Characteristics of the Gut Microbiome of Healthy Young Male Soldiers in South Korea: The Effects of Smoking

Background/Aims@#South Korean soldiers are exposed to similar environmental factors. In this study, we sought to evaluate the gut microbiome of healthy young male soldiers (HYMS) and to identify the primary factors influencing the microbiome composition. @*Methods@#We prospectively collected stool from 100 HYMS and performed next-generation sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes of fecal bacteria. Clinical data, including data relating to the diet, smoking, drinking, and exercise, were collected. @*Results@#The relative abundances of the bacterial phyla Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria were 72.3%, 14.5%, 8.9%, and 4.0%, respectively. Fifteen species, most of which belonged to Firmicutes (87%), were detected in all examined subjects. Using cluster analysis, we found that the subjects could be divided into the two enterotypes based on the gut microbiome bacterial composition. Compared with enterotype 2 subjects, subjects classified as enterotype 1 tended to be characterized by higher frequencies of potentially harmful lifestyle habits (current smoker: 55.6% vs 36.6%, p=0.222; heavy drinker: 16.7% vs 3.7%, p=0.120; insufficient physical activity: 27.8% vs 14.6%, p=0.318). We identified a significant difference in the microbiome compositions of current and noncurrent smokers (p=0.008); the former differed from the latter mainly in a relatively lower abundance of Bifidobacterium species and a higher abundance of Negativicutes. @*Conclusions@#A high abundance of Actinobacteria and low abundance of Bacteroidetes

Comparison of Physical Activity Level, Physical Activity Pattern and Energy Expenditure in Male and Female Elementary School Soccer Players using Accelerometer and Physical Activity Diary / 대한지역사회영양학회지

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to compare the physical activity level (PAL), the physical activity pattern and the energy expenditure in male and female elementary school soccer players using the accelerometer and the physical activity diary. METHODS: Twenty-five (male 11, female 14) elementary school soccer players (9–12 years) participated in this study. During their daily activities, they wore an accelerometer for seven days (five weekdays and two weekend days) and completed the physical activity diary for three days (two weekdays and one weekend day). PAL was calculated by using the physical activity diary and three equations (Pate Preschool, Freedson Children, and Freedson) were used to calculate the intensity of physical activity and energy expenditure from the counts of accelerometer. RESULTS: The average of physical activity by day of the week, CPM (Counts Per Minute) and METs (Metabolic Equivalents) were significantly higher in males (723.3 ± 149.2 CPM, 2.07 ± 0.18 METs) compared to females (505.6 ± 119.9 CPM, 1.79 ± 0.20 METs), but there was no significant difference in PAEE (Physical Activity Energy Expenditure) between the two groups (males: 15.5 ± 9.1 kcal/day, females: 11.5 ± 6.0 kcal/day). During weekdays, physical activity intensity was significantly higher in males compared to females at lunch time and training time than at other times. In both genders, the PAL was higher during weekdays (males 1.98, females 1.89) compared to weekend (males 1.62, females 1.61) (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our study observations suggest the necessity to develop an accelerometer equation for accurately evaluating the physical activity of elementary school athletes.

Accuracy of Accelerometer for the Prediction of Energy Expenditure and Activity Intensity in Athletic Elementary School Children During Selected Activities / 대한지역사회영양학회지

OBJECTIVES: Accurate assessment of energy expenditure is important for estimation of energy requirements in athletic children. The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of accelerometer for prediction of selected activities' energy expenditure and intensity in athletic elementary school children. METHODS: The present study involved 31 soccer players (16 males and 15 females) from an elementary school (9-12 years). During the measurements, children performed eight selected activities while simultaneously wearing the accelerometer and carrying the portable indirect calorimeter. Five equations (Freedson/Trost, Treuth, Pate, Puyau, Mattocks) were assessed for the prediction of energy expenditure from accelerometer counts, while Evenson equation was added for prediction of activity intensity, making msix equations in total. The accuracy of accelerometer for energy prediction was assessed by comparing measured and predicted values, using the paired t-test. The intensity classification accuracy was evaluated with kappa statistics and ROC-Curve. RESULTS: For activities of lying down, television viewing and reading, Freedson/Trost, Treuth were accurate in predicting energy expenditure. Regarding Pate, it was accurate for vacuuming and slow treadmill walking energy prediction. Mattocks was accurate in treadmill running activities. Concerning activity intensity classification accuracy, Pate (kappa=0.72) had the best performance across the four intensities (sedentary, light, moderate, vigorous). In case of the sedentary activities, all equations had a good prediction accuracy, while with light activities and Vigorous activities, Pate had an excellent accuracy (ROC-AUC=0.91, 0.94). For Moderate activities, all equations showed a poor performance. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, none of the assessed equations was accurate in predicting energy expenditure across all assessed activities in athletic children. For activity intensity classification, Pate had the best prediction accuracy.

