• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.105-111
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• 2015

In late December 2013, the Ebola virus emerged from West Africa. The outbreak started in Guinea and rapidly spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. Initially, the virus is spread to the human population after contact with infected wildlife and then spread person-to-person through direct contact with body fluids such as blood, sweat, urine, semen, and breast milk. The Ebola virus infects endothelial cells, mononuclear phagocytes and hepatocytes. It causes massive damage to internal tissues and organs, such as blood vessels and the liver, and ultimately death. Most tests for the virus RNA rely on a technology called reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). While this method is highly sensitive, it is also expensive, requiring skilled scientists, and delicate power supplies. The strip analytical technique (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or ELISA) detects antigens or antibodies to the Ebola virus. This test is cheap and does not require electricity or refrigeration. Despite ongoing efforts directed at experimental treatments and vaccine development, current medical work on the Ebola viral disease is largely limited to supportive therapy. Thus, rapid and reliable diagnoses of the Ebola virus are critically important for patient management, infections, prevention, and control measures.

• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.297-301
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• 2009

This study was performed to develop a prediction model of sugar content for strawberry. Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been prevailed for on-line and portable applications for non-invasive quality assessment of intact fruit. This work presents effects of illumination method and coating of reflection surface of light source on prediction result of sugar content. Effect of preprocessing methods was also examined. A low-cost commercially available VIS/NIR spectrometer was used for estimation of total soluble solids content (Brix). To predict sugar contents of strawberry, the best results were obtained with the spectrum data measured under intensive illuminations at three locations induced from the light source with fiber optic bundles. Gold coating of reflection surface of light source lamp gave favorable effect to prediction result. The best results in validation of PLSR model were $r_{SEP}$ = 0.891 and SEP = 0.443 Brix under OSC preprocessing and those of PCR were $r_{SEP}$ = 0.845, SEP $r_{SEP}$= 0.520 Brix, under no preprocessing.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.223-229
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• 2007

여과막 생물반응기를 이용하여 $60^{\circ}C$에서 혐기 세균 복합체가 포도당으로부터 수소를 생산할 수 있는 최적조건을 연구하였다. 여과막 생물반응기는 연속교반 탱크반응기와 외부에 장착된 PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) 중공사막 여과장치로 구성되었다. 접종슬러지는 하수처리장 소화 슬러지조에서 얻었고, 포자형성 수소생산 미생물을 얻기 위해 $90^{\circ}C$에서 20분 간 열처리하였다. 16S rRNA PCR-DGGE(polymer chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis) 분석을 통해 열처리 전후의 미생물상 변화를 조사하였다. 열처리 후 DGGE 밴드의 수는 감소하였고, 주요 밴드는 Clostridium perfringens와 유사한 염기서열을 나타내었다. 운전 기간 동안 바이오가스 내 수소함량은 60%(v/v)를 유지하였고, 메탄은 검출되지 않았다. 연속교반 탱크반응기를 여과막 없이 수력학적 체류 4시간에서 운전하였을 때 공급된 포도당의 95.0%가 제거되었고, 이때 균체농도 및 수소생산속도는 각각 1.35 g cell/L 및 7.4 L $H_2$/L/day이었다. 동일한 체류시간에서 PVDF중공사막 여과장치를 장착하여 연속교반 탱크반응기를 운전하였을 때, 균체농도는 1.62 g cel/L로 증가하였고 높은 포도당 제거율(99.5%) 및 수소생산속도(8.8 L $H_2$/L/day)가 관찰되었다. 40 nm 및 100 nm의 공극크기를 가진 여과막은 균체농도 및 수소생산 측면에서 유사한 성능을 나타내었다. 여과막 생물반응기는 여과막의 반복적인 세척을 통해 30일 이상 안정적으로 운전될 수 있었다.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.119-127
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• 2015

