• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.1515-1526
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• 2022

Eukaryotic chromatin is highly organized in the 3D nuclear space and dynamically regulated in response to environmental stimuli. This genomic organization is arranged in a hierarchical fashion to support various cellular functions, including transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Like other host cellular mechanisms, viral pathogens utilize and modulate host chromatin architecture and its regulatory machinery to control features of their life cycle, such as lytic versus latent status. Combined with previous research focusing on individual loci, recent global genomic studies employing conformational assays coupled with high-throughput sequencing technology have informed models for host and, in some cases, viral 3D chromosomal structure re-organization during infection and the contribution of these alterations to virus-mediated diseases. Here, we review recent discoveries and progress in host and viral chromatin structural dynamics during infection, focusing on a subset of DNA (human herpesviruses and HPV) as well as RNA (HIV, influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2) viruses. An understanding of how host and viral genomic structure affect gene expression in both contexts and ultimately viral pathogenesis can facilitate the development of novel therapeutic strategies.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.1293-1297
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• 2011

To improve the biological activities of rupestonic acid, 21 new rupestonic acid fatty ester derivatives (2a-2h) and aromatic ester derivatives (2i-2u) were synthesized and preliminarily evaluated for their anti-influenza activity in vitro by the national center for drug screening of China, using the Oseltamivir and Ribavirin as reference drugs. The results showed that 2l ($IC_{50}=0.5{\mu}mol/L$) exhibited potent anti-influenza $A_3$ viral activity among the synthesized compounds and was 10-fold more potent than that of the reference drug Oseltamivir ($IC_{50}=5.1{\mu}mol/L$).

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.1450-1456
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• 2010

Accurate and rapid diagnosis of Pandemic Influenza A/H1N1 2009 virus (H1N1 2009) infection is important for the prevention and control of influenza epidemics and the timely initiation of antiviral treatment. This study was conducted to evaluate the performance of several diagnostic tools for the detection of H1N1 2009. Flocked nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from 254 outpatients of suspected H1N1 2009 during October 2009. This study analyzed the performances of the RealTime Ready Inf A/H1N1 Detection Set (Roche), Influenza A (H1N1) Real-Time Detection Kit (Bionote), Seeplex Influenza A/B OneStep Typing Set [Seeplex Reverse Transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR)], BinaxNow Influenza A & B Test Kit [Binax Rapid Antigen Test (RAT)], and SD BIOLINE Influenza Ag kit (SD RAT). Roche and Bionote real-time RT-PCR showed identical results for the H1N1 2009 hemagglutinin gene. Compared with real-time RT-PCR, the sensitivities and specificities were 83.7% and 100% for Seeplex RT-PCR, 64.5% and 94.7% for Binax RAT, and 69.5% and 100% for SD RAT. The sensitivities of Seeplex RT-PCR, Binax RAT, and SD RAT in patients aged over 21 years were 73.7%, 47.4%, and 57.9%, respectively. The sensitivities of Seeplex RT-PCR, Binax RAT, and SD RAT on the day of initial symptoms were mostly lower (68.8%, 56.3%, and 31.3%, respectively). In conclusion, multiplex RT-PCR and RAT for the detection of H1N1 2009 were significantly less sensitive than real-time RT-PCR. Moreover, a negative RAT may require more sensitive confirmatory assays, because it cannot be ruled out from influenza infection.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2015

Cordyceps militaris has shown to have various pharmacological activities including an immune-modulatory effect. Previously, we reported that anti-influenza effect of C. militaris in DBA/2 mice was mediated by increased IL-12 and the activation of NK cells. In this study, we investigated the effect of C. militaris on adaptive immune responses using DBA2 mice immunized with influenza vaccine. To determine the effect of C. militaris on antigen presentation capability, we treated RAW 264.7 cells with various concentrations of ethanol extract of C. militaris, which showed a significant upregulation of CD86 (B7.2), CD284 (TLR4), CD40, H-2k (MHC I) and I-Ad (MHC II). To examine the direct effect of C. militaris on adaptive immune responses, we immunized DBA2 mice with influenza vaccine in presence or absence of C. militaris. After 2 or 4 weeks, influenza-specific T cell proliferation, HAI titers and IFN-${\gamma}$ production were measured in plasma or PBMCs isolated from animals. Influenza-specific T cell proliferation and HAI titers were not considerably increased in immunized mice in presence of C. militaris. However, the production of IFN-${\gamma}$ was much greater in immunized mice with C. militaris as adjuvant than only immunized mice.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.1087-1095
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• 2015

Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by the influenza virus. We consider, in this paper, regression models as a prediction model of influenza disease. While most of previous researches use mainly the meteorological variables as a predictive variables, we consider social media information in the models. As a result, we found that the contributions of two-type of informations are comparable. We used the medical treatment data of influenza provided by Natioal Health Insurance Survice (NHIS) and the meteorological data provided by Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). We collect social media information (twitter buzz amount) from Twitter. Time series model is also considered for comparison.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.273-279
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• 2007

