• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.17-25
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• 2011

In this study, we examined the impact caused by chronic exposure to Mn by investigating the degree of brain activation based on the data of recognition activities using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging). A questionnaire survey, blood tests, and fMRI tests were carried out with respect to two groups. Group 1 was an exposure group consisting of 15 male workers who are 34 years old or older, and who worked for longer than 10 years in a shipbuilding factory as a welder. Group 2 was a control group consisting of 15 workers in manufacturing industries with the same gender and age. The results showed that blood Mn concentration of Group 1($1.3\;{\mu}g/dl$) was significantly higher than that of Group 2($0.8\;{\mu}g/dl$)(p < 0.001), and Pallidal Index (PI) of Group 1 was also significantly higher than that of Group 2 (p < 0.001). PI value of the group whose blood Mn concentration was $0.93\;{\mu}g/dl$ or higher was significantly higher than that of the group whose blood Mn concentration was less than $0.93 \;{\mu}g/dl$ (p < 0.001). As for brain activity area within the control group, the right and the left areas of occipital cortex showed significant activity and the left area of middle temporal cortex, the right area of superior inferior frontal cortex and inferior parietal cortex showed significant activity. Unlike the control group, the exposure group showed significant activity on the right area of superior inferior temporal cortex, the left of insula area. In the comparison of brain activity areas between the two groups, the exposure group showed significantly higher activation than the control group in such areas as the right inferior temporal cortex, the left area of superior parietal cortex and occipital cortex, and cerebellum including middle temporal cortex. However, in nowhere the control group showed more activated area than the exposure group. As the final outcome, chronic exposure to Mn increased brain activity during implementation of arithmetic task. In an identical task, activation increased in superior inferior temporal cortex, and insula area. And it was discovered that brain activity increase in temporal area and occipital area was more pronounced in the exposure group than in the control group. This result suggests that chronic exposure to Mn in the work environment affects brain activation neuro-network.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.51 no.7
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• pp.599-607
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• 2006

The experiments were carried out to develop simulation model for estimating the yield of soybean in upland and paddy field condition. Field experiments were done at National Institute of Crop Science in 2005. The evaluated soybean cultivars were Taekwangkong, Daewonkong, and Hwangkeumkong. Soybean seeds were planted by hill seeding with 3-4 seeds and row and hill spacing were $60{\times}10cm$ in upland and $60{\times}15cm$ in paddy field. Seeds were sown on row (without making ridge) and on the top of ridge in upland and paddy field, respectively. Field parameters were measured yield components ($plants/m^{2}$, pod no./plant, and 100-seed weight, seed yield and growth characteristics (stem length, leaf area at each stage, and dry weight of shoot) and after measuring they were compared the relationships with seed yield and yield components and seed yield and growth characteristics. Seed yield of soybean was affected by cultivars and planting density. Seed yield was higher in upland than paddy field due to the higher planting density in upland field. The upland soybeans generally had lower 100-seed weight than that of paddy field. Seed yield of soybean in a paddy field was greatest in Taekwangkong and followed by Daewonkong and Hwangkeumkong. The harvest index of taekwangkong and Hwanggumkong was higher in upland than paddy field, however, it was higher in paddy field than upland in Daewonkong. Seed yield was greatest in Daewonkong in both experimental fields. The greatest stem length was observed in taekwangkong and Hwanggumkong (R6) in late growth stage in paddy field. Dry weight of shoot and pod, pod number, stem length, and stem diameter were higher grown in paddy field than grown in upland. Crop growth rate (CGR) of cultivars was higher in paddy field after 8 WAS(weeks after sowing) and it was greatest at 13 WAS in Daewonkong among the cultivars. In upland field, CGR was greatest in Taekwangkong and then followed by Daewonkong and Hwanggumkong during 12 and 15 WAS. There was no significant relationships between 100-seed weight and seed yield in both experimental fields. A significant positive relationship was observed between seed number and seed yield. The correlation coefficients between leaf area and shoot dry weight were about 0.8 during the whole growth stage except 5 WAS and 4-5 WAS in paddy field and upland, respectively. This experiment was done just one year and drained paddy field condition was not satisfied drained condition successfully at 7th leaf age of soybean by the heavy rain, so we suggest that the excessive soil water reduced seed yield in paddy field and the weather condition should be considered for utilizing of these results.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.210-217
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• 2006

