• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.335-343
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• 2015

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the food behavior and nutritional status of elementary school students in the Jeju area using Nutrition Quotient (NQ). Methods: The subjects were 440 students (235 boys and 205 girls) in the fifth and sixth grade at four elementary schools located in Jeju. Demographic, lifestyle, and environmental information was collected using a self-reported questionnaire. The food behavior checklist for children's Nutrition Quotient (NQ), consisting of 19 items, and nutrition education related information were also obtained. Results: The mean score of the children's NQ was poor, reaching 60.3 points. The percentage distribution of NQ grade was 19.8% (lowest), 18.6% (low), 45.0% (medium), 10.7% (high), and 5.9% (highest) and the factor scores for balance, diversity, abstinence, regularity, and practice were 56.6, 68.4, 71.3, 57.4, and 54.8 points, respectively. Compared with the NQ cut-off points for defining malnutrition (balance; 57, diversity; 87, abstinence; 66, regularity; 69, and practice; 67 point), average score of abstinence factor was only above the cut-off point and scores of the other factors were below the cut-off point. Subjects with higher NQ scores tended to have higher levels of exercise activity (p < 0.001), frequency of family meals (p < 0.01), and father's educational levels (p < 0.01) compared to those with lower NQ score. NQ score showed positive association with nutrition education experience and practice (p < 0.001). Conclusion: NQ score of elementary school students residing in Jeju was lower than the national average. More opportunities should be provided for participation in nutrition education, which incorporates a range of program strategies, as well as communication and education activities.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.39-47
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• 2009

The importance of securing water resources and their efficient management has attracted more attention recently due to water deficit. In water budget analysis, however, evapotranspiration(${\lambda}E$) has been approximated as the residual in the water balance equation or estimated from empirical equations and assumptions. To minimize the uncertainties in these estimates, it is necessary to directly measure ${\lambda}E$. In this study, using the eddy covariance technique, we have measured ${\lambda}E$ in a mixed forest in the Seolmacheon catchment in Korea from September 2007 to December 2008. During the growing season(May-July), ${\lambda}E$ in this mixed forest averaged about $2.2\;mm\;d^{-1}$, whereas it was on average $0.5\;mm\;d^{-1}$ during the non-growing season in winter. The annual total ${\lambda}E$ in 2008 was $581\;mm\;y^{-1}$, which is about 1/3 of the annual precipitation of 1997 mm. Despite the differences in the amount and frequency of precipitation, the accumulated ${\lambda}E$ during the overlapping period(i.e., September to December) for 2007 and 2008 was both ${\sim}110$ mm, showing virtually no difference. The omega factor, which is a measure of decoupling between forest and the atmosphere, was on average 0.5, indicating that the contributions of equilibrium ${\lambda}E$ and imposed ${\lambda}E$ to the total ${\lambda}E$ were about the same. The results suggest that ${\lambda}E$ in this mixed forest was controlled by various factors such as net radiation, vapor pressure deficit, and canopy conductance. In this study, based on the direct measurements of ${\lambda}E$, we have quantified the relative contribution of ${\lambda}E$ in the water balance of a mixed forest in the Seolmacheon catchment. In combination with runoff data, the information on ${\lambda}E$ would greatly enhance the reliability of water budget analysis in this catchment.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.68-82
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• 2020

