• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.41 no.2
• /
• pp.93-97
• /
• 2016

Purpose: Grain slurry diet are described as food obtained from ground grain paste. They serve as highly nutritious food for both adults and infants in Nigeria because of their immense nutritive and economical value. However, the production of these grain slurry diets is confronted with challenges that have hampered their commercialization. This study examines the trends and constraints of grain slurry food processing in Kaduna State. Methods: A survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire to elicit information from 192 selected processors, including both men and women. The survey was structured in line with the study objectives. The information was collated and synopsized into frequency distribution. Results: These findings revealed that 80% of the respondents processed between 1.0 tons and 13.0 tons of grain slurry per month. More than 90% of the processors processed grain slurry into koko, kunu, agidi, and pito. Accordingly, 80% of the interviewed processors indicated that sieving is one of the major constraints. Furthermore, inadequate modern machinery required to perform this operation makes it highly discouraging. One of the major challenges faced by the grain slurry producers in Nigeria is the lack of processing machinery for most operations (39.1%), followed by the tedious processing nature (27.1%), high labor cost (18.1%), and lack of market (9.4%). The traditional method of grain slurry processing was more popular than using modern equipment, except milling (96.5%), which is the only mechanized unit operation in grain slurry processing. Conclusion: Grain slurry processing and marketing were found to be profitable. However, these limitations could extremely reduce the level of grain slurry production, processing, and economic returns, thereby affecting the general wellbeing of the processors. The study also raised concerns about the safety and hygiene associated with traditionally processed grain slurry diets in the investigated areas.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.32-45
• /
• 1996

Background : A critical path defines an optimal sequencing and timing of interventions by physicians, nurses, and other staff for a particular diagnosis or procedure, designed to better utilize resources, maximize quality of care, and minimize delays. It can be thought of as a visualization of the patient care process. In this study, a review of appendectomy patient records was undertaken to identify a critical path for the management of this treatment. Methods: For this study, records of patients under 15 or over 65 years of age were excluded ; cases where the patient was pregnant, or where complications developed were also excluded. The remaining 21 cases were divided into two categories according to the indication for appendectomy : for acute appendicitis, and for perforated appendix or drainage of periappendical abscess. The time frame for the review was from patient examination immediately prior to operation, through discharge. The study team was composed of a surgeon, research head nurse, education head nurse, surgical part head nurse, and medical recorder. Following their review of the 21 charts, the team determined an appropriate progression and schedule for an appendectomy. Result : Through the chart and literature review, the following aspects of the care process were identified as typical and tracked : monitoring/assessment, treatment, lines/drains, medication, activity, diet, tests and patient education. Conclusion : From this study, the design team determined two separate critical paths : one for appendectomy only, and one for appendectomy plus drainage. Next, these paths must be validated and fine-tuned through clinical implementation. In addition, a comparison of our design with the critical paths determined at other hospitals would be extremely valuable for advancing research in this area. Lastly, the critical path approach to improving patient care and maximizing hospital resources should be applied to other procedures.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.577-585
• /
• 2009

Various studies on individual health-care application services have been lively going on due to recent development of information and communication technology and improvement of life quality. Moreover, U-health care area is emerging as a new growth industry as the demand of U-health care service for a quality life grows with the development of medical technology and ubiquitous environment. U-health care system for crew members on ships, who need to spend much time on sea far from their families, is especially needed because they find their job much more stressful not only physically but also mentally than any other people in different jobs do and have less chance to get proper medical services in time. In this paper, we suggested how to get more accurate and objective U-health wellbeing index by complementing SF-36, the general heath care index model in order to managing health of crew. Also we designed the U-health wellbeing index service system which can provide appropriate sports programs or diet contents according to health index.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.299-307
• /
• 2008

Soybean seed ferritin is essential for human iron supplementation and iron deficiency anemia prevention because it contains abundant bioavailable iron and is frequently consumed in the human diet. However, it is poorly understood in regards its several properties, such as iron mineralization, subunit assembly, and protein folding. To address these issues, we decided to prepare the soybean seed ferritin complex via a recombinant DNA approach. In this paper, we report a rapid and simple Escherichia coli expression system to produce the soybean seed ferritin complex. In this system, two subunits of soybean seed ferritin, H-2 and H-1, were encoded in a single plasmid, and optimal expression was achieved by additionally coexpressing a team of molecular chaperones, trigger factor and GroEL-GroES. The His-tagged ferritin complex was purified by $Ni^{2+}$ affinity chromatography, and an intact ferritin complex was obtained following His-tagged enterokinase (His-EK) digestion. The purified ferritin complex synthesized in E. coli demonstrated some reported features of its native counterpart from soybean seed, including an apparent molecular weight, multimeric assembly, and iron uptake activity. We believe that the strategy described in this paper may be of general utility in producing other recombinant plant ferritins built up from two types of subunits.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.40 no.8
• /
• pp.745-752
• /
• 2007

