• Educational Technology International
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.207-237
• /
• 2022

As technological changes continue to accelerate every day, meeting the needs of a shifting educational landscape requires leaving an exclusively "in-person" education behind. Gamified learning environments should be carefully designed in light of conflicting studies to suit students' needs. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to draw conclusive results regarding the application of the most commonly used game elements in education, i.e., badges and leaderboards, through a comprehensive analysis of their impact on academic performance in online learning. Review Manager (RevMan 5.4) was used to analyze eligible studies selected from Emerald, SAGE, ERIC, EBSCO, and ProQuest between January 2011 and January 2022. Analyzing 37 studies found that using leaderboards and badges in online education enhanced academic performance when compared to traditional learning without gamification (SMD = 0.39). The badge-only intervention showed a larger effect size (SMD = 0.33) than the leaderboard-only intervention (SMD = 0.27). Badges and leaderboards together exhibited a larger effect size (SMD = 0.48) than individual game elements (SMD = 0.40). The impact of the game elements on academic performance was greater in the humanities (SMD = 0.51) than in STEM fields (SMD = 0.32) and was greater for K-12 students (SMD = 0.63) than for college students (SMD = 0.31). This study contributes to a timely discussion of the use of badges and leaderboards in COVID-19 online learning trends and provides relevant data for designing integrations of online education and gamification models.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.44 no.2
• /
• pp.79-84
• /
• 2017

Objective: Optimizing in vitro maturation (IVM) media to achieve better outcomes has been a matter of interest in recent years. The aim of this prospective clinical trial was to investigate the effects of different media on the IVM outcomes of immature oocytes at the germinal vesicle (GV) stage. Methods: A total of 400 immature oocytes at the GV stage with normal morphology were retrieved from 320 infertile women aged $31{\pm}4.63years$ during stimulated intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles. They were divided into groups of homemade IVM medium (I, n = 100), cleavage medium (II, n = 100), blastocyst medium (III, n = 100), and Sage IVM medium (IV, n = 100) and cultured for 24 to 48 hours at $37^{\circ}C$. ICSI was performed, and the rates of fertilization and embryo formation were compared across the four groups. Results: In the 400 retrieved GV oocytes, the total maturation rates showed significant differences in groups I to IV (55%, 53%, 78%, and 68%, respectively, p<0.001). However, there were no significant differences in the fertilization, embryo formation, or arrest rates of metaphase II oocytes across these groups. In all groups, GV maturation was mostly completed after 24 hours, with fewer oocytes requiring 48 hours to mature (p<0.01). Moreover, the rate of high-quality embryos was higher in group IV than in the other groups (p=0.01). Conclusion: The quality of the IVM medium was found to affect clinical IVM outcomes. Additionally, blastocyst medium may be a good choice in IVM/ICSI cycles as an alternative IVM medium.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.361-379
• /
• 2015

Objectives This study aims to review and summarize existing evidence on moxibustion treatment for cancer patients. Methods Literature published until May 2015 in international journals were searched on PubMed, CAJ (CNKI-Medicine), NDSL (National discovery for science leaders), Sage Journal, ScienceDirect, Taylor&Francis Online (HSS), and Wiley Interscience (including Blackwell); and articles in Korean journals were searched on Korean Studies Information Service System (KISS), DBPIA, E-Article, KSI e-book, New article, Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI), and Kyobo scholar. Results We analyzed 65 relevant studies. The number of studies conducted annually has increased and most are conducted in Korea and China. Moxibustion decreases the side effects of palliative treatment, thereby synergizing with anticancer treatment; it also improves the immune system, reduces tumor factors, and relieves symptoms. The mechanism of moxibustion is multi-fold: thermo, chemo, aero and kinetic. Only the kinetic effect is not significant. It also needs a complement to moxibustion because of harmful smoke. Conclusions Thus, the effect and mechanism of moxibustion in cancer patients was reviewed. There is an unmet need to develop a model of moxibustion and test it based on Korean medicine.

• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.33-39
• /
• 2012

High-throughput genomic technologies (HGTs), including next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS), microarray, and serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE), have become effective experimental tools for cancer genomics to identify cancer-associated somatic genomic alterations and genes. The main hurdle in cancer genomics is to identify the real causative mutations or genes out of many candidates from an HGT-based cancer genomic analysis. One useful approach is to refer to known cancer genes and associated information. The list of known cancer genes can be used to determine candidates of cancer driver mutations, while cancer gene-related information, including gene expression, protein-protein interaction, and pathways, can be useful for scoring novel candidates. Some cancer gene or mutation databases exist for this purpose, but few specialized tools exist for an automated analysis of a long gene list from an HGT-based cancer genomic analysis. This report presents a new web-accessible bioinformatic tool, called CaGe, a cancer genome annotation system for the assessment of candidates of cancer genes from HGT-based cancer genomics. The tool provides users with information on cancer-related genes, mutations, pathways, and associated annotations through annotation and browsing functions. With this tool, researchers can classify their candidate genes from cancer genome studies into either previously reported or novel categories of cancer genes and gain insight into underlying carcinogenic mechanisms through a pathway analysis. We show the usefulness of CaGe by assessing its performance in annotating somatic mutations from a published small cell lung cancer study.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.19-25
• /
• 2017

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a common gram-positive bacterium that causes serious infections in humans and animals. With the continuous emergence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains, antibiotics have limited efficacy in treating MRSA infections. Accordingly, novel agents that act on new targets are desperately needed to combat these infections. S. aureus alpha-hemolysin plays an indispensable role in its pathogenicity. In this study, we demonstrate that sclareol, a fragrant chemical compound found in clary sage, can prominently decrease alpha-hemolysin secretion in S. aureus strain USA300 at sub-inhibitory concentrations. Hemolysis assays, western-blotting, and RT-PCR were used to detect the production of alpha-hemolysin in the culture supernatant. When USA300 was co-cultured with A549 epithelial cells, sclareol could protect the A549 cells at a final concentration of $8{\mu}g/ml$. The protective capability of sclareol against the USA300-mediated injury of A549 cells was further shown by cytotoxicity assays and live/dead analysis. In conclusion, sclareol was shown to inhibit the production of S. aureus alpha-hemolysin. Sclareol has potential for development as a new agent to treat S. aureus infections.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.42 no.3
• /
• pp.262-266
• /
• 1999

Thirty plants were screened for their antioxidative activity. The extracts of Agastache rugosa, Schizonepeta tenuifolia and Lycopus lucidus had high free radical(2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) scavenging activities. Methanol extract of Agastache rugosa was fractionated with hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and water. The ethyl acetate fraction showed the highest antioxidant activity in the DPPH test. The ethyl acetate fraction was applied to Sephadex LH-20 column, and the fractions showing antioxidative activity were collected and used for identification of the substance. The purified substance was applied to mass, IR, UV and NMR spectroscopy. The spectra of mass, IR, UV and NMR implied that the substance is a rosmarinic acids as a kind of phenolic compound. The rosmarinic acid has more antioxidative effect than those of BHT and ${\alpha}-tocopherol$ in the Rancimat test.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.22
• /
• pp.9859-9863
• /
• 2014

Genetic epidemiological studies have shown that genetic susceptibility to esophageal cancer (EC) is an important cause of its high incidence within families in some areas of China. The purpose of this study was to obtain evidence of a genetic basis of EC in Xin-an and Xin-xiang counties in China. Familial aggregation and complex segregation analyses were performed of 79 EC families in these counties. The heritability of EC was examined using Falconer's method and complex segregation analysis was conducted with the SEGREG program in Statistical Analysis for Genetic Epidemiology (SAGE version 5.3.1). The results showed that the distribution of EC in families did not fit well into a binomial distribution. The heritability of EC among first-degree and second-degree relatives was $67.0{\pm}7.31%$ and $43.1%{\pm}9.80%$, respectively, and the summing up powered heritability was $53.2{\pm}6.74%$. The segregation ratio was 0.045. Complex segregation analysis showed that the genetic model of EC was additive. The current results provide evidence for an inherited propensity to EC in certain high-risk groups in China, and support efforts to identify the genes that confer susceptibility to this disease.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.6
• /
• pp.2473-2476
• /
• 2014

