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We investigated the quality characteristics and microbial community found in traditional outdoor-type doenjang fermented at different temperatures. The quality characteristics that were highly correlated with fermentation temperature were analyzed. The average temperature of doenjang in the summer was highest in the order of fermentation by field in Damyang (JDF), fermentation by smart management facility in Damyang (JDS), and fermentation by field in Pyeongchang (JDFP), and in winter was the highest in the order JDS, JDF, and JDFP. The b* value and the degree of browning were highest in the order of JDF, JDS, and JDFP. Among the quality characteristics that affect the degree of fermentation and taste, samples with high summer temperature showed high ammonia nitrogen content, α-amylase activity, sugar content, organic acid content, and acidity and samples with high winter temperature showed high protease activity, amino nitrogen content, biogenic amine content, and alcohol content. Regarding the microbial community, the level of the Enterococcus genus was high in the samples with low winter temperatures, while the level of the Bacillus genus was high in the samples with high winter temperatures. Additionally, the genus Wickerhamiella and Zygosaccharomyces were highest in the samples with the lowest temperatures in summer and winter. Furthermore, acidity, biogenic amine content, glucose content, and lactic acid content were analyzed as major factors influencing the quality characteristics of doenjang according to the ripening region and location.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect on bone formation of fermented soybeans by combination treatment with a high aglycone ratio of isoflavones, since this compounds are known to prevent osteoporosis caused by aging or menopause. The experimental group (osteoporosis-induced rats, n=20) was divided into four groups, namely the normal group (NC), the OVX group (OVXC), the steamed soybean powder group (SSP), and the fermented soybean powder group (FSP). After 8 weeks of administration, the body weights of the OVX, SSP and FSP groups had increased compared to those of the NC group, while the weight of the uterus had not increased compared to that of NC group, and the weight of the kidney leaf fat had not decreased compared to that of the OVXC group. In addition, serum levels of alkaline phospatase (ALP) and osteocalcin were not significantly different between the different experimental groups. However numerically, the FSP group appeared to exhibit some effect on bone formation. More specifically, the trabecular bone volume of the femur was significantly increased in the FSP group compared to the OVXC (p

The recent increase in elderly population has contributed to the increasing interest in the foods for the elderly. This research focuses on softening the texture of job’s-tear granules by enzyme treatment and the evaluation of their constipation improvement function via in vivo evaluation using mouse models. After enzyme treatment, the Job’s-tears exhibited a marked softening with a 70% reduction of hardness upon alternating treatment with commercial amylase and protease for 2 hours at 0.1% concentrations. Microstructure analysis with scanning electron microscopy revealed the degree of collapse of the Job’s-tear granules and the level of tissue degradation. Constipation was induced using loperamide, and the relief effect of softened Job’s-tears was determined over three dosage (500, 1,000, 2,000 mg/kg) using the data from the number of feces, and blood tests in the mouse model. The optimum dose of the enzymatized Job’s-tears was determined to be 500 mg/kg (EA500), which effectively improve excretion movement without liver toxicity. Compared with the control group, oral administration of enzymatized Job’s-tear resulted in higher fecal moisture content, higher fecal numbers, and increased length and width of intestinal epithelial cells in the mucous membranes. In conclusion, softened Job’s-tears were successfully produced by enzyme treatment, and their constipation relief function was confirmed in a mouse model. The results of the present investigation are expected to contribute to the development of foods for the elderly.

Shinan spinach (Spinacia oleraecea L.) also known as Seomcho is primarily harvested in Shinan county, located in South Jeonnam Province. Fields are harvested in January and plowed under in April, despite the plants still being rich in lutein and other functional compounds. In this study, the effect of harvest seasons on the nutritional and functional properties of Seomcho were compared and the optimal conditions for extracting functional ingredients were determined. Among harvest seasons, January was best for yielding the highest levels of free sugars, minerals, and vitamins. Sucrose levels were 2-9 times higher than those of other sugars, and calcium and magnesium levels were higher than those of other minerals. Niacin, vitamin C, and chlorophyll levels were also highest in January. However, total phenolic compounds and lutein awere highest in April. We investigated the optimal conditions for extracting those compounds by comparing two extraction methods (alcohol or supercritical extraction) and three drying methods (freeze drying, hot air drying or blanch drying). Results showed that more lutein, β-carotene, and total phenolic compounds were extracted by freeze drying or hot air drying than by blanch drying, and more of those compounds were extracted by alcohol extraction than by supercritical extraction. In conclusions, when harvested in January Seomcho is a food rich in sugar, minerals and vitamins. When harvested in April, it can be a source of functional ingredients, which are best extracted via hot air drying and alcohol extraction.

