• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.1907-1913
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• 2019

Objective: Homoacetogens play important roles in the production of acetate in the large intestine of monogastric mammals. However, their diversity in the porcine large intestine is still unknown. Marker gene analysis was performed to assess the effects of energy level on the diversity and population densities of homoacetogens in porcine feces. Methods: Crossbred pigs were fed high or low energy-level diets. The high-intake (HI) diet was sufficient to allow a daily gain of 1.2 kg. The low-intake (LI) diet provided 0.6 times the amount of energy as the HI diet. Genetic diversity was analyzed using formyltetrahydrofolate synthetase gene (FHS) clone libraries derived from fecal DNA samples. FHS DNA copy numbers were quantified using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: A wide variety of FHS sequences was recovered from animals in both treatments. No differences in FHS clone libraries between the HI and LI groups were found. During the experimental period, no significant differences in the proportion of FHS copy numbers were observed between the two treatment groups. Conclusion: This is the first reported molecular diversity analysis using specific homoacetogen marker genes from the large intestines of pigs. There was no observable effect of feed intake on acetogen diversity.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.64 no.5
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• pp.830-841
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• 2022

Genetic analysis has great potential as a tool to differentiate between different species and breeds of livestock. In this study, the optimal combinations of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for discriminating the Yeonsan Ogye chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) breed were identified using high-density 600K SNP array data. In 3,904 individuals from 198 chicken breeds, SNP markers specific to the target population were discovered through a case-control genome-wide association study (GWAS) and filtered out based on the linkage disequilibrium blocks. Significant SNP markers were selected by feature selection applying two machine learning algorithms: Random Forest (RF) and AdaBoost (AB). Using a machine learning approach, the 38 (RF) and 43 (AB) optimal SNP marker combinations for the Yeonsan Ogye chicken population demonstrated 100% accuracy. Hence, the GWAS and machine learning models used in this study can be efficiently utilized to identify the optimal combination of markers for discriminating target populations using multiple SNP markers.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.71-82
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• 2013

Arterial stiffness(AS) is an important pathologic state of vascular injury. This study was carried out to elucidate the effect of physiological variables on brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity(BAPWV), index of AS. Four hundred adults(volunteers) participated in this study. Body indices, biochemical, cardiac and inflammatory markers, and right(Rt)- and left(Lt)-BAPWV were measured. Body mass index(BMI), Rt- and Lt-BAPWV, glucose, triglyceride, alkaline phosphatase(ALP), gamma-glutamyl transferase(GGT), creatinine, uric acid, troponin-I(TNI), NT-proBNP and high sensitivity C-reactive protein(hs-CRP) levels were higher than the reference value of each variable. Rt- and Lt-BAPWV were directly correlated with age, body weight, BMI, glucose, ketone, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, ALP, GGT, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein, lipoprotein(a), apolipoprotein-B, blood urea nitrogen, heart rate, TNI, creatine kinase, CK-MB, lactic dehydrogenase, myoglobin, hs-CRP, lipase, reumatoid factor, fibrinogen and D-dimer (P<0.05, P<0.01, P<0.001 or P<0.000, respectively), but inversely associated with total bilirubin, uric acid, apolipoprotein-A1 and GFR (P<0.05). These observations suggest that a variety of physiological variables may influence BAPWV, resulting in increased risk or prevention of cardiovascular and/or cerebrovascular attacks. Therefore, physiological variables affecting BAPWV should be regularly controlled.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.932-937
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• 2002

A partial genome scan using porcine microsatellites was carried out to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) for backfat thickness (BFT) in a pig reference population. This population carried QTL on chromosomes 1, 13 and 18. The QTL on chromosome 1 was located between marker loci S0113 and SW1301. The QTL corresponded to very low density lipoprotein receptor gene (VLDLR) in location and in biological effects, suggesting that VLDLR might be a candidate gene. The QTL found on chromosome 13 was found between marker loci SWR1941 and SW864, but significance for the marker-trait association was inconsistent by using data with different generations. The QTL on chromosome 18 was discovered between markers S0062 and S0117, and it was in proximity of the regions where IGFBP3 and GHRHR were located. The porcine obese gene might be also a candidate gene for the QTL on chromosome 18. In order to understand genetic architecture of BFT better, fine mapping and positional comparative candidate gene analyses are necessary.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.1250-1256
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• 2002

