• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.1201-1209
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to isolate probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) that produce bile salt hydrolase (BSH), and to evaluate its effects on serum cholesterol level. One-hundred-twenty bacterial colonies were initially isolated from human feces, and five strains were selected after screening based on their resistance to acids, tolerance against bile salts, and inhibitory activity on Escherichia coli. The Lactobacillus plantarum strain with the highest level of BSH activity was identified using 16S rRNA sequences, and was named L. plantarum CK 102. L. plantarum CK 102 at a level of 1.36$\times$10$^8$cfu/ml survived in pH 2 buffer for 6 h and exhibited excellent tolerance for bile salt. Coculturing the strain with E. coli in MRS broth resulted in strong inhibition against growth of E. coli at 18 h. Furthermore, the potential effect of CK 102 on serum cholesterol level was evaluated in rats. Thirty-two rats [Sprague-Dawley (SD) male, 129$\pm$l g, 5 weeks old] were divided into four groups of eight each. For six weeks, Group 1 was fed a normal diet (negative control); Group 2 was fed a cholesterol-enriched diet (positive control); Group 3 was fed a cholesterol-enriched diet plus L. plantarum CK 102 at 1.0$\times$10$^7$cfu/ml; and Group 4 was fed a cholesterol-enriched diet plus L. plantarum CK 102 at 5.0$\times$10$^7$cfu/ml. Blood samples were collected, serum lipids were analyzed, and weights of the organs were measured. Total blood cholesterol level, triglyceride, LDL-cholesterol, and free-cholesterol values were lower in rats that were fed 1. plantarum CK 102 than in those not fed L. plantarum CK 102. This cholesterol lowering effect implies that L. plantarum CK 102 could be utilized as an additive for health-assistance foods. In conclusion, these results suggest that the 1. plantarum CK 102 isolated could be used commercially as a probiotic.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.644-651
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• 2013

The fermented manure derivative known as Preparation 500 is traditionally used as a field spray in biodynamic agriculture for maintaining and increasing soil fertility. This work aimed at characterizing the product from a microbiological standpoint and at assaying its bioactive properties. The approach involved molecular taxonomical characterization of the culturable microbial community; ARISA fingerprints of the total bacteria and fungal communities; chemical elemental macronutrient analysis via a combustion analyzer; activity assays for six key enzymes; bioassays for bacterial quorum sensing and chitolipooligosaccharide production; and plant hormone-like activity. The material was found to harbor a bacterial community of $2.38{\times}10^8$ CFU/g dw dominated by Gram-positives with minor instances of Actinobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria. ARISA showed a coherence of bacterial assemblages in different preparation lots of the same year in spite of geographic origin. Enzymatic activities showed elevated values of ${\beta}$-glucosidase, alkaline phosphatase, chitinase, and esterase. The preparation had no quorum sensing-detectable signal, and no rhizobial nod gene-inducing properties, but displayed a strong auxin-like effect on plants. Enzymatic analyses indicated a bioactive potential in the fertility and nutrient cycling contexts. The IAA activity and microbial degradation products qualify for a possible activity as soil biostimulants. Quantitative details and possible modes of action are discussed.

• Proceedings of the Korea Contents Association Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.135-136
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• 2011

It is very crucial that small and medium-sized enterprises, called SMEs, should play a pivotal role in creating jobs and contributing to export. Day by day under the influence of the increment globalization of the world market and the rapid changes of business environment, our country has been heavily dependent on export to the foreign countries. Therefore, both enterprises' Marketing Mix such as Product, Price, Place and Promotion and global competitiveness are essential elements to raise the volume of export. The purpose of this research is to find out the relationships between Marketing Mix and Marketing Performance. The considerable number of 338 domestic export SMEs was surveyed to verify the hypothesis and research model through a covariance structure analysis via AMOS 18.0, accompanied by the confirmatory factor analysis to prove suggested potential variables. After the strenuous empirical analysis, the relationship between marketing mix elements and marketing performance, the place and promotion element of 4Ps' Mix proved to have a postive impact on marketing performance. This research focused on Marketing Mix as major elements in marketing performance. Theoretical and practical implications are generated to help both enterprises and policy-makers that cover comprehensive government policies for SMEs.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.288-293
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• 2008

