• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.63-69
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• 1997

Erythropoietin (EPO) is a glycoprotein that mediates the growth and differentiation of erythroid progenitors. In order to produce recombinant human erythropoietin in tobacco plant, the EPO genomic DNA (5.4 kb) was cloned into plant expression vectors, pBI$\Delta$GUS121, pBD$\Delta$GUS121 and pPEV-1, and introduced in Nicotiana tabacum (var. Xanthi) via Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. After selection on MS media containing kanamycin (Km), 10 Km-resistant plants were obtained per each construct. The correct integration of EPO genomic DNA in the genome of transgenic plant was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Northern blot showed that transcripts of 1.8 kb length were produced in leaves of the plants, but there was no difference of mRNA amount according to promoter number and 5'-untranslated sequence (UTS). The proteins obtained from leaves of transgenic plants were immunologically detected by Western blot using rabbit anti-human EPO polyclonal antibody. The expressed protein appeared as smaller band of apparent mass of 30 kDa as compared to the EPO protein from human urine (37 kDa), suggesting that the modification (glycosylation) system in tobacco plant might be different from that of mammalian cells.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.81-88
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• 2018

Objective : Spondylitis is often chemotherapy resistant and requires long-term treatment. Without adequate chemotherapy, the outcome can be fatal or result in severe neurologic damage. Therefore, differentiating the etiology of spondylitis is very important, particularly in spontaneous cases. As the prevalence of tuberculosis in Korea has decreased in recent years, updated clinical research about spondylitis is warranted. Methods : From April 2010 to March 2016, data from spondylitis patients were collected retrospectively. In total, 69 patients (51 with pyogenic spondylitis and 18 with tuberculous spondylitis) were included. Clinical data, laboratory findings including erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) level, measurements of Cobb angles at the initial and final follow-up, and radiologic features on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were evaluated. To test differences between the pyogenic and tuberculous groups, numerical data were compared using the student's t-test and Mann-Whitney U test, and categorical data were compared using the chi-square test and Fisher's exact test. Results : The patients' mean age was 60.0 years. Male sex was slightly predominant (56.5%). There was no difference in mean age and sex between the two groups. The pyogenic group had a relatively higher proportion of immunocompromised patients. The peak CRP value was higher in the pyogenic group than in the tuberculous group (14.08 mg/dL and 8.50 mg/dL, respectively, p=0.009), whereas the ESR was not significantly different between the groups (81.5 mm/h and 75.6 mm/h, respectively, p=0.442). Radiologically, the presence of disc space sparing and vertebral body collapse differed between the groups. In the tuberculous group, the disc was more commonly preserved on contrast-enhanced MRI (50% and 23.5%, respectively, p=0.044), and vertebral body collapse was more common (66.6% and 15.7%, respectively, p<0.001). The mean length of hospitalization was longer in the pyogenic group (56.5 days and 41.2 days, respectively, p=0.001). Four mortality cases were observed only in the pyogenic group. The most commonly isolated microorganism in the pyogenic group was Staphylococcus aureus(S. aureus) (methicillin susceptible S. aureus and methicillin resistant S. aureus [MRSA] in 8 and 4 cases, respectively). Conclusion : The clinical and radiological manifestations of spontaneous spondylitis differ based on the causative organism. Pyogenic spondylitis patients tend to have a higher CRP level and a more severe clinical course, whereas tuberculous spondylitis patients present with destruction of the vertebral body with disc sparing more frequently. The presence of MRSA is increasing in community-acquired spondylitis cases.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.10-21
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• 2001

