Diagnostic usefulness of a T cell-based assay for latent tuberculosis infection in kidney transplant candidates before transplantation

Kim, S.-H.,Lee, S.-O.,Park, I.-A.,Park, S.J.,Choi, S.-H.,Kim, Y.S.,Woo, J.H.,Park, S.-K.,Park, J.S.,Kim, S.C.,Han, D.J. Blackwell Publishing Inc 2010 Transplant infectious disease Vol.12 No.2

<P>S.-H. Kim, S.-O. Lee, I.-A. Park, S.J. Park, S.-H. Choi, Y.S. Kim, J.H. Woo, S.-K. Park, J.S. Park, S.C. Kim, D.J. Han. Diagnostic usefulness of a T cell-based assay for latent tuberculosis infection in kidney transplant candidates before transplantation.Transpl Infect Dis 2010: <B>12:</B> 113–119. All rights reserved</P><P>Background</P><P>The presence of latent tuberculosis (TB) infection (LTBI) should be evaluated before kidney transplantation. Although a new T cell-based assay for diagnosing LTBI gave promising results, this assay has not yet been compared with the tuberculin skin test (TST) for diagnosing LTBI in renal transplant candidates before transplantation.</P><P>Patients and methods</P><P>All adult patients admitted to a single institute for renal transplantation over a 1-year period were prospectively enrolled. A clinically predictive risk of LTBI was defined as: (i) recent close contact with a person with pulmonary TB; (ii) abnormal chest radiography; (iii) a history of untreated or inadequately treated TB; or (iv) a new infection (i.e., a recent conversion of TST).</P><P>Results</P><P>Of 209 renal recipients, 47 (22%) had a positive TST≥5 mm, 21 (10%) had a positive TST≥10 mm, 65 (30%) had a positive T-SPOT.<I>TB</I> test, and 25 (12%) had an indeterminate T-SPOT.<I>TB</I> test. The induration size of TST was significantly associated with a high positivity rate on T-SPOT.<I>TB</I> (<I>P</I><0.001). Agreement between T-SPOT.<I>TB</I> test and TST≥10 mm was fair (<I>k</I>=0.24, 95% confidence interval 0.11–0.36). However, neither univariate nor multivariate analysis showed any association between the clinical risk for LTBI and positivity on T-SPOT.<I>TB</I> or TST.</P><P>Conclusion</P><P>T-SPOT.<I>TB</I> test was more frequently positive than TST in renal transplant candidates. However, further longitudinal studies are awaited to determine whether the ability of T-SPOT.<I>TB</I> assay to detect LTBI in renal transplant recipients can better predict the development of TB than can TST after transplantation.</P>

Interface sulfur passivation using H₂S annealing for atomic-layer-deposited Al₂O₃ films on an ultrathin-body In_0.53Ga_0.47As-on-insulator

Jin, H.S.,Cho, Y.J.,Lee, S.M.,Kim, D.H.,Kim, D.W.,Lee, D.,Park, J.B.,Won, J.Y.,Lee, M.J.,Cho, S.H.,Hwang, C.S.,Park, T.J. New York] ; North-Holland 2014 APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE - Vol.315 No.-

Atomic-layer-deposited Al<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB> films were grown on ultrathin-body In<SUB>0.53</SUB>Ga<SUB>0.47</SUB>As substrates for III-V compound-semiconductor-based devices. Interface sulfur (S) passivation was performed with wet processing using ammonium sulfide ((NH<SUB>4</SUB>)<SUB>2</SUB>S) solution, and dry processing using post-deposition annealing (PDA) under a H<SUB>2</SUB>S atmosphere. The PDA under the H<SUB>2</SUB>S atmosphere resulted in a lower S concentration at the interface and a thicker interfacial layer than the case with (NH<SUB>4</SUB>)<SUB>2</SUB>S wet-treatment. The electrical properties of the device, including the interface property estimated through frequency dispersion in capacitance, were better for (NH<SUB>4</SUB>)<SUB>2</SUB>S wet-treatment than the PDA under a H<SUB>2</SUB>S atmosphere. They might be improved, however, by optimizing the process conditions of PDA. The PDA under a H<SUB>2</SUB>S atmosphere following (NH<SUB>4</SUB>)<SUB>2</SUB>S wet-treatment resulted in an increased S concentration at the interface, which improved the electrical properties of the devices.

