• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.213-220
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• 2014

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of high n-3 or n-6 diet on free fatty acid profile and meat quality traits of pork loin. The 20 heads of commercial $Landrace{\times}Yorkshire{\times}Duroc(LYD)$ crossbreed pigs ($90.9{\pm}2.4BWkg$) were divided into four groups by added fat and oils, such as 5% tallow (Control), 5% linseed oil (T1), 5% safflower oil (T2), and mixture of linseed oil (2.5%) + safflower oil (2.5%) (T3), then reared 4 weeks. Pork loins were taken after slaughter, then sliced in 2 cm thickness and put in low-density polyethylene (LDPE) bag for analysis. T1 showed significantly high concentration of linolenic acid ($2.35{\pm}0.21%$) (p<0.05). The total amount of saturated fatty acids (SFA), mono-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and poly-unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) was significantly high in T1 ($36.05{\pm}1.18%$), C ($22.60{\pm}2.11%$) and T2 ($47.80{\pm}1.29%$), respectively (p<0.05). However, the ratio of n-6:n-3 was significantly low in T1 ($11.57{\pm}0.90$) than that of T2 ($37.56{\pm}12.51$) (p<0.05). There was no signigicant difference in lightness, redness, pH, water holding capacity and cooking loss between treatments (p>0.05). However, the yellowness of T2 was significantly higher than others (p<0.05). From those results, it was considered that feeding high n-3 and n-6 fatty acid diet to pig enables modify fatty acid profile of pork without any side effect on meat quality.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.20-25
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• 2006

Background: Although fever is one of the most common and challenging problem in intensive care medicine(ICU), it is difficult to distinguish between infectious and non-infectious causes. Procalcitonin(PCT) has recently been reported to be an indicator of various infectious diseases. This study examined whether or not measuring the serum PCT level in patients with fever in the ICU can help distinguish fevers with infectious causes from those with non-infectious causes. Methods: ICU patients with fever at $38^{\circ}C$ or over from March to August 2005 were prospectively enrolled. The cause of the fever was identified by the culture results and clinical course. The leukocytes, CRP, PCT, IL-6, and $TNF-{\alpha}$ in the fever patients with infectious and non-infectious causes were compared, and the PCT level in the patients with fever in the ICU were compared with those without fever. Results: 1) 42 patients were enrolled and 46 cases of fever were analyzed. 26 cases were considered to be infectious, while 13 cases were considered to be non-infectious. 7 cases were found to have no clear causes. 2) There were no significant differences in the degree of fever, leukocytes count, CRP, IL-6, and $TNF-{\alpha}$ levels in the patiemts with infectious and non-infectious causes. 3) The serum PCT level was higher in those with infectious causes than in those with non-infectious causes ($15.1{\pm}32.57ng/mL$ vs $2.68{\pm}3.63ng/mL$) but there was no statistical significance (p=0.06). 4) The serum PCT level of the ICU patients with fever was significantly higher than in those without fever ($10.94{\pm}27.15ng/mL$ vs $0.45{\pm}0.49ng/mL$) (p=0.02). Conclusion: The serum PCT cannot be used to distinguish the fever in ICU patients with infectious causes from that with non-infectious causes.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.45-57
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• 1996