Utilization Status and Awareness of School Foodservice Dietitians Regarding Medicinal Cuisine in Yeoungdong, Gangwon-do

This study investigated the attitudes of dietitians regarding medicinal cuisine for school meal services. Data was obtained with self-administered questionnaires from 261 dietitians in schools located in Yeoungdong, Gangwon-do. Subjects were distributed into three groups (Elementary=116, Middle=106, High=39) and their awareness, satisfaction, cooking method, and utilization status of medicial cuisine were assessed. Regarding awareness, responders showed highest mean score of 4.57 in perceiving medical cuisines as healthy meal. The preferred cooking method includes medicinal cuisines as noodle, boiled in soy sauce, steaming, roasting, and dessert. Good taste, easy recipe, nutrition, and reasonable price were statistically significant reasons for their preference for medicinal cuisine. However, low preference of students for medicinal cuisine made it difficult to include them into school meals. Methods currently used to serve more medicinal cuisine include the application of different recipes using the same ingredients. The results of this study suggest that having dietitians with a higher preference for medicinal cuisine can serve as a strategy to increase the exposure of school students to medicinal cuisine. The development of recipes applicable to school foodservices by dieticians and the adoption of policies and education programs for medicinal cuisine by the government and associations are recommended.

The Improvement of Nutritional Support with Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is the most common method of enteral nutrition for patients who require long term artificial nutrition. PEG has been used as a method of nutritional support; however, improvement of nutritional support via PEG has not yet been reported. In this study, we analyzed the efficacy of nutritional support via PEG. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 196 consecutive patients who underwent PEG at Kyung Hee University Hospital in Gang Dong from 2006 to 2012. We analyzed clinical characteristics, the method of nutritional support, and the proportion of intake to establish recommendations for nutritional requirements and the duration needed to reach the level of appropriate nutrition. RESULTS: A total of 196 patients included 130 men and 66 women, and their mean age (standard deviation) was 69.1+/-14.0 years. Compared with caloric and protein supplementation before PEG, 113 kcal (13.8% of baseline) and 4.8 g of protein (17.5% of baseline) could be additionally supplied with PEG (P=0.001, respectively). The number of patients who could take more than 90% of the recommended requirements of caloric and protein supplementation after PEG showed increased caloric and protein intake by 25.4% and 20.2%, respectively, in comparison with those before PEG (P=0.001 and P=0.001, respectively). The mean duration of catch-up for more than 90% of the recommended caloric and protein intake was approximately 11 days. Procedure related complications and early mortality were reported in 8.1% and 0% of patients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: PEG is an effective and safe nutritional support method for patients who require long term artificial nutrition.

Assessment of Nutrition Label Education in Sixth Grade Elementary School Students

This study was conducted to assess the effects of nutrition label education in children. The students of three randomly selected sixth-grade classes at an elementary school participated, were classified into a control group, an indirect (written message to parents) education group, and a direct (teaching children) education group. Nutrition label education was conducted in the latter two groups but not in the control group. There were no significant differences between pretest and posttest scores for nutrition knowledge or in the dietary attitudes of the control group and indirect education group. Improvements in test scores for nutrition knowledge and dietary attitudes were observed only in the direct education group. There were significant positive changes in the indirect and direct education groups, such as selecting snacks (cookies) by considering the fat content. Moreover, after the lessons, the percentage of children who chose white milk (regular milk, calcium-enriched milk, and low-fat milk) significantly increased in the direct education group. This study suggests that conducting nutrition label education helps children improve their nutrition knowledge and leads to positive changes in dietary attitudes and eating behaviors. In particular, a direct nutrition education method is more effective than an indirect method such as a written message to parents. Therefore, it is suggested that systematic and constant 'nutrition label education' be performed by nutrition teachers in elementary schools to establish healthy eating habits based on choosing nutritious snacks and processed foods.

