Forging 'Soft' Accountability in Unlikely Settings: A Conceptual Analysis of Mutual Accountability in the Context of South-South Cooperation

This study sets out to introduce the concept of soft accountability as a new approach to understanding mutual accountability in unlikely settings of development cooperation through South-South cooperation. In doing so, this study analyzes three defining components of accountability (responsibility, answerability, and enforceability) and identifies the actors and modalities of mutual accountability in four different situations of South-South cooperation mechanisms. The main finding in this conceptual analysis contains establishing an institutional and sustainable development platform for the mutual accountability of South-South cooperation by not only reflecting the distinctive nature of South-South cooperation, but also focusing on responsibility first to reduce buck-passing among actors and to sustain its continuous management

Reciprocal response of nitrogen for enhancing growth and proximate compositions of marine microalga Tetraselmis sp. under low saline conditions

326-332The present investigation was aimed to study reciprocal response of nitrogen to enhance the cell multiplication and proximate balance from marine microalgae Tetraselmis sp. under low saline conditions. The strain has been isolated from Yellow Sea, South Korea and the algae were cultured in the different nitrogen concentrations (0N, 1N & 2N) under low saline conditions (15, 20 and 25 psu).The results revealed that the Tetraselmissp. have significantly higher (P 0.001) optical density, cell density, biomass concentration and total lipid in moderate nitrogen concentration (1N) under 25psu of salinity condition. However, the total protein and carbohydrate were significantly higher (P < 0.001) in the high nitrogen concentration (2N) under 20 psu of salinity. The present study reveals that the combined effects made a huge impact on growth and biochemical variation in the microalgae

Janus-faced Sestrin2 controls ROS and mTOR signalling through two separate functional domains

Sestrins are stress-inducible metabolic regulators with two seemingly unrelated but physiologically important functions: reduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inhibition of the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1). How Sestrins fulfil this dual role has remained elusive so far. Here we report the crystal structure of human Sestrin2 (hSesn2), and show that hSesn2 is twofold pseudo-symmetric with two globular subdomains, which are structurally similar but functionally distinct from each other. While the N-terminal domain (Sesn-A) reduces alkylhydroperoxide radicals through its helix–turn–helix oxidoreductase motif, the C-terminal domain (Sesn-C) modified this motif to accommodate physical interaction with GATOR2 and subsequent inhibition of mTORC1. These findings clarify the molecular mechanism of how Sestrins can attenuate degenerative processes such as aging and diabetes by acting as a simultaneous inhibitor of ROS accumulation and mTORC1 activation

Data Assimilation of AOD and Estimation of Surface Particulate Matters over the Arctic

In this study, more accurate information on the levels of aerosol optical depth (AOD) was calculated from the assimilation of the modeled AOD based on the optimal interpolation method. Additionally, more realistic levels of surface particulate matters over the Arctic were estimated using the assimilated AOD based on the linear relationship between the particulate matters and AODs. In comparison to the MODIS observation, the assimilated AOD was much improved compared with the modeled AOD (e.g., increase in correlation coefficients from −0.15–0.26 to 0.17–0.76 over the Arctic). The newly inferred monthly averages of PM10 and PM2.5 for April–September 2008 were 2.18–3.70 μg m−3 and 0.85–1.68 μg m−3 over the Arctic, respectively. These corresponded to an increase of 140–180%, compared with the modeled PMs. In comparison to in-situ observation, the inferred PMs showed better performances than those from the simulations, particularly at Hyytiala station. Therefore, combining the model simulation and data assimilation provided more accurate concentrations of AOD, PM10, and PM2.5 than those only calculated from the model simulations

Data Assimilation of AOD and Estimation of Surface Particulate Matters over the Arctic

In this study, more accurate information on the levels of aerosol optical depth (AOD) was calculated from the assimilation of the modeled AOD based on the optimal interpolation method. Additionally, more realistic levels of surface particulate matters over the Arctic were estimated using the assimilated AOD based on the linear relationship between the particulate matters and AODs. In comparison to the MODIS observation, the assimilated AOD was much improved compared with the modeled AOD (e.g., increase in correlation coefficients from −0.15–0.26 to 0.17–0.76 over the Arctic). The newly inferred monthly averages of PM10 and PM2.5 for April–September 2008 were 2.18–3.70 μg m−3 and 0.85–1.68 μg m−3 over the Arctic, respectively. These corresponded to an increase of 140–180%, compared with the modeled PMs. In comparison to in-situ observation, the inferred PMs showed better performances than those from the simulations, particularly at Hyytiala station. Therefore, combining the model simulation and data assimilation provided more accurate concentrations of AOD, PM10, and PM2.5 than those only calculated from the model simulations

