• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.1295-1303
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• 2013

According to facts revealed up until the present, there are a total of 68 known phyla on earth, including 55 phyla of bacteria and 13 phyla of archaea. The human large intestine has 9 phyla of microorganisms, which is a relatively lower diversity compared to the general environments of soil or sea. The diversity of intestinal microorganisms is affected by the characteristics of the host (genetic background, sex, age, immune system, and gut motility), the diet (non-digestible carbohydrates, fat, prebiotics, probiotics), and the intake of antibiotics, which in turn have an effect on energy storage processes, gene expressions, and even metabolic diseases like obesity. Probiotics are referred to as living microorganisms that improve the intestinal microbiota and contribute to the health of the host; in addition, probiotics usually comprise lactic acid bacteria. Recently, bacteriotherapy using probiotics has been utilized to treat sicknesses like diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome. Prebiotics are a food ingredient which can selectively adjust intestinal microorganisms and which comprise inulin, fructooligosaccharides, galactooligosaccharides, and lactulose. In recent days, attention has been paid to the use of dietary cellulose in the large intestine and the production of short chain fatty acids (short-chain fatty acids) in relation to obesity and anticancer. More research into microorganisms in the large intestine is necessary to identify specific microorganism species, which are adjusted by diverse non-digestible carbohydrates, prebiotics, and probiotics in the large intestine and to understand the connection between sicknesses and metabolites like short chain fatty acids produced by these microorganism species.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.99-105
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• 2000

Ginsenf Radix (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) has been traditionally used as a herbal medicine for many therapeutic or prophylactic purposes in the oriental countries such as Korea, Japan and China for at least two thousand years and also extensively studied in the modern scientific field of chemistry, biochemistry and pharmacology. The herb is now also indicated for use as tonic or a prophylactic and restorative agent for enhancement of mental and physical capacities, in case of weahess exhaustion tiredness loss of concentration, impotence, cold limbs, during illiness anuor convalescence. Ginseng is commonly used in the form of detections, extract and powderl and ginseng products, in the form of capsules tablets and drinks. And also ginseng radix has been widely traditionally prescribed as an important comuonents of manny Chinese prescriptions or alone in various diseases and for health with its different dosages. Nowadays since rinsenf can be generally classified into food or medicine in many nations, it is very difficult to give any exact desnition on the dosage, which may be of particular importance in clinical applications. In addition, the establishment of the reasonable dosage is currently of great significance to meet the demand for such wide applications. Accordingly in this review paper we summarized the dosage of ginseng on the basis of oriental medical books oriental and western pharmacopeias and modern scientific clinical data. The recent survey demonstrated that the averare dosare of finsenf is considered to be three to four grams per day unless prescribed apart, while one to two grams per day in western countries from the western viewpoint of classification of ginseng as a medicine, surrorted by the dosage of not more than one gram per day in most clinical studies. For that reason, it seems likely that the dosage in western countries is ascribed to the safety of ginseng considering side or unwanted effects. Consequently whether the differences of dosage between oriental and western countries depend on dietary habits and races should be closely investigated. Besides, further studies on the pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of ginseng components in clinical trials need to be done to decide optimum dosage of ginseng.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.71-79
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• 2014

Although Korean patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are generally treated by western medicine, many of them strongly believe in the traditional oriental Sasang constitutional classification and depend on it for food, health supplements, and oriental medicines decision making. Sasang constitutional classification is a part of traditional Korean medicine that divides people into four constitutional types (Tae-Yang: TY, Tae-Eum: TE, So-Yang: SY, and So-Eum: SE), which differ in inherited characteristics such as appearance, personality traits, susceptibility to diseases, and drug responses. It is recommended for T2DM patients to control their blood glucose very well from early stages with drugs and diet. However, many T2DM patients respond differently to their drugs, even though they receive the same medicine. Therefore, the present study investigated whether Sasang constitutional type can explain the therapeutic differences between oral hypoglycemic agents (OHAs) therapy (mono, dual and triple drug therapy). Patients of 618 with T2DM diagnosis and Sasang constitutional type known who received both western and oriental medicine treatment in a hospital between April 2006 and April 2013 retrospectively studied. HbA1c (%) and blood glucose (mg/dl) levels before OHAs therapy and 3 month after were collected for metformin (MET) or sulfonylurea (SU) monotherapy, MET+SU dual therapy, MET+except SU (where was either alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor, meglitinide or thiazolidinedione) dual therapy, and triple therapy, according to Sasang constitutional type. For statistical analysis, ANOVA was used and paired t-test by SPSS 19.0 where P values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Pattern was similar levels of HbA1c and blood glucose and which was decreased in order of mono, MET+SU dual, MET+except SU dual and triple therapy. In all patients comparison, for the So-yang (SY) constitutional type, either monotherapy was less effective; for Te-eum (TE) type, MET+SU dual therapy was less effective while MET+except SU dual therapy was more effective and the triple therapy was less effective; and for So-eum (SE) type, the triple therapy was more effective. For the management of TE type it is recommended to use drugs except SU when dual therapy is needed, restrict triple therapy and consider dual and insulin therapy; for SY type it is recommended to follow current guidelines; and for SE type it is advisable to skip dual therapy and start the triple therapy early. Finally, the therapeutic response to OHAs is different among Korean T2DM patients with different Sasang constitutional types. Taken together, the choice of effective OHAs therapy for each type is necessary in order to minimize the poor control of blood glucose level, the risk of complications, and the costs from a failure of therapy.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.71-78
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• 2005

