• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.105-117
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• 2012

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the concentration of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) in blood and factors controlling their exposure among Koreans. Methods: Study subjects were selected to include 718 members of the general population residing in five metropolitan cities and the Gangwon Province area from August 2008 to January 2009. A questionnaire was administered to investigate lifestyle, socio-demographic characteristics, and other related factors. Blood samples were collected and extracted using solid-phase extraction and anion-exchange methods, and quantified by high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC, Agilent 1200 Series) coupled with a Triple Quad LC-MS/MS system (Agilent 6410). Results: Geometric mean concentrations of PFOA and PFOS in the blood were measured as 1.82 and 6.06 ng/ml, respectively. Mean PFOA and PFOS concentrations generally increased with age in both genders. Blood PFOA concentration was significantly different according to such variables as age, family income, residential district, and province. Blood PFOS concentration was significantly different by such variables as gender, age, lifestyle factors such as regular exercise, alcohol consumption, and smoking status. Also, family income, hazardous facilities, job classification, and province contributed significantly to differences in blood PFOS concentration levels. Conclusions: Blood PFOA and PFOS concentrations in Koreans were similar with those found in Japan, the USA, and Germany, but less than those in Australia. PFOA and PFOS exposure seems to be affected by a variety of factors in Korea. Therefore, investigation is required for each factor to assess the relative contribution of different variables.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.1117-1123
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• 2017

Objective: This study was conducted to compare growth performance, blood components and carcass traits by two feeding systems (concentrate with roughage separately [CON] vs total mixed ration [TMR]) in Hanwoo steers, and to learn the relationship between blood components during fattening or finishing phases and carcass traits in Hanwoo steers. Methods: Sixty steers aged 8 months were allotted to two feeding systems and fed similar amounts of average dry matter and total digestible nutrient throughout whole experimental period according to each feeding program. Steers were weighed monthly, taken blood at the end of growing, fattening and finishing periods, and slaughtered at 30 month of age. Results: Growing performance was higher (p<0.05) in the CON group compared to the TMR group during fattening and finishing periods. The CON group was lower (p<0.05) in blood aspartic acid transaminase, blood urea nitrogen and retinol levels during growing period, but higher in triglyceride and cholesterol levels during fattening and finishing periods compared to the TMR group. The CON group was greater (p<0.05) in rib-eye area, and lighter (p<0.05) red in meat color compared to the TMR group. In the correlation coefficients between blood components of steers and carcass traits, retinol had a negative (p<0.05) correlation with marbling score and rib-eye area. Leptin had a positive (p<0.05) correlation with back fat thickness. Blood cholesterol and triglyceride were positively (p<0.05) correlated with carcass weight and rib-eye area. Conclusion: Growth performance, carcass ribeye area and meat color showed a more desirable result in the CON compared to the TMR in Hanwoo steers. Assessing the accumulated data of carcass traits with blood components including hormones-particularly retinol, cholesterol, triglyceride, and leptin-during the fattening or finishing phases, it may be possible to find a biomarker for determining beef quality in living animals.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.10 no.10
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• pp.218-226
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• 2020

This study aims to evaluate the effect of mobile healthcare service which was provided to employees diagnosed with hypertension in employee's health checkup. The study subjects were 146 employees and nurse measured their blood pressure, body mass index, and blood tests at the clinic in a workplace. The general characteristics of the participants were analyzed using descriptive statistics. After providing health care service using mobile text message for 8 weeks, blood test and blood pressure was measured. As a result, it was confirmed that blood pressure(SBP: 139.32±10.38 → 133.96±11.31, DBP: 98.13±6.21 → 94.28±8.56) and blood test(HDL: 47.90±9.79 → 51.40±9.79, HbA1C: 5.96±.66 → 5.65±.71) were more significantly reduced in 56 employees with a systolic blood pressure of 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure of 90 mmHg or more. It was confirmed that the program for self-management of blood pressure by receiving text messages on a mobile basis was effective. It is expected that the results of this study will be used as basic data for healthcare services that provide text information using mobile to improve drug usage, physical exercise, and eating habits.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.828-834
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• 2012

