In recent decades there has been a dramatic increase in Korean restaurants in Frankfurt, Germany. Based on ethnographic research conducted in Frankfurt in 2022, this research explores multiple ...situational factors across socio‐structural layers influencing Korean restaurant owners in their decision to open their businesses. The study found that the economic, cultural, and social contexts in Germany, such as visa and settlement schemes, market conditions, and the cosmopolitan lifestyle in Frankfurt have been vital factors for Korean immigrants in Germany while ethnic networks and resources have been inconsequential. Korean restaurant owners in Frankfurt also contribute greatly to the shaping of trends in terms of interest in Korean food and culture in the host society through their own agency and in their interactions with local people. In the context of a rapid rise in popularity of Korean culture and food internationally, this study points to an uneasy fit between the case of Korean restaurant owners in Frankfurt and the prevailing conceptual frameworks of immigrant entrepreneurship in Europe, leading to the need to approach their case from new angles.
Prior studies have shown that plant-based diets are associated with lower risk of cardiovascular risk factors and incident cardiovascular disease, but risks differed by quality of plant-based diets. ...No prospective studies have evaluated the associations between different types of plant-based diets and incident metabolic syndrome (MetS) and components of MetS. Furthermore, limited evidence exists in Asian populations who have habitually consumed a diet rich in plant foods for a long period of time.
Analyses were based on a community-based cohort of 5,646 men and women (40-69 years of age at baseline) living in Ansan and Ansung, South Korea (2001-2016) without MetS and related chronic diseases at baseline. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Using the responses in the questionnaire, we calculated 4 plant-based diet indices (overall plant-based diet index PDI, healthful plant-based diet index hPDI, unhealthful plant-based diet index uPDI, and pro-vegetarian diet index). Higher PDI score represented greater consumption of all types of plant foods regardless of healthiness. Higher hPDI score represented greater consumption of healthy plant foods (whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, tea and coffee) and lower consumption of less-healthy plant foods (refined grains, potatoes, sugar-sweetened beverages, sweets, salty foods). Higher uPDI represented lower consumption of healthy plant foods and greater consumption of less-healthy plant foods. Similar to PDI, higher pro-vegetarian diet score represented greater consumption of plant foods but included only selected plant foods (grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, potatoes). Higher scores in all plant-based diet indices represented lower consumption of animal foods (animal fat, dairy, eggs, fish/seafood, meat). Over a median follow-up of 8 years, 2,583 participants developed incident MetS. Individuals in the highest versus lowest quintile of uPDI had 50% higher risk of developing incident MetS, adjusting for demographic characteristics and lifestyle factors (hazard ratio HR: 1.50, 95% CI 1.31-1.71, P-trend < 0.001). When we further adjusted for body mass index (BMI), those in the highest quintile of uPDI had 24%-46% higher risk of 4 out of 5 individual components of MetS (abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, low high-density lipoprotein HDL, and elevated blood pressure) (P-trend for all tests ≤ 0.001). Greater adherence to PDI was associated with lower risk of elevated fasting glucose (HR: 0.80, 95% CI 0.70-0.92, P-trend = 0.003). No consistent associations were observed for other plant-based diet indices and MetS. Limitations of the study may include potential measurement error in self-reported dietary intake, inability to classify a few plant foods as healthy and less-healthy, lack of data on vegetable oil intake, and possibility of residual confounding.
In this study, we observed that greater adherence to diets consisting of a high intake of refined carbohydrates, sugars, and salty foods in the framework of plant-based diets was associated with an elevated risk of MetS. These results suggest that considering the quality of plant foods is important for prevention of MetS in a population that habitually consumes plant foods.