Purpose: The morbidity of pesticides are largely related with accidental ingestion in human. The four principal ideals of clarity, completeness, conformity and consistency of label are important to make a correct usage and prevent unnecessary health risk. The aim of this study is to evaluate the appropriateness of pesticides labelling practice in Korea. Methods: The photographic label images of pesticide products were gathered through visiting thirteen manufacturers that produce pesticide products in Korea. We scored labelling practice by guidelines of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1995. Results: From August 2005 to November 2005, we gathered 1,296 label images of pesticide and $58.3{\%}$ (755/1,296) of images were scored by check lists for reviewing label content. The average score of four check list categories was $71.9{\pm}2.2$. Each categorical score were $91.7{\pm}0.9$ for the information appearing on the label, $31.3{\pm}0.0$ for safety precaution, $77.7{\pm}2.0$ for instructions for use, $87.0{\pm}8.7$ for general configurations. In safety precaution, the sentence of keeping locked up the product and two mandatory safety pictograms were missed in all label images. In general configurations category, there was score difference in product package types between bottle and bag container ($85.1{\pm}9.0$ vs. $90.3{\pm}7.2$, p < 0.01). Conclusion: Although there was no comparable previous data, the score of safety precaution was lowest than other categories because the two mandatory safety pictograms and locked up warning sentence were missed. In general configurations, the colour contrast was more inappropriate in the labels on bottle than bag container.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.69-77
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• 2005

The electronic nose (e-nose) has been used in food industry and quality controls in plastic packaging. Recently it finds its applications in medical diagnosis, specifically on detection of diabetes, pulmonary or gastrointestinal problem, or infections by examining odors in the breath or tissues with its odor characterizing ability. Moreover, the use of portable e-nose enables the on-site measurements and analysis of vapors without extra gas-sampling units. This is expected to widen the application of the e-nose in various fields including point-of-care-test or e-health. In this study, a PDA-based portable e-nose was developed using micro-machined gas sensor array and miniaturized electronic interfaces. The rich capacities of the PDA in its computing power and various interfaces are expected to provide the rapid and application specific development of the diagnostic devices, and easy connection to other facilities through information technology (IT) infra. For performance verification of the developed portable e-nose system, Six different vapors were measured using the system. Seven different carbon-black polymer composites were used for the sensor array. The results showed the reproducibility of the measured data and the distinguishable patterns between the vapor species. Additionally, the application of two typical pattern recognition algorithms verified the possibility of the automatic vapor recognition from the portable measurements. These validated the portable e-nose based on PDA developed in this study.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.60-70
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• 2011

The sediment removal index derived from the chemical contaminants, $CI_{HC}$, is currently in use to identify and define the spatial extent of the contaminated sediments in the sea. In order to analyze the sensitivity of the ecological and human risk associated with contaminated sediment, we evaluated five hypothetical contaminated sediments, whose $CI_{HC}$ values are identical but consisted of different contaminant contents, using $TrophicTrace^{(R)}$ model dedicated to evaluate sediment risk, against the resident greenling (Hexagrammos otakii) and humans by calculating No-Observed-Adverse-Effect-Level based Toxicity Quotient (NOAEL TQ) and Lowest-Observed-Adverse-Effect-Level based Toxicity Quotient (LOAEL TQ), and cancer risks and hazard indices (HI), respectively, based on the site conceptual model and exposure assumptions of fish ingestion to human receptor populations. NOAEL and LOAEL TQ values varied as much as a factor of 2 among 5 hypothetical sediments. Chemical element specific contribution to the carcinogenic risk and HI varied also greatly in these sediments. The reason for this significant dissimilarity in ecological and human risk stems from the different risk of each contaminant to the resident fish and human receptor. When the conceptual food web model is constructed for the target biological species for a given site, the ecological and human risk analysis considering trophic transfer of contaminants will add a ecosystem based tool for the management of contaminated sediments.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.109-117
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• 2012