The present study has been conducted to investigate the effects of feeding seleniferous whole crop barley (WCB) to finishing pigs on their growth performance, blood and carcass characteristics as well as on tissue selenium deposition. A total of 40 cross-bred barrows ((Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire)${\times}$Duroc) were allotted to five replicates of four treatments. Each replicate was arranged to 2 pigs per pen; the experimental period lasted for 6 weeks. The finishing pigs were fed diets containing 0.1 (non-seleniferous WCB as a control), 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 ppm of selenium (Se) by supplementing the diets with seleniferous WCB. The isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets containing 5% non-seleniferous or seleniferous WCB were formulated. Feeding seleniferous WCB did not affect (p<0.05) the feed intake and BW gain. Total blood lipid concentration was significantly (p<0.05) decreased with increasing Se levels. Total blood cholesterol concentration for the control was significantly (p<0.05) higher than that for 0.4 and 0.6 ppm of Se treatments. Increasing the Se levels in WCB significantly (p<0.05) decreased blood triglyceride concentration; however, the levels increased immunoglobulin G and selenium concentrations. Feeding seleniferous WCB did not affect the carcass rate, backfat thickness and meat quality as well as yield grades. The Se concentration in the kidney, liver and loin were significantly (p<0.05) increased with increasing levels of seleniferous WCB. The results indicated that feeding seleniferous WCB may improve the blood characteristics related to lipid metabolism and thus, could produce selenium-fortified pork. Moreover, it is shown that the dietary optimal selenium level to depose selenium in porcine tissues by utilizing seleniferous WCB would be 0.4 mg of Se/kg of ration. Moreover, when 100 g of pork produced from pigs raised under such condition is served to consumers, it meets the minimum recommended daily requirements (40 ${\mu}g$) of dietary selenium proposed by the World Health Organization (1996).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.9
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• pp.1294-1299
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• 2012

A total of 96 pigs ($49.23{\pm}3.20$ kg) were used in an 11 wk growth trial to evaluate the effect of fermentable carbohydrate (FC) content on growth performance, apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of nutrient, blood profile, and meat quality. The dietary treatments were: i) negative control (NC), basal diet, ii) positive control (PC), NC+antibiotics (positive control diet with 5 ppm flavomycin), iii) PCL, PC-13% lower FC, and iv) NCL, NC-13% lower FC. The growth performance (average daily gain, average daily feed intake, and gain/feed) didn't differ among treatments through the whole experiment. These pigs fed the PCL diet had the greater (p<0.05) apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of dry matter than those from PC and NC treatment at the end of the experiment. No differences were observed in white blood cell (WBC), red blood cell (RBC), and lymphocyte concentration among different treatments. After the feeding period, meat samples were collected from the pigs at slaughter. The pigs in NCL and PCL treatments had greater (p<0.05) backfat thickness and lower lean percentage. The color value of loin was higher (p<0.05) in NCL treatment compared to PCL treatment. Also, the NCL treatment had higher (p<0.05) marbling value than PC treatment. The drip loss was depressed by PCL and NCL treatment comapared to NC treatments. The water holding capacity (WHC) was higher (p<0.05) in NC and PCL treatment. In conclusion, the low FC can improve digestibility and meat quality of finishing pigs.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.818-827
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• 2016

This study hypothesized that dietary feed additive containing probiotics alter either immune-related serum substances or serum metabolites in Hanwoo heifers. A probiotic treatment was given at 0.5% top-dressing of concentrate diet for 6 months. The change of immunological indicators in the blood was analyzed under LPS (Lipopolysaccharide) challenge. One day before administration of LPS, all heifers were fitted with an indwelling jugular vein catheter for serial blood collections. Both a serum tube and an EDTA-coated tube were collected at 30-min intervals from - 2 to 8 hours relative to the LPS challenge at time 0 ($1{\mu}g/kg$ of BW). Serum was used for analyzing albumin (ALB), glucose (GLU), total protein (TP), triglycerides (TG), phosphorus (IP), and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA). Plasma was used for analyzing white blood cell (WBC), red blood cell (RBC), platelet (PLT) and inflammation-related factors (NE, LY, MO, EO, BA, Hb, HCT, MCV, MCH, MCHC, RDW, MPV). There were significant differences in ALB, GLU, TG, IP, and NEFA concentration with the passage of hours post challenge (p < 0.05). The level of ALB, GLU, TG, and IP showed significant difference (p < 0.05) between treatments. However, none of the data showed interaction between time and treatments (p > 0.05). The level of WBC, EO, LY, and MO were reduced after LPS challenge (p > 0.05). In conclusion, LPS challenge after dietary supplementation of probiotics changed the levels of both serum metabolites and inflammation-related factors. The increase of GLU and TG indicated a probiotics-positive response under LPS challenge (p < 0.05).