Fischer-tropsch diesel production and evaluation as alternative automotive fuel in pilot-scale integrated biomass-to-liquid process

Kim, Y.D.,Yang, C.W.,Kim, B.J.,Moon, J.H.,Jeong, J.Y.,Jeong, S.H.,Lee, S.H.,Kim, J.H.,Seo, M.W.,Lee, S.B.,Kim, J.K.,Lee, U.D. Applied Science Publishers 2016 APPLIED ENERGY Vol.180 No.-

<P>Fischer Tropsch (F-T) diesel produced from biomass through gasification is a promising alternative fuel. In this study, a biomass-to-liquid (BTL) system involving a dual fluidized bed gasifier (DFBG), a methanol absorption tower, and an F-T synthesis process was investigated for producing clean biodiesel as an automotive fuel. A DFBG, which is an efficient indirect gasifier, can produce syngas with high caloric value while minimizing the amount of nitrogen in the product gas. In order to meet the strict requirements of syngas for F-T synthesis, any contaminants in the syngas must be minimized and its composition must be carefully controlled. In this work, the syngas mainly comprised 35 vol% of H-2 and 21.3 vol% of CO. The concentrations of H2S and COS in the syngas were less than 1 ppmV owing to the use of chilled methanol cleaning process. Furthermore, long-term operation of a fully integrated BTL system was successfully conducted for over 500 h. The results showed that the BTL diesel can be used as an alternative automotive diesel fuel. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.</P>

Raised Source-Drain Transistors in a Cell and Support Area with Co-Silicide for 88-nm DRAM Technology and Beyond

Y.M. Choi,B.J. Park,D.H. Kim,D.I. Kim,D.S. Hwang,H. K. Hwang,H.J. Kim,H.S. Kim,I.B. Chung,J.M. Park,J.W. Lee,J.Y. Kim,Kinam Kim,M.H. Jo,정문영,N.J. Kang,S.E. Kim,Y.J. Park,Y.S. Hwang 한국물리학회 2004 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.44 No.1

Full integration of a 512-Mb dynamic random access memory (DRAM) using both a raised sourcedrain (S/D) in a cell and a support area with additional Co silicidation in the support area is successfully performed for the first time at an 88-nm technology node. The Co-silicided support transistors in the DRAM circuit can be made by using the silicidation-blocking-layer method which keeps the cell array from silicidation. Raised S/D transistors using Si selective epitaxial growth (SEG) demonstrate good short-channel eect (SCE) immunity and a Co-silicided S/D in the support transistors exhibits an excellent current driving capability and reduced S/D sheet resistance, even for very small dimensions.

Differentiation Between Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Colorectal Cancer Liver Metastases on High-Resolution Magic Angle Spinning Spectroscopy: Preliminary Study

Kim, S. Y.,Kim, S.,Woo, C. W.,Byun, J. H.,Lee, S. S.,Lee, M. G.,Kim, H.,Lee, K. H.,Kim, Y. H.,Cho, J. Y. SPRINGER-VERLAG 2014 Applied magnetic resonance Vol.45 No.1

To explore the potential of high-resolution magic angle spinning (HRMAS) H-1 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy for differentiation and metabolite characterization of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and colorectal liver metastases (CRLM), we prospectively included 21 pathologically confirmed malignant hepatic tumors (8 HCC and 13 CRLM) and 26 non-tumorous hepatic parenchyma from 26 patients who underwent hepatic tumor resection. Using intact tissue samples obtained during surgery, HRMAS H-1 NMR spectroscopy was performed at 11.7 T. All observable metabolite signals were acquired using a water-presaturated standard one-dimensional Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill sequence. Metabolomic profiles contributing to the differentiation of HCC and CRLM and of each tumor and non-tumorous hepatic parenchyma were represented by orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) and loading plots. Metabolite intensity normalized by total spectral intensities in both tumors was compared using student's t tests. OPLS-DA and loading plots demonstrated good separation between tumors and non-tumorous hepatic parenchyma. The metabolomic characteristics of HCC showed separation from those of CRLMs according to OPLS-DA. Compared with CRLM, HCC showed significantly elevated levels of glucose (P < 0.01) and sn-Glycero-3-phosphocholine (P < 0.01), and decreased levels of hypoxanthine (P = 0.04). HCC and CRLM could be differentiated by the metabolic profile using HRMAS H-1 NMR spectroscopy.

