• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.97-105
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• 2017

Objectives : Gardeniae Fructus is a ripe fruit of Gardenia jasminoides Ellis, which has been used as traditional medicines for anti-inflammatory, diuretic, antipyretic, and antibacterial activity. The aim of this study was to compare of Gardeniae Fructus in South Korea collected during three years according to the standards in monographs of the Korean Pharmacopoeia Eleventh edition (KP11). Methods : 30 items of Gardeniae Fructus from two cultivation regions were classified into dried(n=15) & steamed (n=15) and tested according to the standards in monographs of the KP11. Gardeniae Fructus was carried out identification(comparison of colors, thin layer chromatography), heavy metals, residual pesticides, total ash, and assay registered at KP11. Add to we tested loss on dry, contents of ethanol-soluble extracts, and HPLC profiling. Results : In TLC chromatogram of identification test, the spot of gardenoside and geniposide were observed at $R_f$ value of about 0.3 and 0.5. Heavy metals and residual pesticides met the requirements of the standards for all samples. The results of total ash of each samples are measured maximum 4.87 %. According to HPLC for assay, the samples contain 4.80~6.10 % of geniposide and 0.45~1.83 % of gardenoside. Conclusion : We have verified the current specification standard of Gardeniae Fructus and standard that is not set. By the results, it is proposed a new draft of loss on drying and confirmed the content of gardenoside revised. HPLC standard chromatogram of Gardeniae Fructus is proposed. We hope that it will help the standardization of Gardeniae Fructus.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.161-172
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• 2022

Purpose : The study was to promote patient safety by analyzing the effect of dental hygienist's perception of patient safety culture on infection control activities. Methods : The study is based on a survey of 210 dental hygienists in total working in dental settings. To find out infection control activities according to patient safety culture awareness, there were 6 general characteristics, 3 teamwork within the department, 2 infection control systems, 4 surface management, 9 equipment washing, disinfection, and laundry management, 4 infectious wastes, and 3 personal protection phrases.The data was analyzed using the SPSS version 20.0, and p<.05 was adopted to decide on significance. Results : The longer dental hygienists have worked n the dental settings, the more active they become in infection control activities. Among the different types of dental care settings, general (university) hospitals had the largest number of infection control activities, followed by dental clinics, and network dental clinics, in descending order. The dental settings possessing a higher number of dental hygienists were found to conduct more infection control activities than other dental settings. In addition, it was found that when a dental setting adopts a patient safety policy across all the units in the hospital, more systems and procedures for patient safety tend to be established, and that stricter management response to error leads to improvement of infection control activities. Conclusion :In order to enhance infection control activities, infection control activity programs should develop and implement periodic reinforcement of infection control education. regular monitoring of infection control activities.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.396-405
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• 2022

Purpose: This study evaluated the predictive role of fecal calprotectin (FC) measured at an early stage of treatment for monitoring clinical remission (CR) after six months and endoscopic remission (ER) after one year of treatment in pediatric Crohn's disease (CD). Methods: This retrospective study included 45 patients who simultaneously underwent ileocolonoscopy and FC testing during follow-up. FC levels were measured before and after six weeks of treatment. CR was assessed after six months of treatment using Pediatric Crohn' s Disease Activity Index and acute-phase reactants. ER was assessed after one year using the Simple Endoscopic Score for Crohn's Disease. Results: Twenty-nine (64.4%) patients used oral prednisolone for remission induction and 16 (35.6%) patients used anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Thirty (66.7%) patients achieved CR, while 24 (53.3%) achieved ER. The FC level measured after six weeks of treatment could predict CR (χ²=9.15, p=0.0025) and ER (χ²=12.31, p=0.0004). The δFC could predict CR (χ²=7.91, p=0.0049), but not ER (χ²=1.85, p=0.1738). With a threshold of ≤950.4 ㎍/g, FC at week six could predict CR with 76.7% sensitivity and 73.3% specificity. The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.769 (standard error 0.0773, p=0.0005). The same threshold predicted ER with 87.5% sensitivity and 71.4% specificity. The AUC was 0.774 (standard error 0.074, p=0.0002). Conclusion: FC assay at an early stage of treatment can be used as a surrogate marker to predict CR and mucosal healing in pediatric CD.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.141-159
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• 2023

