• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• 제45권1호
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• pp.176-182
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• 2021

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is associated with chronic skin inflammatory reactions. p-coumaric acid (pCA) is an active ingredient of Panax ginseng Meyer (Araliaceae). Methods: Here, we estimated an anti-AD effect of pCA on activated mast cells, activated splenocytes, and a mouse model of AD. Cytokines levels were measured by ELISA and protein activation was analyzed by Western blotting. 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) was used to induce AD-like skin lesions. Results: The treatment with pCA suppressed the productions and mRNA expressions of thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β in HMC-1 cells. pCA downregulated the expressions of RIP2 and caspase-1, phosphorylated-(p)p38/pJNK/pERK, and pIKKβ/pIkBα/NF-κB in HMC-1 cells. pCA also decreased the productions of TSLP, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-4, and IFN-γ in the supernatant of stimulated splenic cells. Comparing to DNFB-sensitized control group, pCA-treated group alleviated pathological changes of AD-like lesions. pCA decreased the proteins and mRNA expressions levels of TSLP, IL-6, and IL-4 in the skin lesions. Caspase-1 activation was also downregulated by pCA treatment in the AD-like lesions. The serum levels of histamine, IgE, TSLP, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-4 were suppressed following treatment with pCA. Conclusion: This study suggests that pCA has the potential to improve AD by suppressing TSLP as well as inflammatory cytokines via blocking of caspase-1/NF-κB signal cascade.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.144-153
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• 2021

Astrocytes play various important roles such as maintaining brain homeostasis, supporting neurons, and secreting inflammatory mediators to protect the brain cells. In aged subjects, astrocytes show diversely changed phenotypes and dysfunctions. But, the study of aged astrocytes or astrocytes from aged subjects is not yet sufficient to provide a comprehensive understanding of their important processes in the regulation of brain function. In this study, we induced an in vitro aged astrocyte model through late passage cultivation of rat primary cultured astrocytes. Astrocytes were cultured until passage 7 (P7) as late passage astrocytes and compared with passage 1 (P1) astrocytes as early passage astrocytes to confirm the differences in phenotypes and the effects of serial passage. In this study, we confirmed the morphological, molecular, and functional changes of late passage astrocytes showing aging phenotypes through SA-β-gal staining and measurement of nuclear size. We also observed a reduced expression of inflammatory mediators including IL-1β, IL-6, TNFα, iNOS, and COX2, as well as dysregulation of wound-healing, phagocytosis, and mitochondrial functions such as mitochondrial membrane potential and mitochondrial oxygen consumption rate. Culture-conditioned media obtained from P1 astrocytes promoted neurite outgrowth in immature primary cultures of rat cortices, which is significantly reduced when we treated the immature neurons with the culture media obtained from P7 astrocytes. These results suggest that late passage astrocytes show senescent astrocyte phenotypes with functional defects, which makes it a suitable model for the study of the role of astrocyte senescence on the modulation of normal and pathological brain aging.

• 대한치과교정학회지
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• 제52권1호
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• pp.29-41
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• 2022

Objective: Condylar resorption (CR) is one of the major post-surgical complications of orthognathic surgery. This systematic review (SR) aimed to evaluate epidemiological data, risk factors, and therapeutical management of CR. Methods: Six databases were screened by two investigators until September 2020 to obtain all SRs. After reading the titles and abstracts, eligible SRs were determined and data extraction was performed. Using the latest version of A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews, the methodological quality of the included SRs was determined. Results: Ten SRs with low or critically-low methodological quality were included in this review. Mandibular hypoplasia on the sagittal plane and hyperdivergent growth pattern on the vertical plane were the most common skeletal alterations in which CR could occur after orthognathic surgery. Post-operative condylar changes were analyzed both on two-dimensional and three-dimensional (3D) radiographic examinations. The incidence of CR was not related to the fixation method. Based on the severity of the pathological conditions, management of CR can include conservative or surgical therapy. Conclusions: Despite the limited evidence in literature, CR is considered a consequence of orthognathic surgery. However, an accurate diagnosis of CR and a better orthognathic surgical planning must include 3D radiographic examinations to improve pre- and post-surgical comparison. Well-designed studies with long-term follow-up and 3D data are needed to clarify the findings of this analysis..