Swine influenza is an acute, infectious respiratory disease caused by type A influenza viruses in pigs. In the previous studies, serological surveys have indicated the presence of H3N2 swine influenza virus (SIV) since 1995 in Korea. And the percentage of the antibody-positive rate was 39.12% in the survey determining the prevalence of H1N1 SIV antibodies in 2002. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate the sero-prevalence of SIV regard to the age of the pig and the season between June 2004 and May 2005. In this study, a total of 932 sera were used. These sera were randomly selected from blood samples, which were submitted to Department of Veterinary Pathology, Kangwon National University and Department of Veterinary Virology, Seoul National University from June 2004 to May 2005. These sera have been tested by ELISA test kit (IDEXX Lab, USA) for the SIV H3N2, H1N1 respectively. SAS version 9.1 was used for the statistical analysis based on the age of the pig and the season. The overall sero-prevalence of the antibody against H3N2 SIV was 20.82% (194/932). The overall sero-prevalence of the antibody against H1N1 SIV was 37.23% (347/932). The overall dual sero-prevalence of the antibody against H3N2 and H1N1 SIV was 10.62% (99/932). H3N2 has significant difference in statistically regarding the age of the pig and the season (p<0.0001). H1N1 has significant difference in statistically regarding the age of the pig (p<0.0001) but has not significant difference in statistically regarding the season (p=0.5882).

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.89-97
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• 2013

Purpose: This retrospective study was performed to identify the clinical characteristics of influenza B infection and compare to influenza A infection. Methods: Medical records of patients diagnosed with influenza using a multiplex PCR test, admitted to Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, during the 2011-2012 influenza season were analyzed. Clinical and laboratory characteristics of influenza B patients were investigated and compared with those of influenza A patients. Results: A total of 145 influenza patients were enrolled during this study period. Among these, 66 and 78 patients were diagnosed with influenza A and B, respectively, and 1 patient was diagnosed with co-existing influenza A and B. Cough (88.2%), rhinorrhea (77.1%) and sputum (60.4%) were the most common symptoms among these influenza patients, and most were diagnosed with upper respiratory infection (31.9%) or lower respiratory infection (49.3%). In comparison to influenza A patients, influenza B patients were older ($4.7{\pm}4.1$ years vs. $3.3{\pm}2.5$ years, P=0.016), and the number of fever days before hospitalization were longer (3.0 days vs. 2.5 days, P=0.043). While sore throat (10.3% vs. 1.5%, P=0.039) and vomiting (20.5% vs. 6.1%, P=0.012) were more common in influenza B patients than in influenza A patients, other clinical and laboratory characteristics were not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusions: No significant differences in clinical and laboratory perspectives were manifested in influenza A and B infections. Preventive measures should be emphasized over treatment in influenza B due to prolonged fever duration before admission.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.230-238
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• 2013

Objectives: For our survey of the incidence of influenza viruses among respiratory viral infections in Seoul, we evaluated their prevalence among infectious acute respiratory viral patients in Seoul from 2010 to 2012 through regular surveillance. Methods: For influenza virus detection, we conducted real-time PCR analyses on 2,544 throat specimens collected from patients with respiratory viral infections in Seoul between 2010 and 2012. They were collected and then tested for the presence of influenza viruses through reverse transcription (RT) - polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: 19.1% (486/2,544) of the throat specimens were determined to be positive for influenza viruses. The incidences of influenza viral infection in the case of respiratory viral infections through regular surveillance in Seoul were 23.0% (212/923) in 2010, 6.4% (47/738) in 2011, and 25.7% (227/883) in 2012, and 10.8% (275/2,544) of type A, and 8.3% (211/2,544) type B influenza viruses. In addition, the greatest prevalence was in the 20-49 age group (51.6% ), which shows that influenza viruses constituted a major causative agent of acute respiratory viral infections. Conclusions: The distributions of influenza viruses and the epidemiologic patterns of the viral pathogen in acute respiratory viral infectious patients may provide potentially effective data for epidemiological studies in Seoul, Korea.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.209-213
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• 2015

Influenza A virus (H1N1) causes and spreads infectious diseases and becomes a major health threat in humans. Among the subtypes of influenza virus, neuraminidase (NA) plays an important role in viral life cycle and becomes an attractive therapeutic target. Currently two NA inhibitors namely Zanamivir and Oseltamivir are available for treating infectious diseases. Recently five naturally derived polyphenols extracted from Phellinus baumii was reported as inhibitors against NA. Molecular docking is powerful tool in computer aided drug designing which aids in exploring and elucidating the properties of the molecules from their 3D structure. Hence, in the present study, molecular docking was carried out on reported polyphenols isolated from ethanolic extract of fruiting bodies of Phellinus baumii. The objective of this work was to study the interaction and to propose the binding mode of these compounds within the binding site of H1N1 neuraminidase. The results showed these compounds had better binding energy and H-bond interactions with the important active site residues of the receptor which authenticate these compounds contributes to inhibitory activity of neuraminidase to treat influenza infection.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.83-86
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• 2011

New epidemics of infectious diseases often involve health care workers. In this short communication we present a case report of a health care professional who became the first case of influenza H1N1 virus to be notified in the United Arab Emirates. There are several issues related to workplace considerations and general public health, including preventive measures, the need for isolation of the patient, dealing with contacts, return to work, and communication with the workforce.