• Title/Summary/Keyword: activity domains

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Novel Endoxylanases of the Moderately Thermophilic Polysaccharide-Degrading Bacterium Melioribacter roseus

  • Rakitin, Andrey L.;Ermakova, Alexandra Y.;Ravin, Nikolai V.
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.25 no.9
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    • pp.1476-1484
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    • 2015
  • Three endoxylanase-encoding genes from the moderately themophilic chemoorganotrophic bacterium Melioribacter roseus were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Genes xyl2091 (Mros_2091) and xyl2495 (Mros_2495) encode GH10 family hydrolases, whereas xyl2090 (Mros_2090) represents the GH30 family. In addition to catalytic domains, Xyl2090 and Xyl2091 contain carbohydrate-binding modules that could facilitate their binding to xylans and Por sorting domains associated with the sorting of proteins from the periplasm to the outer membrane, where they are covalently attached. Recombinant endoxylanase Xyl2495 exhibited a high specific activity of 1,920 U/mg on birchwood xylan at 40℃. It is active at low temperatures, exhibiting more than 30% of the maximal activity even at 0℃. Endoxylanases Xyl2090 and Xyl2091 have lower specific activities but higher temperature optima at 80℃ and 65℃, respectively. Analysis of xylan hydrolysis products revealed that Xyl2090 generates xylo-oligosaccharides longer than xylopentaose. Xylose and xylobiose are the major products of xylan hydrolysis by the recombinant Xyl2091 and Xyl2495. No activity against cellulose was observed for all enzymes. The presence of three xylanases ensures efficient xylan hydrolysis by M. roseus. The highly processive "free" endoxylanase Xyl2495 could hydrolyze xylan under moderate temperatures. Xylan hydrolysis at elevated temperatures could be accomplished by concerted action of two cell-bound xylanases; Xyl2090 that probably degrades xylans to long xylo-oligosaccharides, and Xyl2091 hydrolyzing them to xylose and xylobiose. The new endoxylanases could be useful for saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass in biofuels production, bleaching of paper pulp, and obtaining low molecular weight xylooligosaccharides.

Comparative Behavioral Correlation of High and Low-Performing Mice in the Forced Swim Test

  • Valencia, Schley;Gonzales, Edson Luck;Adil, Keremkleroo Jym;Jeon, Se Jin;Kwon, Kyoung Ja;Cho, Kyu Suk;Shin, Chan Young
    • Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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    • v.27 no.4
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    • pp.349-356
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    • 2019
  • Behavioral analysis in mice provided important contributions in helping understand and treat numerous neurobehavioral and neuropsychiatric disorders. The behavioral performance of animals and humans is widely different among individuals but the neurobehavioral mechanism of the innate difference is seldom investigated. Many neurologic conditions share comorbid symptoms that may have common pathophysiology and therapeutic strategy. The forced swim test (FST) has been commonly used to evaluate the "antidepressant" properties of drugs yet the individual difference analysis of this test was left scantly investigated along with the possible connection among other behavioral domains. This study conducted an FST-screening in outbred CD-1 male mice and segregated them into three groups: high performers (HP) or the active swimmers, middle performers (MP), and low performers (LP) or floaters. After which, a series of behavioral experiments were performed to measure their behavioral responses in the open field, elevated plus maze, Y maze, three-chamber social assay, novel object recognition, delay discounting task, and cliff avoidance reaction. The behavioral tests battery revealed that the three groups displayed seemingly correlated differences in locomotor activity and novel object recognition but not in other behaviors. This study suggests that the HP group in FST has higher locomotor activity and novelty-seeking tendencies compared to the other groups. These results may have important implications in creating behavior database in animal models that could be used for predicting interconnections of various behavioral domains, which eventually helps to understand the neurobiological mechanism controlling the behaviors in individual subjects.

