• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.12
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• pp.1037-1043
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• 2015

The TAZ activator 2-butyl-5-methyl-6-(pyridine-3-yl)-3-[2'-(1H-tetrazole-5-yl)-biphenyl-4-ylmethyl]-3H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine] (TM-25659) inhibits adipocyte differentiation by interacting with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma. 1 TM-25659 was previously shown to decrease weight gain in a high fat (HF) diet-induced obesity (DIO) mouse model. However, the fundamental mechanisms underlying the effects of TM-25659 remain unknown. Therefore, we investigated the effects of TM-25659 on skeletal muscle functions in C2 myotubes and C57BL/6J mice. We studied the molecular mechanisms underlying the contribution of TM-25659 to palmitate (PA)-induced insulin resistance in C2 myotubes. TM-25659 improved PA-induced insulin resistance and inflammation in C2 myotubes. In addition, TM-25659 increased FGF21 mRNA expression, protein levels, and FGF21 secretion in C2 myotubes via activation of GCN2 pathways (GCN2-$phosphoelF2{\alpha}$-ATF4 and FGF21). This beneficial effect of TM-25659 was diminished by FGF21 siRNA. C57BL/6J mice were fed a HF diet for 30 weeks. The HF-diet group was randomly divided into two groups for the next 14 days: the HF-diet and HF-diet + TM-25659 groups. The HF diet + TM-25659-treated mice showed improvements in their fasting blood glucose levels, insulin sensitivity, insulin-stimulated Akt phosphorylation, and inflammation, but neither body weight nor food intake was affected. The HF diet + TM-25659-treated mice also exhibited increased expression of both FGF21 mRNA and protein. These data indicate that TM-25659 may be beneficial for treating insulin resistance by inducing FGF21 in models of PA-induced insulin resistance and HF diet-induced insulin resistance.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.360-372
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• 2010

Concentrations of ambient air particles such as total suspended particulates (TSP), particulate matter $(PM)_{10}$, and $PM_{2.5}$, were monitored simultaneously from May to June, 2007, at four locations at Alashan and Beijing in China, and Seoul and Gosan in South Korea. These monitoring sites are in the pathway of Asian dust (AD) storms traveling from China to the Korean peninsula. An AD event was observed in the Korean peninsula on May 25-26. During the sampling period, the average concentrations of TSP and PM10 were each higher than $150\;{\mu}g/m^3$ in Alashan and Beijing, but not in Seoul and Gosan. The concentration of TSP in Alashan (where the dust storm originated) on the day of the AD event reached $1824.7\;{\mu}g/m^3$, this being the highest concentration of air particles observed during the sampling period. The level was decreased to 15% of this ($274.7\;{\mu}g/m^3$) in Seoul and to 8.7% ($159.0\;{\mu}g/m^3$) in Gosan when the AD was observed two days later in Korea. Gosan, a representative background site in East Asia, displayed the lowest concentration of particles, with this maximal TSP concentration of $159\;{\mu}g/m^3$. Inorganic element contents in the air particles were also measured, and the concentrations in the four different regions compared. Concentrations of anthropogenically-enriched heavy metals in $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$, such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury, were higher in the metropolitan cities of Beijing and Seoul compared to non-industrialized regions of Alashan and Gosan. However, the concentrations of inorganic soil elements including iron, magnesium, aluminum sodium, and manganese, were higher in Alashan compared to those in other sampling sites.

• Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.199-204
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• 2008

Seed dormancy behavior of weed seeds is a critical determinant of their survival rates in a given cropping system as it helps the weeds to evade herbicides and other weeding practices. We investigated the effects of red light, alternating temperature, stratification duration and different doses of nitrogen containing compounds alone or in combination with red light on breaking seed dormancy of Chenopodium album L. The application of red light(80 ${\mu}mols^{-1}m^{-2}$) significantly increased seed germination of C. album in all treatments. Germination rates of 12 h incubated seeds were highest under 20 min of red light irradiation than 1 min, 5 min and 10 min treated seeds. Germination rate was significantly higher at alternating temperatures of $25^{\circ}C\;and\;5^{\circ}C$ for 12 h each with an irradiation of red light(80 ${\mu}mols^{-1}m^{-2}$) for 10 min than other treatments. Stratification period of 15 days significantly stimulated germination percentage of seeds incubated in dark, although 5 days of stratification along with red light application for 10 minutes exhibit similar effects on seeds. Seed germination was also enhanced by nitrogen containing compounds like $NaNO_2,\;KNO_3,\;NH_4Cl\;and\;NH_4NO_3$. We observed that seed germination increased significantly with 25 mM $KNO_3$ and 10 mM $NH_4NO_3$ in dark condition, while $NaNO_2$ and $NH_4Cl$ enhanced seed germination under red light irradiation. It was concluded that red light alone or synergized with alternating temperatures, stratification and nitrogen compounds, especially nitrite and ammonium enhanced seed germination of C. album. Thus, the red light can play a vital role in present and future weed management strategies.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 2017