Background : The Clostridium difficile is the most important identifiable cause of nosocomial infectious diarrhea and colitis, which lengthens hospital stay. Recently incidence of C. difficile has been increasing in an university hospital, and an intervention for prevention and control of C. difficile associated diarrhea (CDAD) was in prompt need. Methods : Subjects were the patients in the neurosurgical intensive care unit(NCU) where C. difficile was most frequently isolated. To increase participation of various departments, we used the CQI method, because management of CDAD requires a wholistic approach including control of antibiotics, barrier precaution and environmental cleaning and disinfection. Duration of the CQI activities was 9 months from April to December 1999. Results : The identified problems were misuse and overuse of antibiotics, lack of consciousness of medical personnels and the possibility of transmission from the contaminated environment and tube feeding. Education for proper use of antibiotics and management of C. difficile infection, use of precaution stickers, supplement of handwashing equipments, emphasis on environmental disinfection, and the change of the process of tube feeding were done. The CDAD rate in NCU was significantly decreased after the CQI program (8.6 case per 1,000 patient days from January to April 1999 vs 4.8 from May to December 1999). The distribution of neurosurgical wards including NCU among the total number of isolated C. difficile from the clinical specimens dropped from 49.4% in January to April to 33,7% in May to December. The average hospital stay of the neurosurgical department changed from 19.6 days to 15.2 days. Also, the effect of the CQI activities for C. difficile may have affected the incidence of vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE). Duration and dosage of certain antibiotics used in the NS department were decreased. The distribution of neurosurgical department in the number of VRE isolated patients declined from 18.4% to 11.1%. Conclusion : Infection control of resistant organisms such as C. difficile is likely to be successful when management of environmental contamination an collaborative efforts of decreasing the patients' risk factors such as antibiotics management and decreasing the length of hospital stay come simultaneously. For this work, related departments need to actively participate in the entire process under a common target through discussions for identifying problems and bringing up solutions. In this respect, making use of a CQI team is an efficient method of infection control for gathering participation and cooperation of related departments.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.192-200
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• 2012

For the development of genetically modified plants, it is important to verify various factors which potentially affect the risk assessment as well as to establish an experimental program to produce scientific and reliable data. However, it is a time and cost consuming process to develop GM plants as well as to prepare scientific and convincible data for government's approval. Therefore, using the transgenic hot pepper tolerant to a new CMV pathotype, we attempted to suggest few methodological procedures, such as probe saturation for southern blot analysis and RT-PCR and ELISA for expression analysis, for identification and stability evaluation of inserted gene in genetically modified plant which are required for submission for approval. Ten partially overlapped probes covering full length of inserted gene were produced. We could identify that the inserted gene was stacked as a single copy as well as no partial element existed. Also, we could identify the stability of the inserted gene stacked in hot pepper using probe saturation. In the expression analysis with RT-PCR and ELISA, we also could provide the stable expression of transcript and proteins in leaves and placenta and pericarp of fruits of the CMV-resistant hot pepper.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.135-142
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• 2014

Physicochemical, pasting, and digestion properties of sweet potato starches from 11 Korean cultivars were investigated. Starch granules were variably oval, round, polygonal, spherical, and bell-shaped, and of 10.2-15.3 ${\mu}m$ in mean particle diameter. Amylose contents varied from 12.3 to 17.4%. A similar chain length distribution of amylopectin was found in each of the cultivars. The portion of $B_3$ correlated with the degree of amylose leaching. Thermal properties determined by differential scanning calorimetry showed high values of gelatinization temperatures in Shinyulmi and Jeungmi starches, but a relatively low value in Daeyumi starch. All starches exhibited a Ca-type diffraction pattern. Differing patterns were observed in swelling factors, depending on temperature. The contents of rapidly digestible starch, slowly digestible starch, and resistant starch ranged from 9.6-17.4, 31.4-45.6, and 35.7-62.8%, respectively. In Rapid Visco Analyser profiles, differences were observed in pasting parameters such as pasting temperature, peak viscosity, final viscosity, and breakdown.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.1735-1743
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• 2010

