• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.876-882
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• 2016

Tylosin has been used as a livestock feed additive and antibiotic growth promoter for many years. However, the mode of action by which tylosin enhances animal growth is unclear. We used high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes to investigate the effects of tylosin as a feed additive on swine gut microbiota. No significant difference in the rate of weight increase was observed between control and tylosin-treated pigs during a 10-week feeding trial. However, tylosin-treated pigs showed rapid increases in the relative abundance of the phylum Firmicutes. Increases in Firmicutes species are associated with (so-called) obese-type gut microbiota. The abundance of species of four families of the phylum Firmicutes (Streptococcaceae, Peptococcaceae, Peptostreptococcaceae, and Clostridiaceae) correlated positively with host weight gain. The abundance of Streptococcaceae family bacteria was least affected by tylosin treatment. Distribution analysis of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) showed that both control and tylosin-treated pigs exhibited similar OTU alterations during growth. However, the tylosin-treated group showed distinctive alterations in gut microbiota when the host weighed approximately 60 kg, whereas similar alterations occurred at around 80 kg in the control group. Our results suggest that use of tylosin accelerates maturation of swine gut microbiota rather than altering its composition.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.369-375
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• 2015

Meat from black pigs (BP) is in high demand compared with that from modern white pig (WP) breeds such as Landrace pigs owing to its high quality. However, the growth rate of black pigs is slower than that of white pig breeds. We investigated differences in the fecal microbial composition between white and black pigs to explore whether these breeds differed in the composition of their gut microbial communities. The swine gut microbiota was investigated using Illumina's MiSeq-based sequencing technology by targeting the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Our results showed that the composition of the gut microbiota was significantly different between the two pig breeds. While the composition of the WP microbiota shifted according to the growth stage, fewer shifts in composition were observed for the BP gut microbiota. In addition, the WP gut microbiota showed a higher Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio compared with that of BP. A high ratio between these phyla was previously reported as an obesity-linked microbiota composition. Moreover, the WP microbiota contained a significantly higher abundance of cellulolytic bacteria, suggesting a possibility of higher fiber digestion efficiency in WP compared to BP. These findings may be important factors affecting growth performance and energy-harvesting capacities in pigs. Our findings of differences in the gut microbiota composition between the two breeds may provide new leads to understand growth rate variation across pig breeds.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.5 no.11
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• pp.1959-1975
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• 2011

Adaptive Bit Loading (ABL) in Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) is often used to achieve the desired Bit Error Rate (BER) performance in wireless systems. In this paper, we discuss some of the bit loading algorithms, compare them in terms of the BER performance, and present an effective and concise Adaptive Grouped Loading (AGL) algorithm. Furthermore, we propose a "weight factor" for loading algorithm to converge rapidly to the final solution for various data rate with variable Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) gaps. In particular, we consider the bit loading in near optimal Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) based MIMO-OFDM system. While using SVD based system, the system requires perfect Channel State Information (CSI) of channel transfer function at the transmitter. This scenario of SVD based system is taken as an ideal case for the comparison of loading algorithms and to show the actual enhancement achievable by our AGL algorithm. Irrespective of the CSI requirement imposed by the mode of the system itself, ABL demands high level of feedback. Grouped Loading (GL) would reduce the feedback requirement depending upon the group size. However, this also leads to considerable degradation in BER performance. In our AGL algorithm, groups are formed with a number of consecutive sub-channels belonging to the same transmit antenna, with individual gains satisfying predefined criteria. Simulation results show that the proposed "weight factor" leads a loading algorithm to rapid convergence for various data rates with variable SNR gap values and AGL requires much lesser CSI compared to GL for the same BER performance.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.284-288
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• 2014

A rare case of atlantoaxial rotatory subluxation occurred after pediatric cervical spine surgery performed to remove a dumbbell-shaped meningioma at the level of the C1/C2 vertebrae. This case is classified as a post-surgical atlantoaxial rotatory subluxation, but has a very rare morphology that has not previously been reported. Although there are several reports about post-surgical atlantoaxial rotatory subluxation, an important point of this case is that it might be directly related to the spinal cord surgery in C1/C2 level. On day 6 after surgery, the patient presented with the Cock Robin position, and a computed tomography scan revealed a normal type of atlantoaxial rotatory subluxation. Manual reduction was performed followed by external fixation with a neck collar. About 7 months after the first surgery, the subluxation became severe, irreducible, and assumed an atypical form where the anterior tubercle of C1 migrated to a cranial position, and the posterior tubercle of C1 and the occipital bone leaned in a caudal direction. The pathogenic process suggested deformity of the occipital condyle and bilateral C2 superior facets with atlantooccipital subluxation. A second operation for reduction and fixation was performed, and the subluxation was stabilized by posterior fixation. We encountered an unusual case of a refractory subluxation that was associated with an atypical deformity of the upper spine. The case was successfully managed by posterior fixation.