This study was conducted to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of a 3-week family medicine clerkship program based on the results of an online survey taken by the students (N=127) and a structured interview with a focus group (n=10), aimed to improve the quality of the clerkship program. The online survey contained questions pertaining to goals, schedule, contents, arrangement, atmosphere, environment, evaluation, and satisfaction regarding the clerkship. The focus group interview addressed the schedule and achievements of the program. Scores were reported on a 5-point Likert scale. Most students were highly satisfied with the overall quality of the clerkship. The structured interview results showed that 97.6% of the clerkship program was executed according to the schedule. The focus group reported a perfect score of 5 points on several measures including: accomplishment of the educational goals of the family medicine clerkship, providing many chances to obtain medical histories and perform physical examinations on real patients, experience with various symptoms and diseases, positive attitudes of faculty members when teaching, notification of the guidelines for evaluation beforehand, well-constructed and effective clerkship schedule, and reflection of student feedback. However, the focus group gave low scores on: support for health accidents of students, access to patient information, enough opportunities to practice clinical skills, appropriate rest facilities for students, and fairness of clerkship evaluation process. In conclusion, the structured evaluation performed after the 3-week clerkship program motivated students and helped them ensure an efficient clerkship. This structured evaluation also suggested basic data to make the professor who is subject of the assessment. This study shows that structured assessment is an effective method which can be used to improve the quality of clerkships.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.27-36
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• 2005

In East-South Asia it has been said that ginseng(Panax ginseng) induces flushing and epistaxis, whereas American ginseng(Panax quinquefolius) dosen't. This study was designed to find out if ginseng really could increase flushing and epistaxis, compared with American ginseng. Double-blind randomized controlled trials on general symptom, such as flushing and epistaxis, of ginseng and American ginseng in Koreans and Chinese were performed by questionnaire. There was no significant accident or improvement in Koreans. But in Chinese dried mouth was significantly observed in placebo group and chest discomfort was significant in placebo group and American ginseng(4 years) group. In addition in Chinese chest discomfort was significantly observed in American ginseng(4 years) group and American ginseng(6 years) group. It was revealed that ginseng might not increase flushing and epistaxis.토양환경학회 홈페이지 ( http://www.kossge.or.kr ) 을 참조하십시오.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.93-102
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• 2019

This study examined the nurse's emotional exhaustion and influencing factors, and the relationship between emotional burnout and hospital nursing workload using multilevel logistic regression analysis. The study subjects were 3,083 nurses of 65 hospitals, who participated in the training conducted by the Healthcare Industry Trade Union in 2010 and responded to the questionnaire. First, 71.6% of nurses experienced emotional exhaustion, and the average score of emotional exhaustion was 33.53. Second, the 'non - nursing work experience' showed a significant effect on emotional exhaustion. Third, the 'sufficient nursing staff' variable increased the emotional exhaustion. Fourth, the nursing grades were correlated significantly with emotional exhaustion compared to those with more than four beds per nurse. Fifth, in the case of working in the internal ward, the shorter the clinical career, the higher the emotional exhaustion. In other words, higher emotional exhaustion was associated with more nursing work experience, more perceived insufficient nursing staff, more nurses per bed, the department of internal medicine, and a shorter clinical career.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.1698-1710
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• 2022

Objective: Raw potato starch (RPS) is resistant to digestion, escapes absorption, and is metabolized by intestinal microflora in the large intestine and acts as their energy source. In this study, we compared the effect of different concentrations of RPS on the intestinal bacterial community of weaned piglets. Methods: Male weaned piglets (25-days-old, 7.03±0.49 kg) were either fed a corn/soybean-based control diet (CON, n = 6) or two treatment diets supplemented with 5% RPS (RPS5, n = 4) or 10% RPS (RPS10, n = 4) for 20 days and their fecal samples were collected. The day 0 and 20 samples were analyzed using a 16S rRNA gene sequencing technology, followed by total genomic DNA extraction, library construction, and high-throughput sequencing. After statistical analysis, five phyla and 45 genera accounting for over 0.5% of the reads in any of the three groups were further analyzed. Furthermore, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in the day 20 fecal samples were analyzed using gas chromatography. Results: Significant changes were not observed in the bacterial composition at the phylum level even after 20 d post feeding (dpf); however, the abundance of Intestinimonas and Barnesiella decreased in both RPS treatment groups compared to the CON group. Consumption of 5% RPS increased the abundance of Roseburia (p<0.05) and decreased the abundance of Clostridium (p<0.01) and Mediterraneibacter (p< 0.05). In contrast, consumption of 10% RPS increased the abundance of Olsenella (p<0.05) and decreased the abundance of Campylobacter (p<0.05), Kineothrix (p<0.05), Paraprevotella (p<0.05), and Vallitalea (p<0.05). Additionally, acetate (p<0.01), butyrate (p<0.05), valerate (p = 0.01), and total SCFAs (p = 0.01) were upregulated in the RPS5 treatment group Conclusion: Feeding 5% RPS altered bacterial community composition and promoted gut health in weaned piglets. Thus, resistant starch as a feed additive may prevent diarrhea in piglets during weaning.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.464-474
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• 2022

