• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.77-86
• /
• 2017

This study selected car-related mobile apps for app developers suffering from low revenue and classified car apps assisting users in driving or managing a car. A total of 697 car apps were classified into eight categories. Most apps are in four categories: car news & information (28%), locating service (23%), car rental service (15%), safe/efficient driving service (12%). The remaining categories are buying & selling, driver's communication, maintenance management, and expenses monitoring. Many apps are simple and too similar in their main functions. Only a few apps are designed to be more comprehensive and have functions in two or more categories. For the practicality of the categorization scheme, this study checked the inter-rater reliability in two tests and got 0.886 and 0.828. The result from this study suggests functions that are not implemented yet or need to be combined. Future research will focus on identifying promising car apps or designing multi-functional car apps.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.47 no.2
• /
• pp.185-187
• /
• 2009

The prevalence of Enterobius vermicularis infection among preschool children was reported to be low based on a 5-year screening program in Taipei City, Taiwan. The Taipei City government intended to terminate the E. vermicularis screening program among preschool children. Thus, we were entrusted with confirming whether pinworm infections among preschool children in Taipei City had truly declined. From each of 12 administrative districts 2-3 kindergartens were randomly selected for investigation. In total, 4,349 children were examined, of which 2,537 were boys and 1,812 were girls. The cellophane tape adhered to a glass slide was used, and all examinations were done by certified medical technologists. Results indicated that the overall prevalence rate of pinworm infections was 0.62% (27/4,349). Although the infection rate was higher among boys (0.67%, 17/2,537) than in girls (0.55%, 10/1,812), no significant difference was found ($X^2$=0.399, P=0.62). According to the administrative district, the infection rate ranged from no positive cases of E. vermicularis infection in the Xinyi, Zhongzhen, and Wanhua Districts (0%; 0/299, 0/165, and 0/358, respectively), to 0.26% (1/131) in Songshan District, with the highest rate of 1.88% (7/373) in Wenshan District. Because the overall infection rate (0.62%, 27/4,349) in the present study was unchanged compared to that (0.40%, 197/49,541) previously reported in 2005, we propose that regular pinworm screening and treatment programs should be continued in some parts of Taipei City.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.2344-2349
• /
• 2015

In Korea, summer is hot and humid, and air-conditioners consume too much electricity due to large amount of latent heat. Simultaneous usage of dehumidifier may reduce the latent heat and save the electricity. In this study, dehumidification performance was measured in a constant temperature and humidity chamber for a small-sized dehumdification rotor made of inorganic fiber impregnated with metallic silicate. Variables were rotor speed, room temperature, regeneration temperature, room relative humidity and frontal velocity to the rotor. Results showed that there existed optimum rotor speed (1.0 rpm), and optimum regeneration temperature ($100^{\circ}C$). Above the optimum rotor speed, incomplete regeneration is responsible for reduced dehumidification. Above the optimum regeneration temperature, increased temperature difference between regeneration and dehumidification process is responsible for reduced dehumidification. The amount of dehumidification also increases with the increase of relative humidity, dehumidification temperature and flow velocity into the rotor.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.30 no.7
• /
• pp.1006-1012
• /
• 2017

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate effects of zinc (Zn) bearing palygorskite (ZnPal) supplementation on growth performance, hepatic mineral content, and antioxidant status of broilers at early age. Methods: A total of 240 1-day-old Arbor Acres broiler chicks were allocated into 5 treatments with 6 replicates of 8 chicks each. Birds in 5 treatments were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0 (Control group; Analyzed Zn content: 81 mg/kg), 20, 40, 60, and 80 mg/kg Zn as ZnPal for 21 days, respectively. Blood, liver and intestinal mucosa were collected at 21 days of age. Results: Treatments did not affect growth performance of broilers during the 21-day study (p>0.05). The contents of hepatic Zn and magnesium (Mg) were linearly increased (p<0.001) by ZnPal supplementation. ZnPal inclusion linearly (p = 0.007) reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in serum. The activity of total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) in liver increased linearly (p = 0.001) with concentration of ZnPal in diet. ZnPal inclusion linearly (p = 0.036) and quadratically (p = 0.005) increased T-SOD activity, and linearly (p = 0.012) increased copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn SOD) activity in jejunal mucosa. The maximum responses of hepatic and jejunal antioxidant enzymes activities (T-SOD and Cu/Zn SOD) were found when supplementing the basal diet with 60 mg/kg Zn as ZnPal. Furthermore, ZnPal supplementation quadratically (p = 0.001) increased Cu/Zn SOD activity in ileal mucosa, and its maximum activity was observed in the diet supplemented with 20 mg/kg Zn as ZnPal. Conclusion: ZnPal supplementation did not alter growth performance of broilers. Dietary ZnPal inclusion could increase concentrations of hepatic trace minerals (Zn and Mg) and inhibit lipid peroxidation by reducing serum MDA accumulation, with the optimal dosage of Zn from ZnPal being 80 mg/kg diet (analyzed Zn content in the diet: 165 mg/kg), and 60 mg/kg Zn as ZnPal (analyzed Zn content in the diet: 148 mg/kg) was the optimum dosage for broilers to achieve maximum antioxidant enzyme activities.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.278-288
• /
• 2014

