• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.1213-1224
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• 2024

Objective: Enterotypes (ETs) are the clustering of gut microbial community structures, which could serve as indicators of growth performance and carcass traits. However, ETs have been sparsely investigated in waterfowl. The objective of this study was to identify the ileal ETs and explore the correlation of the ETs with growth performance and carcass traits in Muscovy ducks. Methods: A total of 200 Muscovy ducks were randomly selected from a population of 5,000 ducks at 70-day old, weighed and slaughtered. The growth performance and carcass traits, including body weight, dressed weight and evidenced weight, dressed percentage, percentage of apparent yield, breast muscle weight, leg muscle weight, percentage of leg muscle and percentage of breast muscle, were determined. The contents of ileum were collected for the isolation of DNA and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The ETs were identified based on the 16S rRNA gene sequencing data and the correlation of the ETs with growth performance and carcass traits was performed by Spearman correlation analysis. Results: Three ETs (ET1, ET2, and ET3) were observed in the ileal microbiota of Muscovy ducks with significant differences in number of features and α-diversity among these ETs (p<0.05). Streptococcus, Candida Arthritis, and Bacteroidetes were the presentative genus in ET1 to ET3, respectively. Correlation analysis revealed that Lactococcus and Bradyrhizobium were significantly correlated with percentage of eviscerated yield and leg muscle weight (p<0.05) while ETs were found to have a close association with percentage of eviscerated yield, leg muscle weight, and percentage of leg muscle in Muscovy ducks. However, the growth performance of ducks with different ETs did not show significant difference (p>0.05). Lactococcus were found to be significantly correlated with leg muscle weight, dressed weight, and percentage of eviscerated yield. Conclusion: Our findings revealed a substantial variation in carcass traits associated with ETs in Muscovy ducks. It is implied that ETs might have the potential to serve as a valuable biomarker for assessing duck carcass traits. It would provide novel insights into the interaction of gut microbiota with growth performance and carcass traits of ducks.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.145-156
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• 2006

Objectives: Health behaviors are related to each other, or they may be essentially dependent upon each other. Hence the overall health behaviors of a given population could be better described in terms of health lifestyle patterns. This paper tried to classify such patterns in a sample population and suggest the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of each groups. Methods: A sample population comprised of 2,775 adults who reported their health behaviors in a public health survey were classified according to their smoking, drinking, diet, and exercise related pattern of behaviors. Clustering analysis was used to classify them. Results: Six health lifestyle patterns were identified. Individuals in the passive lifestyle cluster (48.3%) had no active health promoting activities, but did avoid risk taking health behaviors. 24.8% of the sample (Health promoting lifestyle) had an overall healthy lifestyle. 13.5% of the sample were in the smoking cluster, and 8.4% were in the alcohol drinking cluster. The hedonic lifestyle (4.5%) was characterized by heavy smoking, alcohol drinking and poor diet and exercise. 0.7% of the sample (Smoking-Drinking lifestyle) had heavy smoking and drinking, but good diet and exercise. Each group could be characterized by sex, age, and income. Conclusions: A population sample of Seoul adults were successfully clustered into six health lifestyles. The socioeconomic and demographic characteristics were suggested for the characterization of the each health lifestyle groups. We can approach to a certain target population with specific strategy.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.521-529
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• 2008

This research conducted a survey on waterbirds visiting this area four times by season from February to October in 2007 to look into the habitat use of waterbirds, to do a value and grade testing of the tidal flat by dividing the foreshore on Muan Bay located in Jeollanam-do into four areas (Dongam, Guro, Bokryong and Wangsan tidal flats). The survey results revealed that there existed a total of 15,755 individuals of 54 species including 2 species of grebes, 7 species of herons, 7 species of dabbling ducks, 6 species of diving ducks, 20 species of waders, 3 species of gulls and 9 other species and this survey also observed 9,291 individuals of the wading birds as a dominant group on Muan Bay. In these classified groups, the gulls and waders were observed to mostly use Dongam tidal flat as their habitat, while the group using Guro tidal flat as their habitat was mostly grebes, dabbling and diving ducks. As a result of UPGMA clustering analysis in consideration of the species and number of individuals, there appear the close similarities between Dongam and Bokryong tidal flats and so do Guro and Wangsan tidal flats. Taking a look at the grading of tidal flats by setting up ecological indexes, such as diversity index, abundance index, and dominance index, etc. legally reserved species and maximum number of individuals as a standard, the rank for the value and importance degree of Bokryong tidal flat appeared higher than that of the other three tidal flats. Like this, the gradation of tidal flats according to waterbirds are judged to able to suggest objective data on the issue of proper judgment and designation of valuable tidal flat areas and its subsequent effective preservation and management.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.77-83
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• 2016