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.297-311
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• 2020

Objective: We compared the level of blood cadmium exposure with health impacts by using data from a survey of residents near an abandoned mine and a national health survey. Methods: For this study, we used data from 7,046 individuals who participated in the Health Effects Survey of Abandoned Metal Mines (AMS, 2008-2011) and 6,871 individuals who participated in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey IV-VI (KNHANES, 2008-2013). To evaluate the health impacts, the quartiles (S1 to S4) were classified according to blood cadmium concentration, and then the odds ratios of S2 to S4 over S1 for exceeding the reference values of renal function, blood pressure, and bone density were compared. Similarly, the odds ratio of AMS over KNHANES was confirmed. Results: In the AMS, adjusted for general characteristics, the geometric mean of blood cadmium concentration was 1.34 ㎍/L, which was statistically significantly higher than that of the KNHANES 1.22 ㎍/L (p<0.001). In the integrated data of AMS and KNHANES, the estimated odds ratio of S4 over S1 for exceeding the reference value was found to be 1.70 for serum creatinine, 1.71 for hypertension, and a T-score 2.02 for the tarsal bone. They were all statistically significant. Conclusion: Residents around abandoned metal mines had a higher blood cadmium concentration than the general population, and the odds for exceeding the reference values were higher for some health indicators. Continuous biomonitoring should be conducted for vulnerable areas such as around abandoned metal mines, and measures to reduce cadmium exposure and management of chronic diseases are needed.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.76-86
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• 2018

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers affecting women worldwide. Although the survival rate of breast cancer has increased, breast cancer still results in a high mortality rate. Breast cancer deaths are caused by metastasis that occurs in organ dysfunction. Recently, there have been many studies on circulating tumor cells (CTCs), which are related to breast cancer metastasis in the blood. Recent studies have demonstrated that some CTCs do not express epithelial markers. Therefore, in this study, total RNA was extracted from blood without separating out the CTCs, and the characteristics of the CTCs were analyzed by RT-qPCR. Cyclin D1 and twist-related protein 1 (TWIST1) are well-known markers for predicting the prognosis of patients with breast cancer. However, few studies have demonstrated the use of CCND1 and TWIST1 in blood as diagnostic and prognostic markers of breast cancer. In this study, patients with late-stage breast cancer had overexpressed CCND1 and TWIST1 than patients with different stages of breast cancer (P < 0.001 and P < 0.01, respectively). The relative expression level of CCND1 in survivors was higher than in patients who died (P = 0.06). The relative expression level of TWIST1 in survivors was lower than in patients who died (P = 0.08). Overall CCND1 and TWIST1 were not useful as markers for the diagnosis of breast cancer through blood. However, we showed the possibility of using CCND1 and TWIST1 as prognostic markers, and a large-scale study is needed to confirm the usefulness of these prognostic markers.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1456-1462
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• 2004

This study was carried out to understand the effects of Bambusae Caulis in Liquamen manufactured by different production facilities on blood glucose of the mice induced with streptozotocin. Filtered Bambusae Caulis in Liquamen manufactured by two different facilitiesproduction process were used. The physiochemical properties of filtered Bambusae Caulis in Liquamen manufactured by two different facilities(300L×300W×400H and 700L×700W×800H electric furnace) were compared. Furthermore, the effects of filtered Bambusae Caulis in Liquamen were observed in terms of blood glucose, BUN and AL T in the mice induced with streptozotocin. The results were as follows : The pH value was the highest in L-BCL(E)B(pH 2.83) between manufactured by two different facilities. The L-BCL(E)B which observed low values of Hunter's color values show decreased concentration of methanol and phenolic compounds. The blood glucose contents was decreased in the experimental groups compared with the control. The amount of BUN and ALT did not show any differences between control and experimental group.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.87-94
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• 2008

Blood pressure (BP), one of the most important vital signs, is used to identify an emergency state and reflects the blood flow characteristics of the cardiovascular system. The conventional noninvasive method of measuring BP is inconvenient because patients must wear a cuff on their arm and the measurement process takes time. This paper proposes an algorithm for estimating the BP using the pulse transit time (PTT) of the photoplethysmography (PPG) and pressure pulse from finger at the same time as a more convenient way to measure the BP. After recording the electrocardiogram (ECG), measuring the pressure pulse, and performing PPG, we calculated the PTT from the acquired signals. Then, we used a multiple regression analysis to measure the systolic and diastolic BP indirectly. Comparing the BP measured indirectly using the proposed algorithm and the real BP measured with a sphygmomanometer, the systolic pressure had a mean error of ${\pm}3.240$ mmHg and a standard deviation of 2.530 mmHg, while the diastolic pressure had a satisfactory result, i.e., a mean error of ${\pm}1.807$ mmHg and a standard deviation of 1.396 mmHg. These results are more superior than existing method estimating blood pressure using the one PTT and satisfy the ANSI/AAMI regulations for certifying a sphygmomanometer i.e., the measurement error should be within a mean error of ${\pm}5$ mmHg and a standard deviation of 8 mmHg. These results suggest the possibility of applying our method to a portable, long-term BP monitoring system.