Non-L-cell Immunophenotype and Large Tumor Size in Rectal Neuroendocrine Tumors Are Associated With Aggressive Clinical Behavior and Worse Prognosis

Kim, Joo Young,Kim, Ki-Suk,Kim, Kyung-Jo,Park, In Ja,Lee, Jong Lyul,Myung, Seung-Jae,Park, Yangsoon,Park, Young Soo,Yu, Chang Sik,Kim, Jin Cheon,Yu, Eunsil,Jang, Hyeung-Jin,Hong, Seung-Mo Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved. 2015 The American journal of surgical pathology Vol.39 No.5

According to the 2010 World Health Organization classification, all gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are classified as malignant except for L-cell-type (glucagon-like peptide [GLP] and peptide YY [PYY]-producing) NETs. However, L-cell immunophenotype in rectal NETs has not been widely studied previously. Immunohistochemical labeling of L-cell markers with GLP1 and PYY was performed in 208 surgically or endoscopically resected rectal NET cases with tissue microarrays and was compared with clinicopathologic features and patient survival. Rectal NETs with non-L-cell immunophenotype and large tumor size (>1 cm) were associated with increased tumor grading, advanced T category, lymphovascular and perineural invasions, and lymph node and distant metastases (P<0.001, each). Rectal NET patients with non-L-cell phenotype and measuring >1 cm had significantly worse survival outcome than other groups by univariate (P<0.001) and multivariate (P<0.001) analyses. In summary, non-L-cell immunophenotype and large tumor size are associated with increased tumor grading and staging, concurrently indicating that they are independently poor prognostic indicators in rectal NET patients. Therefore, combining L-cell phenotype and tumor size can demonstrate the clinical behavior of rectal NETs more precisely than use of L-cell immunophenotype alone.

Subject Raising Constructions in English

( Kim Yangsoon ) 한국현대영어영문학회 2020 현대영어영문학 Vol.64 No.1

The aim of the present study is to investigate two types of subject raising constructions: subject-to-subject raising and subject-to-object raising. In this paper, the empirical evidence and the motivation of subject raising are discussed in depth. This study suggests the Fin[±FIN] Driven EPP Hypothesis as an EPP Model utilizing the Push-and/or-Pull Chain by the feature Fin[±FIN]. The Fin[-FIN] feature pushes up the complement subject from the Fin[-FIN] domain and/or the Fin[+FIN] feature pulls up the complement subject to the licensed specifier position, Spec-T or Spec-V in the Fin[+FIN] domain. In terms of a general feature inheritance of the Fin[+FIN]-T and Fin[-FIN]-T in a split CP{ForceP-TopP-FinP}, the feature [±FIN] acts as a core factor for the EPP and clarifies why the subject raises. In addition, the raised subject in the matrix clause has the interpretation of topic, forming topic-comment structures. So, the raised argument in Spec-T further moves to Spec-Fin, independently of the EPP, by a Top-Fin category to check the topic feature at the position of prominence, i.e., Spec-Fin. (Hanbat National University)

DP/PP Asymmetry in English Infinitival Relative Clauses

( Yangsoon Kim ) 대한언어학회 2017 언어학 Vol.25 No.2

The purpose of this paper is to present the proper syntactic structures and analyses for finite and infinitival relative clauses and explain why there is a DP/PP asymmetry only in infinitival relative clauses in terms of preposition stranding and pied-piping of a wh-relative phrase and a preposition. In the infinitival relative clauses, the pied-piping of a preposition and a wh-relative pronoun is possible but preposition stranding is not possible. I propose the separate and different analyses for finite and infinitival relative clauses: the determiner complement hypothesis or the CP-adjunction hypothesis for finite relative clauses vs. the PP-adjunction hypothesis for infinitival relative clauses. The contrast in the DP/PP asymmetry relates specifically to the finite/non-finite structural distinction of relative clauses. In the proposed analysis of PP-adjunction to NP(N`) with an obligatory head P-raising and a subsequent DP-raising for infinitival relative clauses, the DP/PP asymmetry can be easily and explicitly explained in a minimalist way.

The English Absolute Constructions

Yangsoon Kim 한국영어학회 2020 영어학 Vol.20 No.-

the absolute constructions in English from a synchro-diachronic perspective. The non-finite adverbial adjunct clause with an overt subject is referred to as an absolute clause, in which “absolute” is manifested from two aspects: an overt subject which is not coreferential with the subject of the main clause and no need of conjunction. This paper is mainly concerned with three questions: (i) what syntactic and semantic properties the absolute clauses have; (ii) why a subject cannot be deleted in the absolute clauses unlike other ~ing (participial) free adjuncts; (iii) why the absolute clauses are productive in PDE. Following Kortmann (1991), two types of the absolute clauses are discussed here: the augmented absolute clause, [with + NPsubj + modifiers] and the unaugmented absolute clause, [NPsubj + ~ing]. I propose a TP-adjoined CP structure for the unaugmented absolute clause and a TP-adjoined PP structure for the augmented absolute clause, providing an explicit structural and semantic explanation for the first and second questions (i) and (ii). The answer to the question (iii) is based on the diachronic explanation of Latinism and the grammaticalization process since the Middle English period.

