• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 2020

Purpose Vitamin D is essential for maintaining bone health, controling cell proliferation or differentiation, strengthening immune function by controlling calcium metabolism in the body. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to increase the risk of rickets, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. Especially, South Korea is one of the highest population proportion of vitamin D deficiency. Accurate determination of levels of 25-OH-VitD or 25-OH-VitD3 in blood serum is required for the diagnosis and treatment of vitamin D deficiency. In this study, radioimmunoassay of 25-OH-VitD and 25-OH-VitD3 was performed and compared to evaluate the effectiveness of Vitamin D radioimmunoassay. Materials and Methods Serum 25-OH-VitD and 25-OH-VitD3 levels were measured using radioimmunoassay. The interrelationship, reproducibility and population distribution rate were evaluated. In addition, the internal quality control was performed at Asan Medical Center from April 2017 to June 2019 and the result of external quality control (Interagency proficiency evaluation) of first and second half of 2018 hosted by the Korean Society of Nuclear Medicine Technology (KSNMT). Both tests were measured by same manufacturer's reagent. Results 25-OH-VitD showed a strong positive correlation on 97 samples, as 25-OH-VitD3 x 0.9 + 0.3 (R>0.9). In repeated measurement, the average Diff(%) value of the reproducibility evaluation of 25-OH-VitD and 25-OH-VitD3 were 7.7% and 7.4%, respectively. Population distribution results showed no statistically significant differences(p>0.05). The resultant value of internal quality control, which measured from April, 2017 to June 2019 in Blood test room of Nuclear Medicine at Asan Medical Center, showed average (CV%) 6.2% and 6.8%, respectively. As a result of the external quality control (interagency proficiency evaluation) Z value obtained under 2.0, as shown below; Conclusion The interrelationship, reproducibility, population distribution rate, internal quality control and external quality control between 25-OH-VitD and 25-OH-VitD3 radioimmunoassay shows superior outcome. Radioimmunoassay, which can be alone measured in the blood as 25-OH-VitD or 25-OH-VitD3, is considered suitable screening tests for the diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.569-580
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• 2019

Purpose: This study examined the associations of Korean fermented cabbage kimchi consumption with the incidence risk of metabolic syndrome and its components in Korean adults. Methods: We used the community-based cohort data from the 2001 ~ 2012 Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES). General characteristics, food group frequencies and nutrient intakes at baseline from 3,560 healthy individuals aged 40 ~ 69 years and the incidence of metabolic syndrome and its component from 2,259 participants, after excluding the data with incomplete anthropometric and blood test, during 10-year follow-up were analyzed. The participants were classified into three groups according to their daily consumption frequency of Korean fermented cabbage kimchi: 'less than once (< 1/day)', 'once or twice (1 ~ 2/day)', and 'three times (3/day)'. Results: After controlling for potential confounders such as age, education, income, residence area, alcohol drinking and energy intake, the consumption frequencies of rice and legumes were significantly higher, and the consumption frequency of meat was significantly lower in the 3/day group compared to that of the other two groups in men and women. The average intakes of energy and most nutrients, except fat and cholesterol, were higher in the 3/day group compared to those of the other two groups in men and women. Frequent consumption of kimchi was associated with a lower incidence of metabolic syndrome in all the models (unadjusted, age-adjusted, and multivariable-adjusted models) in women. When examining the multivariable-adjusted model, the hazard ratio for metabolic syndrome was 0.63 (95% CI: 0.47 ~ 0.86) for the 3/day group compared to that of the < 1/day group in women. However, there was no significant association between kimchi consumption and the incidence of metabolic syndrome in men. Conclusion: Our results show that consumption of kimchi at every meal was significantly associated with a lower incidence of metabolic syndrome in women.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.418-426
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• 2013