Purpose: This study evaluated the dietary quality and nutritional status of elderly people using the Nutrition Quotient for Elderly (NQ-E). Methods: The participants were 204 elderly people over 65 years of age (38 men and, 166 women) in Seoul. The dietary information was analyzed using a questionnaire of NQ-E, which consisted of 19 checklist items, and 24-recall test data. The NQ-E scores and its four factors, including 'balance', 'moderation', 'diversity', and 'dietary behavior' factors, were calculated according to general characteristics of the subjects. The subjects were divided into the 'monitoring needed group' (62 > NQ-E score) and the 'good group' (62 ≤ NQ-E score) according to their NQ-E score. Results: The mean NQ-E score of the total subjects was 61.9, which was within the mediumhigh grade. The scores of balance, moderation, and dietary behavior factors were within the medium-high grade, while the score of the diversity factor was within the medium-low grade. The NQ-E score was 54.8 in the monitoring needed group and 69.3 in the good group. For the score of the diversity factor, the elderly living alone had a significantly lower score than the score for the elderly living with a spouse. The female subjects showed significantly higher scores of moderation and dietary behavior factors than did the male subjects. The daily intakes of vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin C and calcium in the monitoring needed group were significantly lower than those in the good group. The nutrient adequacy ratios (NAR) of vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin C and calcium in the monitoring needed group were significantly lower compared to the scores of the good group. The indexes of nutritional quality (INQ) of vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin C, calcium and potassium were less than 1 for all the subjects. The monitoring needed group had a significantly lower consumption of total foods, vegetables and mushrooms than the good group. As a result, the nutritional status of the monitoring needed group was significantly lower than that of the good group. Conclusion: The results of this study show that NQ-E would be a useful tool for assessing the dietary quality of the elderly. In conclusion, a focused-nutrition education program and a useful guideline are needed for promoting the health and nutritional status in elderly people.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.278-295
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• 2022

Purpose: This study was undertaken to revise and update the Nutrition Quotient (NQ) for Korean adults, a tool used to evaluate dietary quality and behavior. Methods: The first 31 items of the measurable food behavior checklist were adopted based on considerations of the previous NQ checklist, recent literature reviews, national nutrition policies, and recommendations. A pilot survey was conducted on 100 adults aged 19 to 64 residing in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province from March to April 2021 using a provisional 26- item checklist. Pilot survey data were analyzed using factor analysis and frequency analysis to determine whether checklist items were well organized and responses to questions were well distributed, respectively. As a result, the number of items on the food behavior checklist was reduced to 23 for the nationwide survey, which was administered to 1,000 adults (470 men and 530 women) aged 19 to 64 from May to August 2021. The construct validity of the developed NQ (NQ-2021) was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis, linear structural relations. Results: Eighteen items in 3 categories, that is, balance (8 items), moderation (6 items), and practice (4 items), were finally included in NQ-2021 food behavior checklist. 'Balance' items addressed the intake frequencies of essential foods, 'moderation' items the frequencies of unhealthy food intakes or behaviors, and 'practice' items addressed eating behaviors. Items and categories were weighted using standardized path coefficients to calculate NQ-2021 scores. Conclusion: The updated NQ-2021 appears to be suitable for easily and quickly assessing the diet qualities and behaviors of Korean adults.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.56 no.9
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• pp.543-551
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• 2023

Snow is an essential climate factor that affects the climate system and surface energy balance, and it also has a crucial role in water balance by providing solid water stored during the winter for spring runoff and groundwater recharge. In this study, statistical analysis of Local Data Assimilation and Prediction System (LDAPS), Modern.-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2), and ERA5-Land snow depth data were used to evaluate the applicability in South Korea. The statistical analysis between the Automated Synoptic Observing System (ASOS) ground observation data provided by the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) and the reanalysis data showed that LDAPS and ERA5-Land were highly correlated with a correlation coefficient of more than 0.69, but LDAPS showed a large error with an RMSE of 0.79 m. In the case of MERRA-2, the correlation coefficient was lower at 0.17 because the constant value was estimated continuously for some periods, which did not adequately simulate the increase and decrease trend between data. The statistical analysis of LDAPS and ASOS showed high and low performance in the nearby Gangwon Province, where the average snowfall is relatively high, and in the southern region, where the average snowfall is low, respectively. Finally, the error variance between the four independent snow depth data used in this study was calculated through triple collocation (TC), and a merged snow depth data was produced through weighting factors. The reanalyzed data showed the highest error variance in the order of LDAPS, MERRA-2, and ERA5-Land, and LDAPS was given a lower weighting factor due to its higher error variance. In addition, the spatial distribution of ERA5-Land snow depth data showed less variability, so the TC-merged snow depth data showed a similar spatial distribution to MERRA-2, which has a low spatial resolution. Considering the correlation, error, and uncertainty of the data, the ERA5-Land data is suitable for snow-related analysis in South Korea. In addition, it is expected that LDAPS data, which is highly correlated with other data but tends to be overestimated, can be actively utilized for high-resolution representation of regional and climatic diversity if appropriate corrections are performed.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.175-181
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• 2016

