• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.30 no.9
• /
• pp.1355-1366
• /
• 2020

Sediment bacterial communities are critical to the biogeochemical cycle in river ecosystems, but our understanding of the relationship between sediment bacterial communities and their specific input streams in rivers remains insufficient. In this study, we analyzed the sediment bacterial community structure in a local river receiving discharge of urban domestic sewage by applying Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that the bacterial communities of sediments samples of different pollution types had similar dominant phyla, mainly Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi and Firmicutes, but their relative abundances were different. Moreover, there were great differences at the genus level. For example, the genus Bacillus showed statistically significant differences in the hotel site. The clustering of bacterial communities at various sites and the dominant families (i.e., Nocardioidaceae, and Sphingomonadaceae) observed in the residential quarter differed from other sites. This result suggested that environmentally induced species sorting greatly influenced the sediment bacterial community composition. The bacterial co-occurrence patterns showed that the river bacteria had a nonrandom modular structure. Microbial taxonomy from the same module had strong ecological links (such as the nitrogenium cycle and degradation of organic pollutants). Additionally, PICRUSt metabolic inference analysis showed the most important function of river bacterial communities under the influence of different types of domestic sewage was metabolism (e.g., genes related to xenobiotic degradation predominated in residential quarter samples). In general, our results emphasize that the adaptive changes and interactions in the bacterial community structure of river sediment represent responses to different exogenous pollution sources.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
• /
• v.3 no.3
• /
• pp.243-257
• /
• 2016

The increase of air traffic volume has brought an increasing amount of issues related to carbon and NOx emissions and noise pollution. Aircraft manufacturers are concentrating their efforts to develop technologies to increase aircraft efficiency and consequently to reduce pollutant discharge and noise emission. Ultra High By-Pass Ratio engine concepts provide reduction of fuel consumption and noise emission thanks to a decrease of the jet velocity exhausting from the engine nozzles. In order to keep same thrust, mass flow and therefore section of fan/nacelle diameter should be increased to compensate velocity reduction. Such feature will lead to close-coupled architectures for engine installation under the wing. A strong jet-wing interaction resulting in a change of turbulent mixing in the aeroacoustic field as well as noise enhancement due to reflection phenomena are therefore expected. On the other hand, pressure fluctuations on the wing as well as on the fuselage represent the forcing loads, which stress panels causing vibrations. Some of these vibrations are re-emitted in the aeroacoustic field as vibration noise, some of them are transmitted in the cockpit as interior noise. In the present work, the interaction between a jet and wing or fuselage is reproduced by a flat surface tangential to an incompressible jet at different radial distances from the nozzle axis. The change in the aerodynamic field due to the presence of the rigid plate was studied by hot wire anemometric measurements, which provided a characterization of mean and fluctuating velocity fields in the jet plume. Pressure fluctuations acting on the flat plate were studied by cavity-mounted microphones which provided point-wise measurements in stream-wise and spanwise directions. Statistical description of velocity and wall pressure fields are determined in terms of Fourier-domain quantities. Scaling laws for pressure auto-spectra and coherence functions are also presented.

• Women's Health Nursing
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.230-242
• /
• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a maternal nursing competency reinforcement program for nursing students and assess the program's effectiveness in Korea. Methods: The maternal nursing competency reinforcement program was developed following the ADDIE model. This study employed an explanatory sequential mixed methods design that applied a non-blinded, randomized controlled trial with nursing students (28 experimental, 33 control) followed by open-ended interviews with a subset (n=7). Data were analyzed by both qualitative and quantitative analysis methods. Results: Repeated measures analysis of variance showed that significant differences according to group and time in maternal nursing performance; assessment of and intervention in postpartum uterine involution and vaginal discharge (F=24.04, p<.001), assessment of and intervention in amniotic membrane rupture (F=36.39, p<.001), assessment of and intervention in delivery process through vaginal examination (F=32.42, p<.001), and nursing care of patients undergoing induced labor (F=48.03, p<.001). Group and time improvements were also noted for problem-solving ability (F=9.73, p<.001) and emotional intelligence (F=4.32, p=.016). There were significant differences between groups in self-directed learning ability (F=13.09, p=.001), but not over time. The three main categories derived from content analysis include "learning with a colleague by simulation promotes self-reflection and learning," "improvement in maternal nursing knowledge and performance by learning various countermeasures," and "learning of emotionally supportive care, but being insufficient." Conclusion: The maternal nursing competency reinforcement program can be effectively utilized to improve maternal nursing performance, problem-solving ability, and emotional intelligence for nursing students.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.35 no.3
• /
• pp.169-175
• /
• 2019

In lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the stress induced by the volume change of an electrode during charge-discharge processes may often cause the mechanical integrity of the electrode to degrade. Polymer binders with enhanced mechanical properties are preferred for improved mechanical integrity and cycling stability of the electrode. In addition, given that sliding and shearing between the polymer binder and components in the electrode may readily occur, frictional and adhesion characteristics of the polymer binder may play a critical role in the mechanical integrity of the electrode. In this study, frictional and adhesion characteristics of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) were investigated using a colloidal probe atomic force microscope. Friction loops were obtained under various normal forces ranging from 0 to 159 nN in air and electrolyte and then the interfacial shear strengths of PAN and PVDF in air were calculated to be $1.4{\pm}0.5$ and $1.3{\pm}0.3MPa$, respectively. The results show that in electrolyte, interfacial shear strength of PAN decreased slightly ($1.2{\pm}0.2MPa$), whereas that of PVDF decreased drastically ($0.06{\pm}0.01MPa$). Decreases in mechanical properties and adhesion in electrolyte may be responsible for the decrease in interfacial shear strength in electrolyte. The findings from this study may be helpful in developing polymer binders to improve the mechanical integrity of electrodes in LIBs.

