• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.93-112
• /
• 2017

Objectives : To evaluate and summarize the efficacy and safety of acupuncture treatment (AT) in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Methods : Fifteen databases (Pubmed, Cochrane, EMBASE, AMED, CINAHL, CNKI, Wanfang, and eight Korean databases) were searched up to September 2016. Only trials in which acupuncture was the sole treatment were included. Fatigue was used as the primary outcome measure, while the quality of life, pain, mood disorders, and adverse events were used as secondary outcome measures. We adopted three classifications: AT vs Sham AT, AT vs Wait-list, AT vs Western medication. The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to assess the methodological quality. Results : A total of 11 randomized controlled trials involving 869 participants were identified. In comparison with Sham AT, AT significantly alleviated fatigue and pain, but no conclusions about the quality of life and mood disorders could be drawn. In the Wait-list group and Western medication groups, patients with CFS might feel less fatigued following acupuncture treatment, but the evidence was insufficient due to lack of study. Nine of 11 RCTs (81.8%) reported adverse events and there were two cases of mild subcutaneous hemorrhage, but no serious adverse cases. Conclusion : This review found evidence that patients with CFS may generally benefit from alleviation of symptoms by acupuncture treatment, and there is no evidence of worsening symptoms or causing of serious adverse events. A positive effect on fatigue and pain was observed, but no conclusion for improving quality of life and mood disorders.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.425-433
• /
• 2017

As the problems related to the environmental pollution such as carbon dioxide emission are emerging, the need for the renewable energy and environmentally friendly energy is getting intense. Fuel cells are eco-friendly energy generation devices that generate electrical energy and produce water as a sole by-product. Compared to the traditional proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), anion exchange membrane alkaline fuel cell (AEMAFC) has a main advantage of possibility to use low cost metal catalysts due to its faster kinetics. The AEM, which conducts $OH^-$ ions, should possess high ion conductivity as well as high chemical stability at high pH conditions. We hereby introduce a crosslinked poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) having a spacer-type conducting group as novel AEM, and report a high ion conductivity ($67.9mScm^{-1}$ at $80^{\circ}C$) and mechanical properties (Young's modulus : 0.53 GPa) as well as chemical stability (6.8% IEC loss at $80^{\circ}C$ for 1,000 h,) for the developed membrane.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.50 no.3
• /
• pp.210-215
• /
• 2014

Pseudomonas nitroreducens TX1 was isolated from a rice field drainage in Taiwan. The bacterium is of special interest because of its capability to use a group of nonionic surfactants such as alkylphenol polyethoxylates even at high concentrations as a sole carbon source. In this study, a small cryptic circular plasmid, pTX1, was characterized from P. nitroreducens TX1. It is 2,286 bp in length with a GC content of 63.3% and harbors three open reading frames, $Rep_{pTX1}$ and functionally unidentified ORF1 and ORF2. The predicted $rep_{pTX1}$ gene product is homologous to Rep proteins of plasmids belonging to the pC194/pUB110 family, which is predominantly found in Gram-positive bacteria and is known to replicate by the rolling-circle mechanism. The copy number of pTX1 was estimated to be about 150 in each cell. Based on the genetic fingerprints and comparison with other plasmids, it is concluded that pTX1 replicates by a rolling circle mechanism which is rarely found for Pseudomonas plasmids.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.50 no.1
• /
• pp.33-39
• /
• 2014