To date, detection of microbial populations in dairy products has been performed using culture media, which is a time-consuming and laborious method. The recently developed chromogenic media could be more rapid and specific than classical culture media. However, the newly developed molecular-based technology can detect microbial populations with greater rapidity and sensitivity than the classical method involving culture media and chromogenic media. This molecular-based technology could provide various options for monitoring the characterization of different states of bacteria and cells. Thus, it could help upgrade the processing system of the dairy industry so as to maintain the safety and quality of dairy foods. Among the various newly developed molecular-based technologies, flow cytometry can potentially be used for monitoring microbiological populations in the dairy industry if official international standards are available for this purpose. When omics technology would have biomarker identification, it could be regarded as the rapid and sensitive analytical methods. Methods based on PCR, which has become a basic technique in microbiological research, can be developed and validated as alternative methods for quantification of dairy microorganisms. This review discusses methods for monitoring microbiological populations in dairy foods and the limitations of these studies, as well as the need for further research on such methods in the dairy industry.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.94-99
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• 2004

Purpose : To investigate the signal enhancement ratio by NOE effect on in vivo $^{31}P$ MRS in human heart muscle and liver. we also evaluated the enhancement ratios of different phosphorus metabolites, which are important in 31P MRS for each organ. Materials and Methods : Ten normal subjects (M:F = 8:2, age range = 24-32 yrs) were included for in vivo $^{31}P$ MRS measurements on a 1.5 T whole-body MRI/MRS system using $^1H-^{31}P$ dual tuned surface coil. Two-dimensional Chemical Shift Imaging (2D CSI) pulse sequence for $^{31}P$ MRS was employed in all $^{31}P$ MRS measurements. First, $^{31}P$ MRS performed without NOE effect and then the same 2D CSI data acquisitions were repeated with NOE effect. After postprocessing the MRS raw data in the time domain, the signal enhancements in percent were estimated from the major metabolites. Results : The calculated NOE enhancement for liver $^{31}P$ MRS were $\alpha-ATP\;(7\%),\;\beta-ATP\;(9\%),\;\gamma-ATP\;(17\%),\;Pi\;(1\%),\;PDE\;(19\%)$ and $PME\;(31\%)$. Because there is no creatine kinase activity in liver, PCr signal is absent. For cardiac $^{31}P$ MRS, whole body coil gave better scout images and thus better localization than surface coil. In $^{31}P$cardiac multi-voxel spectra, DPG signal increased from left to right according to the amount of blood included. The calculated enhancement for cardiac $^{31}P$ MRS were : $\alpha-ATP\;(12\%),\;\beta-ATP\;(19\%),\;\gamma-ATP\;(30\%),\;PCr\;(34\%),\;Pi\;(20\%),\;(PDE)\;(51\%),\;and\;DPG\;(72\%)$. Conclusion : Our results revealed that the NOE effect was more pronounced in heart muscle than in liver with different coupling to 1H spin system and thus different heteronuclear cross-relaxation.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.288-293
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• 2013

In worldwide, viral diseases of apple plants has caused the serious problems like reduced production and malformation of fruits. Also, the damages of apple plants by virus and/or viroid infection (Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus, Apple stem grooving virus, Apple mosaic virus, and Apple scar skin viroid) were reported in Korea. However there is few report about the protection approach against the infection by apple viruses. Therefore, this paper introduced the experimental protocol for the development of virus-free apple cultivars (Danhong, Hongan, Saenara, Summerdream). Apple plants were treated at $37^{\circ}C$ for 4 weeks and shoot tips were cultured in vitro. After heat treatment, the detection of apple viruses was performed by RT-PCR using virusspecific detection primers in new apple cultivars. With the heat treatments followed by in vitro shoot tip culture, the proportion of virus-free stocks of 'Danhong', 'Hongan', 'Saenara', and 'Summerdream' was 28%, 16%, 12%, and 12%, respectively. Taken together, this approach can be a good tool for production of virus-free apple stocks.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.4086-4092
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• 2013

Mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) are UV-absorbing substances, and diverse marine organisms have the evolved the capacity to diminished the direct and indirect damaging effects of environmental ultraviolet radiation by synthesis and accumulation of MAAs. In this study, we manufactured a radiofrequency (RF) generation device and applied to microalgal culture. $0.35{\pm}0.05$ mHz of RF was supplied to culture vessel for Chlamydomonas sp. and samples were harvested at the designated time intervals (1, 0.5, 1 and 2 hr). MAAs biosynthetic genes, dehydroquinate synthase homolog (DHQS-like) and nonribosomal peptide synthetase homolog (NRPS-like), were cloned from Chlamydomonas sp. and their gene expressions under the RF exposure were analyzed using qRT-PCR. DHQS-like and NRPS-like gene expressions of Chlamydomonas sp. exposed to RF were increased 1.46 and 1.19 fold at 1 hr, respectively. These results means that DHQS-like and NRPS-like genes can be good biomarker candidates for diagnosis of MAAs biosynthesis in the Chlamydomonas sp.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.241-254
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• 2004