Genetic Organization of the hrp Genes Cluster in Erwinia pyrifoliae and Characterization of HR Active Domains in HrpNEp Protein by Mutational Analysis

  • Shrestha, Rosemary;Park, Duck Hwan;Cho, Jun Mo;Cho, Saeyoull;Wilson, Calum;Hwang, Ingyu;Hur, Jang Hyun;Lim, Chun Keun
    • Molecules and Cells
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    • v.25 no.1
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    • pp.30-42
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    • 2008
  • The disease-specific (dsp) region and the hypersensitive response and pathogenicity (hrp) genes, including the hrpW, $hrpN_{Ep}$, and hrpC operons have previously been sequenced in Erwinia pyrifoliae WT3 [Shrestha et al. (2005a)]. In this study, the remaining hrp genes, including the hrpC, hrpA, hrpS, hrpXY, hrpL and hrpJ operons, were determined. The hrp genes cluster (ca. 38 kb) was comprised of eight transcriptional units and contained nine hrc (hrp conserved) genes. The genetic organization of the hrp/hrc genes and their orientation for the transcriptions were also similar to and collinear with those of E. amylovora, showing ${\geq}80%$ homologies. However, ORFU1 and ORFU2 of unknown functions, present between the hrpA and hrpS operons of E. amylovora, were absent in E. pyrifoliae. To determine the HR active domains, several proteins were prepared from truncated fragments of the N-terminal and the C-terminal regions of $HrpN_{Ep}$ protein of E. pyrifoliae. The proteins prepared from the N-terminal region elicited HR, but not from those of the C-terminal region indicating that HR active domains are located in only N-terminal region of the $HrpN_{Ep}$ protein. Two synthetic oligopeptides produced HR on tobacco confirming presence of two HR active domains in the $HrpN_{Ep}$. The HR positive N-terminal fragment ($HN{\Delta}C187$) was further narrowed down by deleting C-terminal amino acids and internal amino acids to investigate whether amino acid insertion region have role in faster and stronger HR activity in $HrpN_{Ep}$ than $HrpN_{Ea}$. The $HrpN_{Ep}$ mutant proteins $HN{\Delta}C187$ (D1AIR), $HN{\Delta}C187$ (D2AIR) and $HN{\Delta}C187$ (DM41) retained similar HR activation to that of wild-type $HrpN_{Ep}$. However, the $HrpN_{Ep}$ mutant protein $HN{\Delta}C187$ (D3AIR) lacking third amino acid insertion region (102 to 113 aa) reduced HR when compared to that of wild-type $HrpN_{Ep}$. Reduction in HR elicitation could not be observed when single amino acids at different positions were substituted at third amino acids insertion region. But, substitution of amino acids at L103R, L106K and L110R showed reduction in HR activity on tobacco suggesting their importance in activation of HR faster in the $HrpN_{Ep}$ although it requires further detailed analysis.

A Study on the Effects of Read Along by Google with Primary ELLs' Pronunciation and Affective Domains (구글 Read Along 앱 활용이 초등영어학습자의 발음과 정의적 영역에 미치는 효과)

  • Yoon, Tecnam
    • The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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    • v.22 no.10
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    • pp.437-444
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    • 2022
  • The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Read Along by Google with primary English learners' pronunciation and affective domains. In order to answer these two questions, a 4-week pilot study was conducted with 24 participants in the 6 th grade. Read Along as a main learning tool was utilized for a reading-aloud activity, and a pre-/post pronunciation test and survey on the affective factors were distributed as a research instrument. The results indicated that a read-aloud activity with Read Along brought a positive impact on the development of learners' pronunciation ability in terms of accuracy and fluency. Participants showed improvement in the post-pronunciation test, compared to the pre-one and there was a significant difference based on the result of the paired samples t-test. Next, the results of the survey on the affective domains illustrated that participants showed overall improvement in learning interest and confidence and there was a significant difference in these factors. Yet, there was not a significant difference in the learning attitude, even though they showed partial improvement.