A serious disease in a family influences the entire family member given the fact that the members closely interact with each other. Especially in terms of pediatric nursing, study on family gains importance as the need to care of families whose children with developmental disabilities and chronic disease This study was done based on The Resiliency Model of Family Adjustment and Adaptation(McCubbin, 1991) is intended to examine the stress of parents whose children suffer from cleft lip or /and cleft palate. It also helps them to cope with the stress and analyze the relationship between the stress and coping This study used Family Inventory of Life Events and Changes (FILE) and Coping Health Inventory for Parents(CHIP) for measuring family stress and coping. The two instruments are revised to fit the social and cultural environment of Korean culture. Data collection was done from April 18, 1996 to May 18, 1996 at 8 University medical centers located in Seoul. Those who answered questionnaires were 84 parents whose children have cleft lip or /and cleft palate. SPSS PC+ was used to analyze the data collotted. Programs used for data analysis were t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient. The study is summarized as follows .1. The average score of family stress is 10.46(percentage of the full score 24.90) and 'finance and business strains'(3.25), and 'intrafamily strains'(2.65) ranked the highest. The average score of family's coping is 1.93, which is close to the answer of' moderately helpful' and they are measured to put their utmost efforts to' intergration and cooperation of family and optimistic definition on the situation'. 2. There is no significant statistical correlation between the family stress and coping. 3. Mothers show more stress than fathers in the parts of 'illness and family care strains' and 'losses'(t〓-2.34, t〓-2.32, p<.05). 4. Fathers show more willingness to cope with the stress than mothers do in the parts of' seeking social support','self-esteem','emotional comfort' 5. Mothers are more stress than fathers in the parts of family stress and its coping with it by usual traits(t〓-2.78, p<.05). Parents with religion are measured to cope more willingly than those who are not 6. Income of a family shows positive correlationship with family coping (r〓.28, p<.05). The study shows that gender difference is significant variable in studying on family stress and coping. Mothers get more stress than fathers, which has much to do with the fact that they are in charge of raising children and keeping houseworks. Accordingly, managing family crisis and its survival can be induced by giving support for the mothers, studying fathers including the rest of the family members and giving nursing care and arbitration ; religious background is also considered to be one of the important factors in family stress , judging from the relationship between family income and family's coping, caring given to suffering children is needed on societal levels. The above considerations bring up the need to have a longitudinal study of children with congenital anomaly including cleft lip or /and cleft palate and their families about family stress and coping. Resiliency programs on family system and their effectiveness and the relationship between the enlarged families with social and cultural values reflecting Korean tradition are also needed to be studied.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.95-106
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• 2007

Objective: We previously identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between germinal vesicle (GV) and metaphase II (MII) mouse oocyte. The present study was accomplished as a preliminary study to elucidate the role of ribose 5-phosphate isomerase A (Rpia), the essential enzyme of the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), in oocyte maturation. We observed expression of Rpia in the mouse and porcine oocytes. Methods: Expression pattern of the 11 MII-selective DEGs in various tissues was evaluated using RT-PCR and selected 4 genes highly expressed in the ovary. According to the oocyte-selective expression profile, we selected Rpia as a target for this study. We identified the porcine Rpia sequence using EST clustering technique, since it is not yet registered in public databases. Results: The extended porcine Rpia nucleotide sequence was submitted and registered to GenBank (accession number EF213106). We prepared primers for porcine Rpia according to this sequence. In contrast to the oocyte-specific expression in the mouse, Rpia was expressed in porcine cumulus and granulosa cells as well as in oocytes. Conclusion: This is the first report on the characterization of the Rpia gene in the mouse and porcine ovarian cells. Results of the present study suggest that the mouse and porcine COCs employ different mechanism of glucose metabolism. Therefore, the different metabolic pathways during in vitro oocyte maturation (IVM) in different species may lead different maturation rates. It is required to study further regarding the role of Rpia in glucose metabolism of oocytes and follicular cell fore exploring the regulatory mechanism of oocyte maturation as well as for finding the finest culture conditions for in vitro maturation.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.568-577
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• 2012

