• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.2 s.82
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• pp.167-173
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• 2007

To study the transcriptional mechanisms by which expression of the murine glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor inducible transcription factor (mGIF) gene is regulated, a murine genomic clone was iso-lated using a mGIF cDNA as probe. A 13-kb genomic fragment, which comprises 4-kb upstream of the transcription initiation site was sequenced. The promoter region lacks a TATA box and CAAT box, is rich in G+C content, and has multiple putative binding sites for the transcription factor Spl. The mGIF gene also has consensus sequences for AP2 binding sites. The transcriptional activity of five deletion mutants of a 2.1-kb fragment was analyzed by modulating transcription of the heterologous luciferase gene in the promoterless plasmid pGL2-Basic. All mutants showed significant transcriptional activity in the murine neuroblastoma cell line NB41A3. Transient expression assays suggested the presence of a positive regulator between -213 and -129 while a negative regulator was found in the region between -806 and -214. Relatively strong transcriptional activity was observed in neuronal NB41A3, glial C6 cells and hepatic HepG2, but very weak activity in skeletal muscle C2C12 cells. These findings confirm the tissue-specific activity of the mGIF promoter and suggest that this gene shares structural and functional similarities with the dopamine receptor genes that it regulates.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.65 no.4
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• pp.292-300
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• 2008

Background: Respiratory failure is a common condition that requires intensive care, and has a high mortality rate despite the recent improvements in respiratory care. Previous reports of patients with respiratory failure focused on the specific disease or included a large proportion of surgical patients. This study evaluated the clinical characteristics, outcomes and prognostic factors of adult patients receiving mechanical ventilation in a medical intensive care unit. Methods: Retrospective chart review was performed on 479 adult patients, who received mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours in the medical ICU of one tertiary referral hospital. Results: The mean age of the patients was $60.3{\pm}15.6$ years and 34.0% were female. The initial mean APACHE III score was $72.3{\pm}25$. The cause of MV included acute respiratory failure (71.8%), acute exacerbation of chronic pulmonary disease (20.9%), coma (5.6%), and neuromuscular disorders (1.7%). Pressure controlled ventilation was used as the initial ventilator mode in 67.8% of patients, and pressure support ventilation was used as the initial weaning mode in 83.6% of the patients. The overall mortality rate in the ICU and hospital was 49.3% and 55.4%, respectively. The main cause of death in hospital was septic shock (32.5%), respiratory failure (11.7%), and multiorgan failure (10.2%). Males, an APACHE III score >70, the cause of respiratory failure (interstitial lung disease, coma, aspiration, pneumonia, sepsis and hemoptysis), the total ventilation time, and length of stay in hospital were independently associated with mortality. Conclusion: The cause of respiratory failure, severity of the patients, and gender appears to be significantly associated with the outcome of mechanical ventilatory support in patients with respiratory failure.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.644-651
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• 2005

Dietary supplement mainly made of herb and fiber was examined whether it could reduce body weight and fat, modify blood lipid concentrations and bowel habits in 30 collegians without intentional diet restriction or lifestyle change for 5 weeks. Free-living subjects were required to take diet pills 2 times daily 30 minutes before meals. Before the study began, 24 hr recall diet record and the questionnaires had been collected. Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, waist and hip circumferences, triceps and abdomen skinfold thickness, and body fat) were performed and blood samples were withdrawn before and after the study. Blood lipid fractions analyzed were total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol. After the trial, body weight, body mass index, and percent ideal body weight of the subjects were reduced to mean of 0.5 kg, 0.2 and $0.9\%$, respectively (p<0.05). Percent body fat, triceps and abdomen skinfold thickness, and waist and hip circumferences were all reduced significantly except for $\%$ abdominal fat, but $\%$ body muscle mass increased from $36.5\%$ to $37.4\%$ (p=0.000). TC and TG were remarkably diminished (p<0.01) and LDL-cholesterol tended to decrease, but no change was observed in HDL-cholesterol. Bowel movements were also increased (p<0.01). In conclusion, this specific herb and fiber-rich dietary supplement reduced body weight and body fat indices, improved anthropometric indices, modified blood lipid fractions and bowel movement desirably. The study suggest that herb and fiber-rich dietary supplement might help control body weight, body fat loss and adult diseases positively.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.31-35
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• 2006

