• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1795-1803
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• 2011

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease accompanies the rise in the prevalence of obesity, diabetes and the tendency toward high-fat dietary habits. Specifically, the higher prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in men and postmenopausal women seems to be caused by the protective effects of estrogen against liver fibrosis, or lack thereof. There are no effective preventive therapies for liver diseases because the mechanisms underlying the progression of fatty liver diseases to chronic liver diseases and the protective effects of estrogen against fibrogenesis remain unclear. Recently, it has been reported that the hedgehog signaling pathway plays an important role in the progression of chronic liver diseases. Hedgehog, a morphogen regulating embryonic liver development, is expressed in injured livers but not in adult healthy livers. The level of hedgehog expression parallels the stages of liver diseases. Hedgehog induces myofibroblast activation and hepatic progenitor cell proliferation and leads to excessive liver fibrosis, whereas estrogen inhibits the activation of hepatic stellate cells to myofibroblasts and prevents liver fibrosis. Although the mechanism underlying the opposing actions of hedgehog and estrogen on liver fibrosis remain unclear, the suppressive effects of estrogen on the expression of osteopontin, a profibrogenic extracellular matrix protein and cytokine, and the inductive effects of hedgehog on osteopontin transcription suggest that estrogen and hedgehog are associated with liver fibrosis regulation. Therefore, further research on the estrogen-mediated regulatory mechanisms underlying the hedgehog-signaling pathway can identify the mechanism underlying liver fibrogenesis and contribute to developing therapies for preventing the progression of fibrosis to chronic liver diseases.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.1274-1280
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• 2011

The concentration of cordycepin produced by crossbred Cordyceps militaris JLM 0636 (CM${\alpha}$) was 7.42 mg/g dry weight, which was 7-fold higher than that of C. militaris (CM). However, cordycepin was not detected in Paecilomyces japonica (PJ). The improvement effects of CM${\alpha}$, CM and PJ on orotic acid (OA)-induced fatty liver in male Sprague-Dawley rats was investigated. Rats were randomly divided into five groups (n=6) based on five dietary categories: normal (N), OA control (C), OA plus 3% (w/w) PJ (PJ), OA plus 3% CM (CM), and OA plus 3% CM${\alpha}$ (CM${\alpha}$). OA treatment induced the retardation of body weight gain and enlargement of the liver. The concentration of hepatic triglyceride was markedly increased by OA-feeding, whereas this rise was significantly reduced by simultaneous feeding of OA, PJ, CM, and CM${\alpha}$, and this phenomenon was more pronounced by cordycepin-enriched CM${\alpha}$. The contents of total lipid, triglyceride, and free fatty acid in the serum were significantly or slightly lower in the OA control group than those of the N group, but there were no significant differences among the OA treatment groups. The hepatocytes in the OA-induced fatty liver contained numerous large lipid droplets, but PJ, CM, and CM${\alpha}$ feeding prevented the OA-induced lipid droplet accumulation in the hepatocytes. This effect was more pronounced in cordycepin-enriched CM${\alpha}$ than in PJ or CM in OA treatment rats. Accordingly, cordycepin-enriched CM${\alpha}$ could be an ideal candidate material as a dietary supplement in healthy functional foods to improve the effects of fatty liver.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.1078-1085
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• 2010

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) are bioaccumulative chemicals that are considered to be toxic contaminants based on several epidemiological studies. These chemicals in colostrum were investigated and estimated for their residual consistencies by maternal characteristics like parity and maternal ages. Test subjects were healthy primipara and multipara mothers with a mean age of 31.5 (S.D=3.6) in 2007. Seven isomers of PCDDs, 10 of PCDFs, 4 of non-orthopolychlorinated biphenyls(non-ortho PCBs) and 8 of mono-orthochlorinated polychlorinated biphenyls (mono-ortho PCBs) were analyzed by HRGC/HRMS. From the analyzed data, the mean level of total WHO-TEQs was 9.41 pg TEQ/g lipid, which is significantly lower than the level found in individuals from other countries. The main contributors to the total WHO-TEQs with increasing percentages were 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF, 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD and 3,3',4,4',5-PCB (#126), and they accounted for more than 60% of the total WHO-TEQs. PCDFs concentrations and total WHO-TEQs were negatively associated with parity (p<0.05), and maternal age was positively associated with total WHO-TEQs (p<0.01). However, the associations with body mass index (BMI) and fish intake during pregnancy were not significant. These results were suggested that parity and maternal age are an important factor affecting the concentrations of PCDD/DFs and dl-PCBs in these specimens.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.482-491
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• 2002

