• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.221-224
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• 2016

A visceral helminth of the squid, Todarodes pacificus, is reported from the East Sea, the Republic of Korea. Total 39 squid samples were purchased from a fish market in Jumunjin-eup, Gangneung-si (City) from August 2014 to July 2015 and were examined for helminth parasites with naked eyes and under a stereomicroscope after opening the abdominal cavity with a pair of scissors. Whitish larval worms were mainly found in the stomach and abdominal cavity of the squid. They were detected in 25 (64.1%) out of 39 squids examined, and the infection density was 7 larvae per infected squid. Spatula-shaped larvae were $8.2{\times}2.0mm$ in average size, round to slightly flattened anteriorly, with round hatching posteriorly, and had characteristic 4 tentacles with numerous hooklets in the scolex. The larvae were identified as the plerocercoid stage of Nybelinia surmenicola by their morphological features. This finding represents a new host record and the first report of N. surmenicola infection in T. pacificus squids from the east coast of Korea.

• Mycobiology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.228-232
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• 2020

Cordyceps is a genus of ascomycete fungi and is well known as one of the important medical fungi in Chinese, Korea, and other Asian countries, because of its various beneficial effects on human health. The pharmacological activities of Cordyceps extract are mainly focused on anti-cancer, anti-metastatic, and immune modulating effects. In the present study, we investigated whether the antiplatelet effect of ethanol extract of cultured Cordyceps militaris (CMEE) with FeCl₃-induced arterial thrombosis model. We observed that CMEE exhibited a significant inhibitory effect against ADP and collagen-induced platelet aggregation. However, there were no significant differences in prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). These results suggest that antithrombotic activity of CMEE is related to antiplatelet effect rather than anticoagulation effect, and CMEE may be a positive effect on improving blood circulation against vessel injury and occlusion.

• Journal of Radiopharmaceuticals and Molecular Probes
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.27-38
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• 2020

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the challenging conditions that have no cure, yet early diagnosis can help to control the disease. PET imaging of tau has several advantages, such as being a noninvasive, safe diagnostic technique that correlates directly with the disease progression. Many tau tracers have been reported to date; however, the chemical scaffolds of them fall in a narrow chemical window, and none was approved yet as none is entirely selective and sensitive to tau. These problems are being solved as new tracers emerge constantly. In this report, the first-generation tau tracers such as [¹¹C]PBB3, 2-arylquinoline (THK) series, [¹⁸F]T808, and [¹⁸F]AV-1451 ([¹⁸F]T807) are reviewed from an organic and radiochemistry perspective; thus the most effective chemical approach to synthesize these tracers is discussed. This would help to design novel tracers which can meet the challenges faced by the current tracers.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.181-186
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• 2011

Beta-amyloid (A${\beta}$) is considered as one of the major causes of Alzheimer's disease. This study examined the neuroprotective effects of chlorogenic acid, a naturally occurring polyphenol which is distributed widely in plants, fruits and vegetables, against A${\beta}$-induced toxicity. A${\beta}$ decreased significantly the viability of PC12 cells. This was accompanied by an increase in the intracellular calcium levels and cleaved caspase-3. In addition, A${\beta}$ induced an increase in Bax, and a decrease in Bcl-2 compared to the controls. However, a pre-treatment with chlorogenic acid rescued the PC12 cells from A${\beta}$ by attenuating the elevated intracellular calcium levels and reducing the levels of the apoptosis related proteins, including caspase-3, Bcl-2 and Bax. These results suggest that the protective effects of chlorogenic acid are, at least in parts, by attenuating the intracellular calcium influx and reducing apoptosis induced by A${\beta}$.

• Mycobiology
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.340-345
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• 2019

An 82-year-old man with diabetes was admitted to the emergency department with a third-degree burn on his left leg. The deep swab specimen from his left leg was cultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar without cycloheximide and incubated at $25^{\circ}C$ for 5 days. On the basis of morphological characteristics and multigene phylogenetic analyses of the internal transcribed spacer region of ribosomal DNA and partial fragments of beta-tubulin and translation elongation factor 1-alpha, the causal agent of fungal skin infection was identified as Bisifusarium delphinoides, which was newly introduced by accommodating a Fusarium dimerum species complex. Thus, we describe here the first case of skin infection caused by B. delphinoides on a burn patient with diabetes mellitus based on morphological observation and molecular analysis.

• Mycobiology
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.512-517
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• 2020

Cordyceps militaris has been reported to the diverse pharmaceutical effects including cancer, inflammatory diseases, and bacteria or virus infection. However, the effect of C. militaris on exercise performance has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we investigated the beneficial effect of C. militaris on exercise performance. To evaluate exercise performance, we prepared C. militaris ethyl acetate extract (CMEE) and conducted grip strength tests every week after administration. Additionally, blood samples were collected at the end of the experiment for biochemical analysis. The administration of CMEE slightly increased grip strength, and this result was similar to the red ginseng treated group. According to the result of biochemical analysis, CMEE had an effect on the biomarkers related to ATP generation pathway but had little influence on the muscle fatigue related biomarkers. Therefore, C. militaris has the possibility of improving exercise performance, which could be associated with the increase in ATP production rather than the decrease in muscle fatigue during exercise.

