Hanbuk University

Studies on gut microbiome changes in neonatal Korean indigenous calves with diarrhea are rare. In this study, 14 normal calves and 11 calves with diarrhea were selected from Korean indigenous calves up to 30 days of age and classified into three groups at 10-day intervals (1-10, 11-20, and 21-30 days). Feces from 25 calves were collected, and the diversity, similarity, structure, and correlation of the gut microbiome were analyzed. Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria were predominant in the taxonomic composition of the gut microbiome of the calves regardless of the presence of diarrhea. However, Proteobacteria increased and Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria decreased in calves with diarrhea. In addition, calves with diarrhea showed a significant decrease in the diversity of the gut microbiome, especially for anaerobic microorganisms Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Gemmiger formicilis, and Collinsella aerofaciens. The microbial communities in calves with diarrhea and normal calves were distinct. By analyzing the microorganisms that showed correlation with diarrhea and age using linear discriminant analysis effect size, at the genus level, Prevotella and Lachnospiraceae_uc were significantly related in the normal (11-20 days) group whereas Enterobacterales, Gammaproteobacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, Escherichia, and Proteobacteria were significantly associated with diarrhea in the 11-20 days group. Futhermore, the normal (21-30 days) group showed significant correlation with Blautia, Provotellaceae, Muribaculaceae, Christensenellaceae, and Catenella, whereas the diarrhea (21-30 days) group showed significant correlation with Dorea. The microorganisms associated with diarrhea in calves were mainly known as harmful microorganisms, we confirmed that there is a relationship between the increase in harmful bacteria and diarrhea. These results show that diarrhea significantly affects the gut microbiome of Korean indigenous calves. The changes in the gut microbiome of Korean indigenous calves observed in this study could be helpful in predicting and managing diarrhea calves, and furthermore, in establishing preventive measures for calf diarrhea through management of gut microbiome.

ABSTRACT Various factors can contribute to the improvement of quality of life among the older adults living in facilities, but promoting social interactions can enhance the quality of life. There are some studies conducted on social interaction of institutionalized older adults, but only few studiesin terms of spatial configuration. Therefore, this study intends to find the social interaction of the older adults in two nursing homes with different sizes and layouts, and to investigate the relationship between spatial characteristics and social interaction. The subjects of this study are two nursing facilities located in Seoul, Korea. The methodologies of this study include snapshots for observing social interaction and VGA technique for visual accessibility. As results, it was found that social interaction occurred more frequently in the large-scale facility, case 2. However, there is a weak negative relationship between the social interactions and the visual accessibility in case 1 only; it means that the interactions frequently occur in relatively segregated spaces. This study has its significance as it is the first combined study to understand the social interaction pattern of the older residents in connection with the spatial configuration of nursing homes in South Korea as a quantitative analysis method.

Abstract Polymeric nanoparticles containing both antigens and drugs have remarkable advantages because they can specifically deliver the antigens and the drugs to phagocytes such as dendritic cells and macrophages, thereby reducing the potential systemic side effects of the drugs. In the present study, we fabricated polymeric nanoparticles (NP) containing both ovalbumin (OVA) and dexamethasone (Dex) (NP[OVA+Dex]) using biodegradable and biocompatible polymer poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), after which their immunomodulatory effects were examined. Immature dendritic cells treated with NP[OVA+Dex] were profoundly suppressed in both MHC class II- and class I-restricted OVA peptide presentation. In addition, mice injected with NP[OVA+Dex] were profoundly suppressed in generating OVA-specific cytotoxic T cells and also in producing OVA-specific IgG with concomitant increase of regulatory T cells. Furthermore, feeding of mice with NP[OVA+Dex] induced OVA-specific immune tolerance, as demonstrated by significant decrease in generating OVA-specific immune responses upon subsequent intravenous challenge with the nanoparticles containing OVA only. The present study demonstrates that oral feeding as well as intravenous injection of PLGA nanoparticles encapsulated with both antigen and Dex is a useful means for inducing antigen-specific immune tolerance.

Abstract Natural killer (NK) cell recruitment to solid tumors is essential for direct contact between NK and cancer cells and is regulated by chemokine networks. Tumor-derived CXCL10 increases the infiltration of NK cells into solid tumors. In a xenograft mouse model, adoptively transferred human NK cells efficiently infiltrate CXCL10-transduced tumors and enhance regression of tumor growth compared with mock-transduced tumors. Although this study showed that NK cells homed to solid tumor beds in a CXCL10-depedent manner, several questions remain. How do NK cells find cancer cells after extravasation? Which chemokines do B16F10 cells produce? Which chemokine receptors do NK cells use? How do cancer cell-derived chemokines affect NK cell motility? Do these chemokines directly affect NK cell cytotoxicity? To address these issues, we examined the migration dynamics of NK and cancer cells using time-lapse imaging. Although naïve B16F10 cancer cells produce low levels of chemokines, IFN-g-treated B16F10 cells secreted high levels of CXCL10, low levels of CCL5, but did not secrete CCL2, CCL7, or CXCL12. Wild-type NK cells migrated well toward cancer cells and killed them, whereas NK cells deficient in CXCR3 did not. CXCR3-deficient NK cells also showed slower migration speed than did wild-type NK cells. Taken together, our data show that NK cells find cancer cells, at least in part, by sensing CXCL10 produced by cancer cells and suggest that a strategy to increase CXCL10 secretion by cancer cells may improve the efficacy of NK cell–based immunotherapy.