Background: Panax ginseng Meyer is a traditional medicinal plant famous for its strong therapeutic effects and serves as an important herbal medicine. To understand and manipulate genes involved in secondary metabolic pathways including ginsenosides, transcriptome profiling of P. ginseng is essential. Methods: RNA-seq analysis of adventitious roots of two P. ginseng cultivars, Chunpoong (CP) and Cheongsun (CS), was performed using the Illumina HiSeq platform. After transcripts were assembled, expression profiling was performed. Results: Assemblies were generated from ~85 million and ~77 million high-quality reads from CP and CS cultivars, respectively. A total of 35,527 and 27,716 transcripts were obtained from the CP and CS assemblies, respectively. Annotation of the transcriptomes showed that approximately 90% of the transcripts had significant matches in public databases.We identified several candidate genes involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis. In addition, a large number of transcripts (17%) with different gene ontology designations were uniquely detected in adventitious roots compared to normal ginseng roots. Conclusion: This study will provide a comprehensive insight into the transcriptome of ginseng adventitious roots, and a way for successful transcriptome analysis and profiling of resource plants with less genomic information. The transcriptome profiling data generated in this study are available in our newly created adventitious root transcriptome database (http://im-crop.snu.ac.kr/transdb/index.php) for public use.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.97-105
• /
• 2019

Objectives: We investigated differences between the tracheostomized and the non-tracheostomized stroke patients through microbiological analysis for the purpose of preliminary explorations of full-scale clinical research in the future. Methods: We collected tracheal aspirates samples from 5 stroke patients with tracheostomy and expectorated sputum samples from 5 stroke patients without tracheostomy. Genomic DNA from sputum samples was isolated using QIAamp DNA mini kit. The sequences were processed using Quantitative Insights into Microbial Ecology 1.9.0. Alpha-diversity was calculated using the Chao1 estimator. Beta-diversity was analyzed by UniFrac-based principal coordinates analysis (PCoA). To confirm taxa with different abundance among the groups, linear discriminant analysis effect size analysis was performed. Results: Although alpha-diversity value of the tracheostomized group was higher than that of the non-tracheostomized group, there was no statistically significant difference. In PCoA, clear separation was seen between clusters of the tracheostomized group and that of the non-tracheostomized group. In both groups, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Fusobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria were identified as dominant in phylum level. In particular, relative richness of Proteobacteria was found to be 31% more in the tracheotomized group (36.6%) than the non-tracheostomized group (5.6%)(P<0.05). In genus level, Neisseria (24%), Prevotella (17%), Streptococcus (13%), Fusobacteria (11%), Porphyromonas (7%) were identified as dominant in the tracheostomized group. In the non-tracheostomized group, Prevotella (38%), Veillonella (20%), Neisseria (9%) were genera that found to be dominant. Conclusions: It is meaningful in that the tracheostomized group has been identified a higher rate of microbiotas known as pathogenic in respiratory diseases compared to the non-tracheostomized group, confirming the possibility that the risk of opportunity infection may be higher.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.313-320
• /
• 2014

The study was conducted to investigate the role of vitamin E in the high altitude hypoxia-induced damage to the intestinal barrier in rats. Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into control (Control), high altitude hypoxia (HH), and high altitude hypoxia + vitamin E (250 mg/kg $BW^*d$) (HV) groups. After the third day, the HH and HV groups were placed in a hypobaric chamber at a stimulated elevation of 7000 m for 5 days. The rats in the HV group were given vitamin E by gavage daily for 8 days. The other rats were given equal volume saline. The results showed that high altitude hypoxia caused the enlargement of heart, liver, lung and kidney, and intestinal villi damage. Supplementation with vitamin E significantly alleviated hypoxia-caused damage to the main organs including intestine, increased the serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) (p< 0.05), diamino oxidase (DAO) (p< 0.01) levels, and decreased the serum levels of interleukin-2 (IL-2) (p< 0.01), interleukin-4 (IL-4) (p<0.001), interferon-gamma ($IFN-{\gamma}$) (p<0.01) and malondialdehyde (MDA) (p<0.001), and decreased the serum erythropoietin (EPO) activity (p<0.05). Administration of vitamin E significantly increased the S-IgA (p<0.001) in ileum and significantly improved the expression levels of occludin and $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$, and decreased the expression levels of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha and 2 alpha ($HIF-1{\alpha}$ and $HIF-2{\alpha}$), Toll-like receptors (TLR4), P-$I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$ and nuclear factor-${\kappa}B$ p65(NF-${\kappa}B$ P65) in ileum compared to the HH group. This study suggested that vitamin E protectis from intestinal injury caused by high altitude hypoxia environment. These effects may be related to the HIF and TLR4/NF-${\kappa}B$ signaling pathway.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.537-546
• /
• 2015

