• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.145-152
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• 2008

Aerides vandarum and Vanda stangeana are two rare and endangered vandaceous orchids with immense floricultural traits. The intergeneric hybrids were synthesized by performing reciprocal crosses between them. In vitro germination response of the immature hybrid embryos was found to be best on half-strength Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 20% (v/v) coconut water/liquid endosperm from tender coconut. Determination of hybridity was made as early as the immature seeds or embryos germinated in vitro, using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Out of 15 arbitrarily chosen decamer RAPD primers, two were found to be useful in amplification of polymorphic bands specific to the parental species and their presence in the reciprocal crosses. However, a decisive profile that can identify the reciprocal crosses could not be provided by RAPD. Amplification of the trnL-F non-coding regions of chloroplast DNA of the parent species and hybrids aided easy identification of the reciprocal crosses from the fact that maternal inheritance of chloroplast DNA held true for these intergeneric hybrids. Subsequent restriction digestion of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified trnL-F non-coding regions of chloroplast DNA also consolidated the finding. Such PCR-based molecular markers could be used for early determination of hybridity and easy identification of the reciprocal crosses.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.17-26
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• 2000

The regional distribution and relative frequencies of endocrine cells were studied immunohistochemically (PAP methods) in the alimentary tract and pancreas of the toad, Bufo bufo gargarizans Cantor using specific antisera against bovine Sp-1/chromogranin (BCG), serotonin, bombesin, gastrin, substance P (SP), somatostatin, insulin, glucagon, pancreatic polypeptide (PP), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and secretin. Nine kinds of endocrine cells were identified in this study. Spherical or spindleshaped immunoreactive (IR) cells were located in the gastric glands of stomach regions, in the basal portion of the epithelium of intestinal tract or esophagus, and in the exocrine or pancreatic islets with variable frequencies. In the alimentary tract, BCG-IR cells were found in the fundus and pylorus with rare and a few frequencies, respectively. Serotonin-IR cells were demonstrated in the whole alimentary tract including the esophagus. Bombesin- and SP-IR cells were restricted to the stomach regions and gastrin-IR cells were restricted to the pylorus. Somatostatin-IR cells were detected throughout the whole alimentary tract except for the large intestine, However, insulin-, glucagon-, PP-, VIP- and secretin-IR cells were not detected in the alimentary tract. In the pancreas of toad, the distribution and relative frequency of endocrine cells were similar to those of other mammals. Insulin-IR cells were located in the central portion of the pancreatic islets and interspaces of exocrine portions, and glucagon-, somatostatin- and PP-IR cells were detected in the marginal regions of the pancreatic islets and interspaces of exocrine. However, other IR cells were not found in the pancreas. In conclusion, the regional distribution and relative frequency of the endocrine cells in the alimentary tract and pancreas of the toad were similar to other anuran species but some differences which might be caused by feeding habits and species specification were also observed.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.61-65
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• 2020

Majority of the imported malaria cases in Korea is attributed to Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax infections, whereas P. malariae and P. ovale infections are very rare. Falciparum and ovale malaria are mostly imported from Africa, while most of the vivax malaria cases are imported from Southeast Asia. Here, we report 6 Korean imported ovale malaria cases (4 males and 2 females) who had visited in Africa during 2013-2016. These subjects were diagnosed with P. ovale based on microscopic findings, Plasmodium species-specific nested-PCR, and phylogenetic clade using 18S rRNA gene sequences. We identified 2 P. ovale subtypes, 1 P. ovale curtisi (classic type) and 5 P. ovale wallikeri (variant type). All patients were treated with chloroquine and primaquine, and no relapse or recrudescence was reported for 1 year after treatment. With increase of travelers to the countries where existing Plasmodium species, the risk of Plasmodium infection is also increasing. Molecular monitoring for imported malaria parasites should be rigorously and continuously performed to enable diagnosis and certification of Plasmodium spp.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.70.1-70.1
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• 2012