One hundred forty four bacterial colonies which were able to degrade crude oil were isolated from soil samples that were contaminated with oil in Daejeon area. Among them, one bacterial strain was selected for this study based on its emulsification activity, growth rate and surface tension activity, and this selected bacterial strain was identified as Pseudomonas sp. HN37 through physiological- biochemical tests and analysis of its 16S rRNA sequence. Pseudomonas sp. HN37 utilize the several aliphatic hydrocarbons, 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid and 2,4-dichlorophooxyacetic acid as a sole carbon source. And this bacterial strain showed a high resistance to antibiotics such as ampicillin and chloramphenicol, as well as heavy metals such as Ba, Cr, Li and Mn. Also, it was found that the optimal pH and temperature for the cell growth, surface tension, and emulsification activity of Pseudomonas sp. HN37 were pH 6.0-9.0 and $30^{\circ}C$, respectively. The emulsification and surface tension activity was reached the maximum to 1% (V/V) crude oil and 1% (W/V) NaCl concentration. The surface tension of the culture broth was decreased from 62 to 27 dyne/cm after fifteen hours of inoculation in LB media.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.50 no.10
• /
• pp.982-986
• /
• 2007

Purpose : Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is effective for the treatment of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) in children. Recently, several reports have been published that show its impact on the absolute neutrophil count. The present study was performed to confirm these findings. Methods : Data on 26 ITP patients were analyzed. Patients with febrile illness or increased C-reactive protein levels at presentation, which would influence the neutrophil counts, were excluded to determine the sole impact of IVIG. In addition, patients who received steroid treatment were also excluded. Results : Sixteen boys and ten girls were analyzed. For patients who received an IVIG dose of 0.4 g/kg/day (n=17), the absolute neutrophil count (ANC) measured next day was significantly decreased. For patients who received an IVIG dose of 1 g/kg/day (n=9), the ANC measured the next day was also significantly decreased. However, the decrease was more profound in the high-dose group compared to the low-dose group. Among six cases with profoundly decreased ANC greater than $1,000/mm^3$, four patients (67%) received IVIG at a dose of 1 g/kg/day. All four cases with increased ANC were treated with IVIG dose of 0.4 g/kg/day, and three cases (75%) among them had a febrile reaction during IVIG administration. None of the cases with decreased ANC had a febrile reaction. No cases had infectious complications reported. Conclusion : IVIG treatment for ITP patients appears to suppress the ANC. This decrease of ANC was more pronounced when a higher dose of IVIG was used. Some cases with increased ANC counts after IVIG use were found only in low-dose IVIG group, and was associated with febrile reactions during IVIG use.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.15-22
• /
• 2008

Four series (S, M, R, and W) of Alternaria longipes isolates were obtained based on consecutive selection with Dimethachlon (Dim) and ultraviolet irradiation. These isolates were then characterized according to their tolerance to Dim, sensitivity to osmotic stress, and phenotypic properties. All the selected Dim-resistant isolates showed a higher osmosensitivity than the parental strains, and the last generation was more resistant than the first generation in the M, R, and W series. In addition, the changes in the Dim resistance and osmotic sensitivity were not found to be directly correlated, and no distinct morphologic characteristics were found among the resistant and sensitive isolates, with the exception of the resistant isolate K-11. Thus, to investigate the molecular basis of the fungicide resistance, a group III two-component histidine kinase (HK) gene, AlHK1, was cloned from nineteen A. longipes isolates. AlHK1p was found to be comprised of a six 92-amino-acid repeat domain (AARD), HK domain, and response regulator domain, similar to the Os-1p from Neurospora crassa. A comparison of the nucleotide sequences of the AlHK1 gene from the Dim-sensitive and -resistant isolates revealed that all the resistant isolates contained a single-point mutation in the AARD of AlHK1p, with the exception of isolate K-11, where the AlHK1p contained a deletion of 107 amino acids. Moreover, the AlHK1p mutations in the isolates of each respective series involved the same amino acid substitution at the same site, although the resistance levels differed significantly in each series. Therefore, these findings suggested that a mutation in the AARD of AlHK1p was not the sole factor responsible for A. longipes resistance to dicarboximide fungicides.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.221-227
• /
• 2010

