• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.209-216
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• 2002

Background: Valvular heart disease is still the most common health problem in Korea. By the end of the year 1999, there has been 94,586 cases of open heart surgery since the first case in 1958. Among them, 36,247 cases were acquired heart diseases and 20,704 of those had valvular heart disease. But there was no database system and every surgeon and physician had great difficulties in analysing and utilizing those tremendous medical resources. Therefore, we developed a valve registry database program and utilize it for risk factor analysis and so on. Material and Method: Personal computer-based multiuser database program was created using Microsoft AccessTM. That consisted of relational database structure with fine-tuned compact field variables and server-client architecture. Simple graphic user interface showed easy-to-use accessability and comprehensibility. User-oriented modular structure enabled easier modification through native AccessTM functions. Infinite application of query function aided users to extract, summarize, analyse and report the study result promptly. Result: About three-thousand cases of valve replacement procedure were performed in our hospital from 1968 to 1999. Total number of prosthesis replaced was 3,700. The numbers of cases for mitral, aortic and tricuspid valve replacement were 1600, 584, 76, respectively. Among them, 700 patients received prosthesis in more than two positions. Bioprosthesis or mechanical prosthesis were used in 1,280 and 1,500 patients respectively Redo valve replacements were performed in 460 patients totally and 40 patients annually Conclusion: Database program for registry of valvular heart disease was successfully developed and used in personal computer-based multiuser environment. This revealed promising results and perspectives in database management and utilization system.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.390-395
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• 2004

In order to characterize ion channels present in tomato roots, microsomes were incorporated into an artificial lipid bilayer arranged for electrophysiological analysis. Of the five different ion channels that could be found, a channel of 450 pS conductance was found most frequently. This channel displayed subconductance states of 450, 257 and 105 pS. All subconductance states showed linear current-voltage relationships. At positive holding potentials, high frequency of transient channel openings was observed; however, at negative potentials, the open times were long and open probability high. Po was 0.83 at -40 mV. When an additional 50 mM $K^+\;or\;Na^+$ was added to the cis side of bilayer, the reversal potentials shifted in the negative direction to near -10 mV. Thus, the 450 pS cation channel selects poorly between $K^+\;and\;Na^+$. In the presence of $100\;{\mu}M$ metal ions, the channel activity was severely inhibited by $La^{3+},\;Ba^{2+},\;and\;Zn^{2+}$, and Po was decreased to 0.2 or even less. However, $Al^{3+}\;and\;Cd^{2+}$ decreased the activity by only 20%. Interestingly, each metal ion showed different kinetics of channel inhibition. While $500\;{\mu}M\;La^{3+}$ inhibited the activities of all subconductance state, 1 mM $Zn^{2+}$ inhibited all except the 105 pS state. $Cd^{2+}$ changed the gating of the channel from a long-opening state to brief transient openings even at negative holding potentials. These data represent that the metal ions may have different binding sites on the channel protein and could be useful modulators and probes to investigate structural characteristics as well as the functional roles of the 450 pS channel on the root physiology.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.489-494
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• 2020

A total of 101 samples of convenience baby food products were analyzed by microwave digestion and mineral nutrients (iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium) were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). By type, the samples included 44 rice porridges, 40 soft-boiled rices, 11 purees, and 6 powders. The mean values for iron (Fe) content were 0.05 to 0.45 mg/100 g (excepted powder type, mg/l0 g). This was equivalent to 22.35% for rice porridge, 10.55% for soft-boiled rice, 9.88% for puree and 2.74% for powder type compared to the KDRIs (Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans), respectively. The mean values for zinc (Zn) was 0.06 to 0.28 mg/100 g (excepted powder type, mg/l0 g) and the KDRI ratio was the lowest at 5.94% in puree, with 27.76%, 28.95% and 10.91% in rice porridge, soft-boiled rice and powder type, respectively. Calcium (Ca) content relative to KDRIs was relatively low compared to other minerals, with 6.65% for rice porridge, 3.61% for soft-boiled rice, 6.24% for puree and 3.07% for powder type, respectively. The magnesium (Mg) content of baby food ranged from 13.4% to 39.0% compared to KDRIs, and was included in all baby food as a whole. For balanced nutritional mineral supply to infants, it is recommended that information on mineral sources and ingredients in convenience baby food be clearly provided to ensure proper growth and development.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.111-118
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• 2015

