• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.111 no.2
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• pp.234-241
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• 2022

We performed this study to determine the foliar nutrient concentration and the nutrient stocks of restoration areas and adjacent Pinus densiflora S. et. Z. (red pine) stands in opencast kaolinite mines in Sancheong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, southern Korea. We chose six sites to determine foliage nutrient concentrations and the nutrient stocks of soils (0-10 cm depth). The dominant vegetation planted in restoration areas comprised Quercus acutissima Carruth., P. koraiensis S. et. Z., Festuca arundinacea Schreb., and Lespedeza cuneata G. Don. Invading vegetation in the restoration areas comprised Alnus incana (L.) Medik., Robinia pseudoacacia L., and Lespedeza spp., among others. The carbon and nitrogen stocks at 10 cm soil depth were significantly higher in the red pine stands than those in the restoration areas, whereas those of phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium were not significantly different between the two areas. However, calcium stocks were significantly higher in the restoration areas than in the red pine stands. Nitrogen concentration in foliage was higher in L. cuneata (20.28 mg N g^-1) than that in F. arundinacea (5.67 mg N g^-1), whereas potassium concentration was twice as high in F. arundinacea (18.8 mg K g^-1) as that in L. cuneata (9.07 mg K g^-1). Foliar nitrogen concentrations in invasive vegetation such as A. incana, R. pseudoacacia, and Lespedeza spp. were twice or four times higher than those of Q. acutissima and P. koraiensis. Our results indicate the development of suitable vegetation and soil amendment treatments to improve poor soil environmental conditions in restoration areas are necessary following opencast kaolinite mining.

• Food Science and Industry
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.276-283
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• 2022

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin helps to retain calcium and phosphorus but also has shown to affect immune regulation and homeostasis. In humans, vitamin D3 and vitamin D2 and their metabolite has intensively studied in both innate and adaptive immune system that they are important to regulate overwhelmed inflammation. The vitamin D receptor is a nuclear hormone receptor which regulate various downstream target gene expressions as a transcription factor related to metabolism, immune regulation, etc. Vitamin D deficiency is a high-risk factor for inflammatory diseases like autoimmune disease and allergy. In addition, reduced vitamin D seem to correlate with susceptibility to the virus infection such as HIV and COVID-19. In this review, we will summarize up-to-date vitamin D's role in various immune cells, immune regulatory functions during autoimmune, allergic, and infectious diseases. We will also discuss about vitamin D supplement effects in human trial studies for COVID-19.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.65 no.3
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• pp.173-181
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• 2022

This study was carried out to investigate the residual characteristics of flubendiamide in kale to establish pre-harvest residue limits (PHRL) and the removal efficiency according to the washing solvent and method. Field tests were conducted at two different greenhouses, field 1 (Anseong-si, Gyeonggi-do) and field 2 (Incheon-si, Gyeonggi-do). According to the safe use guidelines kale was sprayed with flubendiamide twice every 10 days and harvested 0 (after 2 h), 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 days after the final application. The biological half-live of flubendiamide in kale was calculated based on dissipation curves of the pesticide in samples analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. In the analysis, method limits of quantitation (MLOQ) were 0.01 mg/kg, and recoveries performed with two different fortification levels of 10 MLOQ and maximum residue limit (0.7 mg/kg) were 104.2±3.6 and 101.9±10.2%, respectively. The dissipation rate constant of flubendiamide in kales were 0.2437 at field 1 and 0.1981 at field 2. PHRL calculation equations obtained using the dissipation constants estimated as follows: if the residual concentration of flubendiamide in kale on 10 days before harvest is less than 8.0 mg/kg, the residual concentration on the harvest would be under MRL. The removal of flubendiamide from kale was the greatest when it was washed with vinegar (39.8%), followed by baking soda (31.7%), calcium powder (30.2%), neutral detergent (27.2%), and tap water (15.9%). The results of this study would be useful for both farmers and consumers to produce or consume safe agricultural products.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.178-182
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• 2022