• BMB Reports
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.94-99
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• 2020

Brain cytoplasmic 200 RNA (BC200 RNA) is proposed to act as a local translational modulator by inhibiting translation after being targeted to neuronal dendrites. However, the mechanism by which BC200 RNA inhibits translation is not fully understood. Although a detailed functional analysis of RNA motifs is essential for understanding the BC200 RNA-mediated translation-inhibition mechanism, there is little relevant research on the subject. Here, we performed a systematic domain-dissection analysis of BC200 RNA to identify functional RNA motifs responsible for its translational-inhibition activity. Various RNA variants were assayed for their ability to inhibit translation of luciferase mRNA in vitro. We found that the 111-200-nucleotide region consisting of part of the Alu domain as well as the A/C-rich domain (consisting of both the A-rich and C-rich domains) is most effective for translation inhibition. Surprisingly, we also found that individual A-rich, A/C-rich, and Alu domains can enhance translation but at different levels for each domain, and that these enhancing effects manifest as cap-dependent translation.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.61-80
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• 2002

Wind tunnel aeroelastic model tests of the Commonwealth Advisory Aeronautical Research Council (CAARC) standard tall building were conducted using a three-degree-of-freedom base hinged aeroelastic(BHA) model. Experimental investigation into the effects of coupled translational-torsional motion, cross-wind/torsional frequency ratio and eccentricity between centre of mass and centre of stiffness on the wind-induced response characteristics and wind excitation mechanisms was carried out. The wind tunnel test results highlight the significant effects of coupled translational-torsional motion, and eccentricity between centre of mass and centre of stiffness, on both the normalised along-wind and cross-wind acceleration responses for reduced wind velocities ranging from 4 to 20. Coupled translational-torsional motion and eccentricity between centre of mass and centre of stiffness also have significant impacts on the amplitude-dependent effect caused by the vortex resonant process, and the transfer of vibrational energy between the along-wind and cross-wind directions. These resulted in either an increase or decrease of each response component, in particular at reduced wind velocities close to a critical value of 10. In addition, the contribution of vibrational energy from the torsional motion to the cross-wind response of the building model can be greatly amplified by the effect of resonance between the vortex shedding frequency and the torsional natural frequency of the building model.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.231-238
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• 2017

Myelin is a specialized structure of the nervous system that both enhances electrical conductance and insulates neurons from external risk factors. In the central nervous system, polarized oligodendrocytes form myelin by wrapping processes in a spiral pattern around neuronal axons through myelin-related gene regulation. Since these events occur at a distance from the cell body, post-transcriptional control of gene expression has strategic advantage to fine-tune the overall regulation of protein contents in situ. Therefore, many research interests have been focused to identify RNA binding proteins and their regulatory mechanism in myelinating compartments. Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) is one such RNA binding protein, regulating its target expression by translational control. Although the majority of works on FMRP have been performed in neurons, it is also found in the developing or mature glial cells including oligodendrocytes, where its function is not well understood. Here, we will review evidences suggesting abnormal translational regulation of myelin proteins with accompanying white matter problem and neurological deficits in fragile X syndrome, which can have wider mechanistic and pathological implication in many other neurological and psychiatric disorders.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.13
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• pp.5487-5492
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• 2014

Ultrasonography is non-invasive and can give useful clues in the diagnosis of cervical lymphadenopathy, However, differential diagnosis is difficult in some situations even combined with color Doppler imaging. The present study was conducted to evaluate the clinical value of real time elastography in patients with unexplained cervical lymphadenopathy using a quantitative method. From May 2011 to February 2012, 39 enlarged lymph nodes from 39 patients with unexplained cervical lymphadenopathy were assessed. All the patients were examined by both B-mode ultrasound, color Doppler flow imaging and elastography. The method of analyzing elasto-graphic data was the calculation of the 10 parametres ("mean", "sd", "area%", "com", "kur", "ske", "con", "ent", "idm", "asm") offered by the software integrated into the Hitachi system. The findings were then correlated with the definitive tissue diagnosis obtained by lymph node dissection or biopsy. Final histology revealed 10 cases of metastatic lymph nodes, 11 cases of lymphoma, 12 cases of tuberculosis and 6 cases of nonspecific lymphadenitis. The significant distinguishing features for conventional ultrasound were the maximum short diameter (p=0.007) and absent of echogenic hilum (p=0.0293). The diagnostic accuracy was 43.6% (17/39 cases) and there were 17 patients with equivocal diagnosis. For elastography, "mean" (p=0.003), "area%" (p=0.009), "kurt" (p=0.0291), "skew" (p=0.014) and "cont" (p=0.012) demonstrated significant differences between groups. With 9 of the 17 patients with previous equivocal diagnoses (52.9%) definite and correct diagnoses could be obtained. The diagnostic accuracy for conventional ultrasound combined elastography was 69.2% (27/39 cases). There were differences in the diagnostic sensitivity of the two methods (p=0.0224). Ultrasound combined with elastography demonstrated higher rates of conclusive and accurate diagnoses in patients with unexplained cervical lymphadenopathy than conventional ultrasound. The quantitative program showed good correlation with the pathology of different lymph node diseases.