Probiotic, prebiotic, and synbiotic substances as well as microorganisms were added to infant formula in an attempt to influence the intestinal microflora with an aim to stimulate the growth of lactic acid bacteria, especially bifidobacteria and lactobacilli. Over the last 10 years, new synbiotic infant formulas containing probiotics and prebiotics have been proposed in order to simulate the effect of breast-feeding on the intestinal microflora. Owing to their synergistic effect, the new synbiotics are expected to be more helpful than using probiotics and prebiotics individually. Maintenance of the viability of the probiotics during food processing and the passage through the gastrointestinal tract should be the most important consideration, since a sufficient number of bacteria ($10^8cfu/g$) should reach the intended location to have a positive effect on the host. Storage conditions and the processing technology used for the manufacture of products such as infant formula adversely affect the viability of the probiotics. When an appropriate and cost-effective microencapsulation methodology using the generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status and substances with high biological value are developed, the quality of infant formulas would improve. The effect of probiotics may be called a double-effect, where one is an immunomodulatory effect, induced by live probiotics that advantageously alter the gastrointestinal microflora, and the other comprises anti-inflammatory responses elicited by dead cells. At present, a new terminology is required to define the dead microorganisms or crude microbial fractions that positively affect health. The term "paraprobiotics" (or ghost probiotics) has been proposed to define dead microbial cells (not damaged or broken) or crude cell extracts (i.e., cell extracts with complex chemical composition) that are beneficial to humans and animals when a sufficient amount is orally or topically administered. The fecal microflora of bottle-fed infants is altered when the milk-based infant formula is supplemented with probiotics or prebiotics. Thus, by increasing the proportion of beneficial bacteria such as bifidobacteria and lactobacilli, prebiotics modify the fecal microbial composition and accordingly regulate the activity of the immune system. Therefore, considerable attention has been focused on the improvement of infant formula quality such that its beneficial effects are comparable to those of human milk, using prebiotics such as inulin and oligosaccharides and potential specific probiotics such as bifidobacteria, which selectively stimulate the proliferation of beneficial bacteria in the microflora and the indigenous intestinal metabolic activity of the microflora.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.60-68
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• 2015

The study of waste activated sludge (WAS) solubilization has been increased for sludge volume reduction and enhancing the efficiency of anaerobic digestion. Microwave (MW)-assisted solubilization is an effective method for the solubilization of WAS because this method can lead to thermal, nonthermal effect and ionic conduction by dielectric heating. In this study, the solubilization of WAS by MW heating and conductive heating (CH) was compared and to enhance the MW-assisted solubilization of WAS at low MW output power, chemical agents were applied such as $H_2SO_4$ as the strong acid and $CaCl_2$, NaCl as the ionic materials. Compared to the COD solubilization of WAS by CH, that by MW heating was approximately 1.4, 6.2 times higher at $50^{\circ}C$, $100^{\circ}C$, respectively and the highest COD solubilization of WAS was 10.0% in this study of low MW output power condition. At the same MW output power and reaction time in chemically agents assisted experiments, the COD solubilization of WAS were increased up to 18.1% and 12.7% with the addition of $H_2SO_4$ and NaCl, however, that with the addition of $CaCl_2$ was 10.7%. This result might be due to the fact that the precipitation reaction occurred by calcium ion ($Ca^{2+}$) and phosphate ion (${PO_4}^{3-}$) produced in WAS after MW-assisted solubilization. In this study, $H_2SO_4$ turned out to be the optimal agent for the enhancement of MW efficiency, the addition of 0.2 M $H_2SO_4$ was the most effective condition for MW-assisted WAS solubilization.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.171-178
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• 2013

