• Title/Summary/Keyword: Functional levels

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Low Levels of Polymorphisms and Negative Selection in Plasmodum knowlesi Merozoite Surface Protein 8 in Malaysian Isolates

  • Ahmed, Md Atique;Kang, Hae-Ji;Quan, Fu-Shi
    • Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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    • v.57 no.4
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    • pp.445-450
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    • 2019
  • Human infections due to the monkey malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi is increasingly being reported from most Southeast Asian countries specifically Malaysia. The parasite causes severe and fatal malaria thus there is a need for urgent measures for its control. In this study, the level of polymorphisms, haplotypes and natural selection of full-length pkmsp8 in 37 clinical samples from Malaysian Borneo along with 6 lab-adapted strains were investigated. Low levels of polymorphism were observed across the full-length gene, the double epidermal growth factor (EGF) domains were mostly conserved, and non-synonymous substitutions were absent. Evidence of strong negative selection pressure in the non-EGF regions were found indicating functional constrains acting at different domains. Phylogenetic haplotype network analysis identified shared haplotypes and indicated geographical clustering of samples originating from Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo. This is the first study to genetically characterize the full-length msp8 gene from clinical isolates of P. knowlesi from Malaysia; however, further functional characterization would be useful for future rational vaccine design.

Part-Worth Estimation of the University Library Factors By Conjoint Analysis (컨조인트 분석을 이용한 대학 도서관 기능요소의 부분가치 추정)

  • Park, Il-Jong;Shin, Sang-Heun
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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    • v.34 no.4
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    • pp.161-174
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    • 2000
  • In this conjoint analysis, the objectives of the research are to derive structural part-worth level estimations by the conjoint factors and individual levels from the university library functional factors. The major findings of this study are; (1) The level of temperature of the library is statistically the most important one for the research samples, and (2) Facility factors and its levels as well as operation factors and its levels are statistically shown as less important variables.

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Evaluation of Physico-chemical and Textural Properties, and Sensory Evaluation of No-fat Sausages Manufactured with Various Salt Levels

  • Lee, Hong-C.;Chin, Koo-B.
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society for Food Science of Animal Resources Conference
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    • 2004.05a
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    • pp.239-241
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    • 2004
  • pH, proximate analysis and functional properties were not significantly affected by reduced salt levels in NFS which contained 75${\sim}$76% moisture, 14${\sim}$15% protein < 0.5% fat in the final products. However, NFSs had differences in color and EM (%) values as compared to RFS, The results of textural test showed that they were not different with reduced salt levels (0.75${\sim}$1.5%) among the RFS and no-fat treatments (P>0.05). NFS containing 1.0% salt had similar sensory color, flavor and saltiness values to those RFS. These results indicated that NFSs was successfully manufactured with 1.0% salt level and these may contribute to the 'healthier meat products' for consumers due to no-fat and low-salt meat products.

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Anti-Obesity Effect of Garlic-added Kochujang in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes

  • Kong, Chang-Suk;Park, Kun-Young
    • Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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    • v.13 no.2
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    • pp.66-70
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    • 2008
  • In order to develop a functionally improved kochujang with antiobesity effects, garlic-added kochujang was prepared with freeze-dried garlic powder and followed by fermentation for 60 days at $30^{\circ}C$. Antiobesity effect of the garlic-added kochujang was investigated by measuring the leptin secretions and mRNA expression levels of obesity-related gene such as TNF${\alpha}$, PPAR${\gamma}$, C/EBP${\alpha}$, and SREBP1c, in cultured 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Fermentation of garlic-added kochujang led to decreased levels of leptin secretions and reduced the mRNA expression levels of TNF${\alpha}$, PPAR${\gamma}$, C/EBP${\alpha}$, and SREBP1c in the 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Accordingly, these results suggest that the addition of garlic to kochujang has a potential as a valuable functional food for controlling obesity.