The content of bioactive substances and antioxidative activity in conventionally grown brown rice (CGBR) and organically grown brown rice (OGBR) were compared. Minerals (mg/100 g) such as magnesium (OGBR, 168.59±2.62; CGBR, 121.43±2.22), copper (OGBR, 0.50±0.06; CGBR, 0.41±0.05), and manganese (OGBR, 4.70±0.04; CGBR, 2.49±0.02) were higher in OGBR than in CGBR (p

We stored sweet pumpkins at 8°C, 12°C, 12°C plasma curing and room temperature (control) for 180 days. During this time, the quality characteristics were analyzed within the different groups. No spoiling occurred in either of the storage conditions for up to 120 days, and the marketability was good. After 120 days, spoiling sharply increased by over 70% in the control group, while in the 12°C group it decreased to 20~60%. Conversely, spoiling was completely absent in the 8°C and 12°C plasma curing groups during the overall 180 days of storage. The lowest moisture content was found in the 8°C group and the quality of the pumpkins was excellent during the entire storage period. The color of pulp was better in the 12°C and 12°C plasma curing groups, with best results were found in the latest. Both the 8°C and 12°C plasma curing groups maintained their dark green surface colors, while both the 12°C and control groups turned from green to yellow. All groups showed a reduction in their initial hardness, with the 8°C group staying the hardest. Soluble solid and mealiness was increased to the storage during 90 days while decreased, that were long to maintain the mealiness texture in the 8°C storage pumpkin. The overall acceptability from sensory evaluation was higher in the 12°C plasma curing group, when compared to those of the 8°C, 12°C and control groups storage conditions.

Fading test using the single aliquot additive dose method with pulsed optically stimulated luminescence (SAAD-POSL method) was applied to core–disc samples extracted from heated red brick, tile, roof-tile, and toilet porcelain after X-ray and beta irradiation. From thermoluminescence measurements of each material, the optimal preheat condition of the SAAD-POSL method was first determined as 170 °C for 10 s. Fading characteristics of core–disc samples of heated red brick obtained using the SAAD-POSL method were similar to those of quartz grains (90–250 μm) obtained using the SAR-OSL method, regardless of the differences in the sample and radiation type. Fading evaluations of the core–disc samples of these building materials two weeks after irradiation showed that the equivalent dose (ED) decreased between 5% and 42%. The results indicate that the fading characteristics will be able to contribute to a more accurate estimation of the ED value using the SAAD-POSL method.

As the world-wide supply of fossil fuel sources decreases, the need for efficient energy conservation in addition to developing green energy technologies becomes critical. Wind energy is now regarded as one of the most rapidly expanding energy sources in the world. However, due to the high cost for the foundation of large turbines and the high wind speed (over 12 m/s) required, it is very difficult to establish inland wind power plants. In order to solve issues mentioned above, experiments were performed using the small wind power system operated in a low wind speed. In this research, inland wind condition was first analyzed, and 300 W and 1 kW small wind power generators were then installed on a roof and efficiencies of generating electricities were compared.

γ-Oryzanol (steryl ferulates; SF) has been shown to be a major bioactive compound in rice. To determine the content of individual γ-oryzanols in brown rice by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), purification of individual SF for use as an external standard is required. Four main SF were isolated from a commercial γ-oryzanol mixture and identified as cycloartenyl ferulate (1), 24-methylenecycloartanyl ferulate (2), campesteryl ferulate (3), and sitosteryl ferulate (4) based on mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic data. The SF contents between conventional and organic brown rice were qualitatively determined by HPLC using SF isolated from a commercial γ-oryzanol mixture as the external standard. The total γ-oryzanol content (mg/100 g) in organic brown rice (65.6 ± 2.7) was slightly higher (P