In this study, the sludge that occurs in the initial operation of coagulation system developed for the treatment of CSOs were returned to the flocculation reactor. The purposes of this study were to analyze the Characteristics of flocs that are generated through the recycling sludge and settling characteristics of sludge, and to evaluate the possibility that high concentrations of particulate matter in the initial inflow of CSOs could be used as an weighted coagulant additive. As a result, the concentration of treated CSOs pollutants at the beginning of the CSOs influent with a large amount of particulate matter over 20 ${\mu}m$ was low, after gradually increasing the concentrations of them. The flocs generated from the sludge return were similar in size compared to flocs generated through injection of micro sands, and settling velocity in case of return sludge injection was decreased from 55.1 cm/min to 21.5 cm/min. SVI value of the sludge accumulated at the bottom of the sedimentation tank was 72, and settled sludge volume decreased rapidly due to the consolidation of sludge to the time it takes to 10 minutes. these mean that sludge used for recycling has good settling characteristic. A condition of returned sludge which is 0.1% return of 0.3% extraction was formed in the balance of settlement and extraction. In this case, This condition was to be adequate to maintain the proper concentration such as 100~200 mg/L of TS and 50~100 mg/L of VS in the flocculation reactor. The usage of the return sludge containing particulate matters of CSOs as an weighted coagulant additive was able to secure a stable treated water quality despite the change of influent water quality dynamically. Furthermore, it can be expected to reduce the alum dosage along with the sludge production.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.278-286
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• 2003

Alcohol is well known agent which can damage the human tissues such as liver via stimulating lipid peroxidation. On the other hand, carotenoids in addition to vitamins A, C and I play important roles in protecting these oxidative damages as well as preventing the production of free radicals. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of dietary vitamin A on lipid peroxidation and antioxidants status in ethanol-treated rats. In the experiment, male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 160~180 g were given a liquid diet containing 36% of total calories as ethanol for 7 weeks. The pair-fed control rats received an isocaloric amount of diet containing sucrose instead of ethanol on the following day Additionally, the liquid diet contained adequate amount of $\beta$-carotene, retinyl acetate or 13-sis-reinoic acid except vitamin A-deficient diet. The results obtained are as follows. The levels of plasma and hepatic lipid peroxide were increased after chronic ethanol feeding in rats. Retinyl acetate supplementation significantly reduced lipid peroxidation induced by ethanol feeding Glucose 6-phosphatase activity was significantly reduced in rats fed vitamin A-deficient diet with ethanol and alkaline phosphatase activity was significantly induced in rats fed 13-cis-reinoic acid diet with ethanol. Catalase and alcohol dehydrogenase activities did not show a consistent tendency in experiment groups. The hepatic antioxidant enzyme activities did not significantly changed by chronic ethanol feeding groups. The striking decrease in conversion of $\beta$-carotene to retinol was observed in rats fed a $\beta$-carotene diet with ethanol feeding The level of retinol and retinoic acid in plasma and liver was decreased after chronic ethanol administration Based on this result, these data suggest that ethanol feeding enhances oxidative stress especially in those fed a vitamin A-deficient diet, and vitamin A supplementation, especially, retinyl acetate intake can prevent enhanced lipid peroxidation and related damage to some extent.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.18 no.1 s.116
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• pp.62-75
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• 2007

This paper describes a shaped-beam antenna for increasing the antenna gain of a radiating element. The proposed antenna structure is composed of an exciting element and a multi-layered disk array structure(MDAS). The stack micro-strip patch elements were used as the exciter for effectively radiating the electromagnetic power to the MDAS over the broadband, and finite metallic disk array elements - which give the role of a director for shaping the antenna beam with the high gain - were finitely and periodically layered onto it. The efficient power coupling between the exciter and the MDAS should be carried out in such a way that the proposed antenna has a high gain characteristic. The design parameters of the exciter and the MDAS should be optimized together to meet the required specifications to meet the required specifications. In this study, a shaped-beam antenna with high gain was optimally designed under the operating conditions with a linear polarization and the frequency band of $9.6{\sim}10.4\;GHz$. Two methods constructed using thin dielectric film and dielectric foam materials respectively were also proposed in order to implement the MBAS of the antenna. In particular, through the computer simulation process, the electrical performance variations of the antenna with the MDAS realized by the thin dielectric film materials were shown according to the number of disk array elements in the stack layer. Two kinds of antenna breadboard with the MDAS realized with the thin dielectric film and dielectric foam materials were fabricated, but experimentation was conducted only on the antenna breadboard(Type 1) with the MDAS realized with the thin dielectric film materials according to the number of disk array elements in the stack layer in order to compare it with the electrical performance variations obtained during the simulation. The measured antenna gain performance was found to be in good agreement with the simulated one, and showed the periodicity of the antenna gain variations according to the stack layer number of the disk array elements. The electrical performance of the Type 1 antenna was measured at the center frequency of 10 GHz. As the disk away elements became the ten stacks, a maximum antenna gain of 15.65 dBi was obtained, and the measured return loss was not less than 11.4 dB within the operating band. Therefore, a 5 dB gain improvement of the Type 1 antenna can be obtained by the MDAS that is excited by the stack microstrip patch elements. As the disk array elements became the twelve stacks, the antenna gain of the Type 1 was measured to be 1.35 dB more than the antenna gain of the Type 2 by the outer dielectric ring effect, and the 3 dB beam widths measured from the two antenna breadboards were about $28^{\circ}$ and $36^{\circ}$ respectively.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.1119-1124
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• 1997

