• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.343-353
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• 2017

In the present study, the isolation of selenium (Se)-enriched bacteria from rumen fluid and hot spring water was carried out. Rumen fluid samples were taken from cannulated goats fed a basal diet and the water samples were collected from Selayang hot spring, Selangor-Malaysia. A total number of 140 Se-tolerant isolates were obtained aerobically using an Se-enriched medium and spread plate technique. All the isolates were initially screened for the ability to transform the Se-containing medium to a red-orange culture using a spectrophotometer. Twenty isolates of dark red-orange medium were selected for a screening of the highest Se-containing protein accumulating strains using the dialysis technique and icp.ms to measure the Se content. Four isolates, identified as Enterobacter cloacae (ADS1, ADS7, and ADS11), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (ADS2) from rumen fluid origin, as well as, one isolate from hot spring water (Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (ADS18)), were associated with the highest biomass organic Se-containing protein when grown in a medium enriched with $10{\mu}g/ml$ sodium selenite. In addition, around $50{\mu}g/100{\mu}g$ of the absorbed inorganic Se was accumulated as an organic form. Organic Se-containing protein in all the selected strains showed antioxidant properties in the range of 0.306 to 0.353 Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) mg/ml. Therefore, these strains may offer a potential source of organic Se due to their Se-tolerant nature and higher biomass organic to inorganic Se ratio.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.93-100
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• 2007

After a serial study on the therapeutic efficacy of the powdery silkworm for diabetics was positively resulted in, many powdery silkworm products were on the market in Korea. Up to now, however, no causal method is available to discriminate the strain of silkworms that is a major ingredient for manufacturing powdery silkworm, even though the quality of the powdery silkworm differs greatly by source and origin of strains. We previously were successful in identifying 25 silkworm strains kept in Korea using nine intronic sequences. In this study, we tested the utility of the nine intronic sequences to distinguish the most widely reared silkworm strains originated from Korea and China. Two intron regions, PTTH Intron3 and PTTH Intron3, showed a substantial sequence divergence (mean sequence divergence of 3.13% in PTTH Intron3 and 4.99% in PTTH Intron3). These two intronic sequences provided no identical sequences among the seven strains tested. Thus, these sequences each along can be used to discriminate the seven strains tested in this study. Furthermore, other intron regions, except for VDP Intron4 allowed us to discriminate $2{\sim}4$ strains by strain-specific unique insertion/deletion or substitution.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.251-259
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• 2020

Oral and maxillofacial infection is a common complication in patients undergoing chemotherapy. The treatment of oral diseases in such patients differs from that administered to healthy patients. This paper reports a case of acute osteomyelitis of odontogenic origin following a recent chemotherapy session. The patient's condition was life-threatening because of neutropenic fever and sepsis that developed during the inpatient supportive care. However, the patient showed prompt recovery within 40 days following the use of appropriate antibiotics and routine dressing, without the requirement for surgical treatment, except tooth extraction. As seen in this case, patients undergoing chemotherapy are more susceptible to rapid progression of infections in the oral and maxillofacial areas. Therefore, accurate diagnosis through prompt clinical and radiological examination, identification of the extent of infection, and assessment of the patient's immune system are crucial for favorable outcomes. It is also necessary to eliminate the source of infection through appropriate administration of antibiotics. In particular, a broad-spectrum antibiotic with anti-pneumococcal activity is essential. Proper antibiotic administration and wound dressing are essential for infection control. Furthermore, close consultation with a hemato-oncologist is necessary for effective infection management based on the professional evaluation of patients' immune mechanisms.