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate age-related changes of multi-finger synergy during a constant force production task with and without an additional mechanical constraint. Method: Fourteen elderly subjects (age: $78.50{\pm}4.63yrs$, height: $157.29{\pm}8.97cm$, weight: $65.13{\pm}6.93kg$) and 14 young subjects (age: $21.13{\pm}1.35yrs$, height: $171.57{\pm}8.43cm$, weight: $70.29{\pm}16.77kg$) participated in this study. The subjects were asked to place their index and middle fingers on two force transducers fixed on a small non-moving teeterboard and produce 10 N by pressing the sensors while watching force feedback on a computer screen under the no additional constraint condition (NAC). The subjects also performed the same task with an additional mechanical constraint (AC) where the subjects were asked to balance a teeterboard that could be rotated by finger forces. An uncontrolled manifold approach was used to calculate within-trial and between-trial multi-finger synergy indices, variance in uncontrolled subspace ($V_{UCM}$), and variance in subspace orthogonal to UCM subspace ($V_{ORT}$). Two-way repeated measured ANOVA was performed with the within-factor of task condition (with and without an additional constraint) and the between factor of groups (elderly and young). Results: The elderly group showed significantly increased within-trial $V_{ORT}$ in AC compared with NAC (p < .05) while the young group showed no significant difference between AC and NAC. There was no significant group difference for within-trial $V_{UCM}$. Between-trial $V_{ORT}$ remained unchanged between groups and conditions. However, between-trial $V_{UCM}$ for the elderly group significantly decreased in AC as compared to NAC, along with no significant difference for the young group. For multi-finger synergy, there was no significant group difference of within-trial synergy. However, between-trial synergy for the elderly group significantly decreased in AC as compared to NAC (p < .05). Conclusion: Our results indicate that aging decreased consistency (i.e., ability to perform the task on a moment-to-moment basis) with an additional mechanical constraint. In addition, aging was associated with decreased multi-finger synergy on a trial-to-trial basis.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.582-604
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• 2013

The machinery industry provides infrastructure to many manufacturing industries and it has strong influences on performance and quality of products. However, Korean economic growth has been constantly causing the korean general machinery industry to significantly depend on Japan. To solve this problem, many industrial policies have been tried. In this paper, we divide the value chain of general machinery industry into four steps; technology development step, manufacturing step, marketing step, and after-sales management step. We study the relationships between each of these steps and the awareness of dependency on Japan. For empirical analysis we surveyed 207 domestic companies in general machinery industry. The findings are that the three factors, technology development competency, marketing competency and after-sales management competency have significant relationships with dependence on Japan. Manufacturing competency is not a significant factor. As control variables, the type of manufacturers has effect on dependency on Japan. The company size, the kinds of products and technology levels of products don't have effects on the relationship between the four steps of the value chain and dependency on Japan. To overcome the trade imbalance with Japan in the general machinery industry, we recommend to develop technology development competency, marketing competency, and after-sale management competency. Also we need to adopt industry supporting policies, not depending on all three control variables of company sizes, the kinds of products and the technology levels of products, but depending on the type of manufacturers.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.892-899
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• 2018

