• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.55 no.4
• /
• pp.462-475
• /
• 2022

Purpose: Allomyrina dichotoma larvae are one of the approved edible insects with nutritional value and various functional and medicinal properties. Previously we have demonstrated that the Allomyrina dichotoma larval extract (ADLE) ameliorates hepatic insulin resistance in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced diabetic mice through the activation of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK). This study investigated the effects of ADLE on insulin resistance in the skeletal muscle and explored mechanisms for enhancing the glucose uptake in palmitate (PAL)-treated C2C12 myotubes. Methods: To induce insulin resistance, the differentiated C2C12 myotubes were treated with PAL (0.5 mM) for 24 hours, and then treated with a 0.5 mg/ml concentration of ADLE, and the resultant effects were measured. The expression levels of glucose transporter-4 (GLUT4), AMPK, and the mitochondrial metabolism-related proteins were analyzed by western blotting. The mRNA expression levels of lipogenesis- related genes were determined by quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR. Results: The exposure of C2C12 myotubes to 0.5 mg/ml of ADLE increased cell viability significantly compared to PAL-treated cells. ADLE upregulated the protein expression of GLUT4 and enhanced glucose uptake in the PAL-treated cells. ADLE increased the phosphorylated AMPK in both the PAL-treated C2C12 myotubes and HFD-treated skeletal muscle. The reduced expression levels of peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator-1 alpha (PGC1α) and uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) due to the PAL and HFD treatment were reversed by the ADLE treatment. The citrate synthase activity was also significantly increased with the PAL and ADLE co-treatment. Moreover, the mRNA and protein expressions of fatty acid synthesis-related factors were reduced in the PAL and HFD-treated muscle cells, and this effect was significantly attenuated by the ADLE treatment. Conclusion: ADLE activates AMPK, which in turn induces mitochondrial metabolism and reduces fatty acid synthesis in C2C12 myotubes. Therefore, ADLE could be useful for preventing or treating insulin resistance of skeletal muscles in diabetes.

• Journal of Korean Living Environment System
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.89-100
• /
• 2009

The present study was designed to observe the thermal dynamics of core and skin temperatures during sub-maximal treadmill exercise; to investigate the effect of regional body cooling during short rest after the treadmill exercise on the thermal dynamics. Three conditions (No cooling, Head/Hand cooling, Leg cooling) were simulated in a climatic chamber at 24±1℃ and 50±5%RH. Subjects performed two bouts of treadmill exercise at a rate of 80%HR_max followed by rest. Body cooling with a hood, long gloves, and a blanket that circulated water set at 15℃ was assigned during two bouts of rest. The results showed that (1) rectal temperature (T_re) did not show significant difference between three conditions; (2) Skin temperatures had specific features, depending on body regions. In particular, the initial fall phenomena of skin temperatures at the onset of exercise were noteworthy in the chest, thigh, calf, and finger tip. Of these, the most significant initial fall was found in finger temperature (T_fing). (3) During the period of the initial fall in skin temperatures, T_re gradually increased. (4) The magnitude of the fall of T_fing at the onset of 2^nd running was on average 4.8, 5.1 and 3.4℃ for Control, HH cooling, and Leg cooling, respectively (p<0.05). The initial drop of T_fing at the onset of running was maintained for an average of 8.1, 7.9 and 6.3 minutes for Control, HH cooling, and Leg cooling, with no significant differences. In conclusion, the initial fall phenomena at the onset of treadmill exercise reflected non-thermal factors, as opposed to internal thermal status. The magnitude of the initial fall in T_fing was affected by legs cooling. Therefore, the initial fall phenomenon should be considered when interpreting the thermal status of the shell during heavy works/exercises that assigned with intermittent regional body cooling.

• Economic Analysis
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.1-33
• /
• 2020