This study was conducted in order to investigate the association between picky eating behaviors of preschool children and growth outcomes. In this study, picky eating behaviors were defined as containing four constructs of 'eating a small amount (ES),' 'neophoic behavior (NB),' 'refusal of specific food groups (RF),' and 'preference for specific food-preparation methods (PP).' A 7-point scale was used for the multi-item questionnaire, which consisted of 21 items (three items for ES, two items for NB, nine items for RF, and seven items for PP), in order to evaluate picky eating behaviors of children. Subjects were recruited among visitors at a medical clinic in Seoul. A total of 150 self-administered survey responses from parents of preschool children were analyzed in order to investigate the association between picky eating behaviors of preschool children and growth outcomes. Height for age (HFA) and weight for height (WFH) z-scores were used for assessment of preschool children's growth. The prevalence of ES, NB, RF, and PP was 44%, 57%, 73%, and 53%, respectively. Children with ES had lower HFA (p < 0.05) and WFH (p < 0.0001) than those without ES, while children with NB, RF, or PP had HFA and WFH were similar to their counterparts. The mean HFA z-score of children with ES was less than 0 (p < 0.05) and the mean WFH z-scores of children with ES, NB, RF, or PP were less than 0 (p < 0.05). According to the study results, related growth outcome differed depending on constructs of picky eating behaviors. In particular, picky eating of ES showed a risk of faltering height growth in preschool children. Further comprehensive studies on the reason for ES and intervention approach is warranted.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.195-209
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• 2021

According to the 2019-2020 social media usage survey conducted by the Seoul e-commerce center, 5 out of 10 consumers have experienced shopping through social media. The cost of traditional advertising media has been reduced and advertising spending on social media has risen by 74%, indicating that social media is becoming a more important marketing element. While the number of users of social media has increased and corporate marketing activities have increased accordingly, research has been conducted in various aspects of marketing such as user motivation for social media, satisfaction, and purchase intention. There was no subdivided study on the differences in the social media usage frequency of consumers in actual purchasing behavior. This study attempted to identify differences in consumer characteristics by cluster in the agrifood purchase situation by grouping them by type according to the frequency of use of social media for consumers who purchase agri-food online. Product involvement, product need, and online purchase channel Consumer characteristics such as demographic distribution, perceived risk, and eating and lifestyle in each cluster were checked for the three agrifood purchase situations including choice, and types for each cluster were presented. To this end, questionnaire data on the frequency of social media use and online agrifood purchase behavior were collected from 245 consumers, and the validity of the measurement variables was secured through factor analysis and reliability analysis. As a result of cluster analysis according to the frequency of social media use, it was divided into three clusters. The first cluster was a group that mainly used open social media, and the second cluster was a group that used both open and closed social media and online shopping malls; The third cluster was a group with low online media usage overall, and the characteristics of each cluster appeared. Through regression analysis, the effect on product involvement, product need, and purchase channel selection when purchasing agri-food online through each of the three clusters was confirmed through regression analysis. As a result of the regression analysis, the characteristic of cluster 1 in the situation of purchasing agri-food online is a male in his 30s living in a rural area who has no reluctance to purchase agri-food on social media or online shopping malls. The characteristics of cluster 2 are mainly consumers who are interested in purchasing health food, and the consumer characteristics are represented. In the case of cluster 3, when purchasing products online, they purchase after considering quality and price a lot, and the consumer characteristics are represented as people who are more confident in purchasing offline than online. Through this study, it is judged that by identifying the differences in consumer characteristics that appear in the agri-food purchase situation according to the frequency of social media use, it can be helpful in strategic judgments in marketing practice on social media customer targeting and customer segmentation.

• The Korean Journal of Medicine
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• v.93 no.6
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• pp.538-547
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• 2018

Background/Aims: The impact of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function and filling pressure on clinical outcomes in young patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has been poorly studied. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the impact of LV diastolic function and LV filling pressure on major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) in young patients with AMI. Methods: A total of 200 young patients (males < 45 year, females < 55 year) with AMI were divided into two groups according to the diastolic function; normal (n = 46, $39.5{\pm}5.3$ years) versus abnormal (n = 154, $43.5{\pm}5.1$ years). Results: Despite regional wall motion abnormalities, normal LV diastolic function was not uncommon in young AMI patients (23.0%). During the 40 months of clinical follow-up, MACEs developed in 26 patients (13.0%); 14 re-percutaneous coronary intervention (7.0%), 8 recurrent MI (4.0%), and 4 deaths (2.0%). MACEs did not differ between the normal and abnormal diastolic function group (13.6% vs. 10.9%, p = 0.810), but MACEs were significantly higher in the high LV filling pressure group than the normal LV filling pressure group (36.8% vs. 10.5%, p < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, high LV filling pressure was an independent predictor of MACEs (hazard ratio 3.022, 95% confidence interval 1.200-7.612, p = 0.019). Conclusions: This study suggested that measurement of the LV filling pressure (E/e' ratio) would be useful in the risk stratification of young patients with AMI. However, it would be necessary to monitor this category of patient more carefully.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.81-89
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• 2019

