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Research Article
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Protective Effects of Lactobacillus plantarum L-14 Supplementation Against High-fat Diet-induced Obesity and Metabolic Dysfunction in Mice
고지방식이 유도 비만 마우스에서 Lactobacillus plantarum L-14의 체지방 감소 효과
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Mi-Ra Lee, Bohye Kim, Hee-Jun Kim, Moonjin Ra, Sooyoung Yang, Sangkyu Park, Jeongmin Seo, Yongjun Lee
이미라, 김보혜, 김희준, 라문진, 양수영, 박상규, 서정민, 이용준
- This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Lactobacillus plantarum L-14 (L-14) supplementation in reducing body fat in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese …
- This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Lactobacillus plantarum L-14 (L-14) supplementation in reducing body fat in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice. Mice were assigned to either a normal control diet or HFD, receiving varying doses of L-14 medium (ML, 2.5 × 108 cfu/mouse/day; MH, 5 × 108 cfu/mouse/day) and L-14 cell pellets (PL, 5 × 108 cfu/mouse/day; PH, 2 × 109 cfu/mouse/day) over a period of 7 weeks. The results showed significant reductions in body weight gain, food efficiency, and white adipose tissue weight in mice supplemented with L-14 compared to HFD-induced obese mice. Notably, the PH group showed substantial suppression of body weight gain by 17.44% and a 37.9% decrease in epididymal fat pads in HFD-fed mice. L-14 supplementation also normalized alanine aminotransferase and aspartate transaminase levels, alongside improvements in fasting hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia. Furthermore, L-14 treatment ameliorated insulin resistance, evidenced by restored insulin, leptin, and adiponectin levels. Additionally, L-14 mitigated hepatic steatosis by reducing fat droplet deposition and malondialdehyde levels, an oxidative stress biomarker, in HFD-fed mice. These results collectively indicate the protective effects of L-14 against HFD-induced obesity and associated metabolic diseases. - COLLAPSE
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Protective Effects of Lactobacillus plantarum L-14 Supplementation Against High-fat Diet-induced Obesity and Metabolic Dysfunction in Mice
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Research Article
- Impact of Agricultural Credit on the Productivity and Income of Small-Scale Maize Farmers in Kaduna State, Nigeria
- Abdullahi Gambo, Youngjune Kim
- In this study, we investigated the impact of agricultural credit on the productivity and income of smallholder maize farmers in Kaduna State, …
- In this study, we investigated the impact of agricultural credit on the productivity and income of smallholder maize farmers in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study are to ascertain the impact of agricultural credit on the income and productivity of small-scale maize farmers and examine the factors that affect their ability to access agricultural credit. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the primary data from 108 beneficiaries and 137 non-beneficiaries of agricultural credit among smallholder maize farmers using a structured questionnaire. Propensity score matching and a logit regression model were used to analyze the data. The most comprehensive score specification was used to generate the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) estimates for collecting outcome variables. The ATT estimates with an alternative score specification were used as a reliable measure wherein each line corresponds to a separate estimation. Three different matching methods, i.e., nearest neighbor matching, stratification matching, and radius matching, were used to evaluate the robustness of estimation. The results revealed that smallholder maize farmers who were the beneficiaries of agricultural credit exhibited significantly higher mean productivity and income at the 1 and 5% probability levels, respectively than those exhibited by the non-beneficiaries, suggesting that credit positively impacted farmers’ revenue and productivity. We also observed that the farmers’ gender and marital status were not particularly important in determining their access to agricultural credit. Whether single or married, male or female, their prospects of obtaining credit were similar. Age, educational attainment, farming experience, farm size, and cooperative membership were significant factors that affected their ability to access agricultural credit at the 5% probability level, except for the farmers’ income status, which was significant at the 10% probability level. The two most important factors influencing access to agricultural credit were the distance from the source of credit and extension contact, which were significant at a 1% probability level. - COLLAPSE
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Research Article