Recent discussions about a minimum wage increase (MWI) and its influence on the economy have mainly focused on the quantitative aspects, such as labor costs and employment. However, concerning the qualitative aspects, an MWI could have positive effects by enhancing firm productivity and crowding out marginal firms from the market. These positive effects of an MWI can offset, to some extent, its potential negative effects - increasing labor costs and decreasing employment, among others. In this regard we empirically examine the impact of an MWI on firm productivity (total factor productivity). Using firm level panel data from the manufacturing industry in Korea, we calculate the influence rates of a minimum wage by sector and by firm size (number of workers), and analyze its effects on firm productivity. In particular, the production functions of the firms are estimated by taking into account endogeneity among the input factors, in order to resolve the drawbacks of existing studies - underestimating the capital factor coefficient and overestimating the labor factor coefficient. This study finds that the influences of an MWI on wages, employment, and productivity are substantially different across sectors and firm sizes. While an MWI has shown to have positive influences on productivity growth in the manufacturing industry as a whole, each sector demonstrates a different direction of effect, and the degree of productivity change also varies by sector. The impacts of an MWI on firm productivity are generally estimated to be more negative for smaller firms, but in some sectors the effects are found to be positive. In addition, the wage increases resulting from an MWI seem to cause a productivity enhancement across all sectors in the manufacturing industry. The policy implications of this study are as follows. Considering the empirical findings that an MWI causes an increase in productivity in many sectors of the manufacturing industry, it would be desirable to take into consideration not only the negative side effects but also the positive effects of an MWI when designing any future minimum wage policy. Moreover, in spite of there being a uniform minimum wage, this study finds that the diverse influence rates of a minimum wage across firms have different impacts on wages, employment, and productivity across sectors or firm size. This finding could be conducive to discussions about differentiation among minimum wage schemes by sector or firm size.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.231-242
• /
• 2023

This study aims to provide basic data to reduce the incidence of radiation dermatitis and improve patient satisfaction by investigating the management status and satisfaction level of radiation dermatitis in patients undergoing radiation therapy. From October 28, 2022, to April 4, 2023, a survey was conducted on 137 breast cancer patients who received radiation therapy at G Hospital in Busan. The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) cutaneous acute radiotherapy toxicity score was used as the standard for measuring skin reactions, and the association between cancer stage and RTOG was analyzed. SPSS program (ver. 18.0) was used for statistical analysis. The frequency of radiation dermatitis occurrence was relatively low, with 73% in the RTOG 0-1 group and 27% in the 2-3 group. Patient satisfaction after radiation therapy varied significantly depending on the RTOG group, with lower levels of dermatitis resulting in higher satisfaction and higher levels resulting in dissatisfaction (p=0.001). Although there was no statistically significant difference in RTOG group and skin satisfaction depending on the frequency of aloe mist use (p=0.065), the group that used it 1-2 times a day (69.3%) showed a higher satisfaction level. The perceived effects of aloe mist use were statistically significant for decreasing heat sensation (p=0.001), pain (p=0.033), itching (p=0.001), and psychological stability (p=0.027), especially in the higher RTOG groups. Additionally, as cancer stage increased, the severity of radiation dermatitis also increased, which was statistically significant (p=0.001). In conclusion, radiation dermatitis is the most common side effect of radiation therapy, and it can appear in various forms depending on individual skin sensitivity and external factors during treatment. Adequate education before treatment and the use of MD Cream and aloe vera mist are recommended to reduce the incidence and manage radiation dermatitis effectively.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
• /
• v.39 no.1
• /
• pp.32-44
• /
• 2023

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of implant connection type on marginal bone loss (MBL) and to analyze the factors that affect MBL. This study focuses on single implants planted in the upper and lower first molar area. Materials and Methods: A total of 87 implants from 68 patients were tracked for a period over 5 years. There were 57 external connection type (EC) implants and 30 internal connection type (IC) implants in 38 males and 30 females. The MBL and EA were measured from intraoral radiograph images taken after 5 years at most. Results: Significant difference in MBL between EC and IC type was observed in patients without GBR or diabetes. Patients without GBR exhibited an MBL of -0.065 ± 0.859 mm in EC type and -0.627 ± 0.639 mm in IC type (P = 0.025). Using multiple regression analysis, a statistically significant negative correlation was observed between MBL and conditions including implant-abutment connection type (β = -0.303), diabetes (β = -0.113), emergence angle > 30° (β = -0.234), and age (β = -0.776). Conclusion: Within this results, IC type implants had less MBL than EC type, and implant prosthesis with emergence angle over 30° showed greater MBL. To minimize the MBL of the implant and ensure implant stability, careful consideration should be given to the EA of implant prosthesis and its connection type.

