• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.218-227
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• 2021

Background: Panax ginseng is one of the most important medicinal plants and is usually harvested after 5 to 6 years of cultivation in Korea. Heavy metal (HM) exposure is a type of abiotic stress that can induce oxidative stress and decrease the quality of the ginseng crop. Siderophore-producing rhizobacteria (SPR) may be capable of bioremediating HM contamination. Methods: Several isolates from ginseng rhizosphere were evaluated by in vitro screening of their plant growth-promoting traits and HM resistance. Subsequently, in planta (pot tests) and in vitro (medium tests) were designed to investigate the SPR ability to reduce oxidative stress and enhance HM resistance in P. ginseng inoculated with the SPR candidate. Results: In vitro tests revealed that the siderophore-producing Mesorhizobium panacihumi DCY119^T had higher HM resistance than the other tested isolates and was selected as the SPR candidate. In the planta experiments, 2-year-old ginseng seedlings exposed to 25 mL (500 mM) Fe solution had lower biomass and higher reactive oxygen species level than control seedlings. In contrast, seedlings treated with 10⁸ CFU/mL DCY119^T for 10 minutes had higher biomass and higher levels of antioxidant genes and nonenzymatic antioxidant chemicals than untreated seedlings. When Fe concentration in the medium was increased, DCY119^T can produce siderophores and scavenge reactive oxygen species to reduce Fe toxicity in addition to providing indole-3-acetic acid to promote seedling growth, thereby conferring inoculated ginseng with HM resistance. Conclusions: It was confirmed that SPR DCY119^T can potentially be used for bioremediation of HM contamination.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-19
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• 2021

The graph-based tag recommendation algorithm FolkRank can effectively utilize the relationships between three entities, namely users, items and tags, and achieve better tag recommendation performance. However, FolkRank does not consider the internal relationships of user-user, item-item and tag-tag. This leads to the failure of FolkRank to effectively map the tagging behavior which contains user neighbors and item neighbors to a tripartite graph. For item-item relationships, we can dig out items that are very similar to the target item, even though the target item may not have a strong connection to these similar items in the user-item-tag graph of FolkRank. Hence this paper proposes an improved FolkRank algorithm named FolkRank++, which fully considers the user-user and item-item internal relationships in tag recommendation by adding the correlation information between users or items. Based on the traditional FolkRank algorithm, an initial weight is also given to target user and target item's neighbors to supply the user-user and item-item relationships. The above work is mainly completed from two aspects: (1) Finding items similar to target item according to the attribute information, and obtaining similar users of the target user according to the history behavior of the user tagging items. (2) Calculating the weighted degree of items and users to evaluate their importance, then assigning initial weights to similar items and users. Experimental results show that this method has better recommendation performance.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.442-449
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• 2021

Background: Panax ginseng is an important crop in Asian countries given its pharmaceutical uses. It is usually harvested after 4-6 years of cultivation. However, various abiotic stresses have led to its quality reduction. One of the stress causes is high content of heavy metal in ginseng cultivation area. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) can play a role in healthy growth of plants. It has been considered as a new trend for supporting the growth of many crops in heavy metal occupied areas, such as Aluminum (Al). Methods: In vitro screening of the plant growth promoting activities of five tested strains were detected. Surface-disinfected 2-year-old ginseng seedlings were dipping in Rhizobium panacihumi DCY116^T suspensions for 15 min and cultured in pots for investigating Al resistance of P. ginseng. The harvesting was carried out 10 days after Al treatment. We then examined H₂O₂, proline, total soluble sugar, and total phenolic contents. We also checked the expressions of related genes (PgCAT, PgAPX, and PgP5CS) of reactive oxygen species scavenging response and pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. Results: Among five tested strains isolated from ginseng-cultivated soil, R. panacihumi DCY116^T was chosen as the potential PGPR candidate for further study. Ginseng seedlings treated with R. panacihumi DCY116^T produced higher biomass, proline, total phenolic, total soluble sugar contents, and related gene expressions but decreased H₂O₂ level than nonbacterized Al-stressed seedlings. Conclusion: R. panacihumi DCY116^T can be used as potential PGPR and "plant strengthener" for future cultivation of ginseng or other crops/plants that are grown in regions with heavy metal exposure.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.59-70
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• 2021

