• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.266-273
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• 2010

Bacterial pustule of soybean (Glycines max) caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. glycines is one of the most prevalent bacterial diseases of soybean. This bacterium shows strong pathogenicity to the plants and distributes throughout Korea. However, no good control measures including bactericides and resistant cultivars are available to control the disease in Korea. Therefore, this study was conducted to develop chemical control method against soybean bacterial pustule. The present study was undertaken to find out the growth inhibitory effect bactericides (8 antibiotics, 2 copper compounds, quinoline, 18 agro-chemicals) on bacterial pustule pathogen. Antibiotics test showed that tetracycline and streptomycin sulfate significantly suppressed the growth of bacterial pustule pathogen. Also, application of oxolinic acid was found to be effective for pathogen inhibition. However, vancomycin, polymyxin B sulfate and copper compounds did not show the positive suppressive effect on growth of the pathogen. Among the eighteen agro-chemicals, streptomycin sulfate + oxytetracyclin (18.8 + 1.5%) WP, oxytetracycline (17%) WP and oxolinic acid (20%) WP were found to be effective for the inhibition of the pathogen in vitro. The selected 5 agro-chemicals were also applied on soybean in field and their control effects against the soybean bacterial pustule were tested. The foliar application of streptomycin sulfate + oytetracyclin WP and oxytetracycline WP on the naturally infected soybean (Taekwangkong) showed high control value (above 70%). Therefore, it is concluded that the bactericides used in this study showed strong inhibitory effect to soybean bacterial pustule and they can be recommend to farmers to control the disease.

• Korean Journal Plant Pathology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.69-81
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• 1986

Thirty two rice cultivars which have been cultivated or used as breeding materials in Korea were tested for screening rice cultivars resistant to leaf blast at adult-plant stages in the blast nursery hill plots. When compared on the basis of disease severities in individual leaves at different growth stages of rice plants under natural field infection, the 16 indica-japonica hybrids tested were highly resistant but the 16 japonica cultivars tested showed various degrees of resistance to leaf blast. With aging of rice plants, the quantitative levels of resistance to leaf blast increased in all the cultivars, although the levels of resistance to leaf blast varied according to rice genotypes. The leaf position of rice plants in which changed from susceptible to resistant reactions varied also with rice genotypes. The susceptible reactions of the rice cultivars to Pyricularia oryzae were distinctly changed to a resistant reaction on upper leaves of rice plants. The rice cultivars, in which the quantitative level of resistance to leaf blast was higher, were resistant on the lower leaves of rice plants. The cultivars Akibare, Palkeum, Jinheung, Olchal, Dobong and Ginga which drastically decreased blast infection at late growth stage were evaluated as adult-plant-resistant to leaf blast in the field. The adult-plant-resistant cultivars became resistant to leaf blast, both qualitatively and quantitatively, as rice plants matured.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.86-96
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• 1996

The authors experienced 52 patients with myasthenia gravis who were diagnosed at the Department of Neurology, Yeungnarn University Hospital from August 1985 to January 1996. The following results were obtained through diagnostic evaluation and treatment. 1. The ratio of male to female was 1:1.7 and the most prevalent age group was second decade. 2. The most common initial presentation symptom was ocular(71.2%) and the peak incidence group was stage I (69.3%) according to the modified Osserman's classification. 3. In 16 patients(30.8%), it took more than a year to diagnose due to symptoms which were relapsed and remitting. 4. Of 52 patients, 2 cases were associated with thyroid disease(3.8%) and 2 with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus(3.8%). 5. All of those who received anticholinesterase and corticosteroid therapy were improved with the exception of 5 cases which were improved after thymectomy and/or plasmapheresis. 6. Spontaneous remission was occured in 2 cases(3.8%) of ocular myasthenia gravis. And 1 case of group II. was cured through thymectomy and long-term corticosteroid therapy.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.46 no.9
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• pp.893-897
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• 2003