• Atmosphere
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.61-70
• /
• 2022

This study evaluates the economic values for the several first precipitation events during Changma period. The selected three years are 2015, 2019, and 2020, where average precipitation amounts across the 58 Korean stations are 12.8, 20.1 and 13.3 mm, respectively. The four categories are used to assess the values including air quality improvement, water resource acquisition/accumulation, drought mitigation, and forest fire prevention/recovery. Economic values for these three years are estimated 50~150 billion won. Among the four factors considered, the effect of air quality improvement is most highly valued, amounting to 70 to 90% of the total economic values. Wet decomposition of air pollution (PM₁₀, NO₂, CO, and SO₂) is the primary reason. The next valuable element is water resource acquisition, which is estimated 9~15 billion won. Effects of drought mitigation and fire prevention are deemed relatively small. This study is the first to estimate the value of the precipitation events during Changma onset. An analysis for more Changma years will be performed to achieve a more reliable estimate.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.471-480
• /
• 2023

This study was designed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of Rumohra adiantiformis extracts fermented with Bovista plumbea mycelium (B-RAE) in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. The total polyphenol and total flavonoid content of B-RAE were 379.26±7.77 mg/g and 50.85±3.08 mg/g, respectively. The results of measuring the antioxidant activity of B-RAE showed that it scavenges 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2, 2'-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), and superoxide anion radical in a dose-dependent manner. B-RAE inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production in a dose-dependent manner without affecting cell viability. The gene expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-lβ (IL-1β), and IL-6 was measured using real time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). We found that, compared to the LPS-treated group, B-RAE significantly reduced the mRNA levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines in a concentration-dependent manner. The expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), the phosphorylation of transcription factors such as nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway proteins were assessed using Western blot analysis. We found that B-RAE significantly suppressed the expression of iNOS and COX-2, but their expression was increased by LPS treatment. In addition, the phosphorylation of NF-κB and IκB, which was increased by LPS treatment, was reduced with B-RAE treatment. The effect of B-RAE on the phosphorylation of the MAPK signaling pathway proteins was measured, and the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and the p38 MAPK proteins decreased in a dose-dependent manner, while the phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) increased. These anti-inflammatory effects of B-RAE may thus have been achieved through the high antioxidant activity, the inhibition of NO production through the suppression of iNOS and COX-2 expression, the inhibition of the NF-κB pathway, and the suppression of pro-inflammatory cytokine expression.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
• /
• v.42 no.1
• /
• pp.22-32
• /
• 1997

This experiment was conducted to obtain information for the cultivation of Korean valerian(Valeriana lauriei var. dasycarpa Hara) which will be useful for medicinal and aromatic resources. The effect of different temperature conditions, light intensities and soil water conditions on growth, yield and component of essential oil of V. fauriei were measured at the Dankook University, Cheonan, and a study on the shading treatment was at Umsung, Chungchongbukdo, and Jinbu, Kangwondo, in 1995. V. laudei was planted at five different temperature conditions, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 3$0^{\circ}C$, eight light intensity conditions, 1, 000, 2, 500, 5, 000, 20, 000, 30, 000, 40, 000, 50, 000 and 60, 000lux, six soil water contents, 30, 45, 55, 70, 80 and 90％ of the saturated soil, during growth stage. Shading treatment was three conditions, 0, 25 and 50％, during the daytime in field conditions. Photosynthesis had a highly significant relationship with temperature conditions in a quadratic regression model, from which the temperature for the plant growth was estimated to be 17.7$^{\circ}C$. A highly significant quadratic regression was noted between temperature and leaf width or root weight of V. fauriei. It was estimated from the regression equation that the optimum temperature for root growth was 20.3$^{\circ}C$. The content of essential oil and extract rate of root was the highest in the 15~2$0^{\circ}C$. Photosynthesis also was significantly affected by light intensity in a quadratic regression model, from which the optimum light intensity for the growth was estimated to be 40, 000lux. Root yield was more produced in Jinbu than that of in Umsung. The root yield was increased by the shading treatment in Umsung, whereas it was decreased by the shading treatment in Jinbu. The content of essential oil was not affected by the shading treatment of plants during the cultivation, while the compositions of components of essential oil were related to the growing locations. As soil water content was higher, the growth and content of root extract were increased. The optimum soil moisture for the growth of V. fauriei was 80~90％ of the saturated soil. In summary, the results indicated that the growth, yield and component of essential oil in V. fauriei were affected by environmental factors as well as soil moisture.

