• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.241-247
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• 2014

Purpose: Serum vitamin C is one of the indicators for antioxidant levels in the body and it is lower in cancer patients compared with the healthy population. However, there have been few studies on the levels of serum vitamin C in terminally ill cancer patients and related factors. Methods: We followed 65 terminal cancer patients who were hospitalized in two palliative care units. We collected data of age, sex, cancer type, functional status, clinical symptoms, history of cancer therapy, and various laboratory findings including serum vitamin C level. Patients were categorized into two groups according to the quartile of serum vitamin C level (Q1-3 vs. Q4), which were compared each other. Stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors related to serum vitamin C levels. Results: The mean serum vitamin C level was $0.44{\mu}g/mL$, and all patients fell into the category of vitamin C deficiency. Univariate analysis showed that The serum vitamin C level was lower in non-lung cancer patients (P=0.041) and febrile patients (P=0.034). Multivariate analysis adjusted for potential confounders such as lung cancer, fever, dysphagia, dyspnea, C reactive protein, and history of chemotherapy demonstrated that odds for low serum vitamin C level was 3.7 for patients receiving chemotherapy (P=0.046) and 7.22 for febrile patients (P=0.02). Conclusion: Vitamin C deficiency was very severe in terminally ill cancer patients, and it was associated with history of chemotherapy and fever.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.39 no.9 s.266
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• pp.674-680
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• 2006

Background: Acute myocardial infarction (MI) is a life-threatening disease and surgical revascularization plays a major role in selected cases. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the left ventricular contractility improvement by examining the wall motion score index (WMSI) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in patients who under-went surgical revascularization under diagnosis of acute MI. Material and Method: From January, 2001 to December, 2004, 149 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass surgery within 2 weeks of acute MI were included. We evaluated pre- and postoperative left ventricular contractility by measuring WMSI and LVEF and examined the associating factors. Result: WMSI decreased from $1.54{\pm}4.30\;to\;1.43{\pm}0.40$ (p<0.001) and LVEF increased from $48.1{\pm}12.2%\;to\;49.7{\pm}12.3%$ after surgery (p=0.009). Off-pump technique, non-Q wave, anterior MI, and surgery within 7 days after MI were favorable factors for LVEF improvement (p=0.046, p=0.006, p=0.003, p=0.005, respectively). Conversely, aforementioned factors were irrelevant with WMSI improvement. For triple vessel disease, complete revascularization was favorable factor for WMSI improvement (p<0.001). Conclusion: Coronary artery by-pass surgery can improve WMSI and LVEF in patients with acute MI. In case of anterior MI with non-Q wave, early surgical revascularization within 7 days may be most beneficial in LVEF improvement. Regarding WMSI, complete revascularization may be essential.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.66 no.1
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• pp.82-94
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• 1984

The variation of stomatal density and stomatal length of four species of oaks was studied for the purpose of examining the differences among populations and among individual trees within population. Nine populations of Quercus mongolica, four populations of Q. serrata and Q. variabilis respectively, and three populations of Q. acutissima were selected in the natural stands of oaks distributed through the whole country. Twelve leaves were sampled from each of 20 trees from each population. The length of 20 stomata and ten replications of stomatal density were measured from collodion replicas of each leaf under a microscope. Average stomatal densities and lengths ranged through $600-1000/mm^2$ and $19-26{\mu}m$ respectively in all of the species studied. The stomatal densities and lengths presented significant differences statistically at the level of 1 or 5% among populations and among individual trees within population in all the species. Quercus mongolica, especially, showed large variation among populations, while Q. variabilis did very narrow variation compared to the other species. The coefficients of variation of stomatal densities and lengths among individual trees within population exhibited small values of 3.7-12.0% and 1.4-5.3% respectively in all the populations of the species. The average stomatal densities of Q. mongolica showed statistically significant correlation of multiple correlation coefficient of $R_{df{\cdot}2.6}=0.868^*$ and multiple regression equation of $Y=0.041X_1(G.M.T.S.)+0.489X_2(G.M.H.S.)+22.37$ with the sum of growing season mean daily temperature and the sum of growing season mean daily humidity of the stand studied. However the average stomatal lengths showed no relation with the same meteological variables. The figures of frequency distribution of the measurements of leaves or the mean values of individual trees did not show normal distribution curves in some populations. The curves, as well as the results of ANOVA, exhibited the differences among populations.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.776-784
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• 1998

