• BMB Reports
• /
• v.55 no.9
• /
• pp.465-471
• /
• 2022

Understanding and monitoring virus-mediated infections has gained importance since the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Studies of high-throughput omics-based immune profiling of COVID-19 patients can help manage the current pandemic and future virus-mediated pandemics. Although COVID-19 is being studied since past 2 years, detailed mechanisms of the initial induction of dynamic immune responses or the molecular mechanisms that characterize disease progression remains unclear. This study involved comprehensively collected biospecimens and longitudinal multi-omics data of 300 COVID-19 patients and 120 healthy controls, including whole genome sequencing (WGS), single-cell RNA sequencing combined with T cell receptor (TCR) and B cell receptor (BCR) sequencing (scRNA(+scTCR/BCR)-seq), bulk BCR and TCR sequencing (bulk TCR/BCR-seq), and cytokine profiling. Clinical data were also collected from hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and HLA typing, laboratory characteristics, and COVID-19 viral genome sequencing were performed during the initial diagnosis. The entire set of biospecimens and multi-omics data generated in this project can be accessed by researchers from the National Biobank of Korea with prior approval. This distribution of large-scale multi-omics data of COVID-19 patients can facilitate the understanding of biological crosstalk involved in COVID-19 infection and contribute to the development of potential methodologies for its diagnosis and treatment.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.14 no.7
• /
• pp.4157-4160
• /
• 2013

Objectives: Understanding the situation of cancer awareness which doctors give to patients might lead to prognostic prediction in cases of of colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: Subsets of 10,779 CRC patients were used to screen the risk factors from the Cancer Registry in Pudong New Area in cancer awareness, age, TNM stage, and gender. Survival of the patients was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method and assessed by Cox regression analysis. The views of cancer awareness in doctors and patients were surveyed by telephone or household. Results: After a median observation time of 1,616 days (ranging from 0 to 4,083 days) of 10,779 available patients, 2,596 of the 4,561 patients with cancer awareness survived, whereas 2,258 of the 5,469 patients without cancer awareness and 406 of the 749 patients without information on cancer awareness died of the disease. All-cause and cancer-specific survival were poorer for the patients without cancer awareness than those with (P < 0.001 for each, log-rank test). Cox multivariate regression analysis showed that cancer concealment cases had significantly lower cancer-specific survival (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.299; 95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.200-1.407)and all-cause survival (HR = 1.324; 95 % CI: 1.227-1.428). Furthermore, attitudes of cancer awareness between doctors and patients were significantly different (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Cancer concealment, not only late-stage tumor and age, is associated with a poor survival of CRC patients.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2000.10a
• /
• pp.58-59
• /
• 2000

• Research in Plant Disease
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.91-98
• /
• 2021

The current social demand for organic, sustainable, and eco-friendly approaches for farming, while ensuring the health and productivity of crops is increasing rapidly. Biocontrol agents are applied to crops to ensure biological control of plant pathogens. Research on the biological control of white root rot disease caused by a soil-borne pathogen, Rosellinia necatrix, is limited in pears compared to that in apple and avocado. This pathogenic fungus has an extensive host range, and symptoms of this disease include rotting of roots, yellowing and falling of leaves, wilting, and finally tree death. The severity of the disease caused by R. necatrix, makes it the most harmful fungal pathogen infecting the economical fruit tree species, such as pears, and is one of the main limiting factors in pear farming, with devastating effects on plant health and yield. In addition to agronomic and cultural practices, growers use chemical treatments to control the disease. However, rising public concern about environmental pollution and harmful effects of chemicals in humans and animals has facilitated the search for novel and environmentally friendly disease control methods. This review will briefly summarize the current status of biocontrol agents, ecofriendly methods, and possible approaches to control disease in pear orchards.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.54 no.2
• /
• pp.215-219
• /
• 2016

Clonorchis sinensis is currently the most important parasite affecting public health problems in the Republic of Korea. We investigated the prevalence of C. sinensis infection among residents living along 5 major rivers in Korea. A total of 42,562 individual stool samples were collected from 37 localities and examined using the formalin-ether sedimentation technique. Helminth eggs were detected in 4,052 (9.5%) residents and 3,586 (8.4%) were infected with C. sinensis. The egg positive rate of C. sinensis in Nakdong, Seomjin, Geum, Yeongsan, and Han River was 11.7%, 9.9%, 6.5%, 3.1%, and 1.0%, respectively. The overall prevalence of clonorchiasis by sex was 11.2% in males and 6.2% in females. The age-prevalence was the highest in the 50-59 years band. It has been reconfirmed that the endemicity of clonorchiasis is higher in southern areas of Korea, especially along Nakdong and Seomjin Rivers. A combination of continuous control programs with health education initiatives is urgently required in these highly endemic areas of clonorchiasis in Korea.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.170-177
• /
• 2010

Bacillus licheniformis N1, previously developed as a biofungicide formulation N1E to control gray mold disease of plants, was investigated to study the bacterial traits that may be involved in its biological control activity. Two N1E based formulations, bacterial cell based formulation PN1E and culture supernatant based formulation SN1E, were evaluated for disease control activity against gray mold disease of tomato and strawberry plants. Neither PN1E nor SN1E was as effective as the original formulation N1E. Fractionation of antifungal compounds from the bacterial culture supernatant of B. licheniformis N1 indicated that two different cyclic lipopeptides were responsible for the antimicrobial activity of the N1 strain. These two purified compounds were identified as iturin A and surfactin by HPLC and LCMS. The purified lipopeptides were evaluated for plant disease control activity against seven plant diseases. Crude extracts and purified compounds applied at 500 ${\mu}g/ml$ concentration controlled tomato gray mold, tomato late blight and pepper anthracnose effectively with over 70% disease control value. While iturin showed broad spectrum activity against all tested plant diseases, the control activity by surfactin was limited to tomato gray mold, tomato late blight, and pepper anthracnose. Although antifungal compounds from B. licheniformis N1 exhibited disease control activity, our results suggested that bacterial cells present in the N1E formulation also contribute to the disease control activity together with the antifungal compounds.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.24 no.5
• /
• pp.704-713
• /
• 2014

The highly pathogenic avian influenza A (HPAI) viruses of the H5N1 subtype infect poultry and have also been spreading to humans. Although new antiviral drugs and vaccinations can be effective, rapid detection would be more efficient to control the outbreak of infections. In this study, a phage-display library was applied to select antibody fragments for HPAI strain A/Hubei/1/2010. As a result, three clones were selected and sequenced. A hemagglutinin inhibition assay of the three scFvs revealed that none exhibited hemagglutination inhibition activity towards the H5N1 virus, yet they showed a higher binding affinity for several HPAI H5N1 strains compared with other influenza viruses. An ELISA confirmed that the HA protein was the target of the scFvs, and the results of a protein structure simulation showed that all the selected scFvs bound to the HA2 subunit of the HA protein. In conclusion, the three selected scFVs could be useful for developing a specific detection tool for the surveillance of HPAI epidemic strains.

• Journal of fish pathology
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.91-95
• /
• 2020

Fish bacterial diseases have spread and caused serious problem for cultured marine fish in Korea. The important bacterial disease affecting mariculture such as olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) are caused by Edwardsiella tarda, Vibrio scophthalmi and Streptococcus parauberis. For the bacterial disease protection in aquaculture industry, the water treatment is needed in aquaculture system. During the last decades atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasma in contact with liquids have received a lot of attention of environmental and medical application. In this study, we determined the disinfectant effect in seawater and three major fish bacterial disease pathogens by using low frequency plasma treatment. Three fish bacteria (E. tarda, V. schophthalmi, S. parauberis) were not detected within 16 min, 150 min and 270 min of 20 L, 500 L and 1 ton seawater post low frequency plasma treatment, respectively. Three major fish bacterial disease pathogens were not detected within 2 min after the low frequency plasma treatment, suggesting that the low frequency plasma possess disinfectant effectiveness.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.9 no.3
• /
• pp.313-318
• /
• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Dietary pattern and its association with cardio-cerebrovascular disease have not been studied in Baoji city by now. This study was aimed to identify the dietary patterns among Chinese adults in Baoji, and explore the association between these dietary patterns and cardio-cerebrovascular disease. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A total of 4,968 participants were included in this study at 12 counties. With multistage stratified random sampling and semi quantitative food frequency questionnaire, the prevalence of cardio-cerebrovascular disease and dietary intake were investigated in 2013. We used factor analysis to establish dietary patterns. RESULTS: A total of 4,968 participants over 15 years old were included in this study. Five dietary patterns were identified in Baoji: protein, balanced, beans, prudent, and traditional patterns. The protein dietary pattern mainly included animal and plant proteins and was negatively associated with hypertension as well as stroke. The balanced pattern included carbohydrates, protein, and fat and was negatively associated with hypertension as well as stroke. The beans pattern was mainly beans and beans products and was negatively associated with hypertension. The prudent pattern only included staple foods and pickled vegetables and was positively associated with hypertension as well as coronary heart disease. The traditional pattern was representative of local Baoji traditional recipes and was positively associated with hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: The protein, balanced, and beans dietary patterns showed many protective effects on cardio-cerebrovascular disease. Based on these results, Baoji city residents should be encouraged to choose protein, balanced, and beans dietary patterns and abandon prudent and traditional patterns to prevent incidence of hypertension, coronary heart disease, and stroke.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.45 no.6
• /
• pp.666-674
• /
• 2012

We examined the cause of a disease outbreak in adult olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus, which occurred at a Korean aquaculture farm in Korea in 2011. The principal signs included an expanded abdomen and congested liver, with persistent mortality (a little over two months). At the beginning of the outbreak, farm administrators misjudged the disease as bacterial in origin, because of the aforementioned signs, persistent mortality, and the detection of bacterial species, including Vibrio spp. and Streptococcus spp. Moreover, the detection of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) by reverse trasnscription-PCR analysis was complicated by use of the VHS-VN primer set, which has been in general use recently, because it produced weak bands in some samples. Therefore, we recommend the use of at least two different primer sets in the diagnosis of VHSV. Our histopathological findings indicate that necrotizing myocarditis could be considered a pathogenic sign of VHSV infection.