• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.322-326
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• 2014

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, USA) recently it was reported that the children (< 5 year-old children) were more susceptible to Foodborne-illness. Confectionery products should be strictly controlled because they are children-preferred foods. Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS, South of Korea) tried to monitor contamination of organisms in confectionery products (such as biscuits, candies, chewing gums and ice candies) distributed in South Korea. MFDS evaluated the levels of indicator organisms: total aerobic bacteria, coliforms, Escherichia coli as well as the levels of food-borne illness organisms: Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringens. Experimental plans for microbiological test were in accordance with the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Food (ICMSF). For this study, 1,005 samples were collected and from Seoul and Gyeongin region, South Korea. The average level of total aerobic bacteria in 1,005 samples was 1.7 log Colony Forming Unit(CFU)/g and the detection rate was 26.8%. The average level of Bacillus cereus was detected in 1.7 log CFU/g and the rate was 0.9%. There was no detection of coliforms, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium perfringens. The results of this study will be provided as the basic data to set the reasonable microbiological criteria of Korea Food Code.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.477-484
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• 2017

This study was conducted to investigate the content of sulfur dioxide, carotenoids and the degree of contamination of Bacillus cereus in 33 kinds of dried sweet potato from domestic mainly dried agricultural products in Korea. According to the characteristics of dried sweet potato samples, it was classified into four clusters and as a result of analyzing the contents of sulfur dioxide, carotenoids and the degree of contamination B. cereus was no significant difference among the clusters. The detection ranges of residual sulfur dioxide from 33 dried sweet potatoes ranged from 0.38 to 28.16 mg/kg, three cases (9.09%) were detected at the reference level of 10 mg/kg or more. But no samples exceeding 30 mg/kg, the tolerance level of sulfur dioxide in dried sweet potatoes were detected. Since dried sweet potato does not have a standard for carotenoids, when comparing the national and international standards of carotenoids, the range of detection of carotenoids in dried sweet potato was $46{\sim}2,663{\mu}g$/100 g, which was within the reference range of $0{\sim}9,826{\mu}g$/100 g. In principle colonies suspected to be B. cereus in dried sweet potato were not detected. In 7 cases (21.21%), there were detected in the range of 0.05~1.59 log CFU/g but not more than 3 log CFU/g as the reference value. The results of this study are expected to be used as basic data to establish quality standard for dried sweet potatoes. In order to control the quality of dried sweet potatoes in domestic market, raw materials, drying method and packaging after distribution, it is necessary to maintain and maintain the process steadily.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.102-109
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• 2018

In the present study, a variety of polylactide (PLA) articles (n = 211) were tested for migration of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) into the food simulant (4% v/v acetic acid). Pb, Cd, and As were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Migration tests were performed at $70^{\circ}C$ and $100^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. The amounts of Pb, Cd, and As increased at $100^{\circ}C$ for 30 min compared with levels at $70^{\circ}C$. However, the migration at both conditions was very low. The maximum level of Pb at $100^{\circ}C$ for 30 min corresponded to 1% of the migration limit. The estimated daily intakes (EDI) based on safety evaluation ranged from $2.5{\times}10^{-5}$ to $2.0{\times}10^{-3}{\mu}g/kg\;bw/day$ for Pb, Cd, and As. The EDI calculated from migration of Pb at $100^{\circ}C$ for 30 min in PLA was the maximum value, $2.0{\times}10^{-3}{\mu}g/kg\;bw/day$, which corresponded to 0.055% of provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI, $25{\mu}g/kg\;bw/week$). The data from this study represent a valuable source for science-based safety control and management of hazardous heavy metals migrating from polylactide food contact materials.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.567-573
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• 2001

