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In this study, cloud base height (CBH) and cloud top height (CTH) observed by the Ka-band (33.44 GHz) cloud radar at the Boseong National Center for Intensive Observation of Severe Weather during fall 2013 (September–November) were verified and corrected. For comparative verification, CBH and CTH were obtained using a ceilometer (CL51) and the Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite (COMS). During rainfall, the CBH and CTH observed by the cloud radar were lower than observed by the ceilometer and COMS because of signal attenuation due to raindrops, and this difference increased with rainfall intensity. During dry periods, however, the CBH and CTH observed by the cloud radar, ceilometer, and COMS were similar. Thin and low-density clouds were observed more effectively by the cloud radar compared with the ceilometer and COMS. In cases of rainfall or missing cloud radar data, the ceilometer and COMS data were proven effective in correcting or compensating the cloud radar data. These corrected cloud data were used to classify cloud types, which revealed that low clouds occurred most frequently.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to develop a scale measuring sexuality information needs of patients with cancer. METHODS: Nine items of sexuality information needs were based on the PLISSIT model and concepts of sexual rights. A factor analysis using principal axis factoring and Cronbach's alpha were performed to test validity and reliability. Data were collected from 211 patients with cancer visiting a cancer center in Seoul, Korea. RESULTS: Factor loadings of the 9 items of sub scales ranged from .43 to .96. Three factors in this study explained 74.4% of the total variance. Cronbach's alpha of the 9 items was .83. CONCLUSION: The scale of information needs about sexuality showed acceptable construct validity and reliability. This scale would be useful to assess the levels of information needs for sexuality for patients with cancer. The possibility of the scales' expansion to other group could be investigated in future studies.

Shadow is a common physical phenomenon in natural images and may cause problems in computer vision tasks. Therefore, shadow removal is an essential preprocessing process for effective moving object tracking in video image. In this paper, we proposed the method of shadow removal algorithm using chromaticity, brightness distortion and direction of shadow candidate. The proposed method consists of two steps. First, removal process of primary shadow candidate region by using chromaticity, brightness and distortion. The second stage applies the final shadow candidate region to obtain a direction feature of shadow which is estimated by the thinning algorithm after calculating the lowest pixel position of the moving object. To verify the proposed approach, some experiments are conducted to draw a compare between conventional method and that of proposed. Experimental results showed that proposed methodology is simple, but robust and well adaptive to be need to remove a shadow removal operation.

Objective The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of severe, definite depression symptoms, as measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and the association between high CES-D scores (i.e., ≥25) and sociodemographic and perioperative factors during perioperative period. Methods Among 1690 consecutive breast cancer patients who were admitted for definitive breast surgery during the study period, 1499 patients were included in this study. Patients with a past medical history of psychiatric medication or support, a plan for elective surgery due to locoregional recurrence, or any metastatic disease were excluded. The CES-D score was checked 1 day before definitive surgeries. The sociodemographic data and perioperative data were analyzed. Results The mean CES-D score was 18.5, with 24.1% (362/1499) and 56.7% (850/1499) having high CES-D scores of ≥25 and ≥16, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that the number of family members with any malignancy (≥2 vs. 0), sedative medication (yes vs. no), and postoperative numeric rating scale scores (persistent, severe pain vs. stably mild pain) were significantly associated factors for severe, definite depression symptoms [CES-D score of ≥25: adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.56, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.10–2.21, p = 0.013; adjusted OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.00–2.71, p = 0.048; and adjusted OR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.15–3.95, p = 0.016, respectively]. Conclusion Depression may increase the intensity of postoperative acute pain. Self-reporting of persistent postoperative pain intensity is potentially useful in detecting hidden depression symptoms in breast cancer patients during the perioperative period. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this study, we present observational evidence, based on satellite aerosol measurements and MERRA reanalysis data for the period 1979-2011, indicating that absorbing aerosols can have strong influence on seasonal-to-interannual variability of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall, including amplification of ENSO effects. We find a significant correlation between ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) and aerosol loading in April-May, with La Nina (El Nino) conditions favoring increased (decreased) aerosol accumulation over northern India, with maximum aerosol optical depth (AOD) over the Arabian Sea and Northwestern India, indicative of strong concentration of dust aerosols transported from West Asia and Middle East deserts. Composite analyses based on a normalized aerosol index (NAI) show that high concentration of aerosol over northern India in April-May is associated with increased moisture transport, enhanced dynamically induced warming of the upper troposphere over the Tibetan Plateau, and enhanced rainfall over northern India and the Himalayan foothills during May-June, followed by a subsequent suppressed monsoon rainfall over all India,consistent with the Elevated Heat Pump (EHP) hypothesis (Lau et al. 2006). Further analyses from sub-sampling of ENSO years, with normal (less than 1 sigma), and abnormal (greater than 1 sigma)) NAI over northern India respectively show that the EHP may lead to an amplification of the Indian summer monsoon response to ENSO forcing, particularly with respect to the increased rainfall over the Himalayan foothills, and the warming of the upper troposphere over the Tibetan Plateau. Our results suggest that absorbing aerosol, particular desert dusts can strongly modulate ENSO influence, and possibly play important roles as a feedback agent in climate change in Asian monsoon regions.

