• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.231-237
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• 2009

This paper aimed to develop a solvent extraction and purification process to recover high-purified ${\beta}$-carotene from recombinant Escherichia coli. Cells harvested from the culture broth were treated through numerous steps: dehydration, solvent extraction, crystal formation and separation. To optimize the extracting condition, experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of cell disruption, temperature, organic solvents, solvent-biomass ratio on the yield of ${\beta}$-carotene extracted from cells. The result indicated that no significant differences of extraction yield were observed from cells with or without step of cell disruption. Among different extracting solvents, the highest extraction yield of ${\beta}$-carotene, 30.3 mg-${\beta}$-carotene/g-dry cells, was obtained with isobutyl acetate at solvent-biomass ratio 25 mL/g-dry cells at $50^{\circ}C$. Notably, in case of acetone, the extraction yield was quite low when using acetone itself, but increased almost up to the highest value when combining this solvent and olive oil. The purity of ${\beta}$-carotene crystals obtained from crystallization and separation was 89%. The purity degree was further improved up to 98.5% by treating crude crystals with additional ethanol washing.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.242-249
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• 2004

Background : Because of the low sensitivity of sputum smear and culture, diagnosis of nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) pulmonary disease, especially in patients with bronchiectasis, is often difficult. We investigated the usefulness of bronchoscopy for the diagnosis of NTM pulmonary disease including M. avium complex (MAC) and M. abscessus in patients with bronchiectasis and multiple pulmonary nodules on chest computed tomography (CT). Methods : We reviewed 48 cases of patients who were performed bronchoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) under suspect of NTM pulmonary disease based on CT findings of bronchiectasis and multiple nodules from April 2002 to June 2003. Results : Twenty five of the 48 patients (54%; 12 MAC, 14 M. abscessus) were diagnosed as NTM pulmonary disease on the basis of the American Thoracic Society diagnostic criteria for NTM pulmonary disease. Sixteen of the 21 patients (76%; 5 MAC, 11 M. abscessus) with 3 or more positive sputum cultures of NTM were confirmed tissue invasion by TBLB. Five of the 24 patients (21%; 4 MAC, 1 M. abscessus) who could not be diagnosed with sputum cultures were diagnosed by bronchoscopic BAL and TBLB. Conclusion : Bronchoscopy is helpful for the diagnosis of NTM pulmonary disease and confirmation of tissue invasion by NTM, not only MAC but also M. abscessus, in patients with bronchiectasis and multiple nodules on chest CT scan.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.235-241
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• 2017

This study was carried out to estimate growth characteristics of Kimchi cabbage cultivated in two different growing seasons and three transplanting dates in the greenhouses, and to create a predicting model for the production of Kimchi cabbage based on the growth parameters and climatic elements. Kimchi cabbages were transplanted three times at intervals of two weeks in spring and autumn growing seasons. Sigmoidal models for the estimation of fresh weight (Fw) was designed with days after transplanting, which were Fw=4451.5/[1+exp{-(DAT-34.1)/3.6}]($R^2=0.992$) and Fw=7182.0/[1+exp{-(DAT-53.8)/11.6}] ($R^2=0.979$), respectively. The relationship between fresh weight of Kimchi cabbage and growing degree days (GDD) was highly correlated, and the regression model represented by Fw=4451.5/[1+exp{-(GDD-34.1)/3.6}] ($R^2=0.992$) in spring growing season. The yield of Kimchi cabbage under spring and autumn growing season were estimated 11348.3kg/10a and 15128.2kg/10a, respectively, which were much different than outdoor culture each growing season, while greenhouse cultivation have shown similar results. To estimate the efficacy of prediction yield in Kimchi cabbage, we will need to supplement a predicting model, which was based on the parameters and climatic elements by the field cultivation.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.905-911
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• 2020

The adjuvant effect of PAMAM dendrimer G4 (PAMAM) on the induction of humoral and cellular immune responses against keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) was examined. Mice were immunized subcutaneously twice at two-week intervals with KLH, with or without PAMAM dendrimer (100 ㎍/mouse), and the mice immunized with KLH+PAMAM showed significantly higher antibody titers against KLH than those immunized with KLH alone. The assay for determining the isotypes of the antibodies showed that PAMAM augmented the KLH-specific antibody titers of IgG1, IgG2a, IgG2b, IgG3, and IgM. In addition, mice immunized twice with KLH+PAMAM followed by a subcutaneous injection of KLH (20 ㎍/site) 7 weeks after the primary immunization exhibited a higher delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction than those treated with KLH alone. In an in vitro analysis of T lymphocyte proliferation in response to KLH in week 8, the splenocytes of mice treated with KLH+PAMAM showed significantly higher proliferating activity than those treated with KLH alone, and the culture supernatants of cell cultures from mice immunized with added PAMAM dendrimer showed higher levels of KLH-specific cytokine (IL-4 and IFN-r) production. These results suggest that PAMAM dendrimer G4 possesses a potent immune-adjuvant activity for enhancing both humoral and cell-mediated immunity specific to foreign antigens.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.470-478
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• 2005