Objective : Bone cement leakage is a well-known potential complication of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) in patients with osteoporotic compression fracture. Even though there has been a controversy in the efficacy of antecedent venography to prevent this complication, many authors have performed intra osseous venography before bone cement injection. The goal of this study was to classify the venous drainage patterns of spine before PVP, and compare their patterns at different vertebral levels. Methods : The authors retrospectively reviewed 1,042 intraosseous venographic patterns in 321 patients with 574 osteoporotic compression fractures during six-year period in one institution. To classify venogram patterns, we selected simple lateral X-ray of spine taken immediately after injection of the contrast dye. We classified the venography patterns according to contrast leakage pattern and leakage direction as follows; trabecular (TR), trabecular anterior (TA), trabecular posterior (TP), trabecular anterior-posterior (TAP), trabecular lateral (TL), venous anterior(VA), venous posterior (VP), venous anterior-posterior (VAP), soft tissue (ST). Also, we compared venogram patterns according to different spinal levels. Results : In overall, the most common pattern was TP type accounting for 37.4% (390/1042) of all intraosseous venograms. This is followed by TAP in 21.5%, TR 17.4%, TA 116%, TL 5.8%, ST 4.1%, VA 1.2%, VP 0.6%, and VAP 0.4% in descending order of frequency. According to the spinal level, TR and TAP types were most common in thoracic spine (T6-T10), TP type was most common in thoraco-Iumbar spine (T11-L2), and TP and TAP types were most common in lumbo-sacral spine (L3-S1). Contrast dye leakage to soft tissue such as psoas muscle or disc were detected in 43 (4.1%) venograms. Direct venous drainage without staining of vertebral body was found in 23 (2.2%) venograms. The 8.3% of thoracic venogram showed direct venous drainage. Thoracic level showed a more tendency of direct venous drainage than other spine levels (p<001). Conclusion : The authors propose a new classification system of intra osseous venography during PVP. The trabecular-posterior (TP) type is most common through all spine, and venous-filling (V) type was most frequent in thoracic spine. Further study would be necessary to elucidate the efficacy of this classification system to prevent bone cement leakage during PVP.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.sup1
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• pp.49-53
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• 2016

Evidence shows that tobacco advertising and promotion activities may increase tobacco consumption and usage, especially in youth. Despite the regulation on prohibiting advertisement of any tobacco product, tobacco advertisement and promotion activities are still common in Vietnam. This article presents current exposure to tobacco advertising and promotion (TAP) among school children aged 13 to 15 years in Vietnam in 2014 and potential influencing factors. Data from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey 2014 in Vietnam covering 3,430 school aged children were used. Both descriptive and analytical statistics were carried out with Stata 13 statistical software. Binary logistic regression was applied to explain the exposure to TAP among youth and examine relationships with individual factors. A significance level of p<0.05 and sampling weights were used in all of the computations. In the past 30 days, 48.6% of the students experienced exposure to at least 1 type of tobacco advertising or promotion. Wearing or otherwise using products related to tobacco was the most exposure TAP type reported by students (22.3%). The internet (22.1), points of sales (19.2) and social events (11.5) were three places that students aged 13-15 frequently were exposed to TAP. Binary logistic results showed that gender (female vs male) (OR = 0.61, 95%CI: 0.52 - 0.71), susceptibility to smoking (OR = 2.12, 95%CI: 1.53 - 2.92), closest friends' smoked (OR = 1.43, 95%CI: 1.2 - 1.7) and parents smoking status (OR = 2.83, 95%CI: 1.6 - 5.01) were significantly associated with TAP exposure among school-aged children. The research findings should contribute to effective implementation of measures for preventing and controlling tobacco use among students aged 13-15 in Viet Nam.

• Survey Research
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.97-121
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• 2010

Using the 1998-2004 Health and Retirement Study(HRS), this study explored the determinants of private long-term care insurance(LTCI) ownership and the first home care use. To account for the interaction between LTCI purchase and home care use, this study used two-period utility model as theoretical framework. Discrete time model was used as an empirical model to incorporate the time-dependent feature of LTCI ownership. And this study accounted for the endogeneity of LTCI ownership and home care use by employing full information maximum likelihood estimation. This study indicated insignificant effects of private LTCI ownership and Medicaid eligibility on the home care use. Also, the effects of income and assets on home care utilization were negligible. Those who have poor health condition and who do not have potential informal caregivers were more likely to use home care. For private LTCI ownership, income and assets have positive relationship with LTCI purchase, and poor health status and age were negatively related to LTCI purchase. The elderly living with children and those who have more siblings were less likely to have private LTCI, and those who lived with spouses with no children were more likely to buy private LTCI. Based on the findings, this study provides implications to design long-term care(LTC) policies in the U.S. and to develop LTC planning education programs.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.37 no.9
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• pp.1208-1213
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• 2008