Ester-linked fatty acid methyl ester (EL-FAME) profiles were used to describe differences in soil microbial communities influenced by conventional farming system (CFS), and organic farming system (OFS) in controlled horticultural land. Soil physicochemical properties and soil microbial communities were determined in the experimental fields. Higher organic matter content in OFS reduced soil bulk density which in turn increased the soil porosity. Generally, soil chemical properties in OFS were higher than those of CFS, but EC value in OFS was significantly lower than that of CFS. With the exception of Fe content, other macronutrient contents and pH in both farming system decreased with the soil depth. Soil microbial biomass of OFS was approximately 1.3 times in topsoil and 1.8 times in subsoil higher than those of CFS. Lower ratios of cy17:0 to 16:1ω7c and cy19:0 to 18:1ω7c were found in the CFS soils than the OFS soils, indicating that microbial stress decreased. The ratio of MUFA to SFA was higher in OFS due to organic input to the soil. In principal components analysis (PCA), the first variable accounted for 54.3%, while the second for 27.3%, respectively. The PC1 of the PCA separated the samples from CFS and OFS, while the PC2 of the PCA separated the samples from topsoil and subsoil. EL-FAMEs with the positive eigenvector coefficients for PC1 were cy17: 0 to 16:1ω7c ratio, cy19:0 to 18:1ω7c ratio, soil pH, soil organic matter, and soil NO 3 -N content. Our findings suggest that the shifting cy19:0 to 18:1ω7c ratio should be considered as potential factors responsible for the clear microbial community differentiation observed between different cultivation systems and soil depth in controlled horticultural land.

Channel estimation for OFDM systems is usually carried out in frequency domain by the least-squares (LS) method using known pilot symbols. The LS estimator has a merit of low complexity but may suffer from noise because it does not consider any noise effect in obtaining its solution. To enhance the noise immunity of the LS estimator, we consider the estimation noise in time domain named discrete Fourier transform (DFT)-based channel estimation. Residual noise existing at the estimated channel coefficients in time domain could be reduced by reasonable selection of a threshold value. To achieve this, we propose a channel-estimation method based on a time-domain threshold which is a standard deviation of noise obtained by wavelet decomposition. Computer simulation shows that the estimation performance of the proposed method approaches to that of the known-channel case in terms of bit-error rates after the Viterbi decoder in overall SNRs.

This paper proposes an iterative extrapolation method to improve the channel-equalization performance for DVB-T receivers. The coefficients of a one-tap equalizer are conventionally obtained by taking the reciprocals of the estimated channel coefficients. Inversion of the channel coefficients, however, may cause noise enhancement at those frequencies corresponding to spectral nulls. To reduce such undesirable noise amplification, iterative extrapolation based on the time-domain truncation is performed, resulting in smooth nulls. Simulation results show that the proposed method improves the channel-equalization performance compared to the conventional zero-forcing equalization method in terms of bit error rates in DVB-T receivers at all SNRs.

The main purpose of this study is to accumulate the fundamental data representing ground-water of plastic film houses by means of water quality and its multivariate statistical analysis. Groundwatersamples were collected in every two years since 2000 to 2004 from total 211 sites. According to the resultof water quality analysis, ground water quality was suitable for irrigation purpose averagely. Correlationanalysis showed that EC was highest positively correlated with Mg 2+ to 0.810 (p

This paper proposes a noise-reduction method to improve the channel-estimation performance in digital video broadcasting-terrestrial (DVB-T) receivers. In DVB-T receivers, channel estimation is usually carried out in frequency domain using known symbols, referred to the pilot. A least-squares (LS) estimator has been preferred for channel estimation due to the low complexity but it may be vulnerable to noise because it does not consider noise effect in obtaining its solution. To compensate for the weakness of the LS estimator, we propose an auto-regressive averaging method to average all estimated channel coefficients up to present time without the increase of system delay and complexity for DVB-Tfixed receptions. Computer simulation shows that the proposed method improves the estimation performance in overall SNRs.

This paper proposes a noise-reduction method to improve the channel-estimation performance in digital video broadcasting-terrestrial (DVB-T) receivers. In DVB-T, the channel estimation is carried out through two processes of pilot signal estimation and channel coefficient interpolation and thus the performance of the channel estimation is seriously affected by the accuracy of the interpolation. Since the accuracy of the interpolation depends on signal-to-noise ratio, it is important to reduce noise existing at the reference coefficients for the interpolation. To achieve the reduction of noise, we use pilot-insertion type approximation in four consecutive OFDM symbols, which construct one block with the same channel coefficients at the same pilot positions. Considering the fade rate of channels, we average the estimated reference, channel coefficients corresponding to the same subcarriers in two or more blocks. Computer simulation shows that the proposed method improves the estimation performance by more than 1 dB in terms of the symbol error rate obtained after equalization.

