• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.671-678
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• 2023

Objective: Previous studies isolated the thermophilic ammonium-tolerant (TAT) bacterium Bacillus sp. TAT105 that grew in composting swine manure with the assimilation of ammonium nitrogen and reduced ammonia emissions during composting. Those studies also investigated the potential for applications of TAT105 to composting. It was observed that the concentration of TAT bacteria, phylogenetically close to TAT105, increased during composting. The objectives of this study were to identify the phylogenetic placement of these TAT bacteria and investigate their distribution in various composts. Methods: The phylogenetic placement of TAT105 was examined based on the sequence of 16S ribosomal RNA gene. The genomic DNA homology between TAT105 and the type strains of bacterial species that were phylogenetically close to TAT105 were examined by DNA-DNA hybridization. Moreover, the tolerances of these strains to NH₄Cl and NaCl were analyzed using a cultivation method. Concentrations of TAT bacteria in various composts were evaluated using an agar medium specific to TAT bacteria and polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Results: TAT105 was most closely related to Bacillus thermolactis and Bacillus kokeshiiformis. Many variants of these species have been detected in various environments, including composts. The type strains of these species displayed TAT characteristics that were similar to those of TAT105. Among the composts examined in this study, TAT bacteria were detected at high concentrations (10⁵ to 10⁹ colony forming units per gram of dry matter) in most of the composts made from cattle manure, swine manure, bark, and excess sludge. Conclusion: TAT bacteria comprised B. thermolactis, B. kokeshiiformis, and their phylogenetically close relatives. They were considered to be adaptable to composting of some certain materials, and a favorable target for searching for strains with some useful function that could be applied to composting of these materials.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.69-84
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• 2023

Purpose: The objective of this study was to analyze the microbial profile of individuals with peri-implantitis (PI) compared to those of periodontally healthy (PH) subjects and periodontitis (PT) subjects using Illumina sequencing. Methods: Buccal, supragingival, and subgingival plaque samples were collected from 109 subjects (PH: 30, PT: 49, and PI: 30). The V3-V4 region of 16S rRNA was sequenced and analyzed to profile the plaque microbiota. Results: Microbial community diversity in the PI group was higher than in the other groups, and the 3 groups showed significantly separated clusters in the buccal samples. The PI group showed different patterns of relative abundance from those in the PH and PT groups depending on the sampling site at both genus and phylum levels. In all samples, some bacterial species presented considerably higher relative abundances in the PI group than in the PH and PT groups, including Anaerotignum lactatifermentans, Bacteroides vulgatus, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Olsenella uli, Parasutterella excrementihominis, Prevotella buccae, Pseudoramibacter alactolyticus, Treponema parvum, and Slackia exigua. Network analysis identified that several well-known periodontal pathogens and newly recognized bacteria were closely correlated with each other. Conclusions: The composition of the microbiota was considerably different in PI subjects compared to PH and PT subjects, and these results could shed light on the mechanisms involved in the development of PI.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.97-105
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• 2023

Background: Dispensing of prescription drugs is the most important task for community pharmacists. However, the public's satisfaction with pharmacist services is not high, and distrust due to dispensing by unqualified person and/or under unsanitary conditions led to demands for transparent dispensing room (TDR) in pharmacies. Objective: This study was conducted to investigate how pharmacy students perceive pharmacists' credibility and professional ethics in conjunction with the TDR issue. Methods: A survey using 20-items questionnaire was conducted from July 12 to 20, 2019 in pharmacy students nationwide. Results: Among 218 respondents, 84.1% attended pharmacy school located in the metropolitan area, 61.1% were the 3rd or 4th graders, and 81.2% had no practical training in community pharmacy. 56.2% were unaware of the TDR issue, and 66.8% agreed on the public's demand for TDR. 68.8% disagreed that TDR was the best way to solve the problem of unqualified dispensing, while 51.9% agreed that TDR was the best way in solving unsanitary dispensing problem. Publics' confidence level of community pharmacists was mean 5.84 (range 1-10). In a question asking how expertise and professional ethics affect pharmacist confidence, 50% said expertise was more important, 31.7% the same, and 18.3% said professional ethics was more important. Conclusions: To overcome the demand for TDR which began with public distrust in pharmacists, it is necessary to seek measures to increase the credibility of pharmacists, and as part of this, pharmacist ethics should be systematically educated at pharmacy school.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2022.10a
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• pp.113-113
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• 2022

