• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.115-126
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• 2009

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of red ginseng on women's health-related quality of life (QOL) and sexual function. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover clinical study was performed. The main efficacy was measured using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFl) and the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). Twenty-four healthy, married women aged 30-45 years with FSFl scores below 25 were randomly divided into two groups: the red-ginseng group (N=12) and the placebo group (N=12). During the first six-week period (Study 1), each group was given red ginseng or placebo twice a day. Before the start of the second six-week period (Study 2), a crossover design was chosen with a two-week break (washout period). Interchanging the two groups after the washout period, red ginseng and placebo were given to each group. The outcomes were measured before and after each six-week period. Overall, 23 participants completed the study. In Study 1, the changes relative to the baseline in the FSFl total score were 22.50% and 22.99% for red ginseng and placebo, respectively. In Study 2, the relative changes were 8.14% for red ginseng and 6.29% for placebo. The results showed a greater improving trend in Study 1 with respect to all of the participants' sexual functions, but no significant difference was found between the groups (P=0.9567). After taking red ginseng, all the participants exhibited an improving trend in the desire domain of FSFl, but no significant difference was shown. In the measurement of SF-36, no significant difference was likewise shown. After taking red ginseng, though, all the participants exhibited an improving trend in the physical functioning (PF) domain of SF-36, with no significant difference. Moreover, there was no significant adverse event related to red ginseng. The QOL and sexual function of the study participants in the red-ginseng group were mostly improved, but no statistically significant effect of red ginseng was shown. It is supposed that this result was partly due to the affirmative impression of red ginseng in Korea. Thus, it is anticipated that a long-term clinical trial will show a significant effect of red ginseng on the QOL and sexual function.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.514-528
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• 2014

This study examined the actual state and future improvement of food allergies in adolescents and adults in order to prevent damage. In this survey, proportions of females, people in their 40s, college graduates, and office workers and housewives with allergies were higher than other groups. Exactly 41.1% of participants responded that they had experienced food allergies while 58.9% responded that they had not. According to their responses, the most common food allergy symptom involved the skin while whole-body allergic reactions were rare. Most respondents answered that frequency of their food allergies was two or three times. There was a variety of allergenic foods, including fast food, eggs, mackerel and milk, and instant food was ranked as the most allergenic food. Therefore, in order to protect consumers from damage caused by food allergens, the food allergen labeling system must be improved. A better food allergen labeling system should be implemented to avoid potential risks of allergic reactions and ensure national food safety.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.223-235
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• 2004

Objectives: This study was to evaluate the actual condition of falls among community-dwelling elderly people and its related factors to prepare for the establishment of comprehensive prevention programs of senior population. Methods: The study subjects included 460 home residents over 65 years in a district of Chungnam Province and interviews were given to all of them, asking about experiences of falls and their related factors. The analysis of study results came to the following conclusions. Results: The rate of falls among total subjects was 35.5%. With the percentage by age and sex, over 70's and female were significantly higher than male(p=0.000) and under 69 (p=0.008). The groups with poor visual acuity and hearing ability had higher rate of falls than the normal groups based on their health status. In terms of place they experienced falls, out-door occurrence accounted for 53.4% of total falls, which was higher 46.6% of in-door. By season when falls are experienced, "winter" showed the greatest rate, and by time of the day, evening had the highest rate. By causes of falls, "Slippery ground"accounted for 30.5% and "Tumbled over" 23.5% of total falls, respectively, showing the major role of environmental causes for falls. For individual factors, "Irritability" and "Carelessness" occupied 11.3%, 10.8% of total falls, respectively. The Odds Ratios for falls in women was 2.19 times higher than in men, and those in 70's are 2.01 times higher than in 60's, and those with abnormal BMI was 3.68 times higher than in normal groups, and those with perceived symptoms was 1.94 times higher than those without. Conclusions: It is suggested that more consideration should be directed toward taking comprehensive and systematic prevention measures ranging from setting-up the injury-protective environments to allowing senior citizens to have competence in ADL activity as well as proper general health conditions, considering the higher rate of falls for elderly persons in a rural part of this country than that of western countries and the greater proportion of falls which can be ascribed to environmental factors.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.12-25
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• 2003

