• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.595-600
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• 2019

This study investigated the suitability of freeze-dried ice plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum) as the source of an edible healthy salt alternative by examining the content of NaCl, D-pinitol, total phenols, total flavonoids, and DPPH radical scavenging activity compared with those of natural and purified salts. Our results showed that the NaCl content of freeze-dried ice plant, natural and purified salts was 19, 94 and 99%, respectively. The D-pinitol content of freeze-dried ice plant was 777 mg/100 g, whereas D-pinitol was not detected in either natural or purified salts. The total phenol and flavonoid contents of freeze-dried ice plant were 115 mg GAE/100 g and 985 mg RE/100 g, respectively. The DPPH radical scavenging activity of freeze-dried ice plant was markedly higher than that of natural and purified salts. Altogether, these results show that freeze-dried ice plant contains both NaCl and bioactive compounds and can be used as a source of edible salt with positive health effects.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.113-121
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• 2011

Food allergies affect 7~8% of infants and young children, and their prevalence appears to have increased in recent years. Food allergy refers to an abnormal immunological reaction to a specific food. These reactions can be recurrent each time the food is ingested. Food allergy manifests itself with a wide spectrum of clinical characteristics including IgE-mediated diseases as immediate reactions, non-IgE-mediated disorders as delayed reactions, and mixed hypersensitivities. As a consequence, the clinical picture of a food allergy is pleomorphic. A well-designed oral food challenge is the most reliable diagnostic test for infants and young children whose clinical history and physical examination point towards a specific food allergy. Food specific IgE antibody tests (RAST, MAST, skin prick test, Uni-CAP, etc) are an alternative tool to determine oral food challenge for IgE-mediated disorders, but not for non-IgE-mediated allergies. Moreover, parents often impose their children on unnecessary diets without adequate medical supervision. These inappropriate dietary restrictions may cause nutritional deficiencies. This review aims to introduce clinical perspectives of food allergy in infants and young children and to orient clinicians towards different strains of diagnostic approaches, dietary management, and follow-up assessment of tolerance development.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.231-245
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• 2018

This study was conducted to investigate the status of food allergy knowledge and management of the teachers and operators of child care facilities in the Daejeon Area. Surveys of 262 teachers and 50 operators of child care facilities in Dong-gu and Jung-gu in Daejeon were conducted. The prevalence of food allergies was found to be 3.6% (102 children). The average score of teachers in the anaphylaxis knowledge survey was $0.18{\pm}0.22$. Additionally, the needs for food allergy education among teachers and operators was 88.2% and 98%, respectively. The survey revealed that all child care facilities in this study provide food service menus to parents, but only 14 facilities (28%) provided alternative food to children with food allergies, and some of these 14 facilities did not provide adequate alternatives. To ensure the safety and healthy growth of children with food allergies, it is necessary to provide food allergy education to teachers and operators, as well as to establish safe food service and allergy management systems in all child care facilities.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1243-1249
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• 2011

This study was performed to examine the use of NaOCl as an alternative antimicrobial compound in winemaking because of the potential health problems that may arise as a result of the use of $SO_2$. For this, the blank (non-treated), control ($SO_2$-added), and sample (NaOCl-treated) wines were made, and microbial and chemical changes including sensory characteristics were analyzed during the fermentation periods. Treatment of grapes with NaOCl decreased the initial contaminating microbial population in grape must, resulting in higher growth of yeast and lactic acid bacteria. After 200 days of fermentation, the chemical analysis of sample wine revealed that it had higher ethanol content, redness ($a^*$), and concentrations of fruity ester compounds and lower total acidity than the control. In the sensory analyses, the sample wine obtained a higher overall acceptability score (5.70) than the control (4.26). This result reveals that NaOCl can be used as an alternative to $SO_2$ in winemaking for inhibiting the growth of contaminating microorganisms.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.444-455
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• 2018

Objectives: The current survey environment is changing and participation rates in national nutrition surveys are decreasing. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop strategies for improving the nutrition survey system in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Methods: To develop an alternative system for conducting the KNHANES nutritional survey, we conducted focus group interviews with stakeholders of the survey, SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis, and expert reviews. In addition, spatial analysis of potential sites for conducting surveys instead of relying on household visits was performed, and the perception of nutritional surveys in the population eligible for KNHANES was evaluated. Results: Based on the results of the focus group interviews, SWOT analysis, and expert reviews, we propose two options for survey sites: vehicles specifically prepared for nutritional surveys and public facilities such as community service centers or public health centers. Among public facilities, community service centers were found to be more appropriate sites than public health centers because they were considered more accessible. About 90% of respondents would participate in the survey in public facilities and about 74% would in vehicles. Conclusions: Conducting national nutrition surveys in specially designed vehicles and public facilities could be a viable alternative to home visits. Next, the validity of these newly proposed nutrition survey methods needs to be compared to the results of the current national nutrition survey.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.107-118
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• 2017

