• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.21 no.9
• /
• pp.742-749
• /
• 2021

This study aimed to comparatively analyze changes in skin conditions according to the frequency of sheet mask use among women in their 60s. An experiment was performed for 5 weeks from May 1 to June 3, 2020. A total of 70 women in their 60s, who understood the purposes of this study and agreed to the experiment were selected. All empirical analyses were conducted at a significance level of 5%, and the SPSS WIN 21 program was used to perform statistical analysis. Increased moisture content, decreased coarseness, changes in sebum levels, and decreased pigmentation, were significant effects of sheet mask use for 7days per week. As long as the sheet mask did not irritate the skin, had a positive effects on the skin the more often it was used. These results can help in enhancing the effectiveness of systematic measurement and improvement of skin type. To determine factors affecting skin conditions, it is necessary to investigate and compare factors such as effects of dietary or living habits, genetic influence, and living environments.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.226-234
• /
• 2021

Two species, P. pyrifolia and P. ussuriensis, of the genus Pyrus native to Korea, are valuable genetic resources that can be used for food, dietary supplement, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics. Bioactive compounds of the plant leaves are the main components that are used for the products. Farmers had cultivated a few individuals from the wild to produce fruits or leaves for traditional remedy or tea; however, bioactive components of their leaves are not tested. We selected some trees from the natural stand that have distinct traits for the improvement program. We investigated the bioassay on the extracts' bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity from the selected accessions and other accessions, including newly developed cultivars. The contents of the phenolic compounds and flavonoids from the leaf extracts of the selected accessions were higher than the commonly cultivated trees in both species but lower than 'Sanhyang' in P. ussuriensis. The antioxidant capacity was measured using two assay methods, DPPH and ABST. The selected cultivars also had higher inhibitory activity than common trees. The selected accession 'Cultivar 3' in P. pyrifolia had the highest radical scavenging activity than others. Although leaves of the accessions were used only in this study, all three selected individuals have the potential for cultivar in containing high bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity.

• Animal Bioscience
• /
• v.34 no.5
• /
• pp.922-930
• /
• 2021

Objective: Tibetan pigs, predominantly originating from the Tibetan Plateau, have been subjected to long-term natural selection in an extreme environment. To characterize the metabolic adaptations to hypoxic conditions, transcriptomic and proteomic expression patterns in the livers of Tibetan and Yorkshire pigs were compared. Methods: RNA and protein were extracted from liver tissue of Tibetan and Yorkshire pigs (n = 3, each). Differentially expressed genes and proteins were subjected to gene ontology and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes functional enrichment analyses. Results: In the RNA-Seq and isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation analyses, a total of 18,791 genes and 3,390 proteins were detected and compared. Of these, 273 and 257 differentially expressed genes and proteins were identified. Evidence from functional enrichment analysis showed that many genes were involved in metabolic processes. The combined transcriptomic and proteomic analyses revealed that small molecular biosynthesis, metabolic processes, and organic hydroxyl compound metabolic processes were the major processes operating differently in the two breeds. The important genes include retinol dehydrogenase 16, adenine phosphoribosyltransferase, prenylcysteine oxidase 1, sorbin and SH3 domain containing 2, ENSSSCG00000036224, perilipin 2, ladinin 1, kynurenine aminotransferase 1, and dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase 1. Conclusion: The findings of this study provide novel insight into the high-altitude metabolic adaptation of Tibetan pigs.

• Animal Bioscience
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.985-992
• /
• 2021

Objective: Artificial insemination plays an important role in genetic improvement in the goat farming system. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of cervical application of hyaluronan (HA) on the fertility in goats after cervical artificial insemination using frozen-thawed (F-T) semen. Methods: After oestrous synchronisation with progesterone sponges and pregnant mare serum gonadotropin injection, both nulli- and multi-parous goats, were randomly allocated to 2 groups, and were inseminated with 0.25 mL of F-T semen (150×106 spermatozoa) twice at 52 h and 56 h after sponge removal. Prior to the insemination, goats in Group 1 only were given topical cervical HA application at 48 h after sponge removal. Site of insemination was recorded as os-cervix or intra-cervix or intra-uterus. Pregnancy was tested ultrasonographically 42 days after insemination. The data on pregnancy rates and percentage of animals according to the site of semen deposition were compared by Chi-square analysis. Results: The overall pregnancy rate was significantly (p<0.004) higher in goats with prior application to the cervix with HA (63.3%) than without (36.0%). Same pattern was observed in the pregnancy rates of nulli- and multi-parous goats in both the groups. Percentage of nulliparous goats according to the site of insemination in the HA group did not differ between first and the second insemination. However, in multiparous goats the percentage of animals inseminated intra-cervically was significantly increased (p≤0.05) between the first and the second inseminations. Conclusion: The results suggest that significantly higher fertility rate in the "HA goats" compared to the "without HA" group was because of deeper insemination facilitated by topical cervical application of HA. The deeper insemination into the cervical canal increase the rate of fertilisation when the cervical artificial insemination is performed.

