• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.81 no.1
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• pp.42-48
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• 2018

Background: The diffusing capacity of the lung is influenced by multiple factors such as age, sex, height, weight, ethnicity and smoking status. Although a prediction equation for the diffusing capacity of Korea was proposed in the mid-1980s, this equation is not used currently. The aim of this study was to develop a new prediction equation for the diffusing capacity for Koreans. Methods: Using the data of the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a total of 140 nonsmokers with normal chest X-rays were enrolled in this study. Results: Using linear regression analysis, a new predicting equation for diffusing capacity was developed. For men, the following new equations were developed: carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (DLco)=-10.4433-0.1434${\times}$age (year)+0.2482${\times}$heights (cm); DLco/alveolar volume (VA)=6.01507-0.02374${\times}$age (year)-0.00233${\times}$heights (cm). For women the prediction equations were described as followed: DLco=-12.8895-0.0532${\times}$age (year)+0.2145${\times}$heights (cm) and DLco/VA=7.69516-0.02219${\times}$age (year)-0.01377${\times}$heights (cm). All equations were internally validated by k-fold cross validation method. Conclusion: In this study, we developed new prediction equations for the diffusing capacity of the lungs of Koreans. A further study is needed to validate the new predicting equation for diffusing capacity.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.195-206
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• 2021

In 2020, South Korea initiated research and development of a longitudinal connectivity evaluation between upstream and downstream based on stream ecosystem health. This study analyzed the migration of upstream and downstream migratory fish species, fish distribution characteristics, trophic guilds, tolerance guilds, and species composition changes from 2015 to 2020 at Songrim weir in Yeongok stream, where the cross-structure of an ice harbor-type fishway for fish movement was recently improved. A total of 5,136 fish, including 36 species, were collected and three major migratory fishes were identified, namely, Tribolodon hakonensis, Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis, and Oncorhynchus keta. According to the comparative analysis before (Pre-I) and after (Post-I) improvement of the fishway, the relative abundance of primary freshwater fish increased in the upstream section, while the number of migratory fishes decreased. The fish species that used the fishway in the Songrim weir were Tribolodon hakonensis (58.4%) and Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis(11.8%). According to the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test migratory fish showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) in the upstream and downstream, showing a biological improvement effect of the crossstructure. On the other hand, the annual change of migratory fish based on the MannKendall trend test did not significantly increase or decrease (p>0.05). Therefore, in the fish passage improvement project, it is necessary not only for physical, hydrological, and structural tests, but also for pre- and post-biological tests on the use and improvement effect of fishway.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.2 s.69
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• pp.225-230
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• 2005

The aim of this study was to examine the fluctuation in phytoplankton assemblages with regarding to environmental conditions and nutrients, which were surveyed quarterly over the fours seasons (February, May, July, and October). In turn, an understanding of biological effects should provide insights into a wide range of initiated Cochlodinium blooms in Narodo. Sampling was carried out throughout 2001 on the coasts of Busan (St. 1), Yeosu (St. 2), Narodo (St. 3), Kohung (St. 4), and Kwangdo (St. 5). The maximum surface water temperature was recorded in July, and it ranged from 20 to $22^{\circ}C$. Salinity showed no great variation, which maintained itself in the range of 29-34 psu. The maximum surface salinity was recorded in February, which was about 34 psu. The chlorophyll $\alpha$ concentration of the surface water ranged from 0.01 to $1.3\;{\mu}g\;1^{-1}$. The concentrations of $NH_{4}-N $ were persistently high from February to October; in particular, the peak was observed at St. 1 in February and May (0.15 and $0.19\;{\mu}mol\;1^{-1}$, respectively), while it was detected at St. 2 in July and October (0.22 and $2.2\;{\mu}mol\;1^{-1}$ respectively). Similar trends to those for $NH_4-N $ were observed in the concentrations of $NO_{2}-N$ and $NO_{3}-N$. In contrast to nitrogen, a distinct peak of $NO_{4}-P$ at St. 3, 4, and 5 was observed throughout year $(0.01-0.1\;{\mu}mol\;1^{-1}$ except for October. At St. 1 encounter a peak of cell number of 30,000 and $13{\times}10^3$ cells $1^{-1}$, respectively, in July and October. During the period of this study, the majority of the taxa were diatoms. The dinoflagellates were rather abundant after February, in particular at St. 3, 4, and 5 which attained an abundance of $10\~20\%$without marked fluctuation during the period of this study. At St. 3, the highest average cell width, $178.11\;{\mu}m$, was recorded: the highest cell length, $337.72\;{\mu}m$, was measured in July. Consequently, dinoflagellates bloom in July at Narodo influenced by warm water current are not only associated with a desirable development of cell morphometric characteristics, but also with the health growth of C. polykrikoides. During the period of this study, warm water currents caused an increased water temperature in Narodo, but did not change the amount of nutrients.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.147-155
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• 2008