Purpose: Crohn disease (CD) in children is frequently complicated by malnutrition and growth retardation. Conventional treatment with corticosteroid may also affect the growth of children, which may be alleviated by nutritional therapy. Therefore, we performed this study to evaluate the role of nutritional therapy in the treatment of CD in children. Methods: The study cohort consisted of thirty children under the age of 17 years, admitted to the Asan Medical Center from 2001 to 2005. While 11 children received nutritional therapy (NT) with an elemental diet, 19 received conventional corticosteroid therapy (ST). Comparative analysis was performed for the rate of the induction of remission, recurrence, disease activity index of pre and post-treatment, and changes of the growth using mean standard deviation score for weight (zW) and height (zH). Results: Ten of 11 children with NT and 18 of 19 children with ST completed the therapy. Two of them were lost to follow-up during the treatment. All 10 children with NT and 15 of 18 children with ST achieved remission. While there was no recurrence in children with NT, 7 with ST showed recurrence within 1 year. Pre- and post treatment Pediatric Crohn disease Activity Index (PCDAI) did not show a difference between the two groups. There were no differences in zW and zH between the two groups after 1 year of follow-up. Conclusion: This study showed that nutritional therapy could be considered instead of steroid therapy for treatment of children with CD. However, a long-term study will be needed to determine the long-term efficacy.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 2012

BACKGROUND: Many edible mushrooms are known to accumulate high levels of heavy metals. This research was focused on health risk assessment to investigate the mushrooms in Korea, arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) contaminations in edible mushrooms in cultivated areas were investigated, and health risk was assessed through dietary intake of mushrooms. METHODS AND RESULTS: The heavy metals in mushrooms were analyzed by ICP/MS after acid digestion. Probabilistic health risk were estimated by Monte-Carlo simulation techniques. The average contents of As, Cd, Pb, and Hg were $0.035{\pm}0.042$ mg/kg, $0.017{\pm}0.020$ mg/kg, $0.043{\pm}0.013$ mg/kg, and $0.004{\pm}0.004$ mg/kg, respectively. The results showed that contents of Cd and Pb did not exceed maximum residual levels established by European Uion regulation (Cd 0.20 mg/kg and Pb 0.30 mg/kg). For health risk assessment, estimated intakes in all age populations did not exceed the provisional tolerable daily intake of As and Hg, provisional tolerable monthly intake of Cd, provisional tolerable weekly intake of Pb. The Hazard Index (HI) were ranged from $0.03{\times}10^{-4}{\sim}0.01{\times}10^{-3}$ for As, $0.02{\times}10^{-3}{\sim}0.81{\times}10^{-3}$ for Cd, $0.06{\times}10^{-3}{\sim}0.38{\times}10^{-3}$ for Pb, and $0.08{\times}10^{-4}{\sim}0.14{\times}10^{-3}$ for Hg at general population. CONCLUSION: The HI from the ratio analysis between daily exposure and safety level values was less than 1.0. This results demonstrated that human exposure to heavy metals through dietary intake of mushrooms might not cause adverse effect.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.305-316
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• 2008

The mandibular advancement device(MAD) has been used to help manage snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. The aims of this study were to specify the demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients receiving long-term treatment with MAD and to quantify the compliance with and side effects of the use of the device. Of 103 patients who were treated with MAD for at least one full year after delivery date, 49 were able to be contacted with telephone and complete follow-up questionnaires were obtainable. They were telephoned to determine whether they were still using the device. If not, they were asked when and why they stopped using it. Patients were also asked how much effectiveness of the MAD in decreasing snoring and how much they and their bed-partners were satisfied with the MAD therapy. The initial respiratory disturbance indices and pre-treatment snoring frequency and intensity were obtained from the medical records of initial visit. All the data were compared between users and nonusers. The results were as follows: 1. Of 49 patients 25 are still using the device, but 24 stopped using it. Among nonusers nobody stopped wearing the device within first 1 month, but 37.5% of nonusers stopped wearing it in the following 6 months, and another 4.2% before the end of the first year. 2. The one-year compliance of the MAD therapy was 79.59%. 3. There were no significant differences in mean age, mean body mass index, and gender distribution between users group and nonusers group. 4. There was no significant difference in mean respiratory disturbance index at initial visit between users group and nonusers group. 5. There was no significant difference in pre-treatment snoring frequency and intensity between users group and nonusers group. 6. The degree of decrease in snoring with use of MAD was significantly higher in the users when compared to nonusers. 7. Patient's overall satisfaction with treatment outcome was significantly higher in the users when compared to nonusers. 8. Bed partner's satisfaction with treatment outcome tended to be higher in the users when compared to nonusers. 9. The most frequent reasons why patients discontinued wearing the MAD were: jaw pain(25%), dental pain(20.83%), broken appliance(20.83%), hassle using(16.67%), lost weight(8.3%), dental work(8.3%), no or little effect(4.17%), sleep disturbance(4.27).