Purpose : Benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes(BECT) is characterized by an excellent prognosis. Therefore, the necessity for the use of antiepileptic drugs is controversial. The object of this study is to know about the long-term follow-up of BECT, comparing daily treatment with antiepileptic drug(AED) versus no medication. Methods : We retrospectively studied 56 cases of BECTs, examined at Pediatric Neurology Clinic, Korea University Medical Center as reference study time, August 2002. Thirty-eight patients didn't have mediation(group I), while eighteen patients received one or two AED(group II). We evaluated demographics, clinical manifestations at diagnosis, EEG findings and clinical courses in groups I & II. Results : There was no significant differences of sex, age, seizure frequency, seizure type, seizure onset time, family history and EEG findings between group I & II. The reasons to start AED were : parents' anxiety(three cases), frequent seizure(12 cases) and daytime seizure(three cases). There was no evolution of status epilepticus and no difficulty in school performance. Conclusion : AED treatment was of no advantage and long-term prognosis was good regardless of treatment strategy. So it is advisable not to choose AED as the first line of therapy, provided that the patient himself/herself or the family understands the benign nature of BECT.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.145-151
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• 2007

Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. glycines is the causal agent of bacterial pustule of soybean(Glycine max. (L.) Merr), which is one of the most prevalent bacterial diseases in Korea. In this study, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay was applied to detect Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. glycines and to survey on seed contamination in 36 soybean cultivars of Korea. And we have to compare PCR assay with dilution-plating assay of detection and identification. We confirmed detection of pathogen from artificial infected seeds and natural Infected seeds using PCR assay. This assay gave results similar to a seed-wash dilution plating assay and proved more effective than classical methods. Results of survey on seed contamination by X. axonopodis pv. glycines from 36 cultivar seeds showed that the pathogen was detected from Pungsan-namulkong, Mallikong, Taekwangkong, Daemangkong, Ajukkarikong using PCR assay. Therefore, The PCR assay provides a sensitive, rapid tool for the specific detection of X. axonopodis pv. glycines in soybean seeds.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.97-104
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• 1998

Since 1989, mass mortality has repeatly occurred in cage-cultured sevenband grouper, Epinephelus septemfasciatus along the southern coast of Korea in the summer season and usually reached over 80% within a few months. Diseased fish showed the clinical signs of anorexia, dark coloration, loss of eqilibrium, spinal swimming behaviour, vertebral deformity and inflation of swim bladder. Histopathologically, necrosis and/or vacuolation of the nerve cells in the brain and retina were observed. We previously reported that the causative agent was filtrable. The causative agent was not culturable in various fish cells; RTG-2, CHSE-214, BF-2, EPC and FHM. However, electron microscopic observation revealed unenveloped icosahedral viral particles with about 30 nm in diameter in the cytoplasm of nerve cells of the brain. The characteristics of the virus was tested by an artificial infection with the filtrate of the homogenate of diseased fish. The pathogenicity of the virus was retained after treatment with ether or heat ($50^{\circ}C$, 30 min) but partly lost by pH 3 or 11 treatment. These results suggest that the causative agent are similar to the fish nodavirus. In order to compare the causative agent with a fish nodavirus, Striped Jack Nervous Necrosis Virus (SJNNV), a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed with primers specific to SJNNV. As a result, about 430 by PCR products were detected from the brain and the eye of both naturally and artificially infected sevenband grouper. All these results represent that the mass mortality in the cultured sevenband grouper is caused by the infection of a nodavirus similar to SJNNV and this is the first report of a fish nodavirus from the cultured sevenband grouper in Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.138-143
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• 2008