This study was conducted to evaluate the prediction accuracies of THe Observing system Research and Predictability EXperiment (THORPEX) Interactive Grand Global Ensemble (TIGGE) data at six operational forecast centers using the root-mean square difference (RMSD) and Brier score (BS) from April to July 2012. And it was performed to test the precipitation predictability of ensemble prediction systems (EPS) on the onset of the summer rainy season, the day of withdrawal in spring drought over South Korea on 29 June 2012 with use of the ensemble mean precipitation, ensemble probability precipitation, 10-day lag ensemble forecasts (ensemble mean and probability precipitation), and effective drought index (EDI). The RMSD analysis of atmospheric variables (geopotential-height at 500 hPa, temperature at 850 hPa, sea-level pressure and specific humidity at 850 hPa) showed that the prediction accuracies of the EPS at the Meteorological Service of Canada (CMC) and China Meteorological Administration (CMA) were poor and those at the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) were good. Also, ECMWF and KMA showed better results than other EPSs for predicting precipitation in the BS distributions. It is also evaluated that the onset of the summer rainy season could be predicted using ensemble-mean precipitation from 4-day leading time at all forecast centers. In addition, the spatial distributions of predicted precipitation of the EPS at KMA and the Met Office of the United Kingdom (UKMO) were similar to those of observed precipitation; thus, the predictability showed good performance. The precipitation probability forecasts of EPS at CMA, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), and UKMO (ECMWF and KMA) at 1-day lead time produced over-forecasting (under-forecasting) in the reliability diagram. And all the ones at 2∼4-day lead time showed under-forecasting. Also, the precipitation on onset day of the summer rainy season could be predicted from a 4-day lead time to initial time by using the 10-day lag ensemble mean and probability forecasts. Additionally, the predictability for withdrawal day of spring drought to be ended due to precipitation on onset day of summer rainy season was evaluated using Effective Drought Index (EDI) to be calculated by ensemble mean precipitation forecasts and spreads at five EPSs.

Stress fiber (SF) alteration is mediated by cellular receptors, which, upon interaction with the extracellular counterpart, signal to the actin cytoskeleton for remodeling. This association is mediated by a variety of scaffold and signaling factors, which control the mechanical and signaling activities of the interaction site. The heterotrimeric transmembrane lymphotoxin α1β2 (LTα1β2), a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family of cytokines, including soluble homotrimeric lymphotoxin (LTα), plays an important role in lymphoid tissue architecture. Ligation between LTα1β2 and the lymphotoxin β receptor (LTβR) activates signal-cascade in fibroblastic reticular cells (FRCs). We found LTβR stimulation using an agonistic anti-LTβR antibody alone or combined with LTα or TNFα induced changes in the actin and plasticity of cells. To clarify the involvement of myosin underlying the alteration, we analyzed the effect of myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) with an MLCK inhibitor (ML7), the phosphorylation level of myosin light chains (MLC), and the level of phospho-myosin phosphatase target subunit 1 (MYPT1) after treatment with an agonistic anti-LTβR antibody for cytoskeleton reorganization in FRCs. The inhibition of MLCK activity induced changes in the actin cytoskeleton organization and cell morphology in FRC. In addition, we showed the phosphorylation of MLC and MYPT1 was reduced by LTβR stimulation in cells. A DNA chip revealed the LTβR stimulation of FRC down-regulated transcripts of myosin and actin components. Collectively, these results suggest LTβR stimulation is linked to myosin regarding SF alteration in FRC.

An attribution analysis of extreme temperature changes is conducted using updated observations (HadEX2) and multi-model climate simulation (CMIP5) datasets for an extended period of 1951–2010. Compared to previous HadEX/CMIP3-based results, which identified human contributions to the observed warming of extreme temperatures on global and regional scales, the current results provide better agreement with observations, particularly for the intensification of warm extremes. Removing the influence of two major modes of natural internal variability (the Arctic Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation) from observations further improves attribution results, reducing the model-observation discrepancy in cold extremes. An optimal fingerprinting technique is used to compare observed changes in annual extreme temperature indices of coldest night and day (TNn, TXn) and warmest night and day (TNx, TXx) with multi-model simulated changes that were simulated under natural-plus-anthropogenic and natural-only (NAT) forcings. Extreme indices are standardized for better intercomparisons between datasets and locations prior to analysis and averaged over spatial domains from global to continental regions following a previous study. Results confirm previous HadEX/CMIP3-based results in which anthropogenic (ANT) signals are robustly detected in the increase in global mean and northern continental regional means of the four indices of extreme temperatures. The detected ANT signals are also clearly separable from the response to NAT forcing, and results are generally insensitive to the use of different model samples as well as different data availability.

