• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.7-15
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• 2015

CpBV (Cotesia plutellae bracovirus) is a polydnavirus and encodes a cystatin (CpBV-CST1) gene. Its overexpression suppresses insect immunity and alters insect developmental processes. This study aimed to construct a genetically modified (GM) tobacco to further explore the physiological function of the viral cystatin and to apply to control insect pests. To this end, the transgenic tobacco lines were screened in expression of the target gene and assessed in insecticidal activity. A recombinant vector (pBI121-CST) was prepared and used to transform a bacterium, Agrobacterium tumefasciens. The transformed bacteria were used to generate transgenic tobacco lines, which were induced to grow callus and resulted in about 92% of shoot regeneration. The regenerated plants were screened by PCR analysis to confirm the insertion of the target gene in the plant genome. In addition, the expression of the target gene was assessed in the regenerated plants by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The qRT-PCR analysis showed that the transgenic line plant expressed the target gene about 17 times more than the control tobacco, indicating a stable insertion and expression of the target gene in the transgenic tobacco line. The insecticidal activity was then analyzed using the screened transgenic tobacco lines against the teneral 1st instar larvae of the oriental tobacco budworm, Helicoverpa assulta. Though there was a variation in the insecticidal efficacy among transgenic lines, T9 and T12 lines exhibited more than 95% mortality at 7 days after feeding treatment. These results suggest that CpBV-CST1 is a useful genetic resource to be used to generate GM crop against insect pests.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.548-553
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• 2010

Purpose : IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the most commonly occurring form of chronic glomerulonephritis in pediatric cases. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes have been implicated in various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The present study was conducted to investigate the association between 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the HLA-G gene and childhood IgAN. Methods : The authors analyzed and compared $HLA-G$ gene SNPs (rs1736936 and rs2735022) in 174 patients with childhood IgAN and in 438 healthy controls. In addition, IgAN patients were dichotomized and compared with respect to proteinuria (< and >$4mg/m^2/hour$), the presence or absence of podocyte foot process effacement, and the presence of pathologically early and advanced disease markers such as interstitial fibrosis, tubular atrophy, or global sclerosis. Results : No significant SNP frequency differences were observed for the $HLA-G$ gene between IgAN patients and the control group. Moreover, no significantly associated SNP was observed with the presence of proteinuria, podocyte foot process effacement, or pathologically advanced markers. However, the haplotype, composed of rs1736936 and rs2735022, showed a significant association with the susceptibility to develop childhood IgAN (haplotype T/C: dominant model, $P$=0.049; haplotype C/T: recessive model, $P$=0.030). Conclusion : Our results indicate that rs1736936 and rs2735022 as the $HLA-G$ gene promoter haplotype might be associated with the susceptibility to develop childhood IgAN in the Korean population.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2008

Although Lamivudine and adefovir dipivoxil are efficacious drugs for preventing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in chronic hepatitis B patients, their efficacy is far from completely satisfactory. The risk of liver cirrhosis and HCC begins to increase at an HBV DNA level of $10^4$ copies/ml. Even with latent or past HBV infection, episomal covalently closed circular DNA(cccDNA) plays a key rolein the persistence, relapse and resistance of HBV in its natural course or during therapy. The annual incidence of HCC in YUMC is 1.8% and 4.7% patients/year in the antiviral treatment and control groups, respectively. The ability to achieve a high rate of sustained HBV suppression with low risk of drug resistance is the ultimate goal in the treatment of chronic HBV infection. The efficacy of universal immunization with striking reductions in the prevalence of HBV in localized countries needs to be spread worldwide. With hepatitis B immunization and effective antiviral therapy, global control of HBV infection and HBV-related complications, including HCC, are possible by the end of the first half of the $21^{st}$ century.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.226-234
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• 2017

Purpose: With the implementation of the Act on Life Sustaining Treatment, hospice-palliative care will be extended to non-cancer diseases including the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). However, there are concerns about negative perceptions and prejudice toward AIDS patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors related with willingness to volunteer (WV) for patients with end-stage AIDS among hospice volunteers. Methods: Participants were 326 hospice volunteers from 19 institutions. A self-administered questionnaire was employed to investigate the participants' WV for end-stage AIDS patients, and the questions were answered using an 11-point rating scale. Demographics, volunteer activity, satisfaction with hospice volunteering, knowledge of AIDS, and attitudes towards AIDS patients (i.e., fear AIDS patients, negative attitude towards AIDS patients, personal stigmatization and stigmatizing attitude) were also investigated. A multiple regression analysis was performed to examine factors associated with WV for patients with end-stage AIDS. Results: WV for patients with end-stage AIDS was 2.82 points lower than that for cancer patients (P<0.001). The multiple regression analysis showed that the higher the level of satisfaction with hospice volunteering (P=0.002) and the lower the level of "personal stigmatization" (P<0.001), participants showed greater WV for end-stage AIDS patients. Conclusion: The level of satisfaction with hospice volunteering and "personal stigmatization" were factors associated with participants' WV for patients with end-stage AIDS.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.390-394
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• 2017

