• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.516-524
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• 2024

This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary spray-dried plasma (SDP) on the gut microbiota of lactating sows and their piglets. A total of 12 sows were randomly assigned to one of two dietary treatment groups in a completely randomized design. The treatments were a sow diet based on corn and soybean meal (CON), and a CON diet with an added 1% SDP. The sows were fed the dietary treatments from d 30 before farrowing to weaning (d 28). The fecal samples of three sows from each treatment and two of their randomly selected piglets were collected to verify their fecal microbiota. There were no differences in the alpha diversity and distinct clustering of the microbial communities in the sows and their piglets when SDP was added to the sow diets from late gestation to weaning. The fecal microbiota of the lactating sows and their piglets showed a higher relative abundance of the phylum Bacteroidota and genus Lactobacillus and Ruminococcus and showed a lower relative abundance of the phylum Bacillota and genus Bacteroides, Escherichia/Shigella, and Clostridium in the sows fed the SDP diet than those fed the CON diet. Overall, these results show that the addition of SDP to the sow diet during lactation altered the gut environment with positive microbial composition changes. These results were similar in the nursing piglets, suggesting that the control of the sow diets during lactation may contribute to the intestinal health and growth in piglets after weaning.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.367-378
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• 2024

In this study we sought to elucidate the therapeutic effects of fenchone on constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C) and the underlying mechanisms. An IBS-C model was established in rats by administration of ice water by gavage for 14 days. Fenchone increased the reduced body weight, number of fecal pellets, fecal moisture, and intestinal transit rate, and decreased the enhanced visceral hypersensitivity in the rat model of IBS-C. In addition, fenchone increased the serum content of excitatory neurotransmitters and decreased the serum content of inhibitory neurotransmitters in the IBS-C rat model. Meanwhile, western blot and immunofluorescence experiments indicated that fenchone increased the expressions of SCF and c-Kit. Furthermore, compared with the IBS-C model group, fenchone increased the relative abundance of Lactobacillus, Blautia, Allobaculum, Subdoligranulum, and Ruminococcaceae_UCG-008, and reduced the relative abundance of Bacteroides, Enterococcus, Alistipes, and Escherichia-Shigella on the genus level. Overall, fenchone ameliorates IBS-C via modulation of the SCF/c-Kit pathway and gut microbiota, and could therefore serve as a novel drug candidate against IBS-C.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2006

Alternative splicing (AS) is an important mechanism of producing transcriptome diversity and microarray techniques are being used increasingly to monitor the splice variants. There exist three types of microarrays interrogating AS events-junction, exon, and tiling arrays. Junction probes have the advantage of monitoring the splice site directly. Johnson et al., performed a genome-wide survey of human alternative pre-mRNA splicing with exon junction microarrays (Science 302:2141-2144, 2003), which monitored splicing at every known exon-exon junctions for more than 10,000 multi-exon human genes in 52 tissues and cell lines. Here, we describe an algorithm to deduce the relative concentration of isoforms from the junction array data. Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) is applied to obtain the transcript structure inferred from the expression data. Then we choose the transcript models consistent with the ECgene model of alternative splicing which is based on mRNA and EST alignment. The probe-transcript matrix is constructed using the NMF-consistent ECgene transcripts, and the isoform abundance is deduced from the non-negative least squares (NNLS) fitting of experimental data. Our method can be easily extended to other types of microarrays with exon or junction probes.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.10-25
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• 2018

This study was conducted to estimate the habitat suitability of 17 benthic macroinvertebrate taxa in the Hwayang stream. Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) of benthic macroinvertebrates from the Hwayang stream was developed based on three physical habitat factors which include current velocity, water depth, and the substrate. The Weibull model was used as a probability density function to analyze the distribution of individual abundance by physical factors. The number of species and the total individual abundance increased along with the increase in current velocity. By means of Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA), the relative importance of each factor was determined in the following order: current velocity, water depth, and the mean diameter. The results depicted that, the most influential factor in the growth of benthic macroinvertebrates in the Hwavang system was current velocity. After comparing the analyzed results from the Hwayang stream with the resukts from the Gapyeong stream, the integrated HSI was drawn. The results indicated that current velocity and substrate had similar distributions of HSI in the two streams. This was due to the addition of unmeasured data from previous surveys, or the fact that benthic macroinvertebrates adapted to deeper waters in the Hwayang Stream. Most taxa showed a clear preference for a fast current velocity, deep water depth and coarse substrate except Baetiella, Epeorus, (mayflies), and Hydropsyche (caddisfly).

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.420-443
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• 2012

An Individual-Based Model (IBM) was developed by employing natural and toxic survival rates of individuals to elucidate the community responses of benthic macroin-vertebrates to anthropogenic disturbance in the streams. Experimental models (dose-response and relative sensitivity) and mathematical models (power law and negative exponential distribution) were applied to determinate the individual survival rates due to acute toxicity in stressful conditions. A power law was additionally used to present the natural survival rate. Life events, covering movement, exposure to contaminants, death and reproduction, were simulated in the IBM at the individual level in small (1 m) and short (1 week) scales to produce species abundance distributions (SADs) at the community level in large (5 km) and long (1~2 years) scales. Consequently, the SADs, such as geometric series, log-series, and log-normal distribution, were accordingly observed at severely (Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP<10), intermediately (BMWP<40) and weakly (BMWP${\geq}50$) polluted sites. The results from a power law and negative exponential distribution were suitably fitted to the field data across the different levels of pollution, according to the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The IBMs incorporating natural and toxic survival rates in individuals were useful for presenting community responses to disturbances and could be utilized as an integrative tool to elucidate community establishment processes in benthic macroin-vertebrates in the streams.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.59-67
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• 2013