A novel fine-mapping method exploiting linkage disequilibrium (LD) was applied to better refine the quantitative trait loci (QTL) positions for milk production traits on bovine chromosome 14 in the pedigree comprising 22 paternal half-sib families of a Black-and-White Holstein-Friesian grand-daughter design in the Netherlands for a total of 1,034 sons. The chromosome map was constructed with the 31 genetic markers spanning 90 Kosambi cM with the average inter-marker distance of 3.5 cM. The linkage analyses, in which the effects of sire QTL alleles were assumed random and the random factor of the QTL allelic effects was incorporated into the Animal Model, found the QTL for milk, fat, and protein yield and fat and protein % with the Lod scores of 10.9, 2.3, 6.0, 25.4 and 3.2, respectively. The joint analyses including LD information by use of multi-marker haplotypes highly increased the evidence of the QTL (Lod scores were 25.1, 20.9, 11.0, 85.7 and 17.4 for the corresponding traits, respectively). The joint analyses including DGAT markers in the defined haplotypes again increased the QTL evidence and the most likely QTL positions for the five traits coincided with the position of the DGAT gene, supporting the hypothesis of the direct causal involvement of the DGAT gene. This study strongly indicates that the exploitation of LD information will allow additional gains of power and precision in finding and localising QTL of interest in livestock species, on the condition of high marker density around the QTL region.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.71-82
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• 2008

Survivin is a member of the inhibitors of apoptosis (IAP) family that have been known to inhibit activated caspases in apoptosis. In contrast to most IAP family members, survivin mRNA is expressed during fetal development, is not found in normal adult tissues and is overexpressed again in the cancer. Though survivin expression has been documented in most human cancers, little is known about its expression in OSCC and its potential value as a predictor of cancer survival. The purpose of this study was to investigate survivin expression in OSCC and to evaluate its value as a prognostic marker. We evaluated survivin expressions in cancer lines and OSCC samples and investigated the relationships between survivin expressions and clini-co-pathological parameters including stage, differentiation, proliferation, lymph node metastasis, blood vessel density, and gelatinolytic activity. With immunohistochemistry, we analyzed survivin expression in 38 OSCCs. Patients' clinico-pathological parameters and their survival rate were analyzed to reveal their correlations with Survivin expressions. We cultured oral cancer cell lines and evaluated the correlation between gelatinolytic activities and survivin expressions of them. Survivin protein was observed both in nuclei and cytoplasm of tumor specimens while little or not observed in normal gingival mucosal tissues. Additionally, survivin expressions were correlated with lymph node metastasis, tumor proliferation and survival rate. Survivin expression was observed in 100% of 38 samples of OSCC and its expression levels are statistically associated with the proliferative activity of the tumors, lymph node metastasis and the survival of the patients. Based on these results, survivin is commonly expressed in OSCC and may thus provide valuable prognostic information related with lymph node metastasis, proliferation and survival rate as well as a potential therapeutic target in OSCC.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.287-293
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• 2012

Objectives: Metabolic syndrome has received attention as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, with particular importance attached to visceral fat accumulation, which is associated with lifestyle-related diseases and is strongly correlated with waist circumference. In this study, our aim is to propose waist circumference cut-off values that can be used as a marker for fatty liver based on a sample of workers receiving health checkups in Japan. Methods: This study was conducted in a total of 21,866 workers who underwent periodic health checkups between January 2007 and December 2007. The mean age of the subjects was 47.4 years for men (standard deviation [SD]: 8.0) and 44.7 years for women (SD: 6.9). Evaluation included abdominal ultrasound and measurement of waist circumference, body mass index, fasting blood glucose, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and blood pressure. Results: Based on receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the optimal waist circumference cut-off values were shown as 85.0 cm (sensitivity 0.72, specificity 0.69) for men and 80.0 cm (sensitivity 0.75, specificity 0.78) for women. Conclusion: Abdominal ultrasound is the most efficient means of diagnosing fatty liver, but this examination seldom occurs because the test is not routinely performed at workers' health checkups. In people found to have a high risk of fatty liver, recommendations can be made for abdominal ultrasound based on the waist circumference cut-off values obtained in this study. That is, waist circumference can be used in high risk individuals as an effective marker for early detection of fatty liver.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.75-80
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• 2004