Background: Little is known about the cancer screening prevalence and correlates in older adults from different racial backgrounds. In the context of heightened efforts for prevention and early diagnosis, we collected information on screening for two major types of cancers: cervical and breast cancer in order to establish their prevalence estimates and correlates among older South African women who participated in the Study of Global Ageing and Adults Health (SAGE) in 2008. Materials and Methods: We conducted a national population-based cross-sectional study with a multi-stage stratified cluster sample of 3,840 individuals aged 50 years or older in South Africa in 2008. In this analysis, we only considered the female subsample of (n=2202). The measures used included socio-demographic characteristics, health variables, anthropometric and blood pressure measurements. Multivariable regression analysis was performed to assess the association of socio-demographic factors, health variables and cancer screening. Results: Overall, regarding cervical cancer screening, 24.3% ever had a Papanicolaou (PAP) smear test, and regarding breast cancer screening, 15.5% ever had a mammography. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, younger age, higher education, being from the White or Coloured population group, urban residence, greater wealth, and suffering from two or more chronic conditions were associated with cervical cancer screening, and higher education, being from the White or Indian/Asian population group, greater wealth, having a health insurance, and suffering from two or more chronic condtions were associated with breast cancer screening. Conclusions: Cancer screening coverage remains low among elderly women in South Africa in spite of the national guideline recommendations for regular screening in order to reduce the risk of dying from these cancers if not detected early. There is a need to improve accessibility and affordability of early cervical and breast cancer screening for all women to ensure effective prevention and management of cervical and breast cancer.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
• /
• v.1
• /
• pp.253-256
• /
• 2006

When the background tropospheric ozone column over the Pacific Ocean is subtracted from the latitudinal total ozone distribution, the results show remarkable agreement with the latitudinal stratospheric ozone distribution using the CCD. The latitudinal tropospheric ozone distribution using the CCD method, with a persistent maximum over the southern tropical Atlantic, is also seen in the latitudinal tropospheric ozone distribution using the T-P method. It suggests that the CCD method can be replaced by the simple T-P method. However, the tropical Atlantic paradox exists in the results of both the CCD and T-P methods during the northern burning season. In order to investigate this paradox, we compare the latitudinal ozone distributions using the CCD and T-P methods by using the SAGE measurements (e.g. TSA method) and the SHADOZ ozonesoundings (e.g. T-S method) assuming zonally invariant stratospheric ozone, which is the same assumption as of the CCD method. During the northern burning season, the latitudinal distributions in the tropospheric ozone derived from the T-SA and T-S methods show higher tropospheric ozone over the northern tropical Atlantic than the southern Atlantic due to a stronger gradient in stratospheric ozone relative to that from the CCD and T-P methods. This indicates that the latitudinal tropospheric ozone distribution can be changed depending on the data that is used to determine the latitudinal stratospheric ozone distribution. Therefore, there is a possibility that the north-south gradient in stratospheric ozone over the Atlantic can be a solution of the paradox.

• Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.219-240
• /
• 2004

Ubiquitous computing technology provides anytime and anywhere accessibility to information, ubiquitous computing is adapted in the various field to increase efficiency of work. After looking into the trend of ubiquitous computing, case studies of information service using mobile service and RFID system in library were investigated in this paper. Library information service are providing retrieval of library OPAC and verifications of circulation and return date using mobile internet technology. In addition, various notice services using short me sage service(SMS) of mobile are available. Considering growing mobile service and RFID system advancement of related technology, more information service utilizing mobile service and RFID system should be developed in near future.