• BMB Reports
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• v.46 no.11
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• pp.527-532
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• 2013

Gangliosides are complex glycosphingolipids that are the major component of cytoplasmic cell membranes, and play a role in the control of biological processes. Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) have received considerable attention as alternative sources of adult stem cells because of their potential to differentiate into multiple cell lineages. In this study, we focus on various functional roles of gangliosides in the differentiation of hMSCs into osteoblasts or neuronal cells. A relationship between gangliosides and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activation during osteoblastic differentiation of hMSCs was observed, and the gangliosides may play a major role in the regulation of the differentiation. The roles of gangliosides in osteoblast differentiation are dependent on the origin of hMSCs. The reduction of ganglioside biosynthesis inhibited the neuronal differentiation of hMSCs during an early stage of the differentiation process, and the ganglioside expression can be used as a marker for the identification of neuronal differentiation from hMSCs.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.16-21
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• 2014

A 31-year-old woman, who was pregnant with twins, underwent chorionic villus sampling because of increased nuchal translucency in one of the fetuses. Cytogenetic analysis showed a normal karyotype in the fetus with increased nuchal translucency. However, the other fetus, with normal nuchal translucency, had a derivative X chromosome (der(X)). For further analysis, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and additional molecular studies including fragile X analysis were performed. FISH analysis confirmed that the Y chromosome was the origin of extra segment of the der(X). The X-chromosome breakpoint was determined to be at Xq27 by FMR1 CGG repeat analysis, and the Y-chromosome breakpoint was determined to be at Yq11.23 by the Y chromosome microdeletion study. To predict the fetal outcome, the X-inactivation pattern was examined, and it revealed non-random X inactivation of the der(X). To the best of our knowledge, the identification of an unbalanced Xq;Yq translocation at prenatal diagnosis has never been reported. This study was performed to identify precise breakpoints and the X-inactivation pattern as well as to provide the parents with appropriate genetic counseling.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.62-66
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• 2017

Interchromosomal insertion of Y chromosome heterochromatin in an autosome was identified in a fetus and a family. A fetal karyotype was analyzed as 46,XX,dup(7)(?q22q21.1) in a referred amniocentesis at 16 weeks of gestation for advanced maternal age. In the familial karyotype analyses for identification of der(7), the mother, the first daughter and the maternal grandmother showed the same der(7) as the fetus's. CBG-banding was positive at 7q22 region of der(7) that indicated inserted material was originated from heterochromatin. The origin of heterochromatic insertion region in der(7) of the fetus and the mother was found in Yq12 region by fluorescent in situ hybridization with a DYZ1 probe. In the specific analysis of Y chromosomal heterochromatic region of ins(7;Y) of the mother, 15 sequence tagged sites from Yp11.3 region including SRY to Yq11.223 region was not detected. Final karyotypes of the mother, the first daughter and the maternal grandmother were reported as 46,XX,der(7)ins(7;Y)(q21.3;q12q12). All female carriers of ins(7;Y) in the family showed normal phenotype and the mother and the maternal grandmother were fertile. A healthy girl was born at term. We report a rare case of familial interchromosomal insertion of Y chromosome heterochromatin detected only in female family members with normal phenotype that was diagnosed prenatally.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.4487-4490
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• 2016

Background: Methylation at cg 16941656 of FRY is exclusively found in normal pancreatic tissue and has been proven to be specific for pancreatic-in-origin among several adenocarcinomas. Here, we investigated methylated DNA in the bile as a biomarker to differentiate the cause of obstruction between pancreatic cancer and benign causes. Materials and Methods: Bile samples of 45 patients with obstructive jaundice who underwent ERCP were collected and classified into pancreatic cancer (group 1) and benign causes (group 2) in 24 and 21 patients, respectively. DNA was extracted from bile and bisulfite modification was performed. After, methylation in cg 16941656 of FRY was identified by real-time PCR, with beta-actin used as a positive control. Results: Methylated DNA was identified in 10/24 (41.67%) and 1/21 (4.8%) of cases in groups 1 and 2, respectively (P= 0.012). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value to differentiate pancreatic cancer from benign causes were 42%, 95%, 91%, and 59%, respectively. Conclusions: Detecting a methylation at cg 16941656 of FRY in bile has high specificity, with an acceptable positive likelihood rate, and may therefore be helpful in distinguish pancreatic cancer from benign strictures.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.2418-2422
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• 2011

