• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.153-157
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• 2004

Purpose : Ttransfusion transmitted virus(TTV) is a circular DNA and consists of diverse genotypes and variants. The pathogenecity of TTV is still unclear. Recently another circular single stranded DNA virus, distantly related to TTV was isolated from the sera of blood donors, designated as Transfusion transmitted virus like minivirus(TLMV). TTV and TLMV show greater sequence divergence from each other than between genotypes of TTV. We planned to know the prevalence of TLMV in children. Methods : TLMV DNA was detected by PCR primers from noncoding region of the genome in 88 children without hepatitis, aged 0~15 years. PCR products derived from 10 children were directly sequenced and phylogenetic analysis was undertaken. Results : TLMV DNA was detected in 49% of 88 children without hepatitis. The prevalence of TLMV varied with age : <1 y, 16%(4/25); 1~3 y, 62%(18/29); 4~6 y, 43%(7/16); 7~9 y. 16%(1/6); 10~15 y, 66%(8/12). Mixed infection with TTV was confirmed in 22% of 88 children. Pyhlogenetic analysis of 10 TLMV sequences showed much heterogeneity compared to sequences of GenBank. Conclusion : TLMV prevalence in children was 49% in Korean children. Our TLMV sequence did not cluster in any sequence of TLMV in the GenBank.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2014

pH of oriental medicine sludge was 5.3, which was similar to 5.2 of the main ingredient, corncob. Its sugar content, however, was 4.8 mg/g, which was 2.5 times higher than concorb's 1.9 mg/g. According to the addition content analysis of oriental medicine sludge by using blood agar plate, the experimental group showed much more robust growth than the control group. 10% of oriental medicine sludge was added to corncob and pine tree sawdust for test-tube culture. Then they were cultivated at $25^{\circ}C$ for 6 days after inoculating Flammulina velutipes liquid spawn. The control group and experimental group showed 2.2~3.4 and 5.8~6.4 cm hypae growths respectively. At the field test for 10% herbal medicine refuse, mushroom yield dropped by 5% compared to the control group. However, it had distinctively lower number of deformity and the 2nd grade products. An economic analysis was conducted based on the cultivation facility that produces 160,000 mushrooms per day. The analysis demonstrated that the facility can save 50,000,000 won in the starting year and 130,000,000 won in the following years from the unit cost of production excluding labour and operation cost.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.6.1-6.11
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• 2016

Background: Dietary supplementation of unsaturated fats in ruminants, if not stabilized, can instigate oxidative stress which can have negative impact on production performance and enhance the susceptibility to various diseases. The current study examined the effect of dietary 80 % canola oil and 20 % palm oil blend (CPOB) on serum fatty acids, antioxidant profile and biochemical indices in goats. Thirty Boer bucks (4-5 months old; initial BW, $20.34{\pm}0.77kg$) were randomly assigned to diets containing 0, 4 or 8 % CPOB and fed daily for a period of 90 days. Blood was sampled from the goats on 0, 30, 60 and 90 days of the trial and the serum was analyzed for fatty acids, cholesterol, glucose, total protein, antioxidants and lipid oxidation. Results: Neither diet nor sampling time influenced serum TBARS value, catalase, glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities, LDL cholesterol, VLDL cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose and total protein. Goats fed 4 and 8 % CPOB had higher (P < 0.05) total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol than the control goats on day 30, 60 and 90. The proportion of C15:0 decreased with increasing level of CPOB on day 30 and 60. Serum C18:1n-9 increased with increasing level of CPOB in diet on day 60. The proportion of C18:3n-3 and C22:5n-3 increased (P < 0.05), while the proportion of C18:2n-6 decreased (P < 0.05) with increase in the level of CPOB on day 60 and 90. Dietary CPOB did not affect serum total carotenoid and ${\delta}$-tocopherol but did increase (P < 0.05) ${\alpha}$ and ${\gamma}$-tocopherol. Conclusion: Dietary canola oil and palm oil blend could be supplemented in diets without instigating oxidative stress in goats.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.21-30
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• 2020