The Assessment of Dynamic Mental Stress with Wearable Heart Activity Monitoring System (착용형 심장활동 모니터링 시스템을 활용한 정신적 스트레스 평가)

  • Kim, Kyeong-Seop;Shin, Seung-Won;Lee, Jeong-Whan;Choi, Hee-Jung
    • The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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    • v.57 no.6
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    • pp.1109-1115
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    • 2008
  • In the ubiquitous health monitoring environments, it is quite important not only to evaluate the physiological health condition but also mental stress condition. In order to achieve this goal, a heart activity monitoring system utilizing a wearable bipolar electrode is devised and the heart rate variability(HRV) is extracted and interpreted in both frequency and time feature domains. Consequently, to evaluate the emotional stress condition of the subjects, a stress-induced experimental protocol was applied to healthy subjects and the time and frequency features of heart activity were analyzed in terms of the ratio of low frequency components v.s., high frequency components and the relevant the moving average distributions compromising the successive RR peaks intervals in the ambulatory ECG measurement system.

Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship Prediction of Oral Bioavailabilities Using Support Vector Machine

  • Fatemi, Mohammad Hossein;Fadaei, Fatemeh
    • Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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    • v.58 no.6
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    • pp.543-552
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    • 2014
  • A quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) study is performed for modeling and prediction of oral bioavailabilities of 216 diverse set of drugs. After calculation and screening of molecular descriptors, linear and nonlinear models were developed by using multiple linear regression (MLR), artificial neural network (ANN), support vector machine (SVM) and random forest (RF) techniques. Comparison between statistical parameters of these models indicates the suitability of SVM over other models. The root mean square errors of SVM model were 5.933 and 4.934 for training and test sets, respectively. Robustness and reliability of the developed SVM model was evaluated by performing of leave many out cross validation test, which produces the statistic of $Q^2_{SVM}=0.603$ and SPRESS = 7.902. Moreover, the chemical applicability domains of model were determined via leverage approach. The results of this study revealed the applicability of QSAR approach by using SVM in prediction of oral bioavailability of drugs.

Satisfaction for Voluntary Activity and the Meaning of Life in Hospice Volunteers (호스피스 자원봉사자의 자원봉사활동 만족도와 삶의 의미)

  • Park, Geum-Ja
    • Asian Oncology Nursing
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    • v.6 no.2
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    • pp.104-110
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    • 2006
  • Purpose: This study was to investigate the satisfaction for voluntary activity and the meaning of life in hospice volunteers. Method: Data were obtained by self-reported questionnaire from 102 volunteers and were analyzed using a t-test, ANOVA and Pearson's correlation. Result: The mean score of the satisfaction for hospice volunteer activity was $2.48{\pm}0.38$. Of the domains of the satisfaction, the experience domain had the highest mean score $(2.93{\pm}0.53)$, and the social exchange domain had the lowest mean score $(1.65{\pm}0.63)$. The mean score of the meaning of life was $3.20{\pm}0.33$. The score of satisfaction was significantly different by economic status, and volunteering time per week. The score of meaning of life was statically different by financial status. There was a positive correlation between satisfaction for voluntary activity and the meaning of life. Conclusion: Satisfaction for hospice volunteer activity was significantly related to their meaning of life. In order to increase the satisfaction of volunteers, it is important to consider their financial aspect and the volunteering time.

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Analysis of nursing activities in ambulatory units of secondary and tertiary hospitals (종합병원${\cdot}$종합전문요양기관의 외래 간호활동 분석 연구)

  • Sung, Young-Hee;Park, Jeong-Sook
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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    • v.9 no.1
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    • pp.5-18
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    • 2003
  • Purpose : For improvement of nursing services in ambulatory unit, ambulatory nursing activity was identified and the required time by nursing activity was measured. Method : The data were collected from 4 tertiary hospitals and 2 secondary hospitals. The method of data collection was used the self-reporting method. The 123 nurse-work days and 137 nurse-aid-work days in 6 hospitals were analyzed. Results : As a result, 11 ambulatory nursing domains and 79 ambulatory nursing activities were confirmed. Above 50% of subjects performed the general outpatient affair domain. The percentage of total time spent in each domain were as follows : general outpatient affair domain, 58.3%, patient education ${\cdot}$ counseling domain, 10.8%, therapeutic care domain, 8.6% and so on. And the average hours were measured by activity and domain. Conclusion : For the improvement of ambulatory nursing care, the strategies that keep the legal standard of number of ambulatory nurse and exchange the nursing-aid for the nurse is needed. And it is also needed to standardize the ambulatory nursing services.