A method for simultaneous detection of fipronil (F) and its metabolites fipronil desulfinyl (FD), fipronil sulfide (FS), fipronil sulfone (FSO) in chicken eggs was applied and validated. It includes single-step, cheap, effective, rugged, safe-based method (SinChERS) for sample preparation and ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) for chemical analysis. Results suggested that formic acid enhanced the recovery of 4 target residues and 1% supplementation to acetonitrile gained higher recoveries than that of 5%. SinChERS integrated extraction and clean-up steps into one, with shorter time (1.5 h) to operate and higher recoveries (97%-100%) than HLB, Envi-Carb-NH2 and quik-easy-cheap-effective-rugged-safe method (QuEChERS), and it consumed the smallest volume of extracting solvent (10 mL) as QuEChERS. Quantitative analyses using external standard method suggested the linear ranges of 4 target compounds were 1-20 ㎍/L with R2 >0.9947. The limit of detection (S/N>3) and quantification (S/N>10) were 0.3 ㎍/kg and 1 ㎍/kg. Recoveries ranged from 89.0% to 104.4%, and the relative standard deviations (n=6) at 1, 10, and 20 ㎍/kg were lower than 6.03%. Thirty batches of domestic eggs (500 g each) were detected by the established SinChERS-based UHPLC-MS/MS and no target residues were detected in all samples. The method developed in this study is a rapid, sensitive, accurate and economic way for multi-residue analysis of fipronil and its metabolites in eggs.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.408-417
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• 2022

Purpose: Treatment options are limited after the failure of first-and second-line treatments in patients with HER2⁺ metastatic gastric cancer (mGC). The present study aimed to explore the efficacy, safety, and prognostic factors of apatinib efficacy as a third-line therapy for patients with human epithelial growth factor receptor 2-positive (HER2⁺) mGC. Materials and Methods: A total of 59 HER2⁺ mGC patients who received apatinib as third-line therapy were retrospectively enrolled in this two-center, single-arm, cohort study; the clinical response, survival data, and adverse events were retrieved. Results: The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 5.2 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.9-6.5), and the median overall survival (OS) was 8.2 months (95% CI, 6.6-9.8) Furthermore, forward stepwise multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that a higher Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score and multiple metastases were independently correlated with decreased PFS and OS (both P<0.05). The main adverse events were leukopenia (45.8%), hypertension (44.1%), thrombocytopenia (39.0%), hand-foot syndrome (37.3%), and elevated transaminase (33.9%). Grade 3 adverse events mainly included hypertension (5.1%) and neutropenia (5.1%); grade 4 adverse events did not occur. Conclusions: Apatinib is efficient and well tolerated in patients with HER2⁺ mGC as a third-line treatment, suggesting that it may be a candidate of choice for these patients.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.3030-3038
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• 2023

Nowadays, mobile robots have been used to search for uncontrolled radioactive source in indoor environments to avoid radiation exposure for technicians. However, in the indoor environments, especially in the presence of obstacles, how to make the robots with limited sensing capabilities automatically search for the radioactive source remains a major challenge. Also, the source search efficiency of robots needs to be further improved to meet practical scenarios such as limited exploration time. This paper proposes an automatic source search strategy, abbreviated as ACA: the location of source is estimated by a convolutional neural network (CNN), and the path is planned by the A-star algorithm. First, the search area is represented as an occupancy grid map. Then, the radiation dose distribution of the radioactive source in the occupancy grid map is obtained by Monte Carlo (MC) method simulation, and multiple sets of radiation data are collected through the eight neighborhood self-avoiding random walk (ENSAW) algorithm as the radiation data set. Further, the radiation data set is fed into the designed CNN architecture to train the network model in advance. When the searcher enters the search area where the radioactive source exists, the location of source is estimated by the network model and the search path is planned by the A-star algorithm, and this process is iterated continuously until the searcher reaches the location of radioactive source. The experimental results show that the average number of radiometric measurements and the average number of moving steps of the ACA algorithm are only 2.1% and 33.2% of those of the gradient search (GS) algorithm in the indoor environment without obstacles. In the indoor environment shielded by concrete walls, the GS algorithm fails to search for the source, while the ACA algorithm successfully searches for the source with fewer moving steps and sparse radiometric data.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.21-29
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• 2023