The changes in the contents of GABA ($\gamma$-aminobutyric acid) and free amino acids (FAA) were analysed by HPLC in soybean fermented with Monascus pilosus IFO 480, which showed the highest GABA-producing ability among the five different strains. The significant increase (p<0.05) of GABA was observed in Monascusfermented soybean (MFS) with an average 4.5-fold increase of FAA. The contents of GABA (78.5 mg /100 g dry weight, dw) and FAA (5458.5 mg /100 g dw) were enhanced in MFS compared with unfermented soybean (31.5 mg /100 g dw, 1634.0 mg/100 g dw, respectively) during 30 days fermentation at $30^{\circ}C$. Acidic amino acids (i.e., glutamic acid and aspartic acid) in FAA files were found in large quantities (837.0 mg /100 g dw, 580.5 mg /100 g dw, respectively). Moreover, the sum of essential amino acids of MFS (1681.5 mg /100 g dw) at 20 days fermentation increased by 3.6 times compared with that of the control (469.0 mg /100 g dw). The results indicate that Monascus-fermentation have great potential for the enrichment of GABA and free amino acids in soybean.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.236-243
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• 2006

Microarray analysis of gene expression has become a powerful approach for exploring the biological effects of drugs, particularly at the stage of toxicology and safety assessment. Acetaminophen (APAP) has been known to induce necrosis in liver, but the molecular mechanism involved has not been fully understood. In this study, we investigated gene expression changes of APAP using microarray technology. APAP was orally administered with a single dose of 50 mg/kg or 500 mg/kg into ICR mice and the animals were sacrificed at 6, 24 and 72 h of APAP administration. Serum biochemical markers for liver toxicity were measured to estimate the maximal toxic time and hepatic gene expression was assessed using high-density oligonucleotide microarrays capable of determining the expression profile of >30,000 well-substantiated mouse genes. Significant alterations in gene expression were noted in the liver of APAP-administered mice. The most notable changes in APAP-administered mice were the expression of genes involved in apoptosis, cell cycle, and calcium signaling pathway, cystein metabolism, glutatione metabolism, and MAPK pathway. The majority of the genes upregulated included insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1, heme oxygenase 1, metallothionein 1, S100 calcium binding protein, caspase 4, and P21. The upregulation of apoptosis and cell cycle-related genes were paralleled to response to APAP. Most of the affected gene expressions were returned to control levels after 72 hr. In conclusion, we identified potential hepatotoxicity makers, and these expressions profiling lead to a better understanding of the molecular basis of APAP-induced hapatotoxicity.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.240-249
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• 2015

Objectives: Farmers are known to be exposed to a variety of allergens related to the work environment. This study was conducted to determine the sensitization rates as well as South Korea that they are sensitized to certain allergens farmers through the skin prick test. Methods: By targeting a total of 1143 people living in the rural town of Gyeonggi Province, it was conducted a questionnaire containing demographic and occupational risk factors and underwent skin prick tests with 15 types of allergens(including positive and negative controls). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the association between occupational risk factors and skin prick test positivity. Results: Except for the 30 people whose result is invalid, positive rate of the skin prick test was 18.6% in 1,113 people. The species of house dust mite, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae was the highest at 8.7% and 8.6%. After adjusted by age, gender, smoking and education level, odds ratio of flower plant farmers is 4.467(95% CI: 2.094-9.527) and fruit farmer is 2.275(95% CI: 1.096-4.721). In addition, the rate of sensitization to grass pollen mixture of the flower plant farmers is significantly higher(15.9%, p<0.001) than other allergens. Conclusions: Even farmers, the rate of sensitization to allergens related to the general environment, such as house dust mite is relatively dominant. However, given the presence of potential cross-reactivity between the allergens or distribution showed that the unique aspects of allergen sensitization in the flower growers, occupational cause is not be completely ruled out.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.263-268
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• 1981

Fourteen hundred and one landraces of sesame cultivated in Korea were collected and evaluated for their major agronomic characters and yield potential under conditions of May 15 sowing, 50\timesl5cm planting density and 4-3-2 kg/l0a of N-P_2 $O_{5}$-K_2 O application in Suweon in 1977. Seventy nine percent of the collection had white seed coat color, and 29% was brown. One capsule type with two rooms-four cells was 75%, one capsule type with four rooms-eight cells was 20%, and three capsule type with two rooms-four cel1s were 5% of the varieties collected, But, two one-capsule type varieties with three rooms-six cells were also found. Days to flowering from emergence were long in the varieties collected in the central northern area, but short in the varieties collected in the southern area. Number of capsule per plant was more in the central northern varieties than in the southern varieties. Number of branch per plant was more in the one capsule type varieties with two rooms-four cells than in the three capsule type varieties with two rooms-four cells and in the one capsule type varieties with four rooms-eight cells. There were significant corelations between number of capsules per plant and grain yields in the one capsule type varieties with four cells. Grain yields had significant correlation with number of capsules per plant and number of branches per plant.