• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.117-127
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• 2021

Objectives Previously, we demonstrated that a 5% ethanol extract of unripe Rubus coreanus (5-uRCK) and ellagic acid has hypocholesterolemic and antiobesity activity in high-fat diet-fed animals. Therefore, we conducted a clinical study on the anti-obesity effect of 5-uRCK in 140 Korean adults (aged 19-70 years, body mass index (BMI) ≥25 kg/m²). Methods The participants were randomly assigned to two groups and were administered the placebo (n=70) or 5-uRCK extract (800 mg, n=70) daily for 12 weeks. The subjects were instructed to maintain their usual dietary intake and normal physical activity. Anthropometrics, body composition (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), and blood parameters were compared between the two groups. Results Average body weight and BMI did not show any significant changes; however, changes in upper body fat mass between the two groups was significantly different, as determined using analysis of covariance adjusted for baseline of percent body fat and drinking units. Moreover, Although not significant, the trunk fat mass and percent trunk fat tended to decrease after 5-uRCK supplementation. There was no significant difference in other laboratory biomarkers between the two groups. All safety parameters were within normal ranges in the both group. Conclusions In the present study, 5-uRCK significantly reduced upper body fat in obese subjects after 12 weeks, which indicates that it may help improve android-type obesity. Furthermore, the supplement is safe and well tolerated.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.280-295
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• 2021

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the characteristics of patients according to their nutritional status as assessed by five nutritional screening tools: Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA), NUTRISCORE, Nutritional Risk Index (NRI), Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI), and Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) and to compare the agreement, sensitivity, and specificity of these tools. Methods: A total of 952 gastric cancer patients who underwent gastrectomy and chemotherapy from January 2009 to December 2012 at the Samsung Medical Center were included. We categorized patients into malnourished and normal according to the five nutritional screening tools 1 month after surgery and compared their characteristics. We also calculated the Spearman partial correlation, Cohen's Kappa coefficient, the area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity of each pair of screening tools. Results: We observed 86.24% malnutrition based on the PG-SGA and 85.82% based on the NUTRISCORE among gastric cancer patients in our study. When we applied NRI or CONUT, however, the malnutrition levels were less than 30%. Patients with malnutrition as assessed by the PG-SGA, NUTRISCORE, or NRI had lower intakes of energy and protein compared to normal patients. When NRI, PNI, or CONUT were used to identify malnutrition, lower levels of albumin, hemoglobin, total lymphocyte count, total cholesterol, and longer postoperative hospital stays were observed among patients with malnutrition compared to those without malnutrition. We found relatively high agreement between PG-SGA and NUTRISCORE; sensitivity was 90.86% and AUC was 0.78. When we compared NRI and PNI, sensitivity was 99.64% and AUC was 0.97. AUC ranged from 0.50 to 0.67 for comparisons between CONUT and each of the other nutritional screening tools. Conclusions: Our study suggests that PG-SGA and NRI have a relatively high agreement with the NUTRISCORE and PNI, respectively. Further cohort studies are needed to examine whether the nutritional status assessed by PG-SGA, NUTRISCORE, NRI, PNI, and CONUT predicts the gastric cancer prognosis.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.475-491
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• 2021

With the recent increase in available high-resolution (< ~1 m) satellite SAR images, the demand for precise registration of SAR images is increasing in various fields including change detection. The registration between high-resolution SAR images acquired in different look angle is difficult due to speckle noise and geometric distortion caused by the characteristics of SAR images. In this study, registration is performed in two stages, coarse and fine, using the x-band SAR data imaged at staring spotlight mode of TerraSAR-X. For the coarse registration, a method combining the adaptive sampling method and SAR-SIFT (Scale Invariant Feature Transform) is applied, and three rigid methods (NCC: Normalized Cross Correlation, Phase Congruency-NCC, MI: Mutual Information) and one non-rigid (Gefolki: Geoscience extended Flow Optical Flow Lucas-Kanade Iterative), for the fine registration stage, was performed for performance comparison. The results were compared by using RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) and FSIM (Feature Similarity) index, and all rigid models showed poor results in all image combinations. It is confirmed that the rigid models have a large registration error in the rugged terrain area. As a result of applying the Gefolki algorithm, it was confirmed that the RMSE of Gefolki showed the best result as a 1~3 pixels, and the FSIM index also obtained a higher value than 0.02~0.03 compared to other rigid methods. It was confirmed that the mis-registration due to terrain effect could be sufficiently reduced by the Gefolki algorithm.

