• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.101-107
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• 1984

The suitable paddy soil for application of rice straw under well to moderately well drained soil, the yield and yield components were pronounced more than poorly drained soil. Based on laboratory experiment, application of rice straw promoted the decrease of oxidation-reduction potential in well to moderately well drained soil. This results seems to be enhanced the release of some mineral nutrients such as calcium, potassium, silicon, and increases of availability of soil phosphorus. This explains reason why soil condition became more favorable for the increases of mineral nutrient in rice plant. On the contrary, poorly drained soils, became readily reduced even without application or rice straw, when soil wat submerged. Application of rice straw did not promoted the decrease of oxidation-reduction potential as much as in well drained soil. It was suggested that in this type of soil series, the release of mineral nutrients and the additional increase of available soil phosphorus did not proceed well. It was also suggested that the retardation of root development owing to accumulation of toxic substances such as organic acid, hydrogen sulfide or some other reducing substances formed by the application of rice straw in poorly drained soil series might be considered. In fact, the effect of rice straw on the yield of brown rice became lower.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.95-103
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• 2000

To study the effects of soil moisture and texture on characteristics of growth, content of saikosaponins and activity of antioxidative enzymes in Bupleurum falcatum L., content of saikosaponins(a, c and d) and activities of superoxide dismutase(SOD) and peroxidase(POD) were investigated with two Bupleurum genotypes(Jangsoo and Samdo). Two Bupleurum genotypes were grown under different soil moisture(deficit, normal, surplus) and soil texture(sandy, sandy loam, loam) conditions. Among the tested soil conditions, dry weight accumulation rate of both cultivars could be ranked in the order surplus > normal > deficit soil for soil moisture and sandy > sandy loam > loam for soil texture. Under the surplus soil condition, growth retardation of Samdo cultivar was more severer than that of Jangsoo. Furthermore, content of saikosaponin a, d, and c also could be ranked in the order deficit > normal > surplus and sandy > sandy loam > loam for soil moisture and texture, respectively. Although both Jangsoo and Samdo cultivars grown under water deficit condition showed the highest POD and SOD activity, in general POD and SOD activity in both shoot and root was remarkably high in Jangsoo cultivar compared with Samdo. Saikosaponin content of root was positively correlated with POD and SOD. However, shoot and root length were negatively correlated with POD.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.65-69
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• 2019

Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome(WHS) is a congenital disorder caused by deletions of the short arm of chromosome 4. The most common characteristics are mental and growth retardation, dietary disorder and craniofacial features with a characteristic 'Greek warrior helmet' appearance. The dental characteristic of WHS includes delayed development, tooth agenesis, clefts, microdontia, taurodontism, and severely worn dentition. The purpose of this case report is to describe the dental treatment of a patient with WHS. 3-year-old boy with WHS visited the Seoul National University Dental Hospital for dental treatment. He had difficulty with nasotracheal intubation because of craniofacial anomalies and also had poor oral hygiene due to a limitation of mouth opening and dietary disorder. Due to his airway problem, behavior management and severity of dental conditions, dental treatment was performed under general anesthesia. This case suggests general anesthesia can be chosen with WolfHirschhorn syndrome patients to safely care for their dental problems.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.97-101
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• 2018

Lesch-Nyhan syndrome is a rare X-linked recessive genetic disorder. During purine metabolism, the hypoxanthine guanine phosphribosyl transferase (HGPRT) enzyme is deficient causing phosphoribosyl transferase to accumulate and resulting in excessive uric acid. Clinical symptoms include hypercalcemia, choreoathetosis, spasticity, mental retardation, and self-injury to lips, tongue or fingers. This results not only in pain caused by the self-injury but also secondary infection of the wound site and the esthetic damage of the soft tissue defect. Dental treatments include conservative methods using intraoral appliances such as soft mouthguards, fixed lip bumpers, and occlusal guards, and invasive methods such as extraction of all teeth or forming an artificial anterior open bite. We report two cases of Lesch-Nyhan syndrome patients with self-mutilation behavior; one was treated with a preservative method using a soft mouthguard, and the other was treated with extraction of all teeth.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.1112-1121
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• 2019