Objectives: This study aimed to determine whether a mobile health (mhealth) intervention is effective in reducing weight and changing dietary behavior among employees with overweight and obesity. The study also investigated whether engagement with the intervention affected its effectiveness. Methods: The intervention involved the use of a dietary coaching app, a wearable device for monitoring physical activity and body composition, and a messenger app for communicating with participants and an intervention manager. A total of 235 employees were recruited for a 12-week intervention from eight workplaces in Korea. Questionnaire surveys, anthropometric measurements, and 24-h dietary recalls were conducted at baseline and after the intervention. Results: After the intervention, significant decreases in the mean body weight, body mass index, body fat percentage, and waist circumference were observed. Furthermore, the consumption frequencies of multigrain rice and legumes significantly increased, whereas those of pork belly, instant noodles, processed meat, carbonated beverages, and fast food significantly decreased compared with those at baseline. The mean dietary intake of energy and most nutrients also decreased after the intervention. When the participants were categorized into three groups according to their engagement level, significant differences in anthropometric data, dietary behaviors, and energy intake were observed following the intervention, although there were no differences at baseline, indicating that higher engagement level led to greater improvements in weight loss and dietary behavior. Conclusions: The intervention had positive effects on weight loss and dietary behavior changes, particularly among employees with higher engagement levels. These results indicate the importance of increasing the level of engagement in the intervention to enhance its effectiveness. The mhealth intervention is a promising model for health promotion for busy workers with limited time.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.703-711
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• 2023

As an initial study to elucidate the molecular mechanism of how probiotics modulate macrophage activity, we monitored mRNA expression patterns in peritoneal macrophages (PMs) treated with two different strains of probiotics. After treatment with either Weissella cibaria WIKIM28 or Latilactobacillus sakei WIKIM50, total RNAs from PMs were isolated and subjected into gene chip analyses. As controls, mRNAs from vehicle (phosphate-buffered saline, PBS)-treated PMs were also subjected to gene chip analysis. Compared to vehicle (PBS)-treated PMs, WIKIM28-treated and WIKIM50-treated PMs exhibited a total of 889 and 432 differentially expressed genes with expression differences of at least 4 folds, respectively. Compared to WIKIM28-treated PMs, WIKIM50-treated PMs showed 25 up-regulated genes and 21 down-regulated genes with expression differences of more than 2 folds. Interestingly, mRNA transcripts of M2 macrophage polarization marker such as anxa1, mafb, and sepp1 were increased in WIKIM50-treated PMs comparing to those in WIKIM28-treated PMs. Reversely, mRNA transcripts of M1 macrophage polarization marker such as hdac9, ptgs2, and socs3 were decreased in WIKIM50-treated PMs comparing to those in WIKIM28-treated PMs. In agreement with these observations, mRNA expression levels of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1α were significantly reduced in WIKIM50-treated macrophages compared to those in WIKIM28-treated macrophages. These results may indicate that probiotics can be classified as two different types depending on their ability to convert macrophages into M1 or M2 polarization.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.104-114
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• 2023

In this study, the distribution, bait preference, hosts, symbionts, habitat status, and cytochrome c oxidase subunit-I sequences of the ant Linepithema humile were analyzed. This species habitat comprised approximately 1.5 km along stone crevices, flower gardens, roadsides, and container yards in the vicinity of Busan station, Korea. Feeding activity of this species was confirmed in 9 species of 7 families of plants. Which was approximately 14% of total flora (63 species of 37 families) in the studied area. Particularly, it was observed that Dendranthema indicum and Camellia japonica were the most frequently visited. Further, we verified that they interacted with four species of aphids. We identified 22 species of ants (17 genera, 4 subfamilies) inhabiting the Busan station area, including L. humile, Tetramorium tsushimae, Nylanderia flavipes and the alien species Paratrechina longicornis. In areas where L. humile was the dominant species, the habitat of local native ants was reduced by approximately 30%. Bait preference was ranked in the following order: jelly, water with glucose (25%), and yogurt, with the highest preference for baits containing sugar and protein. The 630-bp cytochrome c oxidase subunit-I sequences of the local L. humile populations were 99% identical to those of L. humile in the National Center for Biotechnology Information database, and the Argentine ants that invaded Korea had a sequence identical to that of other invasive populations from China, Japan, and New Zealand. As L. humile rapidly increases due to domestic adaptation, continuous monitoring and control strategy for eradication are needed to protect domestic biodiversity.

• Convergence Security Journal
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.135-140
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• 2022

This study aims to analyze exercise cases and issues using smart devices and technologies, and to present the development direction of a smart exercise environment suitable for the wellness life of active seniors with high activity and economic power unlike the existing silver generation. In the fitness industry, the subscription economy that regularly receives or uses necessary exercise tools, services, and digital content is expanding, and business models based on hardware sales and content subscription continue to emerge. In order to have value competitiveness as a platform that provides active seniors with integrated exercise services for health care, not only fitness centers, but also home training exercise equipment, fitness-related applications, and smart wearable device markets should be organically connected to form an expanded total platform. In order to have value competitiveness as a platform that provides active seniors with integrated exercise services for health care, not only fitness centers, but also home training exercise equipment, fitness-related applications, and smart wearable device markets should be organically connected to form an expanded total platform. The linkage of the digital healthcare function, which provides real-time changes to exercise programs based on continuous monitoring and feed back through wearable devices before, after, and during exercise by receiving and selecting exercise programs suitable for individual health status, is the differentiating factor in the smart fitness model.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.15-31
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• 2024

The antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine sulphate (HCQ) has taken much attention during the first COVID-19 pandemic phase for the treatment of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) patients. Hence it is interest to study the electrochemical properties and photocatalytic degradation of the HCQ drug. Copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles, graphene oxide (GO) and CuO/GO NC (nanocomposite) modified carbon paste electrodes (MCPE) are used for the detection of HCQ in an aqueous medium. Electrochemical behaviour of HCQ (20 μM) was observed using CuO/MCPE, GO/MCPE and CuO/GO NC/MCPE in 0.1 M phosphate buffer at pH 7 with a scan rate of 20 to 120 mV s^-1 by cyclic voltammetry (CV). Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) of HCQ was performed for 0.6 to 16 μM HCQ. The CuO/GO NC/MCPE showed a reasonably good sensitivity of 0.33 to 0.44 μA μM cm^-2 with LOD of 69 to 92 nM for HCQ. Furthermore, the CuO/GO NC was used as a catalyst for the photodegradation of HCQ by monitoring its UV-Vis absorption spectra. About 98% was degraded in about 34 min under visible light and after 4 cycles it was 87%. The improved photocatalytic activity may be attributed to decrease in bandgap energy and enhanced ability for the electrons to migrate. Thus, CuO/GO NC showed good results for both sensing and degradation applications as well as reproducibility.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.306-309
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• 2005

Purpose : The aim of study is to investigate the clinical manifestations and the etiology of markedly-elevated serum alkaline phosphatase(ALP) levels in children without accompanying liver or bone disease. Methods : The serum ALP and other biochemical laboratory data of 4,989 patients attending the pediatric department of Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital between January 2002 to December 2002 were studied. The subjects' ages ranged from 4 months to 14 years. Among them, serum ALP levels were markedly elevated over 1,000 IU/L in 114 children. Among those 114 children, 97 children without liver or bone disease were reviewed retrospectively. Results : Of the 114 children with serum ALP activity of over 1,000 IU/L, 97(85.8 percent) children had neither liver or bone disease. The average ALP activity level was $1,539{\pm}948IU/L$. The male : female ratio was 1 : 0.7. Forty-four children(45.3 percent) were between 4 months to 1-year-old, 19 children(19.3 percent) were between 1- to 2-year-old. We observed a seasonal clustering of cases in during October with 10 cases(10.2 percent) and in during December with 11 cases(11.3 percent). The most common clinical presentation was respiratory tract infection in 25 cases(26.9 percent), and acute gastroenteritis in 17 cases(17.5 percent). Forty-four cases had follow-up ALP activity level, 1 month later and the activity decreased under 1,000 IU/L in 37 cases(84 percent). Conclusion : Hyperphosphatasemia is a benign and transient phenomenon. If there are no clinical and laboratory abnormalities of liver and bone, we suggest monitoring monitor the high serum ALP level 1 month later. If decreased, it seems that it is not necessary for specific examinations to exclude other diseases of malignant condition.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.144-149
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• 2009

Chondrocytes and synovial fluid derived markers are used to monitor for osteoarthritis(OA). Specific inhibitors, known as tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases(TIMP), regulate the proteolytic activity of matrix metalloproteinases(MMP). This study investigated whether MMP and TIMP levels were altered in synovial fluid and cartilage following the experimental induction of OA in canines. Twenty mature beagle dogs underwent a unilateral surgical transection of the cranial cruciate ligament and the medial collateral ligament as well as a medial meniscectomy. Matrix metalloproteinase-2 and MMP-9 levels were assayed using Western blot and TIMP-2 levels were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays four weeks after OA induction. Increased MMP-2 expression was observed in chondrocytes isolated from cartilage following OA induction, but MMP-9 expression decreased. Matrix metalloproteinase-2 and MMP-9 levels in synovial fluid from the OA induced joint significantly increased compared to those of the sham group. Tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-2 concentrations were higher in chondrocytes from the OA cartilage, yet TIMP-2 remained lower in the synovial fluid of OA. This suggests the elevated release of MMP-9 over MMP-2 into the synovial fluid following the cartilage degradation-related death of chondrocytes after OA. Osteoarthritis can be further deteriorated by increased MMP activity in the synovial fluid because TIMP-2 exist low concentration into the extracellular matrix. As a result, MMP activity, particularly MMP-9 activity, can be useful as a biomarker in diagnosing and monitoring the early stages of canine OA.