The major problem encountered during the storage of pig slurry (PS) is the release of huge amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs), which are dominated by methane ($CH_4$). To reduce this, concentrated sulfuric acid has been used as an additive to control the pH of pig slurry to 5.0-6.0. However, other low-risk substitutes have been developed due to some limitations to its use, such as corrosiveness, and hazards to animal and human health. In this study, sugar addition was proposed as an eco-friendly approach for limiting $CH_4$ emission from PS during storage. The pH of PS has been reduced from $7.1{\pm}0.1$ (control) to $5.8{\pm}0.1$, $4.6{\pm}0.1$, $4.4{\pm}0.1$, $4.1{\pm}0.1$, and $4.0{\pm}0.1$, by the addition of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 g sugar/L, respectively. Lactate, acetate, and propionate were detected as the dominant organic acids and at sugar concentration above 20 g/L, lactate concentration represented 42-72% (COD basis) of total organic acids. For 40 d of storage, $20.6{\pm}2.3kg\;CO_2\;eq./ton\;PS$ was emitted in the control. Such emission, however, was found to be reduced to $8.7{\pm}0.4$ and $0.4{\pm}0.1kg\;CO_2\;eq./ton\;PS$ at 10 and 20 g/L, respectively. Small amount of $CH_4$ from PS at 10 g/L was emitted until 30 d of storage, while for rest of storage period, it has increased to $8.7{\pm}0.4kg\;CO_2\;eq./ton\;PS$ ( 40% of the control) when methanogens have recovered by increasing pH to 7.0. By the end of storage, VS and COD removal in the control reached 24% and 27%, while their ranges reached 15-4% and 12-17% in the sugar added experiments, respectively. It was found that more than 90% of COD removal was done by aerobic biological process.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.6-16
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• 2019

Purpose: Dyslipidemia is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Pine needles (Pinus densiflora seib et Zucc) are a traditional medicine used to treat dyslipidemia in clinical settings. This study examined the potential effects of sulgidduk, a Korean traditional rice cake containing pine needle juice to protect against dyslipidemia induced by a high-fat/sugidduk diet in a rat model. Methods: Twenty one male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into three groups: normal control (NC), Sulgidduk diet (SD), Sulgidduk diet containing pine needle juice (PSD). The blood lipid levels, production of lipid peroxide in the plasma and liver, total cholesterol and triglyceride in the liver and feces, antioxidant enzyme activities in plasma and erythrocytes were measured to assess the effects of PSD on dyslipidemia. Results: A high-fat/Sulgidduk diet induced dyslipidemia, which was characterized by significantly altered lipid profiles in the plasma and liver. The food intake was similar in the three groups, but weight gain and food efficiency ratio (FER) were reduced significantly in the PSD group compared to those in the SD group. The level of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and TBARS in the plasma showed tendencies to decrease in the PSD group compared to those in the SD group. The levels of high-fat/Sulgidduk diet-induced sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (SREBP2) gene expression were reduced significantly in the PSD group. The supplementation of PSD reduced the hepatic triglyceride and total cholesterol levels significantly, and enhanced the fecal excretion of triglyceride and hepatic antioxidant enzyme activities compared to the SD group. Conclusion: These results suggest that the addition of 0.4% pine needle juice to Sulgidduk may be an alternative snack to control dyslipidemia.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.126-136
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• 2021

