• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.453-459
• /
• 2018

This study was performed to investigate the contamination levels of heavy metals (such as lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury) and aflatoxin (such as $B_1$, $B_2$, $G_1$ and $G_2$) in commercial herbs for food and medicine. The concentrations of the heavy metals were measured by the ICP-MS and a mercury analyzer. The aflatoxins were analyzed by a HPLC-florescence coupled with photochemical derivatization. The detection ranges of the lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury were found to be 0.006~4.088 mg/kg, 0.002~2.150 mg/kg, ND~0.610 mg/kg and ND~0.0139 mg/kg respectively. Among the total samples, the 3 samples (2.6%) were not suitable for the specification of cadmium by the MFDS (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety). The 13 samples of the total 117 samples were aflatoxin positive (11.1%). The amount of aflatoxin $G_1$ was $0.7834{\mu}g/kg$ in the Puerariae Radix and aflatoxin $G_2$ were $0.3517{\mu}g/kg$, $0.4881{\mu}g/kg$ in two samples of the Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, respectively. The aflatoxins $B_2$ and $G_1$ were simultaneously detected in the 10 Angelicae Gigantis Radix. The detection ranges of aflatoxins $B_2$ and $G_1$ were $0.2324{\sim}1.0358{\mu}g/kg$ and $0.7552{\sim}1.6545{\mu}g/kg$ respectively in Angelicae Gigantis Radix. The results of the current study suggest that continuous monitoring is needed for the proactive management of commercial herbs for food and medicine safety.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.29-41
• /
• 2019

Terrestrial Gross Primary Production (GPP) is the largest global carbon flux, and forest ecosystems are important because of the ability to store much more significant amounts of carbon than other terrestrial ecosystems. There have been several attempts to estimate GPP using mechanism-based models. However, mechanism-based models including biological, chemical, and physical processes are limited due to a lack of flexibility in predicting non-stationary ecological processes, which are caused by a local and global change. Instead mechanism-free methods are strongly recommended to estimate nonlinear dynamics that occur in nature like GPP. Therefore, we used the mechanism-free machine learning techniques to estimate the daily GPP. In this study, support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF) and artificial neural network (ANN) were used and compared with the traditional multiple linear regression model (LM). MODIS products and meteorological parameters from eddy covariance data were employed to train the machine learning and LM models from 2006 to 2013. GPP prediction models were compared with daily GPP from eddy covariance measurement in a deciduous forest in South Korea in 2014 and 2015. Statistical analysis including correlation coefficient (R), root mean square error (RMSE) and mean squared error (MSE) were used to evaluate the performance of models. In general, the models from machine-learning algorithms (R = 0.85 - 0.93, MSE = 1.00 - 2.05, p < 0.001) showed better performance than linear regression model (R = 0.82 - 0.92, MSE = 1.24 - 2.45, p < 0.001). These results provide insight into high predictability and the possibility of expansion through the use of the mechanism-free machine-learning models and remote sensing for predicting non-stationary ecological processes such as seasonal GPP.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.52 no.1
• /
• pp.6-16
• /
• 2019

Purpose: Dyslipidemia is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Pine needles (Pinus densiflora seib et Zucc) are a traditional medicine used to treat dyslipidemia in clinical settings. This study examined the potential effects of sulgidduk, a Korean traditional rice cake containing pine needle juice to protect against dyslipidemia induced by a high-fat/sugidduk diet in a rat model. Methods: Twenty one male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into three groups: normal control (NC), Sulgidduk diet (SD), Sulgidduk diet containing pine needle juice (PSD). The blood lipid levels, production of lipid peroxide in the plasma and liver, total cholesterol and triglyceride in the liver and feces, antioxidant enzyme activities in plasma and erythrocytes were measured to assess the effects of PSD on dyslipidemia. Results: A high-fat/Sulgidduk diet induced dyslipidemia, which was characterized by significantly altered lipid profiles in the plasma and liver. The food intake was similar in the three groups, but weight gain and food efficiency ratio (FER) were reduced significantly in the PSD group compared to those in the SD group. The level of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and TBARS in the plasma showed tendencies to decrease in the PSD group compared to those in the SD group. The levels of high-fat/Sulgidduk diet-induced sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (SREBP2) gene expression were reduced significantly in the PSD group. The supplementation of PSD reduced the hepatic triglyceride and total cholesterol levels significantly, and enhanced the fecal excretion of triglyceride and hepatic antioxidant enzyme activities compared to the SD group. Conclusion: These results suggest that the addition of 0.4% pine needle juice to Sulgidduk may be an alternative snack to control dyslipidemia.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.112-117
• /
• 2019

Herbal medicines are widely used as therapeutic products in many countries. Corni fructus (CF), the dried ripe sarcocarp of Cornus officinalis Sieb. et Zucc (Cornaceae), has been used for thousands of years in traditional medicine and has been reported to be effective for the prevention and treatment of various diseases, such as kidney diseases and diabetes. Recent research on CF has documented a wide spectrum of therapeutic properties, which include anti-inflammatory, ant-oxidative, immunomodulatory, and anti-cancer effects. However, there is no information on its safety. Therefore, in this study, the toxicity of water extract of CF to ICR mice was investigated. The mice received a single dose of water extract of CF (1,000, 2,000, and 5,000 mg/kg of body weight) via the oral route. Mortality, clinical signs, body weight changes, gross findings, and weights of the principal organs after 14 d were then assessed. The results revealed no adverse effects of CF as determined by clinical signs, body weights, or organ weights and no gross pathological findings in any of the treatment groups. These results suggest that the 50% lethal dose and approximated lethal dose of CF extract is over 5,000 mg/kg. The findings provide scientific evidence for the safety of CFs.