Background: The cyclin D1 gene is one of the most frequently amplified chromosomal regions(11q13) in human carcinomas. In laryngeal and head and neck carcinomas, its overexpression has been shown to be associated with advanced local invasion and presence of lymph node metastases. Cyclin D1 may therefore playa key role in cell growth regulation and tumorigenesis. Lung cancer is a worldwide problem and in many contries it is the most lethal malignancy. As relapse is frequent after resection of early stage non-small cell lung cancer, there is an urgent need to define prognostic factors. Purpose: This study was undertaken to evaluate the prognostic value of the cyclin D1, that is one the G1 cyclins which control cell cycle progression by allowing G1 to S phase transition, on the patients in radically resected non-small cell lung cancer. Method: Total 81 cases of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded blocks from resected primary non-small cell lung cancer from January 1, 1983 to July 31, 1995 at Hanyang University Hospital were available for both clinical follow-up and immunohistochemical staining using monoclonal antibodies for cyclin D1. Results : The histologic classification of the tumor was based on WHO criteria, and the specimens included 45 squamous cell carcinomas, 25 adenocarcinomas and 11 large cell carcinomas. Cyclin D1 overexpression was noted in 26 cases of 81 cases tested (30.9%). Cyclin D1 expression was not significantly associated with cell types of the tumor, pathological staging and the size of the tumor. But cyclin D1 overexpression was significantly correlated with positive lymph node metastasis(p=0.035). The mean survival duration was $22.76{\pm}3.50$ months in cyclin D1 positive group and $45.38{\pm}5.64$ months in eyclin D1 negative group. There was a nearly significant difference in overall survival between cyclin D1 positive and negative groups(p=0.0515) in radically resected non-small cell lung cancer. Conclusion: Based on this study, cyelin D1 overexpression appears an important poor prognostic indicator in non-small cell lung cancer and may have diagnostic and prognostic importance in the treatment of resectable non-small cell lung cancer.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.247-257
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• 2016

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between instant noodle intake and metabolic factors in Korean adults. Methods: Study subjects were 5,894 (male 2,293, female 3,601) aged 19~64 years who participated in the 2013~2014 KNHANES. Information on frequency and consumption of instant noodles was obtained by the food frequency questionnaires method in KNHANES (Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey), and subjects were classified according to age, sex, and instant noodle consumption (INC). Results: The frequency and consumption of instant noodles was 1.2 times/week and 1.2 servings in subjects. High INC group (${\geq}1$ serving/week) was significantly younger in age compared with the low INC group (< 1 serving/week). However, the high INC group had significantly higher waist circumference, metabolic factors (triglyceride, cholesterol, and HDL-cholesterol), and dietary intake (energy intake, fat, and sodium density) compared with the low INC group. Hyperglycemia showed association with higher risk of highest quartile of INC after adjustments for multiple confounding factors, including age, gender, household income, education, smoking, and alcohol compared with the lowest quartile (OR: 1.4, 95% CI: 1.1-1.8). In female, abdominal obesity showed association with higher risk of highest quartile of INC after adjustments for multiple confounding factors compared with the lowest quartile (OR: 1.6, 95% CI: 1.2-2.2). Conclusion: Consumption of instant noodles was associated with increased prevalence of abdominal obesity and hyperglycemia in women. These findings suggest an association of instant noodle consumption status with metabolic risk.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.301-312
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• 2016