Objects : This study aimed to identify the origin species of Ulmi Cortex and Ulmi Semen Pasta. Methods : I searched for different types of 'Yu(楡)' from Zhong Xiu Zheng Huo Jing Shi Zheng Lei Bei Yong Ben Cao (重修政和經史證類備用本草) of the Song Dynasty, then compared the descriptions of Yu with real life species. Items that were inconsistent were sequentially deleted to finally find the original species that satisfies all conditions. Results : There were five types of Yu : Jiyu(地楡), Jayu(刺楡), Langyu(郞楡), Goyu(姑楡), and Baekyu(白楡). Jiyu was Sanguisorba officinalis or Sanguisorba officinalis var. longifolia which was a herb. Jayu was Hemiptelea davidii (Hance) Planch. which had thorns on its branches. Ulmus laciniata had leaves that split into three branches. Langyu was Ulmus parvifolia which beared fruit in the fall. For these reasons, the four items above were ruled out. The fruit of Goyu was Ulmi Semen Pasta, which was the largest among fruits and was therefore Ulmus macrocarpa. The fruit of Baekyu was Yuhyup(楡莢) and the ancient coin Yuhyupjeon(楡莢錢) was resembled Yuhyup. The normal pulse of the lung resembled the appearance of falling Yuhyup. The peel of Baekyu was Yubaekpi(楡白皮), and when it was removed from coarse bark, contained an abundance of white sap; the place where this sap overflowed on the stem bark was white, therefore Baekyu was identified as Ulmus pumila. Conclusions : From the results above, the origin species of Ulmi cortex was Ulmus pumila and the origin species of Ulmi Semen Pasta was Ulmus macrocarpa.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.269-285
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• 2022

The pressure-mitigating effects of a high-speed train passing through a tunnel with a partially reduced cross-section are investigated via the numerical approach. A compressible, three-dimensional RNG k-ε turbulence model and a hybrid mesh strategy are adopted to reproduce that event, which is validated by the moving model test. Three step-like tunnel forms and two additional transitions at the tunnel junction are proposed and their aerodynamic performance is compared and scrutinized with a constant cross-sectional tunnel as the benchmark. The results show that the tunnel step is unrelated to the pressure mitigation effects since the case of a double-step tunnel has no advantage in comparison to a single-step tunnel, but the excavated volume is an essential matter. The pressure peaks are reduced at different levels along with the increase of the excavated earth volume and the peaks are either fitted with power or logarithmic function relationships. In addition, the Arc and Oblique-transitions have very limited gaps, and their pressure curves are identical to each other, whereas the Rec-transition leads to relatively lower pressure peaks in C_Pmax, C_Pmin, and ΔC_P, with 5.2%, 4.0%, and 4.1% relieved compared with Oblique-transition. This study could provide guidance for the design of the novel railway tunnel.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.3.1-3.12
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• 2022

Background: Domestic yaks are the most important livestock species on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Adult female yaks normally breed in the warm season (July to September) and enter anestrous in the cold season (November to April). Nevertheless, it is unclear how ovarian activity is regulated at the molecular level. Objectives: The peculiarities of yak reproduction were assessed to explore the molecular mechanism of postpartum anestrus ovaries in yaks after pregnancy and parturition. Methods: Sixty female yaks with calves were observed under natural grazing in Haiyan County, Qinghai Province. Three yak ovaries in pregnancy and postpartum anestrus were collected. RNA sequencing and quantitative proteomics were employed to analyze the pregnancy and postpartum ovaries after hypothermia to identify the genes and proteins related to the postpartum ovarian cycle. Results: The results revealed 841 differentially expressed genes during the postpartum hypoestrus cycle; 347 were up-regulated and 494 genes were down-regulated. Fifty-seven differential proteins were screened: 38 were up-regulated and 19 were down-regulated. The differential genes and proteins were related to the yak reproduction process, rhythm process, progesterone-mediated oocyte maturation, PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, and MAPK signaling pathway categories. Conclusions: Transcriptome and proteomic sequencing approaches were used to investigate postpartum anestrus and pregnancy ovaries in yaks. The results confirmed that BHLHE40, SF1IX1, FBPX1, HSPCA, LHCGR, BMP15, and ET-1R could affect postpartum hypoestrus and control the state of estrus.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.303-314
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• 2023

In this study, two steady RANS turbulence models (SST k-ω and Realizable k-ε) and four unsteady turbulence models (URANS SST k-ω and Realizable k-ε, SST-SAS, and SST-IDDES) are evaluated with respect to their capacity to predict crosswind characteristics on high-speed trains (HSTs). All of the numerical simulations are compared with the wind tunnel values and LES results to ensure the accuracy of each turbulence model. Specifically, the surface pressure distributions, time-averaged aerodynamic coefficients, flow fields, and computational cost are studied to determine the suitability of different models. Results suggest that the predictions of the pressure distributions and aerodynamic forces obtained from the steady and transient RANS models are almost the same. In particular, both SAS and IDDES exhibits similar predictions with wind tunnel test and LES, therefore, the SAS model is considered an attractive alternative for IDDES or LES in the crosswind study of trains. In addition, if the computational cost needs to be significantly reduced, the RANS SST k-ω model is shown to provide relatively reasonable results for the surface pressures and aerodynamic forces. As a result, the RANS SST k-ω model might be the most appropriate option for the expensive aerodynamic optimizations of trains using machine learning (ML) techniques because it balances solution accuracy and resource consumption.