Since the start of Korean migration to Argentina in the 1960s, ethnic Koreans in Argentina have been intensively involved in the garment industry. Compared to previous decades, when Korean ...entrepreneurs made rapid and notable progress in the industry, in recent decades Koreans have remained in the semiformal Avellaneda Avenue wholesale market instead of moving up to the larger, more competitive formal market segment. Based on ethnographic research conducted in Argentina, this research aims to explore why large-scale Korean wholesale garment businesses that have the capacity to expand into the formal market prefer to remain in the semiformal market, and how informal business practices have influenced these businesses' long-term development. While these informal practices have been shaped within an environment of loose government control and rampant corruption in the sector, the decision to maintain semiformal operations is a contextual response to the complex social, economic, and political circumstances of a developing country in the Global South. The research findings further suggest that informal business practices seem likely to be the critical factor in the development of Korean garment businesses, even as these practices block entry into the larger mainstream market and constrain their future growth.
The extensive alienation of younger-generation Korean Brazilians from Korean ethnic churches in São Paulo has led to inevitable transformation processes. Positioned within studies in ethnic religious ...communities, this research explores recent changes and evolutionary processes in the city’s three largest religious organizations with a particular focus on the religious, linguistic, ethnic, and social dimensions. This ethnographic study demonstrates that for the second generation, the role of the churches in retaining ethnic language and culture has diminished significantly, giving way to the religious function as first priority. At this stage, although there have been attempts to develop multiethnic congregations, second-generation Koreans prefer to stay within monoethnic congregations where other coethnic members also straddle the cultures of first-generation Koreans and local Brazilians. Their negative perceptions of local Brazilians, originating in the relatively high socioeconomic position of Korean Brazilians within a socially and economically stratified Brazilian society, also seem to have hindered their integration into multiethnic congregations. This study provides significant insights into how the current stage of ethnic church transition demonstrates Korean Brazilians’ degree of adaptation and their formation of ethnic cohesion and attachment within larger society.
This study investigated the associations of green tea, coffee, and caffeine consumption with self-report lifetime depression in the Korean population using data from the Korean National Health and ...Nutrition Examination Survey. In total, 9576 participants (3852 men and 5724 women) aged 19 years or older were selected for the present study. Green tea, coffee, and caffeine consumption levels were assessed with a validated food frequency questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for depression according to green tea, coffee, and caffeine consumption. Frequent green tea consumers (≥3 cups/week) had 21% lower prevalence of depression (OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.63⁻0.99,
for trend = 0.0101) than green tea non-consumers after adjustment for potential confounders. Likewise, frequent coffee drinkers (≥2 cups/day) had 32% lower prevalence of depression (OR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.55⁻0.85,
for trend = 0.0026) than coffee non-drinkers after adjustment for potential confounders. Also, participants in the highest quartile of caffeine consumption had 24% lower prevalence of depression than those in the lowest quartile (OR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.62⁻0.92,
for trend = 0.0032). Frequent consumption of green tea, coffee, or caffeine was associated with a reduced prevalence of self-report lifetime depression in Korean adults. A prospective study and randomized clinical trials should be conducted to confirm the inverse relationships of green tea and coffee consumption with risk of depression.
Abstract
Self-powered implantable devices have the potential to extend device operation time inside the body and reduce the necessity for high-risk repeated surgery. Without the technological ...innovation of in vivo energy harvesters driven by biomechanical energy, energy harvesters are insufficient and inconvenient to power titanium-packaged implantable medical devices. Here, we report on a commercial coin battery-sized high-performance inertia-driven triboelectric nanogenerator (I-TENG) based on body motion and gravity. We demonstrate that the enclosed five-stacked I-TENG converts mechanical energy into electricity at 4.9 μW/cm
3
(root-mean-square output). In a preclinical test, we show that the device successfully harvests energy using real-time output voltage data monitored via Bluetooth and demonstrate the ability to charge a lithium-ion battery. Furthermore, we successfully integrate a cardiac pacemaker with the I-TENG, and confirm the ventricle pacing and sensing operation mode of the self-rechargeable cardiac pacemaker system. This proof-of-concept device may lead to the development of new self-rechargeable implantable medical devices.
