• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7363-7369
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• 2014

The present study aimed to prepare and evaluate polymeric micelles conjugated with folic acid through ${\alpha}$- or ${\gamma}$-carboxyl groups for antitumor efficacy. The isomeric block copolymers, ${\alpha}$- and ${\gamma}$-folate-polyethyleneglycol-distearoyl phosphatidylethanolamine (${\alpha}$- and ${\gamma}$-Fol-PEG-DSPE), were produced by solid phase peptide synthesis. Three types of doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded polymeric micelles (MPEG-DSPE-DOX and ${\alpha}$- / ${\gamma}$-Fol-PEG-DSPEDOX micelles) were prepared via the film formation method. Compared with MPEG-DSPE-DOX micelles, the ${\alpha}$- / ${\gamma}$-Fol-PEG-DSPE-DOX micelles presented a higher cellular uptake behavior in the live cell study. Cell viability percentages were 81.8%, 57.3%, 56.6% at 2 hours for MPEG-DSPE-DOX, ${\alpha}$- and ${\gamma}$-Fol-PEG-DSPE-DOX micelles, respectively (p<0.05). Using the KB xenograft tumor model, both ${\alpha}$- and ${\gamma}$-folate-conjugated micelles were found to have better antitumor effects with lower toxicity in comparison with MPEG-DSPE-DOX micelles. No difference in in vivo antitumor efficacy was found between ${\alpha}$- and ${\gamma}$-Fol-PEG-DSPE-DOX micelles. The folate-conjugated micelles might be a potentially useful strategy for tumor targeting of therapeutic agents, whether grafting with folic acid through ${\alpha}$- or ${\gamma}$-carboxyl groups.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7575-7581
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• 2014

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an essential role in the development and progression of nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPC). Despite advances in the field of cancer molecular biology and biomarker discovery, the development of clinically validated biomarkers for primary NPC has remained elusive. In this study, we investigated the expression and clinical significance of miRNAs as novel primary NPC diagnostic biomarkers. We used an array containing 2, 500 miRNAs to identify 22 significant miRNAs, and these candidate miRNAs were validated using 67 fresh NPC and 25 normal control tissues via quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Expression and correlation analyses were performed with various statistical approaches, in addition to logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses to evaluate diagnostic efficacy. qRT-PCR revealed five differentially expressed miRNAs (miR-93-5p, miR-135b-5p, miR-205-5p and miR-183-5p) in NPC tissue samples relative to control samples (p<0.05), with miR-135b-5p and miR-205-5p being of significant diagnostic value (p<0.01). Moreover, comparison of NPC patient clinicopathologic data revealed a negative correlation between miR-93-5p and miR-183-5p expression levels and lymph node status (p<0.05). These findings display an altered expression of many miRNAs in NPC tissues, thus providing information pertinent to pathophysiological and diagnostic research. Ultimately, miR-135b-5p and miR-205-5p may be implicated as novel NPC candidate biomarkers, while miR-93-5p, miR-650 and miR-183-5p may find application as relevant clinical pathology and diagnostic candidate biomarkers.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.299-307
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• 2014

Nowadays, SNS media has become one of the most common and economic communication methods in the modern word. With the rapid development of communication technology, a variety of SNS media makes easier for us to reach other people everywhere and people are getting more and more reliant on them. The surge in SNS media users and SNS media diversity gets more important every day, but academic research on SNS media evaluation program is scanty. In order to present an evaluation program on the SNS media, this study selected some applicable measurement factors based on reference research, and then evaluate major SNS medias by using AHP analysis method. With these purposes, Kakaotalk, Twitter and Facebook, are the three major SNS medias that were chosen for the analysis. Through collections and analysis of usability evaluation factors about SNS quality from related literature, some factors were concluded: system quality, information quality, interface quality and service quality, to build an AHP frame. And to achieve these purposes, this study applied comprehend mutual questionnaire survey for experts and users to gather research date. Empirical studies about the results were performed using AHP method with Microsoft Office Excel 2010. In this study, the final SNS media evaluation result is that Kakaotalk ranks first of the three SNS media, Facebook is in the second place, and Twitter as least. When SNS media are evaluated, system quality, information quality, interface quality and service quality should be considered. Among all factors, service quality is the most important.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.465-476
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• 2017

