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Recent Studies on the Edible Plant Vaccine for Prophylactic Medicine against Microorganism-Mediated Diseases (세균성 질병 예방을 위한 식물 경구 백신 연구 동향)

  • Hahn Bum-Soo;Jeong Young-Jae;Roh Kyung-Hee;Park Jong-Sug;Cho Kang-Jin;Kim Yong-Hwan;Kim Jong-Bum
    • Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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    • v.32 no.4
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    • pp.233-241
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    • 2005
  • Plants have considerable advantages for the production of antigenic proteins because they provide an inexpensive source of protein and an easy administration of vaccine. Since a publication describing edible plant vaccine of HBsAg in 1992, a number of laboratories around the world have studied the use of plants as the bioreactor to produce antigenic proteins of human or animal pathogens. Over the last ten years, these works have been mainly focused on three major strategies for the production of antigenic proteins in plants: stable genetic transformation of either the nuclear or plastid genome, or transient expression in plants using viral vectors. As many antigenic proteins have been expressed in tobacco, also several laboratories have succeeded to express genes encoding antigenic proteins in other crop plants: potato, tomato, maize, carrot, soybean and spinach. At present many works for the production of edible plant vaccine against bacteria-mediated diseases have mostly performed the studies of enterotoxins and adhesion proteins. Also the development of new-type antigens (pili, flagella, surface protein, other enterotoxin and exotoxin etc.) is required for various targets and more efficacy to immunize against microorganism pathogens. Many works mostly studied in experimental animals had good results, and phase I clinical trial of LTB clearly indicated its immunogenic ability. On the other hand, edible plant vaccines have still problems remained to be solved. In addition to the accumulation of sufficient antigen in plants, human health, environment and agriculture regulation should be proven. Also oral tolerance, the physiological response to food antigens and commensal flora is the induction of a state of specific immunological unresponsiveness, needs to be addressed before plant-derived vaccine becomes a therapeutic option.

Influence of Smoking Cessation on Periodontal Biomarkers in Gingival Crevicular Fluid for 1 Year: A Case Study (1년간 금연이 미치는 치은열구액 내 치주염 바이오마커 변화: 사례연구)

  • Hwang, Soo-Jeong
    • Journal of dental hygiene science
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    • v.14 no.4
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    • pp.525-536
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    • 2014
  • Although tobacco use has been known as one of the biggest risk factors on periodontal health, little is known about the effect of smoking cessation on it. The aim of this study was to investigate the change of concentration of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-8, MMP-9 and interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$ in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) of 11 quit-smokers for 1 year after smoking cessation. Eleven male subjects to maintain quit-smoking for 1 year participated the oral examination, GCF and saliva collection without periodontal treatments at baseline, after 2 weeks, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months and 1 year. To confirm quit-smoking, nicotine and cotinine concentrations in saliva were measured by high performance liquid chromatography. MMP-8, MMP-9 and IL-$1{\beta}$ concentrations in GCF of upper anterior teeth area were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Change of MMP-8 in GCF during smoking cessation showed fluctuation with decrease (5 subjects) or increase (2 subjects) or maintenance tendency (4 subjects). Changes of MMP-9 were decrease (6 subjects), or increase (2 subjects), or maintenance (3 subjects). Change of IL-$1{\beta}$ also showed fluctuation with decrease (5 subjects) or increase (3 subjects) or maintenance tendency (3 subjects). The subjects with increase tendency had the relatively smaller amount concentration of MMP-8 and MMP-9 at the baseline. It was unclear smoking cessation without periodontal treatment could affect MMP-8, MMP-9, and IL-$1{\beta}$ in GCF. Fluctuation of periodontal biomarkers during smoking cessation might result from feedback interaction between environmental factors and periodontal cells.