Weather and climate extremes exert devastating influence on human society and ecosystem around the world. Recent observations show increase in frequency and intensity of climate extremes around the world including East Asia. In order to assess current status of the observed changes in weather and climate extremes and discuss possible mechanisms, this study provides an overview of recent analyses on such extremes over Korea and East Asia. It is found that the temperature extremes over the Korean Peninsula exhibit long-term warming trends with more frequent hot events and less frequent cold events, along with sizeable interannual and decadal variabilities. The comprehensive review on the previous literature further suggests that the weather and climate extremes over East Asia can be affected by several climate factors of external and internal origins. It has been assessed that greenhouse warming leads to increase in warm extremes and decrease in cold extremes over East Asia, but recent Arctic sea-ice melting and associated warming tends to bring cold snaps to East Asia during winter. Internal climate variability such as tropical intraseasonal oscillation and El Nino-Southern Oscillation can also exert considerable impacts on weather and climate extremes over Korea and East Asia. It is, however, noted that our current understanding is far behind to estimate the effect of these climate factors on local weather and climate extremes in a quantitative sense.

The Ka-band cloud radar (KCR) has been operated by the National Institute of Meteorological Research (NIMR) of Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) at Boseong National Center for Intensive Observation of severe weather since 2013. Evaluation of data quality is an essential process to further analyze cloud information. In this study, we estimate the measurement error and the sampling uncertainty to evaluate data quality. By using vertically pointing data, the statistical uncertainty is obtained by calculating the standard deviation of each radar parameter. The statistical uncertainties decrease as functions of sampling number. The statistical uncertainties of horizontal and vertical reflectivities are identical (0.28 dB). On the other hand, the statistical uncertainties of Doppler velocity (spectrum width) are 2.2 times (1.6 times) larger at the vertical channel. The reflectivity calibration of KCR is also performed using X-band vertically pointing radar (VertiX) and 2-dimensional video disdrometer (2DVD). Since the monitoring of calibration values is useful to evaluate radar condition, the variation of calibration is monitored for five rain events. The average of calibration bias is 10.77 dBZ and standard deviation is 3.69 dB. Finally, the statistical characteristics of cloud properties have been investigated during two months in autumn using calibrated reflectivity. The percentage of clouds is about 26% and 16% on September to October. However, further analyses are required to derive general characteristics of autumn cloud in Korea.

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is the causative agent of enzootic bovine leukosis. This study was conducted to clarify the molecular characteristics of BLVs obtained from a specific region in Korea. Proviral BLVs were detected in anti-BLV antibody-positive blood samples by PCR. Env and gag fragments were sequenced and compared to previously published reference sequences. Analysis of the env gene sequence revealed that the YI strain was highly similar to genotype 1, including United States and Japanese strains. The gag gene sequence had the highest degree of similarity with a Japanese strain.

The number of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) cases has increased over the past 20 years in Korea, with a major outbreak in 2013. A total of 27 Korean strains from 1998 to 2013 were analyzed (excluding the noncoding regions) and divided into two groups for comparison of the spike (S), ORF3, envelope (E), membrane (M), and nucleocapsid (N) genes with those of reference strains, vaccine strains, and previously identified strains based on phylogenetic analysis. Analysis of the selection patterns of PEDV isolated in Korea indicated positive selection of nine nonsynonymous sites in the S and N proteins and negative selection at 97 sites for all of the proteins. Interestingly, eight nonsynonymous mutations in S showed no significant pattern change over the 15-year period, and one of eight mutation sites was found only in IC05TK, GN05DJ, and KNU0802 in the epidemic years 2005 and 2008. These eight mutations were also present during the epidemic years in China. Furthermore, of the signs of positive selection in the S protein, the conservative substitutions were more frequent than radical substitutions in PEDVs, suggesting that the evolution of Korean strains has been slow. Serological cross-reactivity was detected between three field PEDVs and two vaccine strains, with different serum neutralization titers. In conclusion, although Korean PEDVs have been evolving slowly, their diverse antigenicity and genetics imply that multilateral efforts to prevent future PED outbreaks are required. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00705-015-2353-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

