Evaluation of cognitive function in adult rhesus monkeys using the finger maze test

In research on cognitive function, the use of experimental animals is essential for the study of human cognitive processes and mechanisms. Furthermore, non-human primates are necessary for understanding higher cognitive functions in humans. However, there are few cognitive function tests available for non-human primates, Thus, we modified a finger maze test for application to non-human primates. In this study, we assessed learning and memory in 12 adult rhesus monkeys using a finger maze test that was developed to assess cognitive functions in captive non-human primates. The monkeys were trained with moving rewards indicating the correct direction, which allowed the monkeys to obtain the reward. Following training, subjects completed a learning trial and a memory trial two months later. Although the time required for training varied among the monkeys, 11 out of 12 monkeys completed the training and achieved a high success rate in the learning trial as well as in the memory trial conducted 2 months later. This is the first study to apply the finger maze test to adult rhesus monkeys. The finger maze test enabled us to assess learning and memory in several adult rhesus monkeys simultaneously

Regional Characteristics of NO2 Column Densities from Pandora Observations during the MAPS-Seoul Campaign

Vertical column density (VCD) of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was measured using Pandora spectrometers at six sites on the Korean Peninsula during the Megacity Air Pollution Studies-Seoul (MAPS-Seoul) campaign from May to June 2015. To estimate the tropospheric NO2 VCD, the stratospheric NO2 VCD from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) was subtracted from the total NO2 VCD from Pandora. European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis wind data was used to analyze variations in tropospheric NO2 VCD caused by wind patterns at each site. The Yonsei/SEO site was found to have the largest tropospheric NO2 VCD (1.49 DU on average) from a statistical analysis of hourly tropospheric NO2 VCD measurements. At rural sites, remarkably low NO2 VCDs were observed. However, a wind field analysis showed that trans-boundary transport and emissions from domestic sources lead to an increase in tropospheric NO2 VCD at NIER/BYI and KMA/AMY, respectively. At urban sites, high NO2 VCD values were observed under conditions of low wind speed, which were influenced by local urban emissions. Tropospheric NO2 VCD at HUFS/Yongin increases under conditions of significant transport from urban area of Seoul according to a correlation analysis that considers the transport time lag. Significant diurnal variations were found at urban sites during the MAPS-Seoul campaign, but not at rural sites, indicating that it is associated with diurnal patterns of NO2 emissions from dense traffic

Pharmacokinetic study of meropenem in healthy beagle dogs receiving intermittent hemodialysis

Meropenem, a second carbapenem antimicrobial agent with a broad spectrum of activity, is used to treat sepsis and resistant-bacterial infections in veterinary medicine. The objective of this study was to identify the pharmacokinetics of meropenem in dogs receiving intermittent hemodialysis (IHD) and to determine the proper dosing in renal failure patients receiving IHD. Five healthy beagle dogs were given a single i.v. dose of 24 mg/kg of meropenem and received IHD. The blood flow rate, dialysate flow, and ultrafiltration rate were maintained at 40 mL/min, 300 mL/min, and 40 mL/h, respectively. Blood samples were collected for 24 h from the jugular vein and from the extracorporeal arterial and venous line. Urine samples and dialysate were also collected. The concentrations of meropenem were assayed using HPLC/MS/MS determination. The peak plasma concentration was 116 +/- 37 mu g/mL at 15 min. The systemic clearance was 347 +/- 117 mL/h/kg, and the steady-state volume of distribution was 223 +/- 67 mL/kg. Dialysis clearance was 71.1 +/- 34.3 mL/h/kg, and the extraction ratio by hemodialysis was 0.455 +/- 0.150. The half-life (T-1/2) in dogs with IHD decreased compared with those without IHD, and the reduction in T1/2 was greater in renal failure patients than in normal patients. Sixty-nine percent and 21% of the administered drug were recovered by urine and dialysate in the unchanged form, respectively. In conclusion, additional dosing of 24 mg/kg of meropenem after dialysis could be necessary according to the residual renal function of the patient based on the simulated data.OAIID:RECH_ACHV_DSTSH_NO:T201621129RECH_ACHV_FG:RR00200001ADJUST_YN:EMP_ID:A003050CITE_RATE:1.279FILENAME:Byun_et_al-2016-Journal_of_Veterinary_Pharmacology_and_Therapeutics.pdfDEPT_NM:수의학과EMAIL:[email protected]_YN:YFILEURL:https://srnd.snu.ac.kr/eXrepEIR/fws/file/eb2b2d93-6cb2-4420-a374-90eb43215957/linkCONFIRM:

Prevalence and changes in chronic diseases among South Korean farmers: 1998 to 2005