Unexpected antibody screening and identification tests are highly important in the prevention of hemolytic transfusion reactions. Therefore, it is highly recommended to perform unexpected antibody screening test in all transfusion candidates. Here, the frequency and distribution of unexpected antibodies identified in Jeju for the past 3 years were evaluated. Between Jan 2014 and Dec 2016, unexpected antibody screening test was performed for 10,360 sera of transfusion candidates in Jeju general hospital using a column agglutination method with the Ortho BioVue system (Ortho-clinical Diagnostics, Raritan, NJ, USA). Eighty-seven (0.84%) of 10,360 cases that underwent unexpected antibiotics screening showed positive results. Among them, unexpected antibodies were identified in 41 cases (0.40%). Unidentified antibodies were detected in 8 cases (19.51%) and autoantibodies were detected in 3 cases (7.32%). The anti-E antibody included in warm antibodies were detected most frequently in 8 cases (19.51%); 6 cases (14.63%) of anti-E + anti-c antibody and 3 cases (7.32%) of $anti-Le^a+anti-Le^b$. $Anti-Le^a$ and $anti-Le^b$ antibodies were detected in 2 cases (4.88%), respectively. The anti-D, $anti-Di^a$, $anti-Fy^b$, $anti-Jk^a$, $anti-Jk^b$, anti-M and anti-P1 were detected in 1 case (2.44%). Complex antibodies were detected in 1 case (2.44%) in anti-C+anti-D and anti-E+anti-c+$anti-Jk^b$, respectively. In this study, we analyzed the frequency and distribution of unexpected antibodies in one general hospital for the past 3 years. However, there has been a general increase in multicultural families and foreign workers in Jeju, and it would be a meaningful study to compare the frequency and distribution of unexpected antibodies.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.299-308
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• 2007

Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop a bioinformatics software and to test it in serum samples of papillary thyroid cancer using mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS). Materials and Methods: Development of 'Protein analysis' software performing decision tree analysis was done by customizing C4.5. Sixty-one serum samples from 27 papillary thyroid cancer, 17 autoimmune thyroiditis, 17 controls were applied to 2 types of protein chips, CM10 (weak cation exchange) and IMAC3 (metal binding - Cu). Mass spectrometry was performed to reveal the protein expression profiles. Decision trees were generated using 'Protein analysis' software, and automatically detected biomarker candidates. Validation analysis was performed for CM10 chip by random sampling. Results: Decision tree software, which can perform training and validation from profiling data, was developed. For CM10 and IMAC3 chips, 23 of 113 and 8 of 41 protein peaks were significantly different among 3 groups (p<0.05), respectively. Decision tree correctly classified 3 groups with an error rate of 3.3% for CM10 and 2.0% for IMAC3, and 4 and 7 biomarker candidates were detected respectively. In 2 group comparisons, all cancer samples were correctly discriminated from non-cancer samples (error rate = 0%) for CM10 by single node and for IMAC3 by multiple nodes. Validation results from 5 test sets revealed SELDI-TOF-MS and decision tree correctly differentiated cancers from non-cancers (54/55, 98%), while predictability was moderate in 3 group classification (36/55, 65%). Conclusion: Our in-house software was able to successfully build decision trees and detect biomarker candidates, therefore it could be useful for biomarker discovery and clinical follow up of papillary thyroid cancer.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2005

