• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.22
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• pp.137-165
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• 2007

It seems high time to increase productivity by adopting e-business to overcome challenges posed by both external factors including the appreciation of Korean won, oil hikes and fierce global competition and domestic issues represented by disparities between large corporations and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Seoul metropolitan and local cities, and export and domestic demand all of which weaken future growth engines in the Korean economy. The demands of the globalization era are for innovative changes in businessprocess and industrial structure aiming for creating new values. To this end, e-business is expected to play a core role in the sophistication of the Korean economy through new values and innovation. In order to examine business performance in e-business-adopting industries, this study analyzed the home shopping industry by closely looking into the financial ratios including the ratio of net profit to sales, the ratio of operation income to sales, the ratio of gross cost to sales cost, the ratio of gross cost to selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expense, and return of investment (ROI). This study, for best outcome, referred to corporate financial statements as a main resource to calculate financial ratios by utilizing Data Analysis, Retrieval and Transfer System (DART) of the Financial Supervisory Service, one of the Korea's financial supervisory authorities. First of all, the result of the trend analysis on the ratio of net profit to sales is as following. CJ Home Shopping has registered a remarkable increase in its ratio of net profit rate to sales since 2002 while its competitors find it hard to catch up with CJ's stunning performances. This is partly due to the efficient management compared to CJ's value of capital. Such significance, if the current trend continues, will make the front-runner assume the largest market share. On the other hand, GS Home Shopping, despite its best organized system and largest value of capital among others, lacks efficiency in management. Second of all, the result of the trend analysis on the ratio of operation income to sales is as following. Both CJ Home Shopping and GS Home Shopping have, until 2004, recorded similar growth trend. However, while CJ Home Shopping's operating income continued to increase in 2005, GS Home Shopping observed its operating income declining which resulted in the increasing income gap with CJ Home Shopping. While CJ Home Shopping with the largest market share in home shopping industryis engaged in aggressive marketing, GS Home Shopping due to its stability-driven management strategies falls behind CJ again in the ratio of operation income to sales in spite of its favorable management environment including its large capital. Companies in the Group B were established in the same year of 2001. NS Home Shopping was the first in the Group B to shift its loss to profit. Woori Home Shopping has continued to post operating loss for three consecutive years and finally was sold to Lotte Group in 2007, but since then, has registered a continuing increase in net income on sales. Third of all, the result of the trend analysis on the ratio of gross cost to sales cost is as following. Since home shopping falls into sales business, its cost of sales is much lower than that of other types of business such as manufacturing industry. Since 2002 in gross costs including cost of sales, SG&A expense, and non-operating expense, cost of sales turned out to have remarkably decreased. Group B has also posted a notable decline in the same sector since 2002. Fourth of all, the result of the trend analysis on the ratio of gross cost to SG&A expense is as following. Due to its unique characteristics, the home shopping industry usually posts ahigh ratio of SG&A expense. However, more than 80% of SG&A expense means the result of lax management and at the same time, a sharp lower net income on sales than other industries. Last but not least, the result of the trend analysis on ROI is as following. As for CJ Home Shopping, the curve of ROI looks similar to that of its investment on fixed assets. As it turned out, the company's ratio of fixed assets to operating income skyrocketed in 2004 and 2005. As far as GS Home Shopping is concerned, its fixed assets are not as much as that of CJ Home Shopping. Consequently, competition in the home shopping industry, at the moment, is among CJ, GS, Hyundai, NS and Woori Home Shoppings, and all of them need to more thoroughly manage their costs. In order for the late-comers of Group B and other home shopping companies to advance further, the current lax management should be reformed particularly on their SG&A expense sector. Provided that the total sales volume in the Internet shopping sector is projected to grow over 20 trillion won by the year 2010, it is concluded that all the participants in the home shopping industry should put strategies on efficient management on costs and expenses as their top priority rather than increase revenues, if they hope to grow even further after 2007.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.143-151
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• 2004

This study was to investigate single and repeated-dose toxicities of CJ-11555, an anticirrhotic agent, in Sprague-Dawley (SO) rats. In single-dose oral toxicity study, the test article were administered once by gavage to males and females at dose levels of 0 and 2,000 mg/kg. No dead animals and abnormal necropsy findings were found in control and CJ-11555 treated group. Therefore, the approximate lethal dose of CJ-11555 was considered to be higher than 2,000 mg/kg in rats. In the 4-week repeated oral toxicity study, the test article was administered once daily by gavage to male and female rats at dose levels of 0, 10, 50 and 200 mg/kg/day for 4-weeks. In clinical signs, yellow-colored urine and yellow hair coat were observed in the 50 and 200 mg/kg male and female groups. In hematology, erythrocyte count and hemoglobin were significantly decreased in the 200mg/kg male and female groups. In serum biochemistry, total cholesterol was significantly increased and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) was significantly decreased in the 50 or 200 mg/kg male and female groups. In histopathological examinations, centrilobular hepatocellular hypertrophy in the liver, congestion and pigmentation in the spleen, hyaline droplets in the kidney were observed in the 50 and 200 mg/kg male and female groups. In toxicokinetic study, CJ-11555 was dose-dependent in systemic exposure and showed better absorption in female with minimum accumulation after multidosing. Based on these results, it was concluded that the 4-week repeated oral dose of CJ-11555 resulted in the suppression of AST activity and centrilobular hepatocellular hypertrophy in both sexes at a dose level of 50 or 200 mg/kg/day. The target organ was estimated to be liver, spleen and male's kidney. The no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) for CJ-11555 in rats following gavage for at least 4-week is 10 mg/kg/day.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.117-123
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• 2002

