• Gut and Liver
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.655-663
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• 2018

Background/Aims: The association between metabolic syndrome and colorectal cancer (CRC) has been suggested as one of causes for the increasing incidence of CRC, particularly in younger age groups. The present study examined whether the current age threshold (50 years) for CRC screening in Korea requires modification when considering increased metabolic syndrome. Methods: We analyzed data from the National Health Insurance Corporation database, which covers ~97% of the population in Korea. CRC risk was evaluated with stratification based on age and the presence/absence of relevant metabolic syndrome components (diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension). Results: A total of 51,612,316 subjects enrolled during 2014 to 2015 were analyzed. Among them, 19.3% had diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, or some combination thereof. This population had a higher incidence of CRC than did those without these conditions, and this was more prominent in subjects <40 years of age. The optimal cutoff age for detecting CRC, based on the highest Youden index, was 45 years among individuals without diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. Individuals with at least one of these components of metabolic syndrome had the highest Youden index at 62 years old, but the value was only 0.2. Resetting the cutoff age from 50 years to 45 years achieved a 6% increase in sensitivity for CRC detection among the total population. Conclusions: Starting CRC screening earlier, namely, at 45 rather than at 50 years of age, may improve secondary prevention of CRC in Korea.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.408-420
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• 2014

Yeast surface-displayed antibody libraries provide an efficient and quantitative screening resource for given antigens, but suffer from typically modest library sizes owing to low yeast transformation efficiency. Yeast mating is an attractive method for overcoming the limit of yeast transformation to construct a large, combinatorial antibody library, but the optimal conditions have not been reported. Here, we report a large synthetic human Fab (antigen binding fragment) yeast surface-displayed library generated by stepwise optimization of yeast mating conditions. We first constructed HC (heavy chain) and LC (light chain) libraries, where all of the six CDRs (complementarity-determining regions) of the variable domains were diversified mimicking the human germline antibody repertoires by degenerate codons, onto single frameworks of VH3-23 and $V{\kappa}1$-16 germline sequences, in two haploid cells of opposite mating types. Yeast mating conditions were optimized in the order of cell density, media pH, and cell growth phase, yielding a mating efficiency of ~58% between the two haploid cells carrying HC and LC libraries. We constructed two combinatorial Fab libraries with CDR-H3 of 9 or 11 residues in length with colony diversities of more than $10^9$ by one round of yeast mating between the two haploid HC and LC libraries, with modest diversity sizes of ${\sim}10^7$. The synthetic human Fab yeast-displayed libraries exhibited relative amino acid compositions in each position of the six CDRs that were very similar to those of the designed repertoires, suggesting that they are a promising source for human Fab antibody screening.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.16-23
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• 2022

Objectives: Early detection of developmental issues in infants and necessary intervention are important. To identify the comorbid conditions, a comprehensive evaluation is required. The study's objectives were to 1) generate scale items by identifying and eliciting concepts relevant to young children (12-71 months) with developmental delays, 2) develop a comprehensive screening tool for developmental delay and comorbid conditions, and 3) assess the tool's validity and cut-off. Methods: Multidisciplinary experts devised the "Infant Comprehensive Evaluation for Neurodevelopmental Delay (ICEND)," an assessment method that comes in two versions depending on the age of the child: 12-36 months and 37-71 months, through monthly seminars and focused group interviews. The ICEND is composed of three parts: risk factors, resilience factors, and clinical scales. In parts 1 and 2, there were 41 caretakers responded to the questionnaires. Part 3 involved clinicians evaluating ten subscales using 98 and 114 questionnaires for younger and older versions, respectively. The Child Behavior Checklist, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Infant-Toddler Social Emotional Assessment, and Korean Developmental Screening Test for Infants and Children were employed to analyze concurrent validity with the ICEND. The analyses were performed on both typical and high-risk infants to identify concurrent validity, reliability, and cut-off scores. Results: A total of 296 people participated in the study, with 57 of them being high-risk (19.2%). The Cronbach's alpha was positive (0.533-0.928). In the majority of domains, the ICEND demonstrated a fair discriminatory ability, with a sensitivity of 0.5-0.7 and specificity 0.7-0.9. Conclusion: The ICEND is reliable and valid, indicating its potential as an auxiliary tool for assessing neurodevelopmental delay and comorbid conditions in children aged 12-36 months and 37-71 months.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.85-94
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• 2002