Salinity in surface waters is increasing around the world. Many factors, including increased water extraction, poor irrigation management, and sea-level rise, contribute to this change, and posing a threat to plant development and agricultural production. Seeds exposed to high salinity, have a lower probability of germinating and various physiological and biochemical effects. Salinity stress affects more than 20% of agricultural land and about 50% of irrigated land. In the current study, our objective is to identify the salt-tolerant peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Korean genotypes under salinity stress. Thus, two-week-old 19 diverse peanut Korean genotypes were exposed to 10 days of salinity (150 mM NaCl) stress. Based on the growth attributes investigation, Baekjung and Ahwon genotypes showed significantly higher shoot lengths compared to control plants. Whereas, the Sinpalwang genotype exhibited a significantly positive response for plant growth and reduced wilting symptoms compared to other genotypes. This study was able to find out peanut tolerant and sensitive genotypes for salt stress. These results may provide a good template for further salt-tolerant peanut cultivar improvement programs. Identified diverse salt-responsive genotypes can be utilized as source material in Korean breeding schemes for peanut crop improvement for salt and other abiotic stress tolerance.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.259-267
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• 2023

Objective: Rehabilitative ultrasound imaging is a safe and noninvasive technique for evaluating muscle thickness. A dual probe-fixing frame (DPF) can provide visual feedback during exercises targeting specific muscles. The purpose of this research was to verify the reliability and validity of the DPF for dual-probe ultrasound (DPU)-based visual feedback exercises, allowing users to use both hands freely. Design: This cross-sectional study used repeated measures to compare muscle thickness measurements obtained using the handheld device and DPF with DPU. Methods: Twenty healthy adults participated in the study. Measurements were taken over two sessions, with a two-day interval between the sessions. The thicknesses of the rectus abdominis (RA) and transverse abdominis (TrA) muscles were measured using DPU. The DPF with DPU developed by the research team, was used along with a laptop-based muscle viewer. Bland-Altman analysis and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) calculations were used in statistical analyses to evaluate agreement and reliability, respectively. Results: The results of the Bland-Altman analysis showed small average differences between the handheld and DPF methods for both RA and TrA muscle thicknesses. Inter-rater reliability analysis showed high ICC values for DPF measurements of both RA (0.908-0.912) and TrA (0.892-741) muscle thicknesses. Intra-rater reliability analysis also showed good ICC values for measurements taken by a single examiner over two days. Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrate that the DPF provides reliable and valid measurements of muscle thickness during visual feedback exercises using the DPU.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.280-288
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• 2022

Objective: To compare core needle biopsy (CNB) and repeat fine-needle aspiration (rFNA) to reduce the rate of diagnostic surgery and prevent unnecessary surgery in nodules initially diagnosed as atypia/follicular lesions of undetermined significance (AUS/FLUS). Materials and Methods: This study included 231 consecutive patients (150 female and 81 male; mean age ± standard deviation, 51.9 ± 11.7 years) with 235 thyroid nodules (≥ 1 cm) initially diagnosed as AUS/FLUS, who later underwent both rFNA and CNB. The nodules that required diagnostic surgery after the biopsy were defined using three different scenarios according to the rFNA and CNB results: criterion 1, surgery for low-risk indeterminate (categories I and III); criterion 2, surgery for high-risk indeterminate (categories IV and V); and criterion 3, surgery for all indeterminate nodules (categories I, III, IV, and V). We compared the expected rates of diagnostic surgery between CNB and rFNA in all 235 nodules using the three surgical criteria. In addition, the expected rates of unnecessary surgery (i.e., surgery for benign pathology) were compared in a subgroup of 182 nodules with available final diagnoses. Results: CNB showed significantly lower rates of nondiagnostic, AUS/FLUS, and suspicious for malignancy diagnoses (p ≤ 0.016) and higher rates of follicular neoplasm or suspicious for a follicular neoplasm (p < 0.001) and malignant diagnoses (p = 0.031). CNB showed a significantly lower expected rate of diagnostic surgery than rFNA for criterion 1 (29.8% vs. 48.1%, p < 0.001) and criterion 3 (46.4% vs. 55.3%, p = 0.029), and a significantly higher rate for criterion 2 (16.6% vs. 7.2%, p = 0.001). CNB showed a significantly lower expected rate of unnecessary surgery than rFNA for criterion 1 (18.7% vs. 29.7%, p = 0.024). Conclusion: CNB was superior to rFNA in reducing the rates of potential diagnostic surgery and unnecessary surgery for nodules initially diagnosed as AUS/FLUS in a scenario where nodules with low-risk indeterminate results (categories I and III) would undergo surgery.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.1481-1489
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• 2021