Objectives：As increasing number of new antidepressants have been being introduced in clinical practice, pharmacological understanding has been broadened. These changes mandate new information and theories to be incorporated into the treatment process of children with depressive disorders. In light of newly coming knowledge, this review intended to recapitulate the characteristics of new antidepressants and to consider the pivotal issues to develope guidelines for the treatment of depression in childhood and adolescence. Methods：Searching the Pub-Med online database for the articles with the key words of 'new', 'antidepressants' and 'children' ninety-seven headings of review articles were obtained. The author selected the articles of pertinent subjects in terms of either treatment guideline or psychopharmacology of new antidepressants. When required, articles about the clinical effectiveness of individual antidepressants were separatedly searched. In addition, the safety information of new antidepressants was acquired by browsing the official sites of the United States Food and Drugs Administration and Department of Health and Human Services. Results：1) For the clinical course, treatment phase, and treatment outcome, the reviews or treatment guidelines adopted the information from adult treatment guidelines. 2) Systematic and critical reviews unambiguously concluded that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors(SSRIs) excelled tricyclic antidepressants( TCAs) for both efficacy and side effect profiles, and were recommend for the first-line choice for the treatment of children with depressive disorders. 3) New antidepressants generally lacked treatment experiences and randomized controlled clinical trials. 4) SSRIs and other new antidepressants, when used together, might result in pharmacokinetic and/or pharmacodynamic drug-to-drug interaction. 5) The difference of the clinical effectiveness of antidepressants between children and adults should be addressed from developmental aspects, which required further evidence. Conclusion：Treatment guidelines for the pharmacological treatment of childhood and adolescence depression could be constructed on the basis of clinical trial findings and practical experiences. Treatment guidelines are to best serve as the frame of reference for a clinician to make reasonable decisions for a particular therapeutic situation. In order to fulfill this role, guidelines should be updated as soon as new research data become available.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.253-273
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• 2007

Objective: This study was to find ways to let a manager or superintendent rationally and consistently inspect as well as let a embryologist precisely record [The Book of Supernumerary Embryo Preservation] and [The Book of Supernumerary Embryo Donation]. Methods: Based on the data collected between 1994 and 2004 in Clinic 44 (Maria Fertility Hospital), [The Present State about Production and Use of Embryos], [The Preservation of Supernumerary Embryos and Their Thaw State], [The Present State about Thaw and Use of Frozen Embryos], [The Present State about Donation and Charge of Frozen Embryos], [The Book about Frozen Embryo Discard], and [The Summarization Book about Management and Use of Frozen Embryos] were designed and recorded. Results: The production, use, preservation, discard and donation quantity of human embryos, the use and discard quantity of thawed embryos, and the cumulative embryo preservation quantity could be totalized in [The Present State about Production and Use of Embryos in Clinic 44]. Also, [The Preservation of Supernumerary Embryos and Their Thaw State in Clinic 44] supported "the supernumerary embryo preservation quantity" etc. In addition, [The Present State about Thaw and Use of Frozen Embryos in Clinic 44] or [The Book about Frozen Embryo Discard in Clinic 44] supported "the use and discard quantity of thawed embryos" etc. Moreover, "The embryo donation quantity" could be totalized in [The Present State about Donation and Charge of Frozen Embryos in Clinic 44]. Finally, [The Summarization Book about Management and Use of Frozen Embryos in Clinic 44] could be used for rational and consistent management or inspection. Conclusion: The present results suggest that the documents not only be standard data to record [The Book about Supernumerary Embryo Preservation in Clinic] and [The Book about Supernumerary Embryo Donation in Clinic] but can also be preserved as treatment references.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.27-35
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• 2017

Microbiological, physicochemical, and organoleptic properties of fresh-cut vegetables (FVs), carrots, green peppers, cherry tomatoes, and paprika after X-ray irradiation were evaluated to verify food quality suitable for the immune-depressed patients. Total concentrations of aerobic bacteria in non-irradiated samples, except for cherry tomatoes, were 1.63-3.34 log CFU/g. Irradiation dose exceed 0.4 kGy was used for carrots and green peppers whereas the sterilization dose of 0.2 kGy was used for both cherry tomatoes and paprika. A dose of 0.4 kGy was tentatively determined as the minimum allowable dose for sterilization of the FVs, based on $D_{10}$-values of X-ray irradiation (0.11-0.32 kGy) for Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella Typhimurium inoculated on the samples. With respect to the physiological properties, only hardness was significantly decreased as the absorbed dose increased; however, there were no significant differences in hardness of the sterilized samples using X-rays at 0.4 kGy compared with those of non-irradiated samples (p<0.05). Moreover, overall acceptance scores of the sterilized FVs were higher than 5.0 points on a 7-point scale, indicating a good organoleptic quality. In a survey on preference of hospitalized patients with cancer (n=50), the average scores for the sterilized FVs, except for carrots, were higher than 4.0 points. In conclusion, it is considered that the FVs, except for carrots, sterilized using X-rays at 0.4 kGy could be served to immune-depressed patients as hygienically safe foods with acceptable organoleptic properties.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.768-775
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• 2005

