Original Article : Geographic difference of epidemiological features of HCV infection in Korea

( Kyung Ah Kim ),( Sook Hyang Jeong ),( Eun Sun Jang ),( Young Seok Kim3 ),( Youn Jae Lee ),( Eun Uk Jung ),( In Hee Kim ),( Sung Bum Cho ),( Mee Kyung Kee ),( Chun Kang ) 대한간학회 2014 Clinical and Molecular Hepatology(대한간학회지) Vol.20 No.4

Background/Aims: The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Korea exhibits significant geographic variation, with it being higher in Busan and Jeonam than in other areas. The reason for this intranational geographic difference was investigated in this study by conducting a comparative analysis of the risk factors related to HCV infection among three geographic areas: the capital (Seoul), Busan, and the province of Jeolla. Methods: In total, 990 patients with chronic HCV infection were prospectively enrolled at 5 university hospitals located in Seoul (n=374), Busan (n=264), and Jeolla (n=352). A standardized questionnaire survey on the risk factors for HCV infection was administered to these three groups of patients, and a comparative analysis of the findings was performed. Results: The analysis revealed significant regional differences in exposure to the risk factors of HCV infection. By comparison with patients in Seoul as a control group in the multivariate analysis, patients in Busan had significantly more experience of invasive medical procedures, acupuncture, cosmetic procedures, and multiple sex partners. In contrast, patients in Jeolla were significantly older, and they had a higher prevalence of hepatocellular carcinoma, a lower prevalence of multiple sex partners, and had experienced fewer invasive procedures. Conclusions: There was a significant geographic difference in the exposure to potential risk factors of HCV infection between patients from the three studied regions. This may explain the regional variation of the prevalence of HCV infection in Korea, and should be taken into account when planning strategies for the prevention and management of HCV infection. (Clin Mol Hepatol 2014;20:361-367)

아동청소년 교우관계문제검사의 요인구조

최선희,김종미,홍상황,Choi, Sun-Hee,Kim, Jong-Mee,Hong, Sang-Hwang 한국초등상담교육학회 2011 초등상담연구 Vol.10 No.2

본 연구는 아동청소년 교우관계문제검사(KIPR)에 잠재되어 있는 요인구조를 밝히고 검증하여 이 검사의 심리적 특성을 밝히고 해석적 유용성을 높이는데 목적이 있다. 이를 위해 경남지역 3개 초등학교 4~6학년 아동 616명을 대상으로 아동청소년 교우관계문제검사를 실시하였고 그 중 578명의 자료를 분석하였다. 연구결과를 요약하면 다음과 같다. 첫째, 3요인과 4요인 모형을 설정하여 탐색적 요인분석을 실시한 결과 3요인 모형이 적합한 것으로 나타났다. 3요인 모형에서 요인 1은 아동청소년 교우관계문제검사의 비주장성(C5), 사회적 억제(C4), 냉담(C3), 과순응성(C6) 원형척도의 문항들로 구성되어 있어서 "자신감 결여와 사회적 위축", 요인 2는 통제지배(C1), 자기중심성(C2) 원형척도의 문항들로 구성되어 있어서 "공격성과 타인조종", 요인 3은 자기희생(C7), 과관여(C8), 과순응성(C6) 원형척도의 문항들로 구성되어 있어서 "과잉배려"로 명명하였다. 둘째, 확인적 요인분석을 실시한 결과 3요인 모형은 4요인 모형보다 수집된 자료를 잘 반영하고 있었고(RMSEA=.054), 적합도는 만족할 수준은 아니지만 수용할 수 있는 수준이었고(CFI=.786), 모형의 간명성 또한 적합한 것으로 나타났다(PCFI=.733). 본 연구에서는 교우관계원형에서 상관계수가 높은 인접한 척도끼리는 동일한 요인으로 묶여지는 것을 확인하였고 이를 통해 8개의 원형척도를 망라하는 상위의 대표적인 요인척도를 구성하는데 필요한 근거를 제공하여, 이 검사의 해석적 유용성을 높였다는 점에서 의의가 있다고 생각된다. The purpose of this study is to reveal and confirm the factor structure inherent in the Korean inventory of peer relationships(KIPR; Sang-Hwang Hong, et al., 2009) in order to strengthen the interpretive usefulness of the test. For this purpose, the inventory was administered to the total of 616 children in the fourth through sixth grades in three elementary schools located in Gyungnam area, and the data from 578 of them were analyzed. The results of the study can be summarized as follows. First, as a result of the exploratory factor analysis of 3-factor and 4-factor models, the 3-factor model was found to be more appropriate. In the 3-factor model, the factor 1 is named "Lack of Self-Confidence and Social Withdrawal" as it consists of such circumplex scale items as Non-Assertiveness (C5), Social Avoidance (C4), the Cold (C3), and Too Submissive (C6). The factor 2 is named "Too Aggressive and Controlling" and consists of items Too Controlling (C1) and Hard to be Supportive (C2). The factor 3 is named "Too Caring" and consists of items Too Responsible (C7), Over Involvement (C8), and Too Submissive (C6). Second, as a result of the confirmatory factor analysis, the 3-factor model, in comparison to the 4-factor model, was found to better reflect the collected data(RMSEA=.054), its goodness of fit was not satisfactory but within the acceptable range(CFI=.786), and its power of simplicity and clarity was also adequate(PCFI=.733). In the current study, through the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of scores from the Korean inventory of peer relationships circumplex scales, scales within the peer relationship circumplex model that are near each other and are highly correlated were confirmed to be grouped together as same factors. I believe the main merit of the study lies in the above result having provided the necessary foundation for forming the superordinate and representative scale that encompasses the eight circumplex scales, which enhances the test's interpretive usefulness.

