• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.55 no.7
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• pp.224-231
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• 2012

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a complex multisystem genetic disorder characterized by hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction. The main clinical features include neonatal hypotonia, distinctive facial features, overall developmental delay, and poor growth in infancy, followed by overeating with severe obesity, short stature, and hypogonadism later in development. This paper reviews recent updates regarding the genetic aspects of this disorder. Three mechanisms (paternal deletion, maternal disomy, and deficient imprinting) are recognized. Maternal disomy can arise because of 4 possible mechanisms: trisomy rescue (TR), gamete complementation (GC), monosomy rescue (MR), and postfertilization mitotic nondisjunction (Mit). Recently, TR/GC caused by nondisjunction at maternal meiosis 1 has been identified increasingly, as a result of advanced maternal childbearing age in Korea. We verified that the d3 allele increases the responsiveness of the growth hormone (GH) receptor to endogenous GH. This paper also provides an overview of endocrine dysfunctions in children with PWS, including GH deficiency, obesity, sexual development, hypothyroidism, and adrenal insufficiency, as well as the effects of GH treatment. GH treatment coupled with a strictly controlled diet during early childhood may help to reduce obesity, improve neurodevelopment, and increase muscle mass. A more active approach to correct these hormone deficiencies would benefit patients with PWS.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.165-171
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• 1992

The developmental process of the epididymis was investigated in Meishan boars from 1 to 364 days of age. Epididymal weight increased rapidly between 45 and 150-180 days of age. The diameter and epithelial area of the epididymal ducts greatly increased up to 105-120 days of age. At 1 day of age, the central and distal cauda already had a pseudostratified epithelium surrounded by smooth muscle. At 60-75 days of age, the central and distal caput, corpus, and proximal cauda revealed a well-developed structure of the epithelium. The proximal caput showed a tall, irregular and vacuolar epithelium at 105-120 days of age. PAS-positive contents in the lumen of the caput, corpus and cauda epididymides were first detected at 60-75, 45-60 and 1-30 days of age, respectively. Moreover, in the central and distal caput, PAS-positive granules appeared at 60-75 days of age, and increased until 105-120 days. These results suggest that the epididymis develops completely by approximately 120 days of age, though its weight increases rapidly up to 150-180 days. Thus, it appears that development of the epididymis occurs at an earlier age in Meishan boars than in European and American breeds.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.495-497
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• 2017

Thalassemia major is a genetic disorder with a defective synthesis of either the alpha or the beta chain of hemoglobin A. Blood transfusion is crucial for the survival in these patients. Unfortunately, endocrine dysfunction is a very common complication in these patients and is principally due to excessive iron overload as a result of frequent blood transfusions. Although regular blood transfusion may increase life expectancy, disturbances in growth and pubertal development, abnormal gonadal functions, impaired thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal functions, diabetes, and disorderly bone growth are common side effects. We hereby present a case of a 23-year-old, unmarried woman with beta thalassemia major presenting with primary amenorrhea, poor development of secondary sexual character, and short stature. Thorough history, clinical examination, and laboratory investigation, including dynamic function test (insulin tolerance test) were conducted. These tests confirmed that she had multiple endocrinopathies, including hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, growth hormone deficiency, and subclinical adrenal insufficiency, which were caused by iron overload. She required hormone replacement therapy. Early recognition of possible deficiencies in hypothalamo-pituitary-end organ hormones caused by iron overload in thalassemia patients that undergo frequent blood transfusion procedures is essential. Appropriate treatments, including transfusion regimen and chelation therapy, as well as specific treatment of each complication are the crucial for the successful management and improvement of quality of life these patients.

