• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.399-409
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• 2022

Objective: Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is the central hormone involved in mammalian reproduction, maturation at puberty, and gamete production that mediates its function by control of follicle growth and function. The present study investigated the mutations involved in the regulation of FSH receptor (FSHR) activation. Methods: We analyzed seven naturally-occurring mutations that were previously reported in human FSHR (hFSHR), in the context of equine FSHR (eFSHR); these include one constitutively activation variant, one allelic variant, and five inactivating variants. These mutations were introduced into wild-type eFSHR (eFSHR-wt) sequence to generate mutants that were designated as eFSHR-D566G, -A306T, -A189V, -N191I, -R572C, -A574V, and -R633H. Mutants were transfected into PathHunter EA-parental CHO-K1 cells expressing β-arrestin. The biological function of mutants was analyzed by quantitating cAMP accumulation in cells incubated with increasing concentrations of FSH. Results: Cells expressing eFSHR-D566G exhibited an 8.6-fold increase in basal cAMP response, as compared to that in eFSHR-wt. The allelic variation mutant eFSHR-A306T was not found to affect the basal cAMP response or half maximal effective concentration (EC₅₀) levels. On the other hand, eFSHR-D566G and eFSHR-A306T displayed a 1.5- and 1.4-fold increase in the maximal response, respectively. Signal transduction was found to be completely impaired in case of the inactivating mutants eFSHR-A189V, -R572C, and -A574V. When compared with eFSHR-wt, eFSHR-N191I displayed a 5.4-fold decrease in the EC₅₀ levels (3,910 ng/mL) and a 2.3-fold decrease in the maximal response. In contrast, cells expressing eFSHR-R633H displayed in a similar manner to that of the cells expressing the eFSHR-wt on signal transduction and maximal response. Conclusion: The activating mutant eFSHR-D566G greatly enhanced the signal transduction in response to FSH, in the absence of agonist treatment. We suggest that the state of activation of the eFSHR can modulate its basal cAMP accumulation.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.249-271
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• 2012

This research examines the degree and the patterns of living arrangement transitions and analyzes the factors affecting transitions in living arrangement among elders in Korea. Data came from four-wave panel study of Hallym Aging Research Institute. The first wave was conducted in 2003, and each successive wave occurred exactly 2 years after. Respondents who were aged 60 and over, and had at least one living child were selected for this research. The baseline consisted of 1,907 respondents(2003), then became 985 for the fourth transition interval (2009). A total of 825 who participated both in 2003 and 2009 were used. Binomial logit regression analyses were used to analyze the effects of demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, physical health, cognitive function, psychological well-being, and cultural attitudes toward elder care on transitions in living arrangements. Results show that 29.82% of the elders made transitions in living arrangements from 2003 to 2009, indicating remarkably unstable living situation over this time period. The ratio of living alone is increased from 17.6% to 19.6%, in contrast with decreased ratio of living with married children from 30.5% to 25.2%, and that of living with unmarried children from 19.9% to 13.7%. Factors affecting transitions in living arrangement were different according to types of living arrangement. Elders living with married children were more likely to be older, widowed and to have higher level of psychological well-being and more traditional attitude toward elder care. Elders living alone were more likely to be women, widowed, and to have more chronic diseases and lower level of psychological well-being.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.6121-6128
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• 2012

Radiation-induced side effects on normal tissue are determined largely by the capacity of cells to repair radiation-induced DNA damage. X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 (XRCC1) plays an important role in the repair of DNA single-strand breaks. Studies have shown conflicting results regarding the association between XRCC1 gene polymorphisms (Arg399Gln, Arg194Trp, -77T>C and Arg280His) and radiation-induced side effects in patients undergoing whole breast radiotherapy. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to determine the predictive value of XRCC1 gene polymorphisms in this regard. Analysis of the 11 eligible studies comprising 2,199 cases showed that carriers of the XRCC1 399 Gln allele had a higher risk of radiation-induced toxicity than those with the 399 ArgArg genotype in studies based on high-quality genotyping methods [Gln vs. ArgArg: OR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.20-2.86] or in studies with mixed treatment regimens of radiotherapy alone and in combination with chemotherapy [Gln vs. ArgArg: OR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.09-2.23]. The XRCC1 Arg399Gln variant allele was associated with mixed acute and late adverse reactions when studies on late toxicity only were excluded [Gln allele vs. Arg allele: OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.00-1.49]. In contrast, the XRCC1 Arg280His variant allele was protective against radiation-induced toxicity in studies including patients treated by radiotherapy alone [His allele vs. Arg allele: OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.35-0.96]. Our results suggest that XRCC1 399Gln and XRCC1 280Arg may be independent predictors of radiation-induced toxicity in post-surgical breast cancer patients, and the selection of genotyping method is an important factor in determining risk factors. No evidence for any predictive value of XRCC1 Arg194Trp and XRCC1 -77T>C was found. So, larger and well-designed studies might be required to further evaluate the predictive value of XRCC1 gene variation on radiation-induced side effects in patients undergoing whole breast radiotherapy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7229-7234
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• 2014