In-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and infrared (IR) spectroscopy studies of SOFC cathode materials will be discussed in this presentation. The mixed conducting perovskites (ABO3) containing rare and alkaline earth metals on the A-site and a transition metal on the B-site are commonly used as cathodes for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). However, the details of the oxygen reduction reaction are still not clearly understood. The information about the type of adsorbed oxygen species and their concentration is important for a mechanistic understanding of the oxygen incorporation into these cathode materials. XPS has been widely used for the analysis of adsorbed species and surface structure. However, the conventional XPS experiments have the severe drawback to operate at room temperature and with the sample under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions, which is far from the relevant conditions of SOFC operation. The disadvantages of conventional XPS can be overcome to a large extent with a "high pressure" XPS setup installed at the BESSY II synchrotron. It allows sample depth profiling over 2 nm without sputtering by variation of the excitation energy, and most importantly measurements under a residual gas pressure in the mbar range. It is also well known that the catalytic activity for the oxygen reduction is very sensitive to their electrical conductivity and oxygen nonstoichiometry. Although the electrical conductivity of perovskite oxides has been intensively studied as a function of temperature or oxygen partial pressure (Po2), in-situ measurements of the conductivity of these materials in contact with the electrolyte as a SOFC configuration have little been reported. In order to measure the in-plane conductivity of an electrode film on the electrolyte, a substrate with high resistance is required for excluding the leakage current of the substrate. It is also hardly possible to measure the conductivity of cracked thin film by electrical methods. In this study, we report the electrical conductivity of perovskite $La_{0.6}Sr_{0.4}CoO_{3-{\delta}}$ (LSC) thin films on yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte quantitatively obtained by in-situ IR spectroscopy. This method enables a reliable measurement of the electronic conductivity of the electrodes as part of the SOFC configuration regardless of leakage current to the substrate and cracks in the film.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.104-113
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• 2005

Large inversions are well characterized in the chloroplast genomes of land plants. In contrast, reports of small inversions are rare and involve limited plant groups. In this study, we report the widespread occurrence of small inversions ranging from 5 to 50 bp in fully and partially sequenced chloroplast genomes of both monocots and dicots. We found that small inversions were much more common than large inversions. The small inversions were scattered over the chloroplast genome including the IR, SSC, and LSC regions. Several small inversions were uncovered in chloroplast genomes even though they shared the same overall gene order. The majority of these small inversions were located within 100 bp downstream of the 3' ends of genes. All had inverted repeat sequences, ranging from 11 to 24 bp, at their ends. Such small inversions form stem-loop hairpin structures that usually have the function of stabilizing the corresponding mRNA molecules. Intra-molecular recombination between the inverted sequences in the stem-forming regions are responsible for generating flip-flop orientations of the loops. The presence of two different orientations of the stem-loop in the trnL-F noncoding region of a single species of Jasminum elegans suggests that a short inversion can be generated within a short period of time. Small inversions of non-coding sequences may influence sequence alignment and character interpretation in phylogeny reconstructions, as shown in nine species of Jasminum. Many small inversions may have been generated by parallel or back mutation events during chloroplast genome evolution. Our data indicate that caution is needed when using chloroplast non-coding sequences for phylogenetic analysis.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.412-424
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• 2009

The flora and vegetation of Chuncheon area were investigated from March, 2006 to September, 2008. Vascular plants of investigated regions were composed of 118 families, 496 genera, 894 species, 2 subspecies, 132 varieties, and 38 forms, totally 1,066 taxa, and the Pteridophyta index (Pte-Q) was 1.17. Forty two taxa including endemic genus Hanabusaya and Echinosophora among the 1,066 taxa were Korean endemic. Thirty three rare and endangered plants and 119 specially designated plants by Ministry of Environment were also investigated. The naturalized plants were 71 taxa, and percent of naturalized plant species were 6.66%. The vegetation of Chuncheon area were classified into five communities such as Quercus mongolica community, Pinus densiflora-Quercus mongolica community, Quercus mongolica-Acer mono community, Quercus mongolica-Quercus variabilis community and Quercus mongolica-Betula davurica community.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.345-370
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• 2019

To identify the flora of the vascular plant on Chujado Island in Chuja-myeon, Jeju-si, Jeju Province, Korea, eleven field surveys were conducted between April to September of 2013 and from May to September of 2018. The results of the surveys identified 558 taxa, with 97 families, 311 genera, 481 species, two subspecies, 65 varieties, and ten forms of vascular plants on Chujado Island. Of the 558 taxa identified, seven were endemic species and eight were rare plants according to the Korea Forest Service. Furthermore, 109 of the taxa identified were from floristic environments, while 62 were considered to be naturalized plants, with three of these considered to be invasive and causes of ecosystem disturbances. The highest degree of similarity among the plants from seven sites adjacent to Chujado Island was found on Saengil Island, at 51.7%.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.188-210
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• 2002