The objectives of this study was to investigate the difference between organic-farming and conventional-farming soils relatives to soil chemical properties and microbial flora. Fifteen soil sampling sites were chosen from the certified organic upland farm, considered with its location, crop and application of organic compost types. Soil chemical properties were analyzed by standard methods established by National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration. For the soil chemical properties, the values of pH were ranged from 4.5 to 7.3. The values of electrical conductivity (EC) in the sampling sites were below 2 dS/m of convention cultivation soil. For analyzing the microbial flora, the bacillus(16S rDNA) and cladothricosis(18S rDNA) were analyzed by using PCR-DGGE (Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis) in the soil of 15 sampling sites. Cluster analysis of biodiversity index was performed by using pattern of DGGE. DGGE patterns and clustering analysis of bacterial DNA from soil extracts revealed that the bacterial community was differentiated between less than 5 years and more than 5 years depending on the cultivation history. But there was no consistent tendency between cultivation history and regional trend in the case of molds. Therefore, it would be very effective to analyze bacterial clusters of organically cultivated soils in long - term cultivated soil for more than 5 years.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.19-36
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• 2013

Physiochemical characters of sea waters during summer flood- and winter dry-seasons and their spatial variations were investigated along the coastal area off the eastern South Sea, Korea. Using the hierarchical clustering method, in this study, we present comprehensive analyses of coastal waters masses and their seasonal variations. The results revealed that the coastal water of the study area was classified into six water masses (A to F). During summer season, the surface water was mainly occupied by the coastal pseudo-estuarine water (water mass B) with low salinity and high nutrients and the river-dominated coastal water (water mass C) with low nutrients, respectively. The bottom water was dominated by cold water (water mass D) with very low temperature, high salinity and high nutrients, compared to masses of surface water. Notably, the water mass B, with high concentrations of nutrients (silicate and nitrogen) and low salinity, which is strongly controlled by the water quality of river freshwater, seems to play an important role in controlling the water quality and further regulating physical processes on ecosystem in the eastern coastal area of South Sea. The water mass D (bottom cold water) coupled with a strong thermocline, which exists in near-bottom layer along the western margin of Korea Strait, has a low temperature, pH and DO, but abundant nutrients. This water mass disappears in winter owing to strong vertical mixing, and subsequently may act as a pool for nutrients during winter dry-season. On the other hand, vertically well-mixed water column during the winter season was typically occupied by the Tsushima (water mass E) and the coastal water (water mass F) with a development of coastal front formed in a transition zone between them. These winter water masses were characterized by low nutrient concentration and balance in N/P ratio, compared with summer season with high nutrient concentrations and strong N-limitation. Accordingly, the analysis of water masses will help one to better chemical and biological processes in coastal area. In most of the study area, characteristically, the growth of phytoplankton community is limited by nitrogen, which is clearly different with coastal environment of West Sea of Korea, with a relative lack of phosphorus. It showed the western and the southern coasts in Korea are substantially different from each other in environmental and ecological characteristics.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.738-751
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• 2023

