• Childhood Kidney Diseases
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.125-132
• /
• 2003

Purpose : Lipoprotein(a) is a genetically determined risk factor for atherosclerotic vascular disease and is elevated in patients with renal disease. Especially the patients with nephrotic syndrome exhibit excessively high Lp(a) plasma concentrations. Also the patients with end-stage renal disease have elevated Lp(a) levels. But the mechanism underlying this elevation is unclear. Thus, in this study, by measuring the level of serum Lp(a) in common renal diseases in children, we hoped to see whether there would be a change in Lp(a) in renal diseases other than nephrotic syndrome. Then, we figured out its implications, and looked for the factors that affect the Lp(a) concentrations. Methods : A total of 75 patients(34 patients with hematuria of unknown etiology, 10 with hematuria and hypercalciuria, 8 with IgA nephropathy, 8 with poststreptococcal glomerulone phritis, 3 with $Henoch-Sch\"{o}nlein$ nephritis, 7 with urinary tract infection, and 5 with or- thostatic proteinuria) were studied. The control group included 20 patients without renal and liver disease. Serum Lp(a), total protein, and albumin levels, 24-hour urine protein and calcium excretions, creatinine clearance and the number of RBCs and WBCs in the urinary sediment were evaluated. Data analysis was peformed using the Student t-test and a P-value less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results : LP(a) was not correlated with 24-hour urine calcium and creatinine. Lp(a) level had a positive correlation with proteinuria and negative correlation with serum albumin and serum protein. Among the common renal diseases in children, Lp(a) was elevated only in orthostatic proteinuria (P<0.05). Conclusion : Lp(a) is correlated with proteinuria, serum protein, and serum albumin, but not with any kind of specific renal disease. Afterward, Lp(a) needs to be assessed in patients with orthostatic proteinuria and its possible role as a prognostic factor could be confirmed.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.80-88
• /
• 2013

Carrot (Daucus carota L. var. sativa) is one of the most extensively used vegetable crops in the world and a significant source of nutrient because of its high content of ${\beta}$-carotene, well known as the precursor of vitamin A carotenoid. However, seed-hairs generated and elongated from the epidermal cell of seeds inhibit absorption and germination by various factors such as carotol and so on. Accordingly, mechanical hair removal process is essential before commercialization of carrot seeds. Because of this process, producers will have additional losses such as time consuming, manpower, capital and so on. Furthermore, physical damage of seeds causes irregular germination rate. To overcome such cumbersome weaknesses, new breeding program for developing hairless-seed carrot cultivar has been needed and studies for molecular markers related to seed-hair characteristic is needed for a new breeding program. Therefore, in this study, cDNA libraries from seeds of short-hair seed phenotype CT-SMR 616 OP 659-1 line, hairy-seed phenotype CT-SMR 616 OP 677-14 line and short-hair seed phenotype CT-ATR 615 OP 666-13 line, hairy-seed phenotype CT-ATR 615 OP 671-9 were constructed, respectively. Furthermore, 1,248 ESTs in each line, total 4,992 ESTs were sequenced. As a result, 19 SNP sites and 14 SNP sites in each of 2 combinations were confirmed by analyzing these EST sequences from short-hair and hairy-seed lines. Then we designed SNP primer sets from EST sequences of SNP sites for high resolution melting (HRM) analysis. Designed HRM primers were analyzed using hairy seed phenotype CT-SMR 616 OP 1040 line and short-hair seed phenotype CT-SMR 616 OP 1024, 1025, 1026 lines. One set of HRM primers showed specific difference between the melting curves of hairy and short-hair seed phenotype lines. Based on this result, allele-specific (AS) PCR primers were designed for easier selection between hairy-seed carrot and hairless seed carrot. These results of HRM and AS-PCR are expected to be useful in breeding of hairless seed carrot cultivar as a molecular marker.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.183-189
• /
• 2012

In this study, the cellular protective effect and antioxidative property of peanut sprout root extracts were investigated. Cellular protective effects of peanut sprout root extracts on the rose-bengal sensitized photohemolysis of human erythrocytes were investigated. The ethyl acetate fraction of extracts exhibited a cellular protective effect in a concentration dependent manner. Particularly, the aglycone fraction of extracts showed prominent cellular protective effects in a concentration range (5~50 ${\mu}g/mL$). They are more effective than that of (+)-${\alpha}$-tocopherol, known as a lipid peroxidation chain blocker. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging activities ($OSC_{50}$) of peanut sprout root extracts on ROS generated in $Fe^{3+}$-EDTA/$H_2O_2$ system were investigated using the luminol-dependent chemiluminescence assay. The ethyl acetate fraction of extracts ($OSC_{50}$; 1.59 ${\mu}g/mL$) showed a similar ROS scavenging activity compare with that of L-ascorbic acid (1.50 ${\mu}g/mL$), known as a strong antioxidant. On the other hand, the order of free radical (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydraxyl, DPPH) scavenging activity ($FSC_{50}$) was (+)-${\alpha}$-tocopherol > 80% MeOH extract > aglycone fraction > ethyl acetate fraction. These results indicate that peanut sprout root extracts can function as an antioxidant in biological systems, particularly skin exposed to solar UV radiation by scavenging $^1O_2$ and other ROS, and to protect cellular membranes against ROS.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.154-162
• /
• 2016