A Study on the Iconization of Che Guevara Expressed in Contemporary Fashion (현대 패션에 나타난 체 게바라(Che Guevara)의 아이콘화에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Hye-Jeong
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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    • v.56 no.3 s.102
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    • pp.1-11
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    • 2006
  • Che Guevara spearheading the Cuban Revolution was not only the icon as the revolutionary to the New-leftists of the 1960s advocating the ideology of Marxism but, as the cultural revolutionary, had a tremendous influence on the younger generation living in the digital age Che Guevara take on a figure of both the symbol of the Leftist but the romantic revolutionary because he had the external features such as black beret, red stars, military upper jackets and trousers, beard and pipe tobacco. In fact, the symbolic image of Che Guevara was made as the popular image by the avantgarde artists and political vanguard forces of the times under the necessity of Cuban government. Afterwards, the image of Che Guevara has been patronized in making people of aware of the resistant and revolutionary image to capital, power and the power of the media and symbolized as the resistant image to the American capital as well as the revolutionary guerrilla. And his image has continued to be reproduced and symbolized for the commercial and political purposes and as the enthusiastic image of youth culture. This can be seen as having been created as a new image by the popular culture formed by the development of the cyber culture and mass media in the cyberspace shaped by contemporary 'N' generations. The use of Che Guevara's symbolic image was made in the fashion field as well as in the cultural and artistic circles. The borrowing of the icon of Che Guevara represented in a fashion field is attributed to his free spirit, and it can be seen that fashion exists as the vehicle for representing both the symbol system and the sign system containing ideologies and texts as the communicator of resistance to the regime and to social issues. Therefore, this study attempted to investigate the commercial iconization of Che Guevara in the 1990s by comparing the ideology of the symbol in the 1960s and the 1990s and inquire into the borrowing of his image by the fashion domain as well as the fashion worn by him by reference to domestic books and materials on the fashion site. Thereby, this study attempted to make clear that the borrowing of Che Guevara in the realm of fashion since the 1990s not only contained the meaningful interpretation as the symbolic code in the culture of young people living in a digital era but fashion performs an intervening role in the cultural phenomenon.

Profile of Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factors Among Employees at a Saudi University

  • Amin, Tarek Tawfik;Al Sultan, Ali Ibrahim;Mostafa, Ola Abdelmoniem;Darwish, Amr Ahmed;Al-Naboli, Mohamed Rashad
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.15 no.18
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    • pp.7897-7907
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    • 2014
  • Background: There is paucity of studies defining the prevalence of non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors in Saudi Arabia despite the surging epidemic of obesity, change in dietary habits and sedentary lifestyle. Objectives: This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the prevalence of NCDs risk factors among employees at King Faisal University in Al Hassa, Saudi Arabia and to determine the possible correlates for clustering of NCDs risk factors among them. Materials and Methods: All employees were invited to participate; the World Health Organization STEPwise approach was used for data collection which consisted of a personal interview to collect socio-demographic characteristics, NCD history, tobacco use, vegetables and fruit consumption, and physical activity (PA), followed by anthropometric measurements namely weight, height and waist circumference and blood pressure measurements, subjects were finally subjected to biochemical tests with determination of fasting plasma glucose, serum triglycerides, cholesterol and high density lipoproteins. Results: Of the surveyed employees (n=691), daily current smokers accounted for 22.7%. 94.9%, 95.1% and 86% consumed < 5 servings per day of vegetables, fruits and both fruits and vegetables respectively, 73% were physically inactive, 64% were overweight or obese, 22.1% had hypertension, and 21.5% were diabetics. Elevated cholesterol levels were found in 36.6%, low high density lipoproteins in 36.8%, and elevated triglycerides in 36.1%. Only 3% had no NCD risk factors, and 57.6% had ${\geq}3$ factors. Multivariate logistic regression showed that gender (being male, adjusted odds ratio 'aOR'=1.51), aged ${\geq}50$ years (aOR=3.06), < college education (aOR=1.75), current smokers (aOR=2.37), being obese (aOR=6.96) and having a low PA level (aOR=4.59) were the significant positive predictors for clustering of NCD risk factors. Conclusions: Over fifty percent of the studied university's employees had multiple (${\geq}3$) NCD risk factors. Screening and health promotion initiatives should be launched at least targeting the modifiable factors to avert the excessive risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and several types of cancers.

