• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.21 no.8
• /
• pp.1163-1167
• /
• 2011

Excessive alcohol consumption causes various degenerative brain diseases including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Absorbed ethanol is metabolized to acetaldehyde and acetic acid by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). Acetaldehyde is well known as a toxicant through generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Therefore, ALDH2 activity may play important roles in the pathogenesis of alcohol-induced brain diseases. In this study, we demonstrated the effects of ALDH2 enzyme activity on lipid peroxidation in brain tissues and urine of mice exposed to ethanol for 8 weeks. Five male, 8-week old Aldh2 (+/+) and Aldh2 (-/-) mice (C57BL/6J strain) in each group were exposed to ethanol for 8 weeks (2 g/kg wt./day) using gavage, and those in the control group received 0.9% saline alone. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) level, a marker for lipid peroxidation, was measured in whole brain tissue and urine by high performance liquid chromatography. As a result, chronic ethanol treatment did not show any statistical change on the TBARS level of brain tissue in both Aldh2 (+/+) mice and in Aldh2 (-/-) mice. However, following ethanol exposure for 8 weeks in Aldh2 (-/-) mice, the urinary TBARS levels were significantly increased to more than double compared to the pretreatment group. This result was not observed in Aldh2 (+/+) mice. These results suggest that although ALDH2 enzyme activity plays a role in the generation of ROS in the whole body, it does not seem to be important in the pathogenesis of alcohol induced degenerative brain diseases.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.76-83
• /
• 1976

The aims of this study are, 1) to describe the attitudes of the community towards each food item and 2) to provide the information necessary for the solution of nutritional problems due to the different food intake of the community. This study is based on the Food Consumption Survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs in a series of National Nutrition Survey in August, 1973. The sample included 8 communities, in which 160 households were selected at random for this study. The procedures and methods used in this study to compute the acceptability index were adopted from the study of H. Toyokawa, University of Tokyo. Food attitudes of the sample communities are clear in terms of the mean acceptability index which is presented in Table 3. The following order is indicative of the relative strength of acceptability of the respective food items: 1. Seasonings (-1.20) 2. Oils and fats (-1.12) 3. Pulses(- .60) 4. Processed vegetables (- .45) 5. Seaweeds (- .32) 6. Sugars (- .19) 7. Fresh vegetables (- .15) 8. Rice (- .13) 9. Cereals and grain products (- .07) 10. Starchy roots (- .06) 11. Fresh fish and shells (.44) 12. Processed fish and shells (.56) 13. Eggs (1.06) 14. Fruits (1.26) 15. Meats and poultry (1.33) 16. Milk and milk products (2.87) There are highly significant difference in the acceptability index between food items and the mean intake of rice, cereals and grain products, pulses, starchy roots, processed vegetables, fruits, sugars, seaweeds, seasonings, meats and poultry, eggs, fresh and shells, and oils and fats between the communities at the .01 level of significance.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.42 no.5
• /
• pp.13-21
• /
• 2014

This study generated regression models to quantify storage and annual uptake of carbon from five native landscape tree species through a direct harvesting method, and established essential information to estimate carbon reduction effects from urban greenspaces. Tree species for the study included the Chionanthus retusus, Prunus armeniaca, Abies holophylla, Cornus officinalis, and Taxus cuspidata, which are usually planted in cities of middle Korea, but for which no information on carbon reduction is available. Ten tree individuals for each species were sampled reflecting various stem diameter sizes at a given interval. The study measured biomass for each part including the roots of sample trees to compute total carbon storage per tree. The annual carbon uptake per tree was quantified by analyzing the radial growth rates of stem samples at breast height or ground level. Regression models were developed using diameter at breast height (dbh) or ground level (dg) as an independent variable to easily estimate storage and annual uptake of carbon per tree for each species. All the regression models showed high fitness with $r^2$ values of 0.92~0.99. Storage and annual uptake of carbon from a tree with dbh of 10 cm were greatest with C. retusus (20.0 kg and 5.9 kg/yr, respectively), followed by P. armeniaca (17.5 kg and 4.5 kg/yr) and A. holophylla (13.2kg and 1.8 kg/yr) in order. A C. officinalis tree and T. cuspidata tree with dg of 10 cm stored 9.3 and 6.3 kg of carbon and annually sequestered 3.2 and 0.6 kg, respectively. The above-mentioned carbon storage equaled the amount of carbon emitted from gasoline consumption of about 23~35 L for C. retusus, P. armeniaca, and A. holophylla, and 11~16 L for C. officinalis and T. cuspidata. A tree with the diameter size of 10 cm annually offset carbon emissions from gasoline use of about 6~10 L for C. retusus, P. armeniaca, and C. officinalis, and 1~3 L for A. holophylla and T. cuspidata. The study breaks new ground to easily quantify biomass and carbon reduction for the tree species by overcoming difficulties in direct cutting and root digging of urban landscape trees.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.9-18
• /
• 2012

