• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제26권10호
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• pp.1399-1405
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• 2013

The present study focused on establishing the effects of interferon-gamma (IFN-${\gamma}$) on interleukin-18 (IL-18) expression patterns and pregnancy outcomes in pregnant rats. Pregnant rats at the post-implantation stage were randomized into control, low IFN-${\gamma}$ (L-IFN-${\gamma}$) and high IFN-${\gamma}$ groups (H-IFN-${\gamma}$) that received normal saline, 100 IU/g of IFN-${\gamma}$ and 500 IU/g of IFN-${\gamma}$ vaginal muscular injection, respectively. The effects of IFN-${\gamma}$ on IL-18 expression and pregnancy outcomes were assessed systematically using several methods, including immunohistochemistry streptavidin-perosidase (SP), image pattern analysis, enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay (ELISA), whole blood count (WBC) count, microscopy and visual observation. IL-18 was detected in the uteri of all pregnant rats, and mainly distributed in the endometrium, decidual cells, vascular endothelium and myometrium. Immunohistochemistry and image pattern analyses revealed significantly lower IL-18 expression in the H-IFN-${\gamma}$ group compared to the L-IFN-${\gamma}$ and control groups (p<0.01), indicating that high doses of IFN-${\gamma}$ induce downregulation of IL-18 in the uterus of pregnant rats. ELISA results disclosed that IL-18 expression in peripheral blood of the H-IFN-${\gamma}$ group was lower than that of the L-IFN-${\gamma}$ group (p<0.05), and significantly reduced compared to the control group (p<0.01). Moreover, the number of peripheral leukocytes in the H-IFN-${\gamma}$ group was significantly higher than those in the control and L-IFN-${\gamma}$ groups (p<0.01). Morphology analysis showed no evident differences between the L-IFN-${\gamma}$ and control groups. However, for the H-IFN-${\gamma}$ group, uterine mucosa bleeding, necrosis and excoriation were observed using microscopy. Visual observation revealed marroon, swelling, crassitude and no embryo in the uterus, which are obvious indicators of abortion. These results indicate that IFN-${\gamma}$ plays a regulatory role in IL-18 expression in the uterus and peripheral blood of pregnant rats at the post-implantation stage. Moreover, high levels (500 IU/g) of IFN-${\gamma}$ influence normal pregnancy at the early stages in rats by downregulating IL-18 expression in the uterus and peripheral blood and increasing the number of peripheral leukocytes, consequently triggering termination of pregnancy.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제33권1호
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• pp.166-176
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• 2020

Objective: An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of L-arginine (L-Arg) and N-carbamoylglutamic acid (NCG) on the growth, metabolism, immunity and community of cecal bacterial flora of weanling and young rabbits. Methods: Eighteen normal-grade male weanling Japanese White rabbits (JWR) were selected and randomly divided into 6 groups with or without L-Arg and NCG supplementation. The whole feeding process was divided into weanling stage (day 37 to 65) and young stage (day 66 to 85). The effects of L-Arg and NCG on the growth, metabolism, immunity and development of the ileum and jejunum were compared via nutrient metabolism experiments and histological assessment. The different communities of cecal bacterial flora affected by L-Arg and NCG were assessed using high-throughput sequencing technology and bioinformatics analysis. Results: The addition of L-Arg and NCG enhanced the growth of weanling and young rabbit by increasing the nitrogen metabolism, protein efficiency ratio, and biological value, as well as feed intake and daily weight gain. Both L-Arg and NCG increased the concentration of immunoglobulin A (IgA), IgM, and IgG. NCG was superior to L-Arg in promoting intestinal villus development by increasing villus height, villus height/crypt depth index, and reducing the crypt depth. The effects of L-Arg and NCG on the cecal bacterial flora were mainly concentrated in different genera, including Parabacteroides, Roseburia, dgA-11_gut_group, Alistipes, Bacteroides, and Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005. These bacteria function mainly in amino acid transport and metabolism, energy production and conversion, lipid transport and metabolism, recombination and repair, cell cycle control, cell division, and cell motility. Conclusion: L-Arg and NCG can promote the growth and immunity of weanling and young JWR, as well as effecting the jejunum and ileum villi. L-Arg and NCG have different effects in the promotion of nutrient utilization, relieving inflammation and enhancing adaptability through regulating microbial community.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권2호
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• pp.753-757
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• 2013