• Atmosphere
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.439-454
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• 2020

This study investigates the change in the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration and World Health Organization (WHO) air quality index (AQI) in East Asia (EA) under Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). AQI is an indicator of increasing levels about health concern, divided into six categories based on PM2.5 annual concentrations. Here, we utilized the ensemble results of UKESM1, the climate model operated in Met Office, UK, for the analysis of long-term variation during the historical (1950~2014) and future (2015~2100) period. The results show that the spatial distributions of simulated PM2.5 concentrations in present-day (1995~2014) are comparable to observations. It is found that most regions in EA exceeded the WHO air quality guideline except for Japan, Mongolia regions, and the far seas during the historical period. In future scenarios containing strong air quality (SSP1-2.6, SSP5-8.5) and medium air quality (SSP2-4.5) controls, PM2.5 concentrations are substantially reduced, resulting in significant improvement in AQI until the mid-21st century. On the other hand, the mild air pollution controls in SSP3-7.0 tend to lead poor AQI in China and Korea. This study also examines impact of increased in PM2.5 concentrations on downward shortwave energy at the surface. As a result, strong air pollution controls can improve air quality through reduced PM2.5 concentrations, but lead to an additional warming in both the near and mid-term future climate over EA.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.205-222
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• 2022

Objectives: This study examined the characteristics of patients according to nutritional status assessed by five nutritional screening tools: Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA), NUTRISCORE, Nutritional Risk Index (NRI), Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI), and Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) and to compare the agreement, sensitivity, and specificity of these tools. Methods: A total of 952 gastric cancer patients who underwent gastrectomy and chemotherapy from January 2009 to December 2012 were included. The patients were categorized into malnutrition and normal status according to five nutritional screening tools one month after surgery. The Spearman partial correlation, Cohen's Kappa coefficient, the area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity of each two screening tools were calculated. Results: Malnutrition was observed in 86.24% of patients based on the PG-SGA and 85.82% based on the NUTRISCORE. When NRI or CONUT were applied, the proportions of malnutrition were < 30%. Patients with malnutrition had lower intakes of energy and protein than normal patients when assessed using the PG-SGA, NUTRISCORE, or NRI. Lower levels of albumin, hemoglobin, total lymphocyte count, and total cholesterol and longer postoperative hospital stays were observed among patients with malnutrition compared to normal patients when NRI, PNI, or CONUT were applied. Relatively high agreement for NUTRISCORE relative to PG-SGA was found; the sensitivity was 90.86%, and the AUC was 0.78. When NRI, PNI, and CONUT were compared, the sensitivities were 23.72% for PNI relative to NRI, 44.53% for CONUT relative to NRI, and 90.91% for CONUT relative to PNI. The AUCs were 0.95 for NRI relative to PNI and 0.91 for CONUT relative to PNI. Conclusions: NUTRISCORE had a high sensitivity compared to PG-SGA, and CONUT had a high sensitivity compared to PNI. NRI had a high specificity compared to PNI. This relatively high sensitivity and specificity resulted in 77.00% agreement between PNI and CONUT and 77.94% agreement between NRI and PNI. Further cohort studies will be needed to determine if the nutritional status assessed by PG-SGA, NUTRISCORE, NRI, PNI, and CONUT predicts the gastric cancer prognosis.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.15-25
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• 2023

The effects of forest fires on the activity of microbial communities in topsoil and subsoil were investigated. Samples were collected from Korean forest soils comprising mainly igneous and sedimentary rocks. Analysis of beta-glucosidase, found higher microbial activity in sedimentary rocks than in igneous rocks. Enzyme activity was not observed immediately after fire, but was restored over time. The enzyme activity of subsoil was inhibited by 33~46% compared with that in the topsoil, regardless of soil damage. The effect of fire on the availability of microbial substrate was investigated using EcoPlate. The percentages of average well color development values of damaged and normal topsoil were 52.7~56.8% and 62.3~83.6%, respectively. Forest fires appear to affect the diversity and substrate availability of the subsoil microbial community by accelerating the decomposition of soil organic matter. The Shanon index, representing microbial biodiversity, was high in the topsoil of all samples; it was higher for soil microorganisms in sedimentary rocks than in igneous rocks, and higher in topsoil than in subsoil.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.48-60
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• 2023