The aim of this study was to develop a transgenic petunia with enhanced resistance to sulfur dioxide ($SO_2$) gas by stacking two genes, SOD2 and NDPK2, which are both known to confer resistance to abiotic stresses. The first-generation hybrids ($TF_1$) were obtained through reciprocal crosses between an SOD2-transgenic line SOD2-2-1-1-35($T_4$)[S($T_4$)] and an NDPK2-transgenic line NDPK2-7-1($T_2$)[N7-1($T_2$)]. Approximately 32.1-73.0% of the first-generation hybrids ($TF_1$) carried both SOD2 and NDPK2 genes. These hybrids showed 2.6 and 5.1 times less damage than hybrids carrying only SOD2 or NDPK2 genes, respectively, when they were treated with $SO_2$ gas at 30 ppm. This confirmed that the heterozygous hybrids were more resistant to $SO_2$ than the hybrids carrying either one of the resistance genes. Second-generation hybrids ($TF_2$) were obtained by selfing the $TF_1$ individuals. We confirmed the expression of the stacked genes in the $TF_2$ hybrids by phenotypic observation of their response to $SO_2$ gas at 30 ppm as well as using RT-qPCR and photosynthetic efficiency.

• Fire Science and Engineering
• /
• v.31 no.5
• /
• pp.53-62
• /
• 2017

Electric power which is the energy source of economy and industries requires long distance transportation due to regional difference between its production and consumption, and it is supplied through the multi-loop transmission and distribution system. Prior to its actual use, electric power flows through several transformations by voltage transformers in substations depending on the characteristics of each usage, and a transformer has the structure consisting of the main body, winding wire, insulating oil and bushings. A transformer fire that breaks out in substations entails the primary damage that interrupts the power supply to houses and commercial facilities and causes various safety accidents as well as the secondary economic losses. It is considered that causes of such fire include the leak of insulating oil resulting from the destruction of bottom part of bushings, and the chain reaction of fire due to insulating oil that reaches its ignition point within 1 second. The smoke detector and automatic fire extinguishing system are established in order to minimize fire damage, but a difficulty in securing golden time for extinguishing fire due to delay in the operation of detector and release of gas from the extinguishing system has become a problem. Accordingly, this study was carried out according to needs of active mechanism to prevent the spread of fire and block the leak of insulating oil, in accordance with the importance of securing golden time in extinguishing a fire in its early stage. A bushings fireproof structure was developed by applying the high temperature shape retention materials, which are expanded by flame, and mechanical flame cutoff devices. The bushings fireproof structure was installed on the transformer model produced by applying the actual standards of bushings and flange, and the full scale fire test was carried out. It was confirmed that the bushings fireproof structure operated at accurate position and height within 3 seconds from the flame initiation. It is considered that it could block the spread of flame effectively in the event of actual transformer fire.

• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
• /
• v.2
• /
• pp.115-121
• /
• 1984

Some investigations on chronic mastitis in dairy cattle in Taegu-Kyungpook Provinces from the beginning of October, 1984 till the end of August, 1985 were conducted with the particular regard to the causative agents and their drug susceptibility. Milk samples from 83 isolated cases of chronic mastitis cattle were investigated bacteriologically and the causative organisms recovered were examined for their antibiotic susceptibility by using disc diffusion susceptibility technique against the major antibiotics of current veterinary use. Major causative agents involved in chronic mastitis in Taegu-Kyungpook Provinces were in order of prevalence Staphylococcus spp. (48.2 %), Escherichia coli (18.1 %), Candida spp. (10.8 %) and Corynebacterium spp. (8.4 %), Streptococcus agalactiae (3.6 %), Bacillus cereus (3.6 %) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2.4 %) were found to be one of the minor agents. The majority of staphylococcal isolates and E. coli were highly resistant to the most antibiotics tested. The percentages of staphylococcal cultures resistant to penicillin, methicillin, lincomycin, novobiocin, ampicillin and tetracycline were 87.2 %, 78.7 %, 68.1 %, 61.7% and 57.4 %, respectively, while the majority of them were susceptible to gentamicin(78.7 %), cephalothin(76.6 %) and chloramphenicol (74.5%). E. coli isolates were found to be highly resistant to streptomycin, cephalothin, tetracycline and ampicillin while the majority of them were susceptible to colistin (83.3 %), gentamicin (77.8 %) and chloramphenicol (66.7 %). Corynebacterium spp. were susceptible to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, gentamicin, oleandomycin and tetracycline although they showed resistance to novobiocin and penicillin. Two cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa recovered from mastitis milk were highly resistant to the antibiotics employed in the present study.