Lentinus edodes powder was added at 1-3%(w/w) to improve functional properties of jocheong. Content of crude protein, ash, crude lipids, total mineral, free sugar and reducing sugar increased with increasing amount of L. edodes powder, while viscosity and solid and carbohydrate contents decreased. Through amino acid analysis, 17 amino acids were identified and quantified, glutamic acid being the major amino acid. No significant differences were observed in fatty acid composition and pH between control and L. edodes powder-added jocheong. Addition of mushroom powder in jocheong decreased lightness, yellowness and redness in Hunter's color value. Sensor score of jucheong containing 1% of L. edodes powder was similar to that of control. Results showed jocheong containing less than 2% L. edodes powder gave highest scores in quality characteristics and sensory evaluation.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.273-282
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• 2004

Composting animal manure is one of feasible treatments that reserves some portion of nutrients of manure. Although the application of compost to arable land has many advantages, the repeated cultivation of the agriculture land will accumulate the level of heavy metals in the soil which is potentially hamful to people and animals. Therefore it is important to know the characteristics concentration and species of heavy metals in a variety of chemical fonns than just total content of the metal. Because the metals in different forms have different mobilities and bioavailabilites. The aim of this study was to examine the total content and the chemical forms of the heavy metals; Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd and Pb in the animal manure composted with sawdust or rice hull as a bulking agent. A total of 75 compost samples were collected throughout the country and classified into the three groups in accordance with the characteristics of raw materials: swine manure, poultry manure, and mixed(swine + poultry + cattle)manure. The compost samples were analyzed for total metal content and fractionated by sequential chemical extractions to estimate the quantities of metals: exchangeable, adsorbed, organically bound, carbonate and residual. The results showed that the heavy metal concentrations in all compost samples were lower than the maximum acceptable limits by the Korea Compost Quality Standards. The concentrations of heavy metals in the swine manure compost were higher than those of both the poultry and the mixed manure compost except for Cr. Zn and Cu concentrations of three different compost ranged from 157 to 839 mg Zn/kg DM(dry matter) and from 47 to 458 mg Cu/kg DM, depending on the composition of animal manures. The predominant forms for extracted metals were Cr, Ni, Zn, As and Ph, residual; Cu, organic; and Cd, carbonate. The results suggested that the legal standards for composts should be reexamined to revise the criteria on the total metal content as well as metal speciation.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.407-416
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• 2012

In this study, we purified the extracts from the seeds and the roots of various plant species, including Q. acutissima, C. lanceolata, P. mirifica, P. bambusoides, and S. repens, and then investigated the effects of these extracts on cell growth and fat accumulation in adipocytes. We found that the extracts purified from Q. acutissima, C. lanceolata, P. mirifica, P. bambusoides, and S. repens more effectively increased the cell growth, as well as promoting the fat accumulation in adipocytes to a greater extent, than other extracts in vitro. Therefore, we made breast packs containing these effective extracts, and then investigated whether they were effective in enhancing the elasticity and volume of women's breasts. The measurements of breast elasticity and size revealed that the breast packs efficiently increased the elasticity and size of women's breasts. Furthermore, evaluation of the questionnaires related to usage of the breast packs indicated great satisfaction in terms of the lift, firmness, and elasticity of breasts. In conclusion, extracts purified from Q. acutissima, C. lanceolata, P. mirifica, P. bambusoides, and S. repens leading to cell growth and fat accumulation in adipocytes can effectively contribute to improving the elasticity and size of women's breasts.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.427-436
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• 2018

In this study, experimental and numerical analysis were performed on the survivability of a long pipe-type buoy structure in waves. The buoy structure is an articulated tower consisting of an upper structure, buoyancy module, and gravity anchor with long pipes forming the base frame. A series of experiment were performed in the ocean engineering basin of KRISO with the scaled model of 1/ 22 to evaluate the survivability of the buoy structure at West Sea in South Korea. Survival condition was considered as the wave of 50 year return period. Additional experiments were performed to investigate the effects of current and wave period. The factors considered for the evaluation of the buoy's survival were the pitch angle of the structure, anchor reaction force, and the number of submergence of the upper structure. Numerical simulations were carried out with the OrcaFlex, the commercial program for the mooring analysis, with the aim of performing mutual validation with the experimental results. Based on the evaluation, the behavior characteristics of the buoy structure were first examined according to the tidal conditions. The changes were investigated for the pitch angle and anchor reaction force at HAT and LAT conditions, and the results directly compared with those obtained from numerical simulation. Secondly, the response characteristics of the buoy structure were studied depending on the wave period and the presence of current velocity. Third, the number of submergence through video analysis was compared with the simulation results in relation to the submergence of the upper structure. Finally, the simulation results for structural responses which were not directly measured in the experiment were presented, and the structural safety discussed in the survival waves. Through a series of survivability evaluation studies, the behavior characteristics of the buoy structure were examined in survival waves. The vulnerability and utility of the buoy structure were investigated through the sensitivity studies of waves, current, and tides.