Objective: To evaluate the relationships between lymph node ratio (LNR, the ratio of positive lymph nodes in excised axillary lymph nodes) and disease-free survival (DFS) by comparing with traditional absolute positive lymph node number (pN classification) for prediction of breast cancer (BC) progrnosis. Methods and Patients: We retrospectively reviewed patients who received comprehensive therapy in Department of Breast Surgery, Hubei Cancer Hospital, China from Jan 2002 to Dec 2006 (Group A), and Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, China from Jun 2008 to May 2012 (Group B). Patients were allocated to low-risk (${\leq}0.20$), intermediate-risk (> 0.20 but ${\leq}0.65$), high-risk (>0.65) groups by LNR. The primary endpoint was 5-DFS. Results: A total of 294 patients were included in our study. LNR was verified as a negative prognostic factor for DFS (P=0.002 in Group A, P<0.0001 in Group B). Then we found the effects of pN and LNR delamination on disease-free survival (DFS) had statistical significance (P=0.012 for pN and P=0.031 for LNR stratification in Group A, both of them P<0.001 in Group B). Compared to pN staging, LNR staging displayed superior performance in prognosis, the adjusted hazard ratio of recurrence being 2.07 (95%CI, 1.07 to 4.0) for intermediate risk group (P=0.030) and 2.44 (95%CI, 1.21 to 4.92) for high risk group (P=0.013) in Group A. Conclusions: LNR stratification proved an adverse prognostic factor of DFS in lymph nodes positive invasive BC using cut-off values 0.20 and 0.65, and was more predictive than traditional pN classification for 5-DFS.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권2호
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• pp.1061-1065
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• 2013

Objective: To investigate the treatment effect of additional information obtained by single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) lung perfusion imaging (LPI) in the radiotherapy planning process for patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: 39 patients with stage III NSCLC were enrolled. Gross tumor volume (GTV) was outlined by SPECT/CT images, SPECT-LPIs being used to define functional lung (FL) and non-functional lung (NFL) regions. Two sets of IMRT plans were designed to deliver 64Gy to PTV. One was a regular IMRT plan using CT images only (Plan 1), and the other was a corresponding IMRT plan using co-registered images (Plan 2). $FL_{Vx}$ (the % volume of functional lung receiving ${\geq}$x Gy) and $WL_{Vx}$ (% volume of whole lung to receive ${\geq}$x Gy) were compared by paired Student's t test. Kendalls correlation was used to analyze the factor (s) related with the FLV20 decrease. Results: Compared with plan 1, both $WL_{Vx}$ and $FL_{Vx}$ were decreased in plan 2. $WL_{V10}$, $WL_{V15}$, $WL_{V20}$, $WL_{V25}$, $WL_{V30}$ and $WL_{V35}$ decreased 9.7%, 13.8%, 17.2%, 12.9%, 9.8% and 9.8%, and $FL_{V10}$, $FL_{V15}$, $FL_{V20}$, $FL_{V25}$, $FL_{V30}$ and $FL_{V35}$ decreased 10.8%, 14.6%, 17.3%, 14.5%, 14.5% and 10.5%. $FL_{Vx}$ decreased significantly compared with $WL_{Vx}$. There were significant differences in $WL_{V10}$, $WL_{V15}$, $WL_{V20}$, $WL_{V25}$, $WL_{V3}$ and $FL_{V10}$, $FL_{V15}$, $FL_{V20}$, $FL_{V25}$, $FL_{V30}$ between plan 1 and plan 2 (P=0.002, 0.000, 0.000, 0.005, 0.027 and 0.002, 0.000, 0.000, 0.006, 0.010). According to Kendall correlation analysis, NFL had a negative relation with the percentage FLV20 decrease (r=-0.559, P<0.01), while the distance of PTV and NFL center had a significantly positive relation with the percentage of FLV20 decrease (r=0.768, P<0.01). Conclusion: Routine use of SPECT-LPI for patients undergoing radiotherapy planning for stage III NSCLC appears warranted.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권9호
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• pp.5441-5447
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• 2013