Classical swine fever (CSF) is a highly contagious disease of pigs caused by CSF virus (CSFV). E2 is the major viral envelope protein of immune dominance that induces neutralizing antibodies and confers protection against CSFV infection. The B/C domains of E2 are variable among CSFV isolates, which could affect immunogenicity and binding to antibodies. We attempted to characterize the epitope recognized by a monoclonal antibody 2B6 (mAb-2B6) raised against the E2 B/C domains of the vaccine C-strain and to examine if mutations in the epitope region would affect antibody binding and viral neutralization. The epitope specific for mAb-2B6 recognition is linear, spanning five residues ⁷⁷⁴DGXNP⁷⁷⁸ in the B/C domains. The residue N777 is indispensable for the specificity. The epitope exists only in group 1 strains, but not in those of group 2. The recombinant viruses containing individual mutations on the epitope region lost the reactivity to mAb-2B6. The mutant virus RecC-N777S had low replication potential, about 10-fold decrease in the yield of progeny virus particles, whereas the mutant virus RecC-P778A reverted to proline upon continuous passaging. The mutations on the mAb-2B6 epitope region did not affect neutralization by anti-C-strain polyclonal sera from pigs. Deletion from aa774 covering the mAb-2B6 epitope, but not that from aa781, also affected binding with the polyclonal antibodies from vaccinated pigs, although the major binding region for the vaccinated antibodies is aa690-773.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.41 no.6
• /
• pp.553-561
• /
• 2018

Icariside II (ICA II) is used in erectile dysfunction treatment. Adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ADSCs) are efficient at improving erectile function. This study aimed to explore the action mechanism of ADSCs in improving erectile function. ADSCs were isolated from the adipose tissues of rats. Cell proliferation was determined using the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. The expressions of mRNA and protein were determined separately through qRT-PCR and western blot. The endogenous expressions of related genes were regulated using recombinant plasmids and cell transfection. A Dual-Luciferase Reporter Assay was performed to determine the interaction between miR-34a and STAT3. Rat models with bilateral cavernous nerve injuries (BCNIs) were used to assess erectile function through the detection of mean arterial pressure (MAP) and intracavernosal pressure (ICP). ICA II promoted ADSCs' proliferation and differentiation to Schwann cells (SCs) through the inhibition of miR-34a. Suppressed miR-34a promoted the differentiation of ADSCs to SCs by upregulating STAT3. ICA II promoted the differentiation of ADSCs to SCs through the miR-34a/STAT3 pathway. The combination of ICA II and ADSCs preserved the erectile function of the BCNI model rats. ADSCs treated with ICA II markedly preserved the erectile function of the BCNI model rats, which was reversed through miR-34a overexpression. ICA II promotes the differentiation of ADSCs to SCs through the miR34a/STAT3 pathway, contributing to erectile function preservation after the occurrence of a cavernous nerve injury.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.27 no.9
• /
• pp.1701-1710
• /
• 2017

Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is the etiologic agent of classical swine fever, a highly contagious disease that causes significant economic losses to the swine industry. The lapinized C-strain, a widely used vaccine strain against CSFV, has low growth efficiency in cell culture, which limits the productivity in the vaccine industry. In this study, a recombinant virus derived from C-strain was constructed and subjected to continuous passaging in PK-15 cells with the goal of acquiring a high progeny virus yield. A cell-adapted virus variant, RecCpp80, had nearly 1,000-fold higher titer than its parent C-strain but lost the ability to induce fever in rabbits. Sequence analysis of cell-adapted RecC variants indicated that at least six nucleotide changes were fixed in RecCpp80. Further adaption of RecCpp80 variant in swine testicle cells led to a higher virus yield without additional mutations. Introduction of each of these residues into the wild-type RecC backbone showed that one mutation, M979R (T3310G), located in the C-terminal region of E2 might be closely related to the cell-adapted phenotype. Rabbit inoculation revealed that $RecCpp40_{+10}$ failed to induce fever in rabbits, whereas $RecCpp80_{+10}$ caused a fever response similar to the commercial C-strain vaccine. In conclusion, the C-strain can be adapted to cell culture by introducing specific mutations in its E2 protein. The mutations in RecCpp80 that led to the loss of fever response in rabbits require further investigation. Continuous passaging of the C-strain-based recombinant viruses in PK-15 cells could enhance its in vitro adaption. The non-synonymous mutations at 3310 and 3531 might play major roles in the enhanced capacity of general virus reproduction. Such findings may help design a modified C-strain for improved productivity of commercial vaccines at reduced production cost.