• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.780-787
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• 2006

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways, which characterized by bronchial hyperresponsiveness, reversible airflow limitation and respiratory symptoms. Internationally, the prevalence of asthma has been increased over last 3 decades. Recently, several studies of asthma have been reported with gradually increasing importance. To tesify the hypothesis that interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-10 may be an important determinant of the severity of airway inflammation, their expression was studied in mouse model of asthma. BALB/c mouse, IL-4 Knockout (KO) mouse and IL-10 KO mouse were sensitized with intraperitoneal injection of ovalbumin adsorbed to aluminum potassium sulfate, followed by challenges with intranasal ovalbumin on 3 consecutive days. The severity of pulmonary inflammation was assessed by eosinophilia in BAL fluid, number of total BAL cells, histopathological changes in lung tissues, and immunohistochemical staining against IL-4 and IL-10. In BAL fluid, the number of total cells was significantly increased in asthma induced mouse compare to the control. In asthma induced mouse, eosinophil was increased to 56% and neutrophil was 0.2%. In H &E stains, eosinophilic infiltration and epithelium hyperplasia were clearly noticed in asthma induced mouse. In immunohistochemical staining for IL-4 and IL-10, there was no positive reaction in control group. However, very strong reactions were appeared in asthma induced group. In this research, IL-4 and IL-10, which seem to play a central role in allergic asthma, KO mouse was utilized to test the causative relationship between airway inflammation and role of specific cytokine. Asthma induced IL-4 and IL-10 KO mice showed much decreased inflammatory reactions in the number of total BAL cells, in eosinophilic infiltration, and in immunohistochemical stains against diverse inflammatory proteins. These results suggest that IL-4 and IL-10 increase the asthmatic reactions in vivo mice model.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.659-668
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• 2012

The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of marbling scores on carcass grade factors, physico-chemical and sensory traits of Hanwoo. Data used in this study were collected from 73,316 carcasses obtained at the Nonghyup Seoul slaughterhouse in 2009 and 271 cuts of M. longissimusdorsi were analyzed to estimate beef qualities. As the marbling scores increased, backfat thickness was linearly increased (p<0.05) in cows (9.51 mm-14.69 mm) and steers (8.71 mm-14.23 mm). As the marbling scores increased, maturity of cows was increased and meat color, texture and quality grade improved for all genders. With increase of the marbling scores, crude fat contents (3.07%-26.70%), water holding capacity (52.09%-58.66%), $L^*$ value (34.08-41.97) were significantly increased (p<0.05) and Warner-Bratzler shear force was linearly decreased (p<0.05) from 8.58 kg to 2.60 kg. The increase of crude fat contents had the similar interval with the increase of marbling scores from 1 to 6 but it is sharply increased from marbling score 7. There was no difference observed on $pH_{24}$ (5.50-5.66), protein contents (19.57%-21.15%) among the marbling scores. Marbling score was significantly correlated with live weight (r=0.29) in cows, loineye area (r=0.35) in steer, and overall acceptability of panel scores (r=0.67) (p<0.01).

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.168-177
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• 2009

This study was conducted to investigate the dietary effects of locally grown herbs (Mentha piperascens, PM; Rubus coreanus, RC; Tagetes patula, MG) on the growth performance and meat quality of broiler chicken. A total of 600 1-d-old Ross male broiler chicks were divided into eight groups and were fed control diets (antibiotics-medicated or non-medicated commercial diets) or experimental diets (non-medicated diets containing 0.3 or 0.5% PM, 0.3 or 0.5% RC, or 0.3 or 0.5% MG) for 5wk. The body weight gains and feed conversion rates (FCRs) in all the groups that were fed diets containing PM, RC, or MG were significantly improved compared to those in the non-medicated control group (p<0.05). The relative weights of various organs, the serum cholesterol levels, and the GOT/GPT activities in all the groups were also not significantly different. The superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activities in the groups that were fed diets containing 0.3% PM or 0.3% MG were significantly increased compared to those in the non-medicated control group (p<0.05). The number of cecal lactic-acid bacteria in the groups that were fed diets containing 0.3% PM or 0.5% RC tended to increase. The malondialdehyde contents in the leg muscles were significantly lowered by feeding with PM or MG (p<0.05). The physicochemical properties of the edible meat, including the shear force, water-holding capacity, heat loss, pH, and muscle color degrees $(CIEL^*.\;a^*.\;b^*)$, were not affected by the dietary treatments. It has been suggested that spontaneous Korean plants promote the growth of broilers and may delay lipid oxidation in edible muscles without any negative effect when added in broiler diets.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.8
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• pp.65-73
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• 1967

