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>

Exploration of the metal coordination region of concanavalin A for its interaction with human norovirus

Kim, D.,Lee, H.M.,Oh, K.S.,Ki, A.Y.,Protzman, R.A.,Kim, D.,Choi, J.S.,Kim, M.J.,Kim, S.H.,Vaidya, B.,Lee, S.J.,Kwon, J. IPC Science and Technology Press 2017 Biomaterials Vol.128 No.-

Rapid methods for the detection and clinical treatment of human norovirus (HuNoV) are needed to control foodborne disease outbreaks, but reliable techniques that are fast and sensitive enough to detect small amounts of HuNoV in food and aquatic environments are not yet available. We explore the interactions between HuNoV and concanavalin A (Con A), which could facilitate the development of a sensitive detection tool for HuNoV. Biophysical studies including hydrogen/deuterium exchange (HDX) mass spectrometry and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) revealed that when the metal coordinated region of Con A, which spans Asp16 to His24, is converted to nine alanine residues (mCon A<SUP>MCR</SUP>), the affinity for HuNoV (GII.4) diminishes, demonstrating that this Ca<SUP>2+</SUP> and Mn<SUP>2+</SUP> coordinated region is responsible for the observed virus-protein interaction. The mutated carbohydrate binding region of Con A (mCon A<SUP>CBR</SUP>) does not affect binding affinity significantly, indicating that MCR of Con A is a major region of interaction to HuNoV (GII.4). The results further contribute to the development of a HuNoV concentration tool, Con A-immobilized polyacrylate beads (Con A-PAB), for rapid detection of genotypes from genogroups I and II (GI and GII). This method offers many advantages over currently available methods, including a short concentration time. HuNov (GI and GII) can be detected in just 15 min with 90% recovery through Con A-PAB application. In addition, this method can be used over a wide range of pH values (pH 3.0 - 10.0). Overall, this rapid and sensitive detection of HuNoV (GI and GII) will aid in the prevention of virus transmission pathways, and the method developed here may have applicability for other foodborne viral infections.

여대생의 월경불편감 정도와 식습관에 관한 연구

김선영,김준희,김찬영,박정우,신선미,안선영,이민혜,이정아,임미선,전현정 이화여자대학교 간호과학대학 2010 이화간호학회지 Vol.- No.44

Purpose: This study was done to identify the correlation between the menstrual discomforts and dietary habits of young university women in order to provide the basic needs and make improvements on the quality of life for women. Method: The Menstrual Discomfort Questionnaire (MDQ) and Nutrition Diagnosis for Health were the tools used. The participants were 279 female university students in Seoul. Result: Factors related to MDQ were found to be the VAS scores (r=.361, p=.002), menstrual discomfort according to stress consciousness (F=3.756, p=.025), experiences of taking medicine (F= 4.130 p= .043), the types of residential forms (F=6.197, p=.000), recognition of menstrual period (F=5.466, p=.020), eating breakfast, the frequency of carbohydrates intake (F=5.28, p=.006), the frequency of vegetable intake, seaweed and mushrooms (F=4.98, p=.008). As a result of the study, there is a correlation between menstrual discomforts of female university students and dietary habits. Conclusion: In order to decrease the discomforts of the menstrual cycle that usually includes pain and bloating a well-balanced dietary habit is needed. A balance diet includes grain, vegetables, and mushroom should be taken in normal meals. We should confine the dietary habits that form severe menstrual discomfort in people and give them recommendations for ideal dietary habits that would ideally decrease the pain caused by menstruation. Therefore it is necessary that the education program and nursing mediation should be developed as a program that would aid in decreasing menstrual discomforts. In future studies, a similar study with at a larger scale should be conducted with more recommended specified nutritional assessment.

간호대생과 의대생의 간호사 이미지 비교

구민진,김수영,방정민,서아영,양희진,윤소람,이윤재,이재은,이지연,정윤경,최수정 이화여자대학교 간호과학대학 2014 이화간호학회지 Vol.- No.48