This study was conducted to evaluate effects of dietary protease (PR) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and intestinal morphology of weaned pigs. A total of 75 weaned pigs [7.06 ± 0.18 kg of average body weight (BW); 28 day old] were randomly allotted to 3 dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design (blocks = BW and sex): a diet based on corn and soybean meal to meet the requirement of crude protein (CP) as a positive control (PC; CP = 24.49%), a low protein diet as a negative control (NC; CP = 22.51%), and NC + 0.02% PR. The PR used in this study was a commercial product containing 75,000 protease units/g derived from Nocardiopsis prasina produced in Bacillus licheniformis. Pigs were fed the dietary treatments for 6 weeks and the diets containing 0.2% chromic oxide for the last week of this study. Blood, feces, ileal digesta, and ileum samples were collected from randomly selected two pigs in each pen on respective time points. Measurements were growth performance, apparent ileal digestibility (AID) and apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of dry matter (DM), CP, and energy, frequency of diarrhea, packed cell volume (PCV), and ileal morphology of weaned pigs. Pigs fed PC and PR had higher (p < 0.05) final BW, average daily gain (ADG), and gain to feed ratio (G:F) during overall experimental period than those fed NC. Pigs fed PC and PR had higher (p < 0.05) AID or ATTD of DM, CP, or energy than those fed NC. Moreover, pigs fed PR had higher ratio between villus height and crypt depth (p < 0.05) and number of goblet cells (p < 0.05) than those fed NC. Addition of PR decreased (p < 0.05) frequency of diarrhea for the first two weeks after weaning compared with PC and NC. In addition, pigs fed PR had lower (p < 0.05) PCV on d 14 after weaning than those fed PC and NC. In conclusion, addition of PR in nursery diets with a low protein level significantly improved growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and intestinal morphology of weaned pigs.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.1640-1647
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• 2010

Seaweeds have been recognized as a health food, having anti-obesity, anti-constipation and anticoagulation activities, and the use of seaweeds in the food, medicine, and cosmetic industries have recently significantly increased. In this study, methanol extracts were prepared from 35 different seaweeds (17 phaeophyta, 11 rhodophyta and 7 chlorophyta), and thrombin time (TT), prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) were determined in order to develop safe and novel anticoagulation agents from natural products. In TT experiments, Ecklonia cava, Ecklonia stolonifera, Eisenia bicyclis (Kjellman) Setchell, Ishige foliacea, I. okamurai, Sargassum confusum and S. yamade showed strong thrombin inhibition activity among the 35 different seaweeds. In PT experiments, the inhibitions of prothrombin were identified in the selected seaweeds from TT experiment, with the exception of S. yamade. In aPTT experiments, the seaweeds with blood coagulation inhibition factors were E. cava, E. stolonifera, E. bicyclis (Kjellman) Setchell, I. foliacea, I. okamurai, S. confusum and Hixikia fusiforme Okamura. Further anticoagulation assay with the selected 8 seaweeds suggested that S. confusum is most effective in antithrombosis, and E. stolonifera, E. bicyclis (Kjellman) Setchell, and I. foliacea have high potential as antithrombosis agents. Based on components-activity correlation analysis, flavonoids are considered as active anticoagulation components of seaweeds These results suggest that edible seaweeds, especially S. confusum, have potential as safe and novel anticoagulants, and S. yamade and H. fusiforme Okamura could be used as a thrombin-specific and coagulation factor-specific inhibitors.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.216-230
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• 2005

Although the field of study in immune enhancing compounds is relatively new, natural products from plants represent a rich and promising source of novel molecules with immunomodulating properties, Microglial cells, the main immune effector cells of the brain, usually display a ramified morphology and low expression levels of immunologically relevant antigens such as MHC class I and class II. Since any compound which participates in activation of phagocytic cells contributes to the production of potentially toxic factors, the search for convenient in vitro test-systems and study of mechanisms of action of these agents are of great interest. Human blood polymorphonuclear (PMN) cells and primary microglial cells isolated from Sprague-Dawley rats were used as cellular screening tests for study of phagocytosis-stimulating action of immunomodulating agents. Numbers of phagocytic activity were evaluated by the phagocyte ingestion of yeast cells and NO-synthase activity, nitrite production, and nitroblue tetrazolium test were determined after phagocyte stimulation. It was possible to demonstrate that indexes of phagocytic activity can be used as quantitative indicators for measurement immunomodulating activity. As a positive control, Zymosan A-induced phagocytosis in both PMN cells and primary microglial cells was used. $IFN-{\gamma}$ (0.1 -1 U/ml) stimulated phagocytosis in PMN cells 1.2 times after 2 - 3 h incubation, although at higher concentrations (10 - 100 U/ml) it strongly inhibited phagocytosis. In a similar way, at higher concentrations, $IFN-{\gamma}$ (100 - 500 U/ml) suppressed phagocytosis in zymosan-A stimulated microglial cells. When Polypodium leucotomus, cambricum and vulgare extracts were tested alone, increased levels of phagocytosis were observed in PMN. In addition, microglial cells showed both increased phagocytosis and MHC class-II antigen expressions. Surprisingly, when PMN and microglia were treated with a combination of Polypodium and $IFN-{\gamma}$, phagocytosis was not inhibited. We did not find changes in NO-synthase activity and nitrite production in both microglia and PMN cells activated by different immunomodulating agents. These results indicate that primary microglial cell cultures as well as human PMN cells can provide reproducible quantitative results in screening phagocytic activity of different immunoactive compounds. Furthermore, both inhibitory or activation mechanisms might be studied using these in vitro experimental approaches.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.97-104
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• 2006