This study was to evaluate health management and life habits of the urban salaried workers. The results showed the followings: There were more men than women who thought their health good (p<0.01). Stomach disease was the highest in the subjects, and the second was liver disease (p<0.001). Of respondents, 10% always exercised in the morning, 26% often, and 63% never. Men took exercise more regularly than women (p<0.001). The kinds of exercises were walk (33%), jogging (25%), physical training (14%), golf (6.4%), rope jumping, and tennis. Men ate healthy drug more than womon. Most of men thought that sports were the best for health management. Women considered that baying regular habits was the best for control of her health. The smoking rate of respondents was 41%, and the rate in Chinju showed higher than the other area (p<0.001). Man smokers were more than women (p<0.001). Drinking rate of respondents was 78%. Men enjoyed soju, while women liked beer (p<0.001)

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.398-406
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• 2012

This study aimed to examine whether the polygenic profile of ACE ID and ACTN3 R577X polymorphisms is associated with muscle power performance in Korean athletes. For this study, 106 top-class power athletes (top-class group), 158 elite power athletes (elite-class group), and 676 healthy adults (control) aged 18-39 yrs were recruited and their genotypes were analyzed. The top-class group showed higher frequencies of the II genotype and I allele in ACE, as well as higher frequencies of the RR genotype and R allele in ACTN3 (top-class vs. control: 41.4% vs. 32.1% for II genotype, 67.1% vs. 57.7% for I allele, p<0.05; 42.3% vs. 29.0% for RR genotype, 65.3% vs. 54.8% for I allele, p<0.05). In the polygenic profile, the top-class group had significantly higher frequencies of combined-II/ID+RR/RX genotype than the control group (top-class vs. control: 82.9% vs. 66.7% for II/ID+RR/RX, p<0.05), and there was even a sharp increase in total genotype score (TGS) in this group compared to the elite-class and control groups ($66{\pm}0.9$ vs. $58{\pm}1.9$ vs. $56{\pm}2.3$, p<0.05). The combined-II/ID+RR/RX genotype showed the possibility of succussion in the top-class muscle power performance with an odds ratio of 2.3 (CI:1.4-4.1, p<0.05). These results suggested that ACE and ACTN3 need to interact with each other to affect muscle-power performance in an additive form. Furthermore, the polygenic profile of ACE and ACTN3 can predict muscle performance with high success in a homogeneous dominant combined genotype (II/ID+RR/RX). A further study could identify and combine other genes into ACE and ACTN3 for muscle strength.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.145-156
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to establish accreditation systems of reliable educational materials for nutrition and dietary life which could be used in schools, workplace, and health promotion. Methods: The study was conducted from April 2011 to October 2011. Literature reviews, institutional visits, and telephone interviews were conducted. Expert meetings and advisory councils were held in order to receive feedback on development of the accreditation systems. A survey was conducted for the accreditation procedures on 143 professionals, including professors, researchers, health and medical experts, teachers, nutrition teachers, dietitians, and clinical nutritionists. Results: The final procedure of the developed accreditation system was finalized as follows: 1) receiving application twice per year 2) complete desk review (written evaluation) by three reviewers within two months, 3) board review (all board members) and decision, and 4) notification of results. The accreditation system is set for printed materials, web-site, and materials for activities. The certificate and accreditation mark is issued to the final certified educational materials. Expiration date is established only for the web-site form. The accreditation length lasts for two years, and can be extended by renewal application. Conclusion: The dietary and nutrition related materials, which are certificated by this accreditation system, could impart reliable information and knowledge to both learners and educators, and help them in effective selection of educational materials. Therefore, this accreditation system might be expected to increase satisfaction for teaching and learning about nutrition and healthy dietary life.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.449-460
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• 2021

The purpose of this study explained the experience of volunteering activities and the relationship of subjective self-awareness in order to examine the social meaning of volunteer activities. For adults aged 20 or older, 312 volunteering experience and social support awareness were analyzed on the level of self-identity by allocation sampling method depending on gender and age. The analysis results of this study were as follows. First, it was found that those who have experienced volunteer activitiies have a relatively simple willingness to participate in professional volunteer activities and those who have experienced volunteer activities. Second, social support and self-identification were different depending on whether they have experienced volunteer activities. Third, age, volunteer participation, willingness to participated in volunteering, and social support were analyzed as explanatory factors predicting self-identification of research participants. Based on the research results, volunteer activities to positively promote self-awareness suggested the need to practice volunteer activities according to the life cycle so that social meaning can be given. As a policy suggestion, the need for volunteer activities was closely analyzed to enable healthy self-forming for well-aging from adulthood to old age to discussed the need for policies and systems to strengthen volunteer motivation as leisure activities.