In this study, a 3-dimensional numerical model, has been developed applied for the investigation of combustion characteristics, and used to optimize operating conditions in MSW incinerator, in Gwangju. The model developed in this study has been verified by exacting both the predicted and the measured temperature in combustion chamber which has been operated to provide a reference condition. By predictive results, the Sangmoo incinerator has a good characteristics of combustion and low emission however after burning zone produced incomplete products, also probably because the supply of primary air was not enough. Parametric screening studies have been conducted to study optimal operating conditions. For the optimal combustion characteristics, operating conditions should be adjusted with the waste properties.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.5-11
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• 1978

Since 1970, herbicides have been widely used in the crop production, especially in paddy field in Korea. In 1978, both preemergence and postemergence type herbicides are applied in the approximately 70% of total paddy field and 15% of upland to control weeds. Most herbicides control annual weeds effectively, but perennials have been problems in the paddy field. Under upland conditions, effectiveness of herbicides varies depending on many environmental conditions (soil moisture, soil physical properties, temperature, etc.) as well as uniform application of appropriate amounts of herbicides. In Korea, many research works have been concentrated on the screening of new herbicides in terms of herbicide effectiveness and yield or phytotoxicity of crops, and especially on the paddy field. However, physiological aspects of herbicidal action in plant and interaction of herbicides with the environments have not been studied approximately. Therefore, researches on the uptake of herbicides and the influence of herbicides on the physiological phenomena such as photosynthesis, respiration, nutrient uptake etc., to control troublesome perennial weeds in the paddy field are needed in future. Also some researches are needed to improve effectiveness of herbicirdes under upland conditions.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.279-284
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• 2010

Clubroot caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae is a widespread disease that causes serious problems in many brassica growing areas. To establish more simple and reliable clubroot screening method of Chinese cabbage to P. brassicae using soil-drenching inoculation, the development of clubroot on Chinese cabbage according to several conditions such as soil type, inoculum concentration of P. brassicae GN-1 (race 9), plant growth stage and incubation period was studied. In a commercial horticulture nursery media soil (CNS), disease severity of the seedling according to inoculum concentration increased in a dose-dependent manner, but did not in mixture of CNS and upland soil (1:1, v/v). To facilitate and acquire precise result of resistance screening of Chinese cabbage to clubroot, 10-day-old seedlings should be inoculated by drenching the spore suspension of P. brassicae to give inoculum density of $4.0{\times}10^8$ spores/pot. To develop the disease, the inoculated seedlings were incubated in a growth chamber at $20^{\circ}C$ for 3 days, and then cultivated in a greenhouse ($25{\pm}5^{\circ}C$) for five weeks. Under the optimum conditions, 25 clubroot-resistant (CR) and 3 clubroot-susceptible (CS) cultivars were tested for resistance to P. brassicae. All CR cultivars showed very clear resistance response, on the other hand all CS cultivars severly infected with the pathogen. The results suggest that this method is efficient screening method of Chinese cabbage for resistance to clubroot disease.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.174-187
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• 2021

Cytotechnologists evaluate and analyze disorders of cells that constitute the human body, and are involved in the primary assessment of diverse diseases, including cancer. However, the employment conditions and workload of cytotechnologists are poorly understood. This study was undertaken to provide basic data for establishing the criteria for quality control certification factors based on the scope of effective task performance of cytotechnologists, and to provide results of their workload analysis according to the type of medical institution. The study was conducted by enrolling certified cytotechnologists working at various nationwide medical institutions. Our analysis revealed that 178 personnel (72.7%) were involved in primary screening of samples. On an average, the daily number of primary screening of samples performed per cytotechnologist (76 respondents) was determined to be 75.4 chapters (16.8 chapters/hours) at the university hospital level, 72.4 chapters (18.6 chapters/hours) at the general hospital level, and 231 chapters (32.6 chapters/hours) at professional trust institutions. Our results indicate the necessity to establish a consultant with the Korean Cell Pathology Association, to enable finding solutions to solve existing issues by establishing accurate standard guidelines for assessing cell screening.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2000