In this study, we consider gas generation characteristics on pyrolysis of eco-fuel which were made by mixing of Pitch Pine and Lauan sawdust as biomass and polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene as municipal plastic wastes with catalyst in fixed bed reactor. From the result of higher heating value(HHV) measurement and of ultimate analysis, the heating value of plastic wastes and a hydrogen content in plastic sample are higher than biomass. An activation energy was reduced by a catalyst addition. However the catalyst content influence over 5 wt% was insignificant. The yield of hydrogen from gasification of biomass containing plastic wastes such as polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene were obtained higher than that of sole biomass. The high temperature and mixture ratio of catalyst conditions induced to high hydrogen yield in most of the samples. As the influence of catalyst, the hydrogen yield by catalytic reaction was higher than non-catalytic reaction. We confirmed that Ni-$ZrO_2$ catalyst is more active in increasing the hydrogen yield in comparison with that of carbonate catalyst. The maximum hydrogen yield was 65.9 vol.%(Pitch Pine / polypropylene / 20 wt.% Ni-$ZrO_2$(1:9) at $900^{\circ}C$).

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.223-229
• /
• 2013

Because colostrum is considered to be the sole source of passively acquired maternal antibodies for calves, newborn calves must consume colostrum to gain disease resistance during their early years of life. Storage of surplus colostrum from dairy cows right after calving and feeding newborn calves in deficiency of colostrum to assure adequate uptake of IgG for protection of the calf has been a common practice in the bovine production. In the current study, 35 colostrums were randomly collected from 3 colostrum banks located in different regions of Korea and monitored for general bacterial contamination and major bovine pathogens. Immunoglobulin concentrations and BVDV-specific antibodies were also determined to evaluate the immune quality of the colostrums. Moderate to severe bacterial contamination (up to 72,000,000 CFU/ml) was observed in most of the colostrums collected from colostrum banks. General immune quality of the colostrums was under the satisfactory level since most of the colostrums contained less than 50 g/L of IgG, which is the minimum concentration for good quality colostrums. Therefore, colostrum for colostrum bank should be collected at the first 2-3 post-partum milkings according to proper harvesting and handling procedures to guarantee the safety and quality of colostrum. In addition, it was recommended that colostrum should be heat-treated before frozen and stored in the bank because pasteurization at $63^{\circ}C$ for 30 min was very effective reducing the risk of disease transmission without causing significant degradation of immunoglobulins.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.214-227
• /
• 2018

An object oriented crop model was developed to perform crop growth simulation taking into account complex interaction between biotic and abiotic factors in an agricultural ecosystem. A set of classes including Atmosphere class, Plant class, Soil class, and Grower class were designed to represent weather, crop, soil, and crop management, respectively. Objects, which are instance of class, were linked to construct an integrated system for crop growth simulation. In a case study, yield of corn and soybean, which was obtained at an experiment farm in Rural Development Administration from 1984 to 1986, were compared with yield simulated using the integrated system. The integrated system had relatively low error rate of corn yield, e.g., <4%, under sole and intercropping conditions. In contrast, the system had a relatively large underestimation error for above ground biomass except for grain compared with those observed for corn and soybean. For example, estimates of biomass of corn leaf and stem was 31% lower than those of observed values. Although the integrated system consisted of simple models, the system was capable of simulating crop yield under an intercropping condition. This result suggested that an existing process-based model would be used to have more realistic simulation of crop growth once it is reengineered to be compatible to the integration system, which merits further studies for crop model improvement and implementation in object oriented paradigm.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.48 no.12
• /
• pp.981-993
• /
• 2015

The analysis of hydrologic time series data is crucial for the effective management of water resources. Therefore, it has been widely used for the long-term forecasting of hydrologic variables. In tradition, time series analysis has been used to predict a time series without considering exogenous variables. However, many studies using decomposition have been widely carried out with the assumption that one data series could be mixed with several frequent factors. In this study, the empirical mode decomposition method was performed for decomposing a hydrologic time series data into several components, and each component was applied to the time series models, autoregressive moving average (ARMA). After constructing the time series models, the forecasting values are added to compare the results with traditional time series model. Finally, the forecasted estimates from ARMA model with empirical mode decomposition method showed better performance than sole traditional ARMA model indicated from comparing the root mean square errors of the two methods.