Objective: To investigate whether polymorphism of Catechol-O-methyltransferase(COMT) gene is associated with the risk of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in Korean women. Methods: One hundred and thirty-six PCOS patients and eighty four controls were enrolled. Blood samples were collected from the patients diagnosed according to the 2003 revised criteria of the Rotterdam ESHRE/ASRM-sponsored PCOS consensus workshop group. Age matched women with regular menstruation from same geographic region were recruited as control subject. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of PCR products were done to determine all individuals' genotype. Results: In women with $COMT^{LL}$ genotype, there was decreased PCOS risk and this difference was statistically significant (OR 0.24, 95% CI 0.11~0.51). Conclusion: The results suggest that the $COMT^{LL}$ genetic polymorphism might be associated with PCOS risk in Korean women.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.8
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• pp.1148-1157
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• 2014

Rice bran (RB), a by-product obtained during polishing of un-milled rice, contains a large quantity of essential nutrients such as minerals, vitamins, fiber, amino acids, and antioxidants. In this study, the anti-obesity effects of stabilized RB addition as a food material in a diet-induced obese animal model were investigated. For the analysis, a total of 32 mice were randomly divided into four groups: normal diet group (ND, n=8), high-fat diet group (HFD, n=8), 20% RB added high fat diet group (HFRB20, n=8), and 40% RB added high fat diet group (HFRB40, n=8). The animals were sacrificed after 7 weeks. Body weight gain, various adipose tissue weights, blood glucose concentration, and serum leptin level of the HFRB40 group were found to be significantly lower than those of the HFD group. Moreover, antioxidant enzyme activity of the HFRB40 group was significantly higher than that of the HFD group. However, the HFRB20 group did not show significantly different values. The results of this study show that RB (40%) addition reduces body weight gain and improves obesity-related parameters. These results suggest RB could be considered as a functional additive material for the manufacture of anti-obesity products, and 40% RB addition would be the physiologically effective level.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.274-284
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this work is to describe the spectrometric analysis of gaseous cloud formation over reactor mixed uranium-and-plutonium (UP) fuel $(U_{0.8}Pu_{0.2})O_2$ samples heated to a temperature $>2,000^{\circ}C$, and thus forecast and evaluate radiation hazards threatening humans who cope with the consequences of any accident at a fission reactor loaded by UP mixed oxide $(U_{0.8}Pu_{0.2})O_2$, such as a mixture of 80% U and 20% Pu in weight. Materials and methods: The UP nuclear fuel samples were heated up to a temperature of over $2,000^{\circ}C$ in a suitable assembly (apparatus) at out-of-pile experiments' implementation, the experimental in-depth study of metabolism of active materials in living organisms by means of artificial irradiation of pigs by plutonium. Spectrometric measurements were carried out on the different exposed organs and tissues of pigs for the further estimation of human internal exposure by nuclear materials released from the core of a fission reactor fueled with UP mixed oxide. Results: The main results of the research described are the following: (1) following the research on the influence of mixed fuel fission products (radioactive isotopes being formed during reactor operation as a result of nuclear decay of elements included into the fuel composition) on living organisms, the authors determined the quantities of plutonium dioxide ($PuO_2$) that penetrated into blood and lay in the pulmonary region, liver, skeleton and other tissues; and (2) experiments confirmed that the output speed of plutonium out of the basic precipitation locations is very small. On the strength of the experimental evidence, the authors suggest that the biological output of plutonium can be disregarded in the process of evaluation of the internal irradiation doses.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.68 no.2
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• pp.87-92
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• 2010

Background: D-dimer testing is widely applied as a first step in the diagnostic work-up of pulmonary embolism (PE). Although this is the most sensitive assay for ruling out PE, the prognostic implications of D-dimer testing in patients with normotensive PE are not well known. The aim of this study was to determine if D-dimer testing on admission predicts major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in patients with normotensive PE. Methods: A total of 180 consecutive patients with normotensive PE admitted between January 2003 and June 2009 were included. The group was divided into quartiles on the basis of their D-dimer levels. We compared the frequency of MACE by quartile of D-dimer level and estimated sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values for MACE in the first and fourth quartile. Results: In the 37 (20.6%) patients with MACEs, the median D-dimer level (7.94[IQR:4.03~18.17]${\mu}g/mL$) was higher than in patients with a benign course (5.29[IQR:2.60~11.52]${\mu}g/mL$, p<0.01). The occurrence of MACEs was increased with increasing D-dimer level (p=0.017). In the first quartile (D-Dimer <$2.76{\mu}g/mL$) sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for predicting MACEs were, respectively, 91.9%, 29.4%, 25.2%, and 93.3%. Conclusion: Patients with D-dimer levels below $2.76{\mu}g/mL$ have a low risk of MACEs. Our study suggest that D-dimer level may be used to identify low risk patients with normotensive PE.