• 한국노년학
• /
• v.39 no.3
• /
• pp.517-529
• /
• 2019

The study was conducted on the impact of employment types middle and old age group of wage earner on life satisfaction and analyzed by dividing it into variables in the employment types and demographic characteristics. Based on the data for the 12th year of the Korea Welfare Panel Study, 1,244 respondents who answered that the main types of economic activities were 'full-time, temporary, daily wage earners' or 'self-help labor, public labor, and elderly empolyment program in public sector.' among 4,341 people over 55 years of age under the age of 75 as of 2017 standard. The survey covered 1,244 people. By age group, 826 people aged 55-64 (middle-age group) and 418 people aged 65-74(old-age group). Middle age group showed that education level, spouse, health condition, beneficiaries of basic livelihood and average monthly income variables were the factors that influence the satisfaction of life. But The type of employment did not significantly affect. Old age group showed that the higher education level, in spouse with-living or spouse death, the better health condition is perceived, the less experience of beneficiaries of basic livelihood, the higher average monthly income, the more satisfied life is. The survey also found that old-aged people who participate in "self-help labor, public labor, and elderly employment program in public sector" are also found to be more satisfied with their lives. According to these results, policy for the old age group should be focused on hunting and expanding of employment program in public sector for the elderly. In order to boost life satisfaction of the elderly, more intensive vocational education and employment training should be provided.

• Asia Marketing Journal
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.117-139
• /
• 2013

Research on purchase intention had showed remarkable progress in contributing to the theory of consumer behavior. Despite the popularity of academic discussions on various issues influencing purchase intention, the mediating role of brand recall and brand attitude on purchase intention, in particular advergames, has not yet been well explored, especially in developing economies such as Malaysia. Furthermore, the influence of self-brand congruity, entertainment and brand placement acceptance as antecedents to brand recall and brand attitude are expected to add value to the brand recall, brand attitude and purchase intention relationships. This paper aims to investigate the impact of the mediating role of brand recall and brand attitude on purchase intention in advergames among Malaysian gamers. The antecedents towards brand recall and brand attitude are also examined to measure their influence on purchase intention. A total of 350 Malaysian gamers were interviewed through online survey in this study. The results showed that brand recall and brand attitude mediate the relationship between self-brand congruity, entertainment and brand placement acceptance with purchase intention. Also, entertainment and brand placement acceptance were found to have a significant relationship with brand recall. As expected, brand recall and brand attitude showed a positive relationship with consumer purchase intention in advergames. It was found that self-brand congruity has a significant influence on brand attitude and purchase intention. When users see the brand which matches with them, they tend to act positively toward the brand exposed in the game. This is consistent with Escalas and Bettman (2005) who suggested that the greater the congruity, the more positive the consumer's attitude toward the brand in question. This leads to game usage and purchase (Davis and Lang, 2013). In the advergaming context, the entertainment value in advergames is very important to determine the level of enjoyment and pleasure experienced by gamers during game-playing. Therefore, the more entertaining the ads, the more it will be remembered and the greater the positive behavior of the consumer towards the advergames - this ultimately stimulates their intention to purchase the brand. This study shows the effect of brand placement on brand recall and brand attitude and also purchase intention. Brand placements might not work in games due to the interactivity involved in game-playing as people could be distracted from noticing the brand placements (Yang et al., 2006). However, the significant influence of brand placements found in this study may provide major promise for advertisers. Game players may or may not explicitly remember the brands they see in the games, but these placements may influence their brand recall and brand attitude and could therefore influence later decisions (Yang et al., 2006). In this study, it was found that self-brand congruity was not significantly related with brand recall. The reason for this could be attributed to the fact that this study examined gamers who are highly involved in the interactive medium of games which force them to focus on game play rather than advertisements; the level of recognition to remember the brand exposed in the game is low and contributes to the "mismatch" between the gamers and the said brand. The present study contributes to the existing literature of the antecedents of brand recall and brand attitude in advergames. This study contributes to the role of brand recall and brand attitude as mediators in purchase behavior theory. Academically, the relationship between brand recall and brand attitude is well known in advergaming research, but their impact as important mediators on purchase intention add new understanding in the interactive communication literature. Their mediating role may provide new insights on how they facilitate the effects of self-brand congruity, entertainment and brand placement on purchase intention. Besides that, the studies on the influence of self-brand congruity on brand recall and brand attitude and also consumer intention to purchase had not well-investigated in advergames. This study contributes to fill those gaps in advergames literature. For practitioners, this study could suggest the use of illustrative or demonstrative placements of new products to help customers remember new brands, and the use of associative placements for existing products to increase consumers' purchase intention (Ho et al., 2011). To advertisers, this study may provide useful information to improve their current advertising strategies in games, for instance, by considering game players' congruity, entertainment value and brand placement factors.