This study was carried out for improvement and correction of the traditional pressure variation method (PVM) in the respiration rate measurements of fresh fruits and vegetables using a microcomputer system and a differential pressure sensor. Water vapor pressure in the container was calculated by equations for psychrometric calculations. At the beginning of experimental period water vapor pressure in the container was increased and maintained constantly in the most experimental period, but was decreased dramatically after $CO_2$ scrubbing. The percentages of water vapor pressure on total differential pressure were $33{\sim}46%$ at $1^{\circ}C$, $23{\sim}45%$ at $11^{circ}C$ and $35{\sim}53%$ at $21^{\circ}C$. The differences between the respiration rates determined by gas chromatography and corrected pressure variation method (CPVM) were $0.2{\sim}0.3\;mgCO_2kg^{-1}h^{-1}$ at $1^{\circ}C$, $0.2{\sim}2.9\;mgCO_2kg^{-1}h^{-1}$ at $11^{\circ}C$ and 1.0{\sim}9.0\;mgCO_2kg^{-1}h^{-1}$ at $21^{circ}C$, while those between gas chromatography and normal pressure variation method (PVM) were $0.8{\sim}1.2\;mgCO_2kg^{-1}h^{-1}$ at $1^{\circ}C$, $3.9{\sim}11.0\;mgCO_2kg^{-1}h^{-1}$ at $11^{\circ}C$ and $8.0{\sim}32.0\;mgCO_2kg^{-1}h^{-1}$ at $21^{circ}C$, respectively. The differences of the respiration rates with CPVM were smaller than those with PVM. CPVM, therefore, were more exact and convenient method than PVM in the measurement of respiration rate of fresh produce.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.288-294
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• 2011

BACKGROUND: Methylmercury is analyzed by HPLC-ICP/MS because of the simplicity for sample preparation and interference. However, most of the pre-treatment methods for methylmercury need a further pH adjustment of the extracted solution and removal of organic matter for HPLC. The purpose of this study was to establish a rapid and accurate analytical method for determination of methylmercury in fish by using HPLC-ICP/MS. METHOD AND RESULTS: We conducted an experiment for pre-treatment and instrument conditions and analytical method verification. Pre-treatment condition was established with aqueous 1% L-cysteine HCl and heated at $60^{\circ}C$ in microwave for 20 min. Methylmercury in $50{\mu}L$ of filtered extract was separated by a C18 column and aqueous 0.1% L-cysteine HCl + 0.1% L-cysteine mobile phase at $25^{\circ}C$. The presence of cysteine in mobile phase and sample solution was essential to eliminate adsorption, peak tailing and memory effect problems. Correlation coefficient($r^2$) for the linearity was 0.9998. The limits of detection and quantitation for this method were 0.15 and $0.45{\mu}g/kg$ respectively. CONCLUSION: Result for analytical method verification, accuracy and repeatability of the analytes were in good agreement with the certified reference materials values of methylmercury at a 95% confidence level. The advantage of the established method is that the extracted solution can be directly injected into the HPLC column without additional processes and the memory effect of mercury in the ICP-MS can be eliminated.