Although alternative test methods based on the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement) are being developed to replace animal testing in reproductive and developmental toxicology, they are still in an early stage. Consequently, we aimed to develop alternative test methods in male animals using mouse spermatogonial stem cells (mSSCs). Here, we modified the OECD TG 489 and optimized the in vitro comet assay in our previous study. This study aimed to verify the validity of in vitro tests involving mSSCs by comparing their results with those of in vivo tests using C57BL/6 mice by gavage. We selected hydroxyurea (HU), which is known to chemically induce male reproductive toxicity. The 50% inhibitory concentration ($IC_{50}$) value of HU was 0.9 mM, as determined by the MTT assay. In the in vitro comet assay, % tail DNA and Olive tail moment (OTM) after HU administration increased significantly, compared to the control. Annexin V, PI staining and TUNEL assays showed that HU caused apoptosis in mSSCs. In order to compare in vitro tests with in vivo tests, the same substances were administered to male C57BL/6 mice. Reproductive toxicity was observed at 25, 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg/day as measured by clinical measures of reduction in sperm motility and testicular weight. The comet assay, DCFH-DA assay, H&E staining, and TUNEL assay were also performed. The results of the test with C57BL/6 mice were similar to those with mSSCs for HU treatment. Finally, linear regression analysis showed a strong positive correlation between results of in vitro tests and those of in vivo. In conclusion, the present study is the first to demonstrate the effect of HU-induced DNA damage, ROS formation, and apoptosis in mSSCs. Further, the results of the current study suggest that mSSCs could be a useful model to predict male reproductive toxicity.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.706-713
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• 2012

Global warming caused by greenhouse gases is threatening our ecosystem. Moreover, our food system is in severe danger. Recently the local food system is emerging as an alternative food network, decreasing food miles and carbon dioxide emissions, protecting the safety of our foods, and helping local economy. However, carbon labelling for agricultural products has not been introduced yet in Korea. Accordingly, research on food miles and carbon labelling for agricultural products should be urgently conducted. The study compared the food miles and the carbon dioxide emission of major agricultural products. In addition, the food mileages of garlic and carrot are compared between Korea and China. The results show that radish has the highest carbon dioxide emission, and followed by onion and cabbage. These products are produced from Jeju island and have a high Shipment volume. Although Chinese Garlic and radish have lower shipping volume and food miles than Koreans, they have higher carbon dioxide emissions due to ship transportation. Based on these results some valuable implications can be identified. Current food distribution system, which heavily focuses on the Metropolitan area, should be changed into a local system, in which foods are consumed in the local area first then transported to other area.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.558-562
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• 2010

SDS-PAGE of extracted surface-associated proteins of Lactobacillus rhamnosus strains E/N, Oxy, and Pen, was performed. The obtained protein patterns allowed differentiation of the examined strains, which was not accomplished by the commonly used RAPD genotypic method. The differentiation by the SDS-PAGE method proved to be a useful tool for strain-specific identification, which was further confirmed by 2DE analysis. Therefore, it can be used as an alternative or complementary method for both conventional and genotypic identification procedures, especially when closely related lactobacilli isolates are identified.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.269-272
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• 2013

This study was performed to compare the performance of Sanita-Kun dry medium culture plate with those of traditional culture medium and Petrifilm dry medium culture plate for the enumeration of the mesophilic aerobic bacteria in milk, ice cream, ham, and codfish fillet. Mesophilic aerobic bacteria were comparatively evaluated in milk, ice cream, ham, and codfish fillet using Sanita-Kun aerobic count (SAC), Petrifilm aerobic count (PAC), and traditional plate count agar (PCA) media. According to the results, all methods showed high correlations of 0.989~1.000 and no significant differences were observed for enumerating the mesophilic aerobic bacteria in the tested food products. SAC method was easier to perform and count colonies efficiently as compared to the PCA and PAC methods. Therefore, we concluded that the SAC method offers an acceptable alternative to the PCA and PAC methods for counting the mesophilic aerobic bacteria in milk, ice cream, ham, and codfish fillet products.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9655-9660
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• 2014

Background: Nigella Sativa (NS) is an herb from the Ranunculaceae family that exhibits numerous medicinal properties and has been used as important constituent of many complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs). The ability of NS to kill cancer cells such as PC3, HeLa and hepatoma cells is well established. However, our understanding of the mode of death caused by NS remains nebulous. The objective of this study was to gain further insight into the mode and mechanism of death caused by NS in breast cancer MCF-7 cells. Materials and Methods: Human breast cancer cells (MCF-7) were treated with a methanolic extract of NS, and a dose- and time-dependent study was performed. The $IC_{50}$ was calculated using a Cell Titer $Blue^{(R)}$ viability assay assay, and evidence for DNA fragmentation was obtained by fluorescence microscopy TUNEL assay. Gene expression was also profiled for a number of apoptosis-related genes (Caspase-3, -8, -9 and p53 genes) through qPCR. Results: The $IC_{50}$ of MCF-7 cells was $62.8{\mu}L/mL$. When MCF-7 cells were exposed to $50{\mu}L/mL$ and $100{\mu}L/mL$ NS for 24h, 48h and 72h, microscopic examination (TUNEL assay) revealed a dose- and time-dependent increase in apoptosis. Similarly, the expression of the Caspase-3, -8, -9 and p53 genes increased significantly according to the dose and time. Conclusions: NS induced apoptosis in MCF-7 cells through both the p53 and caspase pathways. NS could potentially represent an alternative source of medicine for breast cancer therapy.