The objective of present study was to investigate the hepatoprotective and antioxidative effects of onion extracts. Primary cultures of rat hepatocytes were incubated with 1.5 mM tort-butyl hydroperoxide(t-BHP), potent oxidizing agent to liver, for 1 hr in the presence or absence of various concentrations (0, 0.01, 0.05, 0.1 or 0.3 mg/ml) of onion extract. Incubation with t-BHP increased glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase(GOT) and lactate dehydrogenase(LDH) acitivities and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances(TBARS) concentration but decreased 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide(MTT) reduction. Onion extracts at the concentration of 0.05 mg/ml decreased t-BHP-induced GOT and LDH activities. Onion extract at the concentration of 0.1 mg/ml increased t-BHP-induced MTT reduction. Onion extract at the concentration of 0.01 mg/ml decreased t-BHP-induced TBARS concentration. Taken together, onion extracts prevented t-BHP-induced hepatocyte injury and lipid peroxidation. Catalase, glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px) and glutathione reductase(GSH-Rd) activities of hepatocytes were significantly decreased by t-BHP. Onion extracts at the concentration of 0.1 mg/ml prevented t-BHP-induced decrease in catalase, GSH-Px and GSH-Rd activities. Onion extracts prevented hydroxyl radical-induced single-strand breakage in dose-dependent manner when plasmid DNA was incubated with various concentrations of onion extracts in the presence of Fenton reagents producing hydroxyl radical. These results demonstrate that onion extracts suppressed t-BHP-induced cytoctoxicity, decreased viability and lipid peroxidation and increased GSH-Px, GSH-Rd and catalase activities. Thus hepatoprotective and antioxidant effects of onion extract seem to be due to, at least in part, the increase in antioxidant enzyme activities as well as prevention from hydroxyl radical-induced oxidation, followed by inhibition of lipid peroxidation.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.36-41
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• 2014

Purpose: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common source of bacterial infections in infants and young children. Accurate diagnosis and treatment is important because of their association with renal scarring, which can lead to complications. Urine endothelin-1 (ET-1) is the major renal isoform produced and released by renal mesangial cells in response to glomerular injury. This study aimed to investigate whether urinary levels of ET-1 can be used as a biomarker for UTI diagnosis. Method: We conducted a prospective study using medical records of 70 patients below the age of 18 years, who visited Chung-Ang University Hospital from July 2012 to July 2013. We classified the patients into the UTI and control groups based on urine culture studies. The UTI group was further divided into upper and lower UTI groups using 99m-Technetium dimercaptosuccinic acid scintigraphy. Urine ET-1 was measured using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay with 0.3 mL urine. Results: The UTI and control groups were comprised of 45 and 25 patients, respectively. Mean urine ET-1 levels were significantly higher in the UTI group than in the control group ($1.41{\pm}0.35$ pg/mL vs. $0.33{\pm}0.07$ pg/mL, P =0.04). There was no significance difference in the quantitative value between the upper and lower UTI groups (P =0.552). There was no correlation between urine ET-1 and serum C-reactive protein (Pearson correlation [R]=0.24), urine ET-1 and serum white blood cell count (R=0.19). Conclusion: Our study suggests that urine ET-1 can be used for early diagnosis of UTI in children.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.125-134
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• 2014

This study is to provide basic information regarding photoneutron doses in terms of radiation treatment techniques and the number of portals in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) by measuring the photoneutron doses. Subjects of experiment were 10 patients who were diagnosed with prostate cancer and have received radiation treatment for 5 months from September 2013 to January 2014 in the department of radiation oncology in S hospital located in Seoul. Thus, radiation treatment plans were created for 3-Dimensional Conformal Radiotherapy (3D-CRT), Volumetric-Modulated Arc Radiotherapy (VMAT), IMRT 5, 7, and 9 portals. The average difference of photoneutron dose was compared through descriptive statistics and variance analysis, and analyzed influence factors through correlation analysis and regression analysis. In summarized results, 3D-CRT showed the lowest average photoneutron dose, while IMRT caused the highest dose with statistically significance (p <.01). The photoneutron dose by number of portals of IMRT was $4.37{\pm}1.08mSv$ in average and statistically showed very significant difference among the number of portals (p <.01). Number of portals and photoneutron dose are shown that the correlation coefficient is 0.570, highly statistically significant positive correlation (p <.01). As a result of the linear regression analysis of number of portals and photoneutron dose, it showed that photoneutron dose significantly increased by 0.373 times in average as the number of portals increased by 1 stage. In conclusion, this study can be expected to be used as a quantitative basic data to select an appropriate IMRT plans regarding photoneutron dose in radiation treatment for prostate cancer.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.157-162
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• 2006