Lactobacilli have been generally recognized as an important lactic acid bacteria present in the normal human intestinal flora. Fifty two Lactobacillus isolates were recovered from the feces of healthy Koreans whose age ranged from thirteen days after birth to 37 years. Among the isolates above, 17 isolates were tentatively identified as strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus and 3 isolates as strains of Lactobacillus casei. For their characterization, these twenty isolates were subjected to the experiments for the resistance to the artificial gastric juice, pH2.5 and bile salt. Interestingly, 3 strains survived pH 2.5 after 3 hour incubation in the artificial gastric juice with more than 75% of survival rate. L. acidophilus a-4 had the highest survival rate of 100%. Four strains including L. acidophilus a-3 grew gradually in MRS broth in the presence of the artificial bile salt. Cholesterol assimilation was also tested for the 20 isolates. The result showed that cholesterol concentration of the medium was reduced by 10 Lactobacillus isolates with more than 60%, as compared to the control. L. acidophilus a-2 had the highest reduction rate of 77%. Judging from these data obtained in vitro, some isolates ware likely to reach the lower small intestine after consumption without a significant loss of viability, suggesting that they had the potential to be developed as a probiotic culture which might lower the cholesterol level in human.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2005

In order to examine the immunoresponse of host cells to Enterococcus faecalis, this in vitro study monitored the production of Interleukin-2 (IL-2), Interleukin-4 (IL-4) and Transforming growth factor-$\beta1\;(TGF-\beta1)$ in human lymphocytes. Lymphocytes were activated with PHA in the presence or abscence of sonicated extracts of E. Faecalis (SEF) and further incubated for 72 hours. The level of each cytokine was measured by ELISA. Data were analyzed with Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U test (P < 0.05). PHA-activated group did exhibit higher level of IL-2 and IL-4 than untreated control group. The levels of expression of both cytokines were significantly decreased following the treatment of high (25 ${\mu}g/ml$) and medium concentration (12.5 ${\mu}g/ml$)) of SEF (P > 0.05) than those of PHA activated group. But low concentration (5 ${\mu}g/ml$)) of SEF showed th similar level of IL-2 and IL-4 production as those of PHA activated group. $TGF-\beta1$ was unaffected by SEF treatment. These results suggested that E. faecalis may suppress IL-2 and IL-4 production by lymphocytes and this could be one of possible factors why E. faecalis are found frequently in the teeth with failed endodontic treatment.

• Korean Journal of Hospice Care
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2008

Perpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the perception of death between Korean and Chinese nursing students. And it will help develop curriculum for preparing death, the quality of hospice care, as well as nursing education and practice. Methods: Data was collected from 492 nursing students participated(248 Korean and 244 Chinese) by questionnaire designed for examining Death Orientation (Thorson & Powell, 1988). They were analyzed using Cronbach's Alpha coefficients, factor analysis, t-test, ANOVA and regression analysis (SPSS; win 12.0 version) Results: More than half of the Korean nursing students followed a religion (58.5%) while the majority of Chinese nursing students did not follow a religion (93.9%). In the view of the afterlife, nursing students in China had two views. 'I really don't know what happens after a person dies (30.3%)' and ‘There is no afterlife and death is the end (29.5%)’. On the other hand the Korean nursing students’ answer were, 'After dying, a person goes to heaven or hell (27.3%)' and 'I really don't know what happens after a person dies. (22.9%)' The study also found that the average of 25 items in Death Orientation is 2.36points of nursing students in Korea and 2.50points of nursing students in China. This means that the concern, anxiety and fear were of the middle level for the Chinese Students and were higher than Korean students (t=3.51, p=.000). In the low factor of death orientation, those in Korea had higher 'anxiety of burden to family' than those in China (t=-3.50, p=.001). The nursing students in China had higher 'anxiety of the unknown (t=4.96, p=.000)', 'fear of suffering (t=6.88, p=.000), 'fear of extinction body and life (t=5.20, p=.000), 'fear of lost self-control(t=2.12, p=.034)', and 'anxiety of future existence and nonexistence (t=2.33, p=.020)' than those in Korea. There was no statistically significant difference for the 'concern of body and fear of identity lost' category. The death orientation of Korean nursing students had statistically significant differences according to age (t=3.20, p=.002), religion (t=2.56, p=.011), and afterlife (F=4.64, p=.000). The contribution of Death Orientation had a statistically significant difference, the afterlife variable (0.735, p=0.001). The death orientation of Chinese nursing students did not have any statistically significant differences. Conclusion: In conclusion, there were differences in death orientation between Korean and Chinese nursing students. In particular, those who believed in afterlife showed acceptance of death. The results of this study suggest that nursing curricula should include education program on death and spiritual nursing. Additional studies are needed to establish death education in China with careful considerations on Chinese policies, cultures and social systems.