An 11-year-old, spayed female poodle presented with fever and shifting lameness. Physical examinationrevealed hyperthermia (40.6 o C), and proteinuria was detected upon urinalysis. Increased neutrophils (83%) and decreasedviscosity were revealed upon synovial fluid analysis. Serum antinuclear antibody was positive at 1 : 80. Based on thesefindings, the dog was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus. Immunosuppressive therapy was initiated withprednisolone and cyclosporine, and the condition was markedly improved after the treatments. This case report describesthe clinical and laboratory findings, imaging characteristics and successful outcomes after prednisolone plus cyclosporinetherapy in a canine systemic lupus erythematosus case.Keywords : antinuclear antibody, cyclosporine, glomerulonephritis, polyarthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystemicautoimmune disorder in which immunity is directed againstvarious tissues or tissue components [1]. The most commonclinical features include shifting lameness from polyarthritis,ulceration of extremities caused by vasculitis, icteric and palemucous membranes resulting from immune-mediated hemol-ysis, and peripheral edema or pleural effusion due to hypoal-buminemia secondary to glomerulonephritis. Additionally,dermatologic lesions may be present, including crusting, alope-cia, erythema, ulceration, and hyperkeratosis [8].Major signs of SLE are skin lesions, non-erosive polyarthri-tis, hemolytic anemia, glomerulonephritis, polymyositis, leuko-penia, and thrombocytopenia [1]. Minor signs are fever, centralnervous system symptoms, oral ulcerations, lymphadenopa-thy, pericarditis, and pleuritis [2]. The antinuclear antibody(ANA) test and lupus erythematosus (LE) cell preparations areused clinically for the diagnosis of SLE, but until recently, theANA test is considered the most sensitive [3, 14]. Immunosup-pression is vital to treating this abnormal immune response,and patients can be treated with high dose of prednisolone (1–2 mg/kg, per oral [PO], q12h) and cytotoxic drugs, such asazathioprine, cyclosporine, and cyclophosphamide [4, 5]. Thiscase report describes successful treatment using prednisoloneand cyclosporine in a dog with SLE.An 11-year-old, 6.1 kg, spayed female poodle dog pre-sented with fever, lethargy, anorexia, and shifting lameness.The dog had a history of reluctance to stand up and walk,which was intermittent and partially responsive to non-steroi-dal anti-inflammatory drugs. Physical examination was unre-markable except for hyperthermia (40.6

Several efforts have been made to eradicate bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) in Korea. However, there is still insufficient information on how the BVD virus (BVDV) affects bovine abortion. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of BVDV, and age of fetuses with BVDV infection in 350 aborted fetuses from 314 farms submitted to the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency in Korea from 2008-2017. Histopathologically, all fetal tissues were autologous, or had no specific lesions. BVDV was detected in 83 (23.7%) fetuses from 77 (24.5%) farms by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and revealed more than 30% higher detection rates in Chungnam and Gyeongbuk provinces compared to other regions, based on both total data and farm-associated analyses. Estimated age of fetuses with BVDV infection by converting the measured crown-rump length into fetal age showed that most cases occurred with abortions being induced during fetal period considered to be middle and late stage abortions. These results suggest that in order to successfully eradicate BVD in Korea, control programs such as vaccination and enhanced biosecurity should be applied to prevent fetal infections.

Aims: The objective of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of fibrin sealant (Tisseel®) in the loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN 2 or 3). Methods: We designed a single-blind, prospective, randomized study in 40 consecutive women undergoing LEEP for CIN 2 or 3 at our institute. Two milliliters of fibrin sealant (Tisseel) was applied to the uterine cervix of 20 women immediately after LEEP surgery (treatment group). We evaluated abdominal pain, vaginal bleeding, vaginal discharge and impairment in daily living after 1 week using visual analogue scale questionnaires and compared the results with those of 20 women who did not receive fibrin sealant (control group). Results: Among 40 women who returned for a follow-up 1 week after LEEP, 25 women (62.5%) reported at least one moderate to severe postprocedural symptom. The mean duration of moderate to severe vaginal bleeding and impairment in daily living during postoperative week 1 for the treatment group and the control group was 0.3 ± 0.80 versus 1.7 ± 2.36 days (p = 0.015) and 0.9 ± 1.37 versus 3.00 ± 2.62 days (p = 0.060), respectively. Conclusion: Intraoperative application of fibrin sealant (Tisseel) in LEEP can decrease postoperative vaginal bleeding and impairment in daily living.

Objective: To investigate the role of maternal serum placenta growth factor (PlGF) and quadruple test parameters in predicting the risk of small for gestational age (SGA) infants of mothers without preeclampsia. Materials and methods: We prospectively enrolled 300 pregnant patients who underwent blood sampling at 15–18 weeks gestation and followed them until delivery. Cases with SGA neonate delivery (n = 100) were compared with matched AGA neonate controls (n = 200). The plasma PlGF and quadruple markers were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The results were analyzed with Mann–Whitney U tests, and regression analysis was used to develop a model for the prediction of SGA. Results: Women who delivered SGA neonates had decreased levels of PlGF (median 0.71 MoM versus 0.7 MoM; p

