• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.265-271
• /
• 2019

In general, specific gravity (SG) and urinary creatinine (CR) have been used to adjust urinary cadmium (Cd) concentrations. However, the validity of correction methods has been controversial. We compared the two adjustments to evaluate associations between urinary Cd and various renal damage markers and to evaluate the relationship between urinary Cd concentration and renal disease markers, such as estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), in a relatively large general population sample. Among the 1,086 volunteers who were enrolled in this study, 862 healthy volunteers who did not have kidney disease were included in the final analysis. Urinary Cd, malondialdehyde (MDA), and N-acetyl-${\beta}$-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) concentrations were measured, the creatinine-based eGFR was calculated, and the relationships between these markers were subsequently analyzed. This study showed the use of urinary Cd concentration adjusted with SG rather than with urinary creatinine may be appropriate in studies evaluating renal function based on Cd exposure. Urinary Cd concentration adjusted with SG had a positive correlation with urinary MDA levels and a negative correlation with eGFR. This relationship was relatively stronger in women than in men. This study showed that urinary Cd level was associated with decreased eGFR in the general population, and oxidative stress was likely to act as an intermediator in this process. These results suggest that eGFR can be a very good indicator of kidney damage caused by Cd exposure in the general population.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.54 no.5
• /
• pp.547-559
• /
• 2021

Purpose: This study compares the snacking pattern, diet, lifestyle, and food preference of children by evaluating the most frequently eaten snacks. Methods: The survey enrolled 435 students from three elementary schools in Gyeonggi. Based on the most frequently eaten snacks, the subjects were divided into 3 groups: fruits and milk/dairy products for natural snacks (NS, n = 114); noodles, snack foods and fast foods for meal-like snacks (MS, n = 74); cookies, beverages and bread as sweet snacks (SS, n = 247). Results: Compared to the MS group, preferences of the NS group were significantly higher for jabgokbap (cooked rice with multi-grains, p < 0.05) and saengchae (seasoned raw vegetables, p < 0.01), and significantly lower for gogitwigim (deep-fried meat, p < 0.05). Taste preference of the NS group was considered to be more desirable; the taste preference of more subjects was 'sweet taste' in the SS group, 'spicy taste' in the MS group, 'salty taste' in the MS and SS groups, and 'sour taste' and 'bland taste' in the NS group than the other groups. Compared to the MS and SS groups, the NS group was determined to exercise more frequently; exercising for more than 30 minutes/day was determined to be 76.3% in the NS group and 58.1% and 57.9% in the other groups (p < 0.01). Moreover, a higher proportion of subjects in the MS group tended to answer 'not hungry' as the reason for leaving school meals, as compared to other groups (p = 0.055), thereby suggesting that inappropriate snacking habits interfere with regular meals. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that healthy snacking habits, which include natural snacks such as milk/dairy products and fruits, are important for children during the elementary school years, since these habits are associated with healthier diet, lifestyle, and food and taste preferences. These results provide basic information for developing nutritional education materials for elementary school children.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.54 no.2
• /
• pp.165-178
• /
• 2021

Purpose: This study examined the eating-out patterns of Korean infants and school-aged children and compared diet quality. Methods: Data were obtained from the 2016-2018 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The subjects were 306 children aged 3 to 11 years old that ate dinner at restaurants. Percentage energy intakes of 24 food groups were calculated, and cluster analysis was used to identify eating-out patterns. Diet quality was assessed by calculating percentage energy and nutrient intakes using one-third of the 2015 Dietary Reference Intakes for Korean (KDRIs), nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR), mean adequacy ratio (MAR), and index of nutritional quality (INQ). Results: Cluster analysis identified 2 eating-out patterns, that is, a 'rice-centered' (53%) and a 'mixed diet' (47%) pattern. For those with the mixed diet pattern, ratios of carbohydrates, protein, and fat to total calories were 48:20:31, whereas for the rice-centered pattern, ratios were 62:15:21 (p < 0.001). Intakes of energy and most nutrients in the mixed diet pattern were excessive, but the intakes of the most nutrients in the rice-centered pattern were much lower than their KDRIs. MARs were higher for the mixed diet pattern than the rice-centered pattern (0.74 vs. 0.66) (p < 0.001), and INQs for vitamin C (p = 0.007) and calcium (p = 0.018) were lower for the rice-centered pattern, whereas INQ for iron (p = 0.003) was lower for the mixed diet pattern. Conclusion: The quality of meals for infants and school-aged children depended on eating-out patterns, but the rice-centered and mixed diet patterns both failed to provide an appropriately balanced meal pattern. The results of this study suggest that healthy menus need to be developed for children in restaurants.