The full-length genes gyrB (2,415 bp), parC (2,277 bp), and parE (1,896 bp) in Edwardsiella tarda were cloned by PCR with degenerate primers based on the sequence of the respective quinolone resistance-determining region (QRDR), followed by elongation of 5' and 3' ends using cassette ligation-mediated PCR (CLMP). Analysis of the cloned genes revealed open reading frames (ORFs) encoding proteins of 804 (GyrB), 758 (ParC), and 631 (ParE) amino acids with conserved gyrase/topoisomerase features and motifs important for enzymatic function. The ORFs were preceded by putative promoters, ribosome binding sites, and inverted repeats with the potential to form cruciform structures for binding of DNA-binding proteins. When comparing the deduced amino acid sequences of E. tarda GyrB, ParC, and ParE with those of the corresponding proteins in other bacteria, they were found to be most closely related to Escherichia coli GyrB (87.6% identity), Klebsiella pneumoniae ParC (78.8% identity), and Salmonella Typhimurium ParE (89.5% identity), respectively. The two topoisomerase genes, parC and parE, were found to be contiguous on the E. tarda chromosome. All 18 quinolone-resistant isolates obtained from Korea thus far did not contain subunit alternations apart from a substitution in GyrA (Ser83$\rightarrow$Arg). However, an alteration in the QRDR of ParC (Ser84$\rightarrow$Ile) following an amino acid substitution in GyrA (Asp87$\rightarrow$Gly) was detected in E. tarda mutants selected in vitro at $8{\mu}g/ml$ ciprofloxacin (CIP). A mutant with a GyrB (Ser464$\rightarrow$Leu) and GyrA (Asp87$\rightarrow$Gly) substitution did not show a significant increase in the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of CIP. None of the in vitro mutants exhibited mutations in parE. Thus, gyrA and parC should be considered to be the primary and secondary targets, respectively, of quinolones in E. tarda.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.75-82
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• 2010

The molecular epidemiological characteristics of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates have demonstrated their genetic diversity and evolution. A total of 137 strains of MRSA clinical isolates was collected from Korean healthcare facility in 2007. The MRSA clinical isolates were analyzed by molecular typings (SCCmec element and agr locus typing), virule nce factor gene detections {(Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL), enterotoxin, exfoliative toxin and toxic shock syndrome toxin-1), and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP)}. The MRSA clinical isolates were classified as SCCmec type II-agr type 1 (2 strains), type II-agr type 2 (79 strains), type III-agr type 1 (24 strains), type III-agr type 2 (2 strains), type IV-agr type 1 (27 strains), type IV-agr type 2 (2 strains), and non-typable (1 strain, agr type 3). Based on SCCmec types, SCCmec type II (95.1%) and III (88.5%) indicated higher multidrug resistance rate than SCCmec type IV (10.3%) (P<0.001). The most common enterotoxin genes were seg (83.8%), sei (83.1%), and sec (80.2%). The tst gene was present in 86 out of 137 (62.8%) MRSA isolates. All MRSA isolates were negative for PVL and exfoliative toxin genes. The combinations of toxin genes were observed in particular SCCmec types; 97.6% of SCCmec type II strains carried sec, seg, sei and tst genes, 73.0% of SCCmec type III strains carried sea gene, and 89.7% of SCCmec type IV strains carried sec, seg and sei genes. Each of the SCCmec types of MRSA isolates had distinct AFLP profile. In conclusion, SCCmec type II, agr type 1 and 2 have demonstrated to be the most common types in Korea, and the results indicated that the virulence factors are closely associated with their molecular types (SCCmec and agr types).

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.224-229
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• 2017

A new peanut variety 'Daan'(Arachis hypogaea ssp. hypogaea L.) was developed at the Department of Southern Area Crop Science, National Institute of Crop Science (NICS) in Milyang 2014. This was developed from the cross between 'Iksan 31' with Virginia typed short stem and 'Dakwang' with Shinpung-typed larger grain. 'Daan' which is a Shinpung plant type had 13 branches per plant and its length of main stem was 44cm. Each pod has two grains with brown testa and long ellipse-shaped large kernel. Its yield components showed 34 pods per plant, 127 g of 100-seed-weight and 75% of pod shelling ratio in the regional yield trials (RYT). Seed quality showed 47.8% of crude oil and 28.3% of protein content. This variety showed resistant to early leaf spot and had more resistant to late leaf spot, stem rot and lodging, compared to reference variety. In the regional yield trials for 3 years 'Daan' was more productive than reference variety by 16% with 5.00 MT/ha for grain production.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.21-35
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• 2018