Effects of Extrusion Variable on Functional and Nutritional Properties of Extruded Oat Products

  • Gutkoski, Luiz Carlos;El-Dash, Ahmed Atia
    • Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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    • v.4 no.3
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    • pp.159-162
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    • 1999
  • The purpose of this research was to study the effects of initial moisture levels and extrusion temperatures on dietary fiber, nitrogen solubility index, available lysine, and the in vitro protein digestibility of extruded oat productes. The dehulled grains were ground in a Brabender quadrumat Senior mill and the coarse fraction, with higher crude protein, lipids and dietary fiber were conditioned on various mositre levels (15.5~25.5%) and extruded in a Brabender single-screw laboratory extruder. The extrudates showed a higher amount of soluble dietary fiber (8.14%) than in the raw material . However, the extrusion process affected the nutritional value of the protein due to a decrease in available lysine with increased temperature . The in vitro protein digestibility was unaffected by initial moisture levels and the extrusion temperatures examined.

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Influences of Sodium Fluoride Contents on Hepatic Functional Enzyme Activities in Rats (Sodium Fluoride 함량이 흰쥐의 간 기능 효소활성에 미치는 영향)

  • Kim, Han-Soo
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.28 no.11
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    • pp.943-950
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    • 2019
  • The purpose of this study was to probe the influences of NaF oral administration on a dose-effect relationship between fluoride levels of serum enzyme activity such as alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in rats fed experimental diets for 5 weeks. All groups increased the activity of serum ALP, AST, ALT, and LDH levels with increasing NaF. In addition the fluoride levels of serum and organ tissues (liver, brain, heart, lung, kidney) in oral NaF groups (NF3~NF50) were significantly increased by adding sodium fluoride in comparison with normal diet group (ND) (p<0.05). These results, a high concentration of sodium fluoride was determined that the toxicity to various organ tissues.

Effects of Coated Liposome from Discorea rhizoma Extract (DRE) -on Hypoglycemic, Serum Insulin, and Lipid Levels in Streptozotocin-Induced (산약 추출물의 리포좀 처리가 Streptozotocin으로 유발된 당뇨 마우스의 혈당 강하 효과와 혈장 인슐린 및 지질에 미치는 영향)

  • Choi, Kyung-Soon
    • The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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    • v.26 no.2
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    • pp.310-317
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    • 2013
  • To investigate the effects of coated liposome from Discorea rhizoma extract (DRE) in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced, we evaluated changes in body weight, fasting blood glucose, blood insulin and blood lipid concentrations in mice. Mice were divided into four groups: (DC), diabetic DRE at 10 mg/kg (DRE-1), diabetic DRE at 50 mg/kg (DRE-2), and diabetic DRE at 250 mg/kg (DRE-3). Mice had free access to water and diet (10 weeks). The DC group showed higher blood cholesterol than the DRE-1, DRE-2, DRE-3 groups. In glucose tolerance test, the DRE-1, DRE-2, and DRE-3 groups increased after 30 minutes in decremental glycemic response area under the curve. Fasting blood glucose levels in the DRE groups significantly decreased through 4 weeks. Plasma total cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL-cholesterol concentrations were also lower in the DRE groups. On the other hand, the DRE-1, DRE-2 and DRE-3 groups showed higher HDL-cholesterol and insulin levels than the DC group. Moreover, blood glucose and lipid levels significantly decreased in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice treated with DRE. These results indicate that DRE may reduce elevated blood glucose levels and serum lipid concentrations in hypoglycemic and diabetic mice, suggesting its usefulness as a functional food.

A Study on Eating Behavior, Developmental Outcomes of Young Children, and Nutritional Attitude and Knowledge Levels of Mothers (영유아의 식행동, 발달 수준 그리고 어머니의 영양 태도 및 영양 지식에 관한 연구)

  • Seo, So-Jung;Shin, Han-Seung
    • Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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    • v.19 no.6
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    • pp.839-845
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    • 2009
  • The objective of this study was to examine the eating habit characteristic and developmental outcomes of young children (ages 24 months through 42 months) as well as their mothers' nutritional attitudes and maternal levels of nutrition knowledge. The study also analyzed relationships among the children's eating habits and developmental outcomes and the mothers' nutritional attitudes and nutrition knowledge levels. The subjects included 164 young children who were enrolled in early childhood education and care settings in Seoul and Gyunggi province. The main results were as follows. There were significant correlations among the young children's eating habits and developmental outcomes, specifically between their attitudes towards meals and fine motor skills, communication, social-emotional aspects, and cognitive areas (p<0.01). In addition, there were significant correlations among the young children's eating habits, the mothers' nutritional attitudes and their nutrition knowledge levels (p<0.01).