We present a spectroscopic study of 343 blue compact galaxies (BCGs) at 0.20 < z < 0.35 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR7 data. We derive gas phase oxygen abundance using the empirical and direct method. Stellar masses of galaxies are derived from the STARLIGHT code. We also derive star formation rates of galaxies based on $H{\alpha}$ emission line from the SDSS as well as far-ultraviolet (FUV) flux from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer GR6 data. Evolution of the luminosity-metallicity and mass-metallicity (M-Z) relations with redshift is observed. At a given luminosity and mass, galaxies at higher redshifts appear to be biased to low metallicities relative to the lower redshift counterparts. Furthermore, low mass galaxies show higher specific star formation rates (SSFRs) than more massive ones and galaxies at higher redshifts are biased to higher SSFRs compared to the lower redshift sample. By visual inspection of the SDSS images, we classify galaxy morphology into disturbed or undisturbed. In the M-Z relation, we find a hint that morphologically disturbed BCGs appear to exhibit low metallicities and high SSFRs compared to undisturbed counterparts. We suggest that our results support downsizing galaxy formation scenario and star formation histories of BCGs are closely related with their morphologies.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.112-119
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• 1997

Coastal sediments collected near the Youngkwang Nuclear Power Plant were analysed for major(Al$_2$O$^_3$, Fe$^_2$O$^_3$, MgO, CaO, Na$^_2$O, K$^_2$O, TiO$^_2$, MnO), trace (Ba, Sr, V, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn, Pb) metal, and P$^_2$O$^_5$ contents. The composition of bulk metals from most stations fits within the range as those in the average crustal and sedimentary rocks, suggesting that the anthropogenic perturbation of these components is insignificant. The abundance and distribution of total contents for the majority of metals in the surface sediment could be explained by the grain size and were associated with mud (<63 ${\mu}$m) contents. However, distributions of Ca, K, Sr and Ba did not have any significant association with the sediment grain size. This may be due to the geochemical coherence among these metals in certain minerals abundant in coarse grained fractions. The distribution of Pb appears to be partly affected by the contribution from aerosol fallout. Using the R'-mode factor analysis, we show that the variance of the metal contents could be explained by four factors which account for 93.7% of the total variance. It appears that texturally controlled and/or sorting factors influenced by fine fraction are the most dominant factors which determine the relative abundance and distribution of metals in the study area.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.311-325
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• 2017

Habitat suitability index (HSI) of 17 benthic macroinvertebrate taxa, which were lotic insects of generic category except Potamanthidae in mayfly, was developed for three physical habitat factors (current velocity, water depth and substrate) based on an ecological monitoring in a Korean stream (Gapyeong). Weibull model was used as a probability density function to analyze the distribution of individual abundance related with physical factors, which showed it was so available. Number of species and total individual abundance increased along with the increase of current velocity and the mean diameter of substrate, and decreased along with the increase of water depth. Most taxa showed a clear preference for a fast current velocity, shallow water depth and coarse substrate except Ephemera, Potamanthidae (mayfly), and Plectrocnemia (caddisfly) which were rheophobic, potamophilic and lithophobious. Based on the canonical correspondence analysis, the relative importance of each factor was determined as follows: current velocity > substrate > water depth.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.420-429
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• 2018

Soil stabilization is a soil remediation technique that reduces the mobility of heavy metals in soils. Although it is a well-established technique, it is nonetheless essential to perform a follow-up chemical assessment via a leaching test to evaluate the immobilization of heavy metals in the soil matrix. Unfortunately, a standard chemical assessment is not sufficient for evaluation of the biological functional state of stabilized soils slated for agricultural use. Therefore, it is useful to employ a pyrosequencing-based microbial community analysis for the purpose. In this study, a recently stabilized site in the proximity of an exhausted mine was analyzed for bacterial diversity, richness, and relative abundance as well as the effect of environmental factors. Based on the Shannon and Chao1 indices and rarefaction curves, the results showed that the stabilized layer exhibited lower bacterial diversity than control soils. The prevalence of dominant bacterial populations was examined in a hierarchical manner. Relatively high abundances of Proteobacteria and Methylobacter tundripaludum were observed in the stabilized soil. In particular, there was substantial abundance of the Methylobacter genus, which is known for its association with heavy metal contamination. The study demonstrated the efficacy of (micro)biological assessment for aiding in the understanding and post-management of stabilized soils.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.169-180
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• 2022

We investigated the chemical composition of the planetary host halo star HD47536 via high-resolution spectral observations recorded using a 1.5 meter Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) telescope (Chile). Furthermore, we determined the abundances of 38 chemical elements. Both light and heavy elements were overabundant compared to the iron group elements. The abundance pattern of HD47536 was similar to that of halo-type stars, with an enrichment of heavy elements. We analyzed the relationships between the relative abundances of chemical elements and their second ionization potentials and condensation temperatures. We demonstrated that the interplay of charge-exchange reactions owing to the accretion of interstellar matter and the gas-dust separation mechanism can influence the initial abundances and can be used to qualitatively explain the abundance patterns in the atmosphere of HD47536.