Background There is limited evidence on the degree of cognitive impairment and its association with physical functional capacity among patients with heart failure (HF) in Korea. Objectives In this study, we compared cognitive impairment between patients with HF and community-dwelling participants with non-HF medical conditions (medical participants) and its association with physical functional capacity. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional comparative study and assessed the neuropsychological cognitive status (Seoul Neuropsychological Screening Battery) and physical functional capacity (Duke Activity Status Index) of patients with HF and medical participants using face-to-face interviews. Results One hundred and eighteen patients with HF (age, 65.45 ± 9.38 years; men, 57.6%; left ventricular ejection fraction, 34.93 ± 8.72%) and 83 medical participants (age, 66.02 ± 8.28 years; men, 47.0%) were included. Using seventh-percentile medical participant Z-scores as cutoffs, memory and executive function were worse in patients with HF than in medical participants: immediate (35.0% vs. 6.0%) and delayed recall memory (34.5% vs. 8.4%), and executive function (28.6% vs. 6.0%). Independent of age, sex, education, comorbidity, and HF status, executive function was a significant predictor of physical functional capacity (b = 1.82, p = .021). Conclusions More patients with HF had impaired memory and executive function, which were associated with their physical functional capacities.

Purpose: Cervical cancer is caused by persistent infection with high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV). The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of Raman spectroscopy as a stand-alone analytical tool for clinical diagnosis of HPV infection using human cervical fluids. Method: A drop-coating deposition surface-enhanced Raman scattering (DCD-SERS) method was identified as the most effective method of biochemical analysis in cervical biofluids. Results: Using a 2-µL sample, the proposed DCD-SERS method yielded Raman spectra with high reproducibility, noise-independence, and uniformity. Additionally, the produced spectra were independent of the volume of fluid used and detection zone analyzed within the central and the ring zones. The optical detection of HPV infection in cervical fluids could be detected accurately in the central zone. Different Raman spectra were obtained according to HPV type. In particular, HPV-16 and HPV-18, which are the major risk factors for cervical cancer, showed a distinct spectral difference in cervical fluids, with a similar pattern for high Raman bands at >1,000 cm−1 but a different pattern for low Raman bands at

A 10-mo-old female fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) with drooling suddenly died and was examined postmortem. Histologic examination of different tissue samples was performed. Vacuolar degeneration and diffuse fatty change were observed in the liver. Several diagnostic methods were used to screen for canine parvovirus, canine distemper virus, canine influenza virus, canine coronavirus, canine parainfluenza virus, and canine adenovirus (CAdV). Only CAdV type 1 (CAdV-1) was detected in several organs (liver, lung, brain, kidney, spleen, and heart), and other viruses were not found. CAdV-1 was confirmed by virus isolation and nucleotide sequencing.

Recently, 11 cases of animal rabies were reported in the southern region (Suwon and Hwaseong cities) of Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. The cases were temporally separated into two cases in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) in spring 2012 and nine cases in domestic animals and wildlife in winter 2012–13. All carcasses were submitted for histopathologic examination and viral antigen identification. Sequences of the glycoprotein, nucleoprotein, and glycoprotein–large polymerase protein intergenic noncoding loci of the 11 strains were determined and compared with published reference sequences. All rabies strains were closely related to the Gangwon strains isolated in 2008–09, suggesting that the rabies virus strains isolated in Gyeonggi were introduced from Gangwon Province.

Conventionally, a frequency of a power system is recovered to the nominal value by the inertial, primary, and secondary responses of the synchronous generators (SGs) after a large disturbance such as a generator tripping. For a power system with high wind penetration, the system inertia is significantly reduced due to the maximum power point tracking control based operation of variable speed wind generators (WGs). This paper proposes a virtual inertial control for a wind power plant (WPP) based on the frequency deviation and maximum rate of change of frequency loops to release more kinetic energy stored in the WGs. The performance of the algorithm is investigated in a model system, which consists of a doubly fed induction generator-based WPP and SGs using an EMTP-RV simulator. The results indicate that the algorithm can improve the frequency drop after a generator tripping.

Urbanization affects the local thermal environment due to the large scale land use changes. To investigate the weather environment change of large scale urban redevelopment, 9 surface temperature and humidity observations were accomplished at Eunpyeong new town area. The observation period is from March 2007 to February 2010. In the center of development area, the air temperature has increased and relative humidity has decreased, by the changes of the land cover and building construction. In the area where the green zone is maintained, air temperature and relative humidity were not changed significantly. The air temperature and relative humidity for the other development observation stations is decreased and increased, respectively. The relative temperature difference between study area and a neighboring rural location was increased during observation periods. The difference is the highest during winter. The urban-rural minimum temperature difference was increased at development area, which means that urbanization affects increasing of minimum temperature in study area.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text, Pregnancy and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are independent risk factors for venous thromboembolism (VTE). Nevertheless, the optimal VTE prevention strategy for women with IBD in pregnancy and postpartum period has not been established yet. We assessed VTE risks during pregnancy and the postpartum period in women with IBD through systematic review and meta-analysis. Systematic searches were conducted in MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), CENTRAL (Ovid), and Web of Science (Tomson Reuters) from the database inception till May 2017 to identify relevant studies reporting the risk of VTE during pregnancy and/or the postpartum period in women with IBD. Random effect meta-analyses were performed to compare VTE-related outcomes between women with IBD and without IBD. Our protocol was registered: CRD 42017060199 in the PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews. In the analysis of 5 studies reviewed, IBD population (n = 17,636) had a significantly increased risk of VTE during pregnancy (pooled risk ratio (RR) 2.13, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.66–2.73) and postpartum (RR 2.61, 95% CI 1.84–3.69), comparing to the non-IBD population (n = 11,251,778). According to the location of VTE, the risk of deep vein thrombosis increased significantly by RR of 2.74 (95% CI 1.73–4.36) during pregnancy, whilst risk increase of pulmonary embolism was not statistically significant. In the subgroup analysis, the degree of VTE risk was higher in both periods in the UC group than in the CD group, as compared to that in the non-IBD population (UC group, during pregnancy: RR 2.24, 95% CI 1.6–3.11; postpartum period: RR 2.85, 95% CI 1.79–4.52). Significantly increased risks of VTE during pregnancy were found in the women with IBD, according to the periods and type of IBD, which might support a detailed strategy regarding administration of prophylactic anticoagulants to women with IBD.