This study has performed comparative analysis on characteristics of contaminated 35 tributaries on seasonal variation/point discharge load/pollutant distribution of water quality factors(8) in order to understand the effect of the watershed in Nakdong River Basin. As a results, the water quality of $BOD_5$(Biochemical Oxygen Demand), Chl-a(Chlorophyll a) and Fecal E. Coli shows II grade at tributaries of more than 50% without COD(Chemical Oxygen Demand), TP(Total Phosphate), TOC(Total Oxygen Carbon) and TN(Total Nitrogen) factors. The specific discharge(Q) were occupied about 54.4% (19 sites) as $0.05m^3/sec/km^2$ value. Among these results, the contaminant level of Dalseocheon, Hyeonjicheon, Seokkyocheon 1, Uriyeongcheon and Dasancheon was also high, which has to consider a discharged pollutant load(kg/day). The 35 major tributaries of Nakdong River were included in 7 mid-watershed, such as Nakdong Waegwan, Geumho River, Nakdong Goryung, Nakdong Changnyung, Nam River, Nakdong Milyang, Nakdong River Hagueon. Especially, the discharged pollutant load of Nam River and Geumho River also was high according to the amount of discharge such as Kachang dam, Gongsan dam and Nam river dam. Seasonal difference of the water quality factors such as $BOD_5$, TN, SS and Q was observed largely, on the other hand the TP and Chl-a was not. This is guessed due to the precipitation effect of site, biological and physicochemical degradation properties of pollutant and etc. The co-relationship between the seasonal difference and water quality factors was observed using a Pearson correlation coefficients. Besides, the Multiple Regression analysis using a Stepwise Regression method was conducted to understand the effect between seasonal difference and water quality factors/regression equations. As a result, the Multiple Regression analysis was adapted in the spring, summer and autumn without the winter, which was observed high at spring, summer and autumn in the order COD/TP, Chl-a/TOC, TOC/COD/$BOD_5$ water quality factors, respectively.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.564-573
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• 1999

Background: With variable symptoms and nonspecific radiographic appearances, pulmonary embolism (PE) is a frequent and often undiagnosed cause of mortality and morbidity. The Prospective Investigation of Pulmonary Embolism Diagnosis (PIOPED) study suggested that the majority of patients undergoing ventilation-perfusion (V-Q) scan would require additional studies to establish or to exclude the diagnosis of PE. Pulmonary angiography has been regarded as gold standard for diagnosis of PE. However, it is an invasive procedure that may be associated with significant notable morbidity and mortality. Thus, availability of an accurate, noninvasive screening examination is highly desirable. Method: From October 1994 to February 1997, twenty patients (male 13, female 7, range 23-91 years, median 58 years) who were suspected as pulmonary embolism on the basis of clinical evidence and underwent the spiral volumetric computed tomography (spiral CT), were studied retrospectively to evaluate the effectiveness of spiral CT as a diagnostic tool in PE. Results: PE could be excluded with spiral CT in 4 patients ; diagnoses of these patients were lung cancer, pneumonia with lung abscess, bilateral pleural effusion due to congestive heart failure, nonspecific pulmonary abnormality retrospectively. One patient who disclosed high probability in V/Q scan, could be diagnosed as pneumonia with lung abscess and underlying emphysema with spiral CT. Among 4 patients who showed intermediate and low probability in V/Q scan, 3 patients could be confirmed as PE with spiral CT. Spiral CT was helpful in 3 patients, in whom V/Q scan could not be performed due to other reasons (e.g. night time, mechanical ventilation) to confirm the diagnosis of PE. Spiral CT could demonstrate embolus above lobar artery level in 11 patients, and up to segmental artery level in 5 patients. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that spiral CT could allow accurate demonstration of thrombotic clots in centrally localized embolism. Spiral CT could be effective, specific, noninvasive and useful diagnostic screening modality for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.164-170
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• 2011

