• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.79-85
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• 2005

Purpose: With the recent boom in 'eating healthy', many adults are interested in dieting to prevent future diseases. However only well trained experts can distinguish between what are edible vegetables and herbs from their poisonous look-alikes. In cases where a patient unknowingly ingests a poisonous herb, is caught off guard by the poisonous side effects that occur because of their lack of knowledge of what they have ingested. This paper will focus on the need to educate the public about the risks involved with ingesting wild vegetables and herbs and study the emergency diagnosis and treatment of poisoned patients that enter the emergency room. Method: This study was done in the spring of 2004 (from March to May) in the Kangwon Young-Seo districts of Korea. 15 subjects used in this study, entered the emergency room showing signs of toxic symptoms. Data was collected by examining subject's records. Additional data was collected by collaborating with physicians in the hospital that diagnosed and treated the subjects. Identifying the poisonous vegetable or herb is the first step to proper diagnosis and treatment. Subjects admitted to the emergency room, underwent a battery of tests: laboratory examination, ECG, radiological exam and etc. Results: The demographics of the study encompassed subjects with the average age of $50{\pm}19$ years old. There were 10 men and 5 women. Common symptoms of this study included; gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, epigastric pain and so on. In the case of Caltha palustris ingestion, additional symptoms were present; bradycardia and hypotension which lasted for a long time. While cases that ingested Scopolia parviflora had little effect on vital signs but manic episodes lasted for about three days. Veratrum patulum ingestion showed signs of bradycardia and hypotension but contrary to Caltha palustris recovery was shorten by treating with dopamine. However, dizziness, headache and paresthesia of the extremities continued for a long time. Finally Sium ninsi ingestion showed visual disturbance, paresthesia of the extremities, dizziness as their initial symptoms. Conclusion: The risks involved with ingesting wild plants without the proper knowledge can lead to serious side effects and steps need to be taken to educate the public. In addition, all emergency physicians need to have a working knowledge of the symptoms and signs associated with ingesting toxic wild plants and need to treat accordingly.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.231-243
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• 2020

Purpose: To determine the metabolic influence of the traditional Korean diet (K-diet), which has been regarded as a healthy diet, we investigated the profile of urine organic acids that are intermediates of various types of metabolism including energy metabolism. Methods: Ten women aged 50-60 years were recruited and randomly divided into 2 diet groups, K-diet and control diet, the latter of which is a Westernized Korean diet that is commonly consumed by Koreans nowadays. Before and after the 2-week intervention, 46 urine organic acids were determined using LC/MS/MS, along with clinical parameters. Results: The average concentrations of succinate (4.14 ± 0.84 ㎍/mg creatinine vs. 1.49 ± 0.11, p = 0.0346) and hydroxymethylglutarate (3.67 ± 0.36 ㎍/mg creatinine vs. 2.97 ± 0.29, p = 0.0466), both of which are intermediates of energy metabolism, decreased in the K-diet group after the 2-week intervention, but these were not observed in the control diet group. In particular, the average concentration of succinate in the K-diet group was lower than that in the control group (3.33 ± 0.56 ㎍/mg creatinine vs. 1.49 ± 0.11, p = 0.0284) after 2 weeks. The concentrations of two tryptophan metabolites, 5-hydroxyindolacetate (3.72 ± 0.22 ㎍/mg creatinine vs. 3.14 ± 0.21, p = 0.0183) and indican (76.99 ± 8.35 ㎍/mg creatinine vs. 37.89 ± 10.06, p = 0.0205) also decreased only in the K-diet group. After the 2-week intervention, the concentration of kynurenate, another tryptophan metabolite, was lower in the K-diet group than that in the control diet group (3.96 ± 0.51 ㎍/mg creatinine vs. 2.90 ± 0.22, p = 0.0356). Interestingly, the urine level of kynurenate was positively correlated with BMI (r = 0.61424, p = 0.0003) and total cholesterol (r = 0.46979, p = 0.0088), which decreased only in the K-diet group (239.40 ± 15.14 mg/dL vs. 198.20 ± 13.25, p = 0.0163). Conclusion: The K-diet alters the urinary excretion of organic acids involved in energy metabolism and tryptophan metabolism, suggesting the influence of the K-diet on these types of metabolism. Urine organic acids changed by the K-diet may serve as biomarkers in future studies.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.272-282
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• 1985