• The Journal of Korean Philosophical History
• /
• no.31
• /
• pp.53-86
• /
• 2011

Taoism exercised its influence and has made much progress apparently under the aegis of the Tang dynasty. But since the external alchemy, a traditional way of eternal life that they have pursued, met the limitation, they were placed in a situation where they needed to seek a new discipline. From this period to the early North Song dynasty, three religions have established the unique theoretical systems of their own theory of ascetic practices. They showed their own unique formats as follows. Neo-Confucianism established the theory of moral training, Buddhism did the theory of ascetic practices and Taoism had theory of discipline. By this time, a person who claimed the Intermixture of Three Religions composed the new system of theory of ascetic practice by taking advantage of other religions and putting them into his own view. Chen tuan established the theory of internal alchemy of Taoism and was the most influential figure in the world of thought since North Song dynasty. He clearly declared that he accepted the merits of other religions in his theory. He added I Ching of Confucianism in I Ching of secret of Taoism to stop the logical gaps during the process of disciplines in Taoism and took ascetic practices on mind of Buddhism into his system while he sought a way to integrate the dual structure of body and mind. The theory of Chen tuan's internal alchemy was training schema with stages of 'YeonJeongHwaGi', 'YeonGiHwaSin', and 'YeonSinHwanHeo' based on the concepts of vital, energy and spirit. The internal alchemy practice that Chen tuan was saying started from the practice of Zen to keep the mind calm with the basis of fundamental principles of interpretation of book of change according to Taoism. When a person reached the state to be in concert with all changes at the end of the silence and be full of wisdoms, he finally returned to the state of BokGwiMuGeuk by taking the flow of subtle mind and transforming it into energy. He expressed this process by drawing 'MuGeukDo'. Oriental philosophy categorized human into 'phenomenal existence' and 'original existence'. The logic of theory of ascetic practice has been established from these 'category of existence'. It would be determined whether it will return to 'original existence' or be stepped up from 'phenomenal existence' according to how the concept of 'self' or 'I' was made. Chen tuan who established the theory of internal alchemy in Taoism has established the unique theory of internal alchemy discipline and system of intermixture of three religions in this aspect. Today is called 'era of self-loss' or 'era of incurable diseases' caused by environmental pollution. It's still meaningful to review the theory of discipline of Chen tuan's connecting the body and the soul to heal the self, and keep life healthy and pursue the new way of discipline based on it.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.31 no.5
• /
• pp.475-480
• /
• 2021

Interest in edible insects such as Protaetia brevitarsis has increased rapidly, and several insect producers use these insects in industrialized mass production. However, mass rearing of insects can cause insect diseases. Sprouted barley is a valuable source of nutrients and has antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer effects. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of sprouted barley as a feed additive for producing healthy P. brevitarsis larvae. P. brevitarsis larvae were fed feeds with or without sprouted barley, and their body weight and larval period wewe checked weekly. To confirm the antibacterial effects of sprouted barley, in vitro bioassays were performed by counting Serratia marcescens colonies, and in vivo bioassays were performed by determining the survival rate and body weights of the S. marcescens-infected larvae. Larvae fed different feeds were analyzed for their nutrient compositions (i.e., such as proximate composition, minerals, amino acids, and heavy metals). Larvae fed 5% and 10% sprouted barley had maximum weight increases of 19.2% and 23.1%, respectively. Both treatment groups had significantly shorter larval periods than those of the control group. Sprouted barley markedly inhibited the growth of entomopathogenic S. marcescens. Furthermore, larvae fed sprouted barley exhibited higher Cu, Zn, and K levels. Seventeen amino acids were present in larvae fed sprouted barley, of which, tyrosine and glutamic acid were predominant. No heavy metals were detected in any of the investigated groups. Therefore, sprouted barley may be a suitable feed additive for producing high-quality P. brevitarsis larvae.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.101-109
• /
• 2021