Kidney had recovery functions against toxicants, ischemia, reperfusion-induced damage, acute-renal failure (ARF). Urinary epidermal growth factor (EGF) is produced by the juxtaglomerular apparatus. Kidney accumulates or excretes the EGF. In case of renal diseases, excreted EGF was decreased. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects squalene (SQ) on the prevention of experimental acute renal failure induced by glycerol. In case of in vitro study, we investigated the expression of EGF by RT-PCR. After the proximal tubular cells was isolated, glycerol (1, 2, 4 mM) or glycerol plus squalene (0.1, 0.05 or 0.1%) was added. In case of in vivo study, we investigated the changes of BUN, creatine, and ultrastructure. Experimental groups were divided into four groups. Group 1 was normal mouse. Group 2 was injected with SQ only (180 mg/kg). Group 3 was not treated with squalene after intraperitoneal contamination of glycerol (50%, 8 ml/kg). And, Group 4 was treated with squalene (180 mg/kg) after intraperitoneal contamination of glycerol (50%, 8 ml/kg). All groups were used to 7 mice. In the results, we investigated the glycerol induced renal failure. The expression of EGF mRNA was decreased in renal proximal tubules when treated with only glycerol. SQ increased the mRNA expression of EGF in renal proximal tubules. SQ also quickly recovered the levels of BUN and creatine compared with those of mice treated with only glycerol (P<0.01). In case of ultrastructure, group 3 had heavily damaged mitochondria, but, mitochondria in group 4 had evidences of the recovery. It was concluded that SQ had the recovery effects for the glycerol-induced acute renal failure.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.277-286
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• 2001

Improvement and possible commercialization of a home-made electroporation apparatus(home-made) were further tried to establish a simple and effective introduction of foreign gene into sperm followed by in vitro fertilization. Expressions of introduced pJJ9 and pNT plasmids were shown in all fertilized eggs with electroporated spermatozoa. In particular, with this gene transfer system all the fry showed a consistently transient expression in the syncytium of the yolk sac. This fact is important since some required, minute quantity of human proteins can be produced from the established transient expression on the yolk sac of all fry derived from in vitro fertilization with electroporated spermatozoa. To explore tissue-specific expression in fish, which we will use a similar system later, we targeted the nerve tissue to see whether tissue-specific promoter is working in fish properly. pNT plasmid containing a nerve cell-specific tubulin promoter gene demonstrated consistently exact targeted expressions among the developing nerve cells in later stages of embryos and hatched fry. Finally, liver-specific genes are now being cloned by using already selected primers for useful human protein gene fusion.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1997 no.11
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• pp.517-527
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• 1997

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging is a methodology combining the imaging and spectroscopy. It can provide the spectrum of each areas of image so that one can easily compare the spectrum of one position to another position of the image. In this study, we developed pulse sequence or the spectroscopic imaging method, RF wave forms or the saturation of water signal, computer simulations to validate our method, and confirmed the methodology with phantom experiment. Then we applied the spectroscopic method to human subject and identified a few important metabolites in in vivo. To develope a water saturating RF waveform, we used Shinnar-Le-Roux algorithm and obtained maximum phase RF waveform. With this RF pulse, it could suppress the water signal to 1:1000. The magnet is shimmed to under 1.0ppm with auto-shimming technique. The saturation bandwidth is 80Hz(2ppm). The water and fat seperation is 3.3ppm(about 140Hz at 1 Tesla magnet), the bandwidth is enough to resolve the difference. But we are more concerned about the narrow window in between the two peaks, in which the small quantity of metabolites reside. We performed the computer simulation and phantom experiments in 8*8 matrix form and showed good agreement in the image and spectrum. Finally we applied spectroscopic imaging to the brain of human subject. Only the lipid signal was shown in the periphery region which agrees with the at distribution in human head surface area. The spectrum inside the brain shows the important metabolites such as NAA, Cr/PCr, Choline. We here have shown the spectroscopic imaging which is normally done above 1.5 Tesla machine can be performed in the 1 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging Unit.