Portulaca oleracea L. is an edible plant widely consumed in daily diet throughout Europe, Asia and America. In this study, protective effects of P. oleracea L. extracts against oxidative stress and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity induced by ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation were investigated using HaCaT immortal human keratinocytes. In this context, the mRNA and protein productions of MMPs (MMP-1, -2, and -9) and type I procollagen, which are major markers of photoaging induced by UVB radiation in HaCaT keratinocytes, were evaluated. Furthermore, UVB-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and mRNA and protein expression levels of superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD-1), oxygenase-1 (OH-1), and nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor-2 (Nrf-2), all of which are associated with the antioxidant balance, were investigated. As shown by the results, UVB radiation induced ROS formation and led to increased production of MMPs and decreased collagen production in human keratinocytes, which resulted in skin photoaging or photodamage. The treatment with P. oleracea L. extracts downregulated MMP (MMP-1, -2, and -9) production and upregulated type I procollagen expression in UVB-induced HaCaT cells. Furthermore, treatment with the extracts decreased UVB-induced ROS generation and increased the expression of antioxidant enzymes, such as SOD-1 and OH-1, through the Nrf-2 pathway. Taken together, these results suggest that P. oleracea L. extracts could be a potential cosmeceutical agent for the prevention of skin photoaging or photodamage.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.250-259
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• 2001

To determine if initial infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis changes the balance of cytokines between T cells and macrophages, we evaluated interferon (IFN)-${\gamma}$), interleukin-12 (IL)-12, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$ productions by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 15 untreated active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients and 12 healthy tuberculin reactors (HTR). Freshly isolated PBMC were stimulated with Triton X-100 solubilized protein (TSP), 30-kDa or purified protein derivatives (PPD) antigen for 6, 18 and 96 hours. IL-12 p40 production by antigen-stimulated PBMC from TB patients was significantly decreased compared with that in HTR. In addition, IFN-${\gamma}$ production was significantly depressed in TB patients than that in HTR at a 96-hr stimulation. However, TNF-${\alpha}$ production was significantly higher in antigen-stimulated PBMC from TB than that of HTR. A pronounced increase in IFN-${\gamma}$ protein followed neutralization of IL-10 in early TB patients. However, neutralization of TNF-${\alpha}$ did not significantly alter IFN-${\gamma}$ induction in PBMC from TB patients. There were no significantly differences in the cytokine productions among three proteins, TSP, 30-kDa or PPD antigen. These results indicate that development of TB may be strongly associated with dysregulated productions of IL-12, IFN-${\gamma}$ and TNF-${\alpha}$, during the initial immune responses to M. tuberculosis. Further understanding of operative cytokine networks during human immune cell responses to protein antigens of M. tuberculosis may improve strategies for vaccine development.

• Atmosphere
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.403-416
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• 2019

Precipitation samples were collected at the GAW Stations in Anmyeon-do and Gosan for 10 years (2008-2017) to analyze pH, electrical conductivity and NH₄⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, SO₄^2-, NO₃^-, Cl^-, and F^- ions. From the analysis, the correlation between pH and rainfall, the composition of precipitation and comparison with other regions, and the results of neutralization characteristics by seasonal and pH were determined. In the comparison of ion balance and conductivity for the validation of analytical data, the correlation coefficients were within the range of 0.996~0.999, implying good linear relationship. The volume-weighted pH of the Anmyeon-do and Gosan areas were 4.7 and 4.9, respectively. The pH of the rainfall was affected by washout and rainout in both areas. The ionic strength of precipitation at Anmyeondo and Gosan were 0.42 ± 0.63 mM and 0.37 ± 0.75 mM, indicating about 27.6% and 35.3% of the total precipitation as per a pure precipitation criterion (10^-4 M), respectively. The composition ratio of ionic species were 44.7% and 57.5% for marine sources (Na⁺, Mg²⁺, Cl^-), 40.6% and 22.2% for the secondary inorganic components (NH₄⁺, nss-SO₄^2-, NO₃^-), and 5.6% and 4.0% for the soil source (nss-Ca²⁺), respectively. The neutralization factor of Anmyeon-do and Gosan were 0.43~0.65 and 0.34~0.48, and the neutralization factors of calcium carbonate were 0.15~0.34 and 0.25~0.30, respectively. Thus, both regions have the highest rate of neutralization caused by ammonia. As pH increased in Anmyeon-do and Gosan, change in calcium carbonate became greater than that in ammonia.