Persimmon ( Diospyros kaki Thunb.) fruit is delicious as well as rich in nutritive and medicinal values. The fruit is not available throughout the year and also could not be grown across the world but is liked in many countries. Many people have access only to the dried fruits. Therefore, the demand of quality dry fruit is very high. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of persimmon-peel extracts in maintaining the quality characteristics of dried persimmon. Different treatments applied to the dried fruit were assessed on the basis of physicochemical and organoleptic properties. The findings reveal that dried persimmon sprayed with 10% persimmon-peel extract exhibited the highest overall acceptance value with considerable nutritional and mineral composition as compared to other treatments. The results suggest that application of persimmon-peel extracts could rather be effective to enhance the overall acceptance of dried persimmon fruit together with maintaining its nutritional quality as compared to the commercially available synthetic preservatives. Keywords: Exogenous application, natural extract, nutritional composition, mineral composition, dried persimmon African Journal of Biotechnology , Vol 13(22) 2231-2239

The purpose of this study was to identify the correlation between foot type and posture. Subjects were 49 elderly people from a Catholic Church in the Seoul area. 13 subjects were men, and 36 were women. Questionnaire was used to identify injuries, blood pressure, history and location of pain, wallet carrying habits for men (left or right side). Resting Calcanel Stance Position (RCSP) was used to identify foot type (pes planus, pes rectus, pes cavus), F/F to R/F and three-dimensional pelvic deviation were also measured,grip strength and posture (sagittal plane & coronal plane). SPSS 18 was used for statistical analysis, along x² (with Scheffe for post-hoc), and Kenndall’s tau_b for the correlation. 1. Foot Deformity a) 65% of test subjects had normal feet. 69% of elderly men and 64% of elderly women were normal. b) 21% of elderly women had pes cavus. c) There was a higher incidence of pes cavus and F/F to R/F angle in the right foot compared to the left. 2. Correlation between foot type and posture There was a correlation between left foot type and both sagittal postural deviation and coronal shoulder deviation. Subjects with left foot pes planus also exhibited a rearward postural deviation and a left downward sloping shoulder deviation. There were correlation between deviation in the shoulder, shoulder blade, and pelvis. Thus, subjects with one type of deviation are likely to have corresponding deviations in the other two areas. For men, shoulders and shoulder blades tilted in the same direction as the pelvis: e.g. Right downward sloping shoulders / shoulder blades corresponded to a right downward sloping pelvis. Men’s pelvis deviated towards their wallet-carrying side in the transverse plane: e.g. men who habitually carried their wallet in their left pocket had a rearward deviation in their left pelvis and vice versa. There was a negative correlation between grip strength and injury history. Subjects with stronger grip strength had less injuries and vice versa. There was a positive correlation between injury history and sagittal postural deviation.

The objective of this study is to identify the dietary patterns associated with the risk of hypertensions among Korean adults using data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES, 2008-2010). This study analyzes data from 11,883 subjects who participated in the health and nutrition survey, aging from 20 to 64 years. We performed factor analysis based on the weekly mean intake frequencies of 36 food groups to identify major dietary patterns. We identified three major dietary patterns in both sexes, namely "traditional", "western" and "dairy and carbohydrate" patterns. Participants in the highest quartile of western pattern scores had significantly higher blood pressure, serum total cholesterol, and triglyceride levels than those in the lowest quartile. Although not statistically significant, a trend (P for trend = 0.0732) toward a positive association between the western dietary pattern and hypertension risk was observed after adjustments for age, sex, education, income, body mass index (BMI), smoking, physical activity, and energy intake. The dairy and carbohydrate pattern was inversely related with BMI and blood pressures and positively associated with serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol. After adjusting the age, sex, education, income, BMI, smoking, physical activity and energy intake, the dairy and carbohydrate pattern showed inverse associations with hypertension prevalence (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.55-0.75; P for trend < 0.0001). Intakes of fiber, sodium, and antioxidant vitamins were significantly higher in the top quartile for the traditional pattern than in the lowest quartile for the traditional pattern (P for trend < 0.0001). Intakes of fiber (P for trend < 0.0001), calcium (P for trend < 0.0001), retinol (P for trend = 0.0164), vitamin B1 (P for trend = 0.001), vitamin B2 (P for trend < 0.0001), niacin (P for trend = 0.0025), and vitamin C (P for trend < 0.0001) were significantly increased across quartiles for the dairy and carbohydrate pattern whereas sodium (P for trend < 0.0001) intake was decreased for this pattern. In conclusion, the dairy and carbohydrate pattern may be associated with a reduced risk of hypertension whereas the western pattern may be associated with an increased risk of hypertension among Korean adults.

This study evaluates factors related to myelopathic symptoms in patients with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL). A total of 87 patients with OPLL were included. Of these, 53 (Group I) had no symptoms or presented with neck pain and radiculopathy and 34 (Group II) had myelopathic symptoms. Gender, age, and history of trauma were evaluated in the two groups. The range of movement of the cervical spine was measured using plain radiographs. The number of involved segments, type of OPLL, and maximal compression ratio were analysed using CT and signal change in the spinal cord was evaluated using MRI. The patients' age was found to be significant (p = 0.001). No difference was found between gender and the range of movement in the two groups. The maximum compression of the spinal canal showed a difference (p = 0.03). The signal change of the spinal cord was different between the two groups. In patients with OPLL of the cervical spine, myelopathic symptoms are not related to the range of movement or the number of involved segments.