Geochemical characteristics of sinking particles in the Tonga arc hydrothermal vent field, southwestern Pacific

Kim, H.J.,Kim, J.,Pak, S.J.,Ju, S.J.,Yoo, C.M.,Kim, H.S.,Lee, K.Y.,Hwang, J. Pergamon Press ; Elsevier Science Ltd 2016 Deep-sea research. Part I, Oceanographic research Vol.116 No.-

Studies of sinking particles associated with hydrothermal vent fluids may help us to quantify mass transformation processes between hydrothermal vent plumes and deposits. Such studies may also help us understand how various types of hydrothermal systems influence particle flux and composition. However, the nature of particle precipitation out of hydrothermal vent plumes in the volcanic arcs of convergent plate boundaries has not been well studied, nor have the characteristics of such particles been compared with the characteristics of sinking particles at divergent boundaries. We examined sinking particles collected by sediment traps for about 10 days at two sites, each within 200m of identified hydrothermal vents in the south Tonga arc of the southwestern Pacific. The total mass flux was several-fold higher than in the non-hydrothermal southwest tropical Pacific. The contribution of non-biogenic materials was dominant (over 72%) and the contribution of metals such as Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn was very high compared to their average levels in the upper continental crust. The particle flux and composition indicate that hydrothermal authigenic particles are the dominant source of the collected sinking particles. Overall, our elemental ratios are similar to observations of particles at the divergent plate boundary in the East Pacific Rise (EPR). Thus, the nature of the hydrothermal particles collected in the south Tonga arc is probably not drastically different from particles in the EPR region. However, we observed consistent differences between the two sites within the Tonga arc, in terms of the contribution of non-biogenic material, the radiocarbon content of sinking particulate organic carbon, the ratios of iron to other metals (e.g. Cu/Fe and Zn/Fe), and plume maturity indices (e.g. S/Fe). This heterogeneity within the Tonga arc is likely caused by differences in physical environment such as water depth, phase separation due to subcritical boiling and associated sub-seafloor precipitation.

Divergences in morphological changes and antioxidant responses in salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive rice seedlings after salt stress

Lee, M.H.,Cho, E.J.,Wi, S.G.,Bae, H.,Kim, J.E.,Cho, J.Y.,Lee, S.,Kim, J.H.,Chung, B.Y. Gauthier-Villars ; Elsevier Science Ltd 2013 Plant physiology and biochemistry Vol.70 No.-

Salinization plays a primary role in soil degradation and reduced agricultural productivity. We observed that salt stress reversed photosynthesis and reactive oxygen scavenging responses in leaves or roots of two rice cultivars, a salt-tolerant cultivar Pokkali and a salt-sensitive cultivar IR-29. Salt treatment (100 mM NaCl) on IR-29 decreased the maximum photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm) and the photochemical quenching coefficient (qP), thereby inhibiting photosynthetic activity. By contrast, the salt treatment on Pokkali had the converse effect on Fv/Fm and qP, while increasing the nonphotochemical quenching coefficient (NPQ), thereby favoring photosynthetic activity. Notably, chloroplast or root cells in Pokkali maintained their ultrastructures largely intact under the salt stress, but, IR-29 showed severe disintegration of existing grana stacks, increase of plastoglobuli, and swelling of thylakoidal membranes in addition to collapsed vascular region in adventitious roots. Pokkali is known to have higher hydrogen peroxide (H<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>2</SUB>)-scavenging enzyme activities in non-treated seedlings, including ascorbate peroxidase, catalase, and peroxidase activities. However, these enzymatic activities were induced to a greater extent in IR-29 by the salt stress. While the level of endogenous H<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>2</SUB> was lower in Pokkali than in IR-29, it was reversed upon the salt treatment. Nevertheless, the decreased amount of H<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>2</SUB> in IR-29 upon the salt stress didn't result in a high scavenging activity of total cell extracts for H<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>2</SUB>, as well as O<SUB>2</SUB>?<SUP>-</SUP> and ?OH species. The present study suggests that the tolerance to the moderate salinity in Pokkali derives largely from the constitutively maintained antioxidant enzymatic activities as well as the induced antioxidant enzyme system.