• Journal of KIISE:Computing Practices and Letters
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.183-194
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• 2002

The clustering environment with heterogeneous workstations provides the cost effectiveness and usability for executing applications in parallel. Load balancing is considered a necessary feature for a cluster of heterogeneous workstations to minimize the turnaround time. Previously, static load balancing that assigns a predetermined weight for the processing capability of each workstation, or dynamic approaches which execute a benchmark program to get relative processing capability of each workstation were proposed. The execution of the benchmark program, which has nothing to do with the application being executed, consumes the computation time and the overall turnaround time is delayed. In this paper, we present efficient methods for task distribution and task migration, based on the relative load index. We designed and implemented a load balancing system for the clustering environment with heterogeneous workstations. Turnaround times of our methods and the round-robin approach, as well as the load balancing method using a benchmark program, were compared. The experimental results show that our methods outperform all the other methods that we compared.

• Proceedings of the Korea Contents Association Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.128-131
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• 2006

There are two traditional scheduling methods known as PQ and WRR in the DiffServ network, however, these two scheduling methods have some drawbacks. In this paper, we propose an algorithm that can be adopted in WRR scheduler with making up for weak points of PQ and WRR. The proposed algorithm produces the control discipline by the fuzzy theory to dynamically assigns the weight of WRR scheduler with checking the Queue status of each class. To evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, We accomplished a computer simulation using NS-2. In result, the proposed algorithm enhances the packet discard rate at the EF class than WRR scheduling method and the AF4 class than PQ scheduling method.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.1271-1278
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• 2012

Genetic fusion of two proteins frequently induces beneficial effects to the proteins, such as increased solubility, besides the combination of two protein functions. Here, we study the effects of the bacterial surface layer protein SgsE from Geobacillus stearothermophilus NRS 2004/3a on the folding of a C-terminally fused enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) moiety. Although GFPs are generally unable to adopt a functional confirmation in the bacterial periplasm of Escherichia coli cells, we observed periplasmic fluorescence from a chimera of a 150-amino-acid N-terminal truncation of SgsE and EGFP. Based on this finding, unfolding and refolding kinetics of different S-layer-EGFP chimeras, a maltose binding protein-EGFP chimera, and sole EGFP were monitored using green fluorescence as indicator for the folded protein state. Calculated apparent rate constants for unfolding and refolding indicated different folding pathways for EGFP depending on the fusion partner used, and a clearly stabilizing effect was observed for the SgsE_C fusion moiety. Thermal stability, as determined by differential scanning calorimetry, and unfolding equilibria were found to be independent of the fused partner. We conclude that the stabilizing effect SgsE_C exerts on EGFP is due to a reduction of degrees of freedom for folding of EGFP in the fused state.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.2731-2737
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• 2015

Background: The majority of deaths from cancer occur in low and middle income countries, partly due to poor public awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer. Materials and Methods: A community based survey using the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) questionnaire was conducted in three different communities in Oman. Omani adults aged 18 years and above were invited to participate in the study. Results: A total of 345 responded from 450 invited participants (response rate=76.7%). The majority of respondents were unable to identify the common signs and symptoms of cancer identified in the CAM (average awareness was 40.6%). The most emotional barrier to seeking help was worry about what the doctor might find (223, 64.6%); a practical barrier was too busy to make an appointment (259, 75.1%) and a service barrier was difficulty talking to the doctor (159, 46.1%). The majority of respondents (more than 60% for seven out of ten symptoms) would seek medical help in two weeks for most signs or symptoms of cancer. Females were significantly more likely than males to be embarrassed (p<0.001), scared (p=0.001), and lack confidence talking about their symptoms (p=0.022). Conclusions: Urgent strategies are needed to improve public awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer in Oman. This might leads to earlier diagnosis, improved prognosis and reduced mortality from cancer.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.31 no.6B
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• pp.508-516
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• 2006

The explosive growth of wireless network users and the existence of various wireless services have demanded high rate throughput as well as user's QoS guarantees. Towards this, this paper proposes QoS-oriented subcarrier allocation scheme considering the QoS provisioning of multiple users, which is major requirement for wireless network design point of view. This paper introduces joint RR/K&H combined with M-LWDF(Modified Largest Weighted Delay First) scheme throughout observing statistical channel behavior and real time queuing analysis for appropriate resource allocation tightly connected to multiuser scheduling. Accordingly, the system throughput can be enhanced, and the QoS demanded for delay sensitive services can be satisfied. Furthermore, the proposed scheme is applied for OFDMA(Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) systems to allocate sub-carriers in optimal way. The simulation results verify plausible performances of proposed resource allocation scheme via showing superior effective capacity under time-varying physical-layer channel behaviors.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.32 no.12B
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• pp.719-727
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• 2007

The Wireless Mesh Network technology is able to provide an infrastructure for isolated islands, in which it is difficult to install cables or wide area such as battlefield of armed forces. Therefore, Wireless Mesh Network is frequently used to satisfy needs for internet connection and active studies and research on them are in progress However, as a result of increase in number of hops under hop-by-hop communication environment has caused a significant decrease in throughput and an increase in delay. Considering the heavy traffic of real-time data, such as voice or moving pictures to adaptive WMN, in a military environment, it is restricted for remote units to have their Mesh Node to get real-time services. Such phenomenon might cause an issue in fairness. In order to resolve this issue, the Location-based Packet Scheduling Scheme, which can provide an fair QoS to each mesh node that is connected to each echelon's AP and operates based on WRR method that gives a priority to emergency message and control packet. The performance of this scheme is validated.