Effects of an Anti-Smoking Program to Prevent Lung Cancer among Urban Aboriginals in Taiwan

  • Lin, Mei-Hsiang;Huang, Sheu-Jen;Shih, Whei-Mei Jean;Wang, Pao-Yu;Lin, Li-Hui;Hsu, Hsiu-Chin
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.14 no.11
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    • pp.6451-6457
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    • 2013
  • Background and Purpose: Indigenous people who leave their hometowns and move to the city to earn a living became urban aboriginals. During the process of adapting to urban living situations, they may use various coping strategies such as smoking to overcome their stress. Therefore, it is crucial to provide health education including smoking prevention, increasing knowledge regarding of tobacco hazard, self-efficacy of anti-smoking, and adjusting smoking behavior so as to empower their anti-smoking motivation to prevent lung cancer. The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of an anti-smoking program on urban aboriginals in Taiwan. Methods: A quasi-experimental study design with purposeful sampling was employed. A total of 125 aboriginal subjects were recruited from two local churches at Shu Lin area in northern Taiwan. Subjects were divided into an experimental group (n =64 ) and a control group (n = 61). Both took pre-tests in order to set baseline values, and only the experimental group participated for 3-weeks in the anti-smoking program classes. Both groups took post-tests immediately after the intervention in order to evaluate the immediate effects of the teaching program, and a follow-up test was conducted four weeks after the intervention. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-way ANCOVA, and repeat measure ANCOVA. Results: After controlling for confounding variables, the results showed that there were statistically significant differences in the self-efficacy of anti-smoking and smoking behavior between experimental and control groups in the immediately post-test and the follow-up test (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant differences in the recognition of hazards of smoking at eiter time point. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: The findings of this study revealed that the anti-smoking program effectively improved self-efficacy of anti-smoking, and decreased the smoking behavior in urban aboriginals. They provide useful information as a reference regarding of aboriginal health promotion to health providers. It is imperative that anti-smoking be reinforced for those regular smokers to prevent induction of lung cancer.

The analysis of the cultivation status of the upland crops in the paddy field using unmanned aerial vehicle

  • Park, Jin-Ki;Kwak, Kang-Su;Park, Jong-Hwa
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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    • 2017.06a
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    • pp.352-352
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    • 2017
  • Recently, the South Korean government encourages the cultivation of upland crops in the paddy field to maintain an adequate level of rice production and then to balance the demand and supply of rice. This is mainly because the rice consumption per capita per year has continued to decline from 135 kg in 1979 to 61.9 kg in 2016, although the rice production was relatively stable. As a result, the rice overproduction became a big social problem. As a part of that, various upland crops such as soybean, maize, minor cereals and forage crops are planted in the paddy field 10 years ago. The cultivation of these crops may settle the problem of short supply and mass import of the crops to some extent. However, a systematic remote observation of upland crops in the paddy field is very scarce. This study investigated the cultivation status of upland crops and any changes of crop harvesting in the paddy field by using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Also, we analyzed the kind of upland crops and cultivation area in the paddy field by utilizing time series observation images. A fixed wing UAV is used for the investigation. This is because it is easy to use the flight operation and to control flight management software, and it can automatically cope with various emergency states such as a strong wind and battery discharge. The material of UAV is expanded polypropylene, which has an advantage of less equipment damage and risk during takeoff and landing. We acquired observed images in Buljeong-myeon, Goesan-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea by using fixed wing UAV in 2015 and 2016. The total investigated area reaches 6,045 ha, and among them the agricultural area was 1,377 ha. For the next step, we created an orthoimage from all images taken using Pix 4D mapper program. According to the results of image analyses in 2015, the paddy field covered total 577 ha (75.9%) with crop plant. The cultivation area of beans, ginseng, maize, tobacco and peach was 256 ha (36.6%), 63 ha (9.2%), 37 ha (5.4%), 31 ha (4.5%) and 27 ha (3.8), respectively. And in 2016, the total covered area was 586 ha (77.1%), and it was comprised of 253 ha (35.5%), 88 ha (12.3%), 29 ha (4.1%), 22 ha (3.1%) and 32 ha (4.5%) in the same order. In this study, we focused on identifying the paddy field which was converted to the cultivation of upland crops by using UAV. And, it has been indicated that the cultivation area of rice decreased from 141 ha in 2015 to 127 ha in 2016, although that of ginseng increased by 25 ha. As a result, it is expected that a lot of paddy field could be replaced by high-income crops such as ginseng and fruit tree (peach) instead of relative low-income rice. More specific and widespread research on the remote sensing in the paddy field needs to be done.

