• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.44-48
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• 2019

Objectives: Insomnia is one of the most prevalent sleep disorders. Recent studies suggest that cognitive and physical arousal play an important role in the generation of primary insomnia. Studies have also shown that information processing disorders due to cortical hyperactivity might interfere with normal sleep onset and sleep continuity. Therefore, focusing on central nervous system arousal and normalizing the information process have become current topics of interest. It has been well known that neurofeedback can reduce the brain hyperarousal by modulating patients' brain waves during a sequence of behavior therapy. The purpose of this study was to investigate effects of neurofeedback therapy on electroencephalography (EEG) characteristics in patients with primary insomnia. Methods: Thirteen subjects who met the criteria for an insomnia diagnosis and 14 control subjects who were matched on sex and age were included. Neurofeedback and sham treatments were performed in a random order for 30 minutes, respectively. EEG spectral power analyses were performed to quantify effects of the neurofeedback therapy on brain wave forms. Results: In patients with primary insomnia, relative spectral theta and sigma power during a therapeutic neurofeedback session were significantly lower than during a sham session ($13.9{\pm}2.6$ vs. $12.2{\pm}3.8$ and $3.6{\pm}0.9$ vs. $3.2{\pm}1.0$ in %, respectively; p < 0.05). There were no statistically significant changes in other EEG spectral bands. Conclusion: For the first time in Korea, EEG spectral power in the theta band was found to increase when a neurofeedback session was applied to patients with insomnia. This outcome might provide some insight into new interventions for improving sleep onset. However, the treatment response of insomniacs was not precisely evaluated due to limitations of the current pilot study, which requires follow-up studies with larger samples in the future.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.231-240
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• 2023

Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is an acute, highly contagious, and immunosuppressive disease in young chickens, and causes considerable economic losses to the poultry industry. More than 30 years ago, an antigenic variant IBDV (avIBDV) was reported in chicken farms in the United States. Recently, a novel avIBDV exhibited clear differences in molecular characteristics compared with previous variant strains. This study investigated the molecular characteristics of recently isolated avIBDV strains in Korea. Strains of avIBDV were confirmed by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and were propagated in 10-day-old specific-pathogen-free (SPF) embryonated chicken eggs through chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) inoculation. Multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analyses of hypervariable regions VP2 gene revealed that the strains originated from two different avIBDV lineages (G2a and G2d). In our results, we confirmed the co-existence and prevalence of avIBDV genogroup G2a and G2d in chicken farms. It is necessary to study the protective efficacy of current vaccines against avIBDVs.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.31-40
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• 1995

We compared stress/rest myocardial Tc-99m-MIBl tomographic image findings with rest/stress rubidium-82 tomographic images. In 23 patients with coronary artery disease (12 of them received bypass grafts before) and 6 normal subjects, rest rubidium PET study was performed : rubidium-82 and Tc-99m-MIBI were injected simultaneously to each patient after dipyridamole stress for rubidium PET and MIBI SPECT; and rest MIBI SPECT was performed 4 hours thereafter. We scored segmental decrease of rubidium or MIBI uptakes into 5 grades for 29 segments from 3 short-axis, vertical and horizontal slices. Scores were summed for each major arterial territory. When more score than two grade-2's or one grade-3 was considered as the cue for significant stenosis for major arterial territories, 67% of 46 stenosed arteries were found with MIBI studies and 78% of them by rubidium studies. Fourteen among 28 grafted arterial territories of 12 post-CABG patients were found normal with both rubidium and MIBI. Segmental scores were concordant between rubidium and MIBI in 72% of 709 stress segments and in 80% of 825 rest segments. Stress rubidium segmental scores were less than stress MIBI scores in 9%, so were rest rubidium scores. Stress rubidium scores were more than stress MIBI scores in 20% of segments, and rest rubidium segmental scores were more than rest MIBl scores in 11%. Rank correlations (Spearman's rho's more than 0.7(stress) and 0.5(rest), slopes (MIBI/rubidium) around 0.7(stress) and 0.9 (rest)) suggested deeper and wider defects in stress with rubidium. Slope over 1 (MIBI/rubidium) with LAD segemental scores at rest and 7 territories which had much larger score with MIBI revealed exaggeration of rest defects with rest MIBI in same-day stress/rest study. Difference scores (stress-rest for each territory) suggesting Ischemia were larger with rubidium (slope of MIBI/rubidium around 0.45). As has been implied by animal or separate-day-human studies, these segmental analyses with simultaneous examination in patients told that rubidium PET flow studies disclose ischemia more often than MIBI studies and that rest MIBI studies in same-day stress/rest-sequence gave a little larger rest defect than they would have shown.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.202-212
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• 1992

