• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.289-298
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• 1992

Acanthamoeba sap., free-living amoebae inhabited in moist soil, pond, freshwater, sewage, atmosphere and swimming pool, may be causative protozoa of the fatal primary amoebic meningoence-phalitis in experimental animals and humans. In this study, Acar,thamoeba spry. , including Acan. thamoeba sp. YM-4 (isolated strain from Korea) had been compared by the two-dimensional electrophoresis and hybridoma technique as well as the difference of morphological characteristics. Trophozoite of Acenthamoeba sp. YM-4 is usually uninucleate and show the hyaline filamentous projections (acanthopoda) . No aagellate stage observed. Cysts have two walls, the outer wall is nearly circular, but inner wall is oval or some irregular. As results of SDS-PAGE for Iysate of Acanthamoeba sp. VM-4, 16 major protein fractions are similiar to those of A. cuzbertsoni, but different to A. royreba and A. polyphaga. Findings of two-dimensional electrophoretic patterns of Acanthamceba sp. YM-4 are almost same to those of A. culberssoni, The isotope of monoclonal antibodies produced from McAY 6, McAY 7, McAY 8, McAY 13 and McAY 16 clones were IgGl, and McAY 10 and McAY 11 clones were IsM. As results of the cross-reactivity among various amoebae using ELISA with monoclonal antibodies, McAY 7 monoclonal antibody (molecular weight 43 kDa by EITB) was only reacted with Acanthamoeba sp. YM-4, but McAY 6 and McAY 10 monoclonal antibodies were reacted to A. cuzbertsoni as well as Acanthamoeba sp. YM-4.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.235-243
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• 1985

A survey of 113 children, aged 4 to 6 years, of the San Cheon a day care center, located in the upland, over populated, poor area of Seoul City, was conducted from July 28 to September 6, 1982, to investigate the dietary and nutritional status, and prevalence of parasitic inpection. House size was 10.1 Pyung; number of households per house, 3.1; number of family member per household, 4.8; and number of family members living together per room, 3.7; on the average. Only 49% of households possess own houses and the others live in the rented houses. About 40% of mothers were engaged income-producing activities within or outside of the home. Mean values of height, weight, arm circumference, girth of chest, and girth of head ranged from 98.4 to 102.2% of KIST mean. However, 13% of the subjects were assessed as undernutrition for 'weight for height'. Mean value of hemoglobin was $12.9{\pm}2.9\;g/dl$ and mean hematocrit value was $35.2{\pm}5.5%$; 17.9% of the subjects were proven to be anemic according to the criteria of the WHO. The positive prevalence of parasitic inpection was 3.3%, significantly lower than that observed in any other area, probably because of community parasitic control project. Intakes of energy and nutrients except thiamin and ascorbic acid were far below RDAs. Carbohydrates for energy provided 71. 2 to 73.8% of total energy intake; protein accounted 11.3 to 12.2%; fat provided 14.5 to 16.6%. Energy intake was divided among breakfast, lunch, evening meal and snack, on the average, in a percentage of 22.0; 23.4; 24.4; 30.2. There was significant correlation between pattern of food consumption and nutrient intakes. The nutrient intakes and quality of foods were highly correlated to the maternal factors, especially mother's educational level. The study suggested that development of nutrition guides for mother and children would be needed to improve nutritional status of those young children.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.96-102
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• 2001

