• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.107-116
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• 2015

In this study, we developed a rapid, sensitive and specific reverse-transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay for detection of swine influenza viruse (SIV) including major subtypes of swine influenza viruses H1N1, H1N2 and H3N2, and a novel subtype of influenza A virus that accidentally infected in pig population. The RT-LAMP was completed in 40 min at $58^{\circ}C$ and the sensitivity of the RT-LAMP ($1copy/{\mu}L$) was 10-fold higher than conventional reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) ($10copy/{\mu}L$) and the same to real time RT-PCR ($1copy/{\mu}L$). Also, the result of the RT-LAMP can be confirmed without any detection system. Therefore, the RT-LAMP could be a alternative diagnostic method for SIV detection in national SIV monitoring system and clinical diagnostic laboratory in the future.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.244-252
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• 2020

Materials manufactured by powder metallurgy (PM) are widely used in various applications such as water pump, shock absorber, and airplane components due to the reduction in the cost and weight. In this study, tribological properties of carbon steel subjected by surface treatment were investigated. The main purpose is to increase the strength and improve the tribological properties by reducing pores that formed by PM. Moreover, the surface treatment was carried out at room and high temperatures (RT and HT). The surface roughness of the untreated (NON) and treated (AFTER) samples was measured. It was found that the surface roughness was reduced after both the RT AFTER and HT AFTER compared to RT NON sample. The tribological properties of the samples were performed against bearing steel ball under dry conditions. The friction coefficient of the RT NON samples was reduced by 22% and 56% RT AFTER and HT AFTER, respectively. The wear volume of the RT NON sample was also reduced by 43% and 87% RT AFTER and HT AFTER, respectively. Tribocorrosion tests were also performed and it was found that the surface of the RT AFTER, HT AFTER samples was less corroded compared to RT NON sample. The HT AFTER sample demonstrated a relatively higher corrosion potential in comparison with the RT AFTER samples. Hence, it was confirmed that after surface modification the surface roughness and hardness of the samples were significantly improved resulting in improvement in tribological and tribocorrosion behaviors of PM carbon steel.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.321-325
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• 2015

A rapid and simple RT-PCR diagnosis method for detection of Rice stripe virus (RSV), one of major virus infecting rice, was developed using porous ceramic cubes in this study. The porous ceramic cube can rapidly absorb biological molecules such as small-sized proteins and nucleic acid fragments into its pores. We examined whether this ability of porous ceramic cubes could be applied for isolating viral nucleic acids or particles from the RSV- infected plant tissues. In this study, we found that the porous ceramic cube was capable of absorbing a detection level of viruses from the rice tissues infected with RSV and established RT-PCR-based RNA diagnosis method using porous ceramic cubes.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.114-121
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• 2014

This study compared the food quality of domesticated(RT-DS) and freshwater (RT-F) rainbow trouts Oncorhynchus mykiss. The proximate composition of RT-DS was 73.8% moisture, 20.6% crude protein, 4.2% crude lipid, and 1.1% ash and was similar to RT-F. No differences were found in the red color, odor and taste intensities, calcium, and potassium between RT-DS and RT-F based on the Hunter a values, volatile basic nitrogen content, odor intensity and using an electronic nose, and taste intensity using an electronic tongue. The crude protein, total amino acid contents, and taurine, glutamic acid, glycine, alanine and anserine contents in free amino acids were higher in RT-DS than in RT-F. There was no difference in hardness between RT-DS and RT-F.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.25-31
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe treatment patterns of radiotherapy (RT) for prostate cancer in Korea. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire about radiation treatment technique and principles in 2013 was sent to 83 radiation oncologists and data from 57 hospitals were collected analyzed to find patterns of RT for prostate cancer patients in Korea. Results: The number of patients with prostate cancer treated with definitive RT ranged from 1 to 72 per hospital in 2013. RT doses and target volumes increased according to risk groups but the range of radiation doses was wide (60 to 81.4 Gy) and the fraction size was diverse (1.8 to 5 Gy). Intensity-modulated radiation therapy was used for definitive treatment in 93.8% of hospitals. Hormonal therapy was integrated with radiation for intermediate (63.2%) and high risk patients (77.2%). Adjuvant RT after radical prostatectomy was performed in 46 hospitals (80.7%). Indications of adjuvant RT included positive resection margin, seminal vesicle invasion, and capsular invasion. The total dose for adjuvant RT ranged from 50 to 72 Gy in 24-39 fractions. Salvage RT was delivered with findings of consecutive elevations in prostate-specific antigen (PSA), PSA level over 0.2 ng/mL, or clinical recurrence. The total radiation doses ranged from 50 to 80 Gy with a range of 1.8 to 2.5 Gy per fraction for salvage RT. Conclusion: This nationwide patterns of care study suggests that variable radiation techniques and a diverse range of dose fractionation schemes are applied for prostate cancer treatment in Korea. Standard guidelines for RT in prostate cancer need to be developed.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.34-40
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• 2001

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in detecting rotaviral gastroenteritis in children comparing with that of commercial immunoassays. Methods: Stools from 79 children admitted Korea University Hospital due to diarrhea were collected from December 1999 to February 2000. Immunoassays were done using commercial rotavirus Latex kit and Rotatec (ELISA) kit. RT-PCR was performed to amplify group A rotavirus, most commonly pathogenic to human, using VP4- and VP7-specific primers. The detection rates of immunoassays and RT-PCR were compared. Results: ELISA assay was superior to LA assay and moderately concordant with RT-PCR in detecting rotaviral gastroenteritis. Conclusion: Although RT-PCR is known very sensitive, it does not have significant advantage over immunoassay in detecting rotaviral gastroenteritis.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.153-162
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• 2018

