• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.177-180
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• 2020

Background: The aim of this study was to examine whether the effects of acupotomy therapy were beneficial for the treatment of protrusion of lumbar intervertebral disc. Methods: The number of patients (n = 80) were equally assigned into treatment group and control group. Treatment group was given acupotomy therapy twice a week, and control group was given acupuncture 3 times a week, for 4 weeks. The beneficial effect and changes in score of the Japan Orthopedic Association (JOA) for low back pain were observed. Results: Among 40 cases in the treatment group, there were 25 (62.5%) with an excellent effect, 13 (32.5%) with good effect, 1 (2.5%) with a medium effect and 1 (2.5%) with poor effect, with the total experiencing an excellent/good effect of 95.0%. Among 40 cases in the control group, there were 11 (27.5%) with an excellent effect, 17 (42.5%) with good effect, 10 (25.0%) with a medium effect, and 2 (5.0%) with poor effect, with an excellent/good rate of 70.0%. The result of the rank sum test showed Z = -4.923, p < 0.05 in the comparison, indicating a significantly better outcome following acupotomy compared with acupuncture. JOA scores increased in both groups after treatment (p < 0.05), which was more significant in the acupotomy treatment group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Acupotomy therapy has a beneficial effect on protrusion of lumbar intervertebral disc.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.37 no.9
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• pp.794-800
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• 2004

Deer Antler has been known for its traditional oriental medicinal properties and has been widely used to promote growth, boost immune function, treat blood loss and chronic joint pain. Recent study showed imported (New Zealand) Deer Antler was beneficial in reducing the side effects of cancer treatments. However, there was no intervention study conducted on the effect of Korean Deer Antler on reducing the oxidative stress to patients with diabetes. One of the sensitive ways to measure endogenous oxidative stress is by measuring cellular DNA damage using single cell gel electrophoresis (COMET assay). This study was conducted to investigate the possible beneficial effect of commercial Deer Antler drink (provided by Chung-yang Deer Farm) on lymphocyte DNA damage and blood glucose of diabetic patients. Ten patients (4 men, 6 women) participated in the study and consumed 2 pouches of Deer Antler drink every day for 20 days. Blood was collected on the morning before and after the intervention for lymphocyte isolation and blood glucose analysis. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure showed a tendency to decrease but did not reach statistical significance after the trial. Blood glucose level was not affected by the supplementation. After the intervention, over 50% reduction were noted in the cellular DNA damage, expressed as tail length (TL) and tail moment (TM: tail length ${\times}$ percent tail DNA) . Although we did not obtain beneficial effect on lowering blood glucose levels in the patients, this results suggest that Deer Antler may initially act in protecting endogenous DNA damage in short-term experiment.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.66-71
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• 2008

Long term exposure of Jurkat cells to 2 ATA pressure resulted in the inhibition of cell growth. Under a 2 ATA pressure, the morphological changes in the cells were visualized by electron microscopy. The cells exhibited significant inhibitory responses after three passages. However, short-term exposure study was carried out, 2 ATA pressure may have beneficial effects. The Jurkat cells were exposed to $H_2O_2$ (25 and $50{\mu}M$) in order to induce DNA damage, and then incubated under at either normal pressure or 2 ATA for 1 or 2 hours in order to recover the DNA damage. The extent of DNA damage was determined via Comet assay. More recovery from DNA damage was observed at 2 ATA than at normal pressure. The activity of the DNA repair enzymes, DNA polymerase-$\beta$, was also evaluated at both normal pressure and 2 ATA. The activity of DNA polymerase-$\beta$ was observed to have increased significantly at the 2 ATA than at normal pressure. In conclusion, the effects of hyperbaric pressure from 1 ATA to 2 ATA on biochemical systems can be either beneficial or harmful. Long term exposure to hyperbaric pressure clearly inhibited cell proliferation and caused genotoxic effects, but short-term exposure to hyperbaric pressure proved to be beneficial in terms of bolstering the DNA repair system. The results of the present study have clinical therapeutic application, and might prove to be an useful tool in the study of genotoxicity in the future.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.236-243
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• 2006