For the study of method for salt elimination aimed at reforming tidal land into normal paddy fields in a short period with reduction of periods requiring for elimination of saline, CHP (a kind of Ca-hum ate), a soil conditioner made of peat as a main material was tried. In the pot experiment, effect on elimination of salt, improvement of physical-chemical characteristics and rice cultivation test were studied. The results of these tests are as follows: 1, CHP treatment somewhat improves aggregation state with some effect on aggregation. 2. CHP treatment is remarkably effective in permeability which increases with 1.0 percent treatment by three times in percolation rate, and by 4.5 times in volume of leached water respectively. 3. With the increase of CHP amounts, salt was eliminated in short period. When 80% of the total Na was leached in 1.0% CHP-A treated pot, control pot begins permeable. 4. CEC and phosphorous absorption capacity are not influenced by CHP treatment. 5. Growing state of rice is greatly influenced by rainfalls. Growth of rice in tidal land however are almost similar to those in normal paddy fields with layer amounts of CHP treatment. With salt content in the soils, saline hazard and numbers of ineffective stems, amounts of unmatured grain are increased. 6. With the treatment of CHP yields of rough rice were increased. With 0.5% CHP treatment the yields were similar to those of the normal paddy fields. With 1.0% CHP-A treatment, the yields were increased by 15 times more than those of none treated soil and by 25 percent more than normal paddy soils.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.117-125
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• 2001

Vitrification of oocytes has been applied recently fur pigs, but remains elusive. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of vitrification in open pulled straws (OPS) on in vitro survival of porcine oocytes. When immature follicular oocytes frozen-thawed were cultured for in vitro maturation, maturation rates to metaphase-II stage were higher in oocytes with (25%) than without (15%) cumulus cells. After In vitro fertilization of oocytes frozen-thawed, the maturation rates were also significantly (P<0.05) higher in oocytes with (41%) that than without (17%) cumulus cells. However, the penetration rates were higher in oocytes without (19%) that than with (9%) cumulus. In another experiment, porcine oocytes matured in vitro were frozen and thawed for in vitro fertilization. The penetration rates were higher than in oocytes without (35%) that than with (26%) cumulus cells. However, the proportions of oocytes dead after in vitro fertilization were significantly (P<0.05) higher in oocytes with that than without cumulus cells. On the other hand, the rates of penetration and dead oocytes at 6 h after in vitro fertilization were not significant differences between oocytes with and without cumulus cells. However, the proportions of dead oocytes with (18%) and without (16%) cumulus cells were higher than in oocytes of control group (0%). These finding indicated the possible broader application for OPS, as they demonstrated that the maturation and fertilization in vitro by frozen-thawed oocytes may be accompained by cumulus cells and culture periods according to the requirements of the survival ability after freezing of mature and immature oocytes in pigs.

• Journal of the Korean Regional Science Association
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.3-19
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• 2018

The objective of this study is to observe the efficiency of clinical performance on the supply and demand of medical resources in Korea. For the empirical analysis, we constructed the dataset on age standardized mortality rate, the number of physician, specialist, surgery, medical institution, ratio of general hospitals of 16 provinces in Korea from 2006 to 2013. The panel probability frontier model is employed as an analysis method and considered heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation of the error in panel data. In addition, the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the 16 provinces, unemployment rate, elderly population ratio, GRDP per capita, and ratio of hospitals in comparison to the general hospitals are used to find the effect on the technical efficiency of clinical performance on supply and demand of medical resources. The results are as follows. First, for the clinical performance, the supply side of human resources such as doctors and specialists and the demand side factors such as chronic illness clinic per unit population have a significant influence, respectively. Second, the technical efficiency of clinical performance on the supply and demand of medical resources of each input component was 59-70% in terms of clinical efficiency in each region. Third. estimates of technical efficiency of inputs that affect clinical performance showed a slight increase in all regions during the analysis period, but the increase trend decreased slightly. Fourth, the ratio of the elderly population and GRDP per capita have a positive influence on the technical efficiency of clinical performance on the supply and demand of medical resources. The difference of each efficiency by region is due to the regional differences of the input medical resources and the combination of them and the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the region. It is understood that the differences in technological efficiency due to the complexity of supply and demand of medical resources, demographic structure and economic difference affecting clinical performance by region are different.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.130-136
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• 2006

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to confirm the epidemiologic change of the causative organisms of neonatal and pediatric bacterial meningitis in Korea. And we tried to evaluate the risk factors correlated with prognosis which was available on the day of admission. Methods : Retrospectively, we reviewed the medical records of 57 patients admitted for bacterial meningitis at six hospitals affiliated with Catholic Medical Center for 6 years(Jan. 2000~Dec. 2005). Results : 22 cases(38.6%) of them were neonates under 28 days and 35 cases were infants and children ; 16 cases(28.1%), under 1 year ; 6 cases(10.5%), under 5 years ; 13 cases (22.8%), under 15 years. In neonates, 16 cases(72.7%) were caused by group B streptococcus (GBS). In infants and children, S. pneumoniae(25.7%), H. influenzae type b(Hib)(22.8%) and N. meningitidis(22.8%) were common cause of bacterial meningitis in order. In the informations available on the day of admission, weight deficit for age under 3 percentile, increased CRP level and decreased glucose level of CSF were related to poor prognosis(P<0.05). Conclusion : GBS became a leading cause of neonatal bacterial meningitis. Though, pneumoccocal, Hib and meningococcal meningitis were confirmed as major causes of bacterial meningitis. The routine immunization of pneumococcal and Hib vaccines will be considered, and it is necessary to introduce meningococcal vaccines to our country in the future.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.107-118
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• 2017