Despite the long history of mushroom use, studies examining the genetic function of mushrooms and the development of new varieties via bio-molecular methods are significantly lacking compared to those examining other organisms. However, owing to recent developments, attempts have been made to use a novel gene-editing technique involving CRISPR/Cas9 technology and genetic scissors in mushroom studies. In particular, research is actively being conducted to utilize ribonucleoprotein particles (RNPs) that can be genetically edited with high efficiency without foreign gene insertion for ease of selection. However, RNPs are too large for Cas9 protein to pass through the cell membrane of the protoplasmic reticulum. Furthermore, guide RNA is unstable and can be easily decomposed, which remarkably affects gene editing efficiency. In this study, nanoparticles were used to mitigate the shortcomings of RNP-based gene editing techniques and to obtain transformants stably. We used Lentinula edodes (shiitake mushroom) Sanjo705-13 monokaryon strain, which has been successfully used in previous genome editing experiments. To identify a suitable osmotic buffer for the isolation of protoplast, 0.6 M and 1.2 M sucrose, mannitol, sorbitol, and KCl were treated, respectively. In addition, with various nanoparticle-forming materials, experiments were conducted to confirm genome editing efficiency via the formation of nanoparticles with calcium phosphate (CaP), which can be bound to Cas9 protein without any additional amino acid modification. RNPs/NP complex was successfully formed and protected nuclease activity with nucleotide sequence specificity.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.625-636
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• 2020

Background and objects: Soil contamination caused by CaCl₂ that is used to deice slippery roads in winter is now recognized as one of the major causes of damage of roadside plants. The aim of this study is to identify the salt mitigation effects of planting Chrysanthemum zawadskii and using a soil conditioner. Methods: The study was conducted at the site where Pinus densiflora f. multicaulis was planted on the roadside between Konkuk University Sageori and Danwol Samgeori located in Chungju-si. We classified the soils collected from the field experimental site according to the degree of the damage caused by deicing agents and divided the site into six blocks of three 80 × 80 cm plots replicated by treatment type. Three selected plots were treated with loess-balls on the soil surface (high salinity with loess-balls, medium salinity with loess-balls, low salinity with loess-balls) and three were left as an untreated control (H = high salinity, M = medium salinity, L = low salinity). The soil properties were measured including pH, EC and exchangeable cations as well as the growth of Chrysanthemum zawadskiia. Results: In the results of soil analysis, pH before planting Chrysanthemum zawadskiia was 6.39-6.74 and in September, five months after planting, the acidity was reduced to 5.43-5.89. Electrical conductivity (EC) was measured to be H > M > L with the higher degree of damage by deicing agents. The analysis of deicing exchangeable cations showed that the content of Ca²⁺ of soils were significantly correlated to deicing exchangeable cations (Ca²⁺, Na⁺, Mg²⁺) in the shoot part of Chrysanthemum zawadskii. The loess-ball treatment showed a lower content of deicing exchangeable cations than the treatment where Chrysanthemum zawadskiia was planted. Conclusion: In this study, the use of a new system made of loess-balls is proposed as a soil conditioner to protect soils from the adverse effects of road deicing salts. These data suggest that treatment of soil conditioners and planting Chrysanthemum zawadskiia are effective in mitigation of salt stress on the soils damaged by deicing agents.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.311-327
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• 2021

Background and objective: Recent urban agriculture meets the needs of urban residents that safety and avoids using chemical pesticides. This study was conducted to identify various factors of companion planting affecting the growth of cherry tomatoes, which will promoting urban agriculture by improving socioeconomic satisfaction with gardening activities through quality. Methods: Four types of companion plants such as marigold, zinnia, spearmint and basil, that have a companion effect with growth, sugar content, and vitamin C content. We obtained the mean and standard deviation and tested the significance at a 95% confidence level (p < .05) with Duncan's multiple range test after one way ANOVA and MANOVA. Results: Compared to monoculture of cherry tomatoes, the plant growth in the treatment plots with companion planting showed a significant increase overall(p < .05), but there wasn't interaction effect among companion plants, planting ratio and type. As for the absorption of inorganic components, the companion planting showed better absorption than monoculture of cherry tomatoes, as favorable growth, and there was an interaction effect among the individual factors. The sugar content was higher than the standard sugar content of 5.8 brix in both the treatment plots at the control, and vitamin C content was higher than the control at 26.27mg/100g in all treatment plots, but there wasn't statistically significant difference. The soil pH in the cultivation plot ranges from 5.5 to 9.0 and was weakly alkaline in all treatment plots except zinnia, showing low contents of phosphoric acid, exchageable potassium, calcium and magnesium. Conclusion: This study was conducted to analyze various factors such as the growth of cherry tomatoes, contents of inorganic components, sugar content and vitamin C content of fruits, and soil analysis according to companion plants, planting type, and planting ratio. We will study sugar content by measuring the change in growth every phase of fruits.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.219-224
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• 2022