• Journal of Engineering Education Research
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.59-63
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• 2010

A survey was conducted on 300 working women(one woman/company) who specialize in STEM(Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in the Busan region(south of Korea) to determine their job satisfaction. The overall response of women working in industry is relatively positive although they do experience a certain limit as female workers. The serious difficulties are long work hours and restriction of behavior in consequence of being the minority. Respondents anticipate an increase in number of working women in the STEM field due to the enforcement of women resource policies in Korea. Survey results about career development show that some of the most important factors in professionalism are responsibility, gumption and cooperation. The expectation of promotion is very low. Sexual discrimination is distinctly appearing in wages and promotions. If they decide to quit their job in the midstream, the key reason is in the difficulties of compatibility between home and occupation. Survey results about job satisfaction to work in industry reveal that 31.0% of respondents are satisfied because their job is consistent with their specialty; 30.7% of respondents are working where they wanted. Among respondents who intend to change their job, only 20.7% of respondents wanted to keep their specialties. Two factors involved in the respondents' satisfaction during work are special technical achievement and practical application of their knowledge. But, they are unsatisfied in terms of implementing their leadership.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.145-154
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• 2006

Heterotrimeric G proteins (G proteins) are conserved in all eukaryotes and are crucial components sensing and relaying external cues into the cells to elicit appropriate physiological and biochemical responses. Basic units of the heterotrimeric G protein signaling system include a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), a G protein composed of ${\alpha},\;{\beta},\;and\;{\gamma}$ subunits, and variety of effectors. Sequential sensitization and activation of these G protein elements translates external signals into gene expression changes, resulting in appropriate cellular behaviors. Regulators of G protein signaling (RGSs) constitute a crucial element of appropriate control of the intensity and duration of G protein signaling. For the past decade, G protein signaling and its regulation have been intensively studied in a number of model and/or pathogenic fungi and outcomes of the studies provided better understanding on the upstream regulation of vegetative growth, mating, development, virulence/pathogenicity establishment, and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in fungi. This review focuses on the characteristics of the basic upstream G protein components and RGS proteins, and their roles controlling various aspects of biological processes in the model filamentous ascomycete fungus Aspergillus nidulans. In particular, their functions in controlling hyphal proliferation, asexual spore formation, sexual fruiting, and the mycotoxin sterigmatocystin production are discussed.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.820-830
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose was to develop a preliminary scale to measure Korean adolescents' health behaviors through a qualitative approach, to evaluate the scale psychometrically, and to develop a final scale. Methods: Participants were 61 adolescents for qualitative interviews and 1,687 adolescents for the psychometric evaluation. Procedure included content analysis of interviews to identify health behavior categories for Korean adolescents, pre-test to confirm that preliminary scale items were understandable, content validity by an expert panel, development of the web-based computer-assisted survey (CAS), and psychometric analysis to determine reliability and validity of the final scale. Results: A final scale was developed for both paper-and-pencil and CAS. It consisted of 14 health behaviors (72 items), including stress and mental health (10), sleep habits (5), dietary habits (12), weight control (4), physical activity (4), hygiene habits (5), tobacco use (5), substance use (2), alcohol consumption (4), safety (4), sexual behavior (9), computer use (3), health screening (4), and posture (1). Conclusion: The scale's strong points are: 1) Two thirds of the final scale items are Likert scale items, enabling calculation of a health behavior score. 2) The scale is appropriate to Korean culture. 3) The scale focuses on concrete health behaviors, not abstract concepts.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.43-47
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• 2013

Objectives: We investigated the effects of Korean gastrodia and bee pollen on testosterone production in Sprague-Dawley rats. Methods: This study measured the body weight, consumption of food and water, and serum testosterone concentration in SD rats fed for four weeks with gastrodia and bee pollen. Results: The average body weights after four weeks were $375{\pm}2g$ for the control group, $358{\pm}3g$ for gastrodia consumption, and $354{\pm}2g$ and $367{\pm}8g$ for acorn pollen and Siberian gooseberry pollen, respectively. The average food consumption in SD rats over the four weeks in the control was 23.6 g for gastrodia consumption, 24.3 g and 24.9 g for acorn pollen and Siberian gooseberry pollen, respectively. The average water consumption over the four weeks was 38.33 ml in the control group, 35.0 ml for gastrodia treatment, and 33.3 ml and 33.3 ml for acorn pollen and Siberian gooseberry pollen treatment, respectively. The testosterone secretion levels in the serum of male rats were increased by gastrodia, acorn pollen, and Siberian gooseberry pollen (2.68, 3.00, and 3.28 pg/ml, respectively) compared to the control group (2.23 pg/ml). Conclusions: These results suggest that gastrodia or bee pollen may be developed as a complementary medicine to improve sexual hormone production.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.5.1-5.13
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• 2023

