This study investigated dietary behaviors, nutrient intake, and quality of life among elderly individuals living alone compared to those in multi-person households. Data were obtained from 5,311 individuals aged 65 years and older who participated in the 2015-2019 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Nutritional intake was assessed by analyzing the proportion of individuals with insufficient intake relative to the Korean Dietary Reference Intakes (KDRIs) and the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR). Quality of life was measured using the EQ- 5D instrument. The results showed that single-person households were more likely to be female, older, and have lower income and education levels compared to multi-person households. Additionally, single-person households were more likely to skip breakfast, eat at places other than home, eat alone, and dine out less frequently. Nutritional intake was lower among elderly individuals living alone. Furthermore, after adjusting for relevant variables, single-person households were significantly more likely to report poor quality of life (OR: 1.05, 95% CI: 1.07-1.28)—defined as being in the lowest 20% of EQ-5D scores—compared to those in multi-person households. The findings highlight the need for targeted nutritional support and policy interventions to improve dietary intake and quality of life among elderly single-person households.

This study compared the dietary perceptions, food labeling behaviors, and purchasing patterns of vegetarians and nonvegetarians. The data from 5,811 adults aged ≥19 years who participated in the 2023 Consumer Behavior Survey for Food were analyzed. The participants were divided into vegetarians and non-vegetarians according to their dietary practices. Vegetarians were further divided into strict, semi, and occasional vegetarians. Non-vegetarians regularly consumed plantand animal-based foods without dietary restrictions. Vegetarians comprised 15.4% of the participants, and health (50.4%) was the primary motivation for adopting a vegetarian lifestyle. Compared to non-vegetarians, vegetarians prioritized their rights and responsibilities as citizens and identified a vegetable-centered diet as the most crucial factor for health. Vegetarians showed greater interest and trust in food labeling than non-vegetarians. Vegetarians selected a wider variety of food and had different purchasing motivations when purchasing eco-friendly foods than non-vegetarians. Vegetarians exhibited higher purchase frequencies across all categories than non-vegetarians and had different reasons for purchasing convenience foods. These findings highlight the diversity of vegetarian dietary motivations and behaviors, emphasizing the need for tailored dietary policies and education.

독도는 한반도와는 다른 기후와 생태계로 특이성과 고유한 가치를 지닌다. 본 연구는 독도의 전반적인 생태계를 관찰하고, 주요 식생에 고정조사구 를 지정하여 시계열적인 변화를 모니터링함으로써 독도 식생 경쟁 및 천이 연구에 기초자료를 제공하고자 하였다. 연구 결과, 독도의 식생은 시기와 계절에 따라 다양하게 변화하는 것으로 확인되었다. 독도 외부유입종인 큰이삭풀, 왕호장근의 세력 확산이 확인되었으며, 산림생태계복원사업 시행으 로 식재된 사철나무, 섬괴불나무의 군락이 소규모 안정적으로 정착한 것으로 나타났다.

This study investigated associations between healthy dietary practices and the odds of prediabetes among Korean adolescents. The data of 1,624 adolescents aged 12 to 18 who participated in the 2017-2021 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed. Healthy dietary practices were defined according to Health Plan 2030 criteria, and prediabetes was defined as a fasting blood glucose level of 100-125 mg/dL. After controlling for confounders, adjusting odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for prediabetes were determined for different healthy dietary practices using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Compared with adolescents who engaged in healthy dietary practices, those who did not had a 1.63-fold (95% CI: 1.12-2.37) higher odds of prediabetes. In addition, adolescents who did not consume ≥500 g of fruit and vegetables daily and those who refrained from reading nutritional fact labels, which are both subindicators of healthy dietary practices, had a 1.66 (95% CI: 1.05-2.62) and 1.58-fold (95% CI: 1.06-2.37) higher odds of prediabetes, respectively, than those who did. Increasing the proportion of adolescents engaging in healthy dietary practices, such as consuming ≥500 g of fruit and vegetables daily and reading nutritional fact labels when selecting food, is imperative.

eDNA (environmental DNA)란 특정 환경에 서식하는 생물로부터 유래한 DNA를 의미한다. 환경 시료로부터 추출한 eDNA를 활용하면 해당 환경에 서식하는 생물들의 효율적이고 정확한 모 니터링을 수행할 수 있다. 해수 시료로부터 얻은 eDNA를 기반으로 해양생물 다양성 연구를 수행할 수 있다. 해수 시료를 채집하고 이로부터 eDNA를 추출한 뒤, metagenome 분석을 통 해 서식하는 해양생물의 종 동정과 다양성 분석이 가능하다. 본 리뷰에서는 이처럼 해수의 eDNA를 활용하여 해양 지역의 생물 다양성 연구를 수행하는 전체적인 과정을 제시하고 있다. 아직 국내에는 해양생물 다양성 연구를 위해 eDNA를 적용하는 방법이 보편화 되어있지 않으 며, 본 리뷰를 기반으로 이와 같은 eDNA 연구 방법을 정립하는데 도움을 줄 수 있을 것이다.