• Journal of the Korean Society of International Agriculture
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.305-312
• /
• 2018

Clubroot, caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae, is one of the most crucial disease in Kimchi cabbage. Screening disease resistant genetic resources is necessary to develop disease resistant cultivars and conduct related research. We have evaluated the development of clubroot to the 120 genetic resources of Kimchi cabbage introduced from World Vegetable Center and five Asian countries using isolate of Plasmodiophora brassicae collected in Haenam fields in Jeollanam-do Province, Rep. of Korea. This isolate was determined race 2 using differential varieties reported by Kim et al., 2016. IT100384 and IT305623 showed strong resistance, lower than disease index (DI) 1.0. IT100385, 100439, and 135407 showed moderate resistance (1.0

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.109 no.4
• /
• pp.382-389
• /
• 2020

Soil properties in opencast mines are a key factor in reclamation (revegetation) of mining areas. In this study we determined the soil physical and chemical properties of kaolinite tailings, reclaimed areas, and adjacent natural red pine (Pinus densiflora S. et Z.) forests in kaolinite opencast mines in Sancheong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do. Six sites were chosen for collection of soil samples to determine soil physical and chemical properties at a soil depth of 10 cm. Soil bulk density was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the kaolinite tailings (1.51 g·cm-3) than in the reclaimed areas (1.19 g·cm-3) and red pine forests (0.93 g·cm-3), whereas air phase in the kaolinite tailings (14.2%) was significantly lower than in the red pine forests (32.6%). Clay content in the red pine forests was significantly higher than in the reclaimed areas (18.7%) or kaolinite tailings (14.8%), whereas soil structural stability index was significantly lower in the reclaimed areas (1.61%) and kaolinite tailings (0.87%) than in the red pine forests (7.75%). Soil pH was significantly higher in the kaolinite tailings (pH 6.68) and reclaimed areas (pH 6.27) than in the red pine forests (pH 5.31). Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen were significantly higher in the red pine forests (C: 36.03 mg·g-1; N: 2.08 mg·g-1) than in the reclaimed areas (C: 5.00 mg·g-1; N: 0.31 mg·g-1) than in the kaolinite tailings (C: 2.12 mg·g-1; N: 0.07 mg g-1). The amount of available phosphorus was not significantly different among the three treatments. The concentration of exchangeable potassium was significantly lower in the kaolinite tailings (0.08 cmolc·kg-1) than in the reclaimed areas (0.21 cmolc·kg-1) and red pine forests (0.30 cmolc·kg-1). These results indicate that, because of high soil bulk density and low soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and exchangeable potassium in kaolinite tailings and reclaimed mining areas, soil nutrient management is needed in order to reclaim the vegetation in these type of areas.

• KIPS Transactions on Software and Data Engineering
• /
• v.9 no.12
• /
• pp.431-438
• /
• 2020

In this paper, the method to extract lip contour by multiple threshold is proposed. Spyridonos et. el. proposed a method to extract lip contour. First step is get Q image from transform of RGB into YIQ. Second step is to find lip corner points by change point detection and split Q image into upper and lower part by corner points. The candidate lip contour can be obtained by apply threshold to Q image. From the candidate contour, feature variance is calculated and the contour with maximum variance is adopted as final contour. The feature variance 'D' is based on the absolute difference near the contour points. The conventional method has 3 problems. The first one is related to lip corner point. Calculation of variance depends on much skin pixels and therefore the accuracy decreases and have effect on the split for Q image. Second, there is no analysis for color systems except YIQ. YIQ is a good however, other color systems such as HVS, CIELUV, YCrCb would be considered. Final problem is related to selection of optimal contour. In selection process, they used maximum of average feature variance for the pixels near the contour points. The maximum of variance causes reduction of extracted contour compared to ground contours. To solve the first problem, the proposed method excludes some of skin pixels and got 30% performance increase. For the second problem, HSV, CIELUV, YCrCb coordinate systems are tested and found there is no relation between the conventional method and dependency to color systems. For the final problem, maximum of total sum for the feature variance is adopted rather than the maximum of average feature variance and got 46% performance increase. By combine all the solutions, the proposed method gives 2 times in accuracy and stability than conventional method.