CaF₂ single crystal has a large band gap (12 eV), and it is used for optical windows, prisms, and lenses due to its excellent transmittance in a wide wavelength range and low refractive index. Moreover, it is expected to be one of the materials for ultraviolet transmissive laser optical components. CaF₂ belongs to the fluoride compounds and has a face-centered cubic (FCC) structure with three sub-lattices. The representative method for CaF₂ single crystal growth is Czochralski, which method has the advantages of high production efficiency and the ability to make large crystals. In this study, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray rocking curves (XRC) measurement, and chemical etching were performed to analyze the crystallinity and defect density of the CaF₂ single crystals, grown by the Czochralski method. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy systems were used to investigate the optical properties of the CaF₂ crystal. The provability of various applications, including UV application, was systematically investigated with various analysis results.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.281-292
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• 2022

The lower elementary school grades are an important period in which eating habits are formed. We examined the relationship between eating habits and school meal intake in the lower grades of an elementary school in Seoul. The eating habits were investigated using the Nutrition Quotient (NQ) for children. The school meal intake rates and preferred menus were obtained by automatically scanning the plate before and after meals using an artificial intelligence food scanner. The average school meal intake rate for the 347 subjects was 68.5±12.2%, and the nutrient intakes through the school meals were 353.5±70.0 kcal of energy, 51.8±10.2 g of carbohydrates, 14.6±3.1 g of proteins, 10.3±2.3 g of fats, 87.0±20.0 mg of calcium, and 1.8±0.4 mg of iron. The preferred menus were rice, grilled food, and dairy products, and non-preferred menus were salad, beverages, and stewed food. The eating habits that showed a positive correlation with the school meal intake rate were 'Diverse side dishes (r=0.332, P<0.001)', 'Vegetable side dishes (r=0.166, P<0.01)', 'Kimchi side dish (r=0.230, P<0.001)' and 'Less TV watching and computer game time (r=0.105, P<0.05)'. The NQ score also showed a positive correlation with the rate of school meal intake (r=0.216, P<0.001). The balance score was positively correlated with fruit (r=0.192, P<0.001), and the diversity score had the highest positive correlation with Kimchi (r=0.362, P<0.001). The regularity score was positively correlated with fried food (r=0.114, P<0.05). In conclusion, it was found that elementary school students in the lower grades had a higher school meal intake rate when their eating habits included eating side dishes evenly, and consuming vegetable side dishes and Kimchi.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.151-158
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• 2022

In this study, the waste concrete sample obtained as various particle size (0~2.36 mm) was carried out the basic measurements and carbonation for analyzing the possibility of its carbonation. It was then investigated some analysis such as crystallization (XRD pattern), microstructure (SEM), and the production of CaCO₃ through the ignition loss (TG-DTA). The content of CaCO₃ in the waste concrete sample before carbonation was found in 14.51 % and 28.52 % after carbonation in 24 hours. Moreover, the content of CaCO₃ carbonated in 24 hours with fine grinded waste concrete sample was 32.73 %. The carbonation of the waste concrete sample was rapidly performed up to 6 hours, but gradually increased from 12 to 24 hours. Especially, the amount of CaCO₃ between 12 and 24 hours was only produced 2.32 %. The calcite-shaped CaCO₃ crystals after carbonation of the waste concrete sample were found in microstructure and their peaks were strongly detected on XRD pattern.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.27-37
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• 2021

Objectives : In the current study, we performed the 13-week repeated oral dose toxicity test and a 4-week recovery test of standardized Cornus officinalis Sieb. et Zucc. and Psoralea corylifolia L. 30 % ethanol extract (SCP) in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats owing to aims for verifying no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL). Methods : The animal study was performed according to OECD guidelines for the testing of chemicals section 4 health effects test No.408 repeated dose 90-day oral toxicity study in rodents (03 October 2008). In the repeated dose toxicity study, SCP was orally administered to female and male rats at dose levels of 1,000, 2,000, and 4,000 mg/kg/day for 13-week. The control group and high dose (4,000 mg/kg/day) group were then monitored for 4 extra weeks to determine recovery time after the study period. 1) Results : Compared with the control group, there were no treatment-related adverse effects in clinical signs, body weight, hematology, serum biochemistry (Aspartate aminotransferase, Alanine aminotransferase, Alkaline phosphatase, 𝛾-Glutamyl transpeptidase, Blood urea nitrogen, Creatinine, Glucose, Total cholesterol, Total protein, Creatine phosphokinase, Albumin, Total bilirubin, Triglyceride, Inorganic phosphorus, Albumin/Globulin ratio, Calcium ion, Sodium ion, Potassium ion, Chloride ion), necropsy findings and organ weight (Ovary, Adrenal gland, Pituitary, Thymus, Prostate, Testis, Epididymis, Spleen, Kidney, Heart, Lung, Brain, Liver) at any dose tested. Conclusions : Taken together, these results suggest that the NOAEL of SCP in both genders was considered as over 4,000 mg/kg. Results from this study provide scientific evidence for the safety of SCP.