Amanita hemibapha is a kind of mycorrhizal mushroom which has a relation with host plants and environmental factors. For the purpose of studying the relationship between environmental factors and mushrooms, in this study we conducted to investigate the soil physicochemical properties, the distribution of plants and the diversity of mushrooms in Gwangyang, Chungdo and Daegu. Soil texture in habitate of Amanita hemibapha was Sandy Loam and Sandy Clay Loam which contains a high rate of sand. Soil pH was approximately 5.0 in all study sites. Total nitrogen contents, C/N ratio and available phosphate($P_2O_5$) were the highest at the Chungdo. However, Gwangyang and Chungdo represent similar Cation Exchange Capacity(C.E.C) and Daegu has much less than other areas. Exchangeable cations, $Ca^{2+}$ content was higher at Gwangyang and Chungdo than Daegu and $Na^+$ content was the highest at Chungdo among three sites. Daegu has much $Mg^{2+}$ contents followed by Chungdo and Gwangyang. Interestingly, $K^+$ content listed in reverse order of $Mg^{2+}$ at Gwangyang, Chungdo and Daegu. The main woody plants in study sites are confirmed as Carpinus laxiflora, Quercus mongolica, Q. serrata and Pinus densiflora. Quercus species are found as a common species in three study sites. Lastly, 8 family and 12 species of mushrooms are emerged in Gwangyang, also 8 family and 12 species and 5 family and 10 species are found in Chungdo and Daegu, respectively. Amanita pantherina, Boletus edulis, Tylopilus felleus and Marasmius maximus, which found in study sites, are also kind of mycorrhizal mushroom same as A. hemibaph. By using correspondence analysis, Q. mongolica, Q. serrata, Q. variabilis and C. laxiflora are expected to as a host plant of A. hemibapha.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.284-292
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• 2018

The melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), a cyclic hypothalamic peptide composed of 17 amino acids, was initially identified in chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) as a regulator of pigmentation. Mammalian MCHs are cyclic hypothalamic peptides composed of 19 amino acids that regulate food intake and energy homeostasis. The present study examined not only MCH expression of different tissues but also the melanohore aggregation and intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ influx of fMCH and the other MCH. Real-time qPCR showed that MCH expressed specially in the brain, gonad, and ovary, and expression of MCH was observed during the developmental stages. In the application of synthetic fMCH and both types of synthetic fMCH, dN-fMCH and dC-fMCH, scale melanophore induced significant changes in aggregation activity with various concentrations of MCH. Also, compared to hMCH and sMCH, fMCH exhibited a 36~99.85% increase in relative potency (%), whereas aggregation of dN-fMCH and dC-fMCH remained in a high concentration. However, dispersion was induced rapidly according to be low concentration of dN-fMCH and dC-fMCH. We show that fMCH and its derivates were bound human MCHR1 and rat MCHR expressed in HEK293T cells with nano-molar affinity and are likely to be ligand-induced to mobilize intracellular $Ca^{2+}$. These results may provide new ligands for binding assay with MCHew ligands, as a structure similar to the mammalian MCH structure was discovered in fish. Once the fMCH receptor system is in place, it can be compared to the MCH system of mammals in terms of MCH function.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.765-771
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• 2018

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma ($PPAR{\gamma}$) is a key transcription factor that regulates adipogenesis, and epigenetic control of $PPAR{\gamma}$ is of great interest in obesity-inhibition research. Our previous study showed that CACUL1 (CDK2-associated cullin domain 1) acts as a corepressor that inhibits $PPAR{\gamma}$ transcriptional activity and adipocyte differentiation. Here, we investigated the roles of protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5), a novel binding partner of CACUL1, in regulating $PPAR{\gamma}$. The interaction between PRMT5 and CACUL1 was shown by immunoprecipitation assay in vivo and GST pulldown assay in vitro. As shown by luciferase reporter assay, PRMT5 and CACUL1 cooperated to inhibit the transcriptional activity of $PPAR{\gamma}$. The suppressive role of PRMT5 in adipogenesis was examined by Oil Red O staining using 3T3-L1 cells, which stably overexpress or deplete PRMT5. Overexpression of PRMT5 suppresses $PPAR{\gamma}$-mediated adipogenesis, whereas PRMT5 knockdown increases lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 cells. Consistently, PRMT5 attenuates the expression of Lpl and aP2, the target genes of $PPAR{\gamma}$, as demonstrated by RT-qPCR analysis. Overall, these results suggest that PRMT5 interacts with CACUL1 to impair the transcriptional activity of $PPAR{\gamma}$, leading to the inhibition of adipocyte differentiation. Therefore, the regulation of PRMT5 enzymatic activity may provide a clue to develop an anti-obesity drug.