• Atmosphere
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.229-240
• /
• 2021

The Global Ocean Data Assimilation and Prediction System (GODAPS) in operation at the KMA (Korea Meteorological Administration) is introduced. GODAPS consists of ocean model, ice model, and 3-d variational ocean data assimilation system. GODAPS assimilates conventional and satellite observations for sea surface temperature and height, observations of sea-ice concentration, as well as temperature and salinity profiles for the ocean using a 24-hour data assimilation window. It finally produces ocean analysis fields with a resolution of 0.25 ORCA (tripolar) grid and 75-layer in depth. This analysis is used for providing a boundary condition for the atmospheric model of the KMA Global Seasonal Forecasting System version 5 (GloSea5) in addition to monitoring on the global ocean and ice. For the purpose of evaluating the quality of ocean analysis produced by GODAPS, a one-year data assimilation experiment was performed. Assimilation of global observing system in GODAPS results in producing improved analysis and forecast fields with reduced error in terms of RMSE of innovation and analysis increment. In addition, comparison with an unassimilated experiment shows a mostly positive impact, especially over the region with large oceanic variability.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
• /
• no.34
• /
• pp.415-447
• /
• 2009

It is encouraging fact that people are more interested in collecting modern archaic art objects of Korea with broadening spectrum of research these days. For the research in this area is significant in that it makes us learn the level of collection and appreciation which were prevalent at the end of the Josen Age by trend of preferring Occidental pictures as well as modern change in the form of collection, and enables us to reconstruct the history of modern art objects in East Asia. Except Jeon, Hyung-Pil(全鎣弼: 1906-1962), the modern collectors of Korea were not studied in details with respect to the course or contents of collection. Besides Jeon, Hyung Pil, the main modern collectors of Korea were Park, Young-cheol(朴榮喆: 1879-1939), Kim, Yong-jin(金容鎭: 1882-1968), Ham, Seok-tae(咸錫泰: 1889-?), Kim, Sung-soo(金性洙: 1891-1955), Choi, Chang-hak(崔昌學: 1891-?), Jang, Taek-sang(張澤相: 1893-1969), Kim, Chan-young(金瓚泳: 1893-?), Lee, Han-bok(李漢福: 1897-1940), Park, Chang-hun(朴昌薰: 1898-1951), Baek, In-je(白麟濟: 1898-?), Lee, Byung-jik(李秉直: -1973), et al. The object of this publication in serial form is to trace and identify the life, collected articles and contents of collection of Korean collectors who intensively collected archaic art objects in the modern age of Korea, especially, under the rule of Japanese imperialism. The first person to be introduced in this publication in serial form is Jang, Taek Sang, a leading figure in the political history of Korea. Born as the son of wealthy man, he ascended to the position of prime minister, leading a dramatic life. Being a distinguished orator, Jang, Taek Sang was well known as an appreciator and collector of picture, calligraphy and pottery. As one of the collectors of main cultural property under the rule of Japanese imperialism, Jang, Taek Sang collected countless distinguished heritages, most of which were lost during the Korean War. As he became a candidate for president to compete with Lee, Seung Man later, he sold main heritages. Thus, nearly all of the collected articles were scattered.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.356-365
• /
• 2021

Recently, we sequenced the entire genome of a freshwater agar-degrading bacterium Cellvibrio sp. KY-GH-1 (KCTC13629BP) to explore genetic information encoding agarases that hydrolyze agarose into monomers 3,6-anhydro-L-galactose (L-AHG) and D-galactose. The KY-GH-1 strain appeared to possess nine β-agarase genes and two α-neoagarobiose hydrolase (α-NABH) genes in a 77-kb agarase gene cluster. Based on these genetic information, the KY-GH-1 strain-caused agarose degradation into L-AHG and D-galactose was predicted to be initiated by both endolytic GH16 and GH86 β-agarases to generate NAOS (NA4/NA6/NA8), and further processed by exolytic GH50 β-agarases to generate NA2, and then terminated by GH117 α-NABHs which degrade NA2 into L-AHG and D-galactose. More recently, by employing E. coli expression system with pET-30a vector we obtained three recombinant His-tagged GH50 family β-agarases (GH50A, GH50B, and GH50C) derived from Cellvibrio sp. KY-GH-1 to compare their enzymatic properties. GH50A β-agarase turned out to have the highest exolytic β-agarase activity among the three GH50 isozymes, catalyzing efficient NA2 production from the substrate (agarose, NAOS or AOS). Additionally, we determined that GH117A α-NABH, but not GH117B α-NABH, could potently degrade NA2 into L-AHG and D-galactose. Sequentially, we examined the enzymatic characteristics of GH50A β-agarase and GH117A α-NABH, and assessed their efficiency for NA2 production from agarose and for production of L-AHG and D-galactose from NA2, respectively. In this review, we describe the benefits of recombinant GH50A β-agarase and GH117A α-NABH originated from Cellvibrio sp. KY-GH-1, which may be useful for the enzymatic hydrolysis of agarose for mass production of L-AHG and D-galactose.