• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제31권3호
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• pp.368-379
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• 2021

Two virulence factors of Helicobacter pylori, cagA and vacA, have been known to play a role in the development of severe gastric symptoms. However, they are not always associated with peptic ulcer or gastric cancer. To predict the disease outcome more accurately, it is necessary to understand the risk of severe symptoms linked to other virulence factors. Several other virulence factors of H. pylori have also been reported to be associated with disease outcomes, although there are many controversial descriptions. H. pylori isolates from Koreans may be useful in evaluating the relevance of other virulence factors to clinical symptoms of gastric diseases because the majority of Koreans are infected by toxigenic strains of H. pylori bearing cagA and vacA. In this study, a total of 116 H. pylori strains from Korean patients with chronic gastritis, peptic ulcers, and gastric cancers were genotyped. The presence of virulence factors vacAs1c, alpA, babA2, hopZ, and the extremely strong vacuolating toxin was found to contribute significantly to the development of severe gastric symptoms. The genotype combination vacAs1c/alpA/babA2 was the most predictable determinant for the development of severe symptoms, and the presence of babA2 was found to be the most critical factor. This study provides important information on the virulence factors that contribute to the development of severe gastric symptoms and will assist in predicting clinical disease outcomes due to H. pylori infection.

• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
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• 제44권2호
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• pp.218-226
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• 2016

헬리코박터 파이로리균은 인간의 위에 감염하여 위염, 위궤양, 심지어 위암을 포함한 다양한 위장 질환의 발생시키는 원인으로 알려져 있다. 이러한 헬리코박터균의 제균을 위해 항생제 치료법이 이용되고 있지만 이러한 항생제들에 대한 헬리코박터균의 내성 증가가 전세계적인 문제로 대두되고 있다. 보고들에 따르면, 천연물질인 plumbagin은 항균 및 항암 효과를 가지고 있는 것으로 알려져있다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 헬리코박터 표준균주(ATCC 49503)에 plumbagin을 처리한 후 항균효과를 확인하였으며, 세균의 성장 및 병원성과 관련된 다양한 물질들의 발현에 미치는 영향을 immunoblotting 및 RT-PCR 방법을 이용하여 조사하였다. plumbagin의 헬리코박터균 억제효과를 확인하기 위해 한천희석법과 액체배지희석법을 이용해 최소억제농도를 도출하였다. 위와 같은 Plumbagin에 의한 헬리코박터균의 억제기전을 이해하기 위하여 헬리코박터균에 plumbagin을 처리한 후 세균 의 증식과 관련된 물질들을 대상으로 RT-PCR을 수행한 결과 RNA polymerase subunit α (rpoA)의 mRNA 발현이 감소한 것을 확인하였다. 또한, 헬리코박터균에 plumbagin을 처리한 후 주요 병원성인자들의 발현을 조사한 결과 CagA와 VacA 독소들의 mRNA 및 단백질양이 감소한 것을 확인하였으며, 유레아제(ureA)와 부착단백(alpA)의 발현도 plumbagin 처리에 의해 감소한 것을확인하였다. 위와 같은 결과들을 토대로, plumbagin은 본 연구에서 밝힌 기전들을 통해 헬리코박터균의 성장, 감염 및 발병을 억제하는 것으로 사료된다.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• 제5권1호
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• pp.11-15
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• 2003

Backgrounds: Kennedy disease is a X-linked recessive disease characterized by bulbar symptoms, proximal muscle weakness, and gynecomastia. Methods: We analyzed clinical symptoms and performed electrodiagnostic studies on 6 patients. Results: We found following features: 1) proximal muscle weakness 2) bulbar symptoms, as dysarthria, facial and tongue atrophy 3) hyporeflexia or areflexia 4) fasciculations, predominantly on face, and proximal upper extremities 5) decreased sensory nerve action potentials(SNAPs) 6) chronic neurogenic changes in needle EMG. Conclusions: Kennedy disease is characterized by degenerative process of anterior horn cell and dorsal root ganglion without upper motor neuron dysfunction. Increased triple nucleotide CAG repeats(>38) in androgen receptor gene of Xp21 will confirm early stage of this disease.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권9호
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• pp.5199-5205
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• 2013