Annual power consumption of our country is positioned in the upper percentile in the world, and because the proportion of fossil power generation is high, which ranks the 10th $CO_2$ emission country. In this regard, government has established and is implementing the National Energy Basic Plan to realize to get out of fossilization in energy supply while focusing on securing the technology for renewable energy as well as its commercialization in order to reduce greenhouse gas. Resource recovery technology for deep seawater thermal energy which is one of renewable energies is newly getting attention domestically as well as in overseas for securing resources and environmental improvement as a core technology for multilateral use of marine resources for low carbon and green growth. Economic feasibility analysis was conducted for the research and development as follows on the use of ocean thermal energy conversion and seawater air conditioning. First, in the case of power generation using deep seawater and warm discharge water from ocean thermal energy conversion plant of 1MW level, it is judged that the economic feasibility is insufficient but the feasibility will be significantly improved if we consider not only power generation but also drinking water and certified emission reduction by developing the power plant to the size for commercialization. Second, the economic feasibility for the use of deep seawater as air conditioning for the power plant of 1,000RT level turned out to be very good. Especially, when we consider certified emission reduction, it will be possible to secure sufficient economic feasibility. When we use it in connection with ocean thermal energy conversion, water conversion and agricultural and fishery use, it is judged that economic ripple effect will be significant and therefore it will be necessary to conduct research and development for early commercialization, distribution and diffusion of deep seawater energy.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.31-43
• /
• 2014

This experiment evaluated the interaction effect of extreme heat diet(EHD), inverse lighting, and cool water on the growth performance of broiler chickens under extreme heat stress. There were 4 experimental groups (T1: EHD 1, 10:00-19:00 dark, 19:00-10:00 light, cold water $9^{\circ}C$; T2: EHD 2, 10:00-19:00 dark, 19:00-10:00 light, cold water $9^{\circ}C$; T3: EHD 1, 09:00-18:00 dark, 18:00-09:00 light, cold water $14^{\circ}C$; T4: EHD 2, 09:00-18:00 dark, 18:00-09:00 light, cold water $14^{\circ}C$), each group composed of 25 broilers and the experiment was repeated 3 times. EHD 1 contained soybean oil, molasses, methionine and lysine. EHD 2 contained all nutrients of EHD 1 and vitamin C additionally. As a result, T1 and T2 displayed higher body weight increase and diet intake compared to T3 and T4 (p<0.05). The weights of their liver and gizzard were similar but the weights of the thymus and bursa F were higher for T1 and T2 compared to that of T3 and T4 (p<0.05). It was observed that T1 and T2 displayed higher concentrations of blood triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL-C and blood sugar compared to that of T3 and T4 but LDL-C level was higher for T3 and T4 compared to that of T1 and T2 (p<0.05). T1 and T2 displayed higher levels of immunity substances such as IgG, IgA and IgM compared to T3 and T4 but the blood level of corticosterone displayed to be lower for T1 and T2 compared to T3 and T4 (p<0.05). The T1 and T2 contained a higher amount of fecal lactobacillus compared to that of T3 and T4 but the T3 and T4 contained a higher amount of fecal E. coli, total aerobic bacteria, coliform bacteria compared to that of T1 and T2 (p<0.05). T1 and T2 displayed higher concentrations of cecal acetic acid, propionic acid and total short chain fatty acids compared to T3 and T4 but T3 and T4 displayed higher concentrations of butyric acid, isobutyric acid, valeric acid and isovaleric acid compared to T1 and T2 (p<0.05). These results have been observed that broiler chickens exposed to extreme heat stress with feeding EHD, inverse lighting and cold water would improve blood lipid, and elevate the production of immunity substance, beneficial microorganisms, and short chain fatty acids. This provision would also reduce the blood sugar consumption rate as energy sources and these effects will improve the growth performance of the broilers exposed to extreme heat.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.49 no.5
• /
• pp.576-584
• /
• 2000

