• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.177-185
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• 2005

Objective: This study was conducted to find an optimal condition for the vitrification of mouse morulae and expanded blastocysts. Materials and Methods: Mouse embryos were obtained at 2-cell stage and cultured to morula and expanded blastocyst stage in Human Tubal Fluid (HTF) medium supplemented with 10% Serum Substitute Supplement (SSS). The vitrification solutions used were EFS30, EFS35 and EFS40 that contains 30%, 35% and 40% ethylene glycol, respectively, with 18% ficoll and 0.5 M sucrose diluted in Dulbecco's phosphate-buffered saline (DPBS) medium supplemented with 10% SSS. The vitrification procedure was performed in EFS solution with three steps, followed by thawing in 6 steps with 0.5 M sucrose, and then survival and hatching-hatched rate per embryos recovered were compared among six groups. Results: After 24 h culture in different vitrification and thawing solution, the survival rate of morula embryos was 94.1%, 85.4% and 59.7% for EFS30, EFS35 and EFS40 group, respectively. Hatching rate of morula embryos after 72 h culture was 30.6%, 25% and 11.3% for EFS30, EFS35 and EFS40 group, respectively. The survival rate of expanded blastocyst embryos after 24 h culture was 90.4%, 98.5% and 100% for EFS30, EFS35 and EFS40 group, respectively. Hatching rate of expanded blastocyst embryos after 48 h culture was 46.2%, 57.6% and 64.3% for EFS30, EFS35 and EFS40 group, respectively. Conclusion: The EFS30 solution was the best for vitrification of mouse morulae. The EFS40 solution was the best for vitrification of mouse expanded blastocysts. The mouse expanded blastocyst was better than mouse morula for vitrification of mouse embryos.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.589-596
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• 2018

Ticks are the vectors of various pathogens, threatening human health and animal production across the globe. Here, for the first time we detected Ricketssia spp., Borrelia spp. and protozoan in ticks from Poyang Lake region in Jiangxi Province of eastern China. In 3 habitat categories and on 12 host species, 311 ticks from 11 species were collected. Haemaphysalis longicornis was the predominant species, accounting for 55.63%, followed by Rhipicephalus microplus, Haemaphysalis flava and Ixodes granulatus. Of the collected ticks, 7.07% were positive for tick-borne pathogens, and H. longicornis and H. flava were found to be co-infected with Ricketssia spp. and protozoan. H. flava was the most detected positive for tick-borne pathogens, whereas H. longicornis had the lowest infection rate, and the difference in infection rates between tick species was significant (${\chi}^2=61.24$, P<0.001). Furthermore, adult ticks demonstrated remarkably greater infection rate than immature ticks (${\chi}^2=10.12$, P=0.018), meanwhile ticks on Erinaceidae showed significantly higher positivity than ticks collected on other host species (${\chi}^2=108.44$, P<0.001). Genetic fragment sequencing and analyses showed at least 4 pathogen species presence in ticks, namely Borrelia yangtzensis, Rickettsia slovaca or Rickettsia raoultii related genospecies, Babesia vogeli and Hepatozoon canis or Hepatozoon felis related genospecies. The finding indicates that the abundant ticks can carry diverse pathogens in Poyang Lake region, and pathogen infection is highly related to species, vertebrate hosts and life stages of ticks.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.8
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• pp.1317-1332
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• 2024

Objective: Rare study of the non-coding and regulatory regions of the genome limits our ability to decode the mechanisms of fatty liver hemorrhage syndrome (FLHS) in chickens. Methods: Herein, we constructed the high-fat diet-induced FLHS chicken model to investigate the genome-wide active enhancers and transcriptome by H3K27ac target chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) and RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) profiles of normal and FLHS liver tissues. Concurrently, an integrative analysis combining ChIP-seq with RNA-Seq and a comparative analysis with chicken FLHS, rat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and human NAFLD at the transcriptome level revealed the enhancer and super enhancer target genes and conservative genes involved in metabolic processes. Results: In total, 56 and 199 peak-genes were identified in upregulated peak-genes positively regulated by H3K27ac (Cor (peak-gene correlation) ≥0.5 and log2(FoldChange) ≥1) (PP) and downregulated peak-genes positively regulated by H3K27ac (Cor (peak-gene correlation) ≥0.5 and log2(FoldChange)≤-1) (PN), respectively; then we screened key regulatory targets mainly distributing in lipid metabolism (PCK1, APOA4, APOA1, INHBE) and apoptosis (KIT, NTRK2) together with MAPK and PPAR signaling pathway in FLHS. Intriguingly, PCK1 was also significantly covered in up-regulated super-enhancers (SEs), which further implied the vital role of PCK1 during the development of FLHS. Conclusion: Together, our studies have identified potential therapeutic biomarkers of PCK1 and elucidated novel insights into the pathogenesis of FLHS, especially for the epigenetic perspective.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.89-95
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• 2006