This study was conducted to establish an efficient screening method of membrane-disrupting herbicides, based on the result that membrane leakage leading to evolution of carbonyl compounds and aldehydes could be colorimetrically assessed by formation of stable chromophores with MBTH and ferric chloride. Assay conditions including plant material, light intensity, irradiation time, concentrations of reagents for colorization, and reaction time were optimized, and activities of different types of known herbicides were investigated with cucumber cotyledon discs. That result indicated that this assay was sensitive to membrane-disrupting herbicides, such as protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibitors (acifluorfen, oxyfluorfen, oxadiazon) and an electron interceptor from photosystem I(paraquat). With seven compounds newly synthesized, highly positive correlation was observed between herbicidal activities measured by greenhouse bioassay and MBTH method. Because only a single disc(4 mm diameter) from cucumber cotyledon in 60 ${\mu}L$ of incubation solution was required to assay, a large number of herbicides could be tested simultaneously using 96-well microtitre plates. But the assay efficiency is not likely to significantly increase because of the boiling step during the reaction.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.10
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• pp.504-510
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• 2021

Population screening of newborns is an extremely important and informative diagnostic approach that allows early identification of babies who are predisposed to the development of a number of serious diseases. Some of these diseases are known and have effective treatment methods. Neonatal screening enables the early diagnosis and subsequent timely initiation of therapy. This helps to prevent serious complications and reduce the percentage of disability and deaths among newborns and young children. Primary immunodeficiency diseases and primary immunodeficiency syndrome (PIDS) are a heterogeneous group of diseases and conditions based on impaired immune system function associated with developmental defects and characterized by various combinations of recurrent infections, development of autoimmune and lymphoproliferative syndromes (genetic defects in apoptosis, gene mutation Fas receptor or ligand), granulomatous process, and malignant neoplasms. Most of these diseases manifest in infancy and lead to serious illness, disability, and high mortality rates. Until recently, it was impossible to identify children with PIDS before the onset of the first clinical symptoms, which are usually accompanied by complications in the form of severe coinfections of a viral-bacterial-fungal etiology. Modern advances in medical laboratory technology have allowed the identification of children with severe PIDS, manifested by T- and/or B-cell lymphopenia and other disorders of the immune system. This review discusses the main existing strategies and directions used in PIDS screening programs for newborns, including approaches to screening based on excision of T-cell receptors and kappa-recombination excision circles, as well as the potential role and place of next-generation sequencing technology to increase the diagnostic accuracy of these diseases.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.1080-1086
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• 1996

Monascus strains were isolated from Ang-Khak for the screening of antimicrobial activity. Two Monascus isolates, No.116 and No.481, were selected because they showed strong antimicrobial activity. Effect of various nutrients and incubation conditions on antimicrobial activity were different between two isolates. Strong antimicrobial activity of isolate No.116 was observed in the medium with 8% sucrose and $0.8%(NH_4)_2SO_4,$ 0.5% $KH_2PO_4and$ 0.5% $MgSO_4,$ while isolate No.481 required 8% sucrose, 1.6~2% $(NH_4)_2SO_4,$ 0.5% $MgSO_4and$ 0.5% $FeSO_4for$ the highest activity. The strong antimicroial activity was observed when both isolates were incubated on rice extract broth with initial pH of 5.3. The optiimum incubation temperature for the highest antimicrobial activity was $32.5^{\circ}C.$ With optimal conditions for the highest antimicrobial activity, isolate No.116 and No. 481 were both active for 51 hours or longer against test organisms Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Enterococcus faecium.