A dietary survey by 3-day food record, clinical examination, urinary riboflavin excretion, and erythrocyte glutathione reductase activity coefficient ( EGRAC ) were measured on forty -eight female college students residing in Seoul. Thirty -one students were on normal diet and seventeen were lacto - ovo vegetarians. The results are as following : (1) Students had lower intakes of energy, similar intakes of protein and higher intake of riboflavin compared to Korean RDA for their age group. Vegetarians were lower in energy and protein intakes but were similar in RF compared to omnivores. (2) Mean EGRAC values were $1.24{\pm}0.03$ for all subjects, $1.19{\pm}0.04$ for omnivores, and $1.32{\pm}0.06$ for vegetarians. Percentages of subjects with EGRAC values above 1.2 were 65% in all subjects, 55% in omnivores, and 82% in vegetarians. Therefore, it was concluded that vegetarians were more severe in biochemical lesions than omnivores despite the fact that their RF intakes were similar to omnivores. (3) Eighteen students who had EGRAC values above 1.2 were given daily supplementation of 5mg RF for one week and EGRAC determination was repeated. They all returned to normal range. (4) Correlation analyses showed that there was no significant correlation between the EGRAC values and dietary intakes of nutrients. Possible explanations for this were given. From these results, it was concluded that even though dietary RF intakes of the subjects were higher than Korean RDA levels, biochemical deficiency among the subjects was remarkably high if the criteria of EGRAC > 1.2 were used. More investigations are necessary to establish a criteria for biochemical deficiency and RDA levels of riboflavin for Koreans.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.139-146
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• 2013

Objective: As per the requirement of Korean Food and Drug Administration, this post-marketing surveillance was conducted in Korea to evaluate the safety and reactogenicity of Poliorix$^{TM}$ following its introduction in 2006. Methods: In this open, multicenter study, the vaccine was administered as per the current practice of Korean doctors and in reference to the guidebook by the Korean Pediatric Society and as indicated in the Korean label which was as follows - for primary vaccination three doses were given to infants at ages 2, 4 and 6 months whereas, for the booster dose a single dose was given to children aged 4-6 years. Safety data during this six year surveillance was collected using diary cards which were distributed to the parents to record adverse events. Results: A total of 639 subjects were enrolled into the study. Of these, 617 subjects and 22 subjects received the vaccine as a primary and booster dose, respectively. At least one unsolicited symptom was reported in 11.4% (73/639) of the subjects during the 7-day follow-up period; upper respiratory tract infection (2.5%;16/639) was the most frequently reported unsolicited symptom. One subject reported at least one unsolicited symptom (gastroenteritis) of grade 3 intensity within the 31-day post-vaccination period. Approximately 1.7% (11/639) of subjects reported 13 serious adverse events (SAEs). All SAEs were resolved by the end of the study. Conclusion: In Korea, primary and booster vaccination with Poliorix$^{TM}$ was well-tolerated in healthy subjects when administered according to the prescribing information as part of routine clinical practice.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.783-790
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• 2009