It is well known that unidentified factors in sera, hormones and growth factors promote the proliferation of granulosa cells and nuclear maturation of bovine COCs (cumulus oocytes complexes) in vitro. Attempts had been developed the simple composition of culture media and similar system to in vivo conditions has been applied. In the present study, we investigated the effect of FGF (fibroblast growth factor) on in vitro maturation and in vitro development of Hanwoo COCs. When the COCs were matured in HPM 199 (Inst. of Functional peptide, Japan) containing 0.1, 1 and 10 ng/ml FGF for 24 hr, maturation rates to metaphase II ($70.0{\sim}75.0%$) were significantly higher (p<0.05) than that of control group (0 ng/ml FGF, 37.5%). When matured COCs with FGF were cultured in maturation medium after in vitro fertilization, developmental rates to blastocysts were 9.5, 0 and 2.9%, respectively, compared to 25.0% of the control group (p<0.05). When the matured COCs with FGF were cultured in HPM 199 (IFP971, Inst. of Functional peptide, Japan) containing 10% FBS, 0.8% BSA or 0.1% PVA (polyvinyl alcohol), the blastocyst formation rates were 12.4, 12.8 and 8.5%, respectively, while the rates of matured COCs with FGF and cultured with IVMD and IVD (Inst. of Functional peptide, Japan) without serum were 38.4% and 34.8%, respectively (p<0.05). These results suggested that FGF is available for in vitro maturation of bovine COCs and is not suitable for in vitro development, but further investigation would be need for finding the synergistic autocrine/paracrine fashion of other growth factors in early bovine embryo development.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.250-261
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• 2003

This experiment was carried out to examine the fermentation properties of yogurt with Lycii fructus, Lycii folium and Lycii cortex powder, and extract additives at concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, and 6.0%. Lactic acid bacteria was used in a mixed starter culture of Streptococcus salivarius ssp. thermophilus(ST36) and Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus(LB12). When the boxthorn was added with extract types, the changes of pH, acidity and lactic acid bacteria counts of yogurt during the fermenation of 3 hours were pH 5.64, titratable acidity 0.85%, 5.80xl0$\^$6/cfu/ml of viable cell counts for control yogurt, whereas those were pH 4.10∼5.06, titratable acidity 0.98∼1.27%, 1.80∼9.60x10$\^$7/ cfu/ml of viable cell counts for Lycii fructus extract yogurt. The lactose hydrolysis ratio was better for 1.0% Lycii fructus extract yogurt(42.00%) and 1.0% Lycii folium extract yogurt(41.46%) than for control yogurt(28.40%). Also, content of lactic acid of 1.0% Lycii fructus(11.9 times) and 1.0% Lycii folium extract yogurt(10.6 times) produced more than control yogurt(7.3 times). The viscosity of yogurt was better for boxthorn extract yogurt(1,027∼1,382 cps) than for control yogurt(975cps). The sensory scores of color, taste and overall acceptability of yogurt with 0.5, and 1.0% Lycii fructus extract additive were better than other groups. The yogurts made with increased Lycii fructus extract concentration(0.5∼6.0%), showed the increase of lactic acid, titratable acidity, number of lactic acid bacteria, viscosity and lactose hydrolysis rate compared to the treatments of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0% Lycii folium and Lycii cortex extract and powder yogurt. We gained excellent results from the yogurt to which Lycii fructus extract was added with 0.51.0% concentration.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.153-159
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• 2009

This study was carried out to investigate effect of $GA_{3}$ foliar application on the growth and flowering of Limonium spp. 'Ocean Blue' to develop an effective $GA_{3}$ treatment method for a year round commercial production. Plants were treated with different concentrations of $GA_{3}$ 0, 100, 200, 400, and 800 mg.$L^{-1}$ in summer, and 0, 100,200, and 400 mg.$L^{-1}$ in winter at seven weeks after transplanting. The effects of $GA_{3}$ treatment time (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 days after planting) and plant age (raising during 3, 5, 7, and 9 weeks) was investigated. The $GA_{3}$ treatment advanced bolting and flowering with little difference between the two seasons. In a summer culture the effective concentration of $GA_{3}$ ranged from 200 to 400 mg. $L^{-1}$, while in winter it was found to be 400 mg. $L^{-1}$. The $GA_{3}$ treatment at 10 days after planting significantly reduced days to flowering. However, the greatest cut flower yield was observed in plants treated at 20 days after planting. The $GA_{3}$ treatment to different age plants did not show a significant effect, except in the oldest (nine weeks old plants). In conclusion, to induce early flowering in Limonium spp. 'Ocean Blue', the proper concentration and time of application of $GA_{3}$ was 400 mg.$L^{-1}$ $GA_{3}$ treated to nine weeks old plants at 20 days after transplanting.