Purpose: We aimed to evaluate clinical outcomes including progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), partial response, and complete response in patients who underwent radiation therapy (RT) for mycosis fungoides (MF). Also, we sought to find prognostic factors for clinical outcomes. Materials and Methods: Total 19 patients confirmed with MF between 1999-2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical and treatment characteristics, clinical outcomes, and and toxicities were analyzed. Results: Eleven patients were treated with total skin electron beam radiotherapy (TSEBT) and 8 patients with involved field radiation therapy (IFRT) with median dose of 30 Gy, respectively. The median time interval from diagnosis to RT was 2.6 months (range, 0.4 to 87.3 months). The overall response rate was 100%; 11 patients (57.9%) had a complete response and 8 patients (42.1%) a partial response. The presence of positive lymph node at the time of consultation of RT was associated with lower OS (p = 0.043). In multivariate analysis, PFS was significantly lower for patients with increased previous therapies experienced following RT (p = 0.019) and for patients showing PR during RT (p = 0.044). There were no reported grade 3 or more skin toxicities related with RT. Conclusion: Both IFRT and TSEBT are effective treatment for MF patients. Patients with short disease course before RT or complete response during RT are expected to have longer PFS. Positive lymph node status at the initiation of RT was associated woth poor OS, suggesting other treatment modalities such as low-dose RT for patients with low life-expectancy.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.1398-1403
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• 2016

The simultaneous detection and accurate identification of hepatitis A virus (HAV) is critical in food safety and epidemiological studies to prevent the spread of HAV outbreaks. Towards this goal, a one-step duplex reverse-transcription (RT)-PCR method was developed targeting the VP1/P2B and VP3/VP1 regions of the HAV genome for the qualitative detection of HAV. An HAV RT-qPCR standard curve was produced for the quantification of HAV RNA. The detection limit of the duplex RT-PCR method was 2.8 × 10¹ copies of HAV. The PCR products enabled HAV genotyping analysis through DNA sequencing, which can be applied for epidemiological investigations. The ability of this duplex RT-PCR method to detect HAV was evaluated with HAV-spiked samples of fresh lettuce, frozen strawberries, and oysters. The limit of detection of the one-step duplex RT-PCR for each food model was 9.4 × 10² copies/20 g fresh lettuce, 9.7 × 10³ copies/20 g frozen strawberries, and 4.1 × 10³ copies/1.5 g oysters. Use of a one-step duplex RT-PCR method has advantages such as shorter time, decreased cost, and decreased labor owing to the single amplification reaction instead of four amplifications necessary for nested RT-PCR.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.40.1-40.8
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• 2020

Avian influenza (AIV) outbreaks can induce fatal human pulmonary infections in addition to economic losses to the poultry industry. In this study, we aimed to develop a rapid and sensitive point-of-care AIV test using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technology. We designed three sets of reverse transcription LAMP (RT-LAMP) primers targeting the matrix (M) and hemagglutinin (HA) genes of the H5 and H9 subtypes. RT-LAMP targeting the universal M gene was designed to screen for the presence of AIV and RT-LAMP assays targeting H5-HA and H9-HA were designed to discriminate between the H5 and H9 subtypes. All three RT-LAMP assays showed specific amplification results without nonspecific reactions. In terms of sensitivity, the detection limits of our RT-LAMP assays were 100 to 1,000 RNA copies per reaction, which were 10 times more sensitive than the detection limits of the reference reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) (1,000 to 10,000 RNA copies per reaction). The reaction time of our RT-LAMP assays was less than 30 min, which was approximately four times quicker than that of conventional RT-PCR. Altogether, these assays successfully detected the existence of AIV and discriminated between the H5 or H9 subtypes with higher sensitivity and less time than the conventional RT-PCR assay.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.7-13
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• 2022

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a causative agent for a subset of oropharyngeal cancer (OPC). The current standard of care (SOC) for locally advanced OPC is 70 Gy definitive radiotherapy (RT) concurrent with cisplatin, which entails significant proportions of acute and late grade 3 or higher toxicities. Accordingly, discovery of favorable prognosis of HPV-related OPC has led to enthusiasm to attenuate subspecialties therapy in multidisciplinary treatment. Diverse deintensification strategies were investigated in multiple phase 2 trials with an assumption that attenuated treatments result in comparable oncologic outcome and less toxicities compared with SOC. Several trials on chemotherapy deintensification revealed that concomitant administration of cisplatin is not to be omitted or substituted for cetuximab without compromising progression-free survival or local control. A transoral robotic surgery (TORS) is investigated as alternative local treatment, but TORS plus SOC or mild deintensified adjuvant RT showed similar toxicities and inferior oncologic outcomes compared with SOC definitive RT or moderately deintensified RT. However, it has been reported that TORS plus deintensified 30-36 Gy adjuvant RT results in excellent outcome and less late toxicity compared with SOC adjuvant RT. Several phase 2 trials reported apparently equivalent progression-free survival and local control and similar adverse effects with moderately deintensified 60 Gy RT compared with SOC 70 Gy RT. Further dose reduction below 60 Gy has been investigated using biology-directed approaches, which use response to induction chemotherapy or metabolic images to triage HPV-positive OPC for deintensified RT. In summary, these trials provide valuable insights for future directions. Available evidence consistently showed that moderately deintensified RT is effective and safe for HPV-positive OPC in both definitive and adjuvant settings. Concurrent cisplatin remains an essential component without which progression-free survival is significantly compromised for advanced HPV-positive OPC. A simple incorporation of TORS to SOC may be detrimental for oncologic outcome without anticipated toxicity reduction. Given the lack of level 1 evidence, it is prudent to curb an unjustified deviation from the current SOC and limit any deintensified strategies to clinical trials and adhere to the current SOC.