Objective: Gram-negative bacteria lipopolysaccharide (LPS) has been reported to be associated with uterine impairment, embryonic resorption, ovarian dysfunction, and follicle retardation. Here, we aimed to investigate the toxic effects of LPS on the maturation ability and parthenogenetic developmental competence of bovine oocytes. Methods: First, we developed an in vitro model to study the response of bovine cumulusoocyte complexes (COCs) to LPS stress. After incubating germinal vesicle COCs in $10{\mu}g/mL$ of LPS, we analyzed the following three aspects: the expression levels of the LPS receptor toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in COCs, activities of intracellular signaling protein p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-${\kappa}B$); and the concentrations of interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$, and IL-6. Furthermore, we determined the effects of LPS on the maturation ability and parthenogenetic developmental competence of bovine oocytes. Results: The results revealed that LPS treatment significantly elevated TLR4 mRNA and protein expression levels in COCs. Exposure of COCs to LPS also resulted in a marked increase in activity of the intracellular signaling protein p-p38 MAPK and NF-${\kappa}B$. Furthermore, oocytes cultured in maturation medium containing LPS had significantly higher concentrations of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-$1{\beta}$, TNF-${\alpha}$, and IL-6. LPS exposure significantly decreased the first polar body extrusion rate. The cytoplasmic maturation, characterized by polar body extrusion and distribution of peripheral cortical granules, was significantly impaired in LPS-treated oocytes. Moreover, LPS exposure significantly increased intracellular reactive oxygen species levels and the relative mRNA abundance of the antioxidants thioredoxin (Trx), Trx2, and peroxiredoxin 1 in oocytes. Moreover, the early apoptotic rate and the release of cytochrome C were significantly increased in response to LPS. The cleavage, morula, and blastocyst formation rates were significantly lower in parthenogenetically activated oocytes exposed to LPS, while the incidence of apoptotic nuclei in blastocysts was significantly increased. Conclusion: Together, these results provide an underlying mechanism by which LPS impairs maturation potential in bovine oocytes.

• Neonatal Medicine
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.161-169
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• 2018

Purpose: We assessed the influence of antenatal corticosteroid (ACS) on the inhospital outcomes of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) infants. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted with singletons born at $23^{+0}$ to $33^{+6}weeks$ of gestation at Seoul National University Hospital from 2007 to 2014. We compared clinical outcomes between infants who received ACS 2 to 7 days before birth (complete ACS), at <2 or >7 days (incomplete ACS), and those who did not receive ACS in IUGR and AGA infants. Multivariate logistic regression using Firth's penalized likelihood was performed. Results: 304 neonates with 91 IUGR neonates were eligible. Among AGA neonates, mortality (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.13; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.02 to 0.78), hypotension within 7 postnatal days (aOR, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.06 to 0.64), and severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) or death (aOR, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.07 to 0.77) were lower in complete ACS group after adjusting for pregnancy induced hypertension and uncontrolled preterm labor. Mortality (aOR, 0.18; 95% CI, 0.04 to 0.78), hypotension (aOR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.09 to 0.70), and severe BPD or death (aOR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.12 to 0.92) were also lower in the incomplete ACS group. Among IUGR infants, after adjusting for birth weight and 5-minute Apgar score, inhaled nitric oxide use within 14 postnatal days was lower in both complete ACS (aOR, 0.07; 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.67) and incomplete ACS (aOR, 0.04; 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.37) groups. Conclusion: ACS was not effective in reducing morbidities in IUGR preterm infants.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.39-48
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• 2021

Droughts are one of the abiotic stresses that hinders the growth and productivity of crop plants. Coping with abiotic stress is necessary to understand the molecular regulatory networks that makes plants respond to adverse environmental conditions. In our experiment to find a combination that can cope with abiotic stress (respond to drought), we screened 5 stress-inducible promoters that are expressed only under stress conditions. This founded 36 cis-elements in stress-inducible promoters. With the result we designed 2 synthetic promoters (BL1, BL2) for fine-controlled regulation by assembling cis-elements from the native promoters, which are expressed only under stress caused by droughts. Analysis of the transgenic plant (BL1-GUS, BL2-GUS) showed that the synthetic promoters increased the expression of β-glucuronidase (GUS) in transgenic plants under desiccation. Also in the transient activation assay demonstrated that synthetic promoters induced the co-transformation of effector DREB1A and DREB2C. These results expect that the synthetic promoter with a combination of drought-specific elements can be used to respond to various abiotic stress and is resistant to stress without causing growth retardation.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.16-21
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• 2022