• Entomological Research
• /
• v.48 no.6
• /
• pp.533-539
• /
• 2018

The RNA interference (RNAi) has been considered as an important genetic tool and applied to develop a new living modified (LM) crop trait which is an improvement of nutrient quality or pest management. The RNAi of DvSnf7 has been used for resistance to LM maize and the Western Corn Rootworm which is a major agricultural pest for the US Corn Belt. Most of the environmental risk assessments (ERA) of double strand RNA (dsRNA) have been performed using in vitro transcript products, and not in vivo expressed product. A large amount of dsRNA was required for the acute toxicity assay of water fleas. Therefore development of massive dsRNA purification techniques is critical. Daphnia, a freshwater microcrustacean, is a model organism for studying cellular and molecular mechanism involved in life history traits and ecotoxicology. In this study, we established the massive dsRNA purification method using Escherichia coli and implemented acute toxicity assays to Daphnia magna. As a result, the present RNase A and DNase I, dsRNA was efficiently purified without any special techniques or equipment. Even though purified dsRNA existed during the acute toxicity test, lethality or abnormal behavior were not observed in D. magna. These results indicated that GFP and DvSnf7 dsRNA were not significantly affected to D. magna due to their lack of sequence matching in its genome. The purification method of dsRNA and the acute toxicity assay of water fleas using purified dsRNA would be suitable for the toxicological studies of LMOs to aquatic non-target organisms.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.62 no.7
• /
• pp.274-280
• /
• 2019

Purpose: To analyze the growth response to growth hormone (GH) therapy in prepubertal patients with Noonan syndrome (NS) harboring different genetic mutations. Methods: Twenty-three patients with prepubertal NS treated at Pusan National University Children's Hospital between March 2009 and July 2017 were enrolled. According to the disease-causing genes identified, the patients with NS were divided into 4 groups. Three groups were positive for mutations of the PTPN11, RAF1, and SOS1 genes. The five genes undetected (FGU) group was negative for PTPN11, RAF1, SOS1, KRAS, and BRAF gene mutations. The influence of genotype was retrospectively analyzed by comparing the growth parameters after GH therapy. Results: The mean chronological age at the start of GH treatment was $5.85{\pm}2.67years$. At the beginning of the GH treatment, the height standard deviation score (SDS), growth velocity (GV), and lower levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF)-1 levels were not statistically different among the groups. All the 23 NS patients had significantly increased height SDS and serum IGF-1 level during the 3 years of treatment. GV was highest during the first year of treatment. During the 3 years of GH therapy, the PTPN11, RAF1, and SOS1 groups showed less improvement in height SDS, IGF-1 SDS, and GV, and less increase in bone age-to-chronological age ratio than the FGU group. Conclusion: The 3-year GH therapy in the 23 prepubertal patients with NS was effective in improving height SDS, GV, and serum IGF-1 levels. The FGU group showed a better response to recombinant human GH therapy than the PTPN11, RAF1, and SOS1 groups.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.32 no.8
• /
• pp.1084-1094
• /
• 2019

Objective: The aim of this study was to select the candidate genes affecting meat quality and preliminarily explore the related molecular mechanisms in the Mashen pig. Methods: The present study explored genetic factors affecting meat quality in the Mashen pig using RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). We sequenced the transcriptomes of 180-day-old Mashen and Large White pigs using longissimus dorsi to select differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Results: The results indicated that a total of 425 genes were differentially expressed between Mashen and Large White pigs. A gene ontology enrichment analysis revealed that DEGs were mainly enriched for biological processes associated with metabolism and muscle development, while a Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes analysis showed that DEGs mainly participated in signaling pathways associated with amino acid metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, and skeletal muscle differentiation. A MCODE analysis of the protein-protein interaction network indicated that the four identified subsets of genes were mainly associated with translational initiation, skeletal muscle differentiation, amino acid metabolism, and oxidative phosphorylation pathways. Conclusion: Based on the analysis results, we selected glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase 1, malate dehydrogenase 1, pyruvate dehydrogenase 1, pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4, and activator protein-1 as candidate genes affecting meat quality in pigs. A discussion of the related molecular mechanisms is provided to offer a theoretical basis for future studies on the improvement of meat quality in pigs.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.309-314
• /
• 2021