Cross‐cultural validation of the genetic counseling outcome scale in Korea

The Genetic Counseling Outcome Scale (GCOS‐24) was developed to measure patient‐reported outcomes to evaluate the effectiveness of genetic counseling and testing services. In the current study, the Korean version of GCOS (K‐GCOS) was developed to reflect the sociocultural characteristics of Korea, and its clinical applicability was assessed. Overall, 231 Koreans, including patients with genetic diseases and their family members, participated and completed the K‐GCOS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) scale, and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Validity was examined by assessing the correlations between K‐GCOS scores and other relevant scale scores. Reliability was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha and test–retest scores, measured over 2 weeks. We performed exploratory factor analysis of the five structures of GCOS‐24. For K‐GCOS, four‐factor structures were identified: “cognitive–behavioral control,” “uncertainty about control,” “hope,” and “emotional regulation.” Four original GCOS‐24 items were removed because of low factor loadings and small inter‐item correlations. K‐GCOS‐20 scores were positively correlated with SWLS (r = 0.456) and MHLC‐internal (r = 0.213) scores but negatively correlated with HADS (anxiety r = −0.428, depression r = −0.469) and MHLC‐internal (r = −0.278) scores. These findings demonstrate that K‐GCOS‐20 is a reliable and valid tool for evaluating genetic counseling services in Korea

Integrative analysis of DNA methylation suggests down-regulation of oncogenic pathways and reduced somatic mutation rates in survival outliers of glioblastoma

The study of survival outliers of glioblastoma can provide important clues on gliomagenesis as well as on the ways to alter clinical course of this almost uniformly lethal cancer type. However, there has been little consensus on genetic and epigenetic signatures of the long-term survival outliers of glioblastoma. Although the two classical molecular markers of glioblastoma including isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 or 2 (IDH1/2) mutation and O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation are associated with overall survival rate of glioblastoma patients, they are not specific to the survival outliers. In this study, we compared the two groups of survival outliers of glioblastoma with IDH wild-type, consisting of the glioblastoma patients who lived longer than 3 years (n = 17) and the patients who lived less than 1 year (n = 12) in terms of genome-wide DNA methylation profile. Statistical analyses were performed to identify differentially methylated sites between the two groups. Functional implication of DNA methylation patterns specific to long-term survivors of glioblastoma were investigated by comprehensive enrichment analyses with genomic and epigenomic features. We found that the genome of long-term survivors of glioblastoma is differentially methylated relative to short-term survivor patients depending on CpG density: hypermethylation near CpG islands (CGIs) and hypomethylation far from CGIs. Interestingly, these two patterns are associated with distinct oncogenic aspects in gliomagenesis. In the long-term survival glioblastoma-specific sites distant from CGI, somatic mutations of glioblastoma are enriched with higher DNA methylation, suggesting that the hypomethylation in long-term survival glioblastoma can contribute to reduce the rate of somatic mutation. On the other hand, the hypermethylation near CGIs associates with transcriptional downregulation of genes involved in cancer progression pathways. Using independent cohorts of IDH1/2- wild type glioblastoma, we also showed that these two patterns of DNA methylation can be used as molecular markers of long-term survival glioblastoma. Our results provide extended understanding of DNA methylation, especially of DNA hypomethylation, in cancer genome and reveal clinical importance of DNA methylation pattern as prognostic markers of glioblastoma.This research was supported by the Bio & Medical Technology Development Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science & ICT (NRF-2018M3A9H3021707). in Korea, and the Seoul National University Hospital Research Fund (3020180010)

The telomere maintenance mechanism spectrum and its dynamics in gliomas

Background : The activation of the telomere maintenance mechanism (TMM) is one of the critical drivers of cancer cell immortality. In gliomas, TERT expression and TERT promoter mutation are considered to reliably indicate telomerase activation, while ATRX mutation and/or loss indicates an alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT). However, these relationships have not been extensively validated in tumor tissues. Methods : Telomerase repeated amplification protocol (TRAP) and C-circle assays were used to profile and characterize the TMM cross-sectionally (n = 412) and temporally (n = 133) across glioma samples. WES, RNA-seq, and NanoString analyses were performed to identify and validate the genetic characteristics of the TMM groups. Results : We show through the direct measurement of telomerase activity and ALT in a large set of glioma samples that the TMM in glioma cannot be defined solely by the combination of telomerase activity and ALT, regardless of TERT expression, TERT promoter mutation, and ATRX loss. Moreover, we observed that a considerable proportion of gliomas lacked both telomerase activity and ALT. This telomerase activation-negative and ALT negative group exhibited evidence of slow growth potential. By analyzing a set of longitudinal samples from a separate cohort of glioma patients, we discovered that the TMM is not fixed and can change with glioma progression. Conclusions : This study suggests that the TMM is dynamic and reflects the plasticity and oncogenicity of tumor cells. Direct measurement of telomerase enzyme activity and evidence of ALT should be considered when defining TMM. An accurate understanding of the TMM in glioma is expected to provide important information for establishing cancer management strategies.This research was supported by the Bio & Medical Technology Development Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Science & ICT (NRF-2018M3A9H3021707), and the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (HI21C0239)