Purpose: Common human coronaviruses (HCoVs) are relatively understudied due to the mild nature of HCoV infection. Given the lack of local epidemiology data on common HCoVs, we aimed to describe clinical and epidemiological characteristics of common HCoVs in children. Methods: Respiratory viral test results from 9,589 respiratory samples from Seoul National University Children's Hospital were analyzed from January 2015 to December 2019. Viral detection was done by the multiplex reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Demographics and clinical diagnosis were collected for previously healthy children tested positive for HCoVs. Results: Of the 9,589 samples tested, 1 or more respiratory viruses were detected from 5,017 (52.3%) samples and 463 (4.8%) samples were positive for HCoVs (OC43 2.8%, NL63 1.4%, 229E 0.7%). All 3 types co-circulated during winter months (November to February) with some variation by type. HCoV-OC43 was the most prevalent every winter season. HCoV-NL63 showed alternate peaks in late winter (January to March) and early winter (November to February). HCoV-229E had smaller peaks every other winter. Forty-one percent of HCoV-positive samples were co-detected with additional viruses; human rhinovirus 13.2%, respiratory syncytial virus 13.0%, influenza virus 4.3%. Common clinical diagnosis was upper respiratory tract infection (60.0%) followed by pneumonia (14.8%), croup (8.1%), and bronchiolitis (6.7%). Croup accounted for 17.0% of HCoV-NL63-positive children. Conclusions: This study described clinical and epidemiological characteristics of common HCoVs (OC43, NL63, 229E) in children. Continuing surveillance, perhaps by adding HKU1 in the diagnostic panel can further elucidate the spectrum of common HCoV infections in children.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.603-608
• /
• 2021

The purpose of this perspective research is to discuss the potential role of exercise-interventions in COVID-19, terms of prevention and prognosis in the periods of the COVID-19 vaccine. SARCO-CoV-2. COVID-19 was detected as a new virus causing severe cardiovascular and respiratory complications. It emerged as a global public health emergency and national pandemic. It caused more than 1 million deaths in the first 6 months of the pandemic and resulted in huge social and economic fluctuations internationally. Unprecedented stressful situations, such as COVID-19 blue and COVID-19 red impact on many health problems. In healthy individuals, COVID-19 infection may induced no symptoms (i.e., asymptomatic), whereas others may experience flu-like symptoms, such as ARDS, pneumonia, and death. Poor health status, such as obesity and cardiovascular and respiratory complications, are high risk factors for COVID-19 prevention, occurrence, and prognosis. Several COVID-19 vaccines are currently in human trials. However, the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccines, including potential side effects, such as anaphylaxis (a life-threatening allergic reaction) and rare blood clots, still need to be investigated. On the basis of direct and indirect evidence, it seems that regular and moderate physical exercise can be recommended as a nonpharmacological, efficient, and safe way to cope with COVID-19. Physical inactivity and metabolic abnormalities are directly associated with reduced immune responses, including reduced innate, CMI, and AMI responses. Due to prolonged viral shedding, quarantine in inactive, obese and disease people should likely be longer than physical active people. Multicomponent and systemic exercise should be considered for the obese, disease, and elderly people. More mechanism research is needed in this area.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.39 no.4
• /
• pp.85-98
• /
• 2021