Novel antimutagenic Pigment produced by Bacillus licheniformis SSA3

Kim, Jong Kyu,Park, Sun Mee,Lee, Sang Jun 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 1995 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.5 No.1

We discovered that the Bacillus licheniformis SSA3, fermenting traditional Korean soy sauce and soybean paste, involved in the synthesis of a dark-brown pigment. This pigment produced in the minimal medium supplemented with tyrosine only as precursor. We showed that this pigment is novel, and differed from melanoidin and melanin, and an antimutagenic substance.

Induction , selection , and maintenance of rapid growing cell lines of Japanese yew ( Taxus cuspidata Sieb . et Zucc . )

Sung Mee Choi,Kum Boo Choi,Mee Hee Kim,Jeong Hee Kim,Yun Hee Lee,Jeong Hoon Seon,Sung Ho Son 한국식물생명공학회(구 한국식물조직배양학회) 1996 한국식물생명공학회 춘계학술연구발표회 Vol.1996 No.-

Sampling error of observation impact statistics

Sung-Min Kim,Hyun Mee Kim 한국기상학회 2014 한국기상학회 학술대회 논문집 Vol.2014 No.5

Case Report : Endometrial adenocarcinoma in a 13-year-old girl

( Sung Mee Kim ),( So Jin Shin ),( Jin Gon Bae ),( Kun Young Kwon ),( Jeong Ho Rhee ) 대한산부인과학회 2016 Obstetrics & Gynecology Science Vol.59 No.2

Endometrial cancer is the third most common gynecologic cancer in the Korea and occurs mainly in menopausal women. Although it can develop in young premenopausal women cancer as well, an attack in the adolescent girl is very rare. A 13-year-old girl visited gynecology department with the complaint of abnormal uterine bleeding. An endometrial biopsy revealed FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) grade II endometrial adenocarcinoma. In the treatment of endometrial cancer, conservative management should be considered if the patient is nulliparous or wants the fertility preservation. Therefore, we decided to perform a hormonal therapy and a follow-up endometrial biopsy after progestin administration for eight months revealed no residual tumor. We report a case of endometrial cancer occurred in a 13-year-old girl with a brief review of the literature.

De Novo Transcriptome Analysis of Cucumis melo L. var. makuwa

Kim, Hyun A,Shin, Ah-Young,Lee, Min-Seon,Lee, Hee-Jeong,Lee, Heung-Ryul,Ahn, Jongmoon,Nahm, Seokhyeon,Jo, Sung-Hwan,Park, Jeong Mee,Kwon, Suk-Yoon Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology 2016 Molecules and cells Vol.39 No.2

Oriental melon (Cucumis melo L. var. makuwa) is one of six subspecies of melon and is cultivated widely in East Asia, including China, Japan, and Korea. Although oriental melon is economically valuable in Asia and is genetically distinct from other subspecies, few reports of genome-scale research on oriental melon have been published. We generated 30.5 and 36.8 Gb of raw RNA sequence data from the female and male flowers, leaves, roots, and fruit of two oriental melon varieties, Korean landrace (KM) and Breeding line of NongWoo Bio Co. (NW), respectively. From the raw reads, 64,998 transcripts from KM and 100,234 transcripts from NW were de novo assembled. The assembled transcripts were used to identify molecular markers (e.g., single-nucleotide polymorphisms and simple sequence repeats), detect tissue-specific expressed genes, and construct a genetic linkage map. In total, 234 single-nucleotide polymorphisms and 25 simple sequence repeats were screened from 7,871 and 8,052 candidates, respectively, between the KM and NW varieties and used for construction of a genetic map with 94 F2 population specimens. The genetic linkage map consisted of 12 linkage groups, and 248 markers were assigned. These transcriptome and molecular marker data provide information useful for molecular breeding of oriental melon and further comparative studies of the Cucurbitaceae family.