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a Gram-negative aerobic diplococcus bacterium that primarily causes sexually transmitted infections through direct human sexual contact. It is a major public health threat due to its impact on reproductive health, the widespread presence of antimicrobial resistance, and the lack of a vaccine. In this study, we used a bioinformatics approach and performed subtractive genomic methods to identify potential drug targets against the core proteome of N. gonorrhoeae (12 strains). In total, 12,300 protein sequences were retrieved, and paralogous proteins were removed using CD-HIT. The remaining sequences were analyzed for non-homology against the human proteome and gut microbiota, and screened for broad-spectrum analysis, druggability, and anti-target analysis. The proteins were also characterized for unique interactions between the host and pathogen through metabolic pathway analysis. Based on the subtractive genomic approach and subcellular localization, we identified one cytoplasmic protein, 2Fe-2S iron-sulfur cluster binding domain-containing protein (NGFG RS03485), as a potential drug target. This protein could be further exploited for drug development to create new medications and therapeutic agents for the treatment of N. gonorrhoeae infections.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.112-117
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• 2005

Sargassum fulvellum (Turner) C. Agardh, an edible brown alga is farmed commercially by sexual reproduction and vegetative regeneration. Investigations were made on the phenology, abundance and maturity of reproductive structures in mature fronds, egg release and young germling development under different light conditions (20, 50, 80 and $100{\mu}mol/m^2/s$) and temperatures (5, 10, 15, 20 and $25^{\circ}C$). Monthly sampling was carried out by SCUBA diving at Chungsando on the southwestern coast of Korea from September 2002 to August 2003. The Maximum length of thalli was $104.6{\pm}20.7{\cal}cm$ in March 2003 when the water temperature was $9.0^{\circ}C$ and minimum was $0.8{\pm}0.5{\cal}cm$ in June when the water temperature was $19.5^{\circ}C$. Receptacle formation was observed from February to April. The peak period of egg release for this alga was in April when the water temperature was about $10^{\circ}C$ in nature. In the culture regimes of temperature and irradiance, the egg release of the excised female receptacle was highly affected by temperature. The maximum rate of egg release was $96.7{\pm}5.8{\%}$ under $20^{\circ}C$ and $80{\mu}mol/m^2/s$. The maximum length of young germlings was $3.9{\pm}0.2{\cal}mm$ after 35 days culture under $15^{\circ}C$ and $80{\mu}mol/m^2/s$.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.243-250
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• 2009

Maturation and spawning of the jack mackerel, Trachurus japonicus was investigated based on the samples captured in the coastal waters around Jeju Island from January 2007 to December 2008. Gonadosomatic index began to increase in March, and reached a maximum between April to June. After spawning it began to decrease from August. Reproductive season was estimated to March-July, with peak in April. Fecundity was proportional to the size of the female, with the clutch size varying from 33,493 eggs in the smallest female(FL=27.0cm) to 627,061 eggs in the largest(FL=40.6cm). Size at 50% sexual maturity(FL50), determined from mature females, was 26.6cm FL. Annual reproductive cycles of this species could be divided into six successive stages; immature stage(September-December), nucleolus stage(January-February), yolk vesicle stage(February-March), vitellogenic stage(March-April), ripe stage(April-July) and spent stage(July-September).