Considering that the number of middle-aged single-person households is increasing, this study investigates dietary behaviors, nutrient intake, and mental health according to household type. Data were procured from the 2015-2019 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Totally, 5,466 participants aged 50-64 years were classified into 2 groups: a household with one member was defined as a single-person household, and households with two or more members were described as multi-person households. Single-person households comprised 10.63% of the total, with a higher average age, and lower income and economic levels than multi-person households. Compared to multiperson households, single-person households had a higher frequency of skipping breakfast, eating alone, and dining out, the moderately and severely food insecure group was more than 5 times, and nutrient intake and dietary quality were poorer. In the fully adjusted model, the odds ratios (ORs) of depressive symptoms were 2.35 times (95% CI: 1.39-3.96), and suicide ideation was 1.95 times (95% CI: 1.35-2.82) in single-person compared to multi-person households. Our results lead us to conclude that poor dietary intake in middle-aged single-person households affects the mental health, and the above factors should be considered when framing the dietary policy.

본 연구에서는 남극 로스해 연안에 서식하는 아델리펭귄(Pygoscelis adeliae)과 황제펭귄 (Aptenodytes forsteri)의 분변 시료를 기반으로 펭귄 장내 미생물 메타지놈 연구를 수행하였 다. Taxonomy 분석 결과, 아델리펭귄과 황제펭귄의 장내 미생물에는 주로 7개의 문(phylum), 18개의 과(family)가 존재하는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 미생물 다양성을 평가하기 위해 Alpha diversity 및 OTU abundance 분석을 수행한 결과, 전반적으로 아델리펭귄의 장내 미생물 다양 성이 황제펭귄보다 높은 것을 확인하였고, PCoA를 기반으로 한 Beta diversity 분석을 통해 두 개체군 간 장내 미생물 군집에 차이가 존재함을 확인하였다. PICRUSt를 활용한 기능적인 차원의 KEGG pathway 분석을 통해서는 아델리펭귄과 황제펭귄 시료에서 nucleoside and nucleotide biosynthesis pathway가 가장 많이 존재하는 것을 확인하였다. 본 연구를 통해 남극 아델리펭귄과 황제펭귄의 장내미생물 구성과 다양성을 비교분석 할 수 있었다. 본 연구 결과 는 향후 펭귄의 먹이 섭식 관련 연구에 활용될 수 있으며, 더 나아가 다양한 남극 생물의 장내 미생물 메타지놈 분석에 대한 기초가 될 수 있을 것이다.

This study investigated the potential role of dietary factors associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Koreans. The scoping review method was used to evaluate the studies that utilized the secondary data sets comprising the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) and the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES). Articles published between 2012 and 2022 were identified using RISS, KISS, DBpia, PubMed, and ScienceDirect databases. In all, there were 32 published articles on obesity and 119 on MetS. Obesity research included eight articles on nutrients, 12 on food items/food groups, two on dietary patterns, nine on dietary behavior/eating habits, and one on the dietary index. MetS studies comprised 34 articles on nutrients, 43 on food items/food groups, seven on dietary patterns, 25 on dietary behavior/eating habits, and 10 on the dietary index. Carbohydrates, alcohol, and coffee consumption were the most frequently studied dietary factors for obesity and MetS. The primary areas of study were largely focused on nutrients and food items/food groups. Thus, to overcome the paucity of information on the relationship of dietary patterns and dietary indexes with obesity and MetS, there is a need for further research using the KNHANES and KoGES data sets.