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Analysis of Cost and Efficiency of a Medical Nursing Unit Using Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (시간-동인활동기준원가계산(Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing)을 이용한 일 내과병동 간호단위 원가계산 및 효율성 분석)

  • Lim, Ji-Young;Kim, Mi-Ja;Park, Chang-Gi
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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    • v.41 no.4
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    • pp.500-509
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    • 2011
  • Purpose: Time-driven activity-based costing was applied to analyze the nursing activity cost and efficiency of a medical unit. Methods: Data were collected at a medical unit of a general hospital. Nursing activities were measured using a nursing activities inventory and classified as 6 domains using Easley-Storfjell Instrument. Descriptive statistics were used to identify general characteristics of the unit, nursing activities and activity time, and stochastic frontier model was adopted to estimate true activity time. Results: The average efficiency of the medical unit using theoretical resource capacity was 77%, however the efficiency using practical resource capacity was 96%. According to these results, the portion of non-added value time was estimated 23% and 4% each. The sums of total nursing activity costs were estimated 109,860,977 won in traditional activity-based costing and 84,427,126 won in time-driven activity-based costing. The difference in the two cost calculating methods was 25,433,851 won. Conclusion: These results indicate that the time-driven activity-based costing provides useful and more realistic information about the efficiency of unit operation compared to traditional activity-based costing. So time-driven activity-based costing is recommended as a performance evaluation framework for nursing departments based on cost management.

Comparison of the Quality of Life of the Elderly inpatient with that of the normal elderly people (입원노인과 일반노인의 삶의 질의 비교)

  • 민경진;김정자;차춘근
    • Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.183-205
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    • 2000
  • This research was designed to compare the health condition and the quality of life of the elderly inpatients with those of the normal elderly people. The subjects of study were 482 elderly inpatients and 304 normal elderly people. The research was conducted in July and August using the instrument WHOQOL. The results of the research are as follows: For the level of health, it was recognized that male was healthier than female, having higher the education, living in the city rather than in the rural, keeping the normal life than being in the hospital. There were little difference in the past medical histories of the elderly inpatients and the normal elderly people. As to the diseases currently under the treatment, there were some difference between the elderly inpatients and the normal elderly people but the tendency was similar in the kinds and the frequencies. As to the recognition for the quality of life between the elderly inpatients and the normal elderly people based on the records reflected on each of the domains of WHOQOL, the normal elderly people more positively recognized in the overall quality of life and the following domains: physical, psychological, level of independence, and spirituality/religion/personal beliefs. The normal elderly people more positively recognized especially in the level of independence domain (mobility, activities of daily living, dependence on medication or treatments, working capacity). In the social relationships domain only the sexual activity was significant and the normal elderly people more positively recognized. The elderly inpatients showed the correlation of over 0.5 in the overall quality of life and the following domains: environment, social relationships, physical, psychological, level of independence. It was over 0.6 in the physical domain and the domains of psychological and level of independence. and the psychological domains of level of independence and social relationships. For the points of overall quality of life, it had no correlation with hospitalization but the health condition, residential district, occupation, and taste exerted a significant effect. As a result of separate analyses of the elderly inpatients and the normal elderly people, the health condition and the age only were the common variable which would exercise a significant effect. Besides, the primary factors which would exercise the quality of life were the occupation and taste for the elderly inpatients, and the residential district and source of income for the normal elderly people. In conclusion, it is first and foremost important to improve the standard of health for the overall quality of life for the elderly people, regardless of hospitalization. Therefore, a plan must be urgently drawn up for revitalization of the health promoting projects for the elderly people and the public health projects for the elderly people, and the investment must be increased for settlement of health problems of the elderly people.

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