The 8-VSB modulation, the transmission standard for the terrestrial digital television (DTV) of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), suffers from multipath fading because it conveys information on the amplitude. To solve this problem, decision feedback equalizers (DFEs) have been commonly used in the terrestrial DTV receivers. However, under severe channels, such as a 0-dB ghost channel or a distributed transmission environment, the DFEs have shown unstable convergence due to the error propagation caused by decision errors. Instead of unstable time-domain DFE schemes, by proposing a frequency-domain direct-inversion equalization method, we achieve stable equalization and low symbol error rates. To secure the existence of a channel inverse, channel-matched filtering and noncausal filtering are carried out before equalization. Simulation results show that the proposed method performs much better than the existing DFE schemes in terms of both the stability and the symbol error rates.

Effects of pH on the non-enzymatic browning reaction caused by γ-irradiation processing were investigated. The brown colour development of irradiated sugar–glycine solutions was greater in a buffer system than in deionized distilled water (DDW) with higher pH. Although browning of irradiated sugar solution without glycine was highly increased was in alkaline buffer, no browning was developed in DDW. The maximum browning of the solutions of sugar and sugar–glycine were observed at pH 10 and pH 8, respectively. The browning intensity was in the following order: sucrose ⩾ fructose > glucose. Non-constant pH was observed in DDW (dropped pH between 1.58 and 2.03 units); however, the use of buffers was partially effective in keeping pH constant (pH dropped between 0.03 and 0.56 units). When the irradiated solutions of sugar with and without glycine were analyzed using reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection (HPLC-DAD), three peaks were separated at 3.37 ± 0.04, 4.60 ± 0.02, and 2.53 ± 0.26 min, and the λmax values of these peaks were the range 259–288 nm. The sum of the areas of these peaks at 260 nm increased with increasing pH. The results of this study indicated that conditions of the system, such as pH and media, can influence the non-enzymatic browning reaction during γ-irradiation.

Aqueous solutions of sugars (xylose, arabinose, fructose, glucose or sucrose), alone or in the presence of amino acid (lysine), were γ-irradiated at 0, 5, 10, 20 and 30 kGy at room temperature. Also evaluated were differences between irradiation and heat treatment. Absorbances at 420 nm, of the irradiated sugar–amino acid solutions, were increased although no browning was observed in the irradiated sugar or amino acid alone. The degree of browning of the irradiated sugar–amino acid solution increased with increasing irradiation dose and was dependent on the type of sugar. The non-reducing sugar, sucrose, did not react with lysine by heating for 4 h at 80 °C; however, the irradiated sucrose–lysine solution showed the non-enzymatic browning reaction and it had a higher reactivity than other sugars. For the sugar–lysine solution irradiated at 30 kGy, browning was in the following order of intensity: sucrose > fructose > arabinose > xylose > glucose. Furfural compounds (5-hydroxymethylfurfural and 2-furaldehyde) were not detected in any irradiated samples.

The effects of grain-size in La0.7Ca0.3MnO3-δ (LCMO) system have been studied in connection with the magnetic and electronic properties. LCMO system prepared by the solid-state reaction was annealed in air at 1200, 1300 and 1400°C. The grain sizes of LCMO samples become larger with increasing of annealing temperature (TA ). The magnetization in LCMO samples increased while the coercive field decreased with increasing TA. The conductivity increased and the metal-insulator transition temperature TM-I decreased with increasing of TA. These physical properties are due to the oxygen deficiency caused by the increase of grain size. Finally, it was found that the grain size and the mechanical connection between grains play an important role in determining the electronic and magnetic properties.

To evaluate the effects of the combined treatment of gamma irradiation and rosemary extract powder (rosemary) for improving the quality of a ready-to-eat hamburger steak by changing the storage condition from frozen (−20°C) to a chilled temperature (4°C), an accelerated storage test was carried out. The hamburger steak was prepared with 200 or 500 ppm of rosemary, or 200 ppm of butylated hydroxyanisole by a commercially used recipe, gamma irradiated at absorbed doses of 5.0, 10.0 and 20.0 kGy, and stored at 30°C. From the microbiological aspect, irradiation at 20 kGy or a higher dose was needed to inactivate the normal microflora. Little effect of the antioxidant was, if any, observed. Thiobarbituric acid values were not very different during storage regardless of the irradiation dose and the addition of the antioxidant. Textural and sensory results were also not significantly different in all the samples.