In the present study, the curative effect of curcumin on indomethacin-induced gastric mucosal lesions in rats was investigated. Indomethacin is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), with serious side effects, including erosion, ulcerative lesions, and petechial bleeding in the mucosa of the stomach. Gastric mucosal lesions were caused by oral administration of 25 ㎎/㎏ of indomethacin. Various doses (10, 50, and 100 ㎎/㎏) of curcumin were treated for 3 days by oral gavage. Indomethacin clearly increased the gastric ulcer area in the stomach, and curcumin significantly decreased the gastric ulcer area in a dose-dependent manner. Curcumin also markedly inhibited lipid peroxidation in the gastric mucosa and activated radical scavenging enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and glutathione peroxidase, in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that curcumin can induce recovery from indomethacin-induced gastric mucosal lesions through inhibition of lipid peroxidation and activation of radical scavenging enzymes, such as SOD, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase. Curcumin appears to be a powerful free radical quencher, and it may offer an attractive strategy for healing gastric mucosal lesions in humans.

Anthrax is caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis, which has been used as a weapon for bioterrorism. Although current vaccines are effective, they involve prolonged dose regimens and often cause adverse reactions. High rates of mortality associated with anthrax have made the development of an improved vaccine a top priority. To identify novel vaccine candidates, we applied an immunoproteomics approach. Using sera from convalescent guinea pigs or from human patients with anthrax, we identified 34 immunogenic proteins from the virulent B. anthracis H9401. To evaluate vaccine candidates, six were expressed as recombinant proteins and tested in vivo. Two proteins, rGBAA_0345 (alkyl hydroperoxide reductase subunit C) and rGBAA_3990 (malonyl CoA-acyl carrier protein transacylase), have afforded guinea pigs partial protection from a subsequent virulent-spore challenge. Moreover, combined vaccination with rGBAA_0345 and rPA (protective antigen) exhibited an enhanced ability to protect against anthrax mortality. Finally, we demonstrated that GBAA_0345 localizes to anthrax spores and bacilli. Our results indicate that rGBAA_0345 may be a potential component of a multivalent anthrax vaccine, as it enhances the efficacy of rPA vaccination. This is the first time that sera from patients with anthrax have been used to interrogate the proteome of virulent B. anthracis vegetative cells.

The purpose of this study was to identity the relationships of sub factor among the brain dominance thinking types(A,B,C,D quadrant thinking type) is based on the Whole Brain Modal and self-leadership by Manz. The subjects were 102 undergraduates students from the Hoseo university in Cheonan. The results of this study as follows ; first, the brain dominance thinking type A was the highest and type C was highly rated. Second, the brain dominance thinking type A was not correlated type C and type D. Third, the brain dominance thinking type C and self-leadership sub factor was significantly positively correlated.

Rotaviruses are double-stranded RNA viruses of the family Reoviridae, a highly diverse family of pathogens of humans and animals. In this study, we identified the lapine rotavirus from diarrheic feces of rabbits by polymerase chain reaction. In order to determine the genetic characteristics of the Korean strain, the sequences of the VP4, VP7, and NSP4 genes were determined and compared with those of reference sequences. Results of sequence and phylogenetic analyses showed that our strain was a G3P (3) rotavirus carrying the group C gene encoding NSP 4 proteins. This is the first report