The Sembilan Archipelago is famous for its great biodiversity, in which the humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) (locally named Napoleon fish) is the primary commodity (economically important), and currently, the environmental degradation occurs due to anthropogenic activities. This study aimed to examine the eco-environmental parameters and assess their influence on the abundance of humphead wrasse and other coral reef fish compositions in the Sembilan Archipelago. Direct field monitoring was performed using a visual census throughout an approximately one km transect. Coral cover data collection and assessment were also carried out. A coastal water quality index (CWQI) was used to assess the water quality status. Furthermore, statistical-based analyses [hierarchical clustering, Pearson's correlation, principal component analysis (PCA), and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA)] were performed to examine the correlation between eco-environmental parameters. The Napoleon fish was only found at stations 1 and 2, with a density of about 3.8 Ind/ha, aligning with the dominant composition of the family Serranidae (covering more than 15% of the total community) and coinciding with the higher coral mortality and lower reef fish abundance. The coral reef conditions were generally ideal for supporting marine life, with a living coral percentage of about > 50% in all stations. Based on CWQI, the study area is categorized as good and excellent water quality. Of the 60 parameter values examined, the phytoplankton abundance, Napoleon fish, and temperature are highly correlated, with a correlation coefficient value greater than 0.7, and statistically significant (F < 0.05). Although the adaptation of reef fish to water quality parameters varies greatly, the most influential parameters in shaping their composition in the study area are living corals, nitrites, ammonia, larval abundance, and temperature.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.57-79
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• 2016

It is a rising trend that the number of users using one of the social media channels, the Social Network Service, so called the SNS, is getting increased. As per to this social trend, more companies have interest in this networking platform and start to invest their funds in it. It has received much attention as a tool spreading and expanding the message that a company wants to deliver to its customers and has been recognized as an important channel in terms of the relationship marketing with them. The environment of media that is radically changing these days makes possible for companies to approach their customers in various ways. Particularly, the social network service, which has been developed rapidly, provides the environment that customers can freely talk about products. For companies, it also works as a channel that gives customized information to customers. To succeed in the online environment, companies need to not only build the relationship between companies and customers but focus on the relationship between customers as well. In response to the online environment with the continuous development of technology, companies have tirelessly made the novel marketing strategy. Especially, as the one-to-one marketing to customers become available, it is more important for companies to maintain the relationship marketing with their customers. Among many SNS, Facebook, which many companies use as a communication channel, provides a fan page service for each company that supports its business. Facebook fan page is the platform that the event, information and announcement can be shared with customers using texts, videos, and pictures. Companies open their own fan pages in order to inform their companies and businesses. Such page functions as the websites of companies and has a characteristic of their brand communities such as blogs as well. As Facebook has become the major communication medium with customers, companies recognize its importance as the effective marketing channel, but they still need to investigate their business performances by using Facebook. Although there are infinite potentials in Facebook fan page that even has a function as a community between users, which other platforms do not, it is incomplete to regard companies' Facebook fan pages as communities and analyze them. In this study, it explores the relationship among customers through the network of the Facebook fan page users. The previous studies on a company's Facebook fan page were focused on finding out the effective operational direction by analyzing the use state of the company. However, in this study, it draws out the structural variable of the network, which customer committment can be measured by applying the social network analysis methodology and investigates the influence of the structural characteristics of network on the business performance of companies in an empirical way. Through each company's Facebook fan page, the network of users who engaged in the communication with each company is exploited and it is the one-mode undirected binary network that respectively regards users and the relationship of them in terms of their marketing activities as the node and link. In this network, it draws out the structural variable of network that can explain the customer commitment, who pressed "like," made comments and shared the Facebook marketing message, of each company by calculating density, global clustering coefficient, mean geodesic distance, diameter. By exploiting companies' historical performance such as net income and Tobin's Q indicator as the result variables, this study investigates influence on companies' business performances. For this purpose, it collects the network data on the subjects of 54 companies among KOSPI-listed companies, which have posted more than 100 articles on their Facebook fan pages during the data collection period. Then it draws out the network indicator of each company. The indicator related to companies' performances is calculated, based on the posted value on DART website of the Financial Supervisory Service. From the academic perspective, this study suggests a new approach through the social network analysis methodology to researchers who attempt to study the business-purpose utilization of the social media channel. From the practical perspective, this study proposes the more substantive marketing performance measurements to companies performing marketing activities through the social media and it is expected that it will bring a foundation of establishing smart business strategies by using the network indicators.