• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.8
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• pp.1236-1247
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• 2014

Gamma irradiated-treatment of natural medicinal plants can be used to improve extraction transference number and for qualitative improvement of color when applied to functional material exploration. This study investigated the biological activities of Aralia elata cortex extracts upon gamma irradiation. In addition, different physical techniques [photostimulated luminescence (PSL) and thermoluminescence (TL)] were used for irradiation identification of Aralia elata cortex. In PSL analysis, non-irradiated (0 kGy) sample showed a negative result of 400 photon counts (PCs), whereas irradiated (5, 10, and 30 kGy) samples showed positive results of 90,100.00, 312,614.33, and 321,661.67 PCs, respectively. In the TL method, growth curve showed very unusual behaviors around $200^{\circ}C$ upon natural-irradiation of the non-irradiated (0 kGy) sample and around $150{\sim}250^{\circ}C$ for the irradiated (5, 10, and 30 kGy) samples. The TL ratio was 0.1 in non-irradiated samples at 0.011, whereas the values of irradiated samples (5, 10, and 30 kGy) were 0.1 at 1.105, 1.009, and 2.206, respectively. For phenolics of gamma-irradiated Aralia elata cortex, water and 50% ethanol extracts had the highest amounts, $17.30{\pm}0.40mg/g$ and $18.87{\pm}0.46mg/g$ at 10 kGy irradiation, respectively. The inhibitory activities of angiotensin-converting enzyme and xanthin oxidase were higher in both irradiated water and 50% ethanol extracts than in non-irradiated ones. For pancreatin ${\alpha}$-amylase and ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activities, water and 50% ethanol extracts containing $200{\mu}g/mL$ of phenolics showed high inhibitory activities of 60~100% at all irradiation doses (0~30 kGy). This result confirmed that Aralia elata cortex extracts have greater anti-diabetic effects than acabose as a diabetic remedy. Gamma-irradiated Aralia elata cortex extracts are useful as a functional material with anti-diabetic effects. Thus, Aralia elata cortex extracts can be used as a functional material with various biological activities, and gamma-irradiation can be used to amplify biological activities in plants.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.1205-1213
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• 2011

The optimal concentrations of salts in medium for cell growth and the production of carboxymethylcellulase (CMCase) by a recombinant E. coli JM109/DL-3 were established using two statistical methods: orthogonal array method (OAM) and response surface method (RSM). The analysis of variance (ANOVA) of data based on OAM indicated that $K_2HPO_4$ gave maximum sum of square (S) and percentage contribution (P) for cell growth as well as production of CMCase. The optimal concentrations of $K_2HPO_4$, NaCl, $MgSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$, and $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ in medium for cell growth extracted by Qualitek-4 (W32b) Software were 10.0, 1.0, 0.2, and 0.6 g/l, respectively, whereas those for the production of CMCase by E. coli JM109/DL-3 were 5.0, 1.0, 0.4, and 0.6 g/l. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) resulting from RSM indicated that a highly significant salt for cell growth was $K_2HPO_4$ ("probe>F" less than 0.0001), whereas $K_2HPO_4$ and $MgSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$ were significant for the production of CMCase. The optimal concentrations of $K_2HPO_4$, NaCl, $MgSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$, and $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ for cell growth extracted by Design Expert Software were 7.44, 1.08, 0.22, and 0.88 g/l, respectively, whereas those for production of CMCase were 5.84, 0.69, 0.28, and 0.54 g/l. The optimal concentrations of salts and their influences on cell growth and production of CMCase extracted by OAM were almost the same as those by RSM. Production of CMCase by a recombinant E. coli JM109/DL-3 under optimized concentration of salts was 1.93 times higher than that by Bacillus amyloliquifaciens DL-3.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.199-212
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• 2014

The physiological responses of three common temperate species, Pinus densiflora, Fraxinus rhynchophylla, Sorbus alnifolia to elevated $CO_2$ was investigated using open top chambers with different $CO_2$ concentrations. Morphological (stomatal size, density and area) and physiological characteristics (maximum rates of photosynthesis, carboxylation and electron transport) were compared among trees grown under ambient, ambient ${\times}1.4$ (~550 ppm) and ambient ${\times}1.8$ (~700 ppm) $CO_2$ concentrations for last four years. Morphological responses were different among species. F. rhynchophyllar increased their stomatal size and S. alnifolia had higher stomatal density under elevated $CO_2$ than ambient. Stomatal area decreased in P. densiflora, whereas it increased in S. alnifolia. However, the maximum photosynthesis rate increased in all species up to 43.5% by S. alnifolia under elevated $CO_2$ and the enhancement increased with time. Even with four years of exposure to elevated $CO_2$, there was no sign of acclimation in the maximum carboxylation rate and the maximum electron transport rates in all species. Especially, S. alnifolia even showed the temporary increase of photosynthetic capacities in spring, when leaf nitrogen concentration was high with new leaf development. There was no significant differences in diameter growth rate in any species due to high variation in their tree sizes, however accumulated diameter and biomass for four years showed significantly increment in all species under elevated $CO_2$. For example, S. alnifolia showed 59% increase in diameter at the ambient ${\times}1.8$ (~700 ppm) compared to ambient.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.124-131
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• 2006