This study aimed to enhance seed productivity and secure genetic resources for Pinus densiflora for. multicaulis. We analyzed the characteristics of cone and seed generated by control pollination between Pinus densiflora (PD) and Pinus densiflora for. multicaulis (PDM). The highest number of cone scales (63.0) was obtained from the self-pollinated (sp) PDM clone B (PDM-sp-B), whereas the lowest number of cone scales (44.7) was obtained from two combinations designated as PDM-A×PD-075 and PDM-A×PD-0111. Both female parents of the hybrids were PDM-A. The highest seed production capacity (80.8) was obtained from the open-pollinated (op) PDM clone B (PDM-op-B). The seed potentials of PDM-B×PD-0111, PDM-op-A, and PDM-sp-B were 67.4, 66.5, and 63.1, respectively. The highest number of fertile scales (41.5) was obtained from PDM-op-B, and the lowest number of fertile scales (28.8) was obtained from PDM-A×PD-075. The total number of aborted ovules and 1st aborted ovules was not statistically significant in the mating design. The cross combination of PDM-B×PD-0111 had the highest number (34.8) of filled seeds and the lowest number of 2nd aborted ovules (5.2) and empty seeds (9). PDM-op-B had the highest number of developed seeds (47.6), although the number of empty seeds was the highest (41.2). Therefore, we conclude that the mating design of PDM-B×PD-0111 is useful for future breeding programs to improve seed yield of PDM. Our results showed that there was a strong correlation between the following two parameter pairs: number of scales and number of fertile scales, and the number of fertility scales and seeds potential (r=0.89 and r=0.84, respectively; both p<0.01).

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
• /
• v.22 no.10
• /
• pp.73-82
• /
• 2022

Early detection continues to be the mainstay of breast cancer control as well as the improvement of its treatment. Even so, the absence of cancer symptoms at the onset has early detection quite challenging. Therefore, various researchers continue to focus on cancer as a topic of health to try and make improvements from the perspectives of diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. This research's chief goal is development of a system with deep learning for classification of the breast cancer as non-malignant and malignant using mammogram images. The following two distinct approaches: the first one with the utilization of patches of the Region of Interest (ROI), and the second one with the utilization of the overall images is used. The proposed system is composed of the following two distinct stages: the pre-processing stage and the Convolution Neural Network (CNN) building stage. Of late, the use of meta-heuristic optimization algorithms has accomplished a lot of progress in resolving these problems. Teaching-Learning Based Optimization algorithm (TIBO) meta-heuristic was originally employed for resolving problems of continuous optimization. This work has offered the proposals of novel methods for training the Residual Network (ResNet) as well as the CNN based on the TLBO and the Genetic Algorithm (GA). The classification of breast cancer can be enhanced with direct application of the hybrid TLBO- GA. For this hybrid algorithm, the TLBO, i.e., a core component, will combine the following three distinct operators of the GA: coding, crossover, and mutation. In the TLBO, there is a representation of the optimization solutions as students. On the other hand, the hybrid TLBO-GA will have further division of the students as follows: the top students, the ordinary students, and the poor students. The experiments demonstrated that the proposed hybrid TLBO-GA is more effective than TLBO and GA.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.50.1-50.12
• /
• 2022

Background: There is an urgent need to find reliable and rapid bovine tuberculosis (bTB) diagnostics in response to the rising prevalence of bTB worldwide. Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) recognizes components of bTB and initiates antigen-presenting cells to mediate humoral immunity. Evaluating the affinity of antigens with TLR2 can form the basis of a new method for the diagnosis of bTB based on humoral immunity. Objectives: To develop a reliable and rapid strategy to improve diagnostic tools for bTB. Methods: In this study, we expressed and purified the sixteen bTB-specific recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli. The two antigenic proteins, MPT70 and MPT83, which were most valuable for serological diagnosis of bTB were screened. Molecular docking technology was used to analyze the affinity of MPT70, MPT83, dominant epitope peptide of MPT70 (M1), and dominant epitope peptide MPT83 (M2) with TLR2, combined with the detection results of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to evaluate the molecular docking effect. Results: The results showed that interaction surface Cα-atom root mean square deviation of proteins (M1, M2, MPT70, MPT83)-TLR2 protein are less than 2.5 A, showing a high affinity. It is verified by clinical serum samples that MPT70, MPT83, MPT70-MPT83 showed good diagnostic potential for the detection of anti-bTB IgG and M1, M2 can replace the whole protein as the detection antigen. Conclusions: Molecular docking to evaluate the affinity of bTB protein and TLR2 combined with ELISA provides new insights for the diagnosis of bTB.