In a variety of animal species, the perinatal exposure of experimental animals to the 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo­p-dioxin (TCDD) leads to the immune dysfunction, which is more severe and persistent than that caused by adult exposure. We report here the changes of gene expression and the identification of the marker-genes representing the dioxin exposure. The expressions of the transcripts were analyzed using the 11 K oligonucleotide­microarray from the bone marrow cells of male C57BL/6J mice after an intraperitoneal injection of $1{\mu}g$ TCDD/kg body weight at various time intervals: gestational 6.5 day(G6.5), 13.5 day(G13.5), 18.5 day(G18.5), and postnatal 3 (P3W)and 6 week (P6W). The type of self-organizing maps(SOM) representing the specific exposure dioxin could be identified as follows; G6.5D(C14), G13.5D(C0, C5, C10, C18), G18.5D(7): P3W(C2, C21), and P6W(C4, C15, C20). The candidate marker-genes were restricted to the transcripts, which could be consistently expressed greater than $\pm$2-fold in three experiments. The resulting candidates were 85 genes, the characteristics of that were involved in cell physiology and cell functions such as cell proliferation and immune function. We identified the biomarker-genes for dioxin exposure: smc -like 2 from SOM C14 for the dioxin exposure at G6.5D, focal adhesion kinase and 6 other genes from C0, and protein tyrosine phosphatase 4a2 and 3 other genes from C5 for G13.5D, platelet factor 4 from C7 for G18.5D, fos from C2 for P3W.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.1458-1467
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• 2010

The present study was retrospectively designed to define whether preoperative levels of leukocytes and D-dimer are potentially useful factors in predicting perioperative outcomes of coronary heart disease (CHD). There was no relationship between preoperative leukocyte counts (Pre-OP leukocyte) and preoperative D-dimer levels (Pre-OP D-dimer). Pre-OP leukocyte counts each had positive correlation with cardiac troponin-I, creatine kinase-MB or C-reactive protein (cardiac markers) levels at preoperative and postoperative periods. Pre-OP D-dimer levels were positively associated with each cardiac marker at the same periods. Pre-OP leukocyte counts positively related with aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase (liver markers), whereas Pre-OP D-dimer level positively or negatively correlated with bilirubin (liver marker), creatinine (renal marker) or glucose levels at preoperative and/or postoperative periods. Pre-OP leukocyte and Pre-OP D-dimer were inversely associated with Pre-OP high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels or left ventricular ejection fraction. Pre-OP leukocyte counts each had positive correlation operation duration and postoperative mechanical ventilation-time (PMVT), whereas Pre-OP D-dimer levels had positive relationship with PMVT, intensive care unit-staying period and hospitalization. The retrospective data suggest that Pre-OP leukocyte and Pre-OP D-dimer levels may be clinically useful factors for predicting perioperative outcomes in patients with CHD.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.35-43
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• 2007

This study was conducted to investigate the preventing effects of OPB (water extracts of Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch and Eleutherococcus senticosus Max) on bone loss in ovariectomized rats. Twenty Sprague Dawley rats of 13 week-old were divided into two groups: control group (ovariectomized, OVX)) and experimental group (OVX + OPB). The preventing effects of OPB on bone loss, OPB were fed with 100 mg OPB/kg body weight from 3 days after ovariectomization. The duration of the treatment period was 8 weeks. All bone mineral density, bone mineral content indices and bone strength indices measured by peripheral quantitative computerized tomography (pQCT) and serum bone marker assessment were carried out at end of experiment. pQCT scanning showed that OVX induced a significant decrease in cancellous bone mineral density in the proximal tibia ($-29.8{\pm}3.0%$). These decreases were significantly prevented by the administration of OPB 100 mg/kg ($-21.4{\pm}2.3%$. p<0.05). Bone strength indices showed significant difference between OVX and OPB treated rats (anti-fracture, anti-twisting, p<0.05). These data suggested that administration of OPB inhibited the loss of bone in OVX rats. CTx level were lower than in the OPB-treated animals compared with OVX. However there was no significant difference between OVX and OPB treated OVX rat. Our results suggest that OPB is effective in preventing the development of bone loss induced by ovariectomy in rats.