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.82-86
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• 2011

Objectives: The Berlin Questionnaire (BQ) has been used to help identify patients at high risk of having sleep apnea in primary care. But it has not been validated in a sleep clinic for Korean patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of the BQ as a screening tool for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) for Korean patients in a sleep clinic. Methods: The BQ was prospectively applied to 121 subjects with OSA suspicion who visited to our sleep clinic. All subjects performed overnight polysomnography. OSA was defined as an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ${\geq}5$. We investigated the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of the BQ according to severity by AHI. Results: In 121 subjects, 73.6% were males, with a mean age of $48.8{\pm}13.0$ years. Twenty-five (20.6%) patients did not have OSA (AHI<5), 30 (25%) patients had mild OSA ($AHI{\geq}5$ and <15), 26 (21.4%) had moderate ($AHI{\geq}15$ and <30), and 40 (33%) had severe OSA ($AHI{\geq}30$). The BQ identified 69.4% of the patients as being at high risk for having OSA. The sensitivity and specificity of the BQ were 71.9% and 40%, for $AHI{\geq}5$, 75.8% and 38.2% for $AHI{\geq}15$, 77.5% and 34.6% for $AHI{\geq}30$, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values of the BQ were 82.1% and 27.0% for $AHI{\geq}5$, respectively. Positive and negative likelihood ratios were 1.2 and 0.7, and the overall diagnostic accuracy of the BQ was 65.3%, using an AHI cut-off of 5. Conclusion: Due to modest sensitivity and low specificity, the BQ does not seem to be an appropriate tool for identifying patients with obstructive sleep apnea in a sleep clinic population.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.16-23
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• 2020

Objectives: Sleep disturbance in the elderly is associated with cognitive decline. Sleep quality is known to deteriorate with age, and prospective studies seldom have examined the relationship between sleep quality and cognitive function. This study investigates the relationship between early sleep quality and cognitive function based on six-year follow-up data of community individuals older than 60 years. Methods: The participants included 622 community elderly people older than 60 years from Jinju-Si. The final analysis comprised 322 elderly people. Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and the Korean version of Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD-K) were used to assess early sleep quality and cognitive function after six years. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to investigate the association between early sleep quality and cognitive function in the elderly. Results: Early sleep quality (PSQI) was significantly associated with the results of the digit span test, clock drawing test (clox 1), and word recall test after six years. Sleep quality (PSQI) decreased significantly after six years, and lower quality of sleep (PSQI) score was associated with higher digit span test score (β = -0.167, p = 0.026) and higher clock drawing test score (β = -0.157, p = 0.031). Lower quality of sleep (PSQI) score was associated with higher word recall test (β = -0.140, p = 0.039). Conclusion: The digit span test, word recall test, and clock drawing task (CLOX 1) shown to be significantly associated to sleep quality can be performed fast and easily in clinical practice. It is important to assess early cognitive function in the elderly with poor sleep quality, and further studies could suggest that these tests may be useful screening tests for early dementia in elderly with poor sleep quality.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.217-226
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• 2002