A selective and sensitive reversed-phase HPLC method for the determination of pentoxifylline in human serum was developed, validated, and applied to the pharmacokinetic study of pentoxifylline. Pentoxifylline and internal standard, chloramphenicol, were extracted from the serum by liquid-liquid extraction with dichloromethane and analyzed on a Luna CI8(2) column with the mobile phase of acetonitrile-0.034 M phosphoric acid (25:75, v/v, adjusted to pH 4.0 with 10 M NaOH). Detection wavelength of 273 nm and flow rate of 0.8 mL/min were used. This method showed linear response over the concentration range of 10-500 ng/mL with correlation coefficients greater than 0.999. The lower limit of quantification using 0.5 mL of the serum was 10 ng/mL, which was sensitive enough for pharmacokinetic studies of pentoxifylline. The overall accuracy of the quality control samples ranged from 89.3 to 92.7% for pentoxifylline with overall precision (% C.V.) being 4.1-9.2%. The relative mean recovery of pentoxifylline for human serum was 105.8%. Stability (stock solution, short and long-term) studies showed that pentoxifylline was not stable during storage. But three freeze-thaw cycles and extracted serum samples were stable. This method showed good ruggedness (within 15% C.V.) and was successfully applied for the analysis of pentoxifylline in human serum samples for the pharmacokinetic studies of orally administered $Trental^{\circledR}$ tablet (400 mg pentoxifylline), demonstrating the suitability of the method.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.133-139
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• 2007

A simple and sensitive HPLC-MS method for quantitation of 10${\alpha}$-methoxy-9,10-dihydrolysergol (MDL), the main metabolite of nicergoline, in human plasma was developed and the bioavailability parameters of MDL was assessed in Korean healthy male volunteers. Clomipramine was used as an internal standard. MDL and internal standard in plasma sample were extracted using ethyl acetate. A centrifuged upper layer was then evaporated and reconstituted with mobile phase of 10 mM ammonium acetate-acetonitrile (10 : 90, v/v). The reconstituted samples were injected into a Zorbax SB-C8 column (2.1${\times}$150 mm,5 ${\mu}$m) at a flow-rate of 0.3 ml/min. Using MS with selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode, MDL and clomipramine were detected without severe interference from human plasma matrix. MDL produced a protonated molecular ion ([M+H]$^+$) at m/z 287. Internal standard produced a protonated molecular ion ([M+H]$^+$) at m/z 315. A linear relationship for MDL was found in the range of 2.5${\sim}$100 ng/ml. The lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) was 2.5 ng/ml with acceptable precision and accuracy. The intra- and inter-day validation for all coefficients of variation (R.S.D.%) were found less than 15%. Main pharmacokinetic parameters of 30 mg of nicergoline were revealed as follows: AUC$_t$ 321.1${\pm}$64.5 ng${\cdot}$hr/ml, C$_{max}$, 51.2${\pm}$25.3 ng/ml, T$_{max}$ 3.6${\pm}$1.5 hr, K$_{el}$ 0.12${\pm}$0.07 hr$^{-1}$ and t$_{1/2}$ 7.6${\pm}$3.4 hr. Inter subject variations and race differences were shown in comparison with the published data in the literature.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.193-197
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• 2005

Shunt valves used to treat patients with hydrocephalus were tested to investigate influence of intracranial pressure pulsation on their flow control characteristics. Five commercial shunt valves were tested in the flow loop that simulates pulsed flow under pressure pulsation. As 20cc/hr of flow rate was adjusted at a constant pressure, application of $40mmH_2O$ of pressure pulse increased the flow rate by $67.9\%.$ As a 90cm length catheter was connected to the valve outlet, increase in the flow rate was substantially reduced to $17.5\%.$ As the flow rate was adjusted to 40cc/hr at a constant pressure, increase in the flow rate was $51.1\%$ with the same pressure pulsation of $40mmH_2O$. The results indicated that pressure-flow control characteristics of shunt valves implanted above human brain ventricle is quite different from those obtained by syringe pump test at constant pressures right after manufacture. The influence of pressure pulsation was observed to be more significant at low flow rate and the flexibility of the outlet silicone catheter was estimated to significantly reduce flow increase due to pressure pulsation.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.545-550
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• 2008

