• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.146-158
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• 2014

Camelina sativa that belongs to Brassicaceae family is an emerging oilseed crop. Camelina seeds contain approximately 40% storage oils per seed dry weight, which are useful for human and animal diets and industrial applications. Microsomal delta-12 fatty acid desaturase2 (FAD2) catalyzes the conversion of oleic acid to linoleic acid. The polymorphisms of FAD2 genes are correlated with the levels of oleic acids in seed oils. Microsomal delta-12 fatty acid desaturase2 (FAD2) catalyzes the conversion of oleic acid to linoleic acid. The polymorphisms of FAD2 genes are correlated with the levels of oleic acids in seed oils. In this study, three CsFAD2 genes (CsFAD2-1, CsFAD2-2 and CsFAD2-3.1) were isolated from developing seeds of Camelina sativa (L.) cv. CAME. The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of three CsFAD2 genes were compared with those from dicotyledon and monocotyledon plants including Camelina cultivars Sunesone and SRS933. Three histidine motifs (HECGH, HRRHH, and HVAHH) required for FAD activity and a hydrophobic valine or isoleucine residue, which is a SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) marker related with enzyme activity are well conserved in three CsFAD2s. The expressions of CsFAD2-1 and CsFAD2-3.1 were ubiquitously detected in various Camelina organs, whereas the CsFAD2-2 transcripts were predominantly detected in flowers and developing seeds. The contents of oleic acids decreased, whereas the amounts of linoleic acid increased in dry seeds of transgenic fad2-2 lines expressing each CsFAD2 gene compared with fad2-2 mutant, indicating that three CsFAD2 genes are functionally active. The isolated CsFAD2 genes might be applicable in metabolic engineering of storage oils with high oleic acids in oilseed crops.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.202-212
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• 2005

Purpose: Transfusion transmitted virus (TTV) is a newly discovered virus and to date the contribution of TTV to liver disease remains unclear. Little is known about the frequency of TTV infection in children in Korea. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and genotypic distribution of TTV carried by healthy children and patients with hepatitis in Korea. Methods: Eighty eight of healthy children and three groups of patients with hepatitis-14 patients with chronic hepatitis B, 12 patients with chronic hepatitis C and 25 patients with hepatitis of unknown etiology-were tested. TTV DNA was detected by semi-nested PCR using primer sets generated from N-22 region and from 5' noncoding region (NCR) of the viral genome. PCR products derived from 8 patients with hepatitis and from 11 healthy children were sequenced and a phylogenetic tree was constructed. Results: TTV was found by PCR with N22 primer in 11.3% of healthy children, 28.5% of children with hepatitis B, 25% of children with hepatitis C, 24% of children with hepatitis of unknown etiology. TTV DNA was found by PCR with 5'NCR primer in 32.9% of healthy children, 71.4% of patients with chronic hepatitis B, in 50% of patients with hepatitis C and in 48% of patients with hepatitis of unknown etiology. TLMV DNA was found in 48.9% of healthy children, 21.4% of patients with hepatitis B, 16.6% of patients with hepatitis C, 40% of patients with hepatitis of unknown etiology. Among the sequenced isolates, 10(52%) belonged to genotype 1 (G1) and others belonged to genotype 2 (G2) or genotype 3 (G3). Among the G1 sequences, 7 were grouped as G1a. Conclusion: TTV infection was common in healthy children and in patients with hepatitis. But, the prevalence of TTV DNA by 5'NCR primer was relatively high in patients with hepatitis B and there may be some association between TTV and hepatitis B virus infection. G1 was the major genotype of the studied population.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.59 no.2
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• pp.5-38
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• 2007

