• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.209-213
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• 2015

The present study was performed to survey the infection status of zoonotic intestinal trematode (ZIT) in stray cats from 5 major riverside areas in the Republic of Korea. Total 400 stray cats were captured with live-traps in riverside areas of Seomjingang ('gang' means river) (203 cats) from June to October 2010, and of Yeongsangang (41), Nakdonggang (57), Geumgang (38), and Hangang (61 cats) from June to October 2011, respectively. Small intestines resected from cats were opened with a pair of scissors in a beaker with 0.85% saline and examined with naked eyes and under a stereomicroscope. More than 16 ZIT species were detected in 188 (92.6%) cats from Seomjingang areas, and the number of worms recovered was 111 per cat infected. In cats from riverside areas of Yeongsangang, Nakdonggang, Geumgang, and Hangang, more than 9, 8, 3, and 5 ZIT species were recovered, and the worm burdens were 13, 42, 11, and 56 specimens per infected cat, respectively. As the members of family Heterophyidae, more than 10 species, i.e., Metagonimus spp., Pygidiopsis summa, Heterophyes nocens, Stellantchasmus falcatus, Heterophyopsis continua, Acanthotrema felis, Centrocestus armatus, Procerovum varium, Cryptocotyle concava, and Stictodora lari, were recovered. More than 5 species of echinostomes, i.e., Echinostoma hortense, Echinochasmus japonicus, Echinochasmus sp., Echinoparyphium sp., and unidentified larval echinostomes, were collected. Plagiorchis spp. were detected in cats from areas of Seomjingang and Yeongsangang. From the above results, it has been confirmed that stray cats in 5 major riverside areas of Korea are highly infected with various species of ZITs.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.39-50
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• 2002

Hepatitis B viral infection which affect about 10% of Korean population manifests asymptomatic carrier, chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis and even associates with hepatocellular carcinoma. Clinical manifestations induced by hepatitis B virus vary depending on the degree of immune response by cytotoxic T cells against viral epitope-presenting liver cells. Since hepatitis B virus presents high rate of mutaton that might change the presented epitope and eventually alter immune response, viral mutations, especially in promoters and enhancers, have an important implication in hepatic inflammation and viral replication. To identify mutations related to the hepatic inflammation, we investigated sequence variations of hepatitis B viral promotor regions in the presence or absence of symptoms in hepatitis B carriers. For this, sera from persistently hepatitis B virus-infected mother-child pairs were collected. After PCR amplifiation of all hepatitis B viral promoters (C promoter, S1 promoter, S2/S promoter, X promoter) using serum DNA from each pair, viral promotors were sequenced by automatic sequencer and then sequence data were analyzed by ClustalW. In most cases, the dominant type of maternal virus was transmitted to the child. However, in some children, some new host specific viral variants could be observed in Cp, S1p and S2/Sp. The mutations in C promoter did not seem to be vertically transmitted but arose in new host independently after the wild type had been transmitted. Enhancer I containing X promoter revealed high host specific variations as has been reported before. Two S promoters, S1p and S2/Sp, have shown some point mutations in children, but no deletion mutations were detected as in chronic hepatitis patients in whom deletion mutations are frequently found. In conclusion, the children with the vertically transmitted hepatitis B virus mostly retain the dominant type virus that had been transmitted. However, host specific variants tended to accumulate over time, possibly as clinical symptoms develop.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.375-382
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• 2003

A direct and precise explanation of soybean resistance to soybean cyst nematode will be possible only when the individual gene(s) involved in the resistance are tagged. This study was conducted, (1) to identify and localize quantitative trait loci for resistance to soybean cyst nematode race 14 on RAPD map, (2) to identify the magnitude and mode of inheritance for each quantitative trait loci, and (3) to identify the best combinations of quantitative trait loci for resistance to soybean cyst nematode race 14. Thirty markers (29 RAPD and 1 RFLP) showed significant association with resistance to soybean cyst nematode race 14. From MAPMAKER/QTL analysis, we identified two regions (linkage group C-7 and linkage group C-9) for resistance to soybean cyst nematode .ace 14. The first quantitative trait loci that was localized at 6.0 cM from $H06^1$ on linkage group C-7 showed a dominant inheritance mode. However, we can not exclude the possibility of additive inheritance mode. The second quantitative trait loci that was localized between $B15^2$ and $E01^1$ on linkage group C-9 also showed a dominant mode of inheritance. One pair of flanking markers ($H06^1$ and $H06^2$) and B15$^2$ were used for multiple regression analysis. Marker combination that included 2 markers, $B15^2$ and $H06^1$, explained the highest total variance (22.9%) for resistance to soybean cyst nematode race 14. Further localization of genes for resistance to soybean cyst nematode race 14 and examination of interaction between quantitative trait loci will accelerate the exploitation of resistance to soybean cyst nematode.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.565-571
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• 2008