While metabolic syndrome(MS) is rapidly expanding and dietary pattern, the known risk factor of MS, goes through heavy transition to western diet, not many researches have been done on the association between dyslipidemia and dietary factors in Korean adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between compliance with dietary guidelines and dyslipidemia among Koreans. The subjects of 399 adults who visited health examination center were classified into dyslipidemia(n=180) and control(n=219). Diagnosis of dyslipidemia was based on NCEP-ATPIII criteria(triglyceride>=150mg/d, HDL-C<50mg/dl for male, HDL-C<40mg/dl for female). A questionnaire based interview was done to collect information on compliance with dietary guidelines, general characteristics and health related behaviors. Anthropometric variables were measured during the survey. Mean compliance score of dietary guideline was significantly lower in dyslipidemia group than in control. It was associated negatively with waist circumference and positively with serum HDL-cholesterol(p<0.05). Risks of dyslipidemia were significantly decreased in the group with highest dietary guideline score, high serum triglyceride levels(OR=0.484, 95% CI=0.268-0.875), abdominal obesity(OR=0.296, 95% CI=0.159-0.553), and dyslipidemia(OR=0.481, 95% CI=0.266-0.869). These results indicated that increasing compliance with dietary guidelines could be an effective strategy to lower the risk of dyslipidemia among Koreans.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.132-140
• /
• 2001

The effects of various dietary docosahexaenoix acid(DHA) levels on the brain phospholipids and serum and liver lipid compositions were studied in rats using DHA concentrated oil and corn oil as a control for 4 weeks. Serum total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels tended to be the lowest by adding 20% DHA to corn oil. Serum triglyceride levels significantly decreased by adding 30% DHA. Liver cholesterol and triglyceride levels were apparently decreased in the groups added above 20% DHA, especially, the lowest at adding 30% DHA. Brain weight and phospholipid content were not different among groups. The ratios of arachidonic to linoleic acids in serum and liver phosphatidylcholine(PC) were significantly decreased by adding dietary DHA and showed a flat form above 20% of dietary DHA. DHA levels of serum PC were gradually increased according to dietary DHA level. The fatty acid compositions of the brain PC and phosphatidylethanolamine(PE) did not appear any changes with accordance of the dietary DHA levels. However, compared with those of serum and liver in general, linoleic and arachidonic acid levels were very low. Oleic acids were apparently higher than those in the other tissues. DHA were higher than those in the other tissues rigardless of the dietary DHA, especially in brain PE. The ratios of arachidonic to linoleic acid were not apparent tendency in brain PC and PE. However, the ratios of brain PE were above 2 times higher than those of brain PC. As the results, the hypolipidemic effects of dietary DNA were remarkable in liver. Especially in regard to tendency of liver lipid levels and desaturation indices in serum and liver PC, the effects indicated significantly higher by adding 20-30% DHA to diet(n-6/n-3 ratio, about 4-7). Thus, in this study, these dietary DHA levels seemed to be appropriate, at least in these lipid paramenters.(Korean J Nutrition 34(2) : 132∼140, 2001)

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.50 no.6
• /
• pp.578-584
• /
• 2017

Purpose: Excess intake of sodium is a major diet-related risk factor for human diseases including hypertension and cancer as well as obesity and inflammation. However, findings are still controversial, and evidence is lacking in Koreans. Therefore, for better understanding of the role of dietary sodium intake in disease etiology, this study investigated the effects of dietary sodium intake on adiposity, inflammation, and hormones in Koreans. Methods: A total of 80 males and females joined the study. The general characteristics and dietary intake data were investigated by trained interviewers using a questionnaire and 24-h dietary recall, respectively. For the markers of adiposity, body weight, body mass index, percent of body fat, visceral fat area, and waist and hip circumference were measured. For the inflammation and hormone markers, leptin, adiponectin, insulin, tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}$, and interleukin-6 were also analyzed. Results: Multivariate linear regression analyses suggested that dietary sodium intake was not associated with adiposity. However, dietary sodium showed a significant association with insulin level: Plasma insulin concentration increased with sodium intake independent of other dietary intake or percent of body fat (${\beta}=0.296$, adjusted $r^2=0.276$, p < 0.01). Other markers for inflammation and hormonal responses were not associated with dietary sodium intake. Conclusion: Findings suggested that dietary sodium intake may be a critical modifying factor in the level of plasma insulin. However, it showed a limited effect on obesity and other inflammation markers and hormone levels. These findings should be confirmed in larger, well-designed investigations.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.242-251
• /
• 2020

