• Research in Plant Disease
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.32-38
• /
• 2022

A survey of Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) was conducted in major oat-growing areas of Korea in 2020. BYDV is an economically important pathogen of cereal crops that can be transmitted by aphids. The present study evaluated the genetic composition of BYDV in oat from eight geographical areas in Korea. Multiplex reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to screen 322 oat leaf samples for six BYDV strains (PAV, MAV, SGV, PAS, RPV, and RMV). The 125 samples (~39%) tested positive for BYDV. BYDV-PAV, BYDV-SGV, BYDV-PAS, and BYDV-RPV were detected from oat in different areas. Most of the BYDV-infected samples were assigned to subgroup I (n=112). The results indicate that BYDV-PAV could be dominant throughout Korea. Also, the phylogenetic analysis of coat protein sequences indicated that 23 BYDV isolates from Korea could be separated into two clades, which exhibited high nucleotide sequence similarity. In conclusion, the present survey provides a BYDV infection assessment for domestic oat varieties in Korea and basic information for the development of BYDV control measures in Korea's oat industry.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.13.1-13.12
• /
• 2022

Background: Toxoplasma gondii can infect humans and most animals and has a very high infection rate worldwide, including in China. The number of people infected with T. gondii in China increases with the number of cats. Objectives: We investigated the seropositive rate of T. gondii in cats over the last five years and analyzed the risk factors via meta-analysis. Methods: We retrieved 20 studies, with a total of 5,158 cats, published between 2016 and 2020, used the DerSimonian-Laird model and calculated seroprevalence estimates with the variance stabilizing double arcsine transformation. Results: The overall seroprevalence rate after sinusoidal conversion was 19.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 15.9-23.9; 966/5,158), lower than the domestic report from 1995 to 2015 (24.5%, 95% CI, 20.1-29.0). There was substantial heterogeneity among studies (χ² = 262.32; p < 0.001; I² = 64.6%). Regression analysis of possible heterogeneous causes and subgroup analysis showed that age and whether cats were stray or not have a significant effect on the seropositive rate. Conclusions: Articles published in recent five years suggest that the seroprevalence estimates of Toxoplasma gondii in cats has decreased. Cats, as the final host of T. gondii, are an important cause of the spread of the parasite, and this is an important concern for public health.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.44 no.5
• /
• pp.471-483
• /
• 2014

Purpose: This study was done to evaluate the effects of dignity interventions on depression, anxiety and meaning of life in terminally ill patients. Methods: PubMed, Cochrane Library CENTRAL, EMBASE, CINAHL and several Korean databases were searched. The main search strategy combined terms indicating dignity intervention, presence of terminal illness and study design. Methodological quality was assessed using Cochrane's Risk of Bias for randomized studies and Risk of Bias Assessment tool for non randomized studies. Data were analyzed by the RevMan 5.2.11 program of Cochrane Library. Results: Twelve clinical trials met the inclusion criteria with a total of 878 participants. Dignity intervention was conducted for a mean of 2.2 weeks, 2.8 sessions and an average of 48.7 minutes per session. Effect sizes were heterogeneous and subgroup analysis was done. Dignity interventions had a significant effect on depression (ES= -1.05, p<.001, $I^2$=15%) and anxiety (ES= -1.01, p<.001, $I^2$=0). For meaning of life, dignity interventions were effective (ES= -1.64, p=.005) and effect sizes were still heterogeneous. Conclusion: Results support findings that dignity interventions can assist terminal ill patients in reducing emotional distress and improving meaning of life. Further well-designed dignity studies will lead to better understanding of the effects of treatments on spiritual well-being.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
• /
• v.9 no.6
• /
• pp.347-355
• /
• 2018