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the difference in the perception that nursing students and medical students have regarding the image of nurses. Method: The sampling group for this study was made up of 111 nursing students and 117 medicine students, conducted from the 19th August 2013 to 3rd September 2013. The tool used for this study is the “Nurse Image Scale”. The data is analyzed using the SPSS 21.0 program, technical stats, t-test and ANOVA with Scheffe test. Result: There was a notable difference in the results(t=6.94, p<001), with the average image perception score of nurses at 3.84±0.34 amongst nursing students being higher than the 3.50±0.38 amongst Medicine students. The average score of the 4 areas tested, “Qualification of a Nurse”, “Role of a Nurse”, “Social Participation of a Nurse” and “Interpersonal Skills of a Nurse” were all marked higher by the nursing students than the medicine students. The average score became notably higher as the period of practice became shorter with nursing students (F=4.21, p=.043). Furthermore, the average score for the “Qualification of a Nurse” was notably higher as the period of practice became shorter (F=3.98, p=.049). Medical students gave an average score for the “Qualification of a Nurse”(F=3.72, p=.027) and the “Interpersonal Skills of a Nurse”(F=4.11, p=.019) which was relative to the development of a nurse’s image, while the average score for the “Role of a Nurse” was notably higher with a longer period of practice(F=6.65, p=.011). Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that the image perception of a nurse can vary depending on the experience in period of practice. Therefore, together with this study conducted with nursing students and medicine students, there is a need for further studies conducted on image perception of nurses with various experience in period of practice.

Viral genome RNA degradation by sequence-selective, nucleic-acid hydrolyzing antibody inhibits the replication of influenza H9N2 virus without significant cytotoxicity to host cells

Kim, A.,Lee, J.Y.,Byun, S.J.,Kwon, M.H.,Kim, Y.S. Elsevier/North-Holland 2012 Antiviral research Vol.94 No.2

Influenza A virus infection is a great threat to avian species and humans. Targeting viral proteins by antibody has a limited success due to the antigen drift and shift. Here we present a novel antibody-based antiviral strategy of targeting viral genomic RNA (vRNA) for degradation rather than neutralizing viral proteins. Based on the template of a sequence-nonspecific nucleic acid-hydrolyzing, single domain antibody of the light chain variable domain, 3D8 VL, we generated a synthetic library on the yeast surface by randomizing putative nucleic acid interacting residues. To target nucleocapsid protein (NP)-encoding viral genomic RNA (NP-vRNA) of H9N2 influenza virus, the library was screened against a 18-nucleotide single stranded nucleic acid substrate, dubbed asNP<SUB>18</SUB>, the sequence of which is unique to the NP-vRNA. We isolated a 3D8 VL variant, NP25, that had ~15-fold higher affinity (~54nM) and ~3-fold greater selective hydrolyzing activity for the target substrate than for off targets. In contrast to 3D8 VL WT, asNP<SUB>18</SUB>-selective NP25 constitutively expressed in the cytosol of human lung carcinoma A549 cells does not exhibit any significant cytotoxicity and selectively degrades a reporter mRNA carrying the target asNP<SUB>18</SUB> sequence in the stable cell lines. NP25 more potently inhibits the replication of H9N2 influenza virus than 3D8 VL WT in the stable cell lines. NP25 more selectively reduces the amount of the targeted NP-vRNA than 3D8 VL WT from the early stage of virus infection in the stable cell lines, without noticeable harmful effects on the endogenous mRNA, suggesting that NP25 indeed more specifically recognizes to hydrolyze the target NP-vRNA of H9N2 virus than off-targets. Our results provide a new strategy of targeting viral genomic RNA for degradation by antibody for the prevention of influenza virus infection in humans and animals.

Temperature dependent structure formation and photoluminescence studies of a series of magnesium-based coordination networks

Calderone, P.J.,Banerjee, D.,Plonka, A.M.,Kim, S.J.,Parise, J.B. Elsevier Sequoia [etc.] 2013 Inorganica chimica acta Vol.394 No.-

A series of three magnesium trimesate coordination networks was synthesized from identical reaction mixtures by varying synthetic temperature. Mg(HBTC)(DMF)<SUB>2</SUB>.[(CH<SUB>3</SUB>)<SUB>2</SUB>NH] (1; BTC=trimesate; space group P6<SUB>3</SUB>/m, a=16.596(4)A, c=14.351(8)A) crystallizes at 65<SUP>o</SUP>C, Mg<SUB>3</SUB>(BTC)(HCOO)<SUB>3</SUB>(DMF)<SUB>3</SUB> (2; space group P@?3, a=13.928(2)A, c=8.025(6)A) crystallizes at 100<SUP>o</SUP>C, and Mg<SUB>3</SUB>(BTC)<SUB>2</SUB>(DMF)<SUB>4</SUB> (3; space group P2<SUB>1</SUB>/c, a=17.490(4)A, b=11.940(2)A, c=18.460(4)A, β=116.87(3)<SUP>o</SUP>) crystallizes at a temperature of 180<SUP>o</SUP>C. Each network contains metal-coordinated solvent DMF molecules, but thermodynamics and solvent hydrolysis play major roles in structure formation. Compounds 1 and 2 are two-dimensional networks which incorporate hydrolysis byproducts. Compound 3 is a three-dimensional network and shows no inclusion of byproducts. The series follows the trend of increased network connectivity resulting from increased temperature. Each of the networks show a weak photoluminescence response, suggesting that coordinated solvent molecules and interlayer species play a role in quenching photoluminescence.