꼬막은 해양 어업으로써 아시아 전 지역에 있어서 중요한 수산자원 중 하나이다. 하지만, 공장 의 산업화, 해양 환경오염, 그리고 지구 온난화로 인해 해양 어업 생산량이 급격히 떨어졌다. 우리나라 남해안의 주요 수산자원인 꼬막의 유전적 특성을 파악하기 위하여 꼬막의 전장유전 체를 해독하고 염색체 서열을 규명하였다. 915.4 Mb의 게놈을 조립하였고, 19개의 염색체 유전자 서열을 식별하였다. 꼬막의 유전체에서 25,134개의 유전자들을 확인하였고, 그 중에 22,745개 의 유전자들에 대한 기능을 확인했으며, 4,014개의 유전자들에 대한 KEGG pathway를 분석하 였다. 꼬막유전체와 8종의 다른 패류와 비교유전체 분석을 통하여 확장/감소(gene gain and loss) 분석을 수행한 결과, 725개의 유전자군의 확장과 479개의 유전자군의 감소를 확인하였다. 꼬막의 homeobox 유전자 클러스터는 촉수담륜동물 내에서 잘 보존된 유전자 구조를 보였다. 또한, 꼬막은 3개의 hemoglobin 유전자들이 피조개의 hemoglobin과 높은 유사성을 보였다. 꼬막의 전장유전체 정보를 통해 꼬막의 환경 적응과 진화의 유전적 특성과 생리적 특성뿐만 아니라, 꼬막 양식의 효율성을 높이는 양식산업에 널리 이용될 수 있는 유전적 정보를 제공 할 것이다.

수산업은 수산물의 남획, 국가 간의 제한, 기후변화로 인하여 수산물 개체 수 감소 등으로 전 세계 수산물 생산량이 정체되면서, 양식업은 항상 세계 식량 소비를 위해 오랫동안 지속되어 온 패러다임을 뒤집고 인류가 바다, 호수, 강의 풍부함을 새로운 방식으로 확장할 수 있도록 하는 '푸른 혁명'의 가능성을 제시하고 있다. 양식산업은 이제 인간 소비를 위한 해산물의 원료 로서 해양에서 얻는 어업생산량의 절반이상을 넘어섰다. 지속 가능한 양식산업의 발전을 위하 여 다양한 최신 생물학적 연구 방법들이 적용되고 있다. 유전체학은 2011년 대서양 대구의 염 기서열이 규명된 이래 최근 상당한 진전을 이루었으며 더 많은 종의 유전체가 해독되어 우수 형질의 육종 및 번식 기술, 질병 저항성 품질 개량, 양식 사료 및 사료방식의 최적화 등 양식산 업을 위한 보다 견고하고 생산적인 지식 기반을 제공한다. 본 리뷰는 수산양식종의 유전체 연 구를 위한 유전체 분석 기술과 수산양식종의 유전체 연구의 현황에 대해서 살펴보았다. 이와 같이 유전체 분석 기술과 유전체학의 발전은 수산양식산업의 과제를 해결하는 데 중요하며 지속 가능한 어업과 양식에 도움을 줄 것이다.

꼬막 종류 중 하나인 Tegillarca granosa는 해양 이매패류로서 한국, 중국, 일본 등의 중요한 수 산 자원 중 하나이다. 꼬막의 염색체 수는 2n=38로 알려져 있지만, 유전체의 크기와 유전 정보에 대해서는 아직 명확하게 알려져 있지 않다. 꼬막의 유전체 크기 예측을 위하여 NGS Illumina HiSeq 플랫폼을 이용하여 얻은 짧은 DNA 서열 정보를 통하여 in silico 분석으로 유전 체 크기를 분석하였다. 그 결과 꼬막의 유전체 크기는 770.61 Mb로 예측되었다. 이후 MaSuRCA assembler를 통하여 드래프트 게놈 조립 작업을 수행하고, QDD pipeline을 이용하여 SSR (simple sequence repeats) 분석을 수행하였다. 꼬막의 유전체로부터 43,944개의 SSR을 발굴하였으며, 다이-뉴클레오타이드(di-nucleotide) 69.51%, 트라이-뉴클레오타이드(tri-nucleotide) 16.68%, 테 트라-뉴클레오타이드(tetra-nucleotide) 12.96%, 펜타-뉴클레오타이드(penta-nucleotide) 0.82% 그 리고 헥사-뉴클레오타이드(hexa-nucleotide) 0.03%로 구성되었다. 이후 꼬막의 유전적 다양성 연구에 활용할 수 있는 100개의 마이크로새틀라이트 마커의 프라이머 세트를 선별하였다. 앞 으로 이번 연구를 통해서, 꼬막의 집단유전학적 연구와 유전적 다양성을 규명하는데 도움이 될 것이며, 나아가 동종들 간의 원산지 분류를 알아낼 수 있을 것이다.