A cross-sectional study was performed to estimate the nutritional status of Korean male lead workers and to assess the relationship between calcium nutritional status and blood lead levels. A flood consumption survey was conducted by the 24-hr recall method with 118 lead workers and 63 non-lead exposed controls. Blood lead levels were analyzed from whole blood and serum calcium concentrations were also assessed. Results of dietary analysis showed Korean lead workers consumed relatively sufficient nutrients (more than 75% of RDA) except, calcium. Mean dietary calcium intake of lead workers was 502.2mg(72% of RDA) while that of the non-lead workers was estimated as 600.8mg(86% of RDA). Intakes of protein, iron, niacin and vitamin C of lead workers were significantly lower than those of non-lead workers. There was a wide range of blood lead levels(5.5 to 73.5$\mu\textrm{g}$/㎗) observed while mean blood lead level of lead workers was 30.9$\mu\textrm{g}$/㎗. However, 98% of lead workers showed normal serum ca1cium concentrations (range ; 8.9 to 10.7mg/㎗, mean ; 9.77mg/㎗) while 66% of lead workers were estimated to intake a dietary calcium lower than 75% of RDA. Mean blood lead levels of non-1ead workers were significantly lower(mean ; 5.1$\mu\textrm{g}$/㎗, p ＜ 0.001) and the serum calcium concentration was significantly higher(mean ; 10.20mg/㎗, p ＜ 0.001) than lead workers. Results of unadjusted correlation showed that serum calcium level and dietary calcium intake were negatively correlated with blood lead concentration. In a multiple regression of blood lead levels with variables known as affecting blood lead 1eve1 such as age, body mass index and occupational lead exposure, serum calcium was insignificant while dietary calcium intake showed statistically significant(p ＜ 0.05) relation. Since calcium is a very important nutrient to reduce hazardous effects of lead, it should be strongly recommended that lead workers need to increase dietary calcium intake.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.167-172
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• 2012

The key regulators of apoptosis are the interacting protein of the Bcl-2 family. Bcl-2, an important member of this family, blocks cytochrome C release by sequestering pro-apoptotic BH3-only proteins such as Bid, Bad, Bax and Bim. The pro-survival family members (Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, Bcl-W) are critical for cell survival, since loss of any of them causes cell death in certain cell type. However, its role during early porcine embryonic development is not sufficient. In this study, we traced the effects of Bcl-2 inhibitor, ABT-737, on early porcine embryonic development. We also investigated several indicators of developmental potential, including gene expression (apoptosis-related genes) and apoptosis, which are affected by ABT-737. Porcine embryos were cultured in the PZM-3 medium with or without ABT-737 for 6 days. In result, significant differences in developmental potential were detected between the embryos that were cultured with or without ABT-737 ($14.7{\pm}3.0$ vs $30.3{\pm}4.8%$, p<0.05). TUNEL assay showed that the number of containing fragmented DNA at the blastocyst stage increased in the ABT-737 treated group compared with control (4.7 vs 3.7, p<0.05). The mRNA expression of the pro-apoptotic gene Bax increased in ABT-737 treated group (p<0.05), whereas expressions of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members (Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, Bcl-W) decreased (p<0.05). Also, expressions of the ER stress indicator genes (GRP78, XBP-1 and sXBP-1) increased in ABT-737 treated group (p<0.05). In conclusion, Bcl-2 is closely associated with of apoptosis- and ER stress-related genes expressions and developmental potential in pig embryos.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.64-70
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• 2017

Objective: In the present study, role of increasing levels of Ecklonia cava (seaweed) supplementation in diets was investigated on growth performance, coefficient of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD) of nutrients, serum immunoglobulins, cecal microflora and intestinal morphology of weanling pigs. Methods: A total of 200 weaned pigs (Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire${\times}$Duroc; initial body weight $7.08{\pm}0.15kg$) were randomly allotted to 4 treatments on the basis of body weight. There were 5 replicate pens in each treatment including 10 pigs of each. Treatments were divided by dietary Ecklonia cava supplementation levels (0%, 0.05%, 0.1%, or 0.15%) in growing-finishing diets. There were 2 diet formulation phases throughout the experiment. The pigs were offered the diets ad libitum for the entire period of experiment in meal form. Results: The pigs fed with increasing dietary concentrations of Ecklonia cava had linear increase (p<0.05) in the overall average daily gain, however, there were no significant differences in gain to feed ratio, CTTAD of dry matter and crude protein at both phase I and phase II. Digestibility of gross energy was linearly improved (p<0.05) in phase II. At day 28, pigs fed Ecklonia cava had greater (linear, p<0.05) Lactobacillus spp., fewer Escherichia coli (E. coli) spp. (linear, p<0.05) and a tendency to have fewer cecal Clostridium spp. (p = 0.077). The total anaerobic bacteria were not affected with supplementation of Ecklonia cava in diets. Polynomial contrasts analysis revealed that villus height of the ileum exhibited a linear increase (p<0.05) in response with the increase in the level of dietary Ecklonia cava. However, villus height of duodenum and jejunum, crypt depth, villus height to crypt depth ratio of different segments of the intestine were not affected. Conclusion: The results suggest that Ecklonia cava had beneficial effects on the growth performance, cecal microflora, and intestinal morphology of weanling pigs.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.1500-1508
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• 2013