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Epidemiologic studies have suggested a unique pattern of disease among farmers in Western countries, but limited information is available about the magnitude of disease prevalence and their changes over time in Asian farmers. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence and changes in chronic diseases among farmers with those of other occupational groups in South Korea.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using data from three consecutive cross-sectional national surveys: the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1998 (n = 39,060), 2001 (n = 37,769), and 2005 (n = 34,145), we calculated age and gender-standardized prevalence of chronic diseases by the direct method and compared the prevalence changes from 1998 to 2005.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Female farmers had significantly higher chronic disease prevalence than other occupational groups in all three surveys. Arthritis was the most prevalent chronic disease among farmers for both men and women. Compared with other populations, farmers demonstrated a higher prevalence of arthritis and intervertebral disc disorders. Farmers showed higher prevalence changes for intervertebral disc disorders than other occupational workers.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings support that South Korean farmers have a distinct pattern of diseases prevalence from other populations. More detailed studies investigating the risk of musculoskeletal diseases and intensive intervention efforts to reduce the prevalence these diseases, particularly among female farmers, are required.</p

Histone deacetylase controls adult stem cell aging by balancing the expression of polycomb genes and jumonji domain containing 3

Aging is linked to loss of the self-renewal capacity of adult stem cells. Here, we observed that human multipotent stem cells (MSCs) underwent cellular senescence in vitro. Decreased expression of histone deacetylases (HDACs), followed by downregulation of polycomb group genes (PcGs), such as BMI1, EZH2 and SUZ12, and by upregulation of jumonji domain containing 3 (JMJD3), was observed in senescent MSCs. Similarly, HDAC inhibitors induced cellular senescence through downregulation of PcGs and upregulation of JMJD3. Regulation of PcGs was associated with HDAC inhibitor-induced hypophosphorylation of RB, which causes RB to bind to and decrease the transcriptional activity of E2F. JMJD3 expression regulation was dependant on histone acetylation status at its promoter regions. A histone acetyltransferase (HAT) inhibitor prevented replicative senescence of MSCs. These results suggest that HDAC activity might be important for MSC self-renewal by balancing PcGs and JMJD3 expression, which govern cellular senescence by p16INK4A regulation

Gene Flow between the Korean Peninsula and Its Neighboring Countries

SNP markers provide the primary data for population structure analysis. In this study, we employed whole-genome autosomal SNPs as a marker set (54,836 SNP markers) and tested their possible effects on genetic ancestry using 320 subjects covering 24 regional groups including Northern ( = 16) and Southern ( = 3) Asians, Amerindians ( = 1), and four HapMap populations (YRI, CEU, JPT, and CHB). Additionally, we evaluated the effectiveness and robustness of 50K autosomal SNPs with various clustering methods, along with their dependencies on recombination hotspots (RH), linkage disequilibrium (LD), missing calls and regional specific markers. The RH- and LD-free multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) method showed a broad picture of human migration from Africa to North-East Asia on our genome map, supporting results from previous haploid DNA studies. Of the Asian groups, the East Asian group showed greater differentiation than the Northern and Southern Asian groups with respect to Fst statistics. By extension, the analysis of monomorphic markers implied that nine out of ten historical regions in South Korea, and Tokyo in Japan, showed signs of genetic drift caused by the later settlement of East Asia (South Korea, Japan and China), while Gyeongju in South East Korea showed signs of the earliest settlement in East Asia. In the genome map, the gene flow to the Korean Peninsula from its neighboring countries indicated that some genetic signals from Northern populations such as the Siberians and Mongolians still remain in the South East and West regions, while few signals remain from the early Southern lineages

Five new real-time detections of fast radio bursts with UTMOST

We detail a new fast radio burst (FRB) survey with the Molonglo Radio Telescope, in which six FRBs were detected between 2017 June and 2018 December. By using a real-time FRB detection system, we captured raw voltages for five of the six events, which allowed for coherent dedispersion and very high time resolution (10.24 μs) studies of the bursts. Five of the FRBs show temporal broadening consistent with interstellar and/or intergalactic scattering, with scattering time-scales ranging from 0.16 to 29.1 ms. One burst, FRB181017, shows remarkable temporal structure, with three peaks each separated by 1 ms. We searched for phase-coherence between the leading and trailing peaks and found none, ruling out lensing scenarios. Based on this survey, we calculate an all-sky rate at 843 MHz of 98 +59 −39 events sky−1 d−1 to a fluence limit of 8 Jy ms: a factor of 7 below the rates estimated from the Parkes and ASKAP telescopes at 1.4 GHz assuming the ASKAP-derived spectral index α = −1.6 (Fν ∝ να). Our results suggest that FRB spectra may turn over below 1 GHz. Optical, radio, and X-ray follow-up has been made for most of the reported bursts, with no associated transients found. No repeat bursts were found in the survey