Urbanization is one of the leading causes of habitat loss, habitat degradation, and fragmentation. Urban development negatively affects biodiversity. This study aimed to clarify the change of butterfly communities on effect of urbanization in urban green areas. Butterfly survey was conducted using the line transect methods from April to October in 2012. A total of 59 species and 1,465 individuals of butterflies were observed in four urban green areas: Namsan Park (NS), Ewha Womans University (EW), Bukseoul Dream Forest (BD), and Hongneung Forest (HF), and natural forest: Gwangneung Forest (GF). The category of land use around study site was determined based on GIS data. Species richness and abundance of niche breadth and habitat type in urban green areas differed significantly from those in GF. Estimated species richness and species diversity (H’) in four urban green areas were significantly lower than those in GF. Species richness and abundance of forest interior species and specialist were positively correlated with paddy, field, and forest, whereas those of forest interior species and specialist were negatively correlated with urban area and road. Butterfly communities in four urban green area differed from that in GF. The result suggests that the decrease of paddy, field, and forest associated with increase of urban area and road negatively influences species composition and changes butterfly communities.

Metastatic spread to cervical lymph nodes(LNs) is a major determinant of outcome in oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). To provide an useful method for the detection of lymph node micrometastases, we fulfilled the histopathological examination and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) using the paraffin-embedded LNs of oral SCC patients. In this study, 78 LNs from 12 patients with primary oral SCC were analyzed. Metastases in the regional LNs were evaluated by RT-PCR for squamous cell carcinoma antigen(SCCA) and cytokeratin 5(CK5). Detectability of metastatic LNs by RT-PCR was compared with histopathological examination. Of 78 LNs, CK5 and SCCA mRNA were detected in 32(41.0%) and 8(10.3%), respectively. Histopathologically, 10(12.8%) of 78 LNs were positive. CK5 mRNA was detected in all 10 histopathologically positive LNs. In contrast, SCCA mRNA was detected in 5 of 10 histopathologically positive LNs. These findings suggest that genetic diagnosis by RT-PCR based on CK5 mRNA expression may be sensitive and clinically useful technique to detect the presence of metastatic carcinoma cells in regional lymph nodes of oral SCC.

Limonium tetragonum is a halophyte grown naturally in the coastal region in South Korea. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of salt concentrations on seed germination, seedling growth, and antioxidant capacity of L. tetragonum. Seeds were collected from naturally grown plants of L. tetragonum and those at full maturity were used in this experiment. All experiments were performed at 0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, or 2.0% of salt concentrations. Seed germination rate was highest as 86% at 20℃ and followed as higher in order of 25℃, 30℃ and 15℃. The germination rate was about 80% at 0% or 0.5% of salt concentration, but it was very low at the salt concentrations higher than 1%. Growth of L. tetragonum seedlings showed no difference in Hoagland solution containing NaCl in the range of 0% to 1.0% and seedlings survived at 2.0% of NaCl concentration. As the salt concentration increased, the content of Na+ in the shoot increased, but that of K+, Ca++, or Mg++ decreased. The antioxidant activity and the content of total polyphenol and total flavonoid in the shoot were similar at 0% and 0.5% of NaCl and were highest at 2.0% of NaCl concentration. In conclusion, performance of seed germination and plant growth of L. tetragonum was highest at 0% and 0.5% of NaCl concentration, and showed no difference in antioxidant activity, total polyphenol contents, and total flavonoid contents at the same salt concentrations.

This research was carried out to investigate the germination and seedling growth characteristics of the halophyte Suaeda asparagoides under various salt concentrations, temperatures, and the presence or absence of light S. asparagoides has a non-endospermic dicotyledonous seed structure that is go stone-shaped with a dark brown color and covered by a star-shaped perianth. Germination within the temperature range 5~40°C varied from 8% to 65%. The highest germination occurred at 15°C. In seeds exposed to salt concentrations in the range 0~400 mM, the highest germination occurred at 0 mM, and the germination progressively decreased as the salt concentration increased. When the perianth of the seed was removed, the germination increased significantly. In the presence or absence of light, germination under white light was 5~20% higher than that under darkness, which varied according to salt concentrations in the range 0~300 mM. The plant growth of S. asparagoides, evaluated by plant height, branch number, root length, fresh weight, and dry weight, was higher in the concentration range 50~100 mM, and it decreased in the other concentrations. In conclusion, the seeds of S. asparagoides showed higher germination in fresh water at low temperature of approximately 15°C under light when the perianth was removed, and the plant growth was higher at salt concentrations of 50~100 mM.