• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.94-107
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• 2005

Prenatal diagnosis (PND) such as amniocentesis or chorionic villi sampling has been widely used in order to prevent the birth of babies with defects especially in families with single gene disorderor chromosomal abnormalities. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) has already become an alternative to traditional PND. Indications for PGD have expanded beyond those practices in PND (chromosomal abnormalities, single gene defects), such as late-onset diseases with genetic predisposition, and HLA typing for stem cell transplantation to affected sibling. After in vitro fertilization, the biopsied blastomere from the embryo is analyzed for single gene defect or chromosomal abnormality. The unaffected embryos are selected for transfer to the uterine cavity. Therefore, PGD has an advantage over PND as it can avoid the risk of pregnancy termination. In this review, PGD will be introduced and application of PGD in inborn error metabolic disorder will be discussed.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2021

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have changed the process of genetic diagnosis from a gene-by-gene approach to syndrome-based diagnostic gene panel sequencing (DPS), diagnostic exome sequencing (DES), and diagnostic genome sequencing (DGS). A priori information on the causative genes that might underlie a genetic condition is a prerequisite for genetic diagnosis before conducting clinical NGS tests. Theoretically, DPS, DES, and DGS do not require any information on specific candidate genes. Therefore, clinical NGS tests sometimes detect disease-related pathogenic variants in genes underlying different conditions from the initial diagnosis. These clinical NGS tests are expensive, but they can be a cost-effective approach for the rapid diagnosis of rare disorders with genetic heterogeneity, such as the glycogen storage disease, familial intrahepatic cholestasis, lysosomal storage disease, and primary immunodeficiency. In addition, DES or DGS may find novel genes that that were previously not linked to human diseases.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.57-62
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• 2022

Systemic autoinflammatory diseases (SAIDs) are characterized by unprovoked inflammatory episodes such as recurrent/periodic fever, serositis, skin lesions, abdominal symptoms, arthritis/arthralgia, and central nervous system involvement. Genetic diagnosis of SAIDs has been challenging because disease manifestations overlap among themselves and with other immunological disease categories, such as infection and autoimmune diseases. However, the advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies and expanding knowledge about the innate immunity and inflammation have made the routine genetic diagnosis of SAIDs possible. Here, we review the recurrent/periodic fevers, other recently identified autoinflammatory diseases, and type I interferonopathies, and discuss the clinical usefulness of NGS targeted sequencing for SAIDs, and recent advance of understandings for this heterogeneous disease group as for underlying primary immunodeficiency.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2023

Remarkable advances in genetic diagnosis expanded our knowledge about inherited tubulopathies and other genetic kidney diseases. This review suggests a simple categorization of inherited tubular disease, clarifies the concept of autosomal dominant tubulointerstitial kidney disease (ADTKD), and introduces novel therapies developed for tubulopathies. Facing patients with suspicious tubular disorders, clinicians should first evaluate the status of volume and acid-base. This step helps the clinicians to localize the affected segment and to confirm genetic diagnosis. ADTKD is a recently characterized disease entity involving tubules. The known causative genes are UMOD, MUC1, REN, and HNF1β. Still, only half of ADTKD patients show mutations for these four identified genes. Whole exome sequencing is a suitable diagnostic tool for tubulopathies, especially for ADTKD. Genetic approaches to treat tubulopathies have progressed recently. Despite the practical obstacles, novel therapies targeting inherited tubulopathies are currently in development.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2024

Despite advances in the diagnosis and management of rare diseases (RDs), there remains a tendency to overlook adult RD patients. In addition to the considerable number of adult-onset RDs, advances in the diagnosis and management of pediatric RDs have led to an increase in the survival of these patients into adulthood. Adult RDs exhibit distinct features from pediatric counterparts, necessitating careful consideration during medical assessments. Given the extended life expectancy of adult RD patients, precise diagnosis and management strategies can significantly enhance patient outcomes. This review aims to provide an in-depth exploration of the characteristics unique to adult RDs. Special emphasis will be placed on the importance of cascade screening and prenatal genetic testing in the context of adult RDs, highlighting the need for a comprehensive understanding of these aspects in clinical practice.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.43-48
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• 2022