This study attempts to develop a theory on the evolving process of wealthy major donors' sharing lives in Korea through a grounded theory approach. To conduct this study, the researchers have in-depth interviews with 11 exemplary wealthy major donors who have more than one million US dollars in his or her own asset and donate more than ten thousand US dollars annually. In data analysis, this study identifies 161 concepts on the evolving process of wealthy major donors' sharing lives; and the concepts are categorized with 33 sub-categories and 14 categories. In the paradigm model on the evolving process of wealthy major donors' sharing lives, it is identified that the central phenomenon, 'practicing sharing lives as noblesse oblige', is related with the causal conditions such as 'learning through memories and observation', 'realizing my duties', and 'emphasizing'; and the central phenomenon is related with the contingent conditions such as 'being sensitive to external evaluation', 'having limited information on giving', 'distrusting donation related environments'. The action/interactional sequences such as 'utilizing relationships' and 'strengthening active participation' are accomplished by moderating conditions such as 'having internal and external supports' and 'guiding by firm conviction'. It reveals that as a result, wealthy major donors enjoy the feeling of becoming a ideal and true wealthy person, establish sharing lives as firm and major parts of overall lives, and experience strong desires for better future and society. In this study, 'generous sharing that shares personal heritages and social benefits' is analyzed as a core category; it shows that sharing of wealthy major donors is related to the characteristics of generosity practice based on moral self-benefiting rather than complete altruistic characteristics or self-sacrificial characteristics. The process analysis reveals that it has the following stages: first, initial giving by exposure to causes or requests; second, routine practice of giving; third, evolution of practice of giving with gradual expansion in quantities and qualities; and fourth, living with giving. In the process, the following four types are identified: devoted wealthy donors for sharing, wealthy donors practicing sharing in daily life, wealthy donors practicing sharing with learning on external stimulus, and wealthy donors practicing sharing on empathy. Finally, this study discusses both meanings of identifying and developing a theory on the evolving process of wealthy major donors' sharing lives and implications of the research results in cultivating and developing potential wealthy major donors in Korea.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.497-505
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• 2002

Background : INF-${\gamma}$ plays an important role in the host response to a mycobacterial infection. A complete IFN-${\gamma}$ receptor 1 deficiency is a life threatening condition because it renders patients highly susceptible to a mycobacterial infection. Several mutations in the IFN-${\gamma}$ receptor and STAT1 gene have been identified in the rare mycobacterial infections. These mutations have partial function of the IFN-${\gamma}$ receptor and similar pathologic features to clinical tuberculosis. Materials and Methods : The function of the IFN-${\gamma}$ receptor was evaluated in the patients with clinical tuberculosis. In addition, the DNA coding sequence of the IFNgR1 and STAT1 gene was also analyzed in disseminated tuberculosis patients who might have a defective IFN-${\gamma}$ receptor. Results : The cell surface expression levels of HLA-DR and CD64 in the PMBC after being stimulation with IFN-${\gamma}$ (100IU/ml, 1000IU/ml) were increased in both controls and patients. However, the rate of increase in both groups was similar. The production of TNF-${\alpha}$ in the response to stimulation with LPS was higher in the both groups ($850.7{\pm}687.8$ vs. $836.7{\pm}564.3$ pg/ml). Pretreatment with IFN-${\gamma}$ prior to LPS stimulation resulted in further increase in TNF-${\alpha}$ production between both groups ($2203.5{\pm}242.5$ vs. $2227.5{\pm}560.4$ pg/ml). However, the rate of the increase in TNF-${\alpha}$ production in the both groups was similar. The known mutations in the IFNgR1 and STAT1 coding sequences were not found in the genomic DNA of patients with disseminated tuberculosis. Conclusion : The functional and genetic defects of the IFN-${\gamma}$ receptor were not identified in clinical tuberculosis. This suggests the defective IFN-${\gamma}$ receptor that predispoe patients to a BCG or NTM infection can not alone account for the cases of clinical tuberculosis.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.298-309
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• 2000

