• Journal of Breast Cancer
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.382-390
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• 2018

Purpose: PIK3CA mutation is considered to be a possible cause for resistance to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer. We investigated the association between PIK3CA mutations and the outcome of NAC in HER2-positive breast cancers. Methods: A total of 100 HER2-positive breast cancer patients who had undergone NAC and surgery between 2004 and 2016 were examined. Mutation status was sequentially assessed in pre-NAC, post-NAC, and recurrent specimens taken from these patients. Results: PIK3CA mutations were identified in the sequential specimens of 17 patients (17.0%). These 17 patients experienced shorter disease-free survival (DFS) than the rest of the patients (58.3 months vs. 119.3 months, p=0.020); however, there was no significant difference in pathologic complete response (pCR) and overall survival (OS) (pCR, 17.6% vs. 33.7%, p=0.191; OS, 84.5 months vs. 118.0 months, p=0.984). While there was no difference in pCR between the wild-type and mutant PIK3CA groups in pre-NAC specimens (25.0% vs. 31.8%, p=0.199), PIK3CA mutations correlated with lower pCR in postNAC specimens (0.0% vs. 24.3%, p<0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed significantly worse DFS in the mutant PIK3CA group than in the wild-type group (hazard ratio, 3.540; 95% confidence interval, 1.001-12.589; p=0.050). Moreover, the DFS curves of the change of PIK3CA mutation status in sequential specimens were significantly different (p=0.016). Conclusion: PIK3CA mutation in HER2-positive breast cancer was correlated with a lower pCR rate and shorter DFS. These results suggest that PIK3CA mutation is a prognostic marker for NAC in HER2-positive breast cancer, especially in post-NAC specimens.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 2019

Recently, the rapid growth of the companion animal market has led to the development of animal disease diagnosis kits. Therefore, the utility of the introduction of biomarkers for the development of animal molecular diagnostics is being reevaluated. A good biomarker should be precise and reliable, distinguish between normal and diseased states, and differentiate between different diseases. Recently reported genetic markers, tumor markers (cell free DNA, circulating tumor cells, granzyme, and skin tumors), and others (brucellosis, programmed death recovery-1, symmetric dimethylarginine, periostin, and cysteinyl leukotrien) have been developed. The biomarkers are used for risk prediction or for the screening, diagnosis, and monitoring of disease progression. The most important criteria for related biomarkers are disease specificity. Many potential biomarkers have emerged from laboratory and test studies, but they have not been validated in independent or large-scale clinical studies. Candidate biomarkers evaluate disease associations, verify the effectiveness of biomarkers for early detection and disease progression, and incorporate them into humans and animals. In the future, it will be necessary to reevaluate the utility of well-structured biomarker-based research and study the development of kits that can be used in on-site tests in accordance with the trends introduced in the diagnosis of animal diseases.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.777-785
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• 2021

Many utility lines are buried underground to provide various functions of the city. Because historical records are not managed systematically, damage has occurred during excavation. In addition, the demand for an underground facility management system is increasing as the aerial underground project is progressing. By attaching an electronic recognition sensor to an underground facility, such as pipelines, the management history and site conditions can be carefully managed. Therefore, in this study, electronic recognition sensors, such as BLE Beacon, UHF RFID, geomagnetic sensor, and commercial marker, were tested to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, and field applicability through a pilot project. According to the limited research results collected through two pilot projects, the installation depth is most important to demonstrate the performance of the electronic reader. In addition, because it should be used in urban areas, the influence of environmental interference should be minimized, and there should be no performance degradation over time. In the case of the geomagnetic recognizer, the effect of environmental interference was large, and performance degradation occurred over time using the BLE Beacon. In the field situation, where the installation depth can be controlled to less than 40cm, the utility of the battery-free UHF RFID was the best.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.1059-1068
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• 2022

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of using low energy diet with multi-enzymes supplementation on different biological parameters in broilers. Methods: Three hundred Arbor Acres broiler chicks were randomly divided into three groups (Cont, standard metabolizable energy(ME); L-ME, ME reduced by 50 kcal/kg without enzyme; and L-ME-MES, L-ME diet was supplemented with multi-enzymes) with five replicates per group (20 chicks per replicate) at the start of second week. Grower and finisher diets were formulated according to breed specific guide and offered with free access in respective phase (two weeks for grower [8 to 21 d]; two weeks for finisher [22 to 35 d]). External marker method was used to measure the nutrient digestibility. After feeding trial, fifteen birds (one bird per replicate) were selected randomly and slaughtered for samples collection. Results: The results exhibited no effect (p>0.05) of dietary treatments on all parameters of growth performance, carcass traits, relative weight of internal organs except bursa and overall parameters of thigh meat quality. Relative weight of bursa was significantly (p<0.05) higher in L-ME than control. Multi-enzymes supplementation in low-ME diet significantly (p<0.05) improved the breast meat pH 24 h, digestibility of crude protein, duodenum weight and length, jejunal morphology, counts of Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacterium spp., lipase and protease activities than control. Jejunum length was increased in both L-ME and L-ME-MES treatments than that of the control (p<0.05). Breast meat cooking loss and color lightness was lower in L-ME (p<0.05) than control. Conclusion: It can therefore be concluded that broilers could be reared on low energy diet with supplementation of multi-enzymes without compromising the growth performance. In addition, it is beneficial for other biological parameters of broilers.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.711-719
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• 2021

