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Proteomic Analysis to Identify Tightly-Bound Cell Wall Protein in Rice Calli

  • Cho, Won Kyong;Hyun, Tae Kyung;Kumar, Dhinesh;Rim, Yeonggil;Chen, Xiong Yan;Jo, Yeonhwa;Kim, Suwha;Lee, Keun Woo;Park, Zee-Yong;Lucas, William J.;Kim, Jae-Yean
    • Molecules and Cells
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    • v.38 no.8
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    • pp.685-696
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    • 2015
  • Rice is a model plant widely used for basic and applied research programs. Plant cell wall proteins play key roles in a broad range of biological processes. However, presently, knowledge on the rice cell wall proteome is rudimentary in nature. In the present study, the tightly-bound cell wall proteome of rice callus cultured cells using sequential extraction protocols was developed using mass spectrometry and bioinformatics methods, leading to the identification of 1568 candidate proteins. Based on bioinformatics analyses, 389 classical rice cell wall proteins, possessing a signal peptide, and 334 putative non-classical cell wall proteins, lacking a signal peptide, were identified. By combining previously established rice cell wall protein databases with current data for the classical rice cell wall proteins, a comprehensive rice cell wall proteome, comprised of 496 proteins, was constructed. A comparative analysis of the rice and Arabidopsis cell wall proteomes revealed a high level of homology, suggesting a predominant conservation between monocot and eudicot cell wall proteins. This study importantly increased information on cell wall proteins, which serves for future functional analyses of these identified rice cell wall proteins.

Effects of Oral Administering Kefir on Blood Glucose Levels in Diabetic Mice (Kefir의 투여가 당뇨병 마우스의 혈당치에 미치는 영향)

  • Lee, Jong-Ik;Song, Kwang-Young;Chon, Jung-Whan;Hyeon, Ji-Yeon;Kim, Hyun-Sook;Seo, Kun-Ho
    • The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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    • v.24 no.1
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    • pp.79-84
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    • 2011
  • This study was conducted to investigate the effect of oral administering kefir on blood glucose levels in diabetic mice. Kefir($10\;m\ell/kg$ body weight) was orally administered to diabetic mice twice daily for 45 days. Diabetic mice fed saline or 10% skim milk were used as a control. No significant difference in feed intake and weight gain were observed among the treatments. Compared to the saline-fed or skim milk-fed group, blood glucose in the kefir-fed group decreased significantly at 45 days(p<0.05). At 45 days, serum triglyceride and non-esterified fatty acid concentrations in diabetic mice fed kefir decreased significantly compared to those of the saline and skim milk groups(p<0.05). Both high density lipoprotein and low density lipoprotein concentrations were not significantly different among the three treatment groups. In conclusion, the symptoms of diabetic mice improved when kefir was fed for >45 days.

Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance of Enterococus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium Isolated from Beef, Pork, Chicken and Sashimi (시판 축산물 및 수산물에서 Enterococcus faecalis와 Enterococcus faecium 분포 및 항생제 감수성에 관한 연구)

  • Sung, Chang-Hyun;Chon, Jung-Whan;Kwak, Hyo-Sun;Kim, Hyunsook;Seo, Kun-Ho
    • Food Science of Animal Resources
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    • v.33 no.1
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    • pp.133-138
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    • 2013
  • In this study, a total of 256 samples of retail raw meats (beef, pork and chicken) and sashimi were investigated for the presence of Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium. We isolated a total of 117 E. faecalis and E. faecium from the samples, with contamination rates ranging from 18.8% for sashimi samples to 68.8% of chicken samples. E. faecalis was the predominant species recovered from all of the retail raw meats beef (42.2%), pork (42.2%), chicken (65.6%) and sashimi (12.5%). Among 117 isolates, 61 isolates (52.1%) were resistant to tetracycline, 32 isolates (27.4%) were resistant to erythromycin, 23 isolates (19.7%) were resistant to chloramphenicol, 16 isolates (13.7%) were resistant to ripampin, 10 isolates (8.5%) were resistant to gentamycin, 9 isolates (7.7%) were resistant to ciprofloxacin and 1 isolate (0.9%) was resistant to ampicillin and penicillin G. No resistance to amoxicillin + clavulanic acid and vancomycin was observed. Although no strain was resistant to vancomycin, the vanB gene was observed in 9 of 117 of Enterococcus (7.7%) demonstrating potential risk of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE). Our results indicate that E. faecalis and E. faecium were highly prevalent in retail raw meats, but most strains were sensitive to tested antibiotics.

A Study of "Missed Encounter" between American Culture and Latin Culture and the Border Theory (미국문화와 라틴문화의 '어긋난 조우'와 탈경계성 연구: 테오도르 루스벨트와 호세 마르티, 그리고 1898년 미서 전쟁을 중심으로)

  • Shin, Myoung Ash
    • Cross-Cultural Studies
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    • v.25
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    • pp.55-85
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    • 2011
  • Many States such as Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, California, New Mexico, Florida were obtained either from Spanish Empire or from Mexico. In 1848 due to the Guadalupe-Hidalgo treaty America could obtain half of the original territory of Mexico. American identity cannot be understood without the history of American expansionism further consolidated by the Spanish-American War in 1898, which brought other ex-Spanish colonies such as Guam, Puerto Rico, the Philippines to the US. The US's interest in these territories dates back to the Monroe doctrine in 1823 when Monroe "declared the Americas off-limits to any new European colonization." America justifies their expansion based on the notion of Manifest Destiny which was created by O'Sullivan at the hight of American fever to annex Texas to US. The intent of this paper is to study how Anglo-Saxon and Latin Culture clashed against each other especially right before and after the Spanish-American War. In this study the American hero, Theodore Roosevelt and Latin American hero, $Jos{\acute{e}}$ Martí will be compared, though they did not meet each other during the Spanish-American war due to Marti's early death in 1895 at the battle for the Cuba Libre. Their comparison is significant in that the former represents the American expansionist spirit and the latter the spirit of Anti-imperialism and Anti-Anglocentrism. Along with the concept of Manifest Destiny of America, 'American exceptionalism' is also mentioned which motivates U.S. to expand further even after the Spanish-American war in the form of 'informal imperialism' characterized by 'gunboat politics'of the US. These discussions will draw attention to how recent theorists such as Bryce Traister criticizes the Border Theory represented by $Jos{\acute{e}}$ David Saldívar. Here the Border Theory is criticized to repeat the discourse of the globalized capitalism which prefers the weak state and the transnational aspects by focusing on the in-betweenness of the border. In the end the paper will focus on how the Border theory as represented by Saldivar is political enough and sets up a resistant example against American expansionism of today in its focus on the call for pan-American and pluri-versal subjectivity of the borderlands. This point will be supported by a discussion of how Saldivar's view is confirmed by Walter Mignolo who advocates the "bottom up" resistance of the indigenous people of Chiapas and other social forums such as World Social Forum and the Social Forum of the Americas derived from the Zapatistas' movement whose motto is "A World in which many world co-exist."

Endothelial-specific deletion of Ets-1 attenuates Angiotensin II-induced cardiac fibrosis via suppression of endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition

  • Xu, Lian;Fu, Mengxia;Chen, Dongrui;Han, Weiqing;Ostrowski, Michael C.;Grossfeld, Paul;Gao, Pingjin;Ye, Maoqing
    • BMB Reports
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    • v.52 no.10
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    • pp.595-600
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    • 2019
  • Cardiac fibrosis is a common feature in chronic hypertension patients with advanced heart failure, and endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) is known to promote Angiotensin II (Ang II)-mediated cardiac fibrosis. Previous studies have suggested a potential role for the transcription factor, ETS-1, in Ang II-mediated cardiac remodeling, however the mechanism are not well defined. In this study, we found that mice with endothelial Ets-1 deletion showed reduced cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophy following Ang II infusion. The reduced cardiac fibrosis was accompanied by decreased expression of fibrotic matrix genes, reduced EndMT with decreased Snail, Slug, Twist, and ZEB1 expression, as well as reduced cardiac hypertrophy and expression of hypertrophy-associated genes was observed. In vitro studies using cultured H5V cells further confirmed that ETS-1 knockdown inhibited $TGF-{\beta}1$-induced EndMT. This study revealed that deletion of endothelial Ets-1 attenuated Ang II-induced cardiac fibrosis via inhibition of EndMT, indicating an important ETS-1 function in mediating EndMT. Inhibition of ETS-1 could be a potential therapeutic strategy for treatment of heart failure secondary to chronic hypertension.

Efficacy of ketamine in the treatment of migraines and other unspecified primary headache disorders compared to placebo and other interventions: a systematic review

  • Chah, Neysan;Jones, Mike;Milord, Steve;Al-Eryani, Kamal;Enciso, Reyes
    • Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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    • v.21 no.5
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    • pp.413-429
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    • 2021
  • Background: Migraine headaches are the second leading cause of disability worldwide and are responsible for significant morbidity, reduction in the quality of life, and loss of productivity on a global scale. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the efficacy of ketamine on migraines and other primary headache disorders compared to placebo and other active interventions, such as midazolam, metoclopramide/diphenhydramine, and prochlorperazine/diphenhydramine. Methods: An electronic search of databases published up to February 2021, including Medline via PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library, a hand search of the bibliographies of the included studies, as well as literature and systematic reviews found through the search was conducted to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating ketamine in the treatment of migraine/headache disorders compared to the placebo. The authors assessed the risk of bias according to the Cochrane Handbook guidelines. Results: The initial search strategy yielded 398 unduplicated references, which were independently assessed by three review authors. After evaluation, this number was reduced to five RCTs (two unclear risk of bias and three high risk of bias). The total number of patients in all the studies was 193. Due to the high risk of bias, small sample size, heterogeneity of the outcomes reported, and heterogeneity of the comparison groups, the quality of the evidence was very low. One RCT reported that intranasal ketamine was superior to intranasal midazolam in improving the aura attack severity, but not duration, while another reported that intranasal ketamine was not superior to metoclopramide and diphenhydramine in reducing the headache severity. In one trial, subcutaneous ketamine was superior to saline in migraine severity reduction; however, intravenous (I.V.) ketamine was inferior to I.V. prochlorperazine and diphenhydramine in another study. Conclusion: Further double-blind controlled studies are needed to assess the efficacy of ketamine in treating acute and chronic refractory migraines and other primary headaches using intranasal and subcutaneous routes. These studies should include a long-term follow-up and different ketamine dosages in diagnosed patients following international standards for diagnosing headache/migraine.

The Effects of Smartphone Use on Structured Social Network Types among Retired Older Adults in South Korea (스마트폰 이용이 은퇴 노인의 구조적 사회관계망에 미치는 영향)

  • Um, Sa Rang;Chio, Eun Young;Cho, Sung Eun;Chio, In Jung;Kim, Young Sun
    • 한국노년학
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    • v.38 no.3
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    • pp.481-499
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    • 2018
  • The purpose of this study is to examine the impacts of smartphone use on structured social network types in the Korean elderly population. Data was derived from the 2014 survey of living conditions and welfare needs of Korean older persons collected by Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. A total of 4,180 participants were selected for the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) analysis. Based on propensity score estimates, the 491 smartphone users (treatment group) and 491 featurephone users (control group) were matched. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between smartphone use and structural social network types. The results showed that among retired older adults, people using smartphone had significantly better structured social networks than those using featurephone even after controlling for covariates. Smartphone users had the higher levels of social contact and social activity. These findings suggested empirical evidence that using smartphone positively affects structured social networks, which might be used as the basis for designing intervention programs to promote social networks and social engagement of retired older adults.

Diversity in Surgical Decision Strategies for Adult Spine Deformity Treatment: The Effects of Neurosurgery or Orthopedic Training Background and Surgical Experience

  • Kang, Jiin;Hosogane, Naobumi;Ames, Christopher;Schwab, Frank;Hart, Robert;Burton, Douglas;Shaffrey, Christopher;Smith, Justin S.;Bess, Shay;Lafage, Virginie;Cho, Kyu-Jung;Ha, Yoon
    • Neurospine
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    • v.15 no.4
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    • pp.353-361
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    • 2018
  • Objective: This study is aimed to investigate whether surgical strategies for adult spinal deformity (ASD) treatment differed among Korean physicians. Methods: This study is retrospective questionnaire-based study. ASD is challenging to manage, with a broad range of clinical and radiological presentations. To investigate possible nationality- or ethnicity-related differences in the surgical strategies adopted for ASD treatment, the International Spine Study Group surveyed physicians' responses to 16 cases of ASD. We reviewed the answers to this survey from Korean physicians. Korean orthopedic surgeons (OS) and neurosurgeons (NS) received a questionnaire containing 16 cases and response forms via email. After reviewing the cases, physicians were asked to indicate whether they would treat each case with decompression or fusion. If fusion was chosen, physicians were also asked to indicate whether they would perform 3-column osteotomy. Retrospective chi-square analyses were performed to investigate whether the answers to each question differed according to training specialty or amount of surgical experience. Results: Twenty-nine physicians responded to our survey, of whom 12 were OS and 17 were NS. In addition, 18 (62.1%) had more than 10 years of experience in ASD correction and were assigned to the M10 group, while 11 (37.9%) had less than 10 years of experience and were assigned to the L10 group. We found that for all cases, the surgical strategies favored did not significantly differ between OS and NS or between the M10 and L10 groups. However, for both fusion surgery and 3-column osteotomy, opinions were divided regarding the necessity of the procedures in 4 of the 16 cases. Conclusion: The surgical strategies favored by physicians were similar for most cases regardless of their training specialty or experience. This suggests that these factors do not affect the surgical strategies selected for ASD treatment, with patient clinical and radiological characteristics having greater importance.