• Laboratory Medicine Online
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.13-19
• /
• 2017

Background: We evaluated a sensitive and quantitative method utilizing fragment analysis of the fms-like tyrosine kinase 3-internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD), simultaneously measuring mutant allele burden and length, and verified the analytical performance. Methods: The number and allelic burden of FLT3-ITD mutations was determined by fragment analysis. Serial mixtures of mutant and wild-type plasmid DNA were used to calculate the limit of detection of fragment analysis, conventional PCR, and Sanger sequencing. Specificity was evaluated using DNA samples derived from 50 normal donors. Results of fragment analysis were compared to those of conventional PCR, using 481 AML specimens. Results: Defined mixtures were consistently and accurately identified by fragment analysis at a 5% relative concentration of mutant to wild-type, and at 10% and 20% ratios by conventional PCR and direct sequencing, respectively. No false positivity was identified. Among 481 AML specimens, 40.1% (193/481) had FLT3-ITD mutations. The mutant allele burden (1.7-94.1%; median, 28.2%) and repeated length of the mutation (14-153 bp; median, 49 bp) were variable. The concordance rate between fragment analysis and conventional PCR was 97.7% (470/481). Fragment analysis was more sensitive than conventional PCR and detected 11 additional cases: seven had mutations below 10%, three cases represented conventional PCR failure, and one case showed false negativity because of short ITD length (14 bp). Conclusions: The new fragment analysis method proved to be sensitive and reliable for the detection and monitoring of FLT3-ITD in patients with AML. This could be used to simultaneously assess ITD mutant allele burden and length.

• Journal of Korean Classical Literature and Education
• /
• no.35
• /
• pp.153-193
• /
• 2017

This study explores the creation and enjoyment of Kuwoonmong (九雲夢) using a reference system called the cultural imagination, which is related to the Yin-Yang (陰陽) and Wu Xing (五行). When Kim Manjung wrote Guwoonmong, he may have composed figures and events based on this imagination. In particular, when he designed the eight seonnyeo (팔선녀), he set the order such as Gap (甲), Eul (乙), Byeong (병), Jeong (丁), etc. and characterized them according to the celestial stem (天干). Thus it was easy to avoid overlapping of characters and to construct various stories and relationships between them. The table below shows the characters of Kuwoonmong corresponding to the celestial stem. In not only the individual person but also the narrative world, Kuwoonmon demonstrates Yin-Yang and Wu Xing's imagination. In this respect, Kuwoonmon can be considered a large symbol encompassing the abstract theory of Yin-Yang and Wu Xing. Of course, the writer, Kim, Manjung would not have tried to symbolize the principle intentionally. However, he was also present in the environment of the cultural imagination that has been formed over the years. The same is true for the contemporary recipients of Guwunmong. They would have had a pleasant experience applying the cultural imagination and strengthening their familiar world view and human view.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.29 no.11
• /
• pp.1218-1226
• /
• 2019

The white-spotted flower chafer Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis is a medicinally beneficial and important edible insect species. We previously performed an in silico analysis of the Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis transcriptome to identify putative antimicrobial peptides and then tested their antimicrobial and hemolytic activities. These peptides had potent antimicrobial activities against bacteria and yeast without inducing hemolysis. In the present study, the cationic antimicrobial peptide, protaetiamycine 2, was selected for further assessment of its anti-inflammatory properties in mouse macrophage Raw264.7 cells. Protaetiamycine 2 treatment of Raw264.7 cells suppressed LPS-induced nitric oxide production and reduced the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2, as determined by real-time PCR and western blotting. The expression of proinflammatory cytokines ($TNF-{\alpha}$, IL-6, and $IL-1{\beta}$) was also attenuated through the MAPKs and $NF-{\kappa}B$ signaling. We also confirmed that protaetiamycine 2 bound to bacterial cell membranes by a specific interaction with LPS. Collectively, these data obtained from LPS-induced Raw264.7 cells indicated that protaetiamycine 2 could have both antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.139-144
• /
• 2000

This study was conducted to obtain the basic information to increase the practical use of soil survey data through the subdividing of valley shapes with soil sequences due to different parent rocks, and to study the relationship between the valley shapes and parent rock. The various rocks such as sedimentary(gray shale and sand stone) and igneous rocks(granite, granite gneiss and andesite porphyry) which are the major parent rocks in Yeongnam area were investigated. The characteristics of valleys formed and the kinds of soils derived from different rocks were analysed by using aerial photographs and topographical maps scaled 1:5,000. The rill density in igneous rock area was as high as 40. But the rill bifurcation ratio of first order stream was higher in the sedimentary than the igneous rocks except granite area. The mean slope of valleys in igneous areas was about 8%, which was higher than that of the sedimentary areas. The variability of valley width in the complexly metamorphosed rock, such as granite gneiss, and andesite porphyry, was greater than in sedimentary and in granite rocks. Based on the variability of valley widths and valley slopes, it was possible to classify the valleys into two types. The "Uterus-shaped valleys" had wide variability of valley width and were located in the areas of granite gneiss and andesite porphry rocks. while the "Roots-shaped valleys" had narrow variability of valley width and were located in the sedimentary areas. "Uterus-shaped valleys" were typified by having land forms of mountain foot slopes and alluvial fans, and the soil drainage sequences also had complexities. So that, we concluded that the variability of valley width and valley slopes was associated with kinds of parent rocks and metamorphism which influences soil sequence and characteristics.