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Conservation Status and Population Assessment of Brachymystax lenok tsinlingensis in Taebaeksan National Park, Korea
태백산국립공원에 서식하는 열목어(Brachymystax lenok tsinlingensis)의 개체군 특성
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Doupyo Hong, Sanghyeok Lee, Jaehoon Kim, Beomjun Kim, Hekap Kim, Namgyu Woo, Jihong Min, Jaeseok Choi
홍두표, 이상혁, 김재훈, 김범준, 김희갑, 우남규, 민지홍, 최재석
- This study aimed to assess the characteristics of the Brachymystax lenok tsinlingensis population inhabiting Taebaeksan National Park and compare them with those …
- This study aimed to assess the characteristics of the Brachymystax lenok tsinlingensis population inhabiting Taebaeksan National Park and compare them with those reported in previous research to determine the conservation status of their habitat. Six surveys conducted from May 2022 to September 2023 resulted in the collection of 774 individuals belonging to seven species. The dominant (keystone) species B. lenok tsinlingensis comprised 52.19% of the total, whereas the subordinate species Rhynchocypris oxycephalus constituted 41.60%. The average growth of the collected B. lenok tsinlingensis was 3.18, surpassing the averages reported by Byeon (2011) and Choi (2016). Age structure analysis revealed that B. lenok tsinlingensis exhibited better growth than previously reported, with individuals spanning all age groups. Results of the fish assessment index indicated that habitats at St. 1, St. 2, and St. 3 were categorized as grades A or B, signifying favorable habitat conditions. Consequently, B. lenok tsinlingensis in Taebaeksan National Park demonstrated robust growth in well-preserved habitats, emphasizing the need for ongoing monitoring and research to effectively conserve their habitat. - COLLAPSE
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Conservation Status and Population Assessment of Brachymystax lenok tsinlingensis in Taebaeksan National Park, Korea
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Research Article
- Identification of Determinants of the Use of Improved Seeds and Involvement in the SDP by Smallholder Maize Farmers
- Okikioluwa Aderinsoluwa Dotun-Odumade, Hio Jung Shin
- This study aims to delineate the socioeconomic characteristics of smallholder maize farmers within the Kwali area of Nigeria, while also delving into …
- This study aims to delineate the socioeconomic characteristics of smallholder maize farmers within the Kwali area of Nigeria, while also delving into the determinants impacting their adoption of improved seeds and engagement with the National Agricultural Seeds Council’s (NASC) seed demonstration program (SDP). Employing a meticulous multistage sampling strategy was utilized to obtain 250 cross-sectional data points from nine wards (rural settlements) in the Kwali Area Council. Our analysis, conducted through linear and logistic regression models, unveils significant insights. Specifically, the linear model emphasizes the pivotal role of variables such as total farm size and participation in the NASC’s SDP in influencing smallholder farmers’ propensity to utilize improved maize seeds. The logit model elucidates how household income and well-being influence the likelihood of smallholder farmers’ participation in the NASC’s SDP. These findings underscore the necessity for federal government and policymakers to implement targeted policies and interventions aimed at fostering increased adoption of maize seeds across Nigeria. - COLLAPSE
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Research Article
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Quality Characteristics of Jeolpyeon with Added Sprout Peanut Powder
새싹 땅콩분말을 첨가한 절편의 품질특성
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Sunho Lee
이선호
- This study delved into the quality characteristics of jeolpyeon supplemented with sprout peanut powder (SP; 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12%). The …
- This study delved into the quality characteristics of jeolpyeon supplemented with sprout peanut powder (SP; 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12%). The moisture content of jeolpyun with added SP was 48.50–41.69%. Increasing SP content led to a reduction in lightness (L) and increased the Hunter color values, particularly redness and yellowness. Textural analysis unveiled that hardness and cohesiveness increased with SP addition, whereas springiness and adhesiveness decreased. Moreover, bacterial counts in SP jeolpyeon decreased with higher SP content by the third day. Further research should explore the antimicrobial properties further. Consequently, this study emphasizes the need for continued research into the development of nutritious foods, leveraging various sprouted peanut varieties for the advancement of health food industrialization, guided by optimization data on sprouted peanut powder supplementation ratios. - COLLAPSE