Plant-based diets have been suggested to be beneficial for type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, studies investigating the association between the healthiness of a plant-based diet and T2D risk are ...limited. This study explored the prospective association between scores from three different plant-based diet indices and risk of T2D and investigated whether associations differ by demographic and lifestyle factors in the Korean population. Data were derived from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES), a prospective cohort study initiated between 2001 and 2002. Dietary intakes were assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Scores for three plant-based diet indices (overall plant-based diet index (PDI), healthful plant-based diet index (hPDI), and unhealthful plant-based diet index (uPDI)) were measured. A total of 7363 Korean adults aged 40–69 years without T2D and related chronic diseases at baseline were included. Incident T2D was defined as elevated plasma glucose (≥126 mg/dL), self-report of a doctor’s diagnosis of T2D, or use of oral hypoglycemic drug. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs for T2D risk. During a follow-up period of 14 years, 977 participants developed T2D. A 10-point higher score in hPDI was associated with a 14% lower risk of T2D (HR: 0.86, 95% CI, 0.77–0.95), adjusting for potential confounders. In subgroup analysis, inverse associations between hPDI and T2D risk were stronger in participants with a family history of T2D (HR: 0.58, 95% CI, 0.44 0.76) or history of hypertension (HR: 0.73, 95% CI, 0.60 0.89) than those without a family history of T2D (p interaction = 0.01) or history of hypertension (p interaction = 0.04). Considering the quality of the plant foods may be important for the prevention of T2D in the Korean population, which habitually consumes diets rich in plant foods.
Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent regulated necrosis mediated by lipid peroxidation. Cancer cells survive under metabolic stress conditions by altering lipid metabolism, which may alter their ...sensitivity to ferroptosis. However, the association between lipid metabolism and ferroptosis is not completely understood. In this study, we found that the expression of elongation of very longchain fatty acid protein 5 (ELOVL5) and fatty acid desaturase 1 (FADS1) is up-regulated in mesenchymal-type gastric cancer cells (GCs), leading to ferroptosis sensitization. In contrast, these enzymes are silenced by DNA methylation in intestinal-type GCs, rendering cells resistant to ferroptosis. Lipid profiling and isotope tracing analyses revealed that intestinal-type GCs are unable to generate arachidonic acid (AA) and adrenic acid (AdA) from linoleic acid. AA supplementation of intestinal-type GCs restores their sensitivity to ferroptosis. Based on these data, the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) biosynthesis pathway plays an essential role in ferroptosis; thus, this pathway potentially represents a marker for predicting the efficacy of ferroptosis-mediated cancer therapy.
The current study puts the emphasis on developing a pyro-hydrometallurgical process, called acid baking-water leaching, to recover scandium and neodymium from blast furnace slag produced by the ...ironmaking industry. In this process, the feed is mixed with concentrated sulfuric acid, digested at 200-400 °C, and leached in water at ambient conditions. This process offers several advantages including less acidic waste generation and rapid kinetics. With fundamental investigations into the digestion mechanism, acid to slag mass ratio and baking temperature are determined to have the most significant positive and negative impacts, respectively. At low acid to slag ratio, the silicate bearing phases in the feed do not digest, resulting in low extraction. At 200 °C baking temperature, a hydrated aluminum sulfate ((Al(H
2
O)
6
)
2
(SO
4
)
3
(H
2
O)
4.4
) phase with weak hydrogen bonds is formed that leaches in water rapidly (<10 min); while at 400 °C, Al
2
(SO
4
)
3
with strong ionic bonds is formed that leaches at slower kinetics (>4 h). Fundamental investigations into the water leaching process indicate that the diffusion of water through the firm solid product (ash layer) is the rate determining step. We expect the results of this study would help enable valorization of industrial byproducts, in particular ironmaking slag.
An environmentally sustainable pyro-hydrometallurgical process, called acid baking-water leaching, helps enable the extraction of scandium and neodymium from ironmaking slag to establish the circular economy.
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