Purpose: To demonstrate the value of sequential determinations of pelvic drainage in the identification of increased risk of anastomotic leakage (AL) after anterior resection for rectal cancer with a double stapling technique. Patients and Methods: Between January 2004 and December 2011, data for the daily postoperative pH of pelvic drainage fluid in 753 consecutive patients with rectal cancer who initially underwent anterior resection with a double stapling technique were reviewed. All patients experienced a total mesorectal excision. Patients with anastomotic leakage (Group AL, n=57) were compared to patients without leakage (Group nAL, n=696). Patients with perioperatively abdominopelvic implants that were likely to affect pH value (determined at $25^{\circ}C$) other than leakage were excluded. Mean postoperative values were compared. Results: Anastomotic leakage was noted in 57 (7.6%) of 753 patients with rectal cancer. The diagnosis of AL was made between the $6^{th}$ and $12^{th}$ postoperative day (POD; mean $8^{th}$ POD). There was no significance of the daily average values of pH on POD1 & 2 in group AL while a significantly sharp declining mean pH value reached its diagnostic point of AL (p<0.001) on POD3. A cut-off value of 6.978 on the $3^{rd}$ POD maximized the sensitivity (98.7.0%) and specificity (94.7%) in assessing the risk of leakage. Conclusion: According to these results, an early and persistent declining of pH value of pelvic drainage fluid after rectal surgery with anastomosis, is a marker of AL. A cut-off value of 6.798 determined at $25^{\circ}C$ on POD3 maximizes sensitivity and specificity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제27권11호
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• pp.1971-1982
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• 2017

Piliated Lactobacillus rhamnosus (pLR) strains possess higher adherent capacity than non-piliated strains. The objective of this study was to isolate and characterize probiotic pLR strains in human fecal samples. To this end, mouse polyclonal antiserum (anti-SpaA) against the recombinant pilus protein (SpaA) of L. rhamnosus strain GG (LGG) was prepared and tested for its reactivity and specificity. With the anti-SpaA, a method combining the de Man, Rogosa, and Sharpe (MRS) agar plating separation and colony immunoblotting (CIB) was developed to isolate pLR from 124 human fecal samples. The genetic and phenotypic characteristics of the resultant pLR isolates were compared by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting, and examination of adhesion to Caco-2 cells, hydrophobicity, autoaggregation, and in vitro gastrointestinal tolerance. Anti-SpaA specifically reacted with three pLR strains of 25 test strains, as assessed by western blotting, immunofluorescence flow cytometry, and immunoelectron microscopy (IEM) assays. The optimized MRS agar separation plus anti-SpaA-based CIB procedure could quantitatively detect $2.5{\times}10^3CFU/ml$ of pLR colonies spiked in $10^6CFU/ml$ of background bacteria. Eight pLR strains were identified in 124 human fecal samples, and were confirmed by 16S RNA gene sequencing and IEM identification. RAPD fingerprinting of the pLR strains revealed seven different patterns, of which only two isolates from infants showed the same RAPD profiles with LGG. Strain PLR06 was obtained with high adhesion and autoaggregation activities, hydrophobicity, and gastrointestinal tolerance. Anti-SpaA-based CIB is a rapid and inexpensive method for the preliminary screening of novel adherent L. rhamnosus strains for commercial purposes.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제30권5호
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• pp.689-699
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• 2020

Brevibacillus brevis GZDF3 is a gram-positive, plant growth-promoting rhizosphere bacterium (PGPR) isolated from the rhizosphere soil of Pinellia ternata (an important herb in traditional Chinese medicine). The GZDF3 strain produces certain active compounds, such as siderophores, which are the final metabolite products of non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) and independent non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NIS) activity. With the present study, we attempted to investigate the siderophore production characteristics and conditions of Bacillus sp. GZDF3. The antibacterial activity of the siderophores on pathogenic fungi was also investigated. Optimal conditions for the synthesis of siderophores were determined by single factor method, using sucrose 15 g/l, asparagine 2 g/l, 32℃, and 48 h. The optimized sucrose asparagine medium significantly increased the production of siderophores, from 27.09% to 54.99%. Moreover, the effects of different kinds of metal ions on siderophore production were explored here. We found that Fe³⁺ and Cu²⁺ significantly inhibited the synthesis of siderophores. The preliminary separation and purification of siderophores by immobilized-metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) provides strong antibacterial activity against Candida albicans. The synergistic effect of siderophores and amphotericin B was also demonstrated. Our results have shown that the GZDF3 strain could produce a large amount of siderophores with strong antagonistic activity, which is helpful in the development of new biological control agents.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• 제23권6호
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• pp.558-566
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• 2020

Purpose: Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) is a rare genetic autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations in ATP8B1, ABCB11 or ABCB4. Mutational analysis of these genes is a reliable approach to identify the disorder. Methods: We collected and analyzed relevant data related to clinical diagnosis, biological investigation, and molecular determination in nine children carrying these gene mutations, who were from unrelated families in South China. Results: Of the nine patients (five males, four females) with PFIC, one case of PFIC1, four cases of PFIC2, and four cases of PFIC3 were diagnosed. Except in patient no. 8, jaundice and severe pruritus were the major clinical signs in all forms. γ-glutamyl transpeptidase was low in patients with PFIC1/PFIC2, and remained mildly elevated in patients with PFIC3. We identified 15 different mutations, including nine novel mutations (p.R470HfsX8, p.Q794X and p.I1170T of ABCB11 gene mutations, p.G319R, p.A1047P, p.G1074R, p.T830NfsX11, p.A1047PfsX8 and p.N1048TfsX of ABCB4 gene mutations) and six known mutations (p.G446R and p.F529del of ATP8B1 gene mutations, p.A588V, p.G1004D and p.R1057X of ABCB11 gene mutations, p.P479L of ABCB4 gene mutations). The results showed that compared with other regions, these three types of PFIC genes had different mutational spectrum in China. Conclusion: The study expands the genotypic spectrum of PFIC. We identified nine novel mutations of PFIC and our findings could help in the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

• 한국펄프종이공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국펄프종이공학회 2006년도 PAN PACIFIC CONFERENCE vol.2
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• pp.231-237
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• 2006

Grease barrier food containers are commonly used for packaging of fast food, cooked food, and food in general. Greaseproofing is also used for certificate paper and label paper etc. Different pulp raw materials, due to their different fiber morphology and chemical compositions, produce papers of varying characteristics. We used optical photomicroscopy and fiber analysis data to evaluate fiber morphology and traits under various beating conditions in order to understand which pulp raw materials produced superior greaseproofing property when a fluorinated greaseproofing agent was added internally. The experiment studied 9 species of pulps, including 2 softwood (northern pine and radiata pine) bleached kraft pulps which were beaten to 550 and 350 mL CSF, respectively; 3 hardwoods (eucalypts, acacia, mixed Indonesian hardwoods) bleached kraft pulps which were beaten to 450 and 250 mL CSF, respectively; and nonwood fibers of reed, bagasse, and abaca. A fluorinated greaseproofing chemical at 0.12% dosage with respect to dry pulp was added to each pulp preparation and formed handsheets. A total of 67 sets of handsheets were prepared, and their basis weights, thickness, bulks, opacities, wet opacities, air resistance, water absorption and degrees of greaseproofing were measured for an overall evaluation of pulp and freeness on greaseproofing papers. The experimental fiber length, coarseness and distribution characteristics and the greaseproofing results suggest that softwood pulps (radiate pine > northern pine) were superior to hardwood pulps (eucalypts > acacia > mixed Indonesian hardwoods). The unbeaten pulps gave papers with high porosities and nearly devoid of greaseproofing property. Greaseproofing is proportional to air resistance. Among the nonwood fibers, bagasse had the best greaseproofing property, followed by reed and abaca was the poorest. With regards to waterproofing property, hardwood pulps (mixed Indonesian hardwoods > acacia > eucalypts) were better than softwood pulps (northern pine > radiate pine). Among the Nonwood fibers, reed had the highest waterproofing property, and it was followed by abaca, while bagasse had the poorest waterproofing characteristic. In summary, bleached kraft northern pine, eucalypts and reed pulps were best suited for making greaseproofing papers, Freeness of the pulps should be kept at $200{\sim}280mL$ CSF for optimal performance.

• 원예과학기술지
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• 제31권6호
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• pp.764-771
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• 2013

최근 고추재배에 있어 CMV-P1감염은 상품성 저하와 생산량 감수를 발생시키는 매우 심각한 문제이다. 본 실험에서는 역병 저항성 품종인 PR계통을 포함한 국내 시판 56품종과 미국에서 도입해 온 31품종 도입자원 및 농촌진흥청 유전자원센터(RDA Genebank)로부터 받은 112개의 고추 유전자원을 CMV-P1 저항성 검정에 사용하였다. 저항성 검정은 인공 접종 후 24일 후와 51일 후 ELISA를 실시하였다. 36개 시판품종 중 '무한질주' 품종이 CMV-P1에 저항성이었다. 모든 PR품종과 중도저항성인 'NuMex Twilight'와 'Chainese Giant'를 제외한 29개 외국 도입고추는 감수성이었다. RDA Genebank의 112계통의 고추 유전자원에서는 저항성 계통이 9, 중도저항성을 나타내는 계통이 17, 나머지 86계통은 모두 감수성으로 조사되었다. 국내 시판 고추품종은 거의 CMV-P1에 높은 감수성을 보이는 것으로 확인되는 반면, 외국 도입자원과 유전자원의 17.2%가 저항성이거나 중도저항성으로 확인되었다. 본 연구 결과로 확인된 저항성 고추는 CMV-P1 저항성 고추육종에 유용한 유전자원으로 이용될 수 있다.