The anticancer and immunomodulatory activities of low molecular weight (Mw 11 kDa) fucoidan isolated from Hizikia fusiforme (H. fusiforme) via the ultrasonification extraction process were assessed in this study. Low molecular weight fucoidan improved the growth of human B and T cells, up to approximately 40% as compared to the controls (untreated) and 30% for commercially available fucoidan (Mw 150 kDa). IL-6 and TNF-$\alpha$ were secreted from human B cells at levels of $7.8\times10^{-4}$ pg/mL and $7.2\times10^{-4}$ pg/mL, respectively, and these levels were higher than the levels measured in the controls and with other high molecular weight fucoidan. It was also determined that the cytokine from human B and T cells cultivated with added fucoidan enhanced the growth of human NK cells. The fucoidan isolated from H. fusiforme showed low cytotoxicity, approximately 19%, after the addition of 1.0 mg/mL, the highest tested concentration. The growth of human lung cancer cells (A549) and human breast cancer cells (MCF-7) were inhibited by 69.8% and 83.3%, respectively. These results demonstrated that the low molecular weight fucoidan isolated from H. fusiforme has potential as a new functional food component that evidences immunomodulatory activities and anticancer activity. One of the primary positive features of this fucoidan is that low molecular weight polysaccharides can be readily handled during processing.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 2012

The purposes of this study were to develop value-added sauce(ketchup) products with Korean advanced chile peppers (Capsicum annuum L.), determine their physicochemical characteristics, and conduct a sensory evaluation. American chile ketchup products were collected from American local favorites and analyzed based on their compositions. The Korean chile ketchup contained tomato paste(37.5%), Korean chile pepper(14.1%), sugar(14.8%), vinegar(14.1%), garlic(8.5%), herbs, plum extract, and oligosaccharide. Its physiochemical analysis showed: moisture $59.61{\pm}0.28%$, crude protein $2.18{\pm}0.11%$, crude lipid $1.99{\pm}0.04%$, crude ash $9.26{\pm}0.13%$, crude carbohydrate $26.97{\pm}0.48%$, reducing sugar $35.19{\pm}0.97%$, salt $3.04{\pm}0.04%$, acidity $2.22{\pm}0.01%$, pH $3.7{\pm}0.01$, and $^{\circ}brix\;36.3{\pm}0.14$. Korean chile ketchup showed higher overall acceptability compared to American local favorite chile ketchup. This result suggests the possibility for replacing chile ketchup products imported from foreign countries(USA and Europe).

• Korean Educational Research Journal
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.1-34
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• 2021

The thesis tries to compare The Structure of World History with Anti-Oedipus in the textual context, and to re-compare in the educational context. I mean by the education an event which contrasts starkly with an essence. It adopts 5W1H, a general reporting form of an accident or event, as the distinctive features at twice comparisons. The purpose of the thesis is not evaluative but interpretive comparison. In the textual context, the thesis discusses, 1) as WHAT, the use of Marx from Kant vs. Nietzsche's point of view, 2) as WHO, the actual subjects of the exchanging human vs. the productive machine, 3) as WHEN/WHERE, the society of the modes of exchange vs. the modes of inscription, 4) as HOW, the revolutionay means of the simultaneous revolution of the world vs. the schizophrenic process, 5) as WHY, the ideal subjects of the associative human vs. the non-human of liberation of desire. In the educational context, the thesis discusses, 1) in the WHAT as educational way, autonomous morality vs. active power, 2) in the WHO as the affirmity of actual subjects, that of the ideal idea vs. that of real power, 3) in the WHEN/WHERE, as the in-between time-space of education, the incommensurable communicative situation of humans vs. the conflictive of machines, 4) in the HOW, as the educational method of achieving the ideal, the involuntary restoration of the already-had ideal vs. the now-have completion and break-through of the schizophrenic process, 5) in the WHY, as the aim of education, cosmopolitan vs. overman.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.17-25
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• 2013

The thermotolerant methylotrophic yeast Hansenula polymorpha is an attractive model organism for various fundamental studies, such as the genetic control of enzymes involved in methanol metabolism, peroxisome biogenesis, nitrate assimilation, and resistance to heavy metals and oxidative stresses. In addition, H. polymorpha has been highlighted as a promising recombinant protein expression host, especially due to the availability of strong and tightly regulatable promoters. In this study, we investigated the possibility of employing human serum albumin (HSA) as the fusion tag for the secretory expression of heterologous proteins in H. polymorpha. A set of four expression cassettes, which contained the methanol oxidase (MOX) promoter, translational HSA fusion tag, and the terminator of MOX, were constructed. The expression cassettes were also designed to contain sequences for accessory elements including His8-tag, $2{\times}(Gly_4Ser_1)$ linkers, tobacco etch virus protease recognition sites (Tev), multi-cloning sites, and strep-tags. To determine the effects of the size of the HSA fusion tag on the secretory expression of the target protein, each cassette contained the HSA gene fragment truncated at a specific position based on its domain structure. By using the Green fluorescence protein gene as the reporter, the properties of each expression cassette were compared in various conditions. Our results suggest that the translational HSA fusion tag is an efficient tool for the secretory expression of recombinant proteins in H. polymorpha.