This study reports on the genesis and mineralogical characteristics of the clay minerals in the soils derived from the five major parent rocks of granite, granite-gneiss, limestone, shale, and basalt in Korea. The investigation on the mineralogical aspects of primary and secondary minerals of the rocks and coarse fractions in the soils have been already reported. In this report, the identification of clay minerals in the soil clay fractions was done through the analyses of chemical, X-ray diffraction, and thermal methods. The studies showed clearly that much of the clay minerals was evolved by the weathering of primary minerals and some were further developed by the transformation of secondary minerals. Cation exchange capacity(CEC) of the clay fractions increased with higher amotunts of vermiculite, chlorite, and illite, however, decreased with higher hydroxy octahedral sheet within the interlayer spaces of vermiculite even if dominant clay with vermiculite. Feldspars in the granite and granite-gneiss might be completely transformed to kaolin mineral, Illite, chlolrite, and vermiculite formed by the alteration of micas, amphibole, augite, and primary chlorile seem to be subsequently transformed to the mixed layer minerals such as illite/vermiculite, illite/chlorite, and chlorite/vermiculite. These weathering products may be ultimately transformed into kaolin minerals. The smectite minerals in the clay fractions of the soils developed on the limestone are considerably present and they seem to be formed directly by the precipitation from high Mg solution and/or by the transformation of vermiculite from micas and chlorite in the parent materials. Abundant presence of illite in the soil clays developed on the shale is considered to have inherited from the fine particles and more resistant hydrous muscovite. The weathering sequences of the hydrous muscovite were as follows according to the degree of soil development ; hydrous muscovite ${\rightarrow}$ illite/vermiculite mixed layer(Inceptisols, Daegu series) and hydrous muscovite ${\rightarrow}$ illite/vermiculite mixed layer ${\rightarrow}$ vermiculite ${\rightarrow}$ kaolin mineral(Alfisols, Buyeo series). The plagioclase in the basalt might be mostly weathered to kaolin minerais. The augite in the basalt is likely to be transformed through progressive stage of weathering, augite ${\rightarrow}$ chlorite ${\rightarrow}$ chlorote/vermiculite mixed layer ${\rightarrow}$ vermiculite ${\rightarrow}$ kaolin. Another weathering sequence of augite could be expected, augite ${\rightarrow}$ chlorite ${\rightarrow}$ illite by the presence of illite and illite/vermiculite mixed layer in the clay fractions. Vermiculite and gibbsite were quantified from thermogravimetry(TG) and kaolin minerals, from both TG and differerential thermal analysis (DTA). Vermiculite in Jangseong series from the limestone was the dominant clay mineral of 21.7 percent and had a range in the order of 9.2 percent in Buyeo series to 5.4 percent in Daegu series from the shale. The rest soils ranged from 8.8 to 28.3 percent. Kaolin minerals were the dominant clay mineral of 32.7 percent in Asan series from the granite-gneiss and Gueom series of 32.0 percent from the basalt. The soils from the limestone ranged from 9.4 to 14.9 percent. The rest soils ranged from 8.9 to 28.6 percent. Gibbsite were 3.9 and 2.3 percent for Weoljeong and Chahang series from the granite, respectively. In Asan and Cheongsan series from the giranite-gneiss were 1.4 and 4.5 percent, respectively, and 3.6 percent in Jangpa series from the basalt.