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CYP2W1, CYP4F11 and CYP8A1 Polymorphisms and Interaction of CYP2W1 Genotypes with Risk Factors in Mexican Women with Breast Cancer

  • Cardenas-Rodriguez, N.;Lara-Padilla, E.;Bandala, C.;Lopez-Cruz, J.;Uscanga-Carmona, C.;Lucio-Monter, P.F.;Floriano-Sanchez, E.
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.13 no.3
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    • pp.837-846
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    • 2012
  • Breast cancer (BCa) is the leading type of cancer in Mexican women. Genetic factors, such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of P450 system, have been reported in BCa. In this report, and for the first time in the literature, we analyzed the rs3735684 (7021 G>A), rs11553651 (15016 G>T) and rs56195291 (60020 C>G) polymorphisms in the CYP2W1, 4F11 and 8A1 genes in patients with BCa and in healthy Mexican women to identify a potential association between these polymorphisms and BCa risk. Patients and controls were used for polymorphism analysis using an allelic discrimination assay with TaqMan probes and confirmed by DNA sequencing. Links with clinic-pathological characteristics were also analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed using the standard ${\chi}^2$ or Fisher exact test statistic. No significant differences were observed in the distributions of CYP2W1 (OR 8.6, 95%CI 0.43-172.5 P>0.05; OR 2.0, 95%CI 0.76-5.4, P>0.05) and CYP4F11 (OR 0.3, 95%CI 0.01-8.4 P>0.05) genotypes between the patients and controls. Only the CYP8A1 CC genotype was detected in patients with BCa and the controls. All polymorphism frequencies were in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) in the controls (P>0.05). We found a significant association between BCa risk and smoking, use of oral contraceptives or hormonal replacement therapy (HRT), obesity, hyperglycemia, chronic diseases, family history of cancer and menopausal status in the population studied (P<0.05). Tobacco, oral contraceptive or HRT, chronic diseases and obesity or overweight were strongly associated with almost eight, thirty-five, nine and five-fold increased risk for BCa. Tobaco, obesity and hyperglycemia significantly increased the risk of BCa in the patients carrying variant genotypes of CYP2W1 (P<0.05). These results indicate that the CYP2W1 rs3735684, CYP4F11 rs11553651 and CYP8A1 rs56195291 SNPs are not a key risk factor for BCa in Mexican women. This study did not detect an association between the CYP2W1, 4F11 and 8A1 genes polymorphisms and BCa risk in a Mexican population. However, some clinico-pathological risk factors interact with CYP2W1 genotypes and modifies susceptibility to BCa.

Can Reproductive Characteristics Predict Bladder Cancer in Women with Haematuria?

