• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.1181-1186
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• 2013

Due to climate change, the occurrence of abnormal weather conditions has become more frequent, causing damage to vegetable crops grown in Korea. Hot pepper, Chinese cabbage and radish, the three most popular vegetables in Korea, are produced more in the field than in the greenhouse. It has been a trend that the time for field transplanting of seedlings is getting earlier and earlier as the spring temperatures keep rising. Seedlings transplanted too early in the spring take a longer time to resume the normal growth, because they are exposed to suboptimal temperature conditions. This study examined the influence of air temperature during seedling growth on the time required to reach the first fruit maturity and yield of hot pepper. Seedling plants of 'Super Manita' hot pepper was grown in temperatures $2.5^{\circ}C$ and $5.0^{\circ}C$ lower than the optimum temperature (determined by the average of temperatures for the past 5 years). Seedlings were transplanted into round plastic containers (30-cm diam., 45-cm height) and were placed in growth chambers in which the ambient temperature was controlled under natural sunlight. The growth of seedlings under lowered temperatures was reduced compared to the control. The mineral (K, Mg, P, N) concentrations in the leaf tissues were higher when plants were grown with the ambient temperature $2.5^{\circ}C$ lower than the optimum, regardless of changes in other growth parameters. Tissue calcium (Ca) concentration was the highest in the plants grown with optimum temperature. The carbohydrate to nitrogen (C/N) ratio, which was the highest (18.3) in the plants grown with optimum temperature, decreased concomitantly as the ambient temperature was lowered $2.5^{\circ}C$ and $5.0^{\circ}C$. The yield of the early harvested fruits was also reduced as the ambient temperature became lower. The first fruit harvest date for the plants grown with optimum temperature (June 27) was 13 days and 40 days, respectively, earlier than that in plants grown with $2.5^{\circ}C$ (July 10) and $5.0^{\circ}C$ (Aug 6) lower ambient temperatures. The fruit yield per plant for the optimum temperature (724 g) was the greatest compared to those grown with $2.5^{\circ}C$ (446 g) and $5.0^{\circ}C$ (236 g) lower temperatures. The result of this study suggests that the growers should be cautioned not to transplant their hot pepper seedlings too early into the field, since it may delay the time of first harvest eventually reducing total fruit yield.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.141-149
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• 2009

The elderly population in Korea is growing rapidly and their needs for long-term care has also increased. By the year 2018, our society will be approaching aged society and by 2026 it will be a super-aged society. The purpose of this study was to employ conjoint analysis to establish the relative importance of foodservice encounters in terms of determining the utility values of hospital foodservice for elderly patients. According to the results pearson's R(0.420) and Kendall's tau(0.402) statistics showed that the model fits the data well(p<0.05). The relative importance scores of hospital foodservice encounters were as follows: dietary counseling with dietetics(51.2%), foodservice personnel(48.7%), and food(0.1%). A soft cooking method(0.001) was preferred to a general cooking method(0.001), and kind foodservice personnel(0.086) were preferred to quick service(-0.086). Finally, counseling with a dietitian once a week(-0.138) was preferred to counseling twice a week (-0.276). Based on this conjoint analysis, the most preferable model for foodservice at a long-term care facility would be; soft cooking methods, kind service by foodservice personnel, and dietetic counseling once a week. Overall, a better understanding of the specific needs of our institutionalized elderly is one of the key elements that can help our long-term care system develop improved foodservice programs.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.468-476
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• 2020

We aimed to analyze the microbiological quality of the ready-to-eat (RTE) side dishes collected from traditional markets, supermarkets, and cafeterias in Gyeonggi-do in 2019. A total of 108 samples were analyzed for total aerobic bacterial counts, coliforms and foodborne pathogens depending on place of purchase and cooking methods. Results show that Bacillus cereus was detected in 14 (12.9%) out of 108 samples of side dishes, while no other foodborne pathogens were detected. The mean detected level (range) of total aerobic bacteria depending on place of purchase was 5.8 log CFU/g (3.0 to 8.2 log CFU/g) for traditional markets, 4.3 log CFU/g (2.4 to 7.8 log CFU/g) for supermarkets, and 3.80 log CFU/g (0.0 to 6.8 log CFU/g) for cafeterias, indicating that there was a significant (P<0.05) difference in total aerobic bacterial counts among places of purchase. Among the samples, the highest counts of total aerobic bacteria and coliforms were detected in saengchae (raw vegetables), followed by namul (seasoned herbs, vegetables), bokkeum (stir-fried foods), and jorim (foods cooked in soy sauce). The growth of total aerobic bacteria in seasoned soybean sprouts was inhibited when the sprouts were stored at 4℃ up to 24 h, whereas bacteria rapidly grew at 20 and 35℃ after 3 and 6 h, respectively. These results reveal that storage temperature might play a significant role for the microbiological quality of seasoned soybean sprouts when they are sold in markets. Thus, this study suggests that RTE side dishes should be stored at refrigerated temperature when being sold at markets as well as after purchasing to improve their microbiological quality.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.166-179
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• 2000

Background: The main reason for the failure of anti-cancer chemotherapy is the build up of resistance by cancer cells to apoptosis. The activation of NF-${\kappa}B$ in many cancer cell lines is reported to be underlying mechanism behind the build up of resistance of cancer cells to apoptosis. However, this relationship varied depending on the cells used in the experiments. In this study, the role of NF-${\kappa}B$ activation in the TNF-$\alpha$-induced apoptosis in lung cancer cell line was evaluated. Methods: NCI-H157 cells were used in all experiments. Cells were exposed to a high dose of TNF-$\alpha$(20 ng/ml) for 24 or 48 hours with or without blocking NF-${\kappa}B$ activation. TNF-$\alpha$-induced activation of NF-${\kappa}B$ was inhibited either by overexpression of $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$-super repressor($I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$-SR) or by pre-treatment with proteasome inhibitor. Cell viability and apoptosis were evaluated with MTT assay and Western blot analysis for PARP fragment, respectively. Results: Cell viability of NCI-H157 cells was not affected by TNF-$\alpha$ treatment alone; however, combined treatment with TNF-$\alpha$ and cycloheximide reduced cell viability significantly, indicating that resistance to TNF-$\alpha$ is mediated by the new proteins synthesized after TNF-$\alpha$ stimulation. To evaluate the role of NF-${\kappa}B$ in the transcription of anti-apoptotic proteins. delete NF-${\kappa}B$ activation was inhibited before TNF-$\alpha$ stimulation. as described above. $AD5I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$-SR-transduction inhibited TNF-$\alpha$-induced nuclear translocation of p65. TNF-$\alpha$-induced cell death and apoptosis increased after inhibition of TNF-$\alpha$-induced activation of NF-${\kappa}$ by methods. Conclusion: These results suggest that TNF-$\alpha$-induced activation of NF-${\kappa}B$ may be closely related to the acquisition of the resistance to TNF-$\alpha$-induced apoptosis in lung cancer cells. Therefore. blocking of NF-${\kappa}B$ pathway can be a useful therapeutic modality in the treatment of lung cancer.