• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• 제40권1호
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• pp.18-27
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• 2016

Background: It is not clear whether ginseng affects cyclosporine A (CsA)-induced desirable immunosuppressive action. In this study, we evaluated the immunological influence of combined treatment of ginseng with CsA. Methods: Using CD4+ T cells from mouse spleens stimulated with the T cell receptor (TCR) or allogeneic antigen-presenting cells (APCs), we examined the differentiation of naïve T cells into T helper 1 (Th1), Th2, Th17, and regulatory T cells (Tregs), and their cytokine production during treatment by Korean Red Ginseng extract (KRGE) and/or CsA. The influence of KRGE on the allogeneic T cell response was evaluated by mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR). We also evaluated whether signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) and STAT5 are implicated in this regulation. Results: Under TCR stimulation, KRGE treatment did not affect the population of CD4+interferon gamma ($IFN{\gamma}$)+ and CD4+interleukin (IL)-4+ cells and their cytokine production compared with CsA alone. Under the Th17-polarizing condition, KRGE significantly reduced the number of CD4+IL-17+ cells and CD4+/phosphorylated STAT3 (p-STAT3)+ cells, but increased the number of CD4+CD25+forkhead box P3 (Foxp3)+ cells and CD4+/p-STAT5+ cells compared with CsA alone. In allogeneic APCs-stimulated CD4+ T cells, KRGE significantly decreased total allogeneic T cell proliferation. Consistent with the effects of TCR stimulation, KRGE reduced the number of CD4+IL-17+ cells and increased the number of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ cells under the Th17-polarizing condition. Conclusion: KRGE has immunological benefits through the reciprocal regulation of Th17 and Treg cells during CsA-induced immunosuppression.

• Yonsei Medical Journal
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• 제59권9호
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• pp.1026-1033
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• 2018

Purpose: Consistent evidence indicates that cervical and breast cancer screening rates are low among socioeconomically deprived women. This study aimed to assess trends in cervical and breast cancer screening rates and to analyze socioeconomic inequalities among Korean women from 2005 to 2015. Materials and Methods: Data from the Korean National Cancer Screening Survey, an annual nationwide cross-sectional survey, were utilized. A total of 19910 women were finally included for analysis. Inequalities in education and household income status were estimated by slope index of inequality (SII) and relative index of inequality (RII), along with calculation of annual percent changes (APCs), to show trends in cancer screening rates. Results: Cervical and breast cancer screening rates increased from 54.8% in 2005 to 65.6% in 2015 and from 37.6% in 2005 to 61.2% in 2015, respectively. APCs in breast cancer screening rates were significant among women with higher levels of household income and education status. Inequalities by household income in cervical cancer screening uptake were observed with a pooled SII estimate of 10.6% (95% CI: 8.1 to 13.2) and RII of 1.4 (95% CI: 1.3 to 1.6). Income inequalities in breast cancer screening were shown to gradually increase over time with a pooled SII of 5.9% (95% CI: 2.9 to 9.0) and RII of 1.2 (95% CI: 0.9 to 1.3). Educational inequalities appeared to diminish over the study period for both cervical and breast cancer screening. Conclusion: Our study identified significant inequalities among socioeconomically deprived women in cervical and breast cancer screening in Korea. Especially, income-related inequalities were greater than education-related inequalities, and these were constant from 2005 to 2015 for both cervical and breast cancer screening.

• 한국전기전자재료학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국전기전자재료학회 2009년도 하계학술대회 논문집
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• pp.375-375
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• 2009

For many large-scale applications of high-temperature superconducting materials, large critical current density($J_c$) in high applied magnetic fields are required. A number of methods have been reported to introduce artificial pinning centers(APCs) in $YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-\delta}$(YBCO) films for enhancement of their $J_c$. We report measurements of critical current in $YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-\delta}$ films deposited by PLD on $SrTiO_3$ substrates decorated with Au nanoparticles. Au nanoparticles were synthesized on STO substrates with self assembled monolayer. Microstructural analysis of the obtained YBCO films was performed by using cross-section transmission electron microscopy(TEM). Phase and textural analysis was done using X-ray diffraction. The surface morphology and surface roughness(Ra) of the layers was measured by atomic force microscopy(AFM).