Botrytis cinerea, gray mold pathogen, causes serious losses in greenhouse tomato crop. In this study, a primer set was developed for identification and specific PCR detection of B. cinerea from tomato plants. The primer pair (BTF1/BTR1) was designed from polymorphic sequence region in pyruvate carboxylase gene (pyc) of B. cinerea. A PCR product (112 bp) was amplified on genomic DNA of 13 B. cinerea isolates from 10 different host plants, but not on those from 6 other Botrytis spp., 4 Botryotinia spp., 5 Sclerotinia spp. and 16 other genus of phytopathogenic fungi. The sensitivity limit of the primer set was 2 pg of genomic DNA of B. cinerea, approximately. The PCR assay using species-specific primer set was specifically able to detect the pathogen on naturally infected tomato plants and artificially infected plants. These results suggest that the sensitivity and specificity of this primer set can be applied in a rapid and accurate diagnosis of tomato disease caused by B. cinerea.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.40-45
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• 1999

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the seroepidemiology of hepatitis A and hepatitis B in Korean children. Methods: 801 children aged 6 to 12 years were enrolled. IgG antibody to hepatitis A virus (anti-HAV), hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), antibody to HBsAg (anti-HBs), and IgG antibody to HBc (anti-HBc) were measured by radioimmunoassay. Results: Of the 801 children, the seroprevalence of anti-HAV was 0%. Three (0.4%) were seropositive for HBsAg. The seroprevalence of anti-HBs was 61.8%. Two (0.4%) of 495 anti-HBs positive subjects were positvie for anti-HBc. Of the 801 children, 658 (82.1%) had received hepatitis B vaccination. Conclusions: Since natural anti-HAV is not acquired in the childhood, the outbreak of hepatitis A is possible in adolescents and young adults. The decrease in seroprevalence of HBsAg and the increase in seroprevalence of anti-HBs might result from hepatitis B vaccination program in childhood.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.8-13
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• 2014

The moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) plant is used as food and as an anti-allergic agent. In this study, we studied the inhibitory effect of moringa root extract on the expression of PMA-induced matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), which is the main factor implicated in the invasion and metastasis of cancer cells in MCF-7 cells. At first, various moringa extracts were examined in the MCF-7 cells. Both moringa root extract and leaf extracts inhibited PMA-induced MMP-9 activity, but the root extract suppressed PMA-induced MMP-9 activity to a greater extent than the leaf extract. The moringa root extract also inhibited PMA-induced MMP-9 protein expression and cell invasion. According to RT-PCR, the treatment of the MCF-7 cells with moringa root extract decreased levels of PMA-induced MMP-9 mRNA expression, but not the expression of TIMP-1 and -2, indicating that moringa root extract prevents the transcription of MMP-9 in response to PMA. In addition, moringa root extract specifically suppressed the phosphorylation of ERK/JNK, but not p38. We suggest that moringa root extract abolishes MMP-9 activity/expression through ERK/JNK. In conclusion, moringa root extract suppressed PMA-induced MMP-9 activity/expression by inhibiting the phosphorylation of ERK/JNK in MCF-7 cells. These results indicate that moringa root extract may be a potential antimetastatic and anti-invasive agent. Future clinical research is needed on the anticancer properties of moringa root extract.

• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.539-553
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• 2017

We propose a multi-state model to analyze semi-competing risks data with interval-censored or missing intermediate events. This model is an extension of the three states of the illness-death model: healthy, disease, and dead. The 'diseased' state can be considered as the intermediate event. Two more states are added into the illness-death model to incorporate the missing events, which are caused by a loss of follow-up before the end of a study. One of them is a state of the lost-to-follow-up (LTF), and the other is an unobservable state that represents an intermediate event experienced after the occurrence of LTF. Given covariates, we employ the Lin and Ying additive hazards model with log-normal frailty and construct a conditional likelihood to estimate transition intensities between states in the multi-state model. A marginalization of the full likelihood is completed using adaptive importance sampling, and the optimal solution of the regression parameters is achieved through an iterative quasi-Newton algorithm. Simulation studies are performed to investigate the finite-sample performance of the proposed estimation method in terms of empirical coverage probability of true regression parameters. Our proposed method is also illustrated with a dataset adapted from Helmer et al. (2001).