여대생 1인가구의 사회적지지, 주거환경, 식습관과 건강 관련 삶의 질의 상관관계 연구

구정연,김근영,김다희,김선미,김수연,김지아,배춘화,임혜윤,최유현,황선영,정덕유,김지연 이화여자대학교 간호과학대학 2017 이화간호학회지 Vol.- No.51

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among female college students living alone and analyze the relationship among HRQOL, eating habits, residential environments and social support among female college students living alone. Method: Using a descriptive correlation study design, 151 female college students living alone were recruited through convenience sampling. Instruments were the social support tool developed by Park(1985), residential environment tool developed by Kim and Nam(2015), eating habit tool developed by Park et al(2005), modified by Choi(2012) and the HRQOL tool developed by EuroQol Group(1990). The data were analyzed by average, standard deviation, percentage, t-test, ANOVA, and scheffe test, Pearson’s correlation coefficient using the SPSS 22.0 Version program. Results: Participants’ economic level showed statistically significant differences in social support.(F=4.33, p=.009). There was a statically significant relationship among the types of resident and residential environment evaluation score.(F=4.33, p=.009). Also, there were correlations between HRQOL and social support(Pearson’s r=.165, p=.043), residential environment evaluation score.(r=.284, p<.001). There was a correlation between social support and residential environment evaluation score(r=.202, p=.013). Eating habit showed a correlation between emotional support(r=.164, p=.044) and residential environment evaluation score(r=.200, p=.014). However, perceived health status and eating habit were not significantly associated with HRQOL. Conclusion: As a result of this study, the following conclusions were obtained. There were strong relationships among social support, residential environment and HRQOL in female college students living alone. These findings implied the importance of framing university's guideline and overnment’s policy such as financial support, residential counsel and mental health programs to improve HRQOL for female college students living alone. Since the importance of HRQOL has acquired a great importance, it is critical to collect the data of related factors of HRQOL considering only little research on female college students living alone has been done.

Descending thin limb of the intermediate loop expresses both aquaporin 1 and urea transporter A2 in the mouse kidney

Kim, W. Y.,Lee, H. W.,Han, K. H.,Nam, S. A.,Choi, A.,Kim, Y. K.,Kim, J. Springer Science + Business Media 2016 Histochemistry and cell biology Vol.146 No.1

<P>A new intermediate type of Henle's loop has been reported that it extends into the inner medulla and turns within the first millimeter beyond the outer medulla. This study aimed to identify the descending thin limb (DTL) of the intermediate loop in the adult C57Bl/6 mouse kidney using aquaporin 1 (AQP1) and urea transporter A2 (UT-A2) antibodies. In the upper part of the inner stripe of the outer medulla (ISOM), AQP1 was expressed strongly in the DTL with type II epithelium of the long loop, but not in type I epithelium of the short loop. The DTL of the intermediate loop exhibited weak AQP1 immunoreactivity. UT-A2 immunoreactivity was not observed in the upper part of any DTL type. AQP1 expression was similar in the upper and middle parts of the ISOM. UT-A2 expression was variable, being expressed strongly in the DTL with type I epithelium of the short loop, but not in type II epithelium of the long loop. In the innermost part of the ISOM, AQP1 was expressed only in type III epithelium of the long loop. UT-A2-positive and UT-A2-negative cells were intermingled in type I epithelium of the intermediate loop, but were not observed in type III epithelium of the long loop. UT-A2-positive DTLs of the intermediate loop extended into the UT-A2/AQP1-negative type I epithelium in the initial part of the inner medulla. These results demonstrate that the DTL of the intermediate loop is composed of type I epithelium and expresses both AQP1 and UT-A2. The functional role of the DTL of the intermediate loop may be distinct from the short or long loops.</P>

A study of nerve agent model organophosphonate binding with manganese-A₂B-corrole and -A₂B₂-porphyrin systems

Kim, K.,Kim, I.,Maiti, N.,Kwon, S.J.,Bucella, D.,Egorova, O.A.,Lee, Y.S.,Kwak, J.,Churchill, D.G. Pergamon Press 2009 Polyhedron Vol.28 No.12