Medical nutrition therapy (MNT) is considered a keystone of medical treatment of chronic diseases. However, only few studies have evaluated medical and economical outcome of MNT. The study was performed on the patient with type 2 diabetes mellitus to evaluate the effect of clinical and cost-effective outcomes of MNT. Subjects from two general hospitals were randomly assigned to two different groups; One receiving basic nutritional education (BE) (n = 35), and the other receiving intensive nutritional education (IE) (n = 32) for a 6-month clinical trial. The group which received BE had a single visit with a dietitian, while the other group which received IE had an initial visit with a dietitian addition to two visits during the first 4 weeks of the study periods. Anthropometric parameters, blood components, and dietary intake were measures at the beginning of study period and after 6 month. Cost-effective analysis included direct labor costs, educational materials and medication cost difference during 6 months. After 6 month, subjects from IE group showed significant reduction of body weight (p <0.05) and systolic blood pressure (p <0.05), whereas BE group did not show any significant changes. Result from biochemical indices showed glycated hemoglobin concentration was significantly reduced by 0.7% (p <0.05) only in the IE group. The ratio of energy intake to prescribed energy intake decreased significantly in both groups (p <0.05). Mean time taken for a dietitian to educate the subject was 67.9 ${\pm}$ 9.3 min/person for BE group, while 96.4 ${\pm}$ 12.2 min/person for IE group. Mean number of educational materials was 1.9 ${\pm}$ 0.7/person for BE group and 2.5 ${\pm}$ 0.7/person for IE group. Change in glycated hemoglobin level along the 6 month period of study can be achieved with an investment of \88,510/% by implementing BE and \53,691/% by implementing IE. Considering the net cost-effect of blood glucose control and HbA Ic, IE which provides MNT by dietitian had a cost efficiency advantage than that of BE. According to this study, MNT provided by dietitian had a significant improvements in medical and clinical outcomes compared to that of BE intervention. Therefore, MNT protocol should be performed by systemic intensive nutrition care by dietitian in clinical setting to achieve good therapeutic results of DM with lower cost.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.163-174
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• 2020

Particulate matter levels are rapidly increasing daily, and this can affect human health. Therefore, air pollutant emissions from sea vessels require management. This study evaluates the status of air pollutants, focusing on air pollutant emissions from the vessels of the Korea Coast Guard (KCG), and proposes national management measures to reduce emissions. According to a report recently released (2018) by the National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER), emissions from vessels constituted 6.4 % of the total domestic emissions, including 13.1 % NO_x, 10.9 % SO_x, and 9.6 % particulate matter (PM10/PM2.5). Among the rates of pollutant emission from vessels, the emission rates of domestic and overseas cargo vessels were the highest (50.6 %); the ratio of fishing boats was 42.6 %. With respect to jurisdictional sea area, 44.1 % of the emissions are from the south sea, including the Busan and Ulsan ports, and 24.8 % of the emissions are from the west sea, including the Gwangyang and Yeosu ports. The KCG inspects boarding lines to manage emission conditions and regulate air pollutant emissions, but it takes time and effort to operate various discharge devices and measure fuel oil standards. In addition, owing to busy ship schedules, inspection documents are limited in terms of management. Therefore, to reduce the air pollutant emissions of such vessels, regulations will be strengthened to check for air pollutants, and a monitoring system based on actual field data using KCG patrol ships will be established, for each sea area, to manage the emissions of such vessels. Furthermore, there is a need for technological development and institutional support for the introduction of environmentally friendly vessels.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.34-41
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• 2016

