• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.23-32
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• 1990

To investigate the structure of the pine forest community and the conservation of pine forest in Mt. Sokri, twenty plots of 500$m^2$ size set up by the clumped sampling method. The classification by TWINSPAN and DCA ordination were applied to the study area in order to classify them into several groups based on environmental variables. The plant community was not classified into several groups by above methods in this study area. The successional trends of tree species by both techniques seem to be from Pinus densiflora through Quercus serrata, Fraxinus sieboldiana, Q. aliena, Sorbus alnifolia, Prunus sargentii to Carpinus laxiflora, C. cordata in the canopy layer. and from Rhus trichocarpa, Lindera obtusiloba through Styrax obassia, Acer pseudosieboldiana, Symplocos chinensis for. pilosa to L. erythrocarpa, Viburnum erosum in the understory layer. Pinus densiflora community shall be conserved by the disclimax method, i. e. the broadleaf vegetation in the underlayer of the pine community should be cleared out.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2013

In the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens ${\alpha}$-amylase (BAA), the loop (residues 176-185; region I) that is the part of the calcium-binding site (CaI, II) has two more amino acid residues than the ${\alpha}$-amylase from Bacillus licheniformis (BLA). Arg176 in this region makes an ionic interaction with Glu126 from region II (residues 118-130), but this interaction is lost in BLA owing to substitution of R176Q and E126V. The goal of the present work was to quantitatively estimate the effect of ionic interaction on the overall stability of the enzyme. To clarify the functional and structural significance of the corresponding salt bridge, Glu126 was deleted (${\Delta}$E126) and converted to Val (E126V), Asp (E126D), and Lys (E126K) by site-directed mutagenesis. Kinetic constants, thermodynamic parameters, and structural changes were examined for the wild-type and mutated forms using UV-visible, atomic absoption, and fluorescence emission spectroscopy. Wild-type exhibited higher $k_{cat}$ and $K_m$ but lower catalytic efficiency than the mutant enzymes. A decreased thermostability and an increased flexibility were also found in all of the mutant enzymes when compared with the wild-type. Additionally, the calcium content of the wild-type was more than ${\Delta}E126$. Thus, it may be suggested that ionic interaction could decrease the mobility of the discussed region, prevent the diffusion of cations, and improve the thermostability of the whole enzyme. Based on these observations, the contribution of loop destabilization may be compensated by the formation of a salt bridge that has been used as an evolutionary mechanism or structural adaptation by the mesophilic enzyme.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.181-188
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• 2021

Bacillus subtilis and Enterococcus faecium are commonly used probiotics. This study aimed to identify the effect of live combined Bacillus subtilis R0179 and Enterococcus faecium R0026 (LCBE) on obesity-associated hyperlipidemia and gut microbiota in C57BL/6 mice. Forty male C57BL/6 mice were divided into four groups: normal group (N group), model group (M group), low-dose group (L group), and high-dose group (H group). Mice were gavaged with LCBE at 0.023 g/mice/day (L group) or 0.23 g/mice/day (H group) and fed with a high-fat diet for 8 weeks. In vitro E. faecium R0026 showed an ability to lower the low-concentration of cholesterol by 46%, and the ability to lower the high-concentration of cholesterol by 58%. LCBE significantly reduced the body weight gain, Lee index, brown fat index and body mass index of mice on a high-fat diet. Moreover, LCBE markedly improved serum lipids (including serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein) while also significantly reducing liver total cholesterol. Serum lipopolysaccharide and total bile acid in L and H groups decreased significantly compared with M group. PCR-DGGE analysis showed that the composition of gut microbiota in the treatment groups was improved. Akkermansia muciniphila was found in H group. The PCA result indicated a similar gut microbiota structure between LCBE treatment groups and normal group while the number of bands and Shannon diversity index increased significantly in the LCBE treatment groups. Finally, qPCR showed Bifidobacterium spp. increased significantly in H group compared with M group, LCBE alleviated liver steatosis and improved brown adipose tissue index.

• Journal of Interdisciplinary Genomics
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.35-38
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• 2022

Background: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a complex genetic disease associated with growth impairment, severe obesity and metabolic dysfunctions. High proportion of PWS patients are born small for gestational age (SGA) than normal children, which also increase the risk of growth impairment and metabolic dysfunction in PWS. We aimed to compare growth outcome and metabolic profiles between SGA and appropriate for gestational age (AGA) PWS patients. Methods: Data of 55 PWS children and adults aged more than 2 years old (32 male and 23 female, age 2-18.8 years) from single center were studied. Only patients who were treated with GH were included. The clinical characteristics and laboratory findings were reviewed retrospectively. Results: Among 55 subjects, 39 had 15q11-13 deletion and 16 had uniparental disomy (UPD). Twenty (36.3%) were born SGA. All patients received GH treatment, and 11 (20%) discontinued GH treatment. Mean age at GH treatment initiation was 2.5 (range 0.3-12.4) years, and mean duration of treatment was 6.3 (range 1.0-11.3) years. Current height-SDS (-0.36 vs -0.16) and BMI-SDS (1.44 vs 1.33) did not differ between AGA and SGA group. Two patients in SGA group, but none in AGA group had diabetes mellitus. Mean glucose level was also higher in SGA group (100.1 vs 114.4 mg/dL). Conclusion: Our report gives an overview of growth profile and metabolic dysfunctions recorded in GH treated PWS patients. Growth profile did not differ between AGA and SGA group. Glucose level was higher in SGA group, so more careful monitoring and prevention for DM will be required in SGA group.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.632-643
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• 2022