Objective: To construct a CT-based Fagotti scoring system by analyzing the correlations between laparoscopic findings and CT features in patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Materials and Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients diagnosed with stage III/IV ovarian cancer who underwent diagnostic laparoscopy and debulking surgery between January 2010 and June 2018. Two radiologists independently reviewed preoperative CT scans and assessed ten CT features known as predictors of suboptimal cytoreduction. Correlation analysis between ten CT features and seven laparoscopic parameters based on the Fagotti scoring system was performed using Spearman's correlation. Variable selection and model construction were performed by logistic regression with the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator method using a predictive index value (PIV) ≥ 8 as an indicator of suboptimal cytoreduction. The final CT-based scoring system was internally validated using 5-fold cross-validation. Results: A total of 157 patients (median age, 56 years; range, 27-79 years) were evaluated. Among 120 (76.4%) patients with a PIV ≥ 8, 105 patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by interval debulking surgery, and the optimal cytoreduction rate was 90.5% (95 of 105). Among 37 (23.6%) patients with PIV < 8, 29 patients underwent primary debulking surgery, and the optimal cytoreduction rate was 93.1% (27 of 29). CT features showing significant correlations with PIV ≥ 8 were mesenteric involvement, gastro-transverse mesocolon-splenic space involvement, diaphragmatic involvement, and para-aortic lymphadenopathy. The area under the receiver operating curve of the final model for prediction of PIV ≥ 8 was 0.72 (95% confidence interval: 0.62-0.82). Conclusion: Central tumor burden and upper abdominal spread features on preoperative CT were identified as distinct predictive factors for high PIV on diagnostic laparoscopy. The CT-based PIV prediction model might be useful for patient stratification before cytoreduction surgery for advanced ovarian cancer.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.315-322
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• 2006

The objective of the present study was to investigate the expression of heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) and 70 (HSP70) mRNA as cellular stress responses, the levels of plasma cortisol with glucose as neuro-endocrine stress responses during water temperature rising in freshwater adapted black porgy, Acanthopagrus schlegeli. A cDNA fragment of 891 (HSP90) and 465 (HSP70) bp was cloned from black porgy testis by Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with primers designed from the conserved regions of other teleost. The PCR product of HSP90 showed very high homology to red seabream (99%), rainbow trout (95%), Atlantic salmon (94%), zebrafish (94%) HSP90, HSP70 of black porgy was also highly similar to those of rainbow trout (96%), silver seabream (95%), zebrafish (95%) HSP70. Water temperature rising ($20{\sim}30^{\circ}C$) induced elevation of HSP90 mRNA in black porgy gonad, liver, brain, intestine and kidney, whereas it resulted in an induction of the HSP70 mRNA expression in gonad only. Plasma cortisol levels increased significantly at $30^{\circ}C$ in the fish compared to those at $20^{\circ}C$. Glucose levels of the fish showed a tendency of co-increase with cortisol during water temperature rising. These results suggest that increased HSP90 mRNA in liver with plasma cortisol following heat shock may be related to increasing glucose for homeostasis in this species.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.368-372
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• 2008

Composting is a good strategy for management of livestock manure. However, it leads to large ammonia emissions and has a potential phosphorus runoff due to high content of soluble phosphorus. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of alum on reducing ammonia emissions and stabilizing phosphorus during composting of pig manure. For this study, alum was applied at rates of 0 (No-Alum), 1.0 (Alum-L), and 3.0 (Alum-H) g Al $kg^{-1}$ pig manure and sawdust mixture (fresh matter basis). The thermophilic stage was quickly achieved in Alum-L and No-alum treatment, but it was delayed to 5 days in Alum-H treatment. The thermophilic stage was maintained for 2 weeks in all treatment. The pH of compost treated with alum remained below 8.0 for the 35 d but it was above 8.0 in No-Alum treatment. For the first 15 days of composting process, 93, 87, and 58% of total ammonia emissions were occurred in No-Alum-L and Alum-H, respectively. The Alum-H and Alum-L treatments reduced $NH_3$ volatilization by 31 and 78% compared with No-Alum treatment. Alum treatments shifted manure P form $H_2O$ and $NaHCO_3$ extractable P into NaOH extractable P which is very stable under acid and alkaline condition. Therefore, alum is a good chemical amendment for reducing ammonia emission during composting and potential losses of P following compost applications.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.1207-1213
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• 2012

Onion peels is a natural source of high-value functional ingredients produced in the onion industry without suitable processing. The objective of this study was to evaluate characteristics of onion peel extract (OPE), including its biological activities, obtained from solvent extraction in 3 times pilot scales (Lot A, B, and C). Mineral analysis showed that K was present in the largest amount (13,767.56-15,506.78 ppm), followed by Na and Ca at 8,602.44-9,796.00 ppm and 4,255.78-4,903.33 ppm, respectively. The amounts of total phenol, total flavonoid, and quercetin in the OPE were in the ranges of 598.57~626.73, 211.73~233.64, and 93.78~107.29 mg/g, respectively. The biological activities such as antioxidant and effects of fibrinolysis increased in parallel with the concentration of OPE. The $IC_{50}$ value of DPPH radical scavenging activity was in the range of 517.58~557.32 ppm in the OPE. The $IC_{50}$ value for superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity was in the range of 11,900.91~12,690.35 ppm. A clear zone of OPE (20,000 ppm) in fibrinolysis test was three times higher than the plasmin as a reference. In conclusion, OPE could be used as a good source of antioxidants and fibrinolytic activities.