In accordance with planning to construct culture park on Songhyeon-dong (district) near Gyeongbokgung Palace, This study analyzed literature and drawings from the early Joseon Dynasty to today for the district, known as 'Songhyeon (pine hill)' to identify historical and cultural landscapes during essential times. The following are the results; First, the owners of significant lots were identified, and land use and landscape components were extracted for a diachronic examination of the landscape of the whole area of Songhyeon-dong. Songhyeon district had been regarded as the 'Inner Blue Dragon (Spot) of Gyeongbokgung Palace' in terms of geomancy since the foundation of Joseon in 1392 in that the government created and managed a 'pine forest' in the district. A state warehouse called 'bungam' was constructed, and small fruit stores, 'ujeon,' opened due to the complete reformation and urban planning led by King Taejong in 1410. From the 19th century, mansions of the upper class, such as 'Gaseonggak', 'Changnyeongwuigung' and 'Byeoksugeosajeong' were in the district. A prominent official residential complex called 'Sigeun Sataek' was constructed in 1919 after Chosen Siksan Bank purchased the site. Later, it was transferred to America in 1948 and used as the 'US Embassy Staff Quarters'. Second, the changes in the site view, associated with the aspects of society by the times, were examined by estimating the location and the time the landscape components lasted in each period extracted and identifying the physical entity. The pine forest, regarded as the 'Inner Blue Dragon' that guards the left side of the palace within the geomantic world view, was located in the highlands in the west of the site. In the same period, the flat area in the east was regarded as the 'commoner's district', the streets adjacent to various government facilities and the market, packed with people from different walks of life. From the 19th century, the gardens of the aristocrats of the capital city were created in the pine forest, turning the place into the forest in the middle of the city. The whole area of Songhyeon-dong, which existed as a large lot in the city center for a long time, was developed by Japanese imperialists in the 20th century based on the concept of 'Ideal Healthy Land,' which interrupted the placeness of Songhyeon-dong that had adhered to the traditional geomatic view of the Joseon Dynasty.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.46-54
• /
• 2022

Known for its effectiveness in weight loss and diabetes prevention, Gymnema sylvestre products can be found in the US, Japanese, and Indian markets. However, the recommended dosage or safety of these products has not yet been proven. Therefore, development of an analytical method for detecting the content of Gymnema sylvestre in food products is required. Accordingly, this study proposes an analysis method that can examine Gymnema sylvestre in food using LC-ESI-MS/MS and KASP (Kompetitive Allele-Specific PCR) markers. In LC-ESI-MS/MS, a simultaneous analysis method for gymnemic acid and deacylgymnemic acid was optimized using negative ionization mode, and its validation test was completed for solid and liquid samples. In addition, KASP markers were prepared by finding the specific SNP of G. sylvestre in ITS2 and matK through DNA barcodes. The two KASP markers returned positive FAM fluorescence result when combined with G. sylvestre, and this aspect was confirmed in raw G. sylvestre as well. The applicability of the method was tested on 21 different food and healthy functional products containing G. sylvestre purchased on the internet. As a result, although there was a difference in the ratios of gymnemic acid and deacylgymnemic acid in LC-ESI-MS/MS, the index component was detected in all 21 products samples. In the KASP analysis, 9 products returned positive FAM result, and the rest of the products were found to be containing G. sylvestre extract. This study is the first study to use the dual system of LC-ESI-MS/MS and KASP for the analysis of G. sylvestre. The study has confirmed that these two methods are applicable to the examine G. sylvestre content in food products.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.35 no.6
• /
• pp.669-678
• /
• 2021

This study surveyed three land cover types in Chungju City in Chungcheongbuk Province to check the distribution of cultured bacteria in bio-aerosols according to land cover type. It was possible to compare and analyze the distribution of bacteria according to microclimatic changes at each measurement point by examining meteorological factors and bio-aerosols according to land cover. The microclimate temperature in each measurement point was 8.7℃ for the urban forest, 10.8℃ for the waterside green area, and 10.2℃ for the urban area, indicating the urban forest had the lowest temperature among the measurement points. The relative humanity was 61.8% fin the urban forest, 59.3% in the waterside green area, and 55.7% in the urban area, indicating that the urban forest was the most humid among the measurement points. The identified bacteria were found to be 43 genera and 99 species. In terms of species diversity of cultured bacteria, 22 genera were found in the waterside green area, 21 genera in the urban forest, and 17 genera in the urban area, 37 species were found in the waterside green area, 31 species in the urban area, and 31 species in the urban forest. Bacillus toyonensis and Pseudarthrobacter oxydan were the species present in all three types of measurement sites, and Herbiconiux flava was confirmed to inhabit green areas such as urban forests and waterside green areas. The analysis result of the bacterial concentration according to the microclimatic environment in each measurement point was 333 CFU/m³ in the urban forest, 287 CFU/m³, in the waterside green area, and 173 CFU/m³ in the downtown area. The relative humidity and wind speed were analyzed to show a similar trend as the concentration. This study is expected to provide basic data for healthy urban management and green area creation by identifying the distribution of cultured bacteria in bio-aerosols according to land cover type and comparing and analyzing the traits of bio-aerosol in each measurement point.