This study investigated and compared the ultrastructural and chemical properties of representative biomaterials for ocular surface regeneration: a human amniotic membrane (AM) in a basal plate, a human AM in reflected chorion, a preserved AM, and a human corneo-scleral tissue. Assessments of the morphological differences in the extracellular matrices were evaluated by hematoxylin-eosin, Masson's trichrome (for total collagen), and picrosirius-red (for newly synthesized collagen) staining. Assessments of the changes in the molecular structures and chemical compositions of the biomaterials for ocular surface regeneration were evaluated by Raman spectroscopy. A placental AM (52 %) was a dense and thick collagenous structure compared to a reflected AM (23 %). The spectroscopy did not obtain any structural information for a preserved AM. The cornea group (100 %, control) and sclera group (104 %) showed the collagen lamellae and interfibrillar spacing, and a slight inflammatory reaction with more fibrous and granulomatous tissues. There was a formation of newly synthesized collagen in a placental AM, while there were few collagen components in a reflected AM. Human AM tissues showed consistent Raman spectra and the characteristic collagen bands, similar to the corneal and scleral tissues. Therefore, these findings suggest that human placental AM and reflected AM are structurally suitable for scleral and corneal surface regeneration, respectively, while human placental or preserved AM and reflected AM are molecularly and chemically suitable for corneal and scleral surface regeneration, respectively.

To improve yeast strains for bioethanol production, yeasts with ethanol tolerance, thermotolerance, and -1,3-glucanase activity were bred using yeast genome shuffling. Saccharomyces cerevisiae /pAInu-exgA, which has extracellular -1,3-glucanase activity, and the Aspergillus oryzae and S. cerevisiae YKY020 strains, which exhibit ethanol tolerance and thermotolerance, were fused by yeast protoplast fusion. Following cell fusion, four candidate cells (No. 3, 9, 11, and 12 strains) showing thermotolerance at were selected, and their ethanol tolerance (7% ethanol concentration) and -1,3-glucanase activity were subsequently analyzed. All the phenotypes of the two parent cells were simultaneously expressed in one (No. 11) of the four candidate cells, and this strain was called BYK-F11. The BYK-F11 fused cell showed enhanced cell growth, ethanol tolerance, -1,3-glucanase activity, and ethanol productivity compared with the /pAInu-exgA and YKY020 strains. The results prove that a new yeast strain with different characters and the same mating type can be easily bred by protoplast fusion of yeasts.

To investigate properties of cloud and rainfall occurred at Boseong on 10 July 2012, Raindrop Size distributions (RSDs) and other parameters were analyzed using observa- tion data collected by Micro Rain Radar (MRR) and PARticle SIze and VELocity (PAR- SIVEL) disdrometer located in the National center for intensive observation of severe weather at Boseong in the southwest of the Korean peninsula. In addition, time series of RSD parame- ters, relationship between reflectivity-rain rate, and vertical variation of rain rates-fall veloci- ties below melting layer were examined. As a result, good agreements were found in the reflectivity-rain rate time series as well as their power relationships between MRR and PAR- SIVEL disdrometer. The rain rate was proportional to reflectivity, mean diameter, and inversely proportional to shape (µ), slope (Λ), intercept (N0) parameter of RSD. In comparison of the RSD, as rain rate was increased, the slope of RSD became less steep and the mean diameter became larger. Also, it was verified that reflectivities are classified in three categories (Cate- gory 1: Z (reflectivity) > 40 dBZ, Category 2: 30 dBZ < Z < 40 dBZ, Category 3: Z < 30 dBZ). As reflectivity was increased, rain rate was intensified and larger raindrops were existed, while reflectivity was decreased, shape (µ), slope (Λ), intercept (N0) parameter of RSD were increased. We expected that these results will lead to better understanding of microphysical process in convective rainfall system occurred during short-term period over Korean peninsula.

To avoid undesirable disconnection of healthy wind generators (WGs) or a wind power plant, a WG protection relay should discriminate among faults, so that it can operate instantaneously for WG, connected feeder or connection bus faults, it can operate after a delay for inter-tie or grid faults, and it can avoid operating for parallel WG or adjacent feeder faults.A WG protection relay based on the positive- and negativesequence fault components is proposed in the paper. At stage 1, the proposed relay uses the magnitude of the positive-sequencecomponent in the fault current to distinguish faults at a parallel WG connected to the same feeder or at an adjacent feeder, from other faults at a connected feeder, an inter-tie, or a grid. At stage2, the fault type is first determined using the relationships between the positive- and negative-sequence fault components. Then, the relay differentiates between instantaneous operationand delayed operation based on the magnitude of the positivesequence component in the fault current. Various fault scenarios involving changes in the position and type of fault and the faultedphases are used to verify the operating performance of the relay with EMTP-RV generated data. Results indicate that the relay can successfully distinguish the need for instantaneous, delayed,or non-operation.