EBS has been producing numerous educational contents with traditional virtual studio production systems since the early 2000s and applied AR video production system in October 2020, twenty-years after. Although the basic concept of synthesizing graphic elements and actual image in real time by tracking camera movement and lens information is similar to the previous one but the newly applied AR video production system contains some of advanced technologies that are improved over the previous ones. Marker tracking technology that enables camera movement free and position tracking has been applied that can track the location stably, and the operating software has been applied with Unreal Engine, one of the representative graphic engines used in computer game production, therefore the system's rendering burden has been reduced, enabling high-quality and real-time graphic effects. This system is installed on a crane camera that is mainly used in a crane shot at the live broadcasting studio and applied for live broadcasting programs for children and some of the videos such as program introductions and quiz events that used to be expressed in 2D graphics were converted to 3D AR videos which has been enhanced. This paper covers the effect of introduction and application of the AR video production system on EBS content production and the future development direction and possibility.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.476-486
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• 2023

Purpose: The optimal tumor mutational burden (TMB) value for predicting treatment response to programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) checkpoint inhibitors in advanced gastric cancer (AGC) remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the optimal TMB cutoff value that could predict the efficacy of PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors in AGC. Materials and Methods: Patients with AGC who received pembrolizumab or nivolumab between October 1, 2020, and July 27, 2021, at Samsung Medical Center in Korea were retrospectively analyzed. The TMB levels were measured using a next-generation sequencing assay. Based on receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the TMB cutoff value was determined. Results: A total 53 patients were analyzed. The TMB cutoff value for predicting the overall response rate (ORR) to PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors was defined as 13.31 mutations per megabase (mt/Mb) with 56% sensitivity and 95% specificity. Based on this definition, 7 (13.2%) patients were TMB-high (TMB-H). The ORR differed between the TMB-low (TMB-L) and TMB-H (8.7% vs. 71.4%, P=0.001). The progression-free survival and overall survival (OS) for 53 patients were 1.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.600-2.268) and 4.26 months (95% CI, 2.992-5.532). The median OS was longer in the TMB-H (20.8 months; 95% CI, 2.292-39.281) than in the TMB-L (3.31 months; 95% CI, 1.604-5.019; P=0.049). Conclusions: The TMB cutoff value for predicting treatment response in AGC patients who received PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor monotherapy as salvage treatment was 13.31 mt/Mb. When applying the programmed death ligand-1 status to TMB-H, patients who would benefit from PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors can be selected.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.50
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• pp.56-62
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• 2023

Transgenic lilies have been obtained using Agrobacterium tumefaciens (AGL1) with the plant scale explants, followed by DL-phosphinothricin (PPT) selection. In this study, scales of lily plants cv. "red flame" were transformed with the pCAMBIA3301 vector containing the gus gene as a reporter and the blpR gene as a selectable marker, as well as a gene of interest showing herbicide tolerance, both driven by the CaMV 35S promoter. Using a 20-minute infection time and a 5-day cultivation period, factors that optimized and demonstrated a high transformation efficiency were achieved. With these conditions, approximately 22-27% efficiency was observed for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation in lilies. After transformation with Agrobacterium, scales of lilies were transferred to MS medium without selective agents for 2 weeks. They were then placed on selection MS medium containing 5 mg/L PPT for a month of further selection and then cultured for another 4-8 weeks with a 4-week subculture regime on the same selection medium. PPT-resistant scales with shoots were successfully rooted and regenerated into plantlets after transferring into hormone-free MS medium. Also, most survived putatively transformed plantlets indicated the presence of the blpR gene by PCR analysis and showed a blue color indicating expression of the gus gene. In conclusion, when 100 scales of lily cv. "red flame" are transformed with Agrobacterium, approximately 22-27 transgenic plantlets can be produced following an optimized protocol. Therefore, this protocol can contribute to the lily breeding program in the future.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.1369-1378
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• 2021