  • Yavuzcan, Ali;Caglar, Mete;Kayikci, Muhammet Ali;Basaran, Ekrem;Tekin, Ali;Ozdemir, Enver;Dilbaz, Serdar;Ustun, Yusuf;Cam, Haydar Kamil
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.14 no.9
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    • pp.5107-5110
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    • 2013
  • Background: Among women with haematuria, defining individuals under high risk for bladder cancer based on reproductive factors prior to cystoscopy would be of great benefit in the management of this condition. The aim of this study was to compare age and reproductive factors such as menopausal status, parity, age at first delivery and age at the last delivery between women who have haematuria with or without bladder cancer. Materials and Methods: A total of 463 patients underwent diagnostic cystoscopy in D$\ddot{u}$zce University Faculty of Medicine between 1 June 2008 and 1 June 2013. Female patients who presented with persistent microscopic or macroscopic haematuria and underwent standard evaluation for haematuria including urinalysis, urine culture, urine cytology, urinary tract imaging with excretory urography or computerized tomography with contrast enhancement and endoscopic evaluation of the urethra and bladder were included in this study. Exclusion criteria were tobacco use and high risk occupations for bladder cancer such as textile, dry cleaning, painting and etc. Forteen women had hematuria due to benign conditions, and 18 due to bladder cancer. Data were retrospectively retrieved from the medical records of Duzce University Hospital. Results: Patients with haematuria due to benign reasons did not significantly differ from patients who were found to have bladder cancer in terms of age (p=0.28), menopausal status (p=0.29), mean parity (p=0.38), being nulliparous (p=0.57), parity ${\geq}3$ (p=0.22), age ${\leq}18$ years at first delivery (p=1.00), age ${\geq}30$ years at last delivery (p=0.26), age ${\geq}35$ years at last delivery (p=0.23) and percentage of the patients with advanced age (${\geq}65$ years) (p=0.18). Conclusions: It is difficult to predict a high risk for developing bladder cancer in women with haematuria based solely on reproductive factors.

Transgene structures of marker-free transgenic Bt rice plants (무선발 형질전환 Bt벼의 도입유전자 구조 분석)

  • Woo, Hee-Jong;Lee, Seung Bum;Lim, Myung-Ho;Gwon, Sun-Jong;Lee, Jin-Hyoung;Shin, Kong-Sik;Cho, Hyun-Suk
    • Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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    • v.40 no.3
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    • pp.135-140
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    • 2013
  • A less simple approach developed for generation of marker-free transgenic plants is to select transformants without the use of selective marker genes. Some results about development of marker-free transgenic plants were obtained using a non-selective approach in several crops such as rice, potato and tobacco. However, the study did not provide evidence on detailed characterization of introduced gene on genome, a critical step for confirming the stable integration and transmission of a foreign gene. In this study, we evaluated structure and integration sites of transgene (mCry1Ac) in the transgenic Bt rice plants which were made via conventional Agrobacterium-mediated transformation by non-selective method. Structure and integration sites of transgene in these transgenic plants had similar fashion as those recovered under selection.

Effect of Cigarette Warning Sign Attached to Cigarettes on Smoking Cessation Effects (담배에 부착된 담뱃갑 경고 그림이 금연효과에 미치는 영향)

  • Lee, Tae-Hoon
    • Journal of Industrial Convergence
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    • v.18 no.1
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    • pp.45-52
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    • 2020
  • This study is a descriptive study conducted to investigate the effect of smoking cigarette sign sold in Korea on the smoking cessation effects and to use it as a basis for future smoking cessation and health related health data. To this end, we surveyed 500 men and women over 20 years of age on the Internet Naver web using Naver form questionnaire for 10 days from October 1, 2018 using blogs and cafes. The analyzed data were analyzed by factor analysis, T-test and correlation using SPSS WIN20.0. The main findings were as follows: First, the cigarette warning picture harmful to human body had the biggest influence on the smoking cessation effect. Second, the smoking cessation effect had the highest correlation with the pre-question consciousness about the cigarette warning picture. This indicates that the cigarette pack warning is considered the most sensitive part of smokers. Based on the results of this paper, diversification of cigarette warning picture and regular replacement of warning picture are expected to provide useful basic data for suggesting practical measures to prevent smoking. do. Therefore, the smoking warning picture is widely promoted through the media and the media, which has a positive effect on the practice of quitting smoking to the public, and is also used as a basic data for the health policy for the health promotion of the public.