Trichoderma spp. are known as a rich source of secondary metabolites with biological activity belonging to a variety of classes of chemical compounds. These fungi also are well known for their ability to produce a wide range of antibiotic substances and to parasitize other fungi. In search for new substances, which might act as anticancer agents, the overall objective of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic effects of Trichoderma harzianum and Trichoderma asperellum cultural filtrates against human cervical and breast cancer cell lines (HeLa and MCF-7 cells respectively). To achieve this objective, cells were exposed to 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mg/ml of both T. harzianum cultural filtrate (ThCF) and T. asperellum cultural filtrate (TaCF) for 24h, then the cell viability and the cytotoxic responses were assessed by using trypan blue and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2,5-biphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays. Morphological changes in cells were investigated by phase contrast inverted microscopy. The results showed that ThCF and TaCF significantly reduce the cell viability, have cytotoxic effects and alter the cellular morphology of HeLa and MCF-7 cells in a concentration dependent manner. A concentration of 80 and 100mg/ml of ThCF resulted in a sharp decline in the cell viability percent of HeLa and MCF-7 respectively (25.2%, 26.5%) which was recorded by trypan blue assay. The half-maximal inhibitory concentrations ($IC_{50}$) of ThCF and TaCF in HeLa and MCF-7 were recorded as 16.6, 12.0, 19.6 and 0.70mg/ml respectively by MTT assay. These results revealed that ThCF and TaCF have a substantial ability to reduce the viability and proliferation of human cervical and breast cancer cells.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.3629-3633
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• 2014

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is an immunosuppressive tumor whose median survival time is only 12-15 months, and patients with GBM have a uniformly poor prognosis. It is known that heredity contributes to formation of glioma, but there are few genetic studies concerning GBM. Materials and Methods: We genotyped six tagging SNPs (tSNP) in Han Chinese GBM and control patients. We used Microsoft Excel and SPSS 16.0 statistical package for statistical analysis and SNP Stats to test for associations between certain tSNPs and risk of GBM in five different models. ORs and 95%CIs were calculated for unconditional logistic-regression analysis with adjustment for age and gender. The SHEsis software platform was applied for analysis of linkage disequilibrium, haplotype construction, and genetic associations at polymorphism loci. Results: We found rs891835 in CCDC26 to be associated with GBM susceptibility at a level of p=0.009. The following genotypes of rs891835 were found to be associated with GBM risk in four different models of gene action: i) genotype GT (OR=2.26; 95%CI, 1.29-3.97; p=0.019) or GG (OR=1.33; 95%CI, 0.23-7.81; p=0.019) in the codominant model; ii) genotypes GT and GG (OR=2.18; 95%CI, 1.26-3.78; p=0.0061) in the dominant model; iii) GT (OR=2.24; 95%CI, 1.28-3.92; p=0.0053) in the overdominant model; iv) the allele G of rs891835 (OR=1.85; 95%CI, 1.14-3.00; p=0.015) in the additive model. In addition, "CG" and "CGGAG" were found by haplotype analysis to be associated with increased GBM risk. In contrast, genotype GG of CCDC26 rs6470745 was associated with decreased GBM risk (OR=0.34; 95%CI, 0.12-1.01; p=0.029) in the recessive model. Conclusions: Our results, combined with those from previous studies, suggest a potential genetic contribution of CCDC26 to GBM progression among Han Chinese.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.133-141
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• 1987