The frequency of a power system should be kept within limits to produce high-quality electricity. For a power system with a high penetration of wind generators (WGs), difficulties might arise in maintaining the frequency, because modern variable speed WGs operate based on the maximum power point tracking control scheme. On the other hand, the wind speed that arrives at a downstream WG is decreased after having passed one WG due to the wake effect. The rotor speed of each WG may be different from others. This paper proposes an algorithm for assigning the droop of each WG in a wind power plant (WPP) based on the rotor speed for the virtual inertial control considering the wake effect. It assumes that each WG in the WPP has two auxiliary loops for the virtual inertial control, i.e. the frequency deviation loop and the rate of change of frequency (ROCOF) loop. To release more kinetic energy, the proposed algorithm assigns the droop of each WG, which is the gain of the frequency deviation loop, depending on the rotor speed of each WG, while the gains for the ROCOF loop of all WGs are set to be equal. The performance of the algorithm is investigated for a model system with five synchronous generators and a WPP, which consists of 15 doubly-fed induction generators, by varying the wind direction as well as the wind speed. The results clearly indicate that the algorithm successfully reduces the frequency nadir as a WG with high wind speed releases more kinetic energy for the virtual inertial control. The algorithm might help maximize the contribution of the WPP to the frequency support.

Summary Objective To investigate the effects of meditation on anxiety, depression, fatigue, and quality of life in women who are receiving radiation therapy for breast cancer. Design Randomized, non-program controlled, parallel intervention clinical trial. Setting The ASAN Cancer Center located in Seoul, Korea. Intervention The subjects of this study included 102 female breast cancer patients who had undergone breast-conserving surgery; these female patients were randomized into equally assigned meditation control groups, with each group consisting of 51 patients. The test group received a total of 12 meditation therapy sessions during their 6-week radiation therapy period, and the control group underwent only a conventional radiation therapy. Outcome The tools used to evaluate the effects of meditation were Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale, Revised Piper Fatigue scale, and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer-Quality of Life Core-30. The results were analyzed based on the principles of intention-to-treat analysis, and, as a corollary analysis, per-protocol analysis was conducted. Results The breast cancer patients who received meditation therapy compared with the non-intervention group saw improvements in reduction of anxiety ( p =.032), fatigue ( p =.030), and improvement in global quality of life ( p =.028). Conclusions Based on the results of this study, an affirmation can be made that meditation can be used as a non-invasive intervention treatment for improving fatigue, anxiety, quality of life, and emotional faculties of women with breast cancer.

The XylP gene, which encodes endoxylanase in Bacillus sp. HY-20, was subcloned, and two expression plasmids, pG-xylP and pGMF-xylP were constructed. These plasmids, which contain different signal sequences, XylP s.s and MFα opt s.s, respectively, for the secretory expression of endoxylanase, were transformed into Saccharomyces cerevisiae SEY2102 and FY833, respectively. The recombinant endoxylanases were successfully expressed, with a total activity range of 23.7-70.1 unit/ml according to the expression system and host strain. The endoxylanase activity in SEY2102/pGMF-xylP reached a maximum of 88.1 unit/ml in baffled flask culture. Most of the recombinant endoxylanase was efficiently secreted in the extracellular fraction, and the MFαopt s.s was more efficient for secreting endoxylanase in yeast than the XylP s.s. Therefore, the expression system developed in this study produces large extracellular amounts of endoxylanase using S. cerevisiae as the host strain, and it could be used in bioethanol production and industrial applications.

This study analyzed the synoptic distribution and vertical structure about four cases of precipitation occurrences using NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data and upper level data of winter intensive observation to be performed by National Institute of Meteorological Research at Bukgangneung, Incheon, Boseong during 63days from 4 JAN to 6 MAR in 2012, and Observing System Experiment (OSE) using 3DVAR-WRF system was conducted to examine the precipitation predictability of upper level data at western and southern coastal regions. The synoptic characteristics of selected precipitation occurrences were investigated as causes for 1) rainfall events with effect of moisture convergence owing to low pressure passing through south sea on 19 JAN, 2) snowfall events due to moisture inflowing from yellow sea with propagation of Siberian high pressure after low pressure passage over middle northern region on 31 JAN, 3) rainfall event with effect of weak pressure trough in west low and east high pressure system on 25 FEB, 4) rainfall event due to moisture inflow according to low pressures over Bohai bay and south eastern sea on 5 MAR. However, it is identified that vertical structure of atmosphere had different characteristics with heavy rainfall system in summer. Firstly, depth of convection was narrow due to absence of moisture convergence and strong ascending air current in middle layer. Secondly, warm air advection by veering wind with height only existed in low layer. Thirdly, unstable layer was limited in the narrow depth due to low surface temperature although it formed, and also values of instability indices were not high. Fourthly, total water vapor amounts containing into atmosphere was small due to low temperature distribution so that precipitable water vapor could be little amounts. As result of OSE conducting with upper level data of Incheon and Boseong station, 12 hours accumulated precipitation distributions of control experiment and experiments with additional upper level data were similar with ones of observation data at 610 stations. Although Equitable Threat Scores (ETS) were different according to cases and thresholds, it was verified positive influence of upper level data for precipitation predictability as resulting with high improvement rates of 33.3% in experiment with upper level data of Incheon (INC_EXP), 85.7% in experiment with upper level data of Boseong (BOS_EXP), and 142.9% in experiment with upