• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제53권3호
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• pp.355-359
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• 2015

Hydatid disease imposing serious threat on human health and great loss in live-stock pastoralism remains a major public health problem in western China. To assess and monitor the effect of control program on transmission dynamics, we used the prevalence of cystic echinococcosis in slaughtered sheep at slaughterhouse as an indicator during the period of 2007 to 2013 in Emin County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. The results showed a significant decline trend of prevalence in all age groups during the 7 years when the control program was implemented; particularly, the rate was reduced by 72% after first 3 years. Among the sheep slaughtered, the age distribution evidenced that the prevalence increased significantly as the sheep grew older. The baseline data indicated that the rate was 4.5% at the age <1, 6.7% at age 2~, and reached to the highest 17.9% at age ${\geq}4$ years. Earlier response to the intervention pressure was seen in the sheep at the younger age. Significant decline started from 2008 at the age <1, from 2009 at age of 1~, 2010 at 2~ to 3~, and the latest, in 2012 at age ${\geq}4$. This study demonstrated that the prevalence of cystic echinococcosis in slaughtered sheep may be used as an indicator to assess and monitor the transmission status during and after control program providing information for betterment of performance to sustain control strength.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제31권12호
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• pp.1716-1721
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• 2021

Chikungunya fever is an arboviral disease caused by the Chikungunya virus (CHIKV). The disease has similar clinical manifestations with other acute febrile illnesses which complicates differential diagnosis in low-resource settings. We aimed to develop a rapid test for CHIKV detection based on the nucleic acid lateral flow immunoassay technology. The system consists of a primer set that recognizes the E1 region of the CHIKV genome and test strips in an enclosed cassette which are used to detect amplicons labeled with FITC/biotin. Amplification of the viral genome was done using open-source PCR, a low-cost open-source thermal cycler. Assay performance was evaluated using a panel of RNA isolated from patients' blood with confirmed CHIKV (n = 8) and dengue virus (n = 20) infection. The open-source PCR-NALFIA platform had a limit of detection of 10 RNA copies/ml. The assay had a sensitivity and specificity of 100% (95% CI: 67.56% - 100%) and 100% (95% CI: 83.89% - 100%), respectively, compared to reference standards of any positive virus culture on C6/36 cell lines and/or qRT-PCR. Further evaluation of its performance using a larger sample size may provide important data to extend its usefulness, especially its utilization in the peripheral healthcare facilities with scarce resources and outbreak situations.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권16호
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• pp.6643-6647
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• 2014

The breast and the thyroid are hormone responsive organs that are closely related with changes of endocrine function and glandular disease. An association between thyroid disorders and breast cancer (BC) risk has been suggested, although the results are inconclusive. The purpose of the present study was to summarize evidence supporting a relationship between BC and the level of thyroid hormones and antibodies. The MEDLINE and EMBASE electronic databases were searched for studies published between 2000 and 2014. The pooled effects were presented as weighted mean differences (WMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) using fixed or random effect models. We summarized the results of 8 cross-sectional studies with 4, 189 participants. The overall pooled results showed that the levels of $FT_3$ and $FT_4$ were significantly increased in patients with BC (WMD=1.592 pmol/l; 95% CI: 0.15-3.033 and WMD=0.461 ng/dl; 95% CI: 0.015-0.906; p=0.043). The TPOAb level in patients with BC was higher than that in the control group (WMD=81.4 IU/ml; 95% CI: 78.7-84.0; p=0.000). The overall pooled results of the TgAb with random effects analyses showed that the TgAb level was significantly increased in patients with BC (WMD=101.3 IU/ml; 95% CI: 48.7-153.9; p=0.000). The present results indicated that the serum levels of $FT_3$, TPOAb and TgAb are significantly higher in patients with breast cancer than in healthy controls.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제51권5호
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• pp.557-562
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• 2013

In contrast to the gradual reduction in the number of locally transmitted malaria cases in China, the number of imported malaria cases has been increasing since 2008. Here, we report a case of a 39-year-old Chinese man who acquired Plasmodium ovale wallikeri infection while staying in Ghana, West Africa for 6 months in 2012. Microscopic examinations of Giemsa-stained thin and thick blood smears indicated Plasmodium vivax infection. However, the results of rapid diagnostic tests, which were conducted 3 times, were not in agreement with P. vivax. To further check the diagnosis, standard PCR analysis of the small-subunit rRNA gene was conducted, based on which a phylogeny tree was constructed. The results of gene sequencing indicated that this malaria is a variant of P. ovale (P. ovale wallikeri). The infection in this patient was not a new infection, but a relapse of the infection from the one that he had contracted in West Africa.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제48권1호
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• pp.9-13
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• 2010

Pentatrichomonas hominis is considered a commensal protozoan in the large intestine of a number of mammalian hosts, such as cats, dogs, and non-human primates. The resulting infections, which can induce diarrhea, have been attributed to opportunistic overgrowth of P. hominis. This study was performed to confirm the P. hominis infection and its molecular characterization from the feces of puppies with diarrhea. Fecal samples were obtained from 14 German shepherd puppies with diarrhea over 1 week (7 females and 7 males, 2-9 months of age) residing on a dog farm in August 2007. Species-specific PCR assay identified P. hominis 18S rRNA genes in 3 of the 14 puppies (1 female and 2 males; 1 aged 2 months and 2 aged 9 months). This phylogenetic analysis established that P. hominis belonged to the 1st clade, which is comprised of Bos taurus and Felines.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제49권4호
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• pp.419-422
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• 2011

Severe tick infestation was found in a hare in a suburban area of Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China. We sampled ticks and identified them based on their morphologic characteristics. Three species, Ixodes sinensis, which is commonly found in China and can experimentally transmit Borreliia burgdorferi, Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides, and Haemaphysalis longicornis which can transmit Lyme disease were detected with an optical microscope and a stereomicroscope. Risk of spreading ticks from suburban to urban areas exists due to human transportation and travel between the infested and non-infested areas around Nanchang.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• 제6권1호
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• pp.1-9
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• 2003

The silkworm, Bombyx mori, is prone to infection of various pathogenic organisms. Pebrine, one of the deadliest disease of silkworm caused by highly virulent parasitic microsporidian, Nosema bombycis has been understood since long. Infections of the disease range from chronic to highly virulent and can result in complete loss to the sericulture industry. Several strains and species of microsporidians have since been isolated from the infected silkworms; the disease is becoming increasingly more and more complex. Epizootiology, development of immunodiagnostic kit, use of chemotherapy and thermotherapy techniques has been addressed for identification and control of the disease. A technique of delayed mother moth examination, which plays a decisive role in the detection of the disease and harvestation of stable cocoon crop, has been described. An attempt has been made to review briefly the literature available on various aspects of the pebrine disease in order to develop efficient model(s) for the prevention and control of the disease and to suggest future avenues of investigation in the field of pebrine disease management.

• 식물병연구
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• 제25권4호
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• pp.173-178
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• 2019

2017년도에서 2018년도까지 오디 생산용 뽕나무에 발생하는 주요 병해충 발생양상을 조사하였다. 병은 균핵병 등 5종, 해충은 뽕나무이 등 4종이 수확 전에 피해를 주는 것으로 조사되었다. 본 연구에서는 가장 큰 문제를 일으키는 균핵병과 뽕나무이에 의한 피해를 예방하기 위해 약제 체계별 방제효과를 조사하였다. 균핵병과 뽕나무이를 동시에 방제하기 위한 체계처리 결과는 관행방제구의 방제효과가 66.7%이었던 반면 종합방제구는 89.3%로 방제효과가 우수하였다. 실험 결과를 바탕으로 균핵병 예방을 위해 2월부터 순차적으로 약제를 처리하면서 4월 중하순에 균핵병과 뽕나무이를 동시방제하는 것이 방제에 필요한 노동력도 경감하고 병해충 발생생태에 맞춘 방제방법으로 오디 생산 현장에서 활용도가 높을 것으로 생각된다.

• 농약과학회지
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• 제20권2호
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• pp.165-171
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• 2016

도라지와 더덕은 고소득 작물로서 주목받고 있다. 최근 소득을 위해 작물을 연작하는 경우 연작피해로서 뿌리썩음병의 발병이 급속도로 증가하고 있다. 뿌리썩음병은 근채류 식물의 뿌리를 가해하여 큰 경제적 타격을 입히므로 방제가 시급하나 명확한 방제법이 개발되어 있지 않다. 이에 본 연구는 화학약제 tebuconazole EC, trifloxystroim SC, 유기농자재인 자몽 종자 추출물을(GSE) 이용하여 뿌리썩음병 방제 실험을 진행한 결과 더덕에서 친환경제제가 좋은 효과를 보였으나 도라지와 더덕에서 약제의 특성에 따라 큰 차이를 보이지 않았다. 단 재배조건이 배수가 용이한 경우 발병도의 감소와 병방제의 효과가 증진됨을 확인 하였다. 이에 근채류의 뿌리썩음병의 예방 및 방제의 근복적인 대책으로 재배지의 배수가 중요한 원인으로 보여지는 바이다.

• BMB Reports
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• 제55권9호
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• pp.465-471
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• 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.