The objective of this study was to investigate the antioxidative capacity of ethanol extracts from Rumex crispus L. The concentration of R. crispus L. extract at which DPPH radical scavenging activity was inhibited by 50% was 2.15 mg/mL, which was lower than that of ${\alpha}$-tocopherol (0.43 mg/mL), as compared to 100% by pyrogallol as a reference. Total antioxidant status was examined by total antioxidant capacity against ABTS radical reactions. Total antioxidant capacities of R. crispus L. extract at concentrations of 0.1 and 1 mg/mL were 0.47 and 2.33 mM Trolox equivalents, respectively, which were higher than those of ${\alpha}$-tocopherol. Superoxide scavenging activities of R. crispus L. extract at concentrations of 0.1 and 1 mg/mL were 21.5 and 78.9%, respectively, which were not significantly (p>0.05) different from those of catechin. Oxygen radical absorbance capacities of R. crispus L. extract at concentrations of 20 and 100 ${\mu}g/mL$ were 62.5 and 156.4 ${\mu}M$ Trolox equivalents, respectively, which were lower than those of ascorbic acid. Cupric reducing antioxidant capacities of R. crispus L. extract at concentrations of 0.1 and 1 mg/mL were 0.28 and 1.88 mM Trolox equivalents, which were similar or significantly (p<0.05) higher than those of ${\alpha}$-tocopherol, respectively. R. crispus L. extract prevented supercoiled DNA strand breakage induced by hydroxyl radical and peroxyl radical. Total phenolic contents of R. crispus L. extract at concentrations of 0.5 and 5 mg/mL were 0.58 and 3.85 mM gallic acid equivalents, respectively. R. crispus L. extract at concentration of 0.1 and 0.5 mg/mL inhibited 0.2 mM tert-butyl hydroperoxide-induced cytotoxicity by 38.5 and 63.5%, respectively, in HepG2 cell culture system. Thus, strong antioxidant and cytotoxicity-inhibiting effects of R. crispus L. extract seem to be due to, at least in part, the prevention from free radicals-induced oxidation as well as high levels in total phenolic contents.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.7 s.80
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• pp.1133-1140
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• 2006

Human HtrA1 (High temperature requirement protein A1) is a homologue of the E. coli periplasmic serine protease HtrA. A recent study has demonstrated that HtrA1 is a serine protease involved in processing of insulin like growth factor binding protein (ICFBP), indicating that it serves as an important regulator of IGF activity. Additionally, several lines of evidence suggest a striking correlation between proteolytic activity of HtrA1 serine protease and the pathogenesis of several diseases; however, physiological roles of HtrA1 remain to be elucidated. We used the pGEX bacterial expression system to develop a simple and rapid method for purifying HtrA1, and the recombinant HtrA1 protein was utilized to investigate the optimal conditions in executing its proteolytic activity. The proteolytically active HtrA1 was purified to approximately 85% purity, although the yield of the recombinant HtrA1 protein was slightly low $460{\mu}g$ for 1 liter E. coli culture). Using in vitro endoproteolytic cleavage assay, we identified that the HtrA1 serine protease activity was dependent on the enzyme concentration and the incubation time and that the best reaction temperature was $42^{\circ}C$ instead of $37^{\circ}C$. We arbitrary defined one unit of proteolytic activity of the HtrA1 serine protease as 200nM of HtrA1 that cleaves half of $5{\mu}M\;of\;{\beta}-casein$ during 3 hr incubation at $37^{\circ}C$. Our study provides a method for generating useful reagents to investigate the molecular mechanisms by which HtrA1 serine protease activity contributes in regulating its physiological function and to identify natural substrates of HtrA1.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.994-1002
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• 2009

A bacteriocin-producing bacterium identified as Bacillus licheniformis was isolated from soybean sauce. Antibacterial activity was confirmed by paper disc diffusion method, using Micrococcus luteus as a test organism. The bacteriocin also showed antibacterial activities against Bacillus sphaericus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus planiarum, Paenibacillus polymyxa, and Pediococcus dextrinicus. Optimal culture conditions for the production of bacteriocin was attained by growing the cells in an MRS medium at a pH of 6.5~ 7.0 and a temperature of 37$^\circ$C for 36$\sim$48 hr. Solvents such as chloroform, ethanol, acetone, and acetonitrile had little effect on bacteriocin activity. However, about 50% of bacteriocin activity diminished with treatment of methanol and isopropanol at the final concentration of 50% at 25$^\circ$C for 1 hr. It was stable against a pH variation range from 3.0 and 7.0, but the activity reduced to 50% at a pH range from 9.0 to 11.0. It's activity was not affected by heat treatment at 100$^\circ$C for 30 min and 50% of activity was retained after heat treatment at 100$^\circ$C for 60 min, showing high thermostability. The bacteriocin was purified to a homogeneity through ammonium sulfate precipitation, SP-Sepharose ion-exchange chromatography, and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The entire purification protocol led to a 75-fold increase in specific activity and a 13.5% yield of bacteriocin activity. The molecular weight of purified bacteriocin was estimated to be about 2.5 kDa by tricine-SDS-PAGE.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.1027-1033
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• 2010