Objectives: We introduced the cohort studies included in the Korean Cohort Consortium (KCC), focusing on large-scale cohort studies established in Korea with a prolonged follow-up period. Moreover, we also provided projections of the follow-up and estimates of the sample size that would be necessary for big-data analyses based on pooling established cohort studies, including population-based genomic studies. Methods: We mainly focused on the characteristics of individual cohort studies from the KCC. We developed "PROFAN", a Shiny application for projecting the follow-up period to achieve a certain number of cases when pooling established cohort studies. As examples, we projected the follow-up periods for 5000 cases of gastric cancer, 2500 cases of prostate and breast cancer, and 500 cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The sample sizes for sequencing-based analyses based on a 1:1 case-control study were also calculated. Results: The KCC consisted of 8 individual cohort studies, of which 3 were community-based and 5 were health screening-based cohorts. The population-based cohort studies were mainly organized by Korean government agencies and research institutes. The projected follow-up period was at least 10 years to achieve 5000 cases based on a cohort of 0.5 million participants. The mean of the minimum to maximum sample sizes for performing sequencing analyses was 5917-72 102. Conclusions: We propose an approach to establish a large-scale consortium based on the standardization and harmonization of existing cohort studies to obtain adequate statistical power with a sufficient sample size to analyze high-risk groups or rare cancer subtypes.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.586-593
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• 2022

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is a high-protein oilseed crop, cultivated worldwide. Soybean seeds are abundant in various secondary metabolites with physiologically active. Mature seeds of 25 soybean cultivars with various morphological and physiological characteristics analyzed for secondary metabolites, such as carotenoid, isoflavone, and soyasaponin. These secondary metabolites showed various content by genotype in 25 cultivars. Total carotenoid content ranged from 1.23 to 33.78 mg/g and three cultivars, such as IT177645, PI90763 and IT234975 with black seed coat showed high levels of total carotenoid. Total isoflavones content ranged from 20.28 to 276.35 mg/100g and were detected high levels in Savoy, PI90763 and KLG16001. In addition, total soyasaponins content ranged from 33.12 to 246 mg/100g and were detected high levels in PI90763, PI86490 and IT234975. The PI90763 was showed abundant content in all of the carotenoid, isoflavones and soyasaponins. These results could be valuable information for the development of new soybean cultivars and regulation of secondary metabolites biosynthesis in soybean.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.71-77
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• 2022

African swine fever (ASF) is a fatal viral disease in pigs, with a short incubation period and causing immediate death. Few studies exist on the Asian epidemic ASF virus (ASFV) challenge in older pigs, including growing and fattening pigs and sows. We aimed to investigate clinical outcomes, pathomorphological lesions, and viral distribution in organs of 3-month-old growing pigs that were inoculated with the ASFV isolated in Vietnam. The clinical outcomes were recorded daily, and the dead or euthanized pigs immediately underwent necropsy. Viral loads were determined in 10 major organs using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The average incubation period in growing pigs was more delayed (5.2±0.9 dpi) than that in weaned pigs, and the clinical signs were milder in growing pigs than in weaned pigs. The digestive and respiratory clinical signs in growing pigs showed at the end period of life, but these were observed at an early stage of infection in weaned pigs. The pathomorphological features were severe and nonspecific with hemorrhagic lesions in various organs. The viral loads in organs from growing pigs were higher than those from piglets, and the number of viral copies was related to gross lesions in the tonsil and intestine. In the absence of vaccines against ASF, early clinical detection is important for preventing the spread of the virus. Our findings elucidated that the clinical signs and gross lesions in growing pigs differed from those in weaned pigs, which provide valuable information for diagnosis of pigs with suspected ASF infection.