A prenatal chromosomal microarray (CMA) is generally recommended when a major anomaly is suspected on prenatal ultrasonography. As it can overcome the limitations of conventional karyotyping, it is expected that the number of prenatal CMA test requests will gradually increase. However, given the specificity of prenatal diagnosis, there are practical considerations compared to postnatal testing, such as the validation of prenatal specimens, maternal cell contamination, precautions when reporting variants of uncertain significance, and the need for comprehensive genetic counseling considering secondary findings. The purpose of this article is to provide necessary information to health care providers in consideration of these issues and to provide appropriate genetic counseling to patients.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.252-264
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to identify pregnant women's needs for information on prenatal genetic diagnosis and screening. This study is consisted of two phases. In the first phase in December 2011, six blogs featuring questions and answers on prenatal genetic diagnosis and screening were selected from four major search engines in Korea by using the keywords "prenatal genetic diagnosis," "prenatal genetic screening", and "amniocentesis." An analyzing framework was constructed on the basis of 389 posts on six blogs between November 2006 and October 2011. In the second phase, the contents of the "MomsHolicbaby" blog posted from November 2010 to October 2011 were reviewed. Then, pregnant women's questions on prenatal genetic diagnosis and screening (100 questions) and amniocentesis (200 questions with 1,665 answers) were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Among posters who had ever been recommended to undergo amniocentesis, 56.5% described feelings of anxiety, 25.5% did not know the purpose of the test, and 33.9% refused to undergo the test. Among 295 posters answering questions about amniocentesis, 61.4% disagreed with undergoing the test. The results show that there is a need for healthcare professionals to provide more educational and emotional support to pregnant women considering prenatal genetic diagnosis and screening. Providing online health information can be integrated into prenatal genetic education for pregnant women as well as nurses. In addition, prenatal women's preferences about undergoing amniocentesis should be reflected in the current legal discussion on criteria for termination of pregnancy.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.273-285
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• 2010

Completion of the human genome project has allowed a deeper understanding of molecular pathophysiology and has provided invaluable genomic information for the diagnosis of genetic disorders. Advent of new technologies has lead to an explosion in genetic testing. However, this overwhelming stream of genetic information often misleads physicians and patients into a misguided faith in the power of genetic testing. Moreover, genetic testing raises a number of ethical, legal, and social issues. Diagnostic genetic tests can be divided into three primary but overlapping categories: cytogenetic studies (including routine karyotyping, high-resolution karyotyping, and fluorescent in situ hybridization studies), biochemical tests, and DNA-based diagnostic tests. DNA-based testing has grown rapidly over the past decade and includes preandpostnatal testing for the diagnosis of genetic diseases, testing for carriers of genetic diseases, genetic testing for susceptibility to common non-genetic diseases, and screening for common genetic diseases in a particular population. Theoretically, once a gene's structure, function, and association with a disease are well established, the clinical application of genetic testing should be feasible. However, for routine applications in a clinical setting, such tests must satisfy a number of criteria. These criteria include an acceptable degree of clinical and analytical validity, support of a quality assurance program, possibility of modifying the course of the diagnosed disease with treatment, inclusion of pre-and postnatal genetic counseling, and determination of whether the proposed test satisfies cost-benefit criteria and should replace or complement traditional tests. In the near future, the application of genetic testing to common diseases is expected to expand and will likely be extended to include individual pharmacogenetic assessments.

• Genes and Genomics
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• v.40 no.12
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• pp.1339-1349
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• 2018

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a non-progressive neurological disease, of which susceptibility is linked to genetic and environmental risk factors. More and more studies have shown that CP might be caused by multiple genetic factors, similar to other neurodevelopmental disorders. Due to the high genetic heterogeneity of CP, we focused on investigating related molecular pathways. Ten children with CP were collected for whole-exome sequencing by next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology. Customized processes were used to identify potential pathogenic pathways and variants. Three pathways (axon guidance, transmission across chemical synapses, protein-protein interactions at synapses) with twenty-three genes were identified to be highly correlated with CP. This study showed that the three pathways associated with CP might be the molecular mechanism of pathogenesis. These findings could provide useful clues for developing pathway-based pharmacotherapies. Further studies are required to confirm potential roles for these pathways in the pathogenesis of CP.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1014-1026
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• 2017

The traditional fault diagnosis method for photovoltaic (PV) inverters has a difficult time meeting the requirements of the current complex systems. Its main weakness lies in the study of nonlinear systems. In addition, its diagnosis time is long and its accuracy is low. To solve these problems, a hidden Markov model (HMM) is used that has unique advantages in terms of its training model and its recognition for diagnosing faults. However, the initial value of the HMM has a great influence on the model, and it is possible to achieve a local minimum in the training process. Therefore, a genetic algorithm is used to optimize the initial value and to achieve global optimization. In this paper, the HMM is combined with a genetic algorithm (GHMM) for PV inverter fault diagnosis. First Matlab is used to implement the genetic algorithm and to determine the optimal HMM initial value. Then a Baum-Welch algorithm is used for iterative training. Finally, a Viterbi algorithm is used for fault identification. Experimental results show that the correct PV inverter fault recognition rate by the HMM is about 10% higher than that of traditional methods. Using the GHMM, the correct recognition rate is further increased by approximately 13%, and the diagnosis time is greatly reduced. Therefore, the GHMM is faster and more accurate in diagnosing PV inverter faults.