Since ready-to-use (RTU) products are not fully cooked, the shelf-life of the product is comparably short and the products are easily spoiled when contaminated with food-borne pathogens. Low-dose gamma irradiation of 0.5, 1, or 2 kGy effectively reduced the total aerobic bacterial counts in 2 Korean manufactured RTU products by 1.63 to 2.95 log CFU/g during cold storage. Irradiation at 2 kGy reduced the psychrotrophic bacterial counts in most of the samples to below the limit of detection (＜2 log CFU/g). Irradiation at 0.5 kGy completely eliminated Escherichia coli from the commercial RTU samples.

In this paper, we design a frame structure of the wake-up system using DTV excess bandwidth for emergency alerting based on the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) terrestrial DTV system. The proposed frame structure of that system is based on the FSK modulation for indoor reception in receiver. Laboratory test and simulation results show that the proposed frame structure can provide an emergency alerting service without additional frequency assignment.

Since movies are experience goods, consumers are easily influenced by other consumers` behavior. For moviegoers, box office rank is the most credible and easily accessible information. Many studies have found that the relationship between a movie`s box office rank and its revenue departs from the Pareto distribution, and this phenomenon has been named “increasing returns to information.” The primary objective of the current research is to apply the empirical model proposed by De Vany and Walls (1996) to the Korean movie market in order to examine whether the same phenomenon prevails in the Korean movie market. The other purpose of the present study is to provide managers with useful implications about the release timing of a movie by finding different curvatures that depend upon seasonality. The empirical test on the Korean movie market shows similar results as prior studies conducted on the U.S., Hong Kong, and U.K. movie markets. The phenomenon of increasing returns is generated by information transmission among consumers, which makes some movies become blockbusters and others bombs. The proposed model can also be interpreted in such a way that a change in the rank has a nonlinear effect on the movie`s performance. If a movie climbs up the chart, it would be rewarded more than its proportion. On the other hand, if a movie falls down in the ranks, its performance would drop rapidly. The research result also indicates that the phenomenon of increasing returns occurs differently depending on when the movies are released. Since the tendency of the increasing returns to information is stronger during the peak seasons, movie marketers should decide upon the release timing of a movie based on its competitiveness. If a movie has substantial potential to incur positive word-of- mouth, it would be more reasonable to release the movie during the peak season to enjoy increasing returns. Otherwise, a movie should be released during the low season to minimize the risk of being dropped from the chart.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the chemical compositions and antioxidative activities of hot pepper fruits cultivated with strict management by organic and conventional agricultural practices. The ascorbic acid content in the organically grown hot pepper (OGP) was significantly higher than that of conventionally grown hot pepper (CGP) in both green and red fruits. The content of other bioactive compounds such as flavonoids (apigenin, luteolin, quercetin) and total phenolics in OGP was typically higher than in CGP regardless of fruit color. In addition, the ABTS(+) radical-scavenging activity of OGP red fruits was significantly higher than that of CGP red fruits. Moreover, regardless of the color of the fruits, a higher antioxidative activity was observed in blood plasma from rats administered the OGP fruit extracts than in blood plasma from rats administered the CGP fruit extracts. It was hypothesized that the higher antioxidant activity of the OGP fruits may have resulted from the higher antioxidant content in the OGP fruits. These results suggest that consumption of pepper fruits may increase antioxidant activity in the blood, and OGP fruits may be more effective in increasing this antioxidant activity than CGP fruits.

When channels are slow fading, the MMSE equalizer can be considered for DVB-T receivers without matrix inversion. However, incorrectly-applied SNR values may degrade the equalization performance. To solve the problem, we propose a MMSE equalizer with weighted SNRs by the magnitudes of the estimated channel coefficients.

This paper presents a robust decision-feedback equalization method for 8-VSB DTV receivers under severe channel environments where a 0-dB ghost exists. Noncausal filtering is employed to make a severe channel be mild. Simulation results show that the proposed method has more stable convergence than existing decision-feedback equalization schemes.

This paper proposes a noise-reduction method to improve the channel-estimation performance in DVB-T receivers. Pilot-insertion type approximation and pilot-block averaging are employed to reduce noise effect. Computer simulation shows that the proposed method improves the estimation performance by more than 1 dB in terms of the SER after equalization.

The local atomic and electronic structures of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO) prepared by solid-state reaction was investigated at different annealing temperatures (TA). We employed x-ray absorption spectroscopy and x-ray photoemission spectroscopy to understand the local atomic and electronic structures of the LCMO system. Both the atomic and electronic structures due to the oxygen deficiency in LCMO turn out to change with increasing TA. Especially, the eg ↑ states, leading to the ferromagnetic interaction, are reduced by the diminution of Mn 3d–O 2p hybridization with increasing TA.