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Expression Profiles of Secretory Leucocyte Protease Inhibitor, MMP9, and Neutrophil Elastase in the Mouse Uterus

  • Cheon, Yong-Pil
    • Development and Reproduction
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    • v.14 no.3
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    • pp.207-214
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    • 2010
  • The tremendous changes of uterine endometrium are observed during early pregnancy and protease and their inhibitors are involved in regulation of cell proliferation and remodeling of the tissues through remodeling the extracellular matrix (ECM). Some of the proteases and protease inhibitors have been suspected to a factor in endometrial changes but many parts of their expression profiles and the physiological roles are not uncovered. To evaluate the functional roles of them, in this study the expression profiles of proteases and protease inhibitors were analyzed using real-time quantitative PCR analysis. Mmp9 (matrix metalloproteinase 9) mRNA levels peaked on day 4 at the time of implantation. On the other hand, Ela2 (neutrophil elastase, NE) mRNA levels were peaked on day 2 of pregnancy. Its expression were decreased until day 4 of pregnancy but increased rapidly until day 7 of pregnancy and decreased again. NE inhibitor Slpi (secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor, SLPI) mRNA levels were related with the implantation stage and with the levels of Ela2. At the time of implantation the expression levels of Slpi mRNA were about 5 times higher than the Ela2 mRNA in the uterus. In the implantation stage embryos, Mmp9 specific mRNA was only detected at the blastocyst. On the other hand, the expression level of SLPI was higher than that of the Ela2 mRNA at blastocyst and 4.5 day p.c. embryos. Based on these results it is suggested that MMP9, SLPI, and NE have important physiological role in embryo implantation both in uterus and embryos.

Effect of iodine restriction on short-term changes in thyroid function in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism

  • Kwon, Obin;Shin, Dong Yeob;Lee, Eun Jig
    • Journal of Nutrition and Health
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    • v.55 no.2
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    • pp.250-262
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    • 2022
  • Purpose: Elevated iodine intake is related to a higher prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH). We investigated the short-term effect of dietary iodine restriction on thyroid function in patients with SCH with high iodine intakes. Methods: The iodine levels in 64 SCH patients with serum TSH levels from 4.0 to 10.0 mIU/L and normal serum fT4 levels (n = 64) were assessed using 24-hour urine iodine test results and iodine intake levels calculated using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Dietary iodine restriction was not recommended for patients with an iodine intake in the normal range (group A, n = 13), but seaweed restriction was recommended for patients with high iodine intakes (group B, n = 33). Thyroid functions and iodine levels were rechecked after three months. Another eighteen patients were prescribed thyroid hormone replacement therapy according to clinical criteria. Results: Median baseline iodine intake for the 64 patients was 290.61 ㎍/day, and median 24-hour urine iodine was 33.65 µmol/g of creatinine. The major source of dietary iodine was seaweed, which accounted for 72.2% of median baseline intake. Urine iodine and calculated iodine intake levels were positively correlated with serum TSH levels (p < 0.001 and p = 0.027, respectively), and calculated iodine intakes were significantly correlated with urine iodine levels (p = 0.001). In group B, iodine restriction significantly decreased urine iodine (p = 0.042) and TSH levels (p = 0.004), and conversion to euthyroid status was achieved in 16 of the 33 patients (48.5%). Conclusion: Iodine intake and urine iodine levels are correlated with thyroid function in SCH patients, and dietary iodine restriction can aid functional thyroid recovery in patients with elevated iodine intakes.