• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.11
• /
• pp.4867-4868
• /
• 2016

Prostatic adenocarcinoma is the commonest solid malignancy seen in Omani elderly males 60-80 years of age. The Gleason grade is the most widely used grading system for prostatic carcinoma and is recommended by the World Health Organization. A peer review was carried out at the Pathology Department of Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH), Oman, to assess the quality of reporting at the center. The aim of this study was to determine inter-observer variation among 7 pathologists working at a tertiary care center in Oman. A total of 47 consecutive prostatic biopsies were interdependently reviewed by seven pathologists and the results obtained were compared with each other and the original diagnosis. This peer review indicated a fair inter-observer agreement (0.482) among 7 pathologists in the department, with fair to moderate agreement when the results were compared to the reported diagnosis, comparable to the published literature. Dual and sub-specialty reporting are being instituted to improve the performance in this vital aspect of pathology.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.53-57
• /
• 2001

The purpose of this study is to investigate the contamination rate of barium sulfate suspension made in the exposed state in usual circumstances. This study was performed in four university hospital using the contrast media by barium sulfate powder. The specimen were detected at dispensing water, agitator and mixing tank. We also classified the suspension into general bacteria, mycete, and Bacillus coli infection. The tap water were used to dispense water in the all hospitals. Bacillus colt were not detected in the all. General bacteria and mycete were not detected in the one specimen, but detected in two specimen over defined value. In the contamination rate of agitator, mixing tank, and the manufactured, Bacillus coli were not detected in all. However, general bacteria and mycete were detected too numberous to count. In conclusion, the refined water must be used in dispensing water in manufacturing suspension. The disinfectant is also used in washing the agitator and mixing tank for sterilization. Hand washing is indispensible to manufacturing suspension for preventing from infection.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.63 no.12
• /
• pp.454-462
• /
• 2020

The Committee on Dyslipidemia of Korean Pediatric and Adolescents of the Korean Society of Pediatric Endocrinology has newly developed evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for dyslipidemia in Korean children and adolescents. These guidelines were formulated with the Grading of Recommendations, which include both the strength of recommendations and the quality of evidence. In the absence of sufficient evidence, conclusions were based on expert opinion. These guidelines are based on the 2011 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Guidelines, which focus on the prevention of cardiovascular disease in children and draw from a comprehensive review of evidence. These guidelines contain the definition of and screening process for dyslipidemia and introduce new dietary methods: the Cardiovascular Health Integrated Lifestyle Diet (CHILD)-1, the CHILD-2-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and the CHILD-2-triglyceride. Potential drug therapies for dyslipidemia along with their main effects and doses were also included.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.201-205
• /
• 2014

Smilacina japonica is a localized common rhizomatous flowering plant, This plant is often used in Korean traditional systems of medicine as a remedy for migrain, diplegia, physical impurity, blood circulation, abscess and contusion. Generally drugs that are used for arthritis have antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory properties. However, validity of the anti-inflammatory activity has not been scientifically investigated so far. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory potential of S. japonica using the ethanolic extract and its subfractions. To evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects, we examined the inflammatory mediators such as nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin $E_2$ ($PGE_2$) on RAW 264.7 macrophages. Our results indicated that hexane fraction significantly inhibited the LPS induced NO and $PGE_2$ production in the cells. The hexane fractions inhibitory activity for NO tests with $IC_{50}$ values showed in $53.3{\mu}g/ml$ and $PGE_2$ tests with $IC_{50}$ values showed at $32.5{\mu}g/ml$. Theseis result suggest a potential role of hexane fraction from S. japonica as source of anti-inflammatory agent.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.221-230
• /
• 2017