Purpose: Non-A, B, C viral hepatitis is the name given to the disease with clinical viral hepatitis, but in which serologic evidence of A, B, C hepatitis has not been found. Little is known about the etiology and clinical features of non-A, B, C viral hepatitis in children. Methods: A clinical analysis of 45 cases with non-A, B, C viral hepatitis who were admitted to the Department of Pediatrics, Pusan National University Hospital, from January 2001 to June 2004 was carried out retrospectively. Patients who were positive for HBsAg, anti-HAV and anti-HCV and had toxic, metabolic, autoimmune, or neonatal hepatitis were excluded in this study. Results: Among 45 cases of non-A, B, C viral hepatitis, the etiology was unknown in 26 (57.8%), CMV (cytomegalovirus) in 14 (31.1%), EBV (Epstein Barr virus) in 2 (4.4%), HSV (herpes simplex virus) in 2 (4.4%) and RV (rubella virus) in 1 (2.2%). Twenty seven out of 45 (60.0%) patients were under 1 year of age. Sixteen (33.3%) patients had no specific clinical symptoms and were diagnosed incidentally. On physical examination, twenty seven out of 45 patients (60.0%) had no abnormal findings. Forty three out of 45 patients (95.6%) showed classic clinical course of acute viral hepatitis, whereas fulminant hepatitis developed in two patients. Mean serum ALT (alanine aminotransferase) level was $448.7{\pm}771.9IU/L$. Serum ALT level was normalized in 31 out of 45 patients (81.6%) within 6 months and all patients within 18 months. Aplastic anemia was complicated in a case. Conclusion: Although most patients with non-A, B, C viral hepatitis showed a good prognosis, a careful follow-up would be necessary because some of them had a clinical course of chronic hepatitis, fulminant hepatitis and severe complication such as aplastic anemia.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.209-217
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• 1994

Between July 1987 and December 1992, we treated 22 patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia; 14 in the chronic phase and 8 with more advanced disease. All were received with allogeneic bone marrow transplantation from HLA-identical sibling donors after a total body irradiation(TBI) cyclophosphamide conditioning regimen. Patients were non-randomly assigned to either 1200 cGy/6fractions/3days (6 patients) or 1320 cGy/8 fractions/4days (16 patients) by dose of TBI. Of the 22 patients, 8 were prepared with cyclophosphamide alone, 14 were conditioned with additional adriamycin or daunorubicin. To prevent graft versus host disease, cyclosporine was given either alone or in conjunction with methotrexate. The actuarial survival and leukemic-free survival at four years were $58.5\%$ and $41.2\%$, respectively, and the relapse rate was $36\%$ among 22 patients. There was a statistically significant difference in survival between the patients in chronic phase and more advanced phase ($76\%\;vs\;33\%$, p=0.05). The relapse rate of patients receiving splenectomy was higher than that of patients receiving splenic irradiation ($50\%\;vs\;0\%$, p=0.04). We conclude that the probability of cure is highest if transplantation is performed while the patients remains in the chronic phase.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.409-420
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• 2009

The aim of this study was to investigate clinical assessment, panorama & MRI findings and cephalometric characteristics in 42 patients with condylar resorption, who visited in the Department of Oral Medicine Kyungpook National University Hospital at 2006. The results were as follows; 1. Clinical assessment 1) Female was 34 and male was 8, females were predominant. Distribution of age showed as follows; 10s was 14, 20s was 13, 30s was 7, 40s was 3, 50s was 4 and 60s was 1 patient. 10s and 20s were predominant. 2) Most of the patients had parafunctional habit. 2. Findings of panorama & MRI 1) Most of the patients had degree of Grade II condylar resorption by panorama taking. 2) Most of the patients had disc dislocation and belonged to the degree of stage IV by MRI taking. 3. Cephalometric Characteristics 1) SN, SAr and saddle angle in female patients were significantly smaller and SN in male patients showed only significantly smaller than normal group. 2) SNA showed no difference from the normal group in both patients. SNB was smaller and ANB was lager in female patients than normal group. 3) SN-GoMe and FMA increased in patients. 4) Total posterior facial height & ramus height were significantly smaller. 5) Mandibular body length did not show any significant difference.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.913-921
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• 2021

Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) which is characterized by progressive muscle weakening of the hip and shoulder shows both dominant and recessive inheritances with many pathogenic genes including TTN. This study performed to identify genetic causes of a male patient with late onset (45 years old) autosomal recessive LGMD and atrial flutter. By application of the whole exome sequencing, we identified bi-allelic variants of TTN gene in the patient. One allele had a single missense variant of [c.24124G>T (p.V8042F)], while the other allele consisted of three missense variants of [c.29222G>C (p.R9741P) + c.67490A>G (p.H22497R) + c.75376C>T (p.R25126C)]. The p.V8042F allele was transmitted from his mother, while the other haplotype allele was putatively transmitted from his father. His two unaffected sons had only the p.R9741P. These variants have been not reported or rarely reported in the public human genome databases (1,000 Genome, gnomAD, and KRGDB). Most variants were located in the highly conserved immunoglobulin or fibronectin domains and were predicted to be pathogenic by the in silico analyses. The TTN giant protein plays a key role in muscle assembly, force transmission at the Z-line, and maintenance of resting tension in the I-band. In conclusion, we think that these bi-allelic compound heterozygous mutations may play a role as the genetic causes of the LGMD phenotype.