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Quality Characteristics of Jeolpyeon with Added Sprout Peanut Powder
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Research Article
- Convolutional Neural Network Technique for Distinguishing Nine Varieties of Vegetable Crops
- Young-Yeol Cho, Ki Young Choi, Bo Hyun Sung, Nayoung Kwak
- In the field of agriculture, conducting research on neural network models for image classification is necessary to accurately categorize crops based on …
- In the field of agriculture, conducting research on neural network models for image classification is necessary to accurately categorize crops based on their types and health conditions and distinguish them from other species, to minimize crop losses. This study aimed to compare multiple neural network models to select the optimal model that can classify the images of nine vegetable seedlings, such as carrot, Kimchi cabbage, kohlrabi, lettuce, mallow, mustard, pak-choi, spinach, and sweet pepper. The best model was selected based on its accuracy (precision, recall, and F1 score) from eight trained models, namely DenseNet201, InceptionResNetV2, InceptionV3, MobileNetV2, ResNet152V2, VGG16, VGG19, and Xception. To train the models, a 9-class dataset, 20 epochs, 32 batch sizes, Adam optimizer, and a learning rate of 0.001 were used. The DenseNet201 model exhibited the highest accuracy and was, therefore, selected as the optimal model. With a batch size of 128, Adam optimizer, and a learning rate of 0.001, this model exhibited high precision, recall, and F1 score, and its superiority was confirmed using a confusion matrix. As a result, the DenseNet201 model is expected to improve the recognition performance of the model by using images of various plant species, exploring more networks, and optimizing the hyperparameters to achieve higher recognition accuracy. - COLLAPSE
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Research Article
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Occurrence and Exposure Assessment of Organophosphate Flame Retardants through the Consumption of Drinking Water in Chuncheon
춘천시 먹는 물 중 유기인계난연제의 발생 및 위해성 평가
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Sohwi Park, Minsu Shin, Hanbyul Park, Gyojin Choo
박소휘, 신민수, 박한별, 추교진
- Organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) are widely used as flame retardants and plasticizers in various applications, being considered major alternatives to brominated flame …
- Organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) are widely used as flame retardants and plasticizers in various applications, being considered major alternatives to brominated flame retardants. However, owing to their potential carcinogenic and neurotoxic properties and the fact they are ubiquitously detected in aquatic environments, concerns have been raised about their possible exposure to humans through drinking water consumption. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence and distribution of OPFRs in drinking water from 23 sampling points in Chuncheon, a city supplied by two drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs): Yongsan (YS) and Soyang (SY). Additionally, the daily intake and hazard quotient (HQ) of OPFRs through drinking water consumption were estimated. The concentrations of total OPFRs ranged from 26.0 to 121 ng/L (median: 45.1 ng/L). Among the 13 OPFRs, highly soluble tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (15.9 ng/L, 29.9%), tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (17.3 ng/L, 32.6%), and tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (11.2 ng/L, 21.0%) were predominantly detected, whereas tri-n-propyl phosphate, cresyl diphenyl phosphate, and tri cresyl phosphate were not detected at any of the sites. No statistically significant difference in OPFR concentrations was observed between the SY (26.0–55.9 ng/L) and YS DWTPs (33.2–61.6 ng/L) (Mann-Whitney U-test, p > 0.05). However, compared with the sites located within 15 km of the two DWTPs, five points in Namsan-myeon located over 15 km from the SY DWTP had relatively higher OPFR concentrations (80.9–121 ng/L) (Mann-Whitney U-test, p < 0.01), suggesting that contamination may increase with increasing distance from the water intake stations. However, no significant exposure risks through drinking water consumption were observed across all sampled locations (HQ < 1). This study provides valuable data for the future evaluation of potential fluctuations in OPFR concentrations in the drinking water of Chuncheon City and for assessing the extent of exposure among local residents. - COLLAPSE
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Occurrence and Exposure Assessment of Organophosphate Flame Retardants through the Consumption of Drinking Water in Chuncheon
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Research Article
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Host Preference of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) by Corn Varieties and its Composition Analysis