Genetic and phylogenetic characterizations of a novel genotype of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N8 viruses in 2016/2017 in South Korea

Kim, Y.I.,Park, S.J.,Kwon, H.I.,Kim, E.H.,Si, Y.J.,Jeong, J.H.,Lee, I.W.,Nguyen, H.D.,Kwon, J.J.,Choi, W.S.,Song, M.S.,Kim, C.J.,Choi, Y.K. Elsevier Science 2017 INFECTION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION Vol.53 No.-

<P>During the outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N6 viruses in 2016 in South Korea, novel H5N8 viruses were also isolated from migratory birds. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the HA gene of these H5N8 viruses belonged to clade 2.3.4.4, similarly to recent H5Nx viruses, and originated from A/Brk/Korea/Gochang1/14(H5N8), a minor lineage of H5N8 that appeared in 2014 and then disappeared. At least four reassortment events occurred with different subtypes (H5N8, H7N7, H3N8 and H10N7) and a chicken challenge study revealed that they were classified as HPAI viruses according to OIE criteria. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.</P>

Preparation of monodisperse poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanoparticles by dispersion polymerization and heterogeneous surface saponification

Lee, Y. J.,Lee, G. H.,Hwang, J. S.,Jeong, S. W.,Kim, H. C.,Kim, E.,Oh, T. H.,Lee, S. J.,Lee, S. G. 한국섬유공학회 2016 Fibers and polymers Vol.17 No.4

<P>Monodisperse poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) nanoparticles with a skin-core structure were prepared through heterogeneous surface saponification of PVAc nanoparticles. For the preparation of PVAc nanoparticles with a uniform particle size distribution, vinyl acetate (VAc) was dispersion polymerized in a mixed solvent of ethanol and water using PVA with a low degree of saponification as a stabilizer. Increase of the amount of ethanol in media, the resulting PVAc nanoparticle size increases due to increasing solubility of VAc and oligomer PVAc. To preserve the sphericity and size uniformity of PVAc nanoparticles, we restricted saponification to the surface of the nanoparticles by using a small amount of aqueous sodium hydroxide solution. To determine the proper concentration of alkali solution for heterogeneous saponification, monodisperse PVAc nanoparticles were saponified with different concentrations of alkali solution at 25 degrees C for 0.5-3.0 h. The PVA/PVAc nanoparticles obtained by the heterogeneous saponification with 4 % (relative to the amount of the VAc) alkali solution for 2.0 h were uniformly shaped and monodispersed with diameter ranging from 428 to 615 nm. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the spherical nature and regular skin-core structure of the PVA/PVAc nanoparticles.</P>

Photochemical tuning of ultrathin TiO2/p-Si p-n junction properties via UV-induced H doping

Lee, S. Y.,Kim, J.,Ahn, B.,Cho, I. S.,Yu, H. K.,Seo, H. Springer Science + Business Media 2017 ELECTRONIC MATERIALS LETTERS Vol.13 No.2

<P>We report a modified TiO2/p-Si electronic structure that uses ultraviolet exposure for the incorporation of H. This structure was characterized using various photoelectron spectroscopic techniques. The ultraviolet (UV) exposure of the TiO2 surface allowed the Fermi energy level to be tuned by the insertion of H radicals, which induced changes in the heterojunction TiO2/p-Si diode properties. The UV exposure of the TiO2 surface was performed in air. On UVexposure, a photochemical reaction involving the incorporation of UV-induced H radicals led to the creation of a surface Ti-O-OH group and caused interstitial H doping (Ti-H-O) in the bulk, which modified the electronic structures in different ways, depending on the location of the H. On the basis of the band alignment determined using a combined spectroscopic analysis, it is suggested that the UV-induced H incorporation into the TiO2 could be utilized for the systematic tuning of the heterojunction property for solar cells, photocatalytic applications, and capacitors.</P>