Background : The antitumor effects of herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-tk) and ganciclovir (GCV) strategies for cancer gene therapy have a the following advantages : 1) a direct cytotoxicity to HSV-tk modified cancer cells by GCV 2) a cell death by the local transfer of toxic metabolites from the HSV-tk modified cells to nearby unmodified tumor cells (bystander effect), and 3) in vivo bystander effect such as antitumor-immunity. Retroviral and adenoviral sequences can silence transgene expression in cells and mice. In this study, we investigated the above described advantages of HSV-tk/GCV strategy in Lewis lung cell and mouse lung cancer model using retroviral vector and adenoviral vector. Also, we observed whether the expression of a silenced gene can be reactivated by treating cells with butyrate. Methods : Retrovirus-HSV-tk and adenovirus-HSV-tk vectors were used for the transduction of Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells. The change of HSV-tk expression by butyrate was measured by Western blol The antitumor activities containing bystander effect were observed in vivo (by MTT assay) and in vivo tumor models of various combinations of LLC and LLC-tk. Results : 1. Butyrate induced the enhancement of HSV-tk expression from adenovirally transduced cells but not from retrovirally transduced cells. 2. Both retrovirus-HSV-tk and adenovirus-HSV-tk vectors with GCV treatment were effective for killing of tumor cell in vitro and suppression of LLC tumorigenicity. Bystander effect was responsible for killing of mixture of LLC-tk and LLC in vitro and in vivo-tumorigenicity model. Conclusion : Butyrate could augment adenovirus-mediated HSV -tk gene expression. Cancer gene therapy with HSV-tk suicide gene by retroviral and adenoviral vector seems to be an effective approach for lung cancer therapy.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.356-363
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• 2009

Purpose : A polymorphism in the IGF-I gene promoter region is known to be associated with serum IGF-I levels, birth weight, and body length, suggesting that IGF-I gene polymorphism might influence postnatal growth. The present study aimed to investigate the role of this polymorphic cytosine-adenine (CA) repeat of the IGF-I gene in children with idiopathic short stature. Methods : The study involved 131 children (72 boys and 59 girls) diagnosed with idiopathic short stature, aged 715 years. Genomic DNA was extracted from anticoagulated peripheral whole blood. The primers were designed to cover the promoter region containing the polymorphic CA repeat. Data were analyzed using GeneMapper software. The correlations between age and serum IGF-I levels were analyzed using Spearmans correlation coefficient. Results : The CA repeat sequences ranged from 15 to 22, with 19 CA repeats the most common with an allele frequency of 40.6%. Homozygous for 19 CA repeat was 13.0%, heterozygous for 19 CA repeat was 56.5%, and 19 CA non-carrier was 30.5%. The three different genotype groups showed no significant differences in height, body weight and body mass index, and serum IGF-I levels. The serum IGF-I level and age according to the IGF-I genotypes were significantly correlated in the entire group, 19 CA repeat carrier group, and the non-carrier group. The three groups also showed no significant differences in the first year responsiveness to GH treatment. Conclusion : There were no significant different correlations between 19 CA repeat polymorphism and serum IGF-I levels according to genotype. Our results suggest that the IGF-I 19 CA repeat gene polymorphism is not functional in children with idiopathic short stature.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.178-183
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• 2010

Purpose : The aim of this study was to identify mutations associated with macrolide resistance in Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) and to establish a cultural method to determine antimicrobial susceptibility. Methods : Nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs) were collected from 62 children diagnosed with MP pneumonia by a serologic method or polymerase chain reaction. The 23S rRNA and L4 ribosomal protein genes of MP were amplified and sequenced. To identify mutations in these 2 genes, their nucleotide sequences were compared to those of the reference strain M129. MP cultivation was carried out for 32 (28 frozen and 5 refrigerated) NPAs and M129 strain using Chanock's glucose broth and agar plate in a 5% $CO_2$ incubator at $37^{\circ}C$ and examined at 2-3 day intervals for 6 weeks. Results : Among the 62 specimens, 17 had M144V mutations in ribosomal protein L4. The A2064G mutation was observed in 1 specimen; its 23S rRNA gene was successfully sequenced. Culture for MP was successful from the M129 strain and 2 of the 5 NPAs that were refrigerated for no longer than 3 days. However, MP did not grow from the 28 NPAs that were kept frozen at $-80^{\circ}C$ since 2003. Conclusion : We found the M144V mutation of L4 protein to be common and that of domain V of 23S rRNA gene was relatively rare among MP. Studies on the prevalence of macrolide-resistant MP and the relationship between the mutations of 23S rRNA gene and ribosomal protein L4 will aid in understanding the mechanism of macrolide resistance in MP.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.110-116
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• 2004

The over-expression in E. coli of the pHLN1-SO(＋) and pHLN2-80(－) plasmids cloned an insecticidal crystal protein (ICP) gene (crylAal type) from Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki HD 1 was investigated through in part, the deletion of -80 bp promoter and an alternative change of cloning vector system. Two recombinant plasmids were constructed in an attempt to analyze the over-expression of the ICP in relations to its gene structure possessing only -14 bp ［Shine-Dalgarno (SD) sequence of -80 bp promoter］. Also, anther two recombinant plasmids similarly cloned the icp gene in a different vector system. The amounts of ICP produced from the recombinants were measured by SDS-PAGE and confirmed by Western blot analysis. One clone, pHLRBS1-14 clone in which only the SD sequence in the inverted orientation icp gene appeared, was more evident than the pHLRBS2-14 clone in which only the -14 bp SD sequence of the right orientated icp gene was shown to exist. The pHLN2-80(－) clone produced more ICP proteins than the pHLRBS1-14 clone. In the two clones, pHLNUC1-80 right-oriented icp gene and the pHLNUC2-80 clone inverted-orientation icp gene in a new different vector, the pHLNUC2-80 produced more ICP proteins in E. coli system. These results indicate that the P/ac promoter, the inverted icp gene insertion and -80 bp promoter (-66 bp part of the icp gene promoters), were concerned with the expression of the icp gene in the recombinant plasmids. In addition, the expression mechanism might result from the disruption of the transcription-suppressing regions in the promoter regions.

• Journal of Broadcast Engineering
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.216-225
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• 2011

Following the proliferation of three-dimensional video contents and displays, many terrestrial broadcasting companies have been preparing for stereoscopic 3DTV service. In terrestrial stereoscopic broadcast, it is a difficult task to code and transmit two video sequences while sustaining as high quality as 2DTV broadcast due to the limited bandwidth defined by the existing digital TV standards such as ATSC. Thus, a terrestrial 3DTV broadcasting with a heterogeneous video codec system, where the left image and right images are based on MPEG-2 and H.264/AVC, respectively, is considered in order to achieve both high quality broadcasting service and compatibility for the existing 2DTV viewers. Without significant change in the current terrestrial broadcasting systems, we propose a joint rate control scheme for stereoscopic 3DTV service based on the heterogeneous dual codec systems. The proposed joint rate control scheme applies to the MPEG-2 encoder a quadratic rate-quantization model which is adopted in the H.264/AVC. Then the controller is designed for the sum of the left and right bitstreams to meet the bandwidth requirement of broadcasting standards while the sum of image distortions is minimized by adjusting quantization parameter obtained from the proposed optimization scheme. Besides, we consider a condition on maintaining quality difference between the left and right images around a desired level in the optimization in order to mitigate negative effects on human visual system. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed bit rate control scheme outperforms the rate control method where each video coding standard uses its own bit rate control algorithm independently in terms of the increase in PSNR by 2.02%, the decrease in the average absolute quality difference by 77.6% and the reduction in the variance of the quality difference by 74.38%.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.83-88
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• 2006

Purpose: We Investigated to achieve high resolution magnetic resonance (MR) Imaging and spectra of human skin in vitro with using a 14.1 T MRI/MRS system, and to evaluate the hydration effect of a moisturizer by measuring the skin's water concentration. Materials and Methods: We used the Brukrer 14.1 T MRI/MRS system with a vertical standard bore that was equipped with a DMX spectrometer gradient system (200 G/cm at a maximum 40 A), RF resonators (2, 5 and 10 mm) and Para Vision software. Spin echo and fast spin echo pulse sequences were employed for obtaining the high resolution MR images. The 3D-localized point resolved spectroscopy (PRESS) method was used to acquire the MR spectra. Results: The high resolution MR images and spectra of human skin in vitro were successfully obtained on a 14.IT system. The water concentration of human skin after applying a moisturizer was higher than that before applying a moisturizer. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that the high-resolution MR images and spectra of human skin from a high field MRS instrument could be applicable to evaluating the hydration state of the stratum corneum.