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제32권3호
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• pp.278-286
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• 2022

Live bacterial vector vaccines are one of the most promising vaccine types and have the advantages of low cost, flexibility, and good safety. Meanwhile, protein secretion systems have been reported as useful tools to facilitate the release of heterologous antigen proteins from bacterial vectors. The twin-arginine translocation (Tat) system is an important protein export system that transports fully folded proteins in a signal peptide-dependent manner. In this study, we constructed a live vector vaccine using an engineered commensal Escherichia coli strain in which amiA and amiC genes were deleted, resulting in a leaky outer membrane that allows the release of periplasmic proteins to the extracellular environment. The protective antigen proteins SLY, enolase, and Sbp against Streptococcus suis were targeted to the Tat pathway by fusing a Tat signal peptide. Our results showed that by exploiting the Tat pathway and the outer membrane-defective E. coli strain, the antigen proteins were successfully secreted. The strains secreting the antigen proteins were used to vaccinate mice. After S. suis challenge, the vaccinated group showed significantly higher survival and milder clinical symptoms compared with the vector group. Further analysis showed that the mice in the vaccinated group had lower burdens of bacteria load and slighter pathological changes. Our study reports a novel live bacterial vector vaccine that uses the Tat system and provides a new alternative for developing S. suis vaccine.

• 대한소아치과학회지
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• 제49권1호
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• pp.113-120
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• 2022

구강 점액종은 구강의 소타액선의 병적인 변화로 인해 타액의 축적을 야기하며 발생하는 흔한 외향성 병소이다. 구강 점액종은 대개 증상이 없으며 무통성이며 반투과성의 구상의 파동성 결절모양인 것이 특징이다. 일반적인 구강 점액종의 치료방법으로는 외과적 제거술, 조대술, 냉동절제술, 그리고 스테로이드 주사 등이 있다. 본 증례는 치료 시 협조도를 얻기에 충분하지 못한 영아나 소아환자에서 외과적인 치료 대신에 최소침습적 방법의 일환으로 미세조대술과 봉합법을 사용하여 구강에 발생한 점액종을 성공적으로 치료한 증례를 보고한다. 본 증례를 바탕으로 영유아와 행동조절에 문제가 있는 아동를 대상으로 치료하는 소아치과분야에서 구강 점액종 치료 시 미세조대술과 봉합법은 하나의 대안적 방법이 될 수 있음을 시사한다.

• 대한의용생체공학회:의공학회지
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• 제42권6호
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• pp.295-303
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• 2021

Idiopathic normal-pressure hydrocephalus (INPH) is considered a potentially treatable neurological disorder by shunt surgery and characterized by a triad of symptoms including gait disturbance, cognitive impairment and urinary dysfunction. Although disorders of white matter are generally viewed as the principal pathological features of INPH, analysis of cortical features are important since the destruction of neural tracts could be associated with cortical structural changing. The aim of the study was to determine whether there was any relationship between gait parameter and structural features of cerebral cortex in INPH patients. Gait parameters were measured as follows: step width, toe in/out angle, coefficient of variation (CV) value of stride length, CV value of stride time. After obtaining individual brain MRI of patients with INPH and hemispheric cortical surfaces were automatically extracted from each MR volume, which reconstructed the inner and outer cortical surface. Then, cortical thickness, surface area, and volume were calculated from the cortical surface. As a result, step width was positively correlated with bilateral postcentral gyrus and left precentral gyrus, and toe in/out was positively correlated with left posterior parietal cortex and left insula. Also, the CV value of stride length showed positive correlation in the right superior frontal sulcus, left insula, and the CV value of stride time showed positive correlation in the right superior frontal sulcus. Unique parameter of cerebral cortical changes, as measured using MRI, might underline impairments in distinct gait parameters in patients with INPH.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제29권3호
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• pp.295-302
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• 2021

Microglial priming is the process of microglial proliferation and activation in response to neurodegeneration and abnormal protein accumulation. Priming makes microglia susceptible to secondary inflammatory stimuli and causes exaggerated inflammatory responses. In the present study, we established a microglial priming model in mice by administering a single injection of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP, 20 mg/kg). MPTP induced microglial activation without dopaminergic degeneration; however, subsequent treatment with a sub-toxic dose of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) induced an amplified inflammatory response and caused nigrostriatal dopaminergic degeneration. These pathological and inflammatory changes, including microglial activation and dopaminergic cell loss in the substantia nigra (SN) area were reversed by papaverine (PAP) administration. In addition, MPTP/LPS enhanced interleukin-1β (IL-1β) expression and processing via nod-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation in the SN region of mice. However, PAP treatment suppressed inflammasome activation and subsequent IL-1β maturation. Moreover, PAP inhibited nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and enhanced cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) activity in the SN of MPTP/LPS mice. These results suggest that PAP inhibits the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome by modulating NF-κB and CREB signaling pathways, which results in reduced microglial activation and neuronal cell death. Thus, PAP may be a potential candidate for the treatment of Parkinsons's disease, which is aggravated by systemic inflammation.