CJ-10882, (E)-[(3-Cyclopentyloxy-4-methoxyphenyl)methylene]hydrazine-carboxamide, is a newly developed type IV phosphodiesterase isozyme (PDE IV) inhibitor. To investigate the subacute toxic effects of CJ-10882, it was administered to both male and female dogs at 0, 25, 50, 100 or 200 mg/kg/day orally for up to 2 weeks. During the test period, clinical signs, mortality, body weight, food consumption, ophthalmoscopy, urinalysis, hematology, serum biochemistry, gross finding, organ weight, and histopathology were evacuated. Several clinical signs were observed in treated dogs at above 25 mg/kg, including salivation and vomiting. A reduction in the body weight was observed in both sexes at above 50 mg/kg. There were no treatment-related effects on mortality, ophthalmoscopy, urinalysis, hematology, sect biochemistry, necropsy findings, and histopathology in any treatment group. The results of this study demonstrate that CJ-10882, a selective Inhibitor of the type IV class of PDE, may cause effects on gastrointestinal tract and salivary glands. Therefore, these organs should be closely examined in studies with other PDE IV inhibitors.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.1086-1093
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• 2012

The hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of autoclaved soy flour and DJI chungkukjang powder fermented using Bacillus subtilis DJI were investigated in type 2 diabetic animal models. After a 2-week adaptation period, the diabetic animal model db/db mice were divided into the diabetic control group (D-C group), a diabetic group fed with soybean (D-S group), and a diabetic group fed with DJI chungkukjang (D-CJ group). The body weight gain, food intake, water intake, liver, and adipose tissue weights were not significantly different between the experimental groups. The supplementation of DJI chungkukjang or autoclaved soy flour diet induced a marked reduction of fasting blood glucose, blood glycosylated hemoglobin levels, and glucose levels in the oral glucose tolerance test and AUC for glucose compared with the diabetic control group. However, DJI chungkukjang showed a much stronger antidiabetic effect than unfermented autoclaved soy flour. Serum insulin levels were the same among the groups. The supplementation of DJI chungkukjang or autoclaved soy flour diet also significantly lowered the serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol levels compared with the control diabetic group, while it elevated the HDL-cholesterol level in the serum. This data suggests that the dietary supplementation of autoclaved soy flour or DJI chungkukjang may be useful in the control of blood glucose in animals with type 2 diabetes.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.194-203
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• 2005

This study was peformed to investigate effect of feeding experimental mixture containing chitosan, hibiscus extract and L-carnitine on body weight and lipid metabolism in rats. Forty-eight male rats(Charles River CD) of eight weeks old and weighing $336.5{\pm}2.3g$ were raised for five weeks with high fat diet(40% fat as calorie) to induce obesity. After induction of obesity, rats weighing $560.4{\pm}5.6g$ were blocked into four groups according to body weight and raised for eight weeks with diet containing either 0.09%(+1D group), 0.9%(+10D group) or 4.5%(+50D group) of experimental mixture. Aspartate aminotransferase(AST) and alanine aminotransferase(ALT), total protein and albumin were normal levels in plasma. Body weight gain and epididymal fat pad weight were lower in experimental mixture groups than control group However, weights of perirenal fat pad and brown adipose tissue were not significantly different among all groups. There was no significant difference in plasma and hepatic lipid levels among all groups. Liver citrate lyase and camitine acyltransferase activities were not significantly different among all groups, however, citrate lyase activity was tended to be decreased with increasing experimental mixture level in diet. Fecal total lipid and total cholesterol excretions were highest in +50D group, and triglyceride excretion was highest in +1D group. in conclusion, intake of experimental mixture containing chitosan, hibiscus extract and L-camitine was effective in reducing body weight and body fat, and its inhibitory effects might lead to obesity improvement.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.671-680
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• 2011