Purpose: A primary adenosquamous carcinoma of the stomach is relatively rare, accounting for only about 0.5% of all gastric cancers. However, its histopathologic characteristics are still unclear, and the most appropriate form of therapy has not been established yet. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinicopathologic features of 8 patients with pathologically confirmed primary adenosquamous carcinomas out of 8,268 patients who underwent gastric cancer surgery at Samsung Medical Center between September 1994 and December 2004. Results: The median age of the 8 patients was 49 ($41{\sim}69$) years, and the male : female ratio was 5 : 3. In 3 patients, the tumor was located at the mid body of the stomach, and in 5 patients, at the lower body or antrum. The tumor sizes were $2.5{\sim}8cm$. Seven patients showed metastases to the regional lymph nodes. The UICC stage distribution were: 5 stage II, 2 stage III, and 1 stage IV. In the stage IV patient, a palliative gastrojejunostomy was performed, and he died 5 months after surgery. Of the 7 patients who underwent a radical gastrectomy and adjuvant chemotheratpy, the median survival was 34 ($12{\sim}66$) months, 2 patients died of cancer recurrence, and 4 patients are being followed up without evidence of recurrence. Conclusion: As for an adenocarcinoma of the stomach, a radical gastrectomy including regional lymph node dissection and postoperative adjuvant therapy should be performed for appropriate treatment of an adenosquamous carcinoma of the stomach.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.25-33
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• 2013

Clenbuterol and ractopamine, which are ${\beta}$-agonists, have been misused as a growth promoting agent in meat producing animals. Clenbuterol was banned for veterinary drug in Korea because of its problems regarding safety. Due to their adverse effects, such as cardiovascular and central nervous diseases on human health proper control and monitoring should be conducted. The existing analytical method of clenbuterol and ractopamine in the Food code was improved through our present study. The bovine muscle samples were subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis, extracted with ethyl acetate and defatted by hexane-methanol partitioning. A molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) solid phase extraction cartridge was used for clean-up and LC-MS/MS was operated in positive multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). Clenbuterol-$d_9$ and ractopamine-$d_3$ were used as an internal standard. The renewed method was validated according to the CODEX guideline. The limits of quantitation for clenbuterol and ractopamine were 0.2 and 0.5 ${\mu}g/kg$, respectively. The mean recoveries ranged in 104.2-113.5% for clenbuterol and in 107.6-118.1% for ractopamine. The improved method was able to save both time and expenses.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.287-292
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• 2019

Pseudomonas tolaasii causes brown blotch disease on the oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus). Various pathogenic strains of P. tolaasii were isolated and divided into three subtypes, $P1{\alpha}$, $P1{\beta}$, and $P1{\gamma}$. For phage therapy, bacteriophages against to these subtype strains were applied to mushroom cultivation and very successful to prevent from the disease. In this study, bacteriophages were isolated against the representative strains of subtype pathogens and their polyclonal antibodies were synthesized to investigate structural relationship among capsid proteins of phages. Phage preparations over $10^{10}pfu/mL$ were injected to rabbit thigh muscle and polyclonal antibodies were obtained after three times of boost injection. Titers of the antibodies obtained were over $2{\times}10^7Ab/mL$ for the phage ${\phi}6264$, $1{\times}10^6Ab/mL$ for the phage ${\phi}HK2$, and $1{\times}10^7Ab/mL$ for the phage ${\phi}HK19$ and phage ${\phi}HK23$. High specific activities were observed between antibodies and the corresponding bacteriophages. Some cross-reactivities between the antibodies and non-corresponding bacteriophages were also measured. Antibody $Ab{\phi}6264$ inactivated all phages of $P1{\alpha}$ subtype and only phage ${\phi}HK16$ among $P1{\beta}$ subtype phages. Antibody $Ab{\phi}HK23$ of $P1{\gamma}$ subtype neutralized all phages of $P1{\beta}$ subtype as well as the phage ${\phi}HK23$, showing the widest phage-inactivation range. When the structural-similarity studies of phages were investigated by using phage antibodies, closeness obtained by phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA genes of pathogenic strains were quite different from that of polyclonal antibody-specific structural similarity of phage capsid proteins. In conclusion, there is weak correlation between the host strain specificity of bacteriophage and its capsid structural similarity measured by phage antibodies.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.120-131
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• 2022