옥수수 품종별 열대거세미나방의 기주 섭식 선호도 및 옥수수 품종별 성분 분석
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Jungwon Jeon, Yunseo Lee, Sun-Il Choi, Jae-Keun Choi, Moonjong Kim, Shihwan Ryu, Juil Kim
전정원, 이윤서, 최선일, 최재근, 김문종, 류시환, 김주일
- Fall armyworm (FAW; Spodoptera frugiperda) is a major pest worldwide. Since its first confirmed domestic invasion in 2019, damage to crops …
- Fall armyworm (FAW; Spodoptera frugiperda) is a major pest worldwide. Since its first confirmed domestic invasion in 2019, damage to crops such as corn has been steadily increasing. To provide basic data for the management of S. frugiperda, we compared the species’ host preference and nutritional compositions of corn varieties. Twelve varieties of corn were selected for the experiment: three commercially available sweet corn varieties, two popcorn varieties, three varieties used for processing purposes, and three pigmented varieties (Saekso 1, Saekso 4, Saekso 5, Oryun 2, Daeryuk 2, Dreamok, Gangilok, Arichal, Heukgeom 2, Miheukchal, Oryun popcorn, and Mibaek 2). To determine differences in host preference between breeds and environments, preferences were investigated at the population and individual levels. The damage rate was significantly lower in Saekso 5 after 3 days, Arichal after 5 days, and Heukgeom 2 on day seven after treatment. The individual-level experiment confirmed that when leaves were tested, Gangilok had the highest damage rate and Oryun 2 had the lowest. Conversely, when stems were used, Saekso 1 had the highest and Dreamok had the lowest rates. The experimental results were inconsistent at the population and individual levels, and the broad range of variation made it difficult to select varieties that S. frugiperda avoided. However, Mibaek 2 had the highest damage rate at a significant level up to 5 days after treatment at the population level. After analyzing the general components of the 12 varieties, determining a relationship between the components and preferences between varieties was not straightforward. Among the corn varieties currently cultivated, there are no varieties that S. frugiperda avoids feeding on; therefore, it is believed that it will be challenging to use ecological control depending on the corn variety. Thus, other control methods, such as chemical control, appear more effective. - COLLAPSE
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Host Preference of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) by Corn Varieties and its Composition Analysis
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Research Article
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Predicting Nutrient Runoff Load in Cultivated Lands using Best Management Practices with Machine Learning Models
머신러닝 모델을 이용한 최적관리기법 적용에 따른 경작지 양분 유출 부하량 예측
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Seoro Lee, Joo Hyun Bae, Gwanjae Lee, Hyungjin Shin, Jae E Yang, Jonggun Kim, Kyoung Jae Lim
이서로, 배주현, 이관재, 신형진, 양재의, 김종건, 임경재
- Increases in livestock manure and chemical fertilizers have led to excessive nutrient runoff into rivers, degrading crop productivity, soil health, and water …
- Increases in livestock manure and chemical fertilizers have led to excessive nutrient runoff into rivers, degrading crop productivity, soil health, and water quality. Effective nutrient runoff management is crucial for sustainable agriculture and ecosystem protection. This study proposes a new methodology for nutrient management by evaluating the predictability of nutrient runoff loads under various best management practices (BMPs) scenarios using a machine learning model. The Agricultural Policy and Environmental Extender (APEX) model was employed to simulate the effectiveness of BMPs in reducing nutrient runoff across farmlands within riparian and drinking water protection zones. Additionally, the predictability of nutrient runoff reduction was assessed using six machine learning models, with the best model selected based on cross-validation performance. Results indicate that the filter strip scenario within the APEX model was the most effective, achieving a nutrient runoff reduction efficiency of 61.6%. Xtreme Gradient Boosting demonstrated superior predictive performance, with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.75, Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) of 0.65, total nitrogen (T-N) and an R2 of 0.55 and NSE of 0.48 for total phosphorus. These findings suggest that nutrient runoff reduction can be effectively evaluated using topographical and meteorological data alone. This study provides a methodological framework for predicting nutrient runoff loads and assessing the impacts of BMPs in agricultural watersheds. - COLLAPSE
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Predicting Nutrient Runoff Load in Cultivated Lands using Best Management Practices with Machine Learning Models