Factors influencing sexual function of middle-aged married Korean women.

[Purpose] This study investigated the status of women's sexual function and relevant factors given the fact that women's health is crucial to the national health, and in particular that women's sexual health has a significant impact on their overall health. [Subjects and Methods] This study surveyed 353 women living in South Korea's P and K metropolitan regions from July 2012 to August 10, 2013. The Female Sexual Functional Index (FSFI), the Sexual Attitude Scale (SAS), sexual knowledge and questionnaires were used. [Results] Two groups based on FSFI scores above and below a cutoff value of 25 were compared with each other, and significant differences were found in age, male friends, menstrual status, sex status, and frequency of sex, experience of forced sex, personal health, husband's health and sexual knowledge. Male friends, sex status, experience of forced sex, husband's healths and sexual knowledge explained women's sexual function. [Conclusion] The finding that women's sexual function is associated with multiple factors suggests an intervention program for improving women's sexual function should be developed to reflect the factors influencing the target groups' sexual function.

Influence of light touch using the fingertips on postural stability of poststroke patients.

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of fingertip light touch on the postural control in poststroke patients. [Subjects] In the study, the subjects were recruited through a rehabilitation hospital, and 21 patients were screened from among 30 volunteers. [Methods] The subjects participated in an experiment that measured postural sway during the static standing posture without light touch and postural sway during the static standing posture with light touch as follows: visual information not blocked without light touch, visual information blocked without light touch, visual information blocked with light touch using fingertips, and visual information not blocked with light touch using fingertips. The measurements were performed using a force platform. The variables measured by the force platform included sway velocities of the COP in the anterior and posterior directions and, medial and lateral directions and sway velocity moments. [Results] In the results of the study, there were significant differences between the state without light touch and state with light touch in terms of the postural sway velocity and velocity moment under all conditions. The rate of decease of the sway velocity and moment velocity under the eyes closed condition were higher compared with those under the eyes open condition. [Conclusion] Through this study, we confirmed the influence of fingertip light touch on the decrease in postural sway. The results show that active light touch may be supplemental means of improving postural sway in stroke patients.

A novel esterase from Paenibacillus sp. PBS-2 is a new member of the ß-lactamase belonging to the family VIII lipases/esterases.

Screening of a gene library from Paenibacillus sp. PBS-2 generated in Escherichia coli led to the identification of a clone with lipolytic activity. Sequence analysis showed an open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 378 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular mass of 42 kDa. The esterase displayed 69% and 42% identity with the putative ß-lactamases from Paenibacillus sp. JDR-2 and Clostridium sp. BNL1100, respectively. The esterase contained a Serx- x-Lys motif that is conserved among all ß-lactamases found to date. The protein PBS-2 was produced in both soluble and insoluble forms when E. coli cells harboring the gene were cultured at 18°C. The enzyme is a serine protein and was active against p-nitrophenyl esters of C2, C4, C8, and C10. The optimum pH and temperature for enzyme activity were pH 9.0 and 30°C, respectively. Relative activity of 55% remained at up to 5°C with an activation energy of 5.84 kcal/mol, which indicates that the enzyme is cold-adapted. Enzyme activity was inhibited by Cd(2+), Cu(2+), and Hg(2+) ions. As expected for a serine esterase, activity was inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride. The enzyme was remarkably active and stable in the presence of commercial detergents and organic solvents. This cold-adapted esterase has potential as a biocatalyst and detergent additive for use at low temperatures.

Genetic organization of two types of flounder warm-temperature acclimation-associated 65-kDa protein and their gene expression profiles.

We isolated and characterized two cDNA clone encoding warm-temperature acclimation-associated 65-kDa proteins (PoWap65-1 and PoWap65-2) from the olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus. The deduced amino acid sequences of PoWap65s showed overall identities of 33-73% with other fish Wap65 and mammalian hemopexin-like proteins. The 5'-flanking regions of both PoWap65-encoding genes contained various putative transcriptional elements. While PoWap65-1 and PoWap65-2 were structurally similar, they exhibited highly differential patterns of expression. PoWap65-1 was expressed only in the liver, whereas PoWap65-2 transcripts were detected in a wide range of tissues. The accumulation of PoWap65s mRNA was expressed differentially during development. Expression of them in warm temperatures also differed in flounder embryonic cells. PoWap65-1 was upregulated by temperature stimulation whereas PoWap65-2 was not detected. PoWap65s were highly regulated by Edwardsiella tarda infection and hypoxia. Pathogen challenge induced PoWap65-2 expression in the liver whereas PoWap65-1 was downregulated. Hypoxia induced the expression of both PoWap65s in the liver of juvenile fish.

Tenacibaculum halocynthiae sp. nov., a member of the family Flavobacteriaceae isolated from sea squirt Halocynthia roretzi.

A Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, aerobic, non-flagellated, non-gliding and rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated P-R2A1-2(T), was isolated from sea squirt (Halocynthia roretzi) collected from the South Sea, Korea. It grew optimally at 25-28 °C, at pH 7.0-8.0 and in the presence of 2 % (w/v) NaCl. Neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the strain fell within the clade comprising Tenacibaculum species. Strain P-R2A1-2(T) exhibited the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 97.6, 97.2 and 97.0 % to Tenacibaculum aestuarii SMK-4(T), T. lutimaris TF-26(T) and T. aiptasiae a4(T), respectively, and of 94.5-96.8 % to the type strains of the other Tenacibaculum species. Strain P-R2A1-2(T) contained MK-6 as the predominant menaquinone and C16:1 ω7c and/or iso-C15:0 2-OH, iso-C15:0 3-OH and iso-C15:0 as the major fatty acids. The DNA G + C content of strain P-R2A1-2(T) was 30.7 mol % and its DNA-DNA relatedness values with the type strains of T. aestuarii, T. lutimaris and T. aiptasiae were 17 ± 4.2, 21 ± 6.1 and 16 ± 5.2 %, respectively. Differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, revealed that the novel strain is separate from other Tenacibaculum species. On the basis of the data presented, strain P-R2A1-2(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Tenacibaculum, for which the name Tenacibaculum halocynthiae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is P-R2A1-2(T) (=KCTC 32262(T )= CCUG 63681(T)).

Gene cloning and characterization of a cold-adapted esterase from Acinetobacter venetianus V28.

Acinetobacter venetians V28 was isolated from the intestine of righteye flounder, Poecilopsetta plinthus caught in Vietnam seawater, and the esterase gene was cloned using a shotgun method. The amino acid sequence deduced from the nucleotide sequence (1,017 bp) corresponded to a protein of 338 amino acid residues with a molecular weight of 37,186. The esterase had 87% and 72% identities with the lipases of A. junii SH205 and A. calcoaceticus RUH2202, respectively. The esterase contained a putative leader sequence, as well as the conserved catalytic triad (Ser, His, Asp), consensus pentapeptide GXSXG, and oxyanion hole sequence (HG). The protein from the strain V28 was produced in both a soluble and an insoluble form when the Escherichia coli cells harboring the gene were cultured at 18 degrees C. The maximal activity of the purified enzyme was observed at a temperature of 40 degrees C and pH 9.0 using p-NP-caprylate as substrate; however, relative activity still reached to 70% even at 5 degrees C with an activation energy of 3.36 kcal/mol, which indicated that it was a cold-adapted enzyme. The enzyme was a nonmetalloprotein and was active against p-nitrophenyl esters of C4, C8, and C14. Remarkably, this enzyme retained much of its activity in the presence of commercial detergents and organic solvents. This cold-adapted esterase will be applicable as catalysts for reaction in the presence of organic solvents and detergents.

[Factors influencing depression among middle-school girls].

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of depression among school girls in Korea and identify factors influencing the tendency to depression. METHODS: A self-report survey was conducted with South Korean middle schoolgirls who were in the 8th and 9th grades. Four hundred and one schoolgirls were included in the study. The instruments utilized in this study were the Center for Epidemiologic Studies - Depression Scale and Social Problem Solving Inventory-Revised. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and multiple logistic regression with SPSS WIN 14.0 program. RESULTS: The average depression score of the participants was 20.68, which indicates moderate levels of depression. About 35% of the schoolgirls in this study reported a tendency to depression. Significant predictors for depression were 'decreased problem-solving abilities', 'no family members with whom they can discuss their concern', 'decreased satisfaction in relationship with friends', and 'increased negative self-perception of body-image'. CONCLUSION: The study findings suggest that schoolgirls require special concern regarding the risk of developing depression. Regular depression screening could be beneficial for early detection of depression in schoolgirls and enhancing problem-solving ability could be considered as an effective strategy to reduce the risk of depression among schoolgirls.

Phylogenetic analysis of six species of pacific abalone (Haliotidae) based on DNA sequences of 16s rRNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I mitochondrial genes.

Six species of abalones (Haliotidae) are found on the Korean coasts. Identification and characterization of these abalones are usually based on morphologic characters. In this research we compared the partial sequences of the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I genes to identify species using molecular data and to determine their phylogenetic relationships. Sequence alignments and phylogenetic analysis revealed that the 6 species fell into 2 distinct groups which were genetically distant from each other and exhibited little internal phylogenetic resolution. One group included Haliotis discus hannai, H. discus discus, H. madaka, and H. gigantea, while the other group contained H. diversicolor supertexta and H. diversicolor diversicolor. The 16S rRNA sequences were relatively more conserved than to the COI sequences, but both gene sequences provided sufficient phylogenetic information to distinguish among the 6 species of Pacific abalone, and thus could be valuable molecular characters for species identification.