the HIT-T15 cells. However, the extracts capable of stimulating insulin secretion simultaneously evidenced high apoptotic activity as compared with other extracts. Therefore, one of these extracts, LP9M80-H, was initially selected as the optimal candidate for a therapeutic drug and its optimal concentration was determined. The results of the ELISA and MTT assay demonstrated that a concentration of approximately 100-125 ug/ml of LP9M80-H was optimal with regards to cell viability and insulin secretion in the HIT-T15 cells. These results suggest that LP9M80-H could be considered as an excellent candidate for a diabetes-therapeutic drug that could induce insulin secretion in pancreatic $\beta$-cells.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.351-359
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• 2014

A beverage was produced by the fermentation of mixed extracts from the various fruits, vegetables, algae, and medical herbs. The physicochemical properties of the fermented beverage of plant extracts (FBPE) and microbial diversity were analyzed in cultures enriched from FBPE using 16S and 26S rRNA gene sequence analyses. The pH, acidity, $^{\circ}brix$, reducing sugar, and alcohol contents of the FBPE were determined to be the 3.48, 1.68%, 70.0, 1,026 g/L, and 3.5%, respectively. The most abundant free sugar and organic acid in the FBPE were glucose (567.83 g/L) and tartaric acid (93.68 mg/L), respectively. Lactobacillus homohiochii was the predominant species in all enriched culture samples: 100% of the species in 0B (0% sugar) and 40B (40% sugar) libraries and 95.6% of 20B library (20% sugar). Lactobacillus fructivorans was detected in the 20B library. The predominant species in the samples of enrichment cultures collected from FBPE with three different sugar concentrations were: Candida zeylanoides (45.2%) in the 0Y library (0% sugar), Candida lactis-condensi (35.7%) and C. zeylanoides (35.7%) in the 20Y library (20% sugar), and C. lactis-condensi (38.1%) in the 40Y library (40% sugar). This result may provide a useful frame of reference for further analyses of microbial population dynamics in FBPE.