Objective: Few attempts have been made to investigate the prognostic value of dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI or dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) MRI of non-enhancing, T2-high-signal-intensity (T2-HSI) lesions of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in newly diagnosed patients. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic values of DCE MRI and DSC MRI parameters from non-enhancing, T2-HSI lesions of GBM. Materials and Methods: A total of 76 patients with GBM who underwent preoperative DCE MRI and DSC MRI and standard treatment were retrospectively included. Six months after surgery, the patients were categorized into early progression (n = 15) and non-early progression (n = 61) groups. We extracted and analyzed the permeability and perfusion parameters of both modalities for the non-enhancing, T2-HSI lesions of the tumors. The optimal percentiles of the respective parameters obtained from cumulative histograms were determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and univariable Cox regression analyses. The results were compared using multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analysis of progression-free survival. Results: The 95th percentile value (PV) of Ktrans, mean Ktrans, and median Ve were significant predictors of early progression as identified by the ROC curve analysis (area under the ROC curve [AUC] = 0.704, p = 0.005; AUC = 0.684, p = 0.021; and AUC = 0.670, p = 0.0325, respectively). Univariable Cox regression analysis of the above three parametric values showed that the 95th PV of Ktrans and the mean Ktrans were significant predictors of early progression (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.06, p = 0.009; HR = 1.25, p = 0.017, respectively). Multivariable Cox regression analysis, which also incorporated clinical parameters, revealed that the 95th PV of Ktrans was the sole significant independent predictor of early progression (HR = 1.062, p < 0.009). Conclusion: The 95th PV of Ktrans from the non-enhancing, T2-HSI lesions of GBM is a potential prognostic marker for disease progression.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.517-523
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• 2019

In this study, we investigated antioxidant capacity of 20 strawberry extract using the DPPH and ABTS assay and HPLC-DAD validation method. The total polyphenolic and flavonoids contents of 20 strawberry extracts were 22.77-107.61 mg TAE/100 g FW and 17.58-44.12 mg QE/100 g FW. The Aiberry and Elie star showed the highest total polyphenol and flavonoid contents, respectively. The DPPH radical scavenging activity of what was 1540.6-1124.0 μmol TEAC/100 g FW and Derunoka showed the highest activity. The ABTS radical scavenging activity was 6352.3-4592.3 μmol TEAC/100 g FW and FA23 showed the highest activity. The HPLC-DAD method for the quantitation of ellagic acid results showed high linearity in various concentration ranges, and the limit of detection was 2.35 μg/mL. The limit of quantification was 7.12 μg/mL. Relative standard deviation values from intra-and inter-day precision were less than 5.31%. Recovery rate at 10, 50, and 100 μg/mL, respectively, were 100.0-101.0% with relative standard deviation (RSD) values less than 5.30%. These results provide viable information for the validation of antioxidant capacity in strawberry fruits.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.1147-1155
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• 2018

Agaricus blazei mycelial liquid culture extract (ABMLCE) promoted the production of testosterone (TS) in TM-3 mouse Leydig testis cells. Now, we report that ABMLCE containing eritadenine (EA) as a minor constituent (15.3 mg/100 g) reduced $5{\alpha}-reductase$ 2 ($5{\alpha}-R2$) enzyme activity and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) content which are key constituents for the benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) inductions. RWPE-1 prostate cells were grown in a Keratinocyte serum-free medium (K-SFM) containing ABMLCE (0~50 ppm), EA (0~10 ppm,), and finasteride (FS $10{\mu}M$: a positive control) in a 24-well plate for 24 hr. Supernatants collected from cell-cultured media were used for the assay of $5{\alpha}-R2$, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) enzyme activities, and for TS, DHT, tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}$ ($TNF-{\alpha}$) and $interleukin-1{\beta}$ ($IL-1{\beta}$) contents by their assay kits. The $5{\alpha}-R2$ activity and DHT content were proportionally reduced (p<0.05) to concentrations of ABMLCE. The SOD and CAT enzyme activities were significantly (p<0.05) elevated concomitant with ABMLCE concentrations, while COX-2, $TNF-{\alpha}$ and $IL-1{\beta}$ showed reverse results (p<0.05). Similarly, the effects of EA were similar to those of ABMLCE. Efficacies of ABMLCE 50 ppm and EA 10 ppm in $5{\alpha}-R2$ and DHT reduction were similar to those of $10{\mu}M$ FS. These results suggest that ABMLCE and EA reduced $5{\alpha}-R2$ and DHT through their anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative actions. This implies that ABMLCE containing EA could be a beneficial material in the cure of BPH in humans.