To determine the effect of air pollution reduction policies, the long-term trend of air pollutants should be analyzed. Kolmogorov-Zurbenko (KZ) filter is a low-pass filter, produced through repeated iterations of a moving average to separate each variable into its temporal components. The moving average for a KZ(m, p) filter is calculated by a filter with window length m and p iterations. The output of the first pass subsequently becomes the input for the next pass. Adjusting the window length and the number of iterations makes it possible to control the filtering of different scales of motion. To break down the daily mean $PM_{10}$ into individual time components, we assume that the original time series comprises of a long-term trend, seasonal variation, and a short-term component. The short-term component is attributable to weather and short-term fluctuations in precursor emissions, while the seasonal component is a result of changes in the solar angle. The long-term trend results from changes in overall emissions, pollutant transport, climate, policy and/or economics. The long-term trend of the daily mean $PM_{10}$ decreased sharply from $59.6ug/m^3$ in 2002 to $44.6ug/m^3$ in 2015. This suggests that there was a long-term downward trend since 2005. The difference between the unadjusted and meteorologically adjusted long-term $PM_{10}$ is small. Therefore, we can conclude that $PM_{10}$ is unaffected by the meteorological variables (total insolation, daily mean temperature, daily mean relative humidity, daily mean wind speed, and daily mean local atmospheric pressure) in Busan.

• Nano
• /
• v.13 no.11
• /
• pp.1850128.1-1850128.10
• /
• 2018

Glutathione (GSH), the protective agent and reducing agent, has been widely used to prepare gold nanoclusters (GSH-Au NCs) with stable fluorescence properties and negative charge of the surface. Meanwhile, polyethyleneimine (PEI) was used as the modification agent to synthesize magnetic ferroferric oxide nanoparticles ($Fe_3O_4$) with fantastic dispersibility and positive charge of the surface. Based on the electrostatic adsorption force, magnetic nano-$Fe_3O_4@GSH-Au$ NCs core-shell microspheres composed of magnetic $Fe_3O_4$ nanoparticles modified by PEI as the core and GSH-Au NCs as the shell were assembled. The prepared $Fe_3O_4@GSH-Au$ NCs microspheres harbored a uniform size (88.6 nm), high magnetization (29.2 emu/g) and excellent fluorescence. Due to the coordination bond action between Au atom and sulfhydryl (-SH), amino ($-NH_2$), carboxyl (-COOH) in sweat, $Fe_3O_4@GSH-Au$ NCs could combine with latent fingerprints. In addition, $Fe_3O_4@GSH-Au$ NCs with good fluorescence and magnetism could detect fingerprints on various objects. Significantly, the powders were not easy to suspend in the air, which avoided the damage to the health of forensic experts and the fingerprints by only powder contacting. Above all, $Fe_3O_4@GSH-Au$ NCs was successfully applied to the latent fingerprint visualization, which has great potential in forensic science.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.347-351
• /
• 2021

Objective: We investigated the impact of vitamin D₃ (VD3) supplementation during mouse preantral follicle culture in vitro and the mRNA expression of 25-hydroxylase (CYP2R1), 1-alpha-hydroxylase (CYP27B1), and vitamin D receptor (VDR) in mouse ovarian follicles at different stages. Methods: Preantral follicles were retrieved from 39 BDF1 mice (7-8 weeks old) and then cultured in vitro for 12 days under VD3 supplementation (0, 25, and 50 pg/mL). Follicular development and the final oocyte acquisition were assessed. Preantral follicles were retrieved from 15 other BDF1 mice (7-8 weeks old) and cultured without VD3 supplementation. Three stages of mouse ovarian follicles were obtained (preantral, antral, and ruptured follicles). Total RNA was extracted from the pooled cells (from 20 follicles at each stage), and then reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was performed to identify mRNA for CYP2R1, CYP27B1, and VDR. Results: The survival of preantral follicles, rates of antrum formation and ruptured follicles (per initiated follicle) and the number of total or mature oocytes were all comparable among the three groups. Both CYP2R1 and CYP27B1 were expressed in antral and ruptured follicles, but not in preantral follicles. VDR was expressed in all three follicular stages. Conclusion: VD3 supplementation in vitro (25 or 50 pg/mL) did not enhance mouse follicular development or final oocyte acquisition. Follicular stage-specific expression of CYP2R1, CYP27B1, and VDR was observed.

• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.50-58
• /
• 2023

The phytochemical investigation of the crude methanolic extracts roots and stem bark of Anthonotha cladantha (Harms) J.Léonard led to the isolation and identification of twelve secondary metabolites: 2,3-dihydroxypropyl hexacosanoate (1), hederagenine (2), cycloeucalenol (3), 2α-hydroxylupeol (4), betulinic acid (5), lupeol (6), heptacosan-2-one (7), triacontanoic acid (8), stigmast-4-en-3-one (9), β-sitosterol (10), stigmasterol (11), and stigmasterol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (12). Their structures were elucidated with the help of their spectroscopic and physical data and by comparison with those reported in the literature. To the best of our knowledge, from all those compounds, 2,3-dihydroxypropyl hexacosanoate (1), hederagenine (2), cycloeucalenol (3), 2α-hydroxylupeol (4), and betulinic acid (5) are being reported for the first time from this genus. In addition, the acetylation of compound 1 afforded a new derivative 3-(hexacosanoyloxy)propane-1,2-diyl diacetate (1a). Compound 1 possessed a moderate α-glucosidase inhibitory activity with an IC₅₀ value of 39.2 ± 0.22 μM; it neither showed antioxidant activity nor inhibition against the enzyme urease. Compound 1a exhibited weak antioxidant activity in the DPPH assay with an IC₅₀ value of 80.3 ± 0.83 μM but was inactive against α-glucosidase and urease. Furthermore, both compounds 1 and 1a were inactive against seven pathogenic bacterial strains.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
• /
• v.41 no.2
• /
• pp.62-66
• /
• 2009

HbA1c is the major fraction of glycated hemoglobin, and used primarily to identify the average plasma glucose concentration over prolonged periods of time, mostly 2-3 months. It is used as markers for the diagnosis and monitoring of diabetic patients and increasingly used a marker in health screening check up for general populations. In this study, HbA1c was measured with Cobas integra 800 (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany), using immunoturbidimetry principles. We established the reference interval for HbA1c with Cobas integra 800 and evaluated its significance. The study subjects were 36,140 (male 57.5%, and female 42.2%) who visited the Health Promotion Center of a tertiary care center in Seoul for health checkup from January to September, 2008. HbA1c levels were measured with immunoturbidimetric method. Statistical evaluation was done with SPSS. Comparison between male and female was checked with Mann-Whitney test, and among age groups with Kruskal-Wallis test. Reference interval for HbA1c was from 4.8% to 6.1%. There was no significant difference between male and female with Mann-Whitney test (P=0.539). There was significant difference among age groups with Kruskal-Wallis test (P<0.05). Reference interval for HbA1c with Cobas integra 800 was 4.8~6.1%, which was different from conventional one, 4.4-6.4%. Establishment of reference interval for each principle is needed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.649-656
• /
• 2002

Fibrinolytic microorganisms were screened from 42 samples of Korean fermented food (7 kinds of Chungook-jang, 14 kinds of commercial Doen-Jang, 5 kinds of home-made Doen-jang, and 16 kinds of Jeot-gal), 15 samples of Japanese fermented food (5 kinds of home-made soybean paste, and 10 kinds of Natto), and 19 samples of Indonesian fermented food (Tempe) as well as starters of Meju (500 microflora from Korea, and 22 from China). Initially, 11 isolates with strong fibrinolytic activity were selected for further characterization. The fibrinolytic activity of the 11 isolates ranged from 89 to 199% of standard plasmin. Four strains, M5l from Korean fermented food (Meju), I 1-1, I 1-4, and I 5-1 from Indonesian fermented food (Tempe), were chosen based on the degree of activity and reproducibility, and identified as Staphylococcus sciuri, Citrobacter or Enterobacter, Enterococcus faecalis, and Bacillus subtilis, respectively. The first two isolates are pathogenic stains while the latter two are considered as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe). Fibrinolytic activity of E. faecalis, characterized and designated as BRCA-5, reached a maximum, when the producer was cultivated in Ml7 broth supplemented with 1.0% glucose for 5 h at 37$^{\circ}C$ with shaking at 180 rpm. Compared to commercial fibrinolytic enzymes, the cell-free culture supernatant of 5. faecaiis BRCA-5 showed stronger activity than plasmin and streptokinase, but similar degree of specific activity as nattokinase and urokinase, aud it also demonstrated anticoagulant and antiplatelet activity ex vivo. These features of E. faecalis make it an attractive agent as a biomaterial for health-promoting foods.