Black chokeberries (scientific name Aronia melanocarpa) have been reported to have major effects due to anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer capabilities. In this study, we investigated the anti- wrinkle effects of A. melanocarpa, including collagenase inhibition effects and their molecular biological mechanisms, such as oxidative stress-induced matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, and activator protein (AP)-1 expression and/or phosphorylation. In collagenase inhibition activity, the ethyl acetate fraction of black chokeberry (AE) was 77.2% at a concentration of 500 μg/ml, which was a significant result compared to that of Epigallocatechin gallate (positive control, 83.9% in 500 μg/ml). In the reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay, the AE produced 78% of ROS in 10 μg/ml and 70% of ROS in 75 μg/ml, which was a much lower percentage than the ROS production of H₂O₂-induced CCRF S-180II cells. In the MTT assay, cell viability was increased dose-dependently with AE in H₂O₂-induced cells. In protein expression by western blot assay, the AE suppressed the expression and phosphorylation of MMPs (MMP-1, -3, -9), MAPK (ERK, JNK, and p38), and AP-1 (c-Fos and c-Jun), and expressed the pro-collagen type I in H₂O₂-induced cells. These results suggest that black chokeberries have anti-wrinkle and collagen-production effects, and they may be used in applications for material development in the functional food and cosmetic industries.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.116-124
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• 2013

The aim was to examine resistance exercise-related genes after 8 weeks of resistance training. Thirty-two male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups: 4 weeks sedentary (4 wks CON, n=8), 8 weeks sedentary (8 wks CON, n=8), 4 weeks exercise training (4 wks REG, n=8), and 8 weeks exercise training (8 wks REG, n=8). The rats were trained to climb a 1-m vertical incline (85-degree), with weights secured to their tails. They climbed 10 times, 3 days per week, for 8 consecutive weeks. Skeletal muscle was taken from the flexor halucis longus after the exercise training. After separating the total RNA, large-scale gene expression was investigated by beadarray (Illumina RatRef-12 Expression BeadChip) analysis, and qPCR was used to inspect the beadarray data and to analyze the RNA quantitatively. The detection p-value for the genes was p<0.01, the M-value {M=$log_2$(condition)-$log_2$(reference)} was >1.0, and the DiffScore was >20. In total, the expression of 30 genes significantly increased 4 weeks after the exercise training, and the expression of six genes decreased. At 8 weeks, the expression of five genes significantly increased and that of 12 decreased. Several genes are potentially involved in resistance exercise and muscle hypertrophy, including 1) regulation of cell growth (IGFBP1, PLA2G2A, OKL38); 2) myogenesis (CSRP3); 3) tissue regeneration and muscle development (MUSTN1, MYBPH); 4) hypertrophy (CYR61, ATF3, NR4A3); and 5) glucose metabolism (G6PC, PCK1). These results may help to explain previously reported physiological changes of the skeletal muscle and suggest new avenues for further investigation.

• Korea Science and Art Forum
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• v.28
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• pp.23-32
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the activation of sports for the disabled people in Korea through the localization of the road racing handcycles. Recently, there are no handcycles produced in Korea, and all the players are using products made in foreign countries. In the case of foreign products, it is made to fit the body shape of foreign athletes. Therefore, when domestic players are using them, they put additional parts to foreign products in order to fit their body shape. This not only adds to the cost burden, but also causes a decrease in the performance of the athletes. In order to overcome these problems, we developed the road racing handcycle in consideration of the body shape of the Koreans and conducted a comparative usability evaluation with the foreign products to evaluate the performance of the developed prototype. Therefore, we analyzed the quantitative and qualitative evaluation results of the prototype produced in the previous study, and developed the Korean road racing handcycle that can improve the competitiveness while considering the shape of domestic players. Based on the problems derived from the first prototype, this study additionally constructed a crank, an air intake part and a discharge part, and a rear anti-shake prevention device. In order to evaluate the usability, we conducted a comparative usability assessment with the foreign products used by the current standing handcycle athletes. The results were measured in the area of effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction, and the prototype developed through the research on efficiency and satisfaction excluding effectiveness was evaluated to be higher than those of foreign products. This study will contribute to the improvement of international competitiveness due to import substitution effects of foreign products and exports by lowering the handcycle cost of importing foreign handcycle.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.2 s.75
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• pp.199-205
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• 2006

Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR)-$\alpha$ of three PPAR subtypes ($-\alpha,\;-\beta/-\gamma,\;-\delta$), which are members of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily of ligand-activated transcription factors, plays a key role in lipoprotein and glucose homeostasis. A variation in the PPAR-a gene expression has been suggested to influence the development of metabolic syndrome through alterations in lipid concentrations. The aim of our study was to investigate the association between the PPAR-a and metabolic syndrome among South Korean. A total of 542 health screen examinees were enrolled in this study who were examined in Kosin University Gospel Hospital from December, 2004 to July, 2005. The height, weight, waist circumference, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure of the subjects were examined and fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglyceride were measured by-sampling in venous blood. The metabolic syndrome was defined as the presence of three or more of the following : waist circumference men ${\geq}90cm$, women ${\geq}80cm$, blood pressure ${\geq}130/85mmHg$, fasting glucose ${\geq}110mg/dL$, HDL cholesterol men <40 mg/dL, women <50 mg/dL, triglyceride ${\geq}150mg/dL$. The blood pressure, fasting glucose, HDL cholesterol, triglyceride were evaluated by using the criteria of NECP ATP III and waist circumference was assessed by using the criteria of WHO Asia-Western Pacific. And the author compared the frequency of the PPAR-$\alpha$ mutation of L162V ($C{\rightarrow}G$ variant in exon 5) in a sample of 542 subjects with and without the metabolic syndrome by polymerase chain reaction allele-specific oligonucleotide (PCR-ASO) method. One (0.2%) hetero-isotype among high risk of metabolic syndrome was identified. The values of waist circumference, body mass index and low density lipoprotein cholesterol of the mutant were 100 cm, 28.6 $kg/m^2$ and 120 mg/dL, respectively. Although the author failed to see significant association between the presence of the PPAR-$\alpha$ L162V polymorphism and metabolic syndrome, one PPAR-$\alpha$ L162V polymorphism in metabolic syndrome patients was found.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.361-373
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• 2019

Falls are a threat to the physical health of the elderly as well as to their overall quality of life. The purpose of this study was to identify which type of exercise is effective for improving the balance of the elderly, and to obtain the basic data for developing the falls prevention exercise intervention program for the elderly. We compared to the differential effects between rhythmic step exercise and core muscle strengthening exercise in terms of functional balance test and self-reported balance test. Women older than 65 years and under 80 years of age were assigned to one of the step exercise group(21), core muscle exercise group(20), and control group(21), and for 8 weeks, twice per week, 20-30 minutes of exercise were treated. All participants performed one foot static balance test with open and closed eyes. And they responded to self-reported balance test, such as Fall Efficacy Scale(FES) and Activities-specific Balance Confidence(ABC) Scale. The results of statistical analysis are summarized as follows. First, rhythmic stepping exercise was more effective in improving functional balance than core muscle strengthening exercise. In particular, the effect of step exercise was obvious in the one-foot static balance test with open eyes. Second, the self-reported balance test showed better step exercise than core muscle exercise. Specifically, rhythmic step exercise was more effective in enhancing fall efficacy than core muscle exercise. In conclusion, the rhythmic step exercise was more effective in improving the balance ability of the elderly than the core muscle exercise. The rhythmic step exercise is more related to the lower extremity muscles, and especially since the rhythmic step exercise is performed in various ground changes, it seems to have a high similarity to the fall occurrence situation. For future research, we recommended the development of task-oriented ankle proprioceptive exercise intervention program and exercise equipment based on the specific motion situation in which the fall accident occurs in the elderly.