Although probiotics have been shown to improve health when consumed, recent studies have reported that they can cause unwanted side effects due to bacterial-human interactions. Therefore, the importance of prebiotics that can form beneficial microbiome in the gut has been emphasized. This study isolated and identified bacteria capable of producing biopoymer as a candidate prebiotic from traditional fermented foods. The isolated and identified strain was named WCYSK01 (Wissella sp. strain YSK01). The composition of the medium for culturing this strain was prepared by dissolving 3 g K₂HPO₄, 0.2 g MgSO₄, 0.05 g CaCl₂, 0.1 g NaCl in 1 L of distilled water. The LMBP(low molecular weight biopoymers) produced when fermentation was performed with sucrose and maltose as substrates were mainly consisted of DP3 (degree of polymer; isomaltotriose), DP4 (isomaltotetraose), DP5 (isomaltopentaose), and DP6 (isomaltoheptaose). The optimization of LMBP (low molecular weight of biopolymer) production was performed using the response surface methodology. The fermentation process temperature range of 18 to 32℃, the fermentation medium pH in the range of 5.1 to 7.9. The yield of LMBP production by the strain was found to be significantly affected by q fermentation temperature and pH. The optimal fermentation conditions were found at the normal point, and the production yield was more than 75% at pH 7.5 and temperature of 23℃.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.239-247
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• 2021

BACKGROUND: Enormous amounts of the wood biomass wastes have been produced through various wood processing. This study characterizes the surface characteristics of biomass powders of Cornus controversa (CC) and Quercus mongolica (QM) and investigates their removal efficiency and mechanism for Pb (II) in aqueous solution on which to base potential recycling alternative of the wood biomass. METHODS AND RESULTS: Batch experiments were conducted under different conditions of Pb concentrations, temperatures, time and solid/solution ratios. Adsorption isotherm of Pb by CC and QM biomass was explained significantly by the Langmuir model, indicating Pb was likely adsorbed on the monolayer of the surfaces. The adsorption kinetics were fitted significantly to the double first-order model consisting of rapid and slow steps. The respective rate constants (k1) of CC and QM for the rapid adsorption kinetic steps were 0.051 and 0.177 min^-1, and most of the sorption reactions proceeded rapidly within 6-20 minutes. The maximum adsorption quantities (q_max) of Pb were 17.25 and 23.47 mg/g for CC and QM, respectively. Thermodynamic parameters revealed that adsorption of Pb on the biomass of CC and QM was a spontaneous endothermic reaction. CONCLUSION(S): Results demonstrate that biomass wastes of CC and QM can be used as Pb adsorbents judging from adsorption isotherm, kinetics, and thermodynamic parameters.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.63.1-63.14
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• 2022

Background: Chicken anemia virus (CAV) causes chicken infectious anemia, which results in immunosuppression; the virus has spread widely in chicken flocks in China. Objectives: The aim of this study was to understand recent CAV genetic evolution in chicken flocks in Guangxi Province, southern China. Methods: In total, 350 liver samples were collected from eight commercial broiler chicken farms in Guangxi Province in southern China from 2018 to 2020. CAV was detected by conventional PCR, and twenty CAV complete genomes were amplified and used for the phylogenetic analysis and recombination analysis. Results: The overall CAV-positive rate was 17.1%. The genetic analysis revealed that 84 CAVs were distributed in groups A, B, C (subgroups C1-C3) and D. In total, 30 of 47 Chinese CAV sequences from 2005-2020 belong to subgroup C3, including 15 CAVs from this study. There were some specific mutation sites among the intergenotypes in the VP1 protein. The amino acids at position 394Q in the VP1 protein of 20 CAV strains were consistent with the characteristics of a highly pathogenic strain. GX1904B was a putative recombinant. Conclusions: Subgroup C3 was the dominant genotype in Guangxi Province from 2018-2020. The 20 CAV strains in this study might be virulent according to the amino acid residue analysis. These data help improve our understanding of the epidemiological trends of CAV in southern China.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.48-69
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• 1987