Tonggo-san(1066.5m) is located at 36° 53' 00" - 36" 55' 00" in latitude, at 129° 10' 30" - 129° 13' 00" in longitude and on Seo-myeon, Uljin-gun and Subi-myeon, Yeongyang-gun in Gyeongsangbuk-do. Tonggo-san shows the typical vegetation patterns including the middle area of temperate region of Korea represented by the secondary forests of Quercus mongolica and Q. dentata. There was no detailed result on the flora and vegetation of Tonggo-san until now. Therefore, we tried to discuss on the distribution and availability of vascular plants including economical plants. Also, we could discuss the especialized plants and their distributions according to the criteria by the Ministry of Environment. The results of plant collection and their investigation from April in 2001 to November in 2001 are as follows : The vascular plants consist of total 565 taxa; 17 forms, 82 varieties, 466 species, 297 genera, 94 families,37 orders, 4 classes, 2 subphyla. In this area, there were a lot of useful economic plants such as 232 taxa(41%) of edible source, 222 taxa(39％) of forage source, 183 taxa(32%) of medicinal source, and 72 taxa(12%) of ornamental source, 15 taxa(2.6%) timber source, 7 taxa(1.2%) industrial raw material source respectively. Among them, the Korean endemic plants were 22 taxa(3.9％ among total 565 taxa); 1 forms, 2 varieties, 19 species, 22 genera, 16 families. And rare and endangered plants was 1 taxa; Astragatus membranaceus. Also, the naturalized plants were 19 taxa(3.4% among total 565 taxa and 10.4% among the total naturalized plants in Korea).

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.86-95
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• 2020

The red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis) is an endangered, large-bodied crane native to East Asia. It is a traditional symbol of longevity and its long lifespan has been confirmed both in captivity and in the wild. Lifespan in birds is known to be positively correlated with body size and negatively correlated with metabolic rate, though the genetic mechanisms for the red-crowned crane's long lifespan have not previously been investigated. Using whole genome sequencing and comparative evolutionary analyses against the grey-crowned crane and other avian genomes, including the long-lived common ostrich, we identified redcrowned crane candidate genes with known associations with longevity. Among these are positively selected genes in metabolism and immunity pathways (NDUFA5, NDUFA8, NUDT12, SOD3, CTH, RPA1, PHAX, HNMT, HS2ST1, PPCDC, PSTK CD8B, GP9, IL-9R, and PTPRC). Our analyses provide genetic evidence for low metabolic rate and longevity, accompanied by possible convergent adaptation signatures among distantly related large and long-lived birds. Finally, we identified low genetic diversity in the red-crowned crane, consistent with its listing as an endangered species, and this genome should provide a useful genetic resource for future conservation studies of this rare and iconic species.

• Journal of Clinical Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.223-228
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• 2018

Background and Objectives : Necortizing fasciitis in the cervical region is a very rare disease with high mortality and morbidity rates. The purpose of this study was to analyze the clinical characteristics, treatment results, complication and prognosis of necrotizing fasciitis patients. Materials and Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the inpatient charts treated for cervical necrotizing fasciitis at our Otorhinolaryngology clinic. We diagnosed necrotizing fasciitis by the clinical findings such as swelling, redness and pain of infected area and necrosis of subcutaneous fat layer and fascia observed during surgery. Twenty such patients were identified and treated from January 2011 to December 2016. Results : 20 adults consisting of 14 male and 6 females with cervical necrotizing fasciitis were diagnosed and treated. The most commonly known associated preceding illness were dental abscess and tonsillitis. The most pathogen was Streptococcus species (12/20), followed by Klebsiella pneumonia (6/20), Staphylococcus species (2/20). The mean duration of hospitalization was 32.2 days (range,14-86). The mean Modified Laboroatory Risk Indicator for Necrotizing Fasciitis (M-LRINEC) score is 7.4 and more than 4 points was eighteen. All patients received parenteral antibiotics and surgical drainage after admission. Conclusions : The reason for the high survival rate in the study was the early diagnosis, as well as the early surgical procedure and antibiotics. After the operation, frequent betadine irrigation could improve the patient's condition and recover without severe complication.