Liriope platyphylla has traditionally been used in Korea and China as a therapeutic drug for the treatment of coughing, sputum, neurodegenerative disorders, obesity, and diabetes. In an effort to assess the functions of a novel extract from Liriope platyphylla in diabetes therapy, the insulin secretion abilities of 10 extracts were screened via measurements of insulin concentration in the culture supernatant using an Insulin ELISA kit. The results of this assay showed the highest levels of insulin in the LP9M80-H treated group, followed by the LP-H, LP-M, LP-E and LP9M80-C treated groups, whereas other extracts did not induce insulin secretion in the HIT-T15 cells. However, the extracts capable of stimulating insulin secretion simultaneously evidenced high apoptotic activity as compared with other extracts. Therefore, one of these extracts, LP9M80-H, was initially selected as the optimal candidate for a therapeutic drug and its optimal concentration was determined. The results of the ELISA and MTT assay demonstrated that a concentration of approximately 100-125 ug/ml of LP9M80-H was optimal with regards to cell viability and insulin secretion in the HIT-T15 cells. These results suggest that LP9M80-H could be considered as an excellent candidate for a diabetes-therapeutic drug that could induce insulin secretion in pancreatic $\beta$-cells.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.988-994
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• 2014

The effluents of chemical and petroleum industries often contain non-biodegradable aromatic compounds, with phenol being one of the major organic pollutants present among a wide variety of highly toxic organic chemicals. Phenol is toxic upon ingestion, contact, or inhalation, and it is lethal to fish even at concentrations as low as 0.005 ppm. Phenol biodegradation has been studied in detail using bacterial strains. However, these microorganisms suffer from substrate inhibition at high concentrations of phenol, whereby growth is inhibited. A phenol-degrading bacterium, P21, was isolated from oil-contaminated soil. The phenotypic characteristics and a phylogenetic analysis indicated the close relationship of strain P21 to Rhodococcus pyridinovorans. Phenol biodegradation by strain P21 was studied under shaking condition. The optimal conditions for phenol biodegradation by strain P21 were 0.09% $KNO_3$, 0.1% $K_2HPO_4$, 0.3% $NaH_2PO_4$, 0.015% $MgSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$, 0.001% $FeSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$, initial pH 9, and $20-30^{\circ}C$, respectively. When 1,000 ppm of phenol was added to the optimal medium, the strain P21 completely degraded it within two days. Rhodococcus pyridinovorans P21 could grow in up to 1,500 ppm of phenol as the sole carbon source in a batch culture, but it could not grow in a medium containing above 2,000 ppm. Moreover, strain P21 could utilize toxic compounds, such as toluene, xylene, and hexane, as a sole carbon source. However, no growth was detected on chloroform.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.351-359
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• 2014

A beverage was produced by the fermentation of mixed extracts from the various fruits, vegetables, algae, and medical herbs. The physicochemical properties of the fermented beverage of plant extracts (FBPE) and microbial diversity were analyzed in cultures enriched from FBPE using 16S and 26S rRNA gene sequence analyses. The pH, acidity, $^{\circ}brix$, reducing sugar, and alcohol contents of the FBPE were determined to be the 3.48, 1.68%, 70.0, 1,026 g/L, and 3.5%, respectively. The most abundant free sugar and organic acid in the FBPE were glucose (567.83 g/L) and tartaric acid (93.68 mg/L), respectively. Lactobacillus homohiochii was the predominant species in all enriched culture samples: 100% of the species in 0B (0% sugar) and 40B (40% sugar) libraries and 95.6% of 20B library (20% sugar). Lactobacillus fructivorans was detected in the 20B library. The predominant species in the samples of enrichment cultures collected from FBPE with three different sugar concentrations were: Candida zeylanoides (45.2%) in the 0Y library (0% sugar), Candida lactis-condensi (35.7%) and C. zeylanoides (35.7%) in the 20Y library (20% sugar), and C. lactis-condensi (38.1%) in the 40Y library (40% sugar). This result may provide a useful frame of reference for further analyses of microbial population dynamics in FBPE.