• 한국노년학
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.551-567
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• 2018

Demographic and socio-structural information is useful to identify potential welfare recipients who are in need of disease-prevention and intervention services. Thus, the present study aims to explore the differences in grip strength among middle and old-aged adults by living conditions and by living area. The 5th wave data of Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging was utilized. The dependent variable was grip strength, and the independent variables were living alone (living alone or not) and living area (city or non-city). Covariates were age, education, log-transformed household income, spouse existence, body mass index, self-rated health conditions, depressive symptoms, cognitive function, smoking, regular exercise, frequency of meeting with friends, and the number of social participation. Regression analysis was performed for middle-aged men, middle-aged women, old-aged men, and old-aged women, respectively. ANOVA and Chi-test were additionally used to specifically discuss significant results. Cross-sectional weight was applied to all analyses. According to the results, living alone and living area did not have significant effects on grip strength among middle-aged men, old-aged men, and old-aged women. In middle-aged women, however, living alone and living area were significantly associated with grip strength. To be specific, middle-aged women who lived alone in rural areas had the lowest grip strength compared to other middle-aged women. Additional analysis showed that middle-aged women who lived alone in rural areas had risk factors, such as low education level, low income, or high depressive symptoms. It implies that middle-aged women living alone in rural areas may have physical health risks, so they might be in need of disease prevention. This study is meaningful in that it can provide reliable information on the latent welfare recipients by using representative panel data and applying weight values.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.265-271
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• 2019

In general, specific gravity (SG) and urinary creatinine (CR) have been used to adjust urinary cadmium (Cd) concentrations. However, the validity of correction methods has been controversial. We compared the two adjustments to evaluate associations between urinary Cd and various renal damage markers and to evaluate the relationship between urinary Cd concentration and renal disease markers, such as estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), in a relatively large general population sample. Among the 1,086 volunteers who were enrolled in this study, 862 healthy volunteers who did not have kidney disease were included in the final analysis. Urinary Cd, malondialdehyde (MDA), and N-acetyl-${\beta}$-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) concentrations were measured, the creatinine-based eGFR was calculated, and the relationships between these markers were subsequently analyzed. This study showed the use of urinary Cd concentration adjusted with SG rather than with urinary creatinine may be appropriate in studies evaluating renal function based on Cd exposure. Urinary Cd concentration adjusted with SG had a positive correlation with urinary MDA levels and a negative correlation with eGFR. This relationship was relatively stronger in women than in men. This study showed that urinary Cd level was associated with decreased eGFR in the general population, and oxidative stress was likely to act as an intermediator in this process. These results suggest that eGFR can be a very good indicator of kidney damage caused by Cd exposure in the general population.

• Journal of Korean Society of Neurocognitive Rehabilitation
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.53-62
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to propose an alternative for the eating habits of modern people and coping with the diseases. The purpose of this study was to apply the principles of eating habits of people living in Roma Linda to modern dietary life and to help healthy life and prevent disease. The period of this study was from May 1, 2016 to February 28, 2018. Literature search was conducted using Pubmed and Korean academic web sites. Based on the recognition of wrong eating habits, we classify and classify diseases according to eating habits. A total of more than 100 papers were selected and 60 papers and a database were prepared. People living in Roma Linda have eight health principles. The Roma Linda practiced balanced nutritional intake, sufficient exercise, adequate water intake, sunlight, temperance (abstinence from alcohol etc.), fresh air, adequate rest, and trust in eating habits. People living in Roma Linda have a high intake of vegetables, fruits and nuts. People living in Roma Linda are educated about nutrition, and among them, there is a low prevalence of coronary heart disease and cancer, because they mostly do not smoke or drink alcohol. Unhealthy eating habits and dietary behavior are associated with many diseases. Many chronic, degenerative diseases are due to bad eating habits and stress. If you take good food habits of people living in the Roma Linda area and practice it steadily, it will have a great effect on disease prevention.