For commercialization of molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC), it has some problems to be overcome such as decrease of porosity and thickness of the anode under the operating condition (at $650^{\circ}C$ and working pressure of more than 2 $kg_f/cm^2$). Recently, Ni-Al alloy anode has been proposed to replace the conventional Ni-Cr anode as an alternative material to resist a creep and inhibit the sintering. The objective of this research is to sinter the green sheet of Ni-Al alloy anode during single cell pre-treatment process, which has several advantages like cost down and simplification of manufacturing process. However, the Ni-Al alloy anode prepared with a conventional pre-treatment process showed the phase separation of Ni-Al alloy and formation of micropore(${\leqq}0.4{\mu}m$), resulting in low creep resistance and high electrolyte re-distribution. In order to prevent the Ni-Al alloy anode from phase-separating, nitrogen gas was used in the process of pre-treatment. Introducing the nitrogen, the phase separation from Ni-Al alloy into nickel and alumina was minimized and increased creep resistance. However, there was some micropore formation on the surface of Ni-Al alloy anode during the cell operation due to creation of lithium aluminate. Addition of more amount of electrolyte into a cell, especially at cathode, made the cell performance stable for 2,000 hrs. Consequently, it was possible to make the Ni-Al alloy anode with good creep resistance by the modified in-situ sintering technique.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.131-142
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• 1999

Purpose: Either gated myocardial perfusion SPECT or attenuation corrected SPECT can be used to improve specificity in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. We investigated in this study whether gating or attenuation correction improved diagnostic performance of rest/stress perfusion SPECT in patients having intermediate pre-test likelihood of coronary artery disease. Materials and Methods: Sixty-eight patients underwent rest attenuation-corrected T1-20l/dipyridamole stress gated attenuation-corrected Tc-99m -MIBI SPECT using an ADAC vertex camera (M:F=29:39, aged $59{\pm}12$ years, coronary artery stenosis ${\geq}70%$, one vessel: 13, two vessel: 18, three vessel: 8, normal: 29). Using a five-point scale, three physicians graded the post-test likelihood of coronary artery disease for each arterial territory (1:normal, 2: possibly normal, 3:equivocal, 4. possibly abnormal, 5: abnormal). Sensitivity, specificity and area under receiver-operating-characteristic curves were compared for each operator between three methods : (A) non-attenuation-corrected SPECT; (B) gated SPECT added to (A): and (C) attenuation-corrected SPECT added to (B). Results: When grade 3 was used as the criteria for coronary artery disease, no differences in sensitivity and specificity were found between the three methods for each operator. Areas under receiver-operating-characteristic curves for diagnosis of coronary artery disease revealed no differences between each modality (p>0.05). Conclusion: In patients at intermediate risk of coronary artery disease, gated SPECT and attenuation- corrected SPECT did not improve diagnostic performance.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.31-42
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• 2006

Drought indices, such as PDSI (palmer Drought Severity Index), SWSI (Surface Water Supply Index) and SPI (Standardized Precipitation Index), have been developed to assess and forecast an intensity of drought. To find the applicability of groundwater level data to a drought assessment, a correlation analysis between SPI and groundwater levels was conducted for each time series at a drought season in 2001. The comparative results between SPI and groundwater levels of shallow wells of three national groundwater monitoring stations, Chungju Gageum, Yangpyung Gaegun, and Yeongju Munjeong, show that these two factors are highly correlated. In case of SPI with a duration of 1 month, cross-correlation coefficients between two factors are 0.843 at Chungju Gageum, 0.825 at Yangpyung Gaegun, and 0.737 at Yeongju Munjeong. The time lag between peak values of two factors is nearly zero in case of SPI with a duration of 1 month, which means that groundwater level fluctuation is similar to SPI values. Moreover, in case of SPI with a duration of 3 month, it is found that groundwater level can be a leading indicator to predict the SPI values I week later. Some of the national groundwater monitoring stations can be designated as DIW (Drought Index Well) based on the detailed survey of site characteristics and also new DIWs need to be drilled to assess and forecast the drought in this country.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.309-315
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• 2011