• Journal of health informatics and statistics
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.307-317
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• 2018

Objectives: This study aimed to verify the effectiveness of Internet-based intervention programs for adults with diabetes by conducting a meta-analysis of studies conducted since 2000. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of research papers published in domestic and overseas journals from January 2000 to December 2015, and selected 9 papers that met the analysis criteria. Data analysis was performed using the open source statistical software R 3.5.0, to analyze the effectiveness of Internet-based interventions on experimental and control groups. Results: The analysis showed that intervention programs for controlling HbA1c levels in adult patients with diabetes most commonly comprised 7 sessions on Internet-based management (77.8%), and the most common frequency of application of intervention programs was 4 session in 6 months (33.4%). The present meta-analysis revealed statistically significant effects of Internet-based intervention activities (SMD = 0.92, 95% CI 0.45-1.40). The analysis of the effect size according to the intervention period showed that the 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month interventions reported in eight studies (89%) had a high effect on the Internet-based intervention group. Conclusions: The results of this study confirm the effectiveness of Internet-based intervention programs for adult patients with diabetes. The need for research on the utilization of Internet-based intervention programs for the steady management of diabetes, a chronic disease; for the development of specific guidelines for intervention activities; and for establishing appropriate protocols are acknowledged.

• Journal of the Korean Child Neurology Society
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.251-262
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• 2018

Purpose: This study aimed to identify changes in smart device usage trends of young children using two studies conducted in 2015-2016 and 2017 respectively. Methods: We compared the data of the previous study of 130 children (Group A) and the new study of 162 children (Group B). The children and parents were recruited from kindergartens in Seoul and Guri/Namyangju cities. We used the "Parental questionnaire for smart device usage status." Results: There were some changes in the smart device usage in young children and parental perception. In the 2017 study, smart device usage time increased during weekends (P<0.05) and the usage with siblings decreased (P<0.05). In 2017, the smart device was mostly used when children had to be quiet without disturbing others (36.8%). No significant difference existed in the main purpose of use: watching video clips (79.3% vs 76.6%). Overall control of the usage was still largely exercised by mothers; however, when using applications, mothers still only helped the children on request (51.8% vs 49.7%). Regarding the effect of smart device on children, responses of "not knowing" decreased and "will be negative" and "will be positive" increased (P<0.05). Additionally, most mothers thought that "Although the smart device is currently unnecessary, it will be needed in future" in 2017 (46.3%). Conclusion: Limiting the smart device usage time during the weekends and increasing parental involvements are recommended. Guidelines for smart devices usage in young children are also necessary considering the changes in parental attitudes in recognizing the smart device usage as unavoidable.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.33-53
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• 1988