Due to rapid development of bioinformatics technologies, various biological data have been produced in silico. So now days complicated and large scale biodata are used to accomplish requirement of researcher. Developing visualization and annotation tool using them is still hot issues although those have been studied for a decade. However, diversity and various requirements of users make us hard to develop general purpose tool. In this paper, I propose a novel system, Genome Viewer and Annotation tool (GenoVA), to annotate and visualize among genomes using known information and multiple relation graph. There are several multiple alignment tools but they lose conserved area for complexity of its constrains. The GenoVA extracts all associated information between all pair genomes by extending pairwise alignment. High frequency conserved area and high BLAST score make a block node of relation graph. To represent multiple relation graph, the system connects among associated block nodes. Also the system shows the known information, COG, gene and hierarchical path of block node. In this case, the system can annotates missed area and unknown gene by navigating the special block node's clustering. I experimented ten bacteria genomes for extracting the feature to visualize and annotate among them. GenoVA also supports simple and rough computational annotation of new genome.

• ALGAE
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.75-99
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• 2014

A small dinoflagellate, Ansanella granifera gen. et sp. nov., was isolated from estuarine and marine waters, and examined by light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. In addition, the identity of the sequences (3,663-bp product) of the small subunit (SSU), internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region (ITS1, 5.8S, ITS2), and D1-D3 large subunit (LSU) rDNA were determined. This newly isolated, thin-walled dinoflagellate has a type E eyespot and a single elongated apical vesicle, and it is closely related to species belonging to the family Suessiaceae. A. granifera has 10-14 horizontal rows of amphiesmal vesicles, comparable to Biecheleria spp. and Biecheleriopsis adriatica, but greater in number than in other species of the family Suessiaceae. Unlike Biecheleria spp. and B. adriatica, A. granifera has grana-like thylakoids. Further, A. granifera lacks a nuclear fibrous connective, which is present in B. adriatica. B. adriatica and A. granifera also show a morphological difference in the shape of the margin of the cingulum. In A. granifera, the cingular margin formed a zigzag line, and in B. adriatica a straight line, especially on the dorsal side of the cell. The episome is conical with a round apex, whereas the hyposome is trapezoidal. Cells growing photosynthetically are $10.0-15.0{\mu}m$ long and $8.5-12.4{\mu}m$ wide. The cingulum is descending, the two ends displaced about its own width. Cells of A. granifera contain 5-8 peripheral chloroplasts, stalked pyrenoids, and a pusule system, but lack nuclear envelope chambers, a nuclear fibrous connective, lamellar body, rhizocysts, and a peduncle. The main accessory pigment is peridinin. The SSU, ITS regions, and D1-D3 LSU rDNA sequences differ by 1.2-7.4%, >8.8%, and >2.5%, respectively, from those of the other known genera in the order Suessiales. Moreover, the SSU rDNA sequence differed by 1-2% from that of the three most closely related species, Polarella glacialis, Pelagodinium bei, and Protodinium simplex. In addition, the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA sequence differed by 16-19% from that of the three most closely related species, Gymnodinium corii, Pr. simplex, and Pel. bei, and the LSU rDNA sequence differed by 3-4% from that of the three most closely related species, Protodinium sp. CCMP419, B. adriatica, and Gymnodinium sp. CCMP425. A. granifera had a 51-base pair fragment in domain D2 of the large subunit of ribosomal DNA, which is absent in the genus Biecheleria. In the phylogenetic tree based on the SSU and LSU sequences, A. granifera is located in the large clade of the family Suessiaceae, but it forms an independent clade.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.771-782
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• 2017

This paper describes the development of a wearable robot to assist ankle power for the elderly. Previously developed wearable robots have generally used motors and gears to assist muscle power during walking. However, the combination of motor and reduction gear is heavy and has limitations on the simultaneous control of stiffness and torque due to the friction of the gear reducer unlike human muscles. Therefore, in this study, Mckibben pneumatic muscle, which is lighter, safer, and more powerful than an electric motor with gear, was used to assist ankle joint. Antagonistic actuation using a pair of pneumatic muscles assisted the power of the soleus muscles and tibialis anterior muscles used for the pitching motion of the ankle joint, and the model parameters of the antagonistic actuator were experimentally derived using a muscle test platform. To recognize the wearer's walking intention, foot load and ankle torque were calculated by measuring the pressure and the center of pressure of the foot using force and linear displacement sensors, and the stiffness and the torque of the pneumatic muscle joint were then controlled by the calculated ankle torque and foot load. Finally, the performance of the developed ankle power assistive robot was experimentally verified by measuring EMG signals during walking experiments on a treadmill.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.502-508
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• 2012