Background : With the increase of cigarette consumption by women and the young, the incidence of lung cancer is expected to increase during the next three or four decades in Korea. The purpose of this study was to analyze the smoking habits in patients with lung cancer and to identify the gender differences in terms of their susceptibility to cigarette related carcinogens. Method : This investigation was a hospital-based case control study, which included the data of 178 case subjects (72 females, 106 males) with lung cancer and 218 control subjects (97 females, 121 males) with diseases unrelated to smoking. The information was obtained through a direct personal interview and a questionnaire related to personal smoking history. Results : The relative frequency of the squamous cell carcinoma was substantially higher in males than in females (61.3% in males, and 29.2% in females), while adenocarcinoma including bronchoalveolar cell carcinoma was higher in females(31.9% in females, 18.9% in males). Kreyberg I lung cancer was of relatively higher frequencies in males and smokers, while Kreyberg II lung cancer was higher in females and never smokers. The odds ratios (ORs) at each exposure level were consistently higher in females than males. For all cell types, the risk of lung cancer was increased with the quantity of smoked cigarettes, duration of smoking, and depth of inhalation. Odds ratio was distinctly higher in Kreyberg I lung cancer than in total lung cancer and a steeper gradient of risk with increased smoking was observed in females. Conclusion : The relative risk for lung cancer was consistently higher in females than in males at every level of exposure to cigarette smoke. This is believed to be due to the higher susceptibility of females to tobacco carcinogens, such as gender associated differences of carcinogen activation and/or the elimination of smoking related metabolites.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.225-230
• /
• 2008

Diabetes mellitus is the fifth leading cause of death among Koreans. Control of hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia is strongly correlated with decrease in risks for cardiovascular diseases, the most common and fatal diabetic complication. The effects of chronic feeding of a mixture of Chinese herbs on blood lipid profile were measured in an animal model of type 2 diabetes mellitus, db/db mice (C57BL/Ks). The Chinese herb mixture was composed of Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer,Astragalus membranaceus, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, Lycium chinense, Morus, Pueraria thunbergiana, Prunella vulgaris var. lilacina, Acanthopanax sessiliflorus, Schizandra chinensis, Scutellaria baicalensis, Dioscorea batatas, Polygonatum doratumvar. pluriflorum, Paeonia lactiflora, and Rehmannia glutinosa in a ratio of 1 : 0.7 : 0.4 : 0.7 :0.4 : 0.7 : 1.1 : 0.9 : 0.4 : 0.4 : 0.7 :0.7 : 0.9 : 0.9. Methanol extract of the Chinese herb mixture was tested for the inhibitory activity against yeast ${\alpha}$-glucosidase in vitro. The Chinese herb mixture extract inhibited ${\alpha}$-glucosidase by 25.2% at the concentration of 0.5mg/mL. Four weekold male db/db mice (n = 14) were fed AIN-93G semipurified diet or diet containing 10% powder of the Chinese herb mixture for 6 weeks after 1 week of adaptation period. Body weight (39.5 ${\pm}$ 1.6 g) and food intake (4.3 ${\pm}$ 0.6 g/day) of the Chinese herb group were not significantly different from those of the control group (40.4 ${\pm}$ 2.6 g and 4.5 ${\pm}$ 0.6 g/day). Consumption of Chinese herb mixture significantly decreased plasma glucose level (442.5 ${\pm}$ 36.0mg/dL) compared with the control group (489.8 ${\pm}$ 34.6 mg/dL, p < 0.05). Plasma cholesterol level (159.2 ${\pm}$ 18.4 mg/dL) of the Chinese herb group was significantly lower than that of the control group (185.4 ${\pm}$ 13.7 mg/dL, p < 0.05). Blood glycated hemoglobin (6.3 ${\pm}$ 0.8%) and plasma triglyceride levels (99.4 ${\pm}$ 15.0mg/dL) of the Chinese herb group were not significantly different from those of the control group (6.7 ${\pm}$ 0.7% and 108.8 ${\pm}$ 11.0mg/dL). Thus, the Chinese herb mixture could be useful in the treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular complications of diabetes.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.50 no.1
• /
• pp.98-110
• /
• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dietary potassium intake, Na/K intake molar ratio, consumption of 18 food groups, and foods contributing to potassium intake of Korean adults as well as the relationships among quartile of potassium intake level and blood pressure, blood biochemical index. Methods: This study was conducted using the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2007~2010. The total number of subjects was 20,291. All analyses were conducted using a survey weighting to account for the complex survey design. Results: Overall average intakes of potassium were 2,934.7, 3,070.6, 3,078.1, and 3,232.0 mg/day, and they significantly increased by year in Korean adults. The average dietary potassium intake was close to adequate intake (AI), whereas that of women was considerably lower than the AI. The Na/K intake molar ratio in males (2.89~3.23) was higher than in females (2.62~2.95). The major food groups contributing to potassium intake were vegetables, cereals, and fruits/meats. The two major foods contributing to potassium intake were polished rice and cabbage kimchi. The rankings of food source were as follows; polished rice > cabbage kimchi > potato > oriental melon > sweet potato > seaweed > radish > apple > black soybean. In 50~64 year old females, systolic blood pressure (SBP) significantly decreased (p < 0.01) and HDL-cholesterol significantly increased (p < 0.05) as potassium intake increased. Triglyceride (TG) was significantly higher in the other quartile of potassium intake level than in the first quartile (p < 0.05). Conclusion: In conclusion, our study suggests the need for an appropriate set of dietary reference intakes according to caloric intake by sex and age groups and for development of eating patterns to increase potassium intake and decrease sodium intake.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.52 no.3
• /
• pp.210-220
• /
• 2019