This study aimed at developing a desirable family planning policy and strategy by examining the current status of family planning practice in rural Korea and by indentifying the crucial factors which affect fertility control behavior. For this purpose, an analytical study was conducted, using the survey data collected in July 1985, on an interview basis, on 1, 440 married women living in the Soyi, Wonnam and Maingdong townships of Eumseong County(in North Chungcheong Province). This study population has the typical characteristics of rural areas, and the results of the analysis can be summarized as follows: 1. In regard to the demographic characteristics of the study population : their average age at marriage was 23.7, they had an average of 2.6 children( 1.3 boys, 1.3 girls) :10% experienced the death of their child (ren) :14% had spontaneous abortion(s) :4% weathered stillbirth(s) :35% went through induced abortion (s) : and 5.5% were currently pregnant. The average of their ideal numbers of children was 2.2, while 44% felt that they must have a son. 2. Looking at the contact rate with medical & health institutions, over the past 1 year, the visit rate to health subcenters was 43.7%, while 26.9% visited the (county) health center :59.6% had been to private clinics : and 41.5% went to the Soonchunhyang - Eumsung hospital : thus showing a relatively high rate of accessibility. 3. The utilization rate of family planning services was 76.5%, with tubectomy being the most prominent method at 52.3%, while the informants were health workers in 54.2% of the acceptors. Of the 8.4% who discontinued the use of contraceptive methods, only 26% did so due to want for pregnancy, natural infertility (meno - pause), or other reasons, while the remaining 74% stopped usage on account of side effects, failure in the methods themselves, and inconvenience of use, thus pointing to a situation where the proper choice of family planning methods have not yet been made. It can be noted that there is a strong motivation for early birth stopping as 35.3% practice family planning even with only one child, of which 38.3% have had sterilization operations. According to results of a multiple regression analysis, among the variables affecting contraception usage the most significant variable was the number of sons. 4. 34.8% experienced induced abortions. It was shown as a result of multiple regression analysis that the number of children and attitudes toward induced abortions extensively affected their frequency of abortions conducted. 5. In the regard to the relation between family planning and induced abortions, 33.7% of the women used both, while 52.0% of them used only the former(family planning), with only 1.4 % utilizing solely the latter(abortion), and 12.9% totally abstaining from fertility regulation : again, the discriminant analysis indicated that the choice of family planning and/or induced abortion was determined by the number of children and attitudes toward induced abortion. In view of the above mentioned results, the following are some comments and suggestions concerning problems related to the current family planning policies, in Korea : 1. It is difficult to expect a further quantitative expansion in family planning program operations, as there has been an excessive supply of target-oriented sterilization operations on women. From a maternal and child health care point of view, it will be desirable to have a diversification of service points in the future where family planning methods may be properly chosen, so that choices of methods which suit the mothers' characteristics and tastes may be made by the individuals themselves by strengthening their quality of family planning information services. 2. Along with the strengthening of the qualitative improvement of family planning services policies must be implemented to effectively promote the moral (ethical) deterrents to induced abortions and to preference for sons. From a maternal care standpoint, the social permissive norm toward induced abortion must be modified, and the bias towards son must be analyzed as the women with more daughters have a lower rate of family planning acceptance. Such changes in attitudes, however, can not be hoped to be accomplished with ad hoc policies, but will only be possible when an enhancement of the women's status(within the society) is brought about in a long - term perspective.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.374-382
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• 2011

Aflatoxin ($AFB_1$) is a potent hepatotoxic and hepatocarcinogenic mycotoxin in humans. It is also well-known to be accumulated in animal tissues via various metabolic pathways. This study was conducted to determine the effects of vitamin C on the residual $AFB_1$ in rat sera that were treated with radiation and $AFB_1$. Six week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups: a control group, $AFB_1$-treated group, the group treated with $AFB_1$ and vitamin C, the group treated with X-ray and AFB1, and the group treated with X-ray and $AFB_1$ with vitamin C. On the first day of the experiment, only one dose of X-rays was exposed to the entire liver at 1,500 cGy. Next, vitamin C was injected at 10 mg/kg body weight via intraperitoneal injection, followed 1 hr later by the administration of 0.4 mg/kg of $AFB_1$ via intraperitoneal injection. These treatments were then administered every three days over a period of 15 days. On the 16th day of treatments, the animals were sacrificed. The contents of $AFB_1$ in rat sera were determined via indirect competitive ELISA and HPLC method. In the quantitative analysis of $AFB_1$ in rat sera via ELISA, $5.17{\pm}0.34$ ng/mL of $AFB_1$ was detected in the $AFB_1$-treated groups, but the amount more significantly decreased to $3.23{\pm}0.76$ ng/mL in the groups treated with $AFB_1$ and vitamin C (p<0.01) than in the $AFB_1$-treated groups. The $AFB_1$ contents of the rat sera of the groups treated with X-ray and $AFB_1$ did not significantly decreased with the administration of vitamin C. The $AFB_1$ content of the rat sera that was analyzed via HPLC showed a tendency similar to that of the content that was analyzed via ELISA. With regard to these data, vitamin C was very effective in reducing $AFB_1$ residue in rat sera.