The purpose of this study was to investigate total polyphenols, total flavonoid, and DPPH radical scavenging activity in 26 species of Korean natural plants and 14 species of medicinal plant extracts. The plant containing the highest total polyphenols and total flavonoids were Plantago asiatica, and Lespedeza cuneata G. Don, respectively. The content of polyphenols and flavonoids in natural plants was the highest in Lespedeza cuneata G. Don, which also demonstrated high DPPH radical scavenging activity. In medicinal plant extract, Saururus chinensis (Lour.) Baill and Artemisiae Asiaticae Herba had the highest level of total polyphenols (194.60 and 203.92 mg/g extract, respectively) and DPPH radical scavenging activity. Diospyros kaki Thunb and Dryopteris crassirhizoma did not contain high levels of total polyphenols (112.98, 121.46 mg/g extract, respectively) and flavonoids (46.10, 58.69 mg/g extract respectively), but DPPH radical scavenging activity was relatively high. Further study regarding plants that exhibit higher total polyphenols, total flavonoid, and DPPH radical scavenging activity is needed.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of guar gum on the rheological behaviors, sensory attributes, and consumer acceptability of soft tofu stew sauce. Five different soft tofu stew sauces were commercially manufactured with various levels of guar gum (0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, and 0.5%). Twelve sensory attributes of the stew sauces were identified by nine trained descriptive panelists, whereas hedonic levels of the stew sauces were assessed by a group of 51 consumers. Steady flow of the stew sauces were measured by a rheometer. Significant differences were observed in terms of sensory saltiness and viscosity among the products. For the consumer test, 0.1% guar gum-added product was most liked by consumers. Partial least square regression showed sensory shellfish, green onion, and shrimp flavors to be key factors affecting overall acceptability for the stew sauces. For rheological behaviors, 0.0, 0.1, and 0.2% guar gum-added products showed newtonian behaviors (R 2 =0.99 by power law model), whereas 0.4 and 0.5% products followed pseudoplastic behaviors (R 2 =0.99 by power law model). Based on the established equivalence table using rheological and consumer data, smaller than 0.0114 (Pa•s) of the apparent viscosity should be necessary to guarantee 'slightly like' category in a consumer hedonic test. It seems that addition of guar gum not only influenced rheological properties but overall acceptability for the stew sauces.

No abstract

This work is based on a part of the first author' master's thesis. Objectives: The cochlear implant (CI) is a device providing congenitally deafened children with access to speech perception. Children with CIs may have good speech perception skills and language development, but still experience difficulties in the perception of prosody based on pitch information. The purpose of this study is to examine the difference between children with CIs and children with normal hearing (NH) in their voice emotion recognition abilities. Methods: The participants were 10 children with CIs and 10 children with NH. Children with CIs all attended regular elementary schools, achieved a typical developmental level on a formal language test, and demonstrated good speech perception abilities (95% in an open set word test). The accuracy of emotion recognition was evaluated by listening to a total of 24 sentences with four different emotions (happiness, sadness, fear, and anger). Results: There were statistically significant differences between groups and also among emotions. Overall, children with CIs showed lower performance than children with NH in recognition of voice emotion (16.1 vs. 23.7). Children with CIs more accurately identified happiness than they did fear (5.1 vs. 2.5). Half of their total identification errors were between fear and sadness (47.36%). Conclusion: The results indicate that children with CIs have difficulties in voice emotion recognition, even if they have no difficulties in speech perception or language development. In error analysis, difficulties in identifying between fear and sadness could be explained by confusion in same valence-arousal space. It is possible that prosodic elements of voice emotions were not sufficiently conveyed through the cochlear implant system. Such results highlight the need for a rehabilitation program addressing these features.

The effects of unripe apple mask pack made from unripe apple extracts on the skin status of middle-aged women for 4 weeks were investigated. The subjects were divided into three groups: placebo mask pack as the control (PM, n = 8), apple mask pack (AM, n = 16), and apple mask pack + apple intake (AAM, n = 12). The study included a survey questionnaire, and evaluations of nutrients intakes and of skin status. Skin status was measured by Aramo-TS. After 4 weeks, facial moisture, elasticity, evenness, and wrinkle level were improved in AM and AAM. The facial moisture level (AM: +3.13 ± 2.73, AAM: +2.25 ± 2.93) and elasticity level (AM: +5.81 ± 8.27, AAM: +5.50 ± 6.13) of AM (p < 0.001) and AAM (p < 0.05) were increased. The facial evenness level (AM: -5.25 ± 8.13, AAM: -9.17 ± 4.26) and wrinkle level (AM: -10.88 ± 11.74, AAM: -17.83 ± 12.22) were significantly decreased. AAM was more effective in improving skin elasticity, evenness, and wrinkle. The skin status of PM was not changed. While the macronutrient intakes of all the subjects were not different before and after the study, the daily intakes of some vitamins (vitamins B 6 , C, and E and folic acid) during the study were significantly increased in AAM. These findings suggested that regular use of apple mask pack was effective in improving overall skin status. Furthermore, the consumption of apples with mask pack application was much better in improving skin status. (