The effects of verapamil and tetracaine on acetylcholine-and oxytocin-induced contraction of uterus from estrogen-treated rat were examined. Isometric tensions were recorded on the Physiograph and stored in TriGem 20XT computer as digitized data for off-line analysis of the components, which described the contraction patterns: trought tension (T), peak tension (P), contraction frequency (F), and duration (D). In the acetylcholine-induced contraction, verapamil $(0.25\;{\mu}M)$ significantly decreased P and D. In contrast, tetracaine $(42{\mu}M)$ decreased F, but increased D. In the low oxytocin-induced contraction, verapamil $(0.25\;{\mu}M)$ decreased P and D, and tetracaine $(42{\mu}M)$ decreased F but increased D. In the high oxytocin-induced contraction, verapamil decreased P and D, but tetracaine decreased P without affecting on other components. These results suggest that the analysis of effects of a certain inhibitor on the components of contraction allow to postulate its specific inhibitory mechanism of the smooth muscle contraction.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.125-132
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• 2010

Rice is the staple food of more than 50% of the worlds population. Cultivated rice has the AA genome (diploid, 2n=24) and small genome size of only 430 megabase (haploid genome). As the sequencing of rice genome was completed by the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP), many researchers in the world have been working to explore the gene function on rice genome. Insertional mutagenesis has been a powerful strategy for assessing gene function. In maize, well characterized transposable elements have traditionally been used to clone genes for which only phenotypic information is available. In rice endogenous mobile elements such as MITE and Tos (Hirochika. 1997) have been used to generate gene-tagged populations. To date T-DNA and maize transposable element systems has been utilized as main insertional mutagens in rice. A main drawback of a T-DNA scheme is that Agrobacteria-mediated transformation in rice requires extensive facilities, time, and labor. In contrast, the Ac/Ds system offers the advantage of generating new mutants by secondary transposition from a single tagged gene. Revertants can be utilized to correlate phenotype with genotype. To enhance the efficiency of gene detection, advanced gene-tagging systems (i.e. activation, gene or enhancer trap) have been employed for functional genomic studies in rice. Internationally, there have been many projects to develop large scales of insertionally mutagenized populations and databases of insertion sites has been established. Ultimate goals of these projects are to supply genetic materials and informations essential for functional analysis of rice genes and for breeding using agronomically important genes. In this report, we summarize the current status of Ac/Ds-mediated gene tagging systems that has been launched by collaborative works from 2001 in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.291-303
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• 1996

Generally fairytales are recognized as very effective educational materials. However, some of them includes negative prejudices on stepparents, especially stepmother. These contents are very harmful to development and adjustment of children in remarried families. Moreover, not so many studies have been done that even the results were insufficient to not only practical but also academical needs. Therefore this study purposed to investigate the parent -and stepparent- figures perceived by children with the knowledge about the related fairytales. Specific research problems are as follows; 1. How many children do know the contents of the 4 related fairytales such as Snow Whit, Sindellera, Kongjui Patjui and Changwha Honglyun? 2. What are the parent -figures perceived by the children with the knowledge about the 4 traditional fairytales? 3. What are the stepparent- figures of the subjects? 4. Is the children's sex the statistically significant variable in their parent -and stepparent- figures? 5. Is the children's age the statistically significant variable in their parent -and stepparent- figures? 6. Is the their parents' educational level the statistically significant variable in their parent -and stepparent- figures? 175 boys and girls of age -9 and- 11 were selected from 2 primary schools in Seoul. All of them were from normal families. As the steadyselling books, 18 fairytales were chosen by 7 booksellers of large scale bookstores in Seoul. And then by 10 teachers and 10 literay persons, 4 Korean and foreign traditional fairytales were seleced at last. The questionaire of 5 subareas was developed and used as the research tools, in which include 40 items. SPSS/pc program were used for data analysis for frequency, percentile, mean, and t-test. The followings are the findings with cronbach α=.80 and .94 parent -and stepparent- figures respectively. 1)The contents of the 4 tradional fairytales were read already or wellknown, even if the children who didn't. 2)The subjects showed very positive their own parent-figures such as sweet, lovely, reliable, and true or good person. 3)The subjects showed very negative stepparent-figures in contrast. 4)They showed significant sex difference(p<0.5) in their own parent-figures. And girls were more positive than boys who were a little more positive(on insignifficant level) than girls in stepmother-figures. 5)All the subjects had positive parent-figures and negative stepparent-figures. 6)Their parents education level was no significant variable in the prediction of their parent -and stepparent- figures.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.227-235
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• 2015