Quantitative ultrasound technologies for osteoporosis diagnosis measure ultrasonic parameters such as speed of sound(SOS) and normalized broadband ultrasound attenuation(nBUA) in the calcaneus (heel bone). In the present study, the dependences of SOS and nBUA on bone mineral density in the proximal femur with high risk of fracture were investigated by using 20 trabecular bone samples extracted from bovine femurs. SOS and nBUA in the femoral trabecular bone samples were measured by using a transverse transmission method with one matched pair of ultrasonic transducers with a center frequency of 1.0 MHz. SOS and nBUA measured in the 20 trabecular bone samples exhibited high Pearson's correlation coefficients (r) of r = 0.83 and 0.72 with apparent bone density, respectively. The multiple regression analysis with SOS and nBUA as independent variables and apparent bone density as a dependent variable showed that the correlation coefficient r = 0.85 of the multiple linear regression model was higher than those of the simple linear regression model with either parameter SOS or nBUA as an independent variable. These high linear correlations between the ultrasonic parameters and the bone density suggest that the ultrasonic parameters measured in the femur can be useful for predicting the femoral bone mineral density.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.580-589
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• 2013

This study was carried out to evaluate the suitability of microsatellite markers for varietal identification and genetic relationship of 170 commercial pepper cultivars. The relationship between marker genotypes and 11 pepper cultivars with different morphological traits was also analyzed. Of the 302 pairs of microsatellite primers screened against 11 pepper cultivars, 24 pairs were highly polymorphic in terms of number of alleles. These markers were applied for the construction of DNA profile data base for 170 commercial pepper cultivars. A total of 164 polymorphic amplified fragments were obtained from 24 microsatellite primers. The average polymorphism information content was 0.673 ranging from 0.324 to 0.824. One hundred and sixty four microsatellite alleles were used to calculate Jaccard's distance coefficients using unweighted pair group method. A clustering group of varieties, based on the results of microsatellite analysis, were categorized into 3 major groups corresponding to morphological traits. The phenogram discriminated all varieties by markers genotypes. These microsatellite markers will be useful as a tool for protection of plant breeders' intellectual property rights through variety identification in distinctness, uniformity and stability test.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.387-394
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• 2007

Despite geographic barriers such as oceans, many freshwater algal species inhabit different continents of the world. A unicellular freshwater alga, Mallomonas caudeata, commonly occurring in Asia, Europe, and America of the northern Hemisphere, is closely related to human life such as monitoring blooms and defecting changes in climates. In order to demonstrate its occurrence in Korea and to infer its phylogeny, we sequenced nuclear SSU and plastid rbcL genes from isolates collected in six different reservoirs. We have also investigated transmission electron microscopy of the Korean isolates. SSU sequences of the species from Korea and USA were almost identical, having pair-wise divergences of 0.06% in SSU and 0.45% in rbcL. Both gene trees revealed that the species was clearly separated from other species of the genus, while the genus was not monophyletic. Rhizoplasts are composed of microfibrils organised in striated rootlets attached to the multilayered plate of basal bodies and arranged on the surface of the nucleus at their distal ends. The rhizoplast constitutes a basal body-nucleus connector similar to that of typical Synurophyceas. The results that Mallomonas was not supported by both SSU and rbeL data sets require a further study with additional taxon sampling.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.325-331
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• 2015

This paper suggests an intersection method to improve the accuracy of three-dimensional position from heterogeneous satellite stereo images, and addresses validation of the suggested method following the experimental results. The three-dimensional position is achieved by determining an intersection point of two rays that have been precisely adjusted through the sensor orientation. In case of conventional homogeneous satellite stereo images, the intersection point is generally determined as a mid-point of the shortest line that links two rays in at least square fashion. In this paper, a refined method, which determines the intersection point upon the ray adjusted at the higher resolution image, was used to improve the positioning accuracy of heterogeneous satellite images. Those heterogeneous satellite stereo pairs were constituted using two KOMPSAT-2 and QuickBird images of covering the same area. Also, the positioning results were visually compared in between the conventional intersection and the refined intersection, while the quantitative analysis was performed. The results demonstrated that the potential of refined intersection improved the positioning accuracy of heterogeneous satellite stereo pairs; especially, with a weak geometry of the heterogeneous satellite stereo, the greater effects on the accuracy improvement.