• 반도체디스플레이기술학회지
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• 제20권4호
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• pp.161-166
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• 2021

Errors in the semiconductor process are generated by a change in the state of the equipment, and errors usually arise when the state of the equipment changes or when parts that make up the equipment have flaws. In this investigation, we anticipated that aging of the mass flow controller in the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition SiO2 thin film deposition method caused a minute flow rate shift. In seven cases, fourier transformation infrared film quality analysis of the deposited thin film was used to characterize normal and pathological processes. The plasma condition was monitored using optical emission spectrometry data as the flow rate changed during the procedure. Preprocessing was used to apply the collected OES data to the artificial immune system algorithm, which was then used to process diagnosis. Through comparisons between datasets, the learning algorithm compared classification accuracy and improved the method. It has been confirmed that data characterized as a normal process and abnormal processes with differing flow rates may be discriminated by themselves using the artificial immune system data mining method.

• 한국유기농업학회지
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.103-118
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• 2022

Photorhabdus is a bacterial symbiont of entomopathogenic nematodes of the genus Heterorhabditis in the family Heterorhabditidae. Photorhabdus is known to have nematicidal activity in addition to insecticidal activity. P. temperata isolated from Korean indigenous H. megidis Gwangju strain also produced high control efficacy against root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita and root-lesion nematode Pratylenchus penetrans. P. temperata has drawn interest as a potential bionematicide for the control of root-knot nematodes thereby. For the registration as an organic agricultural material, the toxicity of P. temperata was assessed by the acute toxicity test in carp (Cyprinus carpio) and acute oral and dermal toxicity tests in Sprague-Dawley rat (Rattus norvegicus) in compliance with the guidelines of the Rural Development Administration (RDA). In the acute toxicity test in fish, neither lethality nor abnormal responses of carp were observed. Body length and weight of carp and changes in DO concentrations and pH values were not significantly different between the treated group and the untreated control. In the acute oral and dermal toxicity tests, clinical signs, abnormal behavior, mortality, and pathological findings were not observed in all the experimental rats. The weight increment of all rats was normal. Acute toxicity results of P. temperata in fish and rats belonged to categories III, IV, and IV of RDA, respectively. Toxicity results of the present study indicated that P. temperata could be a safe and promising bionematicide against root-knot nematodes and root lesion nematode.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• 제64권6호
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• pp.1215-1225
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• 2022

The epidemiology of parasite infection in local and imported breeds is quite an essential topic in the meat industry and human health. This study aims to determine the prevalence of Dicrocoelium dendriticum in local sheep breeds (Naemi, Najdi, and Harri) and imported breeds from Romania (Romani breed) and the epidemiology of the infection in Saudi Arabia. Morphological description, the relationship between dicrocoeliasis and sex, age, and histological changes were also presented. A total of 6845 slaughtered sheep at Riyadh Automated slaughterhouse were investigated and followed up for 4 months between 2020-2021. It included 4,680 local breeds and 2,165 imported Romanian breeds. Fecal samples and livers and gallbladders from slaughtered animals were examined for apparent pathological lesions. The results indicated that the infection rate in slaughtered animals was 10.6% in imported Romani sheep and 0.9% in the local Naeimi breed. After identifying the parasite morphologically, negative results were obtained from examining feces, gallbladders, and livers of Najdi and Harry sheep breeds. The mean number of eggs per 20 µL/gallbladder was low (72.78 ± 17.8: 76.11 ± 5.07), medium (334.59 ± 90.6: 292.91 ± 26.63), and high (1113.2 ± 22.3: 1004 ± 143.4) in imported and Naeime sheep, respectively. Significant differences were found between gender and age (males and females were 3.67% and 6.31%; > 2 years 4.39%, 1-2 years 4.22%, and 1 year 3.53%) respectively. Histopathological lesions in the liver were more pronounced. Our survey confirmed the presence of D. dendriticum in imported Romani and local Naeimi sheep, and the potential role of imported sheep in the epidemiology of dicrocoeliasis in Saudi Arabia.