Since the introduction of MP3 players, CD recordings have gradually been vanishing, and the music consuming environment of music users is shifting to mobile devices. The introduction of smart devices has increased the utilization of music through music playback, mass storage, and search functions that are integrated into smartphones and tablets. At the time of initial MP3 player supply, the bitrate of the compressed music contents generally was 128 Kbps. However, as increasing of the demand for high quality music, sound quality of 384 Kbps appeared. Recently, music content of FLAC (Free License Audio Codec) format using lossless compression method is becoming popular. The download service of many music sites in Korea has classified by unlimited download with technical protection and limited download without technical protection. Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology is used as a technical protection measure for unlimited download, but it can only be used with authenticated devices that have DRM installed. Even if music purchased by the user, it cannot be used by other devices. On the contrary, in the case of music that is limited in quantity but not technically protected, there is no way to enforce anyone who distributes it, and in the case of high quality music such as FLAC, the loss is greater. In this paper, the author proposes an audio watermarking technology for copyright protection of high quality stereo music. Two kinds of information, "Copyright" and "Copy_free", are generated by using the turbo code. The two watermarks are composed of 9 bytes (72 bits). If turbo code is applied for error correction, the amount of information to be inserted as 222 bits increases. The 222-bit watermark was expanded to 1024 bits to be robust against additional errors and finally used as a watermark to insert into stereo music. Turbo code is a way to recover raw data if the damaged amount is less than 15% even if part of the code is damaged due to attack of watermarked content. It can be extended to 1024 bits or it can find 222 bits from some damaged contents by increasing the probability, the watermark itself has made it more resistant to attack. The proposed algorithm uses quantization in DCT so that watermark can be detected efficiently and SNR can be improved when stereo music is converted into mono. As a result, on average SNR exceeded 40dB, resulting in sound quality improvements of over 10dB over traditional quantization methods. This is a very significant result because it means relatively 10 times improvement in sound quality. In addition, the sample length required for extracting the watermark can be extracted sufficiently if the length is shorter than 1 second, and the watermark can be completely extracted from music samples of less than one second in all of the MP3 compression having a bit rate of 128 Kbps. The conventional quantization method can extract the watermark with a length of only 1/10 compared to the case where the sampling of the 10-second length largely fails to extract the watermark. In this study, since the length of the watermark embedded into music is 72 bits, it provides sufficient capacity to embed necessary information for music. It is enough bits to identify the music distributed all over the world. 272 can identify $4*10^{21}$, so it can be used as an identifier and it can be used for copyright protection of high quality music service. The proposed algorithm can be used not only for high quality audio but also for development of watermarking algorithm in multimedia such as UHD (Ultra High Definition) TV and high-resolution image. In addition, with the development of digital devices, users are demanding high quality music in the music industry, and artificial intelligence assistant is coming along with high quality music and streaming service. The results of this study can be used to protect the rights of copyright holders in these industries.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.173-179
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• 2003

The combination of a radiation technique with an in vitro culture system was appiled to develop submergence tolerant rice. The 3,000 $M_3$ lines with an average 80 percent of fertile grain were utilized for the selection of submergence tolerance. Salt tolerant lines were selected based on high plant height, root length and root number after submergence in plastic pots. Of the lines tested, the tolerant line (403-6) showed a dramatic difference in morphological traits under submergence compared to its original variety (Dongjinbyeo). It was suggested that genetic variations between the original variety and $M_3$-403-6 did exist. The levels of $\alpha$-amylase and alcohol dehydrogenase activities were significantly increased in the mutant line compared to its original variety. The mutant with greater tolerance showed less electrolyte leakage indicating a greater membrane integrity and better survival. Also, this line was much more resistant to a salt stress of $1.25\%$ than the original variety. The proline level of the line was significantly (p<0.01> higher than that of the original variety. The relationships between the inhibition of growth caused by stress and the physiological changes in the plant cell were discussed.