In this study, frying mix was prepared containing 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 or 2.0% brown rice fiber(BRF). The samples along with a control were then compared regarding their quality characteristics, including pasting properties, spreadability, pick-up ratio, color, textural characteristics, moisture and oil contents, and sensory qualities, all to determine the optimal ratio of BRF. For the pasting properties of frying mix, the control group was evidenced by a significantly higher peak viscosity, through viscosity, and final viscosity than that observed in the BRF samples. Breakdown was the highest at the 1.0% addition level, and time to peak viscosity and pasting temperature were maximal with the 0.5% addition. There was no significant difference in setback among the experiments. Spreadability and pick-up ratio of frying batter were not significantly different among the samples. As the BRF content increased, the lightness, greenness decreased, whereas yellowness increased. The BRF samples presented significantly higher hardness of fried batter than the control group and there was no significant difference in crispiness among the samples. Moisture content of fried sweet potato decreased with increasing BRF and oil content was the maximum on the control group. In the sensory evaluation, appearance, color, flavor, savory taste, yellowishness, coating thickness, off-flavor, and oiliness were not significantly different among the fried sweet potato samples. Bindingness, crispiness, and chewiness were highest in the control samples but minimal at a addition level of 2.0%. The control group evidenced significantly higher overall acceptability than were observed in the BRF samples. In conclusion, the results demonstrated that 0.5~1.0% BRF may prove quite useful as a additive for frying mix in the preparation of fried sweet potato and may provide favorable textural and functional properties.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.241-248
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• 2002

The present study was conducted to investigate the potential subacute toxicity of CJ-10882 by a 4-week repeated oral dose in dogs. The test article was administered once dally by gavage to dogs at dose levels of 0, 2, 10, and 50 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks. During the test period, clinical signs, mortality, body weights, food consumption, ophthalmoscopy, urinalysis, hematology, serum biochemistry, gross finding, organ weight, and histopathology were evaluated. Several clinical sign were observed in treated dogs at 50 mg/kg, including salivation and vomiting. Increase in the serum level of ALT and albumin observed in the female 50 mg/kg group was considered as a toxic effect related to the test article since the histopathological change in Liver was accompanied. There were no treatment-related effects on mortality, food and water consumption, ophthalmoscopy, urinalysis, hematology, serum biochemistry, necropsy findings and organ weights in any treatment group. Based on these results, target organ was not observed and the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) was 10 mg/kg/day and the absolute toxic dose was 50 mg/kg for both male and female dogs.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.189-193
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• 2007

This study investigated the effects of Gymnema sylvestre (GS) extract on body weight, adiposity, and lipid metabolism in leptin-deficient ob/ob mice. The experimental mice were divided into the following 4 groups: basal diet (AIN-93G diet) and 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% GS supplemented groups. Each group was fed the experimental diet for 9 weeks. The final body weights, adipocyte sizes, and epididymal fat weights of the GS groups were significantly lower than those of the control group. There were no significant differences in food intake and food efficiency ratios among the treated groups. Serum triglyceride levels and the atherogenic index were significantly lower in the GS groups compared to the control group. Serum HDL cholesterol levels were significantly higher in the 1% and 1.5% GS groups compared to the control group. Serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase and glutamate pyruvate transaminase activities did not differ among the four experimental groups. The total hepatic lipid content was significantly lower in the GS groups, and hepatic cholesterol and triglyceride contents tended to be reduced in the GS groups compared to the control group. These results suggest that GS extract may be useful for ameliorating dyslipidemia and fatty liver.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.210-217
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• 2006

This study was performed to investigate effects of the experimental mixture containing soybean peptides, L-carnitine and Garcinia Cambogia extract on body weight and lipid metabolism in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=40) of eight weeks old were raised for four weeks with high fat diet (40% fat as calorie) to induce obesity. After induction of obesity, rats were feed control (C) diet, containing either 0.16% (+1D), 1.6% (+10D), 8% (+50D) of experimental mixture for eight weeks. Plasma aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity and total protein and albumin concentration were not different among groups. The Body weight gain was significantly lower in experimental mixture diet group compared to control group. Weights of perirenal fat pad and epididymal fat pad in the +50D group were significantly lower than those in the +1D and +10D groups. Plasma total lipid and liver total cholesterol levels in the experimental groups were significantly lower than those in the control group. Fecal total lipid and total cholesterol excretions were highest in +50D group. These results suggest that the experimental mixture containing peptides, L-carnitine and Garsinia Canbogia extract is effective for reducing the body weight and adipose tissue weight which may be due to the modulation of lipid metabolism and the increased fecal excretion of lipid.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 1999

This study was performed to evaluate the subacute toxicity of CJ-50002 (Vibrio Vaccine) in SPF Spraqur-Dawley (SD) rats. Vibrio vaccine was administered orally at a dose level of high (167mg/kg/day), medium (16.7mg/kg/day), and low (16.7mg/kg/day) once a day and repeated fro 4 weeks. Ten males and female rats were assigned to each group. After 4 week administration, no significant dose-dependent changes in body weight, water and food consumption rate or organ weight were noted dependent changes in body weight, water and food consumption rate or organ weight were noted among 4 groups. Urinanalysis, hematology, and serum chemistry, also fail to detect any dose-related change among 4 groups tested. During necropsy and histopathological examination, no specific toxicity related to treated material was found. The result of this study demonstrated that vibrio vaccine when administered orally for 4 weeks at a high dose of 167mg/kg/day, no dose-related toxicity was found in treated make and female rats.