This study attempted to investigate the effects of gold therapy on myofascial pain syndrome(MPS) in the neck, back and shoulder in comparison to stone therapy and verify its availability as an efficient nursing mediator in clinical trials. For this, therapy was given to a total of 20 women in two groups (gold therapy group, stone therapy group: 10 persons each) living in the capital region three times a week (40 min. at a time) for two weeks. In both groups, a statistically significant decrease was found in the following after the treatment: neck circumference, shoulder width, width of the inferior angle of scapula, shoulder thickness and waist circumference (p<0.001). In terms of differences, the gold therapy group was greater than the stone therapy group. In both groups, a statistically significant increase was observed after treatment in the following: cervical lateral bending (right), cervical lateral bending (left), cervical flexion and cervical extension angle (p<0.001). In terms of differences, the gold therapy group was greater than the stone therapy group. In conclusion, this study seems to show that gold therapy is a nursing intervention option having effective fascial relaxation and pain relief for the neck, back and shoulder. Therefore, it would be valuable as safe, non-invasive therapy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.239-239
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• 2017

The enhancement of leaf photosynthetic capacity can have the potential to improve the seed yield of soybean. Key targets for the increase of leaf photosynthetic capacity remains unclear in soybean. Peking, Chinese local variety, has been the useful material for soybean breeding since it shows various resistances against biotic and abiotic stress. Sakoda et al., 2017 reported that Peking had the higher capacity of leaf photosynthesis than Enrei, Japanese elite cultivar. They identified the genetic factors related to high photosynthetic capacity of Peking. The objective of this study is to elucidate the physiological basis underlying high photosynthetic capacity of Peking. Peking and Enrei were cultivated at the experimental field of the Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. The sowing date was July 4, 2016. Gas exchange parameters were evaluated at the uppermost fully expanded leaves on 43, 49, and 59 days after planting (DAP) with a portable gas exchange system, LI-6400. The leaf hydraulic conductance, $K_{leaf}$, was determined based on the water potential and transpiration rate of the uppermost fully expanded leaves on 60 DAP. The morphological traits related to leaf photosynthesis were analyzed at the same leaves with the gas exchange measurements. The light-saturated $CO_2$ assimilation rate ($A_{sat}$) of Peking was significantly higher than that of Enrei at 43 and 59 DAP while the stomatal conductance ($g_s$) of Peking was significantly higher at all the measurements (p < 0.05). It suggested that high $A_{sat}$ was mainly attributed to high $g_s$ in Peking. $g_s$ is reported to be affected by the morphological traits and water status inside the leaf, represented by $K_{leaf}$, in crop plants. The tendency of the variation of the stomatal density between two cultivars was not consistent throughout the measurements. On the other hand, $K_{leaf}$ of Peking was 59.0% higher than that of Enrei on 60 DAP. These results imply that high $g_s$ might be attributed to high $K_{leaf}$ in Peking. Further research is needed to reveal the mechanism to archive high $g_s$ on the basis of water physiology in Peking. The knowledge combining the genetic and physiological basis underlying high photosynthetic capacity of Peking can be useful to improve the biomass productivity of soybean.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.133-146
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• 2005

A bacteriological survey in maricultured fish farms was conducted in Korea from 2002 to 2004. A total number of 166 Vibrio isolates were collected from diseased fishes, including olive flounder (133 isolates), black rock fish (8 isolates), red sea bream (6 isolates), shrimp (5 isolates), black sea bream (4 isolates), abalone (3 isolates) and other fishes (7 isolates). All isolates were phenotypically characterized and then groups were obtained using the traditional biochemical test. Representative isolates of each group were genotypically characterized with sequencing the 16S rRNA genes or 16S-23S intergenic space genes. Above 14 species of Vibrio were identified as V. ichthyoenteri (45 strains), V. alginolyticus (34 strains), V. harveyi (32 strains), Ph. damselae subsp. damselae (Formerly V. damsela, 10 strains), V. campbellii (6 strains), V. costicola-like (6 strains), V. fisheri (5 stains), V. fluvialis (4 strains) and others Vibrio sp. (24 strains) by combining of biochemial and genetic characteristics.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.175-181
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• 2010

The effects of corticosterone (CORT) administration on the weight of small intestine and the expression of nutrient transporter mRNA in the small intestine of broiler chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) were investigated. One hundred and eight sevenday-old birds were randomly divided into two equal groups comprising a control group (CTRL) and an experimental group (CORT). CTRL birds were fed a basal diet and the CORT birds were fed a basal diet containing 30 mg corticosterone/kg from d 8 to 21. At 21 d of age, average daily feed intake (ADFI), serum corticosterone level, small intestinal absolute wet weight and relative weight, and relative abundance of SGLT1, CaBP-D28k, PepT1 mRNA in the duodenum and L-FABP mRNA in the jejunum were determined. The results showed that serum corticosterone level, liver weight and small intestinal relative weight (small intestinal wet weight/body weight) of CORT chickens were about 30.15%, 26.72% and 42.20% higher, respectively, than in the CTRL group (p<0.05). CORT birds had relative mRNA abundance of CaBP-D28k and PepT1 in the duodenum, and L-FABP in the jejunum which was 1.77, 1.37 and 1.94 fold higher, respectively, than in the CTRL group (p<0.05); the relative abundance of SGLT1 was 1.67 fold higher than in the CTRL group (p = 0.097). ADFI, small intestinal wet weight and length in CORT-treated broiler chickens was about 29.11%, 31.12% and 12.35% lower, respectively, than in the CTRL group (p<0.05). In conclusion, corticosterone administration lowered the wet weight but increased the relative weight of the small intestine and the expression of intestinal nutrient transporter mRNA of broiler chickens.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.507-515
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• 2009