Tough-Constructions vs Non-Tough Constructions

Yangsoon Kim(김양순) 한국영어학회 2016 영어학 Vol.16 No.3

The purpose of this study is to investigate seemingly similar but syntactically distinct constructions in a complementary distribution: Tough-Constructions (TCs) vs Non-Tough Constructions (NTCs). TCs are characterized by an object gap and object-to-subject raising (OSR), while NTCs are characterized by no object gap and it-insertion or CP-raising. It-analog constructions and CP-nominal clause constructions are argued to be different from TCs syntactically. In terms of the applicability of reanalysis, TCs are again subdivided into two types: plain TCs without for DP (i.e., to-infinitives) and expanded TCs with for DP (i.e., for-to infinitives). OSR occurs in both types of TCs, but reanalysis occurs only in plain TCs. By reanalysis in numeration, the complex tough-predicate is reanalyzed as a single adjective with a passive reading, recreating a configuration familiar with passive movement (i.e., OSR) in the phase-based minimalism.

Virulence Factors Associated With Escherichia coli Bacteremia and Urinary Tract Infection

Kim Bongyoung,Kim Jin-Hong,Lee Yangsoon 대한진단검사의학회 2022 Annals of Laboratory Medicine Vol.42 No.2

Background: Extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) causes various infections, including urinary tract infection (UTI), sepsis, and neonatal meningitis. ExPEC strains have virulence factors (VFs) that facilitate infection by allowing bacterial cells to migrate into and multiply within the host. We compared the microbiological characteristics of ExPEC isolates from blood and urine specimens from UTI patients. Methods: We conducted a single-center, prospective study in an 855-bed tertiary-care hospital in Korea. We consecutively recruited 80 hospitalized UTI patients with E. coli isolates, which were isolated from blood and/or urine, and urine alone between March 2019 and May 2020. We evaluated the 80 E. coli isolates for the presence of bacterial genes encoding the sequence types (STs), antimicrobial resistance, and VFs using whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Results: We found no significant differences in STs, antimicrobial resistance patterns, or VFs between isolates from blood and urine specimens. ST131, a pandemic multidrug-resistant clone present in both blood and urine, was the most frequent ST (N=19/80, 24%), and ST131 isolates carried more virulence genes, especially, tsh and espC, than non-ST131 isolates. The virulence scores of the ST131 group and the ST69, ST95, and ST1193 groups differed significantly (P<0.05). Conclusions: We found no STs and VFs associated with bacteremia in WGS data of E. coli isolates from UTI patients. ST131 was the most frequent ST among UTI causing isolates and carried more VF genes than non-ST131 isolates.

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma up-regulated factor (PAUF), a novel up-regulated secretory protein in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Kim, Sun A,Lee, Yangsoon,Jung, Dawoon E,Park, Kyung Hwa,Park, Jeong Youp,Gang, Jingu,Jeon, Sun Bok,Park, Eui Chul,Kim, Young-Gun,Lee, Bogman,Liu, Qing,Zeng, Wen,Yeramilli, Subramanyam,Lee, Soojin,Koh, Japanese Cancer Association 2009 CANCER SCIENCE Vol.100 No.5

<P>The identification of novel tumor-specific proteins or antigens is of great importance for diagnostic and therapeutic applications in pancreatic cancer. Using oligonucleotide microarrays, we identified a broad spectrum of differentially expressed pancreatic cancer-related genes. Of these, we selected an overexpressed expressed sequence taq and cloned a 721-bp full-length cDNA with an open reading frame of 196 amino acids. This novel gene was localized on the Homo sapiens 16p13.3 chromosomal locus, and its nucleotide sequence matched the Homo sapiens similar to common salivary protein 1 (LOC124220). We named the gene pancreatic adenocarcinoma up-regulated factor. The pancreatic adenocarcinoma up-regulated factor was secreted into the culture medium of pancreatic adenocarcinoma up-regulated factor-overexpressing Chinese hamster ovary cells, had an apparent molecular mass of approximately 25 kDa, and was N-glycosylated. The induction of pancreatic adenocarcinoma up-regulated factor in Chinese hamster ovary cells increased cell proliferation, migration, and invasion ability in vitro. Subcutaneous injection of mice with Chinese hamster ovary/pancreatic adenocarcinoma up-regulated factor cells resulted in 3.8-fold greater tumor sizes compared to Chinese hamster ovary/mock cells. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blotting with antirecombinant human pancreatic adenocarcinoma up-regulated factor antibodies confirmed that pancreatic adenocarcinoma up-regulated factor was highly expressed in six of eight pancreatic cancer cell lines. Immunohistochemical staining of human pancreatic cancer tissues also showed pancreatic adenocarcinoma up-regulated factor overexpression in the cytoplasm of cancer cells. Transfection with pancreatic adenocarcinoma up-regulated factor-specific small-interfering RNA reduced cancer cell migration and invasion in vitro. Treatment with antirecombinant human pancreatic adenocarcinoma up-regulated factor in vitro and in vivo reduced proliferation, migration, invasion, and tumorigenic ability. Collectively, our results suggest that pancreatic adenocarcinoma up-regulated factor is a novel secretory protein involved in pancreatic cancer progression and might be a potential target for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.</P>