• Journal of the Korean Burn Society
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.53-57
• /
• 2019

Dichloromethane is widely used as a solvent in paint removers. Unlike inhalation injury, contact injury caused by dichloromethane is not well known. Two patients who had undergone skin grafting to treat chemical burn of the hand caused by dichloromethane exposure were evaluated, and a literature review was done. Two healthy men aged 37 and 40 years visited our hospital with chief complaints of pain on the hands due to dichloromethane exposure. The patients had not worn protective clothing. Multiple bullae were initially noted. On the next day, fluctuation in bullae and purulent discharge were observed, and central eschar change was noted. On the 18th day after the burn, escharectomy and full-thickness skin graft were performed. Therefore, workers who use dichloromethane should wear protective clothing at workplaces. If exposed to the chemical, the worker should be instructed to do a quick wash and visit the hospital.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2009.06a
• /
• pp.412-412
• /
• 2009

Carbon-based nano materials have a significant effect on various fields such as physics, chemistry and material science. Therefore carbon nano materials have been investigated by many scientists and engineers. Especially, since graphene, 2-dimemsonal carbon nanostructure, was experimentally discovered graphene has been tremendously attracted by both theoretical and experimental groups due to their extraordinary electrical, chemical and mechanical properties. Electrical conductivity of graphene is about ten times to that of silicon-based material and independent of temperature. At the same time silicon-based semiconductors encountered to limitation in size reduction, graphene is a strong candidate substituting for silicon-based semiconductor. But there are many limitations on fabricating large-scale graphene sheets (GS) without any defect and controlling chirality of edges. Many scientists applied micromechanical cleavage method from graphite and a SiC decomposition method to the fabrication of GS. However these methods are on the basic stage and have many drawbacks. Thereupon, our group fabricated GS through Thermo-electrical Pulse Induced Evaporation (TPIE) motivated by arc-discharge and field ion microscopy. This method is based on interaction of electrical pulse evaporation and thermal evaporation and is useful to produce not only graphene but also various carbon-based nanostructures with feeble pulse and at low temperature. On fabricating GS procedure, we could recognize distinguishable conditions (electrical pulse, temperature, etc.) to form a variety of carbon nanostructures. In this presentation, we will show the structural properties of OS by synthesized TPIE. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Optical Microscopy (OM) observations were performed to view structural characteristics such as crystallinity. Moreover, we confirmed number of layers of GS by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Raman spectroscopy. Also, we used a probe station, in order to measure the electrical properties such as sheet resistance, resistivity, mobility of OS. We believe our method (TPIE) is a powerful bottom-up approach to synthesize and modify carbon-based nanostructures.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.33-44
• /
• 2006

Background: Peripheral nerve injury leads to neuropathic pain, including mechanical hyperalgesia (MH). Nerve discharges produced by an injury to the primary afferents cause the release of glutamate from both central and peripheral terminals. While the role of centrally released glutamate in MH has been well studied, relatively little is known about its peripheral role. This study was carried out to determine if the peripherally conducting nerve impulses and peripheral glutamate receptors contribute to the generation of neuropathic pain. Methods: Rats that had previously received a left L5 dorsal rhizotomy were subjected to a spinal nerve lesion (SNL) or brief electrical stimulation (ES, 4 Hz pulses for 5 min) of the left L5 spinal nerve. The paw withdrawal threshold (PWT) to von Frey filaments was measured. The effects of an intraplantar (i.pl.) injection of a glutamate receptor (GluR) antagonist or agonist on the changes in the SNL- or ES-produced PWT was investigated. Results: SNL produced MH, as evidenced by decrease in the PWT, which lasted for more than 42 days. ES also produced MH lasting for 7 days. MK-801 (NMDAR antagonist), DL-AP3 (group-I mGluR antagonist), and APDC (group-II mGluR agonist) delayed the onset of MH when an i.pl. injection was given before SNL. The same application blocked the onset of ES-induced MH. NBQX (AMPA receptor antagonist) had no effect on either the SNL- or ES-induced onset of MH. When drugs were given after SNL or ES, MK-801 reversed the MH, whereas NBQX, DL-AP3, and APDC had no effect. Conclusions: Peripherally conducting impulses play an important role in the generation of neuropathic pain, which is mediated by the peripheral glutamate receptors.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.6
• /
• pp.2523-2526
• /
• 2012