Background: Epidemiological observations such as mental retardation, physical deformities, etc., in children besides different types of cancer in the adult population of the Malwa region have been reported. The present study is designed to get insight into the role of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) in causing detrimental health effects observed in the general population of this region. Materials and Methods: Deep soil samples were collected from different locations in the Malwa region. Their activity concentrations were determined using low-level background gammaray spectrometry. High efficiency and high purity germanium detector capped in a lead-shielded chamber having a resolution of 1.8 keV at 1,173 keV and 2.0 keV at the 1,332 keV line of ⁶⁰Co was used in the present work. Data were evaluated with Genie-2000 software. Results and Discussion: Mean activity concentrations of ²³⁸U, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K in deep soil were found to be 101.3 Bq/kg, 65.8 Bq/kg, and 688.6 Bq/kg, respectively. The mean activity concentration of ²³⁸U was found to be three and half times higher than the global average prescribed by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). It was further observed that the activity concentration of ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K has a magnitude that is nearly one and half times higher than the global average prescribed by UNSCEAR. In addition, the radioisotope ¹³⁷Cs which is likely to have its origin in radiation fallout was also observed. It is postulated that the NORM present in high quantity in deep soil somehow get mobilized into the water aquifers used by the general population and thereby causing harmful health problems. Conclusion: It can be stated that the present work has been able to demonstrate the use of low background gamma-ray spectrometry to understand the role of NORM in causing health-related effects in a general population of the Malwa region of Punjab, India.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.490-497
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• 2023

Pregnant women may need to take medications to treat preexisting diseases or diseases that develop during pregnancy. However, some drugs may be fetotoxic and lead to, for example, teratogenicity and growth retardation. Predicting the fetotoxicity of drugs is thus important for the health of the mother and fetus. The fetotoxicity of many drugs has not been established because various challenges hinder the ability of researchers to determine their fetotoxicity. The need exists for in silico-based fetotoxicity assessment models, as they can modernize the testing paradigm, improve predictability, and reduce the use of animals and the costs of fetotoxicity testing. In this study, we collected data on the fetotoxicity of drugs and constructed fetotoxicity prediction models based on various machine learning algorithms. We optimized the models for more precise predictions by tuning the hyperparameters. We then performed quantitative performance evaluations. The results indicated that the constructed machine learning-based models had high performance (AUROC >0.85, AUPR >0.9) in fetotoxicity prediction. We also analyzed the feature importance of our model's predictions, which could be leveraged to identify the specific features of drugs that are strongly associated with fetotoxicity. The proposed model can be used to prescreen drugs and drug candidates at a lower cost and in less time. It provides a predictive score for fetotoxicity risk, which may be beneficial in the design of studies on fetotoxicity in human pregnancy.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.1146-1153
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• 2024

The increasing economic losses associated with growth retardation caused by Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP), a microsporidian parasite infecting penaeid shrimp, require effective monitoring. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS)-1 region, the non-coding region of ribosomal clusters between 18S and 5.8S rRNA genes, is widely used in phylogenetic studies due to its high variability. In this study, the ITS-1 region sequence (~600-bp) of EHP was first identified, and primers for a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay targeting that sequence were designed. A newly developed nested-PCR method successfully detected the EHP in various shrimp (Penaeus vannamei and P. monodon) and related samples, including water and feces collected from Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, India, and Malaysia. The primers did not cross-react with other hosts and pathogens, and this PCR assay is more sensitive than existing PCR detection methods targeting the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) and spore wall protein (SWP) genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on the ITS-1 sequences indicated that the Indonesian strain was distinct (86.2% nucleotide sequence identity) from other strains collected from Thailand and South Korea, and also showed the internal diversity among Thailand (N = 7, divided into four branches) and South Korean (N = 5, divided into two branches) samples. The results revealed the ability of the ITS-1 region to determine the genetic diversity of EHP from different geographical origins.