The purpose of this work was to evaluate an amorphous silicon cesium iodide based indirect flat-panel detector (FPD) in terms of their modulation transfer function (MTF), Wiener spectrum (WS, or noise power spectrum, NPS), and detective quantum efficiency (DQE). Measurements were made on flat-panel detector using the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) defined RQA3, RQA5, RQA7, and RQA9 radiographic technique. The MTFs of the systems were measured using an edge method. The WS(NPS) of the systems were determined for a range of exposure levels by two-dimensional (2D). Fourier analysis of uniformly exposed radiographs. The DQEs were assessed from the measured MTF, WS(NPS), exposure, and estimated ideal signal-to-noise ratios. Characteristic curve in the RQA3 showed difference in the characteristic curve from RQA5, RQA7, RQA9. MTFs were not differences according to x-ray beam quality. WS(NPS) was reduced with increasing dose, and RQA 3, RQA5, RQA7, RQA9 as the order is reduced. DQE represented the best in the 1mR, RQA 3, RQA5, RQA7, RQA9 decrease in the order. The physical imaging characteristics of FPD may also differ from input beam quality. This study gives an initial motivation that the physical imaging characteristics of FPD is an important issue for the right use of digital radiography system.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.821-829
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• 2019

This study was conducted to evaluate the applicability of the extracts from nipa palm, molokhia, and finger root in functional cosmetics as a natural active ingredient. The extracts were obtained through the processes of heating under reflux with ethanol, filtration, concentration, and freeze-drying. UV absorption and blocking effects of the extracts were examined by using the UV-vis spectrophotometer equipped with an integrating sphere. Antioxidant activity and its stability between the extracts were compared using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay. Also, total polyphenol content in the extracts was determined quantitatively using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent, with gallic acid as the standard. Antibacterial activity of the extracts was investigated by the disc diffusion test against Staphylococcus aureus (gram-positive) and Escherichia coli (gram-negative). Finally, collagenase inhibitor assay was performed to examine the anti-wrinkle effect of the extracts. From the results of this study, the extract of nipa palm showed the potential for use in cosmetics as an antioxidant and anti-wrinkle agent, and the extract of finger root as a sunscreen and antibacterial agent.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.584-593
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• 2021

In the 2020 Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans, an acceptable macronutrient distribution range (AMDR), similar to the one established in 2015, was determined for carbohydrates. AMDR is the ratio that signifies energy intake from carbohydrates to the total energy intake, and is a reference that indicates a decreasing risk of chronic diseases. The AMDR of carbohydrate was determined to be optimal at 55-65% for all ages above 1 year. For the first time, in the year 2020, the estimated average requirement (EAR) and recommended nutrient intake (RNI) for carbohydrates were established. The EAR was based on the amount of glucose used per day in the brain, and was set at 100 g/day for all ages above 1 year. The RNI was set at 130 g/day, by adding a double coefficient of variation using a 15% coefficient of variation, for all ages above 1 year. In pregnant women, the amount of glucose utilized by the fetus brain was considered additionally, and for lactating women the amount of lactose secreted into maternal milk was additionally taken into consideration. Since the EAR of carbohydrate indicates the minimum amount of glucose required by the brain and is not an appropriate intake amount as an energy source, it is incorrect to compare the carbohydrate intake with the EAR or RNI. To evaluate the nutritional status of carbohydrate, it is appropriate to use the AMDR. Carbohydrate intakes within the AMDR range has the possibility in reducing the risk of chronic diseases. Hence, it is important to consider the quality as well as quantity of carbohydrates consumed.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.482-490
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• 2022

Sarcopenia, a geriatric and multifactorial syndrome characterized by progressive systemic skeletal muscle disorder, may be associated with many comorbidities. Sarcopenia caused by a decrease in muscle mass and muscle strength is accompanied by the aggravation of various pathological conditions, and as life expectancy increases, its prevalence will continue to increase in the future. During the aging process, chronic oxidative stress and increased inflammatory responses act as major contributors to skeletal muscle loss. In addition, disruption of autophagy and apoptosis signals associated with dysfunction of mitochondria, which are essential for energy metabolism, accelerates the loss of muscle proteins. The pharmacological effect of cordycepin, a major physiologically active substance in the genus Cordyceps, which has been widely used for the prevention and treatment of various diseases for a long time, is directly related to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions. In this review, we present the correlation between apoptosis, autophagy, protein catabolism, and satellite cell activity important for muscle regeneration using cordycepin for the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia. Although there have been few studies so far on the use of cordycepin for sarcopenia, previous studies suggest that cordycepin may contribute to inhibiting the age-related weakening of mitochondrial function and blocking the breakdown of muscle proteins. In addition, the protective effect of cordycepin on muscle cell damage is considered to be closely related to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Therefore, it is considered that more continuous basic research is needed, focusing on the molecular biological mechanism of cordycepin, which is involved in the anti-aging of muscle cells.