Using eddy covariance method, net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of $CO_2$ ($F_{CO_2}$), $H_2O$ (LE), and sensible heat (H) can be approximated as the sum of eddy flux ($F_c$) and storage flux term ($F_s$). Depending on strength and distribution of sink/source of scalars and magnitude of vertical turbulence mixing, the rates of changes in scalars are different with height. In order to calculate $F_s$ accurately, the differences should be considered using scalar profile measurement. However, most of flux sites for agricultural lands in Asia do not operate profile system and estimate $F_s$ using single-level scalars from eddy covariance system under the assumption that the rates of changes in scalars are constant regardless of the height. In this study, we measured $F_c$ and $F_s$ of $CO_2$, $H_2O$, and air temperature ($T_a$) using eddy covariance and profile system (i.e., the multi-level measurement system in scalars from eddy covariance measurement height to the land surface) at the Chengmicheon farmland site in Korea (CFK) in order to quantify the differences between $F_s$ calculated by single-level measurements ($F_s_{-single}$ i.e., $F_s$ from scalars measured by profile system only at eddy covariance system measurement height) and $F_s$ calculated by profile measurements and verify the errors of NEE caused by $F_s_{-single}$. The rate of change in $CO_2$, $H_2O$, and Ta were varied with height depending on the magnitudes and distribution of sink and source and the stability in the atmospheric boundary layer. Thus, $F_s_{-single}$ underestimated or overestimated $F_s$ (especially 21% underestimation in $F_s$ of $CO_2$ around sunrise and sunset (0430-0800 h and 1630-2000 h)). For $F_{CO_2}$, the errors in $F_s_{-single}$ generated 3% and 2% underestimation of $F_{CO_2}$ during nighttime (2030-0400 h) and around sunrise and sunset, respectively. In the process of nighttime correction and partitioning of $F_{CO_2}$, these differences would cause an underestimation in carbon balance at the rice paddy. In contrast, there were little differences at the errors in LE and H caused by the error in $F_s_{-single}$, irrespective of time.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.615-622
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• 2016

The 18~20G needle is used to computer tomography (CT) contrast examination. Therefore, a patient has to apply a self-administering hemostasis (conventional method: CM) and often experience bleeding in the course. Thus, we developed the new disposable transparent tourniquet (TT) for reducing. This study was to compare the usefulness between the proposed transparent tourniquet and the existing hemostatic methods. A Satisfaction survey was conducted by 50 patients and 25nurses. The survey contained the satisfaction of the convenience, safety, sanitation, and wearing sensation of transparent tourniquet. We employed face-to-face interview on 5 points likert scales. And Chi-square, paired T-test were used for the statistics verification. As for the patients, the satisfaction levels were measured for each category with the gender, age. Patients evaluation, overall satisfaction high average sore used TT and there were statistical significance by paired T-test(p<0.05). The following is the average satisfaction level for each category: $4.4{\pm}0.53$ in; $4.28{\pm}0.57$ in safety; $4.52{\pm}0.54$ in sanitation; $4.16{\pm}0.54$ in wearing sensation. So the overall satisfaction level is measured at $4.34{\pm}0.51$. As for the nurses, CT work experience and the current satisfaction with tourniquet were counted as variables. The satisfaction level for each category is: $3.8{\pm}0.7$ in; $3.6{\pm}0.68$ in safety; $3.4{\pm}0.5$ in sanitation; $3.9{\pm}0.49$ in hemostasis. The overall satisfaction level is $3.8{\pm}0.3$. Patients' satisfaction levels were very high with little difference among variables. Nurses' satisfaction levels were different with the TT depending on their work experience but their overall satisfaction was high. This TT will be a starting point to minimizing patient's inconvenience and more studies are necessary to enhance their satisfaction.