A recent study reported that a diet rich in isoflavones is beneficial for bone formation in growing rats. It therefore seemed desirable to find out whether the beneficial effect of isoflavones in ovariectomized rats could also be reproduced with same amount of isoflavones which used for growing rats. To study the effect of isoflavones, an equal amount of isoflavones which used for growing rats, on bone mineral density and bone mineral content in ovariectmized rats were performed. Forty female Sprague-Dawley rats (body weight $210{\pm}5g$) were divided into two groups, ovariectomy and sham groups, which were each randomly divided into two subgroups that were fed casein and casein supplemented with isoflavones diets for 9 weeks after operation. All rats were fed on experimental diet and deionized water ad libitum for 9 weeks. Bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) were measured using PIXImus (GE Lunar Co, Wisconsin) in spine and femur. Serum alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP) and osteocalcin and urinary DPD crosslinks value were measured as markers of bone formation and resorption. The results of this study indicate that body weight gain and food intake were higher in ovariectomy groups than in sham groups regardless of diets. Serum Ca concentration was lower in ovariectomy groups than in SHAM groups. Serum ALP, osteocalcin, and crosslink value were increased in ovariectomy groups. Spine BMD/weight, femur BMD/weight, and femur BMC/weight of ovariectomy groups were significantly lower than SHAM groups after 9 weeks. However, isoflavones supplemented group in ovariectomy groups, serum ALP and osteocalcin concentrations, spine BMD/weight and spine BMC, femur BMD/weight and femur BMC/weight were significantly increased after 9 weeks. In conclusion, the beneficial effect of isoflavones on bone in ovareiectomized rats was shown on 9 weeks after feeding with an equal amount of isoflavones supplementation which used for growing rats.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.466-476
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• 2016

Dredging is inevitably necessary for the management of water infrastructure such as waterways and polluted bottom sediment. Dredged material management options may be offshore dumping, wetland creation, beach nourishment and various other engineering uses depending on the given circumstances at the time of dredging. Among those options, wetland creation and beach nourishment are the preferred ones in Korea considering significant loss of wetland and beach erosion due to various development projects along the coastal region. In order to use dredged material beneficially, however, dredged material needs to be assessed its suitability with respect to its engineering purpose and environmental criteria. In this paper, we demonstrate that environmental risk of dredged material to be introduced into the marine environment can be easily assessed using biomarkers with relative low cost. Biomarkers can also compliment pollutant contents analysis that may not be specific to their impact on biological response. Biomarker information may be used to assist decision making process in selecting suitable treatment or beneficial use options for dredged materials.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.883-891
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• 1994

The number of diabetics in Korea is about 3 to 5 percent of the population, and the incidence is increasing yearly due to changes of life style and food intake. Diet is a key element in the management of diabetes, yet the appropriate diet for diabetes remains controversial. We have recently shown that a diet rich in protein of animal origin(casein) seems beneficial to controling plasma glucose and lipids in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. It therefore seemed desirable to find out whether the beneficial effect of high casein diet in experimental diabetes could also be reproduced with a vegetable source of protein(soy). The purpose of this study is to compare these results with the results of our previous study. In the present study, non-diabetic and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were studied in order to examine the effects of altering the level(20% vs 60%) of dietary soy protein on blood glucose, lipids, and hormones. Results of the present study showed that a high soy protein diet decreased triglyceride concentration in diabetic rats. However, diabetic rats fed a high soy protein diet were not hypocholesterolemic compared to rats fed a control diet. Moreover, diabetic rats fed a high soy protein diet had significantly increased plasma glucose concentration compared to rats fed a control diet. This study was not able to discern a specific effect of dietary protein level on insulin, glucagon, or insulin/glucagon ratio. Except for the hypotriglyceridemic effect, the results were not similar to the findings of our previous study which showed a beneficial effect on streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats fed a high casein diet.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.53-60
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• 2020