A convergence study was conducted to identify effect size, intervention characteristics, and tendency of laughter therapies on depression for Korean older adults. Of the 486 studies searched in 10 databases, 20 studies in the inclusion criteria were selected. The risk of bias was assessed by SIGN's tool, and the data were analyzed using CMA 3.0 software. Overall effect size of laughter therapy on depression of older adults was medium (standardized mean difference [SMD]=-0.57, 95% CI: -0.70~-0.44, p<.001), and heterogeneity was small ($I^2=18%$). Subgroup analysis showed that the effect sizes of institutionalized group, mixed group, 4-6 weeks of duration, and group intervention were higher than the compared groups. Findings of this convergent meta-analysis would be helpful for health professionals to provide more effective laugher therapy sessions. Further replicative studies in long-term care facilities and more randomized controlled trials of laughter therapy are needed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.14
• /
• pp.5939-5944
• /
• 2015

Background: There is still a great deal of controversy with regard to the prognostic role of chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea (CIA) in breast cancer patients. To confirm whether CIA can serve as a useful factor in predicting clinical effects of systemic adjuvant chemotherapy, we performed this meta-analysis. Materials and Methods: Relevant studies were identified using PubMed, and Embase databases. Eligible study results were pooled and summary hazard ratios (HRs) with corresponding confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Subgroup analyses and an assessment of publication bias were also conducted. Results: A total of 8,333 patients from 11 published studies were identified through searching the databases. The pooled HRs for disease-free survival (DFS) suggested that CIA was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of recurrence, especially in patients with hormone receptor-positive lesions (overall HR=0.65, 95%CI 0.53-0.80, $I^2=41.3%$). When the five studies reporting the HR for overall survival (OS) were pooled (n=4193), a favorable trend was found (HR=0.69, 95%CI 0.52-0.91, $I^2=51.6%$). No publication bias was observed in this study. Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggests that CIA predicts a better outcome in premenopausal hormone receptor-positive breast cancer patients.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.272-280
• /
• 2007

Isolates of Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) collected in Korea, were compared with their pathological features in tobacco and zucchini squash. Full-length cDNA clone of RNA3 was generated by using long-distance RT-PCR. Transcript RNA3 from the cDNA clone was inoculated onto host plants with transcripts RNA1 and RNA2 of Fny strain, generating RNA3-pseudorecombinant CMV. Timing and severity of systemic symptom was not significantly different among the pseudorecombinant CMVs in tobacco, compared with strains Fny-CMV and Pf-CMV. However, the pseudorecombinant CMVs induced two different systemic symptoms (mosaic vs. chlorotic spot) in zucchini squash. Based on symptom induction, the pseudorecombinant CMVs were categorized into two classes. The severity and timing of symptoms were correlated with viral RNA accumulations in systemic leaves of zucchini squash, suggesting that different kinetics of virus movement associated with CMV proteins are crucial for systemic infection and symptom development in zucchini squash. The analysis of movement proteins (MP) of CMV strains showed high sequence homology, but the differences of several amino acids were found in the C-terminal region between Class-I-CMV and Class-II-CMV. The analysis of coat proteins (CP) showed that the CMV isolates tested belonged to CMV subgroup I and the viruses shared overall 87-99% sequence identity in their genomes. Phylogenetic analysis of MP and CP suggested that biological properties of Korean CMV isolates have relationships associated with host species.

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.209-212
• /
• 1999

For the classification of B. burgdorferi sensu lato strains, PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis was performed. PCR was carried out with B. burgdorferi sensu lato specific primer set (BB uni set), and amplicons of 470-bp DNA were digested with Alu 1. The Alu I restriction polymorphism of the amplicons provided a useful tool for identifying B. burgdorferi sensu late strains. Both amplicons from B. burgdorferi sensu stricto and B. garinii except HPI strain showed identical RFLP pattern (50 bp, 70 bp, and 150 bp), but amplicons from B. afzelii and B. garinii showed two types of subgroups, respectively. The result of PCR-RFLP using extracted DNAs from ticks was similar to those patterns of B. burgdorferi species including B. afzelii.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.38-43
• /
• 2021