Herein the synthesis and binding studies of novel trans-A<SUB>2</SUB>B-corrole and trans-A<SUB>2</SUB>B<SUB>2</SUB>-porphyrin derivatives are presented in comparing manganese(III)-organophosphonate (OP) binding (e.g., M<SUP>n+</SUP>←O?PR(OR)<SUB>2</SUB>) capabilities. H<SUB>3</SUB>(PFP-VC) [PFP-VC=5,15-di(pentafluorophenyl)-10-(3-vinylphenyl)corrolate] was synthesized by way of literature procedures and was characterized by a variety of 2-D NMR spectroscopic techniques and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. These compounds represent the first example of 3-vinyl-phenyl-containing meso-substituted corroles or porphyrins. Mn(PFP-VC) (3) was treated separately with (CH<SUB>3</SUB>CH<SUB>2</SUB>O)<SUB>2</SUB>P?O(C<SUB>3</SUB>H<SUB>6</SUB>NMe<SUB>2</SUB>), (C<SUB>4</SUB>H<SUB>9</SUB>O)<SUB>2</SUB>P?O(Me), (C<SUB>2</SUB>H<SUB>5</SUB>O)<SUB>2</SUB>P?O(CH<SUB>2</SUB>COCH<SUB>3</SUB>), (CH<SUB>3</SUB>CH<SUB>2</SUB>O)<SUB>2</SUB>P?O(Me), to give 1:1 adducts, as determined by UV-Vis spectroscopy (Job Plot), giving a red shift; Ph<SUB>3</SUB>P?O, was also found to bind, but very weakly. The trans-A<SUB>2</SUB>B<SUB>2</SUB>-porphyrin analogue Mn(PFP-VP) (4) was also prepared by way of a literature procedure; related binding studies gave 1:1 organophosphonate-Mn(PFP-VP) adducts (Job Plot). A clean blue shift occurred for the Mn-porphyrins at higher organophosphonate loadings (K<SUB>a</SUB> values: 6.7 (0.9)-11.9 (0.4)M<SUP>-1</SUP>). DFT geometry optimizations of O?P(OMe)<SUB>2</SUB>Me binding and formal Mn-O or P-O cleavage products in the unsubstituted neutral Mn-corrolato and -porphyrinato systems with a range of metal-based spin states revealed greatest stability in formal phosphoryl oxygen binding (energies: 11-13kcal/mol) for the Mn-corrole (singlet); the Mn-porphyrin (sextet) was also quite stable.

Enhanced production of nargenicin A1 and creation of a novel derivative using a synthetic biology platform

Dhakal, D.,Chaudhary, A. K.,Yi, J. S.,Pokhrel, A. R.,Shrestha, B.,Parajuli, P.,Shrestha, A.,Yamaguchi, T.,Jung, H. J.,Kim, S. Y. Springer Science + Business Media 2016 Applied microbiology and biotechnology Vol.100 No.23

<P>Nargenicin A1, an antibacterial produced by Nocardia sp. CS682 (KCTC 11297BP), demonstrates effective activity against various Gram-positive bacteria. Hence, we attempted to enhance nargenicin A1 production by utilizing the cumulative effect of synthetic biology, metabolic engineering and statistical media optimization strategies. To facilitate the modular assembly of multiple genes for genetic engineering in Nocardia sp. CS682, we constructed a set of multi-monocistronic vectors, pNV18L1 and pNV18L2 containing hybrid promoter (derived from ermE* and promoter region of neo (r) ), ribosome binding sites (RBS), and restriction sites for cloning, so that each cloned gene was under its own promoter and RBS. The multi-monocistronic vector, pNV18L2 containing transcriptional terminator showed better efficiency in reporter gene assay. Thus, multiple genes involved in the biogenesis of pyrrole moiety (ngnN2, ngnN3, ngnN4, and ngnN5 from Nocardia sp. CS682), glucose utilization (glf and glk from Zymomonas mobilis), and malonyl-CoA synthesis (accA2 and accBE from Streptomyces coelicolor A3 (2)), were cloned in pNV18L2. Further statistical optimization of specific precursors (proline and glucose) and their feeding time led to similar to 84.9 mg/L nargenicin from Nocardia sp. GAP, which is similar to 24-fold higher than Nocardia sp. CS682 (without feeding). Furthermore, pikC from Streptomyces venezuelae was expressed to generate Nocardia sp. PikC. Nargenicin A1 acid was characterized as novel derivative of nargenicin A1 produced from Nocardia sp. PikC by mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses. We also performed comparative analysis of the anticancer and antibacterial activities of nargenicin A1 and nargenicin A1 acid, which showed a reduction in antibacterial potential for nargenicin A1 acid. Thus, the development of an efficient synthetic biological platform provided new avenues for enhancing or structurally diversifying nargenicin A1 by means of pathway designing and engineering.</P>