Oxidative stress causes injury to and degeneration of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. It is involved in several retinal disorders and leads to vision loss. In the present study, we investigated the effect of 14 kinds of natural compounds and two kinds of synthetic compounds on oxidative stress-induced cellular damage in human PRE cell lines (ARPE-19). From among them, we selected five kinds of compounds, including auranofin, FK-509, hemistepsin A, honokiol, and spermidine, which have inhibitory effects against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-mediated cytotoxicity. In addition, we found that four kinds of compounds (excluding auranofin) have protective effects on H2O2-induced mitochondrial dysfunction. Furthermore, the expression of phosphorylation of histone H2AX, a sensitive marker of DNA damage, was markedly up-regulated by H2O2, whereas it was notably down-regulated by FK-506, honokiol, and spermidine treatment. Meanwhile, five kinds of candidate compounds had no effect on H2O2-induced intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, suggesting that the five candidate compounds have protective effects on oxidative stress-induced cellular damage through the ROS-independent pathway. Taken together, according to the results of H2O2-mediated cellular damage―such as cytotoxicity, apoptosis, mitochondrial dysfunction, and DNA damage―spermidine and FK-506 are the natural and synthetic compounds with the most protective effects against oxidative stress in RPE. Although further studies on the identification of the mechanism responsible are required, the results of the present study suggest the possibility of using spermidine and FK-506 to suppress the risk of retinal disorders.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.163-207
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• 2020

Korea has been positioned as the leading country in the industry of clinical trials as the clinical trail of Korea has developed for the recent 10 years. Clinical trial has plays a significant role in the development of medicine and the increase of curability. However, it has inevitable risk as the purpose of the clinical trial is to prove the safety and effectiveness of new drugs. Therefore, the clinical trial should be controlled properly to protect the health of the subjects of clinical trial and to ensure that they exercise a right of self-determination. In this context, the fiduciary duties of doctors who conduct clinical trials is especially important. The Pharmaceutical Affairs Act and the relevant regulations define several duties of doctors who conduct clinical trials. In particular, the duty to protection of subjects and the duty to provide information constitute the main fiduciary duties to the subjects. Those are essentially similar to the fiduciary duties of doctors in usual treatment from the perspective of the values promoted by the law and the content of the law. Nonetheless, clinical trials put more emphasis on the duties to provide explanation than in usual treatment. Further research and study are required to establish the concrete standard for the duty of care. However, if the blind pursuit of higher standards for the duty of care or to pass the burden of proof to doctors may result in disrupting the development of clinical trials, limiting the accessibility of patients to new treatment and even violating the principle of sharing damage equally and properly. In addition to these duties, the laws of clinical trials define several duties of doctors. Any decision on whether the violation of the law constitutes the violation of the fiduciary duty and justifies the demand for compensation of damages should be based on whether relevant law aims to protect the safety and benefit of subjects, even if in an incidental way, the degree to which such violation breaches the values promoted by the law and the concrete of violation of benefit of law, the detailed acts of such violation. The legal interests of the subjects can be protected effectively by guaranteeing compliance with those duties and establishing judicial and administrative controls to ensure that the benefit of subjects are protected properly in individual cases.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.116-125
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• 2020

Objectives : Self-poisoning is the leading cause of visits to the emergency departments after a suicide attempts. This study is aimed to compare the patient characteristics according to the category of drugs ingested by the patients who attempted suicide. Methods : All medical charts were retrospectively reviewed from patients who visited the emergency center, at Seoul Medical Center, due to intentional self-poisoning from April of 2011 to July of 2019. We investigated the information regarding the subtype and quantity of the intoxication drug, how it was obtained, suicidal history, and psychiatric history, as well as, sociodemographic information. Variables were compared between prescription drug (PD) and non-prescription drug (NPD) poisoning groups. Results : The mean age of the NPD poisoning group was significantly lower than that of the PD poisoning group. The patient ratio of those enrolled in national health insurance and living with spouses were significantly higher in the NPD poisoning group. Compared to the NPD poisoning group, the PD poisoning group had a higher incidence of mental illnesses, underlying diseases and ratio of involuntary visit to the emergency department. Among the prescription drugs, the benzodiazepine poisoning group had a higher rate of self-prescription than the non-poisoning group, while the zolpidem poisoning group had a higher rate of the using someone else's prescription than other drugs. Each single drug poisoning group (benzodiazepine, zolpidem, and antidepressant single-agent) had a higher rate of no mental illness than each of the mixed-poisoning group. Conclusions : Guidelines for regulating non-prescription drugs are needed as a matter of suicide prevention. Also, this study suggests that clinicians need to be careful when issuing prescriptions and should suicidal risk according to patients' characteristics, duration of follow-up and type of drug packaging.