Introduction: Febrile neutropenia is a relatively frequent event in cancer patients treated with chemotherapy and improvement in absolute neutrophil count (ANC) has been linked directly to improved outcome. Evaluation of granulocyte colony stimulating factors (GCSFs) for treatment has shown reduced incidences of episodes of prolonged neutropenia and protracted hospitalization. To determine absolute neutrophil counts with GCSF in febrile neutropenic cancer patients admitted to a tertiary care centre and to co-relate the improvement in ANC with mortality and hospital discharge. Methods: A prospective cross sectional study was carried at an oncology ward at Aga Khan University hospital from January 2010 to June 2011. All adult patients who were admitted and treated with GCSF for chemotherapy induced febrile neutropenia were included. Multivariable regression was conducted to identify the factors related with poor outcomes. Results: A total of 131 patients with febrile neutropenia were identified with mean age of 43.2 (18-85) years, 79 (60%) being ${\leq}50$. Seventy-five (57%) had solid tumors and 56 (43%) hematological malignancies, including lymphoma. Fifty seven (43.5%) had an ANC less 100 cells/$mm^3$, 34 (26%) one between 100-300 cells/$mm^3$ and 40 (31%) an ANC greater than 300 cells/$mm^3$. Thirty (23%) patients showed ANC recovery in 1-3 days, and 74(56%) within 4-7 days. Thirteen (10%) patients showed no recovery. The overall mortality was 18 (13.7%) patients. The mean time for ANC recovery seen in hematological malignancies was 6.34 days whereas for solid tumors it was 4.88 days. Patients with ANC <100 cells/$mm^3$ were more likely to die than patients with ANC >300 cells/$mm^3$ by a factor of 4.3. Similarly patients >50 years of age were 2.7 times more likely to die than younger patients. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that use of GCSF, in addition to intravenous antibiotics, in treatment of patients with chemotherapy induced febrile neutropenia accelerates neutrophil recovery, and shortens antibiotic therapy and hospitalization. We propose to risk classify the patients at the time of admission to evaluate the cost effectiveness of this approach in a resource constrained setup.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
• /
• v.46 no.12
• /
• pp.105-112
• /
• 2009

In this paper, we investigated abnormal ESD failure on guard-rings in the smart power IC fabricated with $0.35{\mu}m$ Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (BCD) technology. Initially, ESD failure occurred below 200 V in the Machine Model (MM) test due to current crowding in the parasitic diode associated with the guard-rings which are generally adopted to prevent latch-up in high voltage devices. Optical Beam Induced Resistance Charge (OBIRCH) and Scanning Electronic Microscope (SEM) were used to find the failure spot and 3-D TCAD was used to verify cause of failure. According to the simulation results, excessive current flows at the comer of the guard-ring isolated by Local Oxidation of Silicon (LOCOS) in the ESD event. Eventually, the ESD failure occurs at that comer of the guard-ring. The modified comer design of the guard-ring is proposed to resolve such ESD failure. The test chips designed by the proposed modification passed MM test over 200 V. Analyzing the test chips statistically, ESD immunity was increased over 20 % in MM mode test. In order to avoid such ESD failure, the automatic method to check the weak point in the guard-ring is also proposed by modifying the Design Rule Check (DRC) used in BCD technology. This DRC was used to check other similar products and 24 errors were found. After correcting the errors, the measured ESD level fulfilled the general industry specification such as HBM 2000 V and MM 200V.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.329-338
• /
• 2020

Rhinorrhea in allergic rhinitis (AR) is characterized by the secretion of electrolytes in the nasal discharge. The secretion of Cl^- and HCO₃^- is mainly regulated by cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) or via the calcium-activated Cl^- channel anoctamin-1 (ANO1) in nasal gland serous cells. Interleukin-4 (IL-4), which is crucial in the development of allergic inflammation, increases the expression and activity of ANO1 by stimulating histamine receptors. In this study, we investigated ANO1 as a potential therapeutic target for rhinorrhea in AR using an ANO1 inhibitor derived from a natural herb. Ethanolic extracts (30%) of Spirodela polyrhiza (SP_EtOH) and its five major flavonoids constituents were prepared. To elucidate whether the activity of human ANO1 (hANO1) was modulated by SP_EtOH and its chemical constituents, a patch clamp experiment was performed in hANO1-HEK293T cells. Luteolin, one of the major chemical constituents in SP_EtOH, significantly inhibited hANO1 activity in hANO1-HEK293T cells. Further, SP_EtOH and luteolin specifically inhibited the calcium-activated chloride current, but not CFTR current in human airway epithelial Calu-3 cells. Calu-3 cells were cultured to confluency on transwell inserts in the presence of IL-4 to measure the electrolyte transport by Ussing chamber. Luteolin also significantly inhibited the ATP-induced increase in electrolyte transport, which was increased in IL-4 sensitized Calu-3 cells. Our findings indicate that SP_EtOH and luteolin may be suitable candidates for the prevention and treatment of allergic rhinitis. SP_EtOH^- and luteolin-mediated ANO1 regulation provides a basis for the development of novel approaches for the treatment of allergic rhinitis-induced rhinorrhea.