The enantiomeric separation of lactic acid for its absolute configuration has become important task for understanding its biological origin and metabolic process involved in the formation of lactic acid. It involves the conversion of enantiomers as diastereomeric O-pentafluoropropionylated (S)-(+)-3-methyl-2-butyl ester and the direct separation by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry on a achiral capillary column. The (R)- and (S)-lactic acids were completely separated with a high resolution of 1.9. The newly developed method showed good linearity (r ${\geq}$ 0.999), precision (% relative standard deviation = 3.4-6.2), and accuracy (% relative error = -7.7-1.4) with the detection limit of 0.011 ${\mu}g/mL$. When the method was applied to determine the absolute configuration of lactic acid in Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis 304 (LAB 304), the composition (%) of (R)-lactic acid in the cell pellet and in the culture medium were $89.0{\pm}0.1$ and $78.2{\pm}0.4$, respectively. Thus, it was verified that the present method is useful for the identification and composition test of lactic enantiomers in microorganisms.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.125-125
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• 2014

In 1991, Prof. Toshio Masuda of Kyoto University for the first time synthesized a representative of diphenylacetylene polymer derivatives, poly[1-phenyl-2-(p-trimethylsilyl)phenylacetylene] [PTMSDPA]. This polymer is highly soluble nevertheless a ultra-high molecular weight (Mw) of > $1.0{\times}10^6$ which showed excellent chemical, physical, mechanical properties [1]. As one of the most interesting features of PTMSDPA, Prof. Katsumi Yoshino of Osaka Univ. reported that this polymer emits an intense fluorescence (FL) in a visible region because of the effective exciton confinement within the resonant structure between the polyene pi-conjugated chain and side phenyl full-aromatic bulky groups [2]. Very recently, Prof. Ben-Zhong Tang of Hong-Kong Institute of Science and Technology clarified the idea that the FL emission of disubstituted acetylene polymer derivatives originates from intramolecular excimer due to the face-to-face stacking of the side phenyl groups [3]. Thus, to know what influence to intramolecular excimer emission in the film as well as to further understand how the intramolecular excimer forms in the film became more crucial in order to further precisely design the optimized molecular structure for highly emissive, substituted acetylene polymers in the solid state. In recent studies, we have focused our interests on the origin of the FL emission in order to expand our knowledge to developments of novel sensor applications. It was found that the intramolecular phenyl-pheyl stack structure of PTMSDPA in film was variable in response to various external chemical stimuli. Using PTMSDPA and its derivatives, we have developed various potential applications such as latent fingerprint identification, viscosity sensor, chemical-responsive actuator, gum-like soft conjugated polymer, and bioimaging. The details will be presented in the 49th KVS Symposium held in Pyong Chang city.

• Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.175-184
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• 2007

Two subspecies, japonica and indica, have been reported in rice, which differ in several ecotypic traits. However, reproductive barriers in hybrid progenies between subspecies have been major obstacles in breeding programs using inter-subspecific hybridization. As the first step to elucidate the reproductive barriers, we developed subspecies-specific(SS) STS markers in this study. A total of 765 STS primers were designed through comparing DNA sequences at every $2{\sim}3$cM interval between japonica and indica rices, which are available at Web DBs such as IRGSP, NCBI, TIGR, and GRAMENE, and tested for subspecies-specificity using 15 indica and 15 japonica varieties of diverse origin. Of them, 67 STS markers were identified as SS STS markers and their subspecies-specificity scores were estimated. The SS markers were dispersed throughout the genome along chromosomes. Of them, 64 SS markers were mapped on an RIL population derived from a Dasanbyeo(indica)/TR22183(japonica) cross. Genomic inclination of RILs was evaluated based on the genotyping with different types of markers. Association test between markers and segregation distortion revealed that segregation distortion might not be the cause of generating SS markers. The SS markers will be applicable to estimate the genomic inclination of varieties or lines and to study the differentiation of indica and japonica, and ultimately to breed true hybrid rice varieties in which desirable characters from both subspecies are recombined.