The purpose of this study is to investigate initial nutritional status of stomach cancer patients. The study subjects were 88 patients with stomach cancer admitted at Kosin University Gospel Hospital in Busan. We assessed the initial nutritional status by anthropometric, biochemical and dietary intake data along with subjective global assessment(SGA). The results are as follows. 1. The mean age, weight, height, triceps skinfold thickness, mid arm circumference, and mid arm muscle circumference of the subjects were 55.9$\pm$11.0years, 60.0$\pm$9.8kg, 162.4$\pm$8.5cm, 10.9$\pm$5.7mm, 26.8$\pm$3.8cm, and 23.4$\pm$3.5cm respectively. The mean body mass index was within the normal range, with 22.7$\pm$2.8kg/m2, while 15.4% of the patients was underweight. The result shows that body fat mass and body protein mass of the patients with stomach cancer were decreased. 2. The mean biochemical data of the subjects were 4.0$\pm$0.5g/dl for albumin, 174.7$\pm$41.9mg/dl for cholesterol, 107.6$\pm$57.2mg/dl for triglyceride, 92.1μg/dl for Zn, 　297.0$\pm$103.1mg/dl for transferrin, 1980.0$\pm$0.8$mm^3$ for total lymphocyte count. 3. Daily energy intake was 1997.8$\pm$579.3kcal. And the ratio of carbohydrate, protein, and lipid to energy intake was 72:14:14. 4. The patients were divided into three groups according to SGA performed by an observer. Group A(well nourished) was 55.7% with 49 patients, Group B(moderately malnourished) was 22.7 % with 20 patients, and Group C(severely malnourished) was 21.6 % with 19 patients. The three groups showed a significant difference in body weight(p<0.01), 1 month weight loss %(p<0.001), 6 months weight loss %(p<0.001), body mass index(p<0.01), and mid arm circumference(p<0.05), albumin(p<0.01), energy intake(p<0.05) as well as carbohydrate intake(p<0.05). From these results, it may be concluded that SGA can be used as a nutrition screening tool, and comprehensive nutrition assessment is desirable for those malnourished.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.181-188
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• 2020

In this study, sixteen egg quality traits, including egg weight, albumen weight, yolk weight, eggshell weight, albumen weight ratio, yolk weight ratio, eggshell weight ratio, yolk color, eggshell color, egg height, egg width, shape index, albumen height, Haugh unit, eggshell thickness, and eggshell strength were investigated in 12 strains of Korean native chicken using 600 eggs from birds at 38 weeks of age. Results showed that the Korean White Leghorn F strain had the highest egg weight of 62.7 g and the lowest (47.5 g) was observed in the Korean native chicken W strain. The Haugh unit was significantly different between strains. The mean Haugh unit for Korean native chicken ranged between 84.2 (L strain) and 76.0 (F strain), with an overall average of 79.9. Eggshells were the thinnest in Korean Rhode Island Red C and D strains (0.342 mm), whereas the highest eggshell thickness (0.393 mm) was observed in the Korean White Leghorn K strain. Korean Rhode Island Red C and D strains had low egg strength compared to that of other strains. Korean Cornish and Korean native chicken showed significant differences in egg quality traits between strains within breeds. Positive correlation coefficients were observed between egg weight and egg quality traits. The traits for color showed zero or low correlations with most egg quality traits. Egg shape index showed no correlation with most egg quality traits. Albumen height and the Haugh unit showed a positive correlation with albumen traits. Eggshell strength showed a positive correlation with eggshell traits.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.1-25
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• 1979

Six natural populations of Pinus densiflora S. et Z. as shown in the location map (Flg 1) were studied during 1978. The numerial pouplation codes, 13 to 18. The results of populations 1 to 12 were reported in previous papers. Following the study methods described before, 20 trees were sampled from each population and morpological characteristics such as stem forms, branching habit needle and wood properties investigated. The results are summerized as follows; 1. The mean stand ages were ranged from 36 to 97 of years. The growth performances of trees of population 14. 15 and 18 was similar, but 13, 16, and 17 seemed to be inferior more or less. 2. The ratios of clear bole length were 0.70 in population 18 as the highest but 0.28 for population 16 as the lowest. 3. The population 17 was considered to be a stand of the coarser branching habit having the crown index (The maximum crown diameter/the crown height) 158 though the branching angles were almost horizontal. 4. The differences were observed in the clear bole length ratios and crown-indices between population as shown In Fig. 3 and 4. 5. As to the serration density, number of stomata row and resin duct; the significant differences exist between individual trees within population and also between populations. 6. Population 18 shown resin duct index 0.119 as the maximum. 7. The patterns of diameter growth, based on the width of 10-year-ring segment unit(for example, the 1st segment denotes the with between pith center and 10th year ring and the 2nd one is from 11th to 20th ring and so on.), were alike among populations as shown in Fig 9. 8. Significant differences between population in mean summer wood percentage as well as in wood specific gravity was observed. The values of wood specific gravity were increased with the increase of ages in population 14, 18 however vice versa in population 13, 15, and 17. 9. The fiber length was mereased with the increased of age but no differences between populations as shown in Fig. 12.