Ebosin, a novel exopolysaccharide produced by Streptomyces sp. 139, has obvious antirheumatic arthritis activity in vivo, and its biosynthesis gene cluster (ste), consisting of 27 open reading frames, has been identified. This paper reports our study of the gene functionality of ste8, the predicted protein product of which is homologous to some bacterial chain length determinant Wzz proteins. For characterization of Ste8, ste8 was cloned and expressed in the mutant strain E. coli 086:H2 (${\Delta}wzz$). The functional complementation of wzz by ste8 was demonstrated by the restoration of wild-type lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis and increased levels of serum resistance of E. coli 086:H2 (${\Delta}wzz$) (pET30a-ste8). To examine the function of ste8 in ebosin biosynthesis, the gene was knocked out with a double crossover via homologous recombination. The molecular weight of the ebosin derivative EPS-8m produced by the mutant Streptomyces sp. 139 ($ste8^-$) was much lower than that of ebosin, and the binding activity of EPS-8m for IL-1R decreased significantly compared with ebosin. These results demonstrate that ste8 encodes a chain length determinant (Wzz) that functions in ebosin biosynthesis.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.197-203
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• 2011

Purpose: This study was done to identify whether pre-conditioning exercise has neuroprotective effects against cerebral ischemia, through enhance brain microvascular integrity. Methods: Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: 1) Normal (n=10); 2) Exercise (n=10); 3) Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo), n=10); 4) Exercise+MCAo (n= 10). Both exercise groups ran on a treadmill at a speed of 15 m/min, 30 min/day for 4 weeks, then, MCAo was performed for 90 min. Brain infarction was measured by Nissl staining. Examination of the remaining neuronal cell after MCAo, and microvascular protein expression on the motor cortex, showed the expression of Neuronal Nuclei (NeuN), Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) & laminin. Results: After 48 hr of MCAo, the infarct volume was significantly reduced in the Ex+MCAo group ($15.6{\pm}2.7%$) compared to the MCAo group ($44.9{\pm}3.8%$) (p<.05), and many neuronal cells were detected in the Ex+ MCAo group ($70.8{\pm}3.9%$) compared to the MCAo group ($43.4{\pm}5.1%$) (p<.05). The immunoreactivity of laminin, as a marker of microvessels and Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were intensively increased in the Ex+MCAo group compared to the MCAo group. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the neuroprotective effects of exercise pre-conditioning reduce ischemic brain injury through strengthening the microvascular integrity after cerebral ischemia.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1457-1461
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• 2012

Purpose: Non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading worldwide source of cancer-related deaths. Although some drugs targeting EGFR mutations have been developed, most advanced cases are still incurable. New targets for anticancer drugs are demanded. The kringle 1 domain of hepatocellular growth factor alpha chain (HGFK1) is a potent anti-angiogenesis factor. It has also emerged as a potential anticancer factor in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The expression of HGFK1 protein in patients with NSCLC has not been reported to date. Method: Here, we assessed HGFK1 expression by Western blotting in 103 cases with advanced NSCLC to investigate the impact of HGFK1 on survival. Results: Results revealed 33 (30.1%) patients were classified as high expressors, this being significantly associated with less remote metastasis (P = 0.002) but not with lymph node metastasis (P = 0.062). There was also a significant association between HGFK1 expression and tumor size (P = 0.025) as well as clinical stage (P = 0.012). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that both overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) of patients with HGFK1 expression were longer than those of patients without HGFK1 expression (P = 0.004 and P = 0.001 respectively). HGFK1 reversed gefitinib inhibition in the resistent NSCLC cell line A431/GR but did not inhibit the proliferation of NSCLC cells A431 and A431/GR directly. Reversion of gefitinib inhibition in A431/GR cells by HGFK1 was related to decreased phosphorylation of ERK and STAT5. Conclusions: HGFK1 may be a useful prognostic factor of advanced NSCLC patients and a potential drug for gefitinib resistant patients.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.377-381
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• 2005