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to examine disparities in food and nutrient intakes based on family types identified among 1,856 participants who were the Korean elderly people in the 6th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHNES) excluding those who were currently practicing the diet therapy. SUBJECTS/METHODS: We separated the subjects into two groups: living alone (LA, n = 638) and living with a spouse (LS, n = 1,218). We also examined the disparities of dietary quantity and quality of those two groups using complex sampling design general linear regression analyses (CS GLM). RESULTS: In the LA group, there was a higher percentage of females and average age in LA group was higher than the participants in the LS group. Household income and education level were significantly lower in LA compared to those of LS. The frequencies of skipping meals were higher in LA. LA's food and nutrient intakes showed lower consumption of vegetables, fruits, seaweeds, and of most nutrients. Even after adjusting for the confounding factors, the consumption of vegetables, seaweeds, carbohydrates, potassium, riboflavin, and vitamin C showed lower in LA than LS. Moreover, LA's nutrient intake ratios compared to the KDRIs were lower which turned out to be similar to their nutrient intakes. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that dietary behavior and food intake of the elderly are associated with family types. Frequently skipping meals and less dietary variety are more common with elderly persons who were living alone. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate the supplementary food programs and nutrition education programs for the elderly living alone.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.157-162
• /
• 2011

The importance of dietary intake in the treatment of type 2 diabetes was emphasized. This study was performed to investigate the dietary intakes of Korean type 2 diabetes patients according to the treatment and duration of diabetes and to examine the relationships between their diet and serum lipid profiles. The subjects were 111 type 2 diabetic patients who were treated by medical nutrition therapy only, oral hypoglycemic agents (OHA), or insulin with medical nutrition therapy. Dietary intake was assessed by a registered dietitian using semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaires Comparisons according to treatment type were made using covariance analyses. General linear models identified the independent effects of the different treatments after covarying for age, duration of diabetes, and 2-way interactions. There were no significant differences in age and BMI but was in duration of diabetes according to treatment type in these subjects. Carbohydrate to energy ratio was higher in the OHA group (P < 0.05), whereas the fat to energy ratio was higher in the insulin group for males (P < 0.05). Carbohydrate ($R^2$ = 0.24, P = 0.005) and fat ($R^2$ = 0.26, P = 0.02) to energy ratios were independently associated with the duration of diabetes after covarying for age, sex, treatment, and 2-way interactions. The levels of triglyceride (TG; $R^2$ = 0.32, P = 0.02) and total cholesterol (TC) were associated independently with energy intake and the carbohydrate ($R^2$ = 0.15, P = 0.02) and fat ($R^2$ = 0.15, P = 0.01) to energy ratios, respectively. The concern that the independent association of dietary intake with either duration of diabetes or dietary factors affects blood lipid levels could suggest that specific dietary recommendations may work better for identifiable groups of diabetes patients.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.133-140
• /
• 2005

Purpose： This study estimated the prevalence of smoking among male and female school employees. This study also correlated key indicators of health with the number of cigarettes consumed per day by the male smokers. The indicators of health included health behavior, blood pressure (mmHg), BMI (kg/m2), diabetes, total cholesterol, GOT, GPT and GTP. Methods： Subjects included 2,640 male and 2,747 female employees working at elementary, middle, and high schools who received a physical check-up at the Seoul School Health Center in 2002. Data was obtained from the physical examinations, questionnaires, and laboratory results. Results： 39.7% of males and 0.4% of females were current smokers. 60% of the male smokers consumed between 10 and 19 cigarettes per day, and39.6% of male smokers had been smoking between 10 and 19 years. Smokers who consumed more than one pack per day had a relatively higher BMI than the non-smokers (24.7 24.1, respectively). However, smokers had lower blood pressure than non-smokers. The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure of current-smokers were 128.2 and 82.8, respectively, while the values among non-smokers were 129 and 84.5, respectively. The proportion of current smokers with severe obesity (over BMI 30) was 5.0%. This was considerably higher than the 1.3% of severely obese non-smokers. Current-smokers also had mean and abnormal rate of fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, GOT, GPT, and GTP that were higherthan those of non-smokers. The frequency of red meat consumption, alcohol use, perceived incidents of stress were alsomore frequent in current-smokers than in non-smokers. Exercise frequency was also lower among smokers. In multiple regression after adjusting all possible confounding factors including age, BMI, diet, and drink, the parameter value of fasting blood glucose, cholesterol, GOT, GPT, and GTP increased relative to the level of cigarette consumption. Conclusion： Among school employees, health behavior, and general health status including BMI, total cholesterol, GOT, GPT, GTP, and fasting blood glucose were worse in smokers than in non-smoker.