A concept of household container to create and keep the modified atmosphere (MA) beneficial for fresh produce mix was devised and tested under typical chilled storage conditions of 3℃. The container system containing mixed products is initialized by applying weak hypobaric condition (0.9 atm) and subsequently injecting CO₂ gas at an appropriate low level (0.03 atm). The passive atmosphere modification by produce respiration is then induced to reach a target until gas diffusion tube of proper dimension starts to open. The design was made to attain quasi-steady state mass balance of O₂, CO₂ and N₂ to maintain the desired MA through the storage. Interrupted opening for taking out or placing some products was to reinitialize the loop of control logic. The developed concept was tested by the container which held commodities of spinach, pak choi, oyster mushroom, peeled onion, strawberry and cut carrot. The target optimum MA of 11% O₂ and 10% CO₂ (0.11 and 0.10 atm, respectively) was set to avoid injurious range of O₂ and CO₂ concentrations for any commodities. The developed container system could work to reach and maintain beneficial MA of 0.10-0.12 atm O₂ and 0.07-0.10 atm CO₂ close to the target during the storage contributing to quality retention of products measured in weight loss, chlorophyll content of spinach, ascorbic acid content of pak choi, color of onion, texture of oyster mushroom, bacterial count of strawberry and carotenoids of carrot. The container system shows potential to improve current preservation practice of fresh produce mix on consumers' level.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.305-324
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• 2007

We surveyed the emotional images of three kinds of scientific technologies in people's mind and the perception of technologies in terms of their risks and benefits. The contents of the image and their image values were used to estimate the affects on each technology. As an affect heuristic hypothesis predicted, people perceived the technology more beneficial or riskier depending on their overall affect. In other words, those who have positive affect on the technology Perceived less risky and more beneficial than those who have negative affect. On the other hand, those who have negative affect on the technology perceived riskier and less beneficial than those who have positive affect. We also found negative relationship between the perceived risk and perceived benefit of each technology. The implications of our findings that suggest affective heuristic were discussed in terms of the measurements of affect and the necessity of communication of scientific technologies with the public.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.85-90
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• 2010

Several studies have demonstrated that ginseng-berry extract has several beneficial properties, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and vasodilation properties. Ginseng-berry extract has also been shown to have the great potential against skin aging. Its beneficial mechanism against skin aging, however, has not been examined in detail. Also, the effects of ginseng-berry extract on microcirculation and skin cellular responses have not been investigated. Inhibition of skin microcirculation is the primary cause of many adverse biological effects, which is responsible for the skin aging and darkening. We investigated the beneficial effects of ginseng-berry extract on blood circulation, transcutaneous oxygen pressure in vivo model and also on skin microcirculation, cellular response and skin brightening effect in clinical trial. We found that oral administration of ginseng-berry extract markedly increased blood flow rate and transcutaneous $O_2$ pressure, but decreased transcutaneous $CO_2$ pressure. Also, it improved skin tone on cheeks, as is skin brighteness. These results suggest that ginseng-berry extract is a potent candidate for the treatment of skin aging and brightening by improving skin microcirculation.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.63 no.1
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• pp.83-87
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• 2020

Fermented foods have been recognized as functional foods that provide health benefits, including the modulation of intestinal microbiota. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the effects of coffee beans fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens on healthy human gut microbiota. Fermentation increased the content of beneficial substances (i.e., flavonoids and polyphenols). The consumption of fermented coffee increased the occurrence of beneficial microorganisms such as fiber degraders and short-chain fatty acid producers, although no significant microbiota shifts were observed after the coffee consumption. The analysis of metabolic activities also showed no difference after the coffee consumption. Our study demonstrates that the consumption of the fermented coffee may increase some beneficial bacterial while remaining the gut microbiota and its activities.