Effect of Body Composition, Serum Lipid Level and Resting Metabolic Rate by Nutritional Education and Exercise Program in Middle Aged Women

The purpose of this study was to investigate the change of body composition, biochemical index level, resting metabolic rate and daily activities by the public health center's health-promoted program in overweight middle aged women. The workout program of 12 subjects constituted by exercise(aerobic exercise & resistance training) and nutritional education for 10 weeks. As the results, there was a significant decrease in all the weight(59.0+/-8.9 vs 57.2+/-8.3kg, p<0.05), body fat percentage(33.4+/-4.3 vs 30.5+/-4.5%, p<0.05) and body fat mass(19.8+/-5.4 vs 17.7+/-4.9kg, p<0.05) after program. Fat free mass and RMR which tend to be higher after than before program were found not to be significantly. In addition, the serum HDL-cholesterol(54.3+/-8.1 vs 59.7+/-13.9mg/dl, p<0.05) and TG level(65.2+/-418 vs 89.4+/-65.6mg/dl, p<0.05) of the subjects increased at the end of the study significantly and significant correlation found between total-cholesterol and TG before program. When the other laboratory parameter were compared before and after program, hematocrit(35.1+/-3.3 vs 39.7+/-3.3%, p<0.001), platelet(225.9+/-49.6 vs 244.3+/-49.7cell/ul, p<0.05) and fasting glucose(88.0+/-6.5 vs 76.6+/-9.7mg/dl, p<0.001) increased significantly but hemoglobin(13.3+/-1.3 vs 12.9+/-1.3mg/dl, p<0.01) decreased. And in activities analysis, 'moderate activity(18.8 vs 5.8minutes, p<0.05)' clearly showed a significant decrease but 'severe activity(17.7 vs 11.4minutes, p<0.05)' showed a increase. These results suggest that continuous health-promoted program involved exercise and nutritional education at the public health center are effective to reduce body fat and to improve resting metabolic rate(RMR). Further research is required to develop more effective public health program for the middle aged women in community.

Comparison of Measured and Predicted Resting Metabolic Rate of 30-40 aged Korean Women

The purposes of this study were to measure the resting metabolic rate(RMR) of 30-40 year old women and to compare it with values predicted using published equations. Body weight, height and body fat of subjects were measured. RMR was measured by two indirect calorimeter(method 1 and method 2). RMR was predicted using various equations. Average height, weight and body fat(%) of subjects were 158.6cm, 59.1kg and 30.9%, respectively. The RMR(1621.2+/-301.5 kcal/day) measured by portable indirect calorimeter(method 2) was significantly higher than RMR(1447.4+/-223.6 kcal/day) measured by typical indirect calorimeter(method 1). Comparison of measured RMR with predicted RMRs suggested that there was a least difference in RMR predicted by equation of Cunningham. According to RMSPEs(Root Mean Squared Prediction Errors), equations of Cunningham and body surface area were found to predict measured RMR(by method 1) most accurately (within 239.1kcal/day and 232.9kcal/day, respectively). The fat free mass and fat mass - adjusted correlation showed that measured RMR(by method 1) had negative relationships with muscle mass(r = -0.873) and fat free mass(r = -0.866). The equations of Cunningham and body surface area provide relatively accurate estimates of RMR when determining energy needs of 30-40 aged women. There are needs for development of RMR predicted equations that are derived from large samples of Korean.

A Review Study on the Strategies for Concept Analysis / 간호학회지

PURPOSE: Concept analysis is an essential part of theory development in nursing. Thus, many strategies or methods of concept analysis have been suggested in nursing literature. However, in Korea, only limited strategies were utilized, without much consideration on a wide range of strategies in choosing a method that coincides with the characteristics of each concept to analyze. The purpose of this article was to propose various strategies for concept analysis. METHOD: A literature review method was used. RESULT: Ten methods of concept analysis were identified in the literature, and they were evaluated for advantages and limitations. In addition to the method by Walker and Avant and a hybrid model, more advanced strategies, such as triangulation method, critical analysis and the feminist approach were introduced and described in detail. The examples used in each concept analysis method were presented in table to provide the extent of utilization of each method. CONCLUSION: This article provides a wide range of strategies in identifying, clarifying, or elaborating a concept. It might help in choosing a method that best fits the concept to analyze, thus enhancing quality of concept analysis research.

Score System for Operative Risk Evaluation in Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery / 대한흉부외과학회지

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to assess a score system for operative risk evaluation of CABG. MATERIAL AND METHOD: From January 2001 to September 2005, retrospective study for various perioperative factors of 2993 cases was done. RESULT: The early operative mortality was 2.4% and the beta coefficients of 7 core variables related to it (preoperative LV dysfuction, preoperative renal failure, MI within 1 week, reoperation, combined surgery, preoperative atrial fibrillation, preoperative IABP) were adjusted to score system. ROC curve and Hosmer and Lemeshow goodness of fit test was done. CONCLUSION: This score system was effective in assessing operative risk of CABG. But It is necessary to gather larger volume of case and perform multicenter study.

A Case of Weismann-Netter Stuhl Syndrome

No abstract available.