Background/Aim: The Hippo signaling pathway is a newly discovered and conserved signaling cascade, which regulates organ size control by governing cell proliferation and apoptosis. This study aimed to investigate its effects in human gastric cancer. Methods: Tumor tissues (n=60), adjacent non-tumor tissues (n=60) and normal tissues (n=60) were obtained from the same patients with primary gastric cancer (GC). In addition, 70 samples of chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) tissues were obtained from patients with intestinal metaplasia (IM) by endoscopic biopsy. Hippo signaling molecules, including Mst1, Lats1, YAP1, TAZ, TEAD1, Oct4 and CDX2, were determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Protein expression of Mst1, Lats1, YAP1, TEAD1 and CDX2 was assessed by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. Results: Mst1, Lats1 and Oct4 mRNA expression showed an increasing tendency from GC tissues to normal gastric tissues, while the mRNA expression of YAP1, TAZ and TEAD1 was up-regulated (all P<0.01). Mst1 and Lats1 protein expression presented a similar trend with their mRNA expression. In addition, YAP1 and TEAD1 protein expression in GC was significantly higher than in the other groups (all P<0.01). CDX2 mRNA and protein expression in the CAG group were higher than in the other groups (all P<0.01). In GC, mRNA expression of Mst1, Lats1, Oct4, YAP1, TAZ, TEAD1 and CDX2 had a close correlation with lymphatic metastasis and tumor TNM stage (all P<0.01). Furthermore, protein expression of Mst1, Lats1, YAP1, TAZ, TEAD1 and CDX2 had a close correlation between each other (P<0.05). Conclusion: The Hippo signaling pathway is involved in the development, progression and metastasis of human gastric cancer. Therefore, manipulation of Hippo signaling molecules may be a potential therapeutic strategy for gastric cancer.

• 한국초지조사료학회지
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.277-284
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• 1998

재배콩과 돌콩의 유전적 다양성과 유연관계를 밝히고, 콩을 사료작물로 개량하는데 필요한 유전정보를 얻기 위하여, RAPD 분석방법을 이용한 결과는 다음과 같다. 1. 증폭된 polymorphicband의 총 수는 74개였으며, 이중 다형현상을 보인 것은 50개로 67.6%, 증폭된 band의 크기는 0.13~2.0 Kb 범위에 있었다. 2. Random primer의 sequence 5'-CAG GCC CTT C-3'를 사용하였을 때, 0.56-2.0 Kb에서 콩의 종피 색깔에 따른 변이 (누런색과 검은색)가 나타났다. 그리고 Sequence 5'-TGC TCT GCC C-3'과 5'-GTC CAC ACG G-3'인 primer를 사용하였을 때, 각각 0.63~0.94, 0.94~2.0 Kb에서 검정콩 2호에 특정적인 genetic marker가 검출되었다. 3. Genetic similarity 값에 의한 품종간 유전적 변이성은 검정콩 2호 (0.81)가 가장 낮았고 검정콩 1호 (0.46)에서 가장 높았다. 4. 콩의 품종과 돌콩의 유연관계는 황금콩과 석량붓콩이 0.52로 가장 가까웠고 검정올콩 (0.47), 검정콩 l호 (0.46), 검정콩 2호 (0.42), 돌콩 (0.38)의 순서로 멀었다.

• Journal of Construction Engineering and Project Management
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• 제6권4호
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• pp.24-34
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• 2016

Disputes seem to be synonymous with large-scale construction projects in Ethiopia. The purpose of this study is to determine the factors responsible for impacting the performance of Ethiopian public construction projects. To this end, 35 success and failure attributes responsible for impacting the performance of the projects were identified and presented to Ethiopian construction professionals in the form of a structured questionnaire, and responses were collected. The factor analysis conducted on the success and failure attributes influencing no-dispute performance separately resulted in six success factors and five failure factors. Further analysis using stepwise multiple regression indicates that owner competence and interaction among project participants have a positive impact on no-dispute performance. However, conflict among project participants has a negative impact on the no-dispute performance of Ethiopian public construction projects. Although Ethiopia-specific, the results reflect construction management problems common to both developed and developing countries. The findings are expected to help researchers and practitioners gain a better understanding of critical success and failure factors and to help them take proactive measures to avoid disputes in public construction projects.

• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
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• 제49권3호
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• pp.440-448
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• 2021

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) establishes long-term infections associated with severe gastric diseases such as peptic ulceration and gastric cancer. Exposure to an antibacterial agent can help regulate the expression levels of its pathogenic genes. In this study, we analyzed the transcriptional changes in H. pylori genes induced by β-caryophyllene. We used next-generation sequencing (NGS) to analyze RNA expression changes, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed as required to verify the results. The NGS results showed that 30 out of 1,632 genes were expressed differentially by β-caryophyllene treatment. Eleven genes associated with DNA replication, virulence factors, and T4SS components were significantly downregulated. RT-PCR confirmed that treatment reduced the expression levels of 11 genes. RT-PCR showed the reduced expression of 11 genes (dnaE, dnaN, holB, gyrA, cagA, vacA, secA, flgE, virB2, virB4, and virB8) following β-caryophyllene treatment. These results suggest that β-caryophyllene can modulate various H. pylori pathogenic determinants and be a potential therapeutic agent for H. pylori infection.

• 한국농림기상학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국농림기상학회 2003년도 춘계 학술발표논문집
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• pp.189-201
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• 2003

Grid is a new Information Technology (IT) concept of "super Internet" for high-performance computing: worldwide collections of high-end resources - such as supercomputers, storage, advanced instruments and immerse environments. The Grid is expected to bring together geographically and organizationally dispersed computational resources, such as CPUs, storage systems, communication systems, real-time data sources and instruments, and human collaborators. The term "the Grid" was coined in the mid l990s to denote a proposed distributed computing infrastructure for advanced science and engineering. The term computational Grids refers to infrastructures aimed at allowing users to access and/or aggregate potentially large numbers of powerful and sophisticated resources. More formally, Grids are defined as infrastructure allowing flexible, secure, and coordinated resource sharing among dynamic collections of individuals, institutions and resources referred to as virtual Organizations. GRID is an emerging IT as a kind of next generation Internet technology which will fit very well with Agrometeorological services in the future. I believe that it would contribute to the resource sharing in AgroMeteorology by providing super computing power, virtual storage, and efficient data exchanges, especially for developing countries that are suffering from the lack of resources for their agmet services at national level. Thus, the establishment of CAgM-GRID based on existing RAMINSII is proposed as a part of FWIS of WMO.part of FWIS of WMO.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• 제19권4호
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• pp.43.1-43.12
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• 2021

Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most prevalent organisms associated with foodborne illness across the globe causing campylobacteriosis and gastritis. Many proteins of C. jejuni are still unidentified. The purpose of this study was to determine the structure and function of a non-annotated hypothetical protein (HP) from C. jejuni. A number of properties like physiochemical characteristics, 3D structure, and functional annotation of the HP (accession No. CAG2129885.1) were predicted using various bioinformatics tools followed by further validation and quality assessment. Moreover, the protein-protein interactions and active site were obtained from the STRING and CASTp server, respectively. The hypothesized protein possesses various characteristics including an acidic pH, thermal stability, water solubility, and cytoplasmic distribution. While alpha-helix and random coil structures are the most prominent structural components of this protein, most of it is formed of helices and coils. Along with expected quality, the 3D model has been found to be novel. This study has identified the potential role of the HP in 2-methylcitric acid cycle and propionate catabolism. Furthermore, protein-protein interactions revealed several significant functional partners. The in-silico characterization of this protein will assist to understand its molecular mechanism of action better. The methodology of this study would also serve as the basis for additional research into proteomic and genomic data for functional potential identification.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권5호
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• pp.1664-1673
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• 2022

Achieving sustainable development requires an increasing share of green technologies. World energy demand is expected to rise significantly especially in developing economies. The increasing energy demands will be entertained with conventional energy sources at the cost of higher emissions unless eco-friendly technologies are used. This study examines the asymmetric effects of nuclear energy on carbon emissions for Pakistan from 1974 to 2019. Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Phillips Perron (PP) unit root tests suggest that variables are integrated of order one and bound test of Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and nonlinear ARDL confirm a long-run relationship among selected variables. The ARDL, Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS), and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) results show that the coefficient of nuclear energy has a negative and significant impact on emissions in both short and long run. Further, the NARDL finding shows that there exists an asymmetric long-run association between nuclear energy and CO₂ emissions. The vector error correction method (VECM) results indicate that there exists a bidirectional causal relationship between nuclear energy and carbon emissions in both the short and long run. Additionally, the impact of nuclear energy on ecological footprint has been examined and our findings remain robust.