This study was conducted to investigate the recognition and uses of Angelica gigas Nakai. A survey methodology was employed consisted of 37.8% males and 62.2% females from the Seoul and Kyunggido area. The main results are as follows: The older generation have liked and eaten Angelica gigas Nakai rather than the young. The most popular reason provided for the preference of Angelica gigas Nakai was good health benefits. People indicating a dislike for Angelica gigas Nakai had little previous experience of eating this plant. The purchasing main place is appeared the supermarket and traditional market. Angelica gigas Nakai was acknowledged as having the following characteristics 'to do excellent nutrition' (3.82), 'natural food' (3.76), 'to doing for the anti-cancer and anti-oxidization' (3.70), 'good for anemia and women, diseases' (3.64), and 'good for anodyne and diuretic effect' (3.57), but was not associated with 'price is cheap' (3.02) and 'to difficult for buy' (3.10). Recognition and eating experience was low for Angelica gigas Nakai kimchi and rice bread, bread, sauce and healthy drink added with Angelica gigas Nakai, but the opinion of the taste appeared highly.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.194-200
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to observe the effects of fiber free control diet (CD), cellulose diet (CED) and pectin diet (PTD) on diet induced thermogenesis (DIT) in healthy Korean woman for 3 hours. The three test diets were as follows: CD (carbohydrate intake: 63.4% of energy, protein intake: 14.0% of energy and fat intake: 25.8% of energy), CED (carbohydrate intake: 62.5% of energy, protein intake: 14.0% of energy and fat intake: 26.1% of energy) and PTD (carbohydrate intake: 62.7% of energy, protein intake: 14.0% of energy and fat intake: 26.2 of energy). Groups were served 10 g of cellulose for CED and 10 g of pectin for PTD, respectively. DIT was measured at fasting state and at 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 min after consuming each diet. The mean age of all subjects was $22.3{\pm}1.9$ years. Body weight was $52.5{\pm}8.6$ kg and body mass index was $20.6{\pm}2.7kg/m^2$. Preprandial resting energy expenditure was $0.79{\pm}0.02kcal/min$ and postprandial DIT were $14.05{\pm}0.62%$ for CD, $9.33{\pm}0.62%$ for CED, $11.07{\pm}1.35%$ for PTD as a percentage of the energy load. DIT of CD was significantly higher than those of CED and PTD. There was no significant difference in postprandial change in body temperature after consuming each test diets and the sympathetic nervous system activity measured by heart rate was significantly higher in CD than CED and PTD (p<0.05). With this study, it can be concluded that CED and PTD have significantly lowered in DIT (p<0.05). We didn't show the correlation of the factors that relate in DIT; thus, further experiments on that matter should be followed.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.69-74
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of palatal height on Korean vowels and speech intelligibility in Korean adults and to produce baseline data for future prosthodontic treatment. Material and methods: Forty one healthy Korean men and women who had no problem in pronunciation, hearing, and communication and had no history of airway disease participated in this study. Subjects were classified into H, M, and L groups after clinical determination of palatal height with study casts. Seven Korean vowels were used as sample vowels and subjects'clear speech sounds were recorded using Multispeech software program on computer. The F1 and the F2 of 3 groups were produced and they were compared. In addition, the vowel working spaces of 3 groups by /a/, /i/, and /u/ corner vowels were obtained and their areas were compared. Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whiteny U test were used as statistical methods and P < .05 was considered statistically significant. Results: There were no significant differences in formant frequencies among 3 groups except for the F2 formant frequency between H and L group (P = .003). In the analysis of vowel working space areas of 3 groups, the vowel working spaces of 3 groups were similar in shape and no significant differences of their areas were found. Conclusion: The palatal height did not affect vowel frequencies in most of the vowels and speech intelligibility. The dynamics of tongue activity seems to compensate the morphological difference.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1795-1803
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• 2011

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease accompanies the rise in the prevalence of obesity, diabetes and the tendency toward high-fat dietary habits. Specifically, the higher prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in men and postmenopausal women seems to be caused by the protective effects of estrogen against liver fibrosis, or lack thereof. There are no effective preventive therapies for liver diseases because the mechanisms underlying the progression of fatty liver diseases to chronic liver diseases and the protective effects of estrogen against fibrogenesis remain unclear. Recently, it has been reported that the hedgehog signaling pathway plays an important role in the progression of chronic liver diseases. Hedgehog, a morphogen regulating embryonic liver development, is expressed in injured livers but not in adult healthy livers. The level of hedgehog expression parallels the stages of liver diseases. Hedgehog induces myofibroblast activation and hepatic progenitor cell proliferation and leads to excessive liver fibrosis, whereas estrogen inhibits the activation of hepatic stellate cells to myofibroblasts and prevents liver fibrosis. Although the mechanism underlying the opposing actions of hedgehog and estrogen on liver fibrosis remain unclear, the suppressive effects of estrogen on the expression of osteopontin, a profibrogenic extracellular matrix protein and cytokine, and the inductive effects of hedgehog on osteopontin transcription suggest that estrogen and hedgehog are associated with liver fibrosis regulation. Therefore, further research on the estrogen-mediated regulatory mechanisms underlying the hedgehog-signaling pathway can identify the mechanism underlying liver fibrogenesis and contribute to developing therapies for preventing the progression of fibrosis to chronic liver diseases.