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare the sex-associated differences in the dietary intake of gastric cancer patients in Korea. Methods: Data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) the 7^th (2016-2018) were analyzed in the present study. The subjects included 122 gastric cancer patients aged over 40 years (75 male, 47 female). General characteristics (age, marital status, household income, education, food security, comorbidities, alcohol drinking, and smoking), anthropometric characteristics (height, weight, body mass index, and blood pressure), blood biochemical characteristics [fasting plasma glucose (FPG), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, triglyceride, total cholesterol, and HDL-cholesterol)], and quantity and quality of dietary intake were compared between male and female participants. Results: Males had higher rates of having a spouse, prevalence of hypertension, alcohol drinking, and smoking than females. The proportion of males with a normal range of FPG, BUN, and HDL-cholesterol was lower than that in females. The total cholesterol levels above the normal range were higher in females than in males. We also found that females had a higher percentage of intakes below the estimated energy requirement (EER) and intakes below the estimated average requirement (EAR) for carbohydrates, niacin, phosphorus, and iron than males. The index of nutritional quality (INQ) for phosphorus and folate, nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR) for vitamin C, thiamine, niacin, folate, calcium, and phosphorus, and the mean adequacy ratio (MAR) were lower in females than males. Conclusions: In Korean gastric cancer patients, management of comorbidities such as diabetes and hypertriglyceridemia, lowering FPG, and raising HDL-cholesterol level management is required for males, whereas management of lowering total cholesterol and raising hematocrit is required for females. The quantitative and qualitative nutritional intakes were poor in gastric cancer patients, especially in females, who had a lower nutritional intake than males. We suggest that nutritional interventions are needed to improve the overall nutritional intake in both male and female gastric cancer patients. In particular, we propose that support is urgently needed for females whose nutritional intake is lower than that of males. In addition, family, social, and national support for nutritional management of female gastric cancer patients is highly necessary.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.80-88
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• 2023

Ensuring safety in the designing of manufacturing and handling facilities for low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is difficult because there are no standards for the dust explosion characteristics of LDPE. In this study, a dust explosion test was performed on two dust samples collected from a bag filter (LDPE 1) during the LDPE manufacturing process and sedimentary dust (LDPE 2) leaked outside a facility such as a silo, and the LDPE 2 explosion test results were summarized. Particle size analysis showed that the volume-based particle diameter (median) was 95.04 ㎛ and the number density was 0-1 ㎛. The maximum explosion pressure (P_max) was 6.6 bar, and the maximum rate of explosion pressure rise was 366 [bar/s] at 1500 g/m³. Accordingly, the dust explosion index (K_st) was 99.4 bar·m/s, which was confirmed as ST-1 grade. Moreover, the minimum ignition energy and minimum ignition temperature was 10 mJ and 450 ℃, respectively. Currently, manufacturing and handling design is based on the characteristic values of high-density polyethylene (HDPE). However, as the test results show that LDPE 2 dust has a higher risk than HDPE (particle diameter 61.6 ㎛), caution is required when using the HDPE design criteria in the LDPE manufacturing process.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.247-254
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• 2022

To investigate the tolerance limit and critical thermal maximum (CTM), behavioral responses of wild goldeye rockfish Sebastes thompsoni according to exposure to high water temperature were observed using a continuous behavior tracking system. As a result, behavioral index (BI) of S. thompsoni in each temperature (20.0, 25.0, and 30.0℃) showed a significant difference (p<0.05) when compared with the value measured in a stable condition of 15.0℃. The activity level of S. thompsoni exposed to 25.0℃ decreased sharply after 20 hours. Their rest time at the bottom of experiment chamber increased, and their normal swimming and metabolic activities were disturbed. In addition, at a high water temperature of 30.0℃, S. thompsoni reached the limit of resistance and showed a sub-lethal reaction of swimming behavior, with energy consumption in the body increased and all test organisms died. In conclusion, the eco-physiological response of S. thompsoni to water temperature varied greatly depending on the fluctuation range of the exposed temperature and the exposure time. In addition, the tolerance limit of S. thompsoni to high water temperature was predicted to be 25.0-30.0℃. The maximum critical thermal that had a great influence on the survival of this species was found to be around 30.0℃.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.7
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• pp.69-76
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• 2023

Cavity causes settlement and its remediation after an accident results in significant time and economic losses. This study aims to experimentally evaluate the prospect of using infrared camera to detect and measure underground subsidence. Emissivity is necessary to detect the energy emitted from an object and accurately assess temperature using an infrared camera. The emissivity in laboratory tests is fixed to evaluate a reasonable distance between the infrared camera and the object, and temperature values are assessed at various distances. In field experiments, the cavity of the field experiment is simulated using a PVC pipe with a diameter of 5 cm, artificially buried at depths of 5 and 25 cm from the surface. The infrared camera measurements are taken from 4 PM to 3 PM of the next day (a total of 23 h). The analysis included the time-series temperature distribution and the cooling rate index assessment, which represents the temperature change rate per unit of time. The results showed that various temperature trends are observed depending on the location of the subsidence. This study demonstrates that the infrared camera can be used to assess the condition of the subsurface.