Microcystins (MCs) are cyano-toxins mainly produced by cyanobacteria in the genera of Microcystis, Anabaena, and Oscillatoria. The concentrations of MCs in the water bodies and fish tissues taken from the four weirs (Ipo, Gangjeong-goryeong, Baekje, and Juksan) in the four main rivers in Korea, and the health risk of human due to consumption of toxin-detected fish was examined. The maximum values of MCs concentration in the water samples were as follows: Juksan (3.261 ㎍ L^-1), Gangjeong-goryeong (1.014 ㎍ L^-1), Baekje (0.759 ㎍ L^-1), and Ipo (0.266 ㎍ L^-1) weirs. The MC-RR concentration was the highest among the MCs, and MC-YR was not detected. MCs of 0.222~9.808 ㎍ g^-1 dry weight were detected in the liver of 3 out of 215 fishes of 16 species, and below the detection limit in muscle. As a result of comparing the feeding characteristics of the collected fishes and toxin concentrations in water and fish tissue, it was concluded that the biomagnification of MCs through the food chain did not occur. It was judged that there was no health risk due to the consumption of the fish detected the toxin, based on the amount of the fish intake of the Korean people and the allowable daily intake of MCs. However, in order to reduce the health risk due to MCs, further studies should be conducted to analyze the concentration of MCs contained in fish tissues collected at various times in the area dominated by harmful cyanobacteria to obtain data on the exposure of MCs due to fish consumption. In addition, it is necessary to establish the management guidelines for MCs in fish tissues.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.714-729
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• 2023

Purpose: Since the coronavirus pandemic, the number of obese people has increased, and accelerated aging has been reported, particularly among young population. Therefore, this study analyzed the dietary habits of university students according to their risk of obesity to provide data for improving their eating habits. Methods: Ninety students at Daegu Catholic University were surveyed for their eating habits and photo-enhanced meal intake. The obesity risk was categorized as normal if the body mass index (BMI) and percent body fat (PBF) were normal, at-risk if both indicated overweight or obese, obesity in BMI alone were analyzed as BMI group and those with obesity in percent body fat alone were analyzed as PBF group. Results: There were 23 (25.5%) in the normal group, 10 (11.1%) in the BMI group, 24 (26.7%) in the PBF group and 33 (36.7%) in the at-risk group. The dietary survey showed that the risk groups had lower consumption frequencies of vegetables (p < 0.05) than the normal group, had less sleep time (p < 0.05) and higher frequency of fast food consumption (p < 0.001). The intake of vegetables was significantly higher in the normal group than in the risk group (p < 0.05). In terms of the daily nutrient intake, there was no significant difference in energy intake according to the obesity risk, but the intakes of dietary fiber (p < 0.01), vitamin A (p < 0.01), vitamin C (p < 0.01) were higher in the normal group than in the risk groups. Conclusion: Therefore, it is important to consider the BMI and percent body fat together to diagnose obesity and provide nutrition education and counseling.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.1007-1018
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• 2003