Effect of Salinity, Temperature, and Glucose on the Production of Vibrio vulnificus Hemolysin

Kim, Hyun-Soo,Shin, Sung-Heui,Park, Hae-Ryoung,Lee, Shee-Eun,Kim, Choon-Mee,Kim, Soo-Young,Kim, Young-Ran,Lee, Hyun-Chul,Chung, Sun-Sik,Rhee, Joon-Haeng The Korean Society for Microbiology 2002 Journal of Bacteriology and Virology Vol.32 No.4

Among the exotoxins produced by V. vulnificus, hemolysin (HS) has been reported to be the most potent one. To investigate the factors up- or down-regulating HS production in the context of pathogenesis, we observed the effects of salinity or/and temperature shifting, glucose, and acidic pH on the production of HS by V. vulnificus C7184 strain in vitro. Significantly more HS was produced when V. vulnificus was cultured in 0.9% salinity and $37^{\circ}C$ than in 2.5% and $25^{\circ}C$. When the culture condition reflecting natural habitat of V. vulnificus (2.5% salinity and $25^{\circ}C$) was changed into that reflecting human body (0.9% salinity and $37^{\circ}C$), 2.5 fold or more HS was produced than in the V. vulnificus being cultured continuously in 0.9% NaCl at $37^{\circ}C$. This result suggests that V. vulnificus somehow recognizes the shifting in salinity and temperature and stimulate HS production. Glucose addition in the culture medium resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in the HS production. Glucose itself and acidic pH resulting from its metabolism both appeared to inhibit the HS production. Glucose in itself had more dominant role in suppressing the HS production than the lowered pH accompanying the metabolism of glucose. This result suggests that HS production is down-regulated in the presence of glucose and under environmental acidic pH.

Efficient derivation of new human embryonic stem cell lines.

Kim, Sun Jong,Lee, Jeoung Eun,Park, Jong Hyuk,Lee, Jung Bok,Kim, Jin Mee,Yoon, Byung Sun,Song, Ji Min,Roh, Sung Il,Kim, Chul Geun,Yoon, Hyun Soo Korean Society for Molecular Biology 2005 Molecules and cells Vol.19 No.1

<P>Human embryonic stem (hES) cells, unlike most cells derived from adult or fetal human tissues, represent a potentially unlimited source of various cell types for basic clinical research. To meet the increased demand for characterized hES cell lines, we established and characterized nine new lines obtained from frozen-thawed pronucleus-stage embryos. In addition, we improved the derivation efficiency from inner cell masses (to 47.4%) and optimized culture conditions for undifferentiated hES cells. After these cell lines had been maintained for over a year in vitro, they were characterized comprehensively for expression of markers of undifferentiated hES cells, karyotype, and in vitro/in vivo differentiation capacity. All of the cell lines were pluripotent, and one cell line was trisomic for chromosome 3. Improved culture techniques for hES cells should make them a good source for diverse applications in regenerative medicine, but further investigation is needed of their basic biology.</P>

Hypoxia Suppresses Spontaneous Mineralization and Osteogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells via IGFBP3 Up-Regulation

Kim, Ji Hye,Yoon, Sei Mee,Song, Sun U.,Park, Sang Gyu,Kim, Won-Serk,Park, In Guk,Lee, Jinu,Sung, Jong-Hyuk MDPI 2016 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES Vol.17 No.9

<P>Hypoxia has diverse stimulatory effects on human adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs). In the present study, we investigated whether hypoxic culture conditions (2% O<SUB>2</SUB>) suppress spontaneous mineralization and osteogenic differentiation of ASCs. We also investigated signaling pathways and molecular mechanisms involved in this process. We found that hypoxia suppressed spontaneous mineralization and osteogenic differentiation of ASCs, and up-regulated mRNA and protein expression of Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs) in ASCs. Although treatment with recombinant IGFBPs did not affect osteogenic differentiation of ASCs, siRNA-mediated inhibition of IGFBP3 attenuated hypoxia-suppressed osteogenic differentiation of ASCs. In contrast, overexpression of IGFBP3 via lentiviral vectors inhibited ASC osteogenic differentiation. These results indicate that hypoxia suppresses spontaneous mineralization and osteogenic differentiation of ASCs via intracellular IGFBP3 up-regulation. We determined that reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation followed by activation of the MAPK and PI3K/Akt pathways play pivotal roles in IGFBP3 expression under hypoxia. For example, ROS scavengers and inhibitors for MAPK and PI3K/Akt pathways attenuated the hypoxia-induced IGFBP3 expression. Inhibition of Elk1 and NF-κB through siRNA transfection also led to down-regulation of IGFBP3 mRNA expression. We next addressed the proliferative potential of ASCs with overexpressed IGFBP3, but IGFBP3 overexpression reduced the proliferation of ASCs. In addition, hypoxia reduced the osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow-derived clonal mesenchymal stem cells. Collectively, our results indicate that hypoxia suppresses the osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells via IGFBP3 up-regulation.</P>