Population growth and the increase of energy consumption due to civilization caused global warming. Temperature on the Earth rose about $0.7^{\circ}C$ for the last 100 years, the rate is accelerated since 2000. Temperature is a factor, which determines physiological action, growth and development, survival, etc. of the plant together with light intensity and precipitation. Therefore, it is expected that global warming would affect broadly geographic distribution of the plant as well as structure and function ecosystem. In order to understand the effect of global warming on the ecosystem, a study about the effect of temperature rise on germination and growth in the plant is required necessarily. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of experimental warming on the germination and growth of two oak species(Quercus mongolica and Q. serrata) in temperature gradient chamber(TGC). This study was conducted in control, medium warming treatment($+1.7^{\circ}C$; Tm), and high warming treatment ($+3.2^{\circ}C$; Th) conditions. The final germination percentage, mean germination time and germination rate of two oak species increased by the warming treatment, and the increase in Q. serrata was higher than that in Q. mongolica. Root collar diameter, seedling height, leaf dry weight, stem dry weight, root dry weight, and total biomass were the highest in Tm treatment. Butthey were not significantly different in the Th treatment. In the Th treatment, Q. serrata had significantly higher H/D ratio, S/R ratio, and low root mass ratio (RMR) compared with control plot. Q. mongolica had lower RMR and higher S/R ratio in the Tm and Th treatments compared with control plot. Therefore, growth of Q. mongolica are expected to be more vulnerable to warming than that of Q. serrata. The main findings of this study, species-specific responses to experimental warming, could be applied to predict ecosystem changes from global warming. From the result of this study, we could deduce that temperature rise would increase germination of Q. serrata and Q. mongolica and consequently contribute to increase establishment rate in the early growth stage of the plants. But we have to consider diverse variables to understand properly the effects that global warming influences germination in natural condition. Treatment of global warming in the medium level increased the growth and the biomass of both Q. serrata and Q. mongolica. But the result of treatment in the high level showed different aspects. In particular, Q. mongolica, which grows in cooler zones of higher elevation on mountains or northward in latitude, responded more sensitively. Synthesized the results mentioned above, continuous global warming would function in stable establishment of both plants unfavorably. Compared the responses of both sample plants on temperature rise, Q. serrata increased germination rate more than Q. mongolica and Q. mongolica responded more sensitively than Q. serrata in biomass allocation with the increase of temperature. It was estimated that these results would due to a difference of microclimate originated from the spatial distribution of both plants.

• Korea Trade Review
• /
• v.42 no.6
• /
• pp.111-129
• /
• 2017

According to the World Bank statistics, China's contribution to global economic growth during the year of 2013-2016 was estimated at 31.6 percent. This figure is even larger than 29.0 percent, the contribution by summing each contribution of the United States, EU and Japan. The Chinese commodity trade accounts for up to 11.5 percent of world trade volume. Thus, we can consider that the Chinese economy has a strong influence on the global economy. The primary purpose of this study is to analyze the contribution level of Chinese seaborne trade volume on world economy. First, this study conducted a time-lag analysis using Moran test, so we can find that China's level of contribution to global economic growth varies from time to time. The contribution of the first phase (1999-2007) was nearly three times higher than the contributions from the second phase (2008-2016), suggesting that the overall contraction of the global trade volume starting from the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008 has continued until recently and recovery has not even occurred. Second, using the econometrics model, this study conducted an regression analysis of the impact of Chinese imports and exports in chemicals, grain, steel, crude oil, and container on global economic growth. Fixed effects model with time series data has been applied to examine the effect of Chinese seaborne trade volume on global economic growth. According to the empirical analysis of this study, China's exports of steel products, exports of container, imports of containers, imports of crude oil and imports of grain have significant contributions to global economic growth. Estimates of China's exports of steel products, exports of container, imports of containers, imports of crude oil and imports of grain are 1.023, 1.020, 1.019, 1.007 and 1.006, respectively. For example, the estimated value 1.023 of China's exports of steel products means that the growth rate can be 1.023 times higher than the current world GDP growth rate if Chinese seaborne trade volume of exports of steel products increased by one unit (one million tons). This study concludes that the expansion of China's imports and exports should be realized first to increase the global GDP growth rate. The expansion of Chinese trade can lead to a simultaneous stimulus of production and consumption in China, which can even lead to global economic growth ultimately. Thus, depending on how much China's trade will be broaden in the future, the width of global economic growth can be determined.