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of feeding of garlic stalk silage on performance and carcass characteristics of Hanwoo steers. Feeding trial was conducted with 27 heads of Hanwoo steers and these animals were divided into two groups of control(rice straw) and garlic stalk silage. Animals consuming rice straw were fed concentrates and rice straw for 22 months from the 5 months of age and animals consuming garlic stalk silage were fed concentrates, rice straw and garlic stalk silage for 22 months from the 5 months of age. Animals fed rice straw and garlic stalk silage were fed 1.34 and 1.47, 1.69 and 1.74, 1.65 and 1.66% concentrates to body weight for the growing period, fattening period and finishing period, respectively. Animals fed rice straw and garlic stalk silage as roughage sources were fed 1.37 and 1.38, 0.65 and 0.63, 0.43 and 0.43% roughages to body weight for the growing period, fattening period and finishing period, respectively. Also, animals fed garlic stalk silage were offered 0.22 and 0.33% garlic stalk silage to body weight for the fattening and finishing period, respectively. Animals fed rice straw and garlic stalk silage as a roughage sources did not differ in average daily gain during the whole feeding periods. Animals of control group consumed less concentrates and roughage than those fed garlic stalk silage during the whole feeding periods. However, feed efficiency was not significantly different between both treatments. Beef yield including backfat thickness, eye muscle area and carcass weight was slightly lower in the animals fed garlic stalk silage than in the animals fed rice straw even though there were no differences between both treatments. However, beef quality including beef color, fat color, texture, maturity and marbling score was slightly higher in the garlic stalk silage-fed animals than in the animals fed rice straw although there were not statistically different between both treatments. Animals consuming garlic stalk silage was significantly(p<0.05) lower in shear value than those fed rice straw. Amino acid composition including essential amino acid and non-essential amino acid was not different between animals fed rice straw and garlic stalk silage. Eye muscle area of animals fed garlic stalk silage contained slightly higher oleic acid, less linoleic acid and arachidonic acid and more linolenic acid than that of animals fed rice straw only as a roughage sources. So eye muscle area of animals fed garlic stalk silage contained more mono-unsaturated fatty acid than that of animals fed rice straw and $\omega$6/$\omega$3 ratio was narrower in the animals fed garlic stalk silage than in the animals fed rice straw. Economic income was higher by 20% in the animals fed garlic stalk silage than in the animals fed rice straw. Therefore, It may be concluded that feeding of garlic stalk silage as a roughage sources to steers during the fattening period seems to improve meat quality, fatty acid composition and economic income.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.621-627
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• 1999

Background: Sixty five cases with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (CCTGA) indicated for biventricular repair were operated on between 1984 and september 1998. Comparison between the results of the conventional(classic) connection(LV-PA) and the anatomic repair was done. Material and Method: Retrospective review was carried out based on the medical records of the patients. Operative procedures, complications and the long-term results accoding to the combining anomalies were analysed. Result: Mean age was 5.5$\pm$4.8 years(range, 2 months to 18years). Thirty nine were male and 26 were female. Situs solitus {S,L,L} was in 53 and situs inversus{I,D,D} in 12. There was no left ventricular outflow tract obstruction(LVOTO) in 13(20%) cases. The LVOTO was resulted from pulmonary stenosis(PS) in 26(40%)patients and from pulmonary atresia(PA) in 26(40%) patients. Twenty-five(38.5%) patients had tricuspid valve regurgitation(TR) greater than the mild degree that was present preoperatively. Twenty two patients previously underwent 24 systemic- pulmonary shunts previously. In the 13 patients without LVOTO, 7 simple closure of VSD or ASD, 3 tricuspid valve replacements(TVR), and 3 anatomic corrections(3 double switch operations: 1 Senning+ Rastelli, 1 Senning+REV-type, and 1 Senning+Arterial switch opera tion) were performed. As to the 26 patients with CCTGA+VSD or ASD+LVOTO(PS), 24 classic repairs and 2 double switch operations(1 Senning+Rastelli, 1 Mustard+REV-type) were done. In the 26 cases with CCTGA+VSD+LVOTO(PA), 19 classic repairs(18 Rastelli, 1 REV-type), and 7 double switch operations(7 Senning+Rastelli) were done. The degree of tricuspid regurgitation increased during the follow-up periods from 1.3$\pm$1.4 to 2.2$\pm$1.0 in the classic repair group(p<0.05), but not in the double switch group. Two patients had complete AV block preoperatively, and additional 7(10.8%) had newly developed complete AV block after the operation. Other complications were recurrent LVOTO(10), thromboembolism(4), persistent chest tube drainage over 2 weeks(4), chylothorax(3), bleeding(3), acute renal failure(2), and mediastinitis(2). Mean follow-up was 54$\pm$49 months(0-177 months). Thirteen patients died after the operation(operative mortality rate: 20.0%(13/65)), and there were 3 additional deaths during the follow up period(overall mortality: 24.6%(16/65)). The operative mortality in patients underwent anatomic repair was 33.3%(4/12). The actuarial survival rates at 1, 5, and 10 years were 75.0$\pm$5.6%, 75.0$\pm$5.6%, and 69.2$\pm$7.6%. Common causes of death were low cardiac output syndrome(8) and heart failure from TR(5). Conclusion: Although our study could not demonstrate the superiority of each classic or anatomic repair, we found that the anatomic repair has a merit of preventing the deterioration of tricuspid valve regurgitations. Meticulous selection of the patients and longer follow-up terms are mandatory to establish the selective advantages of both strategies.