We tried to extract bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) from the freeze-dried bovine cortical bone (FBCB) for bone graft, which were defatted with chloroform-methanol for 20 days, freeze-dried at $-80^{\circ}C$ for 7 days and sterilized by ethylene oxide gas. Two kg of FBCB were pulverized in a wheel mill to $0.5-2.0mm^3$ cubic in size. The bone particles were demineralized in 0.6N HCI for 10 days at chloroform-methanol$4^{\circ}C$ and defatted with chloroform-methanol for 6 hours at room temperature, which was going to be defatting and demineralized cortical bone (DDM). For extracting BMP, DDM was agitated continuously through 72 hours with magnetic stirrer at $4^{\circ}C$ into 12 times of volume of 6 M guanidine hydrochloride (Gdn-HCl) solution containing proteinase inhibitors to protect BMP such as 2mM N-ethylaleimide, 1mM iodoacetic acid, 1mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride and a sterilizer, 1mM sodium azide. The extraction procedure was repeated for three times. All extracted solution was centrifuged at 10,000 rpm for 30 min and then, the supernatant was dialyzed with 12 times of volume of deionized water at $4^{\circ}C$ for 24-72 hours, which cut off below 6,000-8,000 molecular weight. The dialyzed specimen contained crude-BMP was centrifuged, freeze-dried, and weighted. Through these processing, we could obtained $84.9\%$ as FBCB, $17.8\%$ as DDM and $0.71\%$ as crude-BMP from the wet cortical bone without cancellous bone, marrow and muscles. The crude-BMP were obtained $68.3\%$ from the first extraction, $29.6\%$ from secondary and $2.1\%$ from tertiary, respectively. It was suggested that high yield of crude-BMP migth be explained by three-time repetition of the extraction processing for crude-BMP with Gdn-Hcl sol.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.203-214
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• 2000

Porphyromonas gingivalis has been implicated in periodontal diseases. Accumulating evidence suggests that cardiovascular disease is the most prevalent medical problem in patients with periodontal diseases. In order to check the possibility that P. gingivalis is involved in coronary heart disease, the present study was performed to observe P. gingivalis adherence and invasion of human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAEC) and production of cytokines and growth factors by HCAEC upon P. gingivalis infection. $^3H$-labeled P. gingivalis 381 was incubated with HCAEC for 90 min. The radioactivity of the washed HCAEC was a measure of the absorbed (adhering and invading) P. gingivalis. The absorption radioactivity of the HCAEC infected by P. gingivalis was determined to be 59.58% of the input bacterial cells. In contrast, the absorption radioactivity of the cells infected by S. gordonii Challis which was employed as a control was negligible (0.59%). DPG3, a P. gingivalis mutant defective of fimbriae, appeared to be impaired to some extent in capability of adherence/invasion as compared to that of the parental strain 381, showing 43.04% of the absorption radioactivity. The absorption radioactivity of the HCAEC infected by P. gingivalis 381 in the presence of excessive fimbriae at the concentrations of $50\;{\mu}g$ and $100\;{\mu}g/ml$ was 57.27 and 45.44%, respectively. Invasion of HCAEC by P. gingivalis 381 was observed by an antibiotic (metronidazole) protection assay and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In the antibiotic protection assay, invasion by the bacterium was measured to be 0.73, 1.09, and 1.51% of the input bacterial cells after incubation for 30, 60, and 90 min, respectively. Invasion by DPG3 was shown to be 0.16% after 90-min incubation. In comparison of invasion efficiency at 90 min of the incubation, the invasion efficiency of DPG3 was 0.37% while that of its parental strain 381 was 2.54%. The immunoblot analysis revealed fimbriae of P. gingivalis did not interact with the surface of HCAEC. These results suggest that fimbriae are not the major contribution to the adherence of P. gingivalis to HCAEC but may be important in the invasion of HCAEC by the bacterium. The presence of cytochalasin D ($1\;{\mu}g/ml$) and staurosporine ($1\;{\mu}M$) reduced the invasion of HCAEC by P. gingivalis 381 by 78.86 and 53.76%, respectively, indicating that cytoskeletal rearrangement and protein kinase of HCAEC are essential for the invasion. Infection of P. gingivalis induced HCAEC to increase the production of TNF-${\alpha}$. by 60.6%. At 90 min of the incubation, the HCAEC infected with P. gingivalis cells was apparently atypical in the shape, showing loss of the nuclear membrane and subcellular organelles. The overall results suggest that P. gingivalis may cause coronary heart disease by adhering to and invading endothelial cells, and subsequently damaging the cells.