Clinical Outcomes and Molecular Characteristics of Bacteroides fragilis Infections

Kim Bongyoung,Kim Myungsook,Lee Kyungwon,Lee Yangsoon 대한진단검사의학회 2025 Annals of Laboratory Medicine Vol.45 No.2

Bacteroides fragilis is the most common opportunistic anaerobic pathogen. In the absence of appropriate antimicrobial therapy, mortality rates associated with B. fragilis group infections can reach as high as 50%. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of B. fragilis infections and the molecular genetic characteristics of B. fragilis isolates. Forty B. fragilis clinical isolates were collected at Hanyang University Hospital between January 2022 and December 2023. Antimicrobial susceptibility was tested using the agar dilution method. Whole-genome sequencing was conducted using the Illumina platform (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA). Various multilocus sequence types of B. fragilis were identified, including ST149 (N=4), ST11 (N=4), ST1 (N=3), ST21 (N=2), and ST157 (N=1). The insertion sequence (IS) IS1187, located upstream of cfiA, was associated with high-level carbapenem resistance in the ST157 isolate. B. fragilis toxin genes (bft ) were identified in 30% of isolates. The most common comorbidities were diabetes mellitus (26.5%) and non-metastatic cancer (23.5%). Five patients (14.7%) died within 30 days, and two (5.9%) deaths were directly attributable to B. fragilis infection. The emergence of high-level MIC carbapenem-resistant B. fragilis ST157 has led to caution in the presence of B. fragilis infections.

The Complementizer That-Deletion in English

Kim, Yangsoon The International Promotion Agency of Culture Tech 2021 International Journal of Advanced Culture Technolo Vol.9 No.3

The aim of this study is to analyze the complementizer that-deletion in embedded complement clauses in English. This paper is concerned with the alternation between the overt that-complementizer and the zero complementizer by the complementizer deletion (C-deletion or that-deletion) in constructions with a nominal complement that-clause, i.e. [VP Verb [CP that-TP]]. In this paper, we compare that-complementation and zero-complementation in a diachronic grammaticalization and corpus, and show that the complementizer that has its origin in pronouns diachronically and finally becomes to form a C-head of the functional category CP. We provide the syntactic and semantic explanation on the optionality of that-deletion while answering the question why and how that-deletion is getting increasing in use especially with the verb, think, in the informal contexts. With the major causes for the currently increasing use of that-deletion, we are concerned with the contexts in which the overt complementizers or the covert complementizers are preferred.

Three Types of the Infinitive: Diachronic Change and Synchronic Variation

( Yangsoon Kim ) 한국현대언어학회 2015 언어연구 Vol.31 No.2

The purpose of this paper is to present a diachronic study for the synchronic variation of the infinitive in English. The rise of the to-infinitive is mainly due to the diachronic shift from the synthetic to the analytic language in Old and Middle English. By discussing the rise of the to-infinitive marker from the perspective of diachronic change, I argue for the emergence of three different types of the infinitive in the analytic Middle English: the root infinitive, the raising infinitive and the control infinitive. The syntactic variation found in current English infinitives can be explained well in a diachronic study since the current synchronic variation reflects the diachronic change in Old English and Middle English. I propose that the structures of the infinitive have been expanded from a light verb phrase vP (of the root infinitive) to a defective TP (of the raising Infinitive) and then finally to a full phrase CP (of the control Infinitive). In this paper, the affix analysis of the to-infinitive marker in Old English explains the lack of split infinitives, the lack of P-stranding and the lack of the ECM structures in Old English more explicitly. The diachronic analysis for the synchronic variation found in the infinitive in Modern English provides a quite simple and economical explanation with the proposed three types of vP, TP and CP structures. (Hanbat National University)