To understand host ranges and host specificity of ectomycorrhizal fungi and fungus specificity of host tree species, higher fungi from pure forest stands of following twelve tree species were collected for six years from 1981 to 1986: Pinus densiflora, P. rigida, P. koraiensis, Picea koraiensis, Larix leptolepis, Abies holophylla, Populus $alba{\times}glandulosa$, Castanea crenata, Quercus aliena, Q. acutissima, Q. mongolica, and Betula platyphylla. A total of 196 ectomycorrhizal species with 8 varieties in 48 genera were identified. Thirty-one species with one variety belonged to Russula, 22 species with 5 varieties to Amanita, 18 species with one variety to Lactarius. Fungi belonging to above three gepera, Laccaria, and Cantharellus had a relatively wide host range. Laccaria laccata was collected under all the 12 tree species, Amanita vaginata group under 11 tree species, Laccaria amethystina and Russula foetens under 10 tree species, Lactarius gerardii and Russula sororia under 9 tree species, and Amanita agglutinata, Cantharellus cibarius, Russula bella, and R. virescens under 8 tree species. Above 10 fungal species may be classified to have a wide host range. Following fungi were collected under 4 to 5 tree species of both conifers and broad-leaved trees: Amanita citrina, Boletus bicolor, B. erythropus, Lactarius piperatus, L. subzonar­ius, and Russula pseudodelica. Above fungi may be classified to have an intermediate host range. Chroogomphus, Gomphidius, Rhizopogon, and Suillus were collected only under Pinaceae and may be classified to have a narrow host range. Particularly Suillus grevillei was collected only under Larix leptolepis, and appeared to have high host specificity. A total of 83 ectomycorrhizal species were collected under Abies holophylla, 66 species under Pinus densiflora, 50 species under Pinus rigida, 49 species under Pinus koraiensis, 46 species under Quercus aliena, and 23 fungal species under Larix leptolepis. Particularly, Larix leptolepis was associated with different fungal flora, with fewer species of Amanita, Lactarius and Russula, and more species of Laccaria. Most host tree species surveyerl in the present study appeared to have low fungus specificity for ectomycorrhizal formation.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.319-326
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• 2006

We present light curves of a short period binary system BL Eridani. The light curves were observed with VRI filters by a 50cm wide field robotic telescope at Siding Spring Observatory (SSO), equipped with a 2K CCD camera, which was developed by Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), and Yonsei University Observatory(YUO). The photometric observations were made on 6 nights by automatic operation mode and remote observation mode at SSO and KASI in Korea, respectively. We obtained new VRI CCD light curves and new 5 times of minima, and analyzed the light corves with the Wilson & Deviney (1971) binary 2005 version and derived the new photometric solutions. The mass ratio q=0.48 in this study shows different value with earlier investigators. According to the model analysis, it is considered that the BL Eri system is currently undergoing contact stage of the two binary components, rather than near-contact stage.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.23
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• pp.10513-10524
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• 2015

Background: Metastasis is a major reason for poor prognosis in patients with cancer, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A salient feature is the ability of cancer cells to colonize different organs. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in numerous cellular processes, including metastasis. Materials and Methods: In this study, the lncRNA expression profiles of two HCC cell lines, one with high potential for metastasis to the lung (HCCLM3) and the other to lymph nodes (HCCLYM-H2) were assessed using the Arraystar Human LncRNA Array v2.0, which contains 33,045 lncRNAs and 30,215 mRNAs. Coding-non-coding gene co-expression (CNC) networks were constructed and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed to identify lncRNAs with potential functions in organ-specific metastasis. Levels of two representative lncRNAs and one representative mRNA, RP5-1014O16.1, lincRNA-TSPAN8 and TSPAN8, were further detected in HCC cell lines with differing metastasis potential by qRT-PCR. Results: Using microarray data, we identified 1,482 lncRNAs and 1,629 mRNAs that were differentially expressed (${\geq}1.5$ fold-change) between the two HCC cell lines. The most upregulated lncRNAs in H2 were RP11-672F9.1, RP5-1014O16.1, and RP11-501G6.1, while the most downregulated ones were lincRNA-TSPAN8, lincRNA-CALCA, C14orf132, NCRNA00173, and CR613944. The most upregulated mRNAs in H2 were C15orf48, PSG2, and PSG8, while the most downregulated ones were CALCB, CD81, CD24, TSPAN8, and SOST. Among them, lincRNA-TSPAN8 and TSPAN8 were found highly expressed in high lung metastatic potential HCC cells, while lowly expressed in no or low lung metastatic potential HCC cells. RP5-1014O16.1 was highly expressed in high lymphatic metastatic potential HCC cell lines, while lowly expressed in no lymphatic metastatic potential HCC cell lines. Conclusions: We provide the first detailed description of lncRNA expression profiles related to organ-specific metastasis in HCC. We demonstrated that a large number of lncRNAs may play important roles in driving HCC cells to metastasize to different sites; these lncRNAs may provide novel molecular biomarkers and offer a new basis for combating metastasis in HCC cases.