Purpose: We investigated the association between defoliant exposure and survival to discharge after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Methods: This is a retrospective case-control study based on the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) registry. The electronic medical records of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims from 6/9/2008 to 12/31/2016 were analyzed statistically. The case patients group had a history of defoliant exposure while the control group did not. Among the 401 victims studied, a total of 110 patients were male out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients. Baseline characteristics and the parameters involved in cardiac arrest were analyzed and compared between the two groups after propensity score matching. The primary outcome was survival to discharge, and secondary outcomes were sustained return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and survival to admission. Results: After propensity score matching a total of 50 patients (case=25, control=25) were analyzed. Primary outcome (survival to discharge) was not significantly different between case and control groups [(OR, 1.759; 95% C.I., 0.491-6.309) and (OR, 1.842; 95% C.I., 0.515-6.593), respectively]. In the subgroup analysis, there were also no significant differences between the control group and subgroups in primary and secondary outcomes according to defoliant exposure severity. Conclusion: There is no statistically significant association between defoliant exposure and survival of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.86 no.2
• /
• pp.120-132
• /
• 2023

Background: To systematically review studies on inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and lung cancer incidence in chronic airway disease patients. Methods: We conducted electronic bibliographic searches on OVID-MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database before May 2020 to identify relevant studies. Detailed data on the study population, exposure, and outcome domains were reviewed. Results: Of 4,058 screened publications, 13 eligible studies in adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma evaluated lung cancer incidence after ICS exposure. Pooled hazard ratio and odds ratio for developing lung cancer in ICS exposure were 0.81 (95% confidence interval, 0.64 to 1.02; I²=95.7%) from 10 studies and 1.02 (95% confidence interval 0.50 to 2.07; I²=94.7%) from three studies. Meta-regression failed to explain the substantial heterogeneity of pooled estimates. COPD and asthma were variously defined without spirometry in 11 studies. Regarding exposure assessment, three and 10 studies regarded ICS exposure as a time-dependent and fixed variable, respectively. Some studies assessed ICS use for the entire study period, whereas others assessed ICS use for 6 months to 2 years within or before study entry. Smoking was adjusted in four studies, and only four studies introduced 1 to 2 latency years in their main or subgroup analysis. Conclusion: Studies published to date on ICS and lung cancer incidence had heterogeneous study populations, exposures, and outcome assessments, limiting the generation of a pooled conclusion. The beneficial effect of ICS on lung cancer incidence has not yet been established, and understanding the heterogeneities will help future researchers to establish robust evidence on ICS and lung cancer incidence.

• Animal Bioscience
• /
• v.35 no.10
• /
• pp.1556-1565
• /
• 2022

Objective: Tan lambs (n = 36, 3 mo old, 19.1±0.53 kg) were used to assess effects of dietary guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) and rumen-protected methionine (RPM) on growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, and serum parameters. Methods: Lambs were randomly assigned to three treatment groups, with 6 pens per group and 2 lambs per pen. Dietary treatments were: basal diet alone (I); basal diet supplemented with 0.08% GAA+0.06% RPM (II); and basal diet supplemented with 0.08% GAA+0.08% RPM (III). Diets were provided three times a day for 90 d. Intake per pen was recorded daily and individual lamb body weight (BW) was measured monthly. Carcass traits were measured after slaughter and meat quality at the end of the experiment, blood samples were taken on a subgroup of lambs for analysis of indicators mostly related to protein metabolism. Results: Final BW and average daily gain for the first and second month, and for the entire experiment were greater in Treatment II compared to Treatment I (p<0.05), whereas feed to gain ratio was lower (p<0.05). Treatment II had the optimal dressing percentage and net meat weight proportion, as well as crude protein and intramuscular fat concentrations in muscles. Treatment II improved meat quality, as indicated by the greater water holding capacity, pH after 45 min and 48 h, and lower shear force and cooking loss. Dietary supplementation of GAA and RPM also increased the meat color a^* and b^* values at 24 h. Finally, Treatment II increased total protein, and serum concentrations of albumin and creatinine, but decreased serum urea nitrogen concentrations, indicating improved protein efficiency. Conclusion: In this study, 0.08% GAA+0.06% RPM supplementation improved growth performance and meat quality of Tan lambs.