A series of experiments were conducted to determine the suitable freezing and thawing temperatures for the freezing of boar semen in 5 ml maxi-straws. The ultrastructure, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and artificial insemination (AI) of frozen-thawed semen were also be evaluated. The 5 cm freezing height gave the best results not only in post-thaw motility rate (54.00%), but also in normal acrosome morphology rate (NAR) (80.23%). There was no significant difference in the post-thaw motility between different thawing temperatures and corresponding thawing times (p>0.05); the group of $52^{\circ}C$ and 25 s gave the highest motility rate (45.00%). As a whole, not only from the motility but also the NAR, thawing at $42^{\circ}C$ was better than the other two treatments. In the freezing packages, 5 ml maxi-straw gave a little lower mobility (40%), viability rate (49.58%), plasma membrane integrity rate (53.91%) and NAR (52.65%) than the 0.25 ml straw, but there was no significant difference between the two straw volumes (p>0.05). The IVF capacity of frozen-thawed semen in this experiment was similar to fresh semen. From ultrastructure observation, the main damage to boar spermatozoa after freezing was seen in the acrosome, such as swelling and formation of vesicles. After AI in recipient Shanghai White sows, frozen-thawed semen from 5 ml maxi-straws and pellets produced 72.2% and 80% conception rate and 7.8 and 8 litter sizes, respectively, and there was no significant difference between the 5 ml maxi-straw and the pellet (p>0.05).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.1665-1671
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• 2013

Real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) is one of the important methods for investigating the changes in mRNA expression levels in cells and tissues. Selection of the proper reference genes is very important when calibrating the results of real-time quantitative PCR. Studies on the selection of reference genes in goat tissues are limited, despite the economic importance of their meat and dairy products. We used real-time quantitative PCR to detect the expression levels of eight reference gene candidates (18S, TBP, HMBS, YWHAZ, ACTB, HPRT1, GAPDH and EEF1A2) in ten tissues types sourced from Boer goats. The optimal reference gene combination was selected according to the results determined by geNorm, NormFinder and Bestkeeper software packages. The analyses showed that tissue is an important variability factor in genes expression stability. When all tissues were considered, 18S, TBP and HMBS is the optimal reference combination for calibrating quantitative PCR analysis of gene expression from goat tissues. Dividing data set by tissues, ACTB was the most stable in stomach, small intestine and ovary, 18S in heart and spleen, HMBS in uterus and lung, TBP in liver, HPRT1 in kidney and GAPDH in muscle. Overall, this study provided valuable information about the goat reference genes that can be used in order to perform a proper normalisation when relative quantification by qRT-PCR studies is undertaken.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.755-765
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• 2013

The accumulation of inbreeding and the loss of genetic diversity is a potential problem in the modern swine breeds in China. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the pedigrees of Chinese Duroc (CD), Landrace (CL) and Yorkshire (CY) swine to estimate the past and current rates of inbreeding, and to identify the main causes of genetic diversity loss. Pedigree files from CD, CL and CY containing, 4529, 16,776 and 22,600 records, respectively, were analyzed. Pedigree completeness indexes of the three breeds, accounting for one generation back, were 83.72, 93.93 and 93.59%, respectively. The estimated average annual inbreeding rates for CD, CL and CY in recent three years were 0.21, 0.19 and 0.13%, respectively. The estimated average percentage of genetic diversity loss within each breed in recent three years was about 8.92, 2.19, and 3.36%, respectively. The average relative proportion of genetic diversity loss due to unequal contributions of founders in CD, CL and CY was 69.09, 57.95 and 60.57%, and due to random genetic drift was 30.91, 42.05 and 39.43%, respectively. The estimated current effective population size for CD, CL and CY was 76, 117 and 202, respectively. Therefore, CD has been found to have lost considerable genetic diversity, demanding priority for optimizing the selection and mating to control future coancestry and inbreeding. Unequal contribution of founders was a major cause of genetic diversity loss in Chinese swine breeds and random genetic drift also showed substantial impact on the loss of diversity.