An Analysis of Intensity Attenuation Characteristics by Physics-based Strong Ground-Motion Simulation (물리적 지진모델링 기반 강지진동 모사를 통한 진도 감쇠 특성 분석)

  • Kim, Su-Kyong;Song, Seok Goo;Kyung, Jai Bok
    • Journal of the Korean earth science society
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    • v.40 no.1
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    • pp.56-67
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    • 2019
  • In this study, we analyzed the intensity attenuation for M 6.0, 6.5, and 7.0 earthquakes using the broadband strong ground motion simulation platform based on the physical seismic modeling developed by the US Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC). The location of the earthquake was assumed to be near the epicenter of the 2016 M 5.8 Gyeongju earthquake, but two of the representative US regional models provided by the SCEC strong ground motion simulation platform were used for the propagation model. One is the Central and Eastern United States (CEUS) model representing the intraplate region, and the other is the LA Basin model representing the interplate region. Five modeling methodologies are presented in the version 16.5 of the simulation platform, and Song and Exsim models were used in this study. In the analysis, we found that different intensity attenuation patterns can be observed with the same magnitude of earthquakes, especially depending on the region (CEUS vs LA Basin). Given the same magnitude and distance, the instrumental intensity in the CEUS region (intraplate) could be larger by a unit of 2 than that in the LA Basin region (interplate). Given the difference of intensity attenuation patterns observed in the study, it is important to know the regional intensity attenuation characteristics to understand the accurate level of seismic hazard imposed in the Korean Peninsula. This study also shows the level of the uncertainty of intensity attenuation if region specific attenuation characteristics are not considered.

A Study of Soil Moisture Retention Relation using Weather Radar Image Data

  • Choi, Jeongho;Han, Myoungsun;Lim, Sanghun;Kim, Donggu;Jang, Bong-joo
    • Journal of Multimedia Information System
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    • v.5 no.4
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    • pp.235-244
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    • 2018
  • Potential maximum soil moisture retention (S) is a dominant parameter in the Soil Conservation Service (SCS; now called the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)) runoff Curve Number (CN) method commonly used in hydrologic modeling for event-based flood forecasting (SCS, 1985). Physically, S represents the depth [L] soil could store water through infiltration. The depth of soil moisture retention will vary depending on infiltration from previous rainfall events; an adjustment is usually made using a factor for Antecedent Moisture Conditions (AMCs). Application of the method for continuous simulation of multiple storms has typically involved updating the AMC and S. However, these studies have focused on a time step where S is allowed to vary at daily or longer time scales. While useful for hydrologic events that span multiple days, this temporal resolution is too coarse for short-term applications such as flash flood events. In this study, an approach for deriving a time-variable potential maximum soil moisture retention curve (S-curve) at hourly time-scales is presented. The methodology is applied to the Napa River basin, California. Rainfall events from 2011 to 2012 are used for estimating the event-based S. As a result, we derive an S-curve which is classified into three sections depending on the recovery rate of S for soil moisture conditions ranging from 1) dry, 2) transitional from dry to wet, and 3) wet. The first section is described as gradually increasing recovering S (0.97 mm/hr or 23.28 mm/day), the second section is described as steeply recovering S (2.11 mm/hr or 50.64 mm/day) and the third section is described as gradually decreasing recovery (0.34 mm/hr or 8.16 mm/day). Using the S-curve, we can estimate the hourly change of soil moisture content according to the time duration after rainfall cessation, which is then used to estimate direct runoff for a continuous simulation for flood forecasting.