Although alternative test methods based on the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement) are being developed to replace animal testing in reproductive and developmental toxicology, they are still in an early stage. Consequently, we aimed to develop alternative test methods in male animals using mouse spermatogonial stem cells (mSSCs). Here, we modified the OECD TG 489 and optimized the in vitro comet assay in our previous study. This study aimed to verify the validity of in vitro tests involving mSSCs by comparing their results with those of in vivo tests using C57BL/6 mice by gavage. We selected hydroxyurea (HU), which is known to chemically induce male reproductive toxicity. The 50% inhibitory concentration ($IC_{50}$) value of HU was 0.9 mM, as determined by the MTT assay. In the in vitro comet assay, % tail DNA and Olive tail moment (OTM) after HU administration increased significantly, compared to the control. Annexin V, PI staining and TUNEL assays showed that HU caused apoptosis in mSSCs. In order to compare in vitro tests with in vivo tests, the same substances were administered to male C57BL/6 mice. Reproductive toxicity was observed at 25, 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg/day as measured by clinical measures of reduction in sperm motility and testicular weight. The comet assay, DCFH-DA assay, H&E staining, and TUNEL assay were also performed. The results of the test with C57BL/6 mice were similar to those with mSSCs for HU treatment. Finally, linear regression analysis showed a strong positive correlation between results of in vitro tests and those of in vivo. In conclusion, the present study is the first to demonstrate the effect of HU-induced DNA damage, ROS formation, and apoptosis in mSSCs. Further, the results of the current study suggest that mSSCs could be a useful model to predict male reproductive toxicity.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.205-213
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• 1998

This experiment was carried out to produce herbicide resistant potatoes hawing only chimeric phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (PAT) genes without using antibiotic selectable marker. The pDY502 vector having only PAT gene was reconstructed for transformation of potato. The reconstructed vector was introduced to Agrobacterium tumefaciens MP90 disarmed, and they were used for potato transformation. Hormonal requirement for plant regeneration from leaves and stem explants of potato was investigated. From this experiment, MS medium treated with IBA 0.1 mg/L + BA 0.5 mg/L was the best for potato regeneration, and the ratio of shoot regeneration was 54% for leaf and 46% for stem in that condition. For transformation, explants of potato leaves and stems were cocultured with A. tumefaciens MP90 containing reconstructed vector harvoring only PAT gene. When the potato explants were placed on various concentrations of bialaphos and all the potato explants were dead on medium with over 5.0mg/L bialaphos. By this selection methods, the explants cocultured with Agrobacterium produced the putative transgenic shoots on medium with 5mg/L bialaphos treatment after 3-4 weeks. Second selection was performed by transferring the shoot tips of putative transgenic to medium containing 20mg/L of bialaphos. The shoot tips grew well on the second selection medium, indicating the production of successful transgenic plants. But normal shoots were dead in same cytotoxic medium. Incorporation of the PAT gene into transgenic potatos were confirmed by PCR analysis of DNA and Southern hybridization. These results show that the PAT gene can serve as a selectable marker and herbicide resistant genes for transformation of potato.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.533-540
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• 1995

Attenuation correction is important in producing quantitative positron emission tomography (PET) images. Conventionally, photon attenuation effects are corrected using transmission measurements performed before tracer administration. The pre-injection transmission measurement approach may require a time delay between transmission and emission scans for the tracer studies requiring a long uptake period, about 45 minutes for F-18 deoxyglucose study. The time delay will limit patient throughput and increase the likelihood of patient motion. A technique lot performing simultaneous transmission and emission scans (T+E method) after the tracer injection has been validated. The T+E method substracts the emission counts contaminating the transmission measurements to produce accurate attenuation correction coefficients. This method has been evaluated in experiments using a cylindrical phantom filled with background water (5750 cc) containing $0.4{\mu}Ci/cc$ of F-18 fluoride ion and one insert cylinder (276 cc) containing $4.3{\mu}Ci/cc$. GE $Advance^{TM}$ PET scanner and Ge-68 rotating pin sources for transmission scanning were used for this investigation. Post-injection transmission scan and emission scan were peformed alternatively over time. The error in emission images corrected using post-infection transmission scan to emission images corrected transmission scan was 2.6% at the concentration of $1.0{\mu}Ci/cc$. No obvious differences in image quality and noise were apparent between the two images. The attenuation correction can be accomplished with post-injection transmission measurement using rotating pin sources and this method can significantly shorten the time between transmission and omission scans and thereby reduce the likelihood of patient motion and increase scanning throughput in PET.