Rice syrup meal (RSM) was enzymatically hydrolyzed using eight commercial proteases (Protamex, Neutrase, Flavourzyme, Alcalase, Protease M, Protease N, Protease A, Molsin F) for 4 hr at optimum pH and temperature. Proteolytic hydrolysates were examined in supernatant and precipitate using Lowry protein assay, semimicro Kjeldahl method and gravimetric method using weight difference before and after enzymatic hydrolysis. Although RSM contains a high amount of protein (71.2%), only a very small amount of protein was hydrolyzed. Two proteases (Protease M and Protease N) were found to be the most effective in the hydrolysis of RSM protein. In Lowry method, 57.5 and 59.0 mg protein/g RSM were hydrolyzed after Protease M and Protease N treatments, respectively. In gravimetric method, 80.0 and 85.4 mg protein/g RSM were hydrolyzed after Protease M and Protease N treatments. In Kjeldahl method, 67.43 and 70.43 mg protein/g RSM were hydrolyzed after Protamex and Protease N treatments, respectively. For synergistic effect, two or three effective commercial proteases (Protease M, Protease N and Protease A) were applied to RSM at one time. The highest hydrolysis of RSM protein was observed in both Lowry protein assay (80.3 mg protein/g RSM) and gravimetric methods (153.2 mg protein/g RSM) when three commercial proteases were applied at one time, suggesting the synergistic effect of those proteases.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.21-25
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• 2005

Purpose: $^{14}C$-urea breath test (UBT) is a non-invasive and reliable method for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection. In this study, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of a new and rapid $^{14}C$-UBT (Heliprobe method), which was equipped with $Geiger-M\ddot{u}ller$ counter and compared the results with those obtained by using the conventional method. Materials and Methods: Forty-nine patients with dyspepsia underwent gastroduodenoscopy and $^{14}C$-UBT. A 37 KBq $^{14}C$-urea capsule was administered to patients and breath samples were collected. In Heliprobe method, patients exhaled into a Hellprobe BreathCard for 10 min. And then the activities of the BreathCard were countered using Heliprobe analyzer. In the conventional method, results were countered using liquid scintillation counter. During gastroduodenoscopy, 18 of 49 patients were underwent biopsies. According to these histologic results, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of two different methods and compared them. Also we evaluated the concordant and disconcordant rates between them. Results: In all 49 patients, concordant rate of both conventional and Heliprobe methods was 98% (48/49) and the discordant rate was 2% (1/49). Thirteen of 18 patients to whom biopsies were applied, were found to be HP positive on histologic results. And both Heliprobe method and conventional method classified 13 of 13 HP-positive patients and 5 of 5 HP-negative patients correctly (sensitivity 100%, specificity 100%, accuracy 100%). Conclusion: The Heliprobe method demonstrated the same diagnostic performance compared with the conventional method and was a simpler and more rapid technique.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.59-65
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• 2005

This study was performed to estimate the soil loss on a national scale and grade regions with the potential risk of soil erosion. Universal soil loss equation (USLE) for rainfall and runoff erosivity factors (R), cover management factors (C) and support practice factors (P) and revised USLE for soil erodibility factors (K) and topographic factors (LS) were used. To estimate the soil loss, the whole nation was divided into 21,337 groups according to city county, soil phase and land use type. The R factors were high in the southern coast of Gyeongnam and Jeonnam and part of the western coast of Gyeonggi and low in the inland and eastern coast of Gyeongbuk. The K factors were higher in the regions located on the lower streams of rivers and the plain lands of the western coast of Chungnam and Jeonbuk. The average slope of upland areas in Pyeongchang-gun was the steepest of 30.1%. The foot-slope areas from the Taebaek Mountains to the Sobaek Mountains had steep uplands. Total soil loss of Korea was estimated as $50{\times}10^6Mg$ in 2004. The potential risk of soil erosion in upland was the severest in Gyeongnam and the amount of soil erosion was the greatest in Jeonnam. The regions in which annual soil loss was estimated over $50Mg\;ha^{-1}$ were graded as "the very severe" and their acreage was $168{\times}10^3ha$ in 2004. The soil erosion maps of city/county of Korea were made based on digital soil maps with 1:25,000 scale.

• Korean Journal of Medical Ethics
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.360-376
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• 2018

Nursing students experience ethical conflicts that lead to moral distress and moral sensitivity in clinical practice. Most nursing students have some difficulty in speaking up when faced with morally challenging situations. Hence, increasing moral courage of these students is important to improve the quality of practice, and carry out nursing responsibilities. However, research on the moral distress, moral sensitivity, and moral courage of nursing students has not been reported in South Korea. The purposes of this study were to (a) identify the levels of moral distress, moral sensitivity, and moral courage of nursing students and (b) examine the influence of moral distress and moral sensitivity on moral courage. Data were collected through a survey using self-reported questionnaires sent to senior nursing students at two nursing colleges in Seoul and Gyeonggido. A total of 138 senior nursing students participated in the survey. The data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 23 program by Pearson's correlation coefficients and multiple regression analysis. The mean scores of the moral distress thermometer, moral distress, moral sensitivity, and moral courage were $3.53{\pm}2.18$, $57.33{\pm}43.35$, $134.98{\pm}13.98$, and $56.33{\pm}12.75$, respectively. The significant factors influencing moral courage were the moral distress thermometer and patient-centered nursing, which was a subcomponent of moral sensitivity. The explanatory power of the model was 5%. This study confirms that nursing students, like nurses, experience moral distress. It is therefore important to create organizational environments that support the moral courage of nursing students.