• Laboratory Medicine Online
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.57-63
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• 2011

Background: ABO antibody titration is useful for the evaluation of ABO-incompatible bone marrow or solid organ transplantations, yet the results quite vary between different test methods used. We compared the results of microcolumn agglutination and tube methods. Methods: Anti-A and anti-B isoagglutionin titers were determined in 63 healthy individuals (23 O, 20 A, and 20 B blood groups) using 4 different methods: immediate spin tube (tube), microcolumn agglutination without anti-human globulin (AHG) (CAT), tube with AHG (tube-AHG) and microcolumn agglutination with AHG (CAT-AHG). Results: The median (range) titers of anti-A and anti-B in group O individuals by tube, CAT, tube-AHG, and CAT-AHG methods were 64 (8-512), 64 (8-512), 128 (8-2,048), and 128 (16-2,048); 64 (16-128), 128 (16-256), 128 (16-512), and 256 (16-512), respectively. The median (range) titers of anti-A in group B and anti-B in group A individuals by the four methods were 64 (16-128), 128 (8-128), 128 (8-256), and 256 (8-256); 64 (8-128), 64 (8-128), 32 (8-128), and 64 (8-256), respectively. The isoagglutinin titer measured by CAT-AHGmethod was the highest. The titers measured by CAT and CAT-AHG methods were 0-1 titer higher than those by tube and tube-AHG methods, respectively. Whatever method was used, the isoagglutinin titers were higher in women than in men. Conclusions: CAT-AHG was the most sensitive method among the four methods tested. Since AHG titer values are critical for the clinical management and CAT has less manual procedures than tube method, CAT-AHG method could be used for the standardization of ABO antibody titration in different institutions.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.103-139
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• 2002

Korean society has significantly changed with the onset of a dramatic economic crisis in 1998. From 2000, however, the Korean economy has recovered and currently Korea is enjoying a similar standard of living and economic growth as the pre-1998 levels. This study is a follow-up analysis, comparing the results examining the success attribution of Korean students and adults in 2001 with the results obtained before the economic crisis in 1997. Using the indigenous psychological approach, this study compares the similarities and differences in Korean students and adults' attribution of their personal success before and after the economic crisis. A total of 988 participants, consisting of 481 primary, junior high, senior high and university students and 507 adults (236 fathers and 271 mothers of the students) completed the questionnaire developed by Kim and Park (1998). The results indicate that students perceived their academic achievement and adults perceived successful family life as their most proud achievement. Successful family life included items such as academic success of children, healthy development of their children, and harmonious family life. The person who provided the most significant support for students were parents and for adults, it was their spouse. For students, the importance of friends' social support increased during the high school years. In terms of type of social support, emotional support was reported to be the most important for both students and adults. As for the reason for their success, majority of students and men reported self-regulation and for women, supportive family environment was reported as being the most important. Comparing 2001 results with the 1997 results, the importance of family increased after the economic crisis. Even with the dramatic economic crisis, however, some of the underlying pattern remain strong (such as importance of academic achievement for students, family life for adults, the importance of social support, especially emotional social support from family members, and believing that self-regulation would lead to success). The similar pattern of results obtain before and after the economic crisis indicate that the above results reflect a fundamental values and belief system deeply imbedded in Korean mentality.