• BMB Reports
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• 제44권4호
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• pp.217-231
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• 2011

T cell exhaustion develops under conditions of antigen-persistence caused by infection with various chronic pathogens, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and myco-bacterium tuberculosis (TB), or by the development of cancer. T cell exhaustion is characterized by stepwise and progressive loss of T cell function, which is probably the main reason for the failed immunological control of chronic pathogens and cancers. Recent observations have detailed some of the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence the severity of T cell exhaustion. Duration and magnitude of antigenic activation of T cells might be associated with up-regulation of inhibitory receptors, which is a major intrinsic factor of T cell exhaustion. Extrinsic factors might include the production of suppressive cytokines, T cell priming by either non-professional antigenpresenting cells (APCs) or tolerogenic dendritic cells (DCs), and alteration of regulatory T (Treg) cells. Further investigation of the cellular and molecular processes behind the development of T cell exhaustion can reveal therapeutic targets and strategies for the treatment of chronic infections and cancers. Here, we report the properties and the mechanisms of T cell exhaustion in a chronic environment.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권3호
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• pp.1477-1479
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• 2014

The objective of this study was to investigate the recent incidence and mortality trends for breast cancer in Mexican females. Data between 2000 and 2010 from the Department of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Health, and International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) were analyzed. Age-standardized rates (ASRs) and annual percent changes (APCs) were calculated. The absolute incidence and mortality rates of breast cancer increased: 3,726 and 4,615 in 2000 to 8,545 and 4,966 in 2010, respectively. Incidence increased over time in all age groups tested, the 60-64 age group had the highest ASR (57.4 per 100,000 women in 2010), while the 20-44 age group had the lowest ASR (12.3 in 2010). The results show that incidence of breast cancer has increased in Mexico during last one decade, especially among older women, while the downturn observed in mortality mainly reflects improved survival as a result of earlier diagnosis and better cancer treatment.

• 한국초전도ㆍ저온공학회논문지
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• 제12권3호
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• pp.7-11
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• 2010

For many large-scale applications of high-temperature superconducting materials, large critical current density($J_c$) in high applied magnetic fields are required. A number of methods have been reported to introduce artificial pinning centers(APCs) in $YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-\delta}$(YBCO) films for enhancement of their $J_c$. In this work, we investigated electric characteristic of YBCO films on $SrTiO_3$ (100) substrates whose surfaces were modified by the introduction of Au nanoparticles (AuNPs). Au nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed on STO substrates with one of typical solution techniques, self assembled monolayer. After heating the STO substrates with Au nanoparticles, the size of Au nanoparticles was around 29~32 nm in height and 41~49 nm in diameter. XRD diffraction patterns taken on the YBCO film with Au nanoparticles show the c-axis orientation. The measured $T_c$ of YBCO /AuNPs films was around 89K and the $J_c$ was 0.75 MA/$cm^2$ at 65 K and 1 T.

• 한국포장학회지
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• 제29권3호
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• pp.211-221
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• 2023

This study was conducted as a basic study for the selection of tags suitable for logistics management in the palletized unit-load unit and the development of various technologies to activate the palletized unit-load shipment of agricultural products through local APCs. Three types of passive RFID tags of UHF 900 MHz and one type of active RFID tag of 2.4 GHz band designed and manufactured through this study were used to analyze the receiving strength according to the tag's attachment location and distance of the palletized unit-load of agricultural products. In the passive RFID tag, there was a large difference in receiving strength by the tag's attachment location and a large amount of data loss depending on the distance within 30 m, whereas, in the active RFID tag, it was superior to the passive tags in terms of both receiving strength and data loss. Therefore, active tags are desirable from the perspective of multiple identification of warehouses with large spaces in relation to the application of RFID tags for palletized unit-loads of agricultural products, but the development of low-power technologies such as software wakeup power management as well as hardware to minimize battery power consumption is necessary.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제14권4호
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• pp.207-218
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• 2014

Chronic virus infection leads to the functional impairment of dendritic cells (DCs) as well as T cells, limiting the clinical usefulness of DC-based therapeutic vaccine against chronic virus infection. Meanwhile, B cells have been known to maintain the ability to differentiate plasma cells producing antibodies even during chronic virus infection. Previously, ${\alpha}$-galactosylceramide (${\alpha}GC$) and cognate peptide-loaded B cells were comparable to DCs in priming peptide-specific $CD8^+$ T cells as antigen presenting cells (APCs). Here, we investigated whether B cells activated by ${\alpha}GC$ can improve virus-specific T cell immune responses instead of DCs during chronic virus infection. We found that comparable to B cells isolated from naïve mice, chronic B cells isolated from chronically infected mice with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) clone 13 (CL13) after ${\alpha}GC$-loading could activate CD1d-restricted invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells to produce effector cytokines and upregulate co-stimulatory molecules in both naïve and chronically infected mice. Similar to naïve B cells, chronic B cells efficiently primed LCMV glycoprotein (GP) 33-41-specific P14 $CD8^+$ T cells in vivo, thereby allowing the proliferation of functional $CD8^+$ T cells. Importantly, when ${\alpha}GC$ and cognate epitope-loaded chronic B cells were transferred into chronically infected mice, the mice showed a significant increase in the population of epitope-specific $CD8^+$ T cells and the accelerated control of viremia. Therefore, our studies demonstrate that reciprocal activation between ${\alpha}GC$-loaded chronic B cells and iNKT cells can strengthen virus-specific T cell immune responses, providing an effective regimen of autologous B cell-based therapeutic vaccine to treat chronic virus infection.

• 한국축산식품학회지
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• 제38권2호
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• pp.282-290
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• 2018

This research was to evaluate microbial contamination levels in meat samples at hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP)-implemented processing plants that produce beef, pork, and chicken. During a period of about a year, a total of 178 samples (76 from beef, 89 from pork, and 13 from chicken) were obtained from raw materials (21.3%) and final products (78.7%). All samples were determined for each 25 g homogenized one. Samples were analyzed to determine the total aerobic plate count (APC), coliform count (CC), and E. coli count (ECC). By month, APC levels were the highest in September and the lowest in February (p<0.001). In comparison among season, APC levels in meat samples were the highest in the summer and the lowest in winter (p<0.001). By month, the highest CC prevalence was found in August, followed by October and then July (p<0.001). By season, the highest CC was obtained in summer, followed by autumn and then spring (p<0.001). All samples were negative for ECC. There was a direct correlation between the product form and coliform presence (p<0.001). In addition, there was a positive correlation between the APC and CC (r=0.261). The APCs in analyzed samples ranged from below <$10^1CFU/g$ to <$10^7CFU/g$. In conclusion, the month and season had significant effects on microbial contamination levels at HACCP implemented processing plants. Interrelationships between (i) the product form and coliform, (ii) the APC and CC were revealed.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제13권3호
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• pp.174-180
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• 2005

Antigen presenting cells (APCs), dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages, playa critical role not only in the initiation of immune responses, but also in the induction of immune tolerance. In an effort to regulate immune responses through the modulation of APC function, we searched for and characterized APC function modulators from natural products. Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum SPM1204 (SPM1204) isolated from feces of healthy Korean in the age of 20s was used in this experiment. DCs and macrophages were cultured in the presence of supernatants of SPM 1204 and then examined for their activities for the presentation exogenous antigen in association with major histocompatibility complexes (MHC) and macrophage activation. SPM1204 increased class I MHC-restricted presentation of exogenous antigen (cross-presentation) in a DC cell line, DC2.4 cells. The RAW 264.7 cell line was used to test the nonspecific effect of immune reinforcement of SPM1204 as a source of biological regulating modulator for the macrophage activation, include nitric oxide (NO) production and cytokine production. Results showed that the production of NO, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-$\alpha$, interleukin 1 (IL-1)-$\beta$ and morphological changes in macrophages were largely affected by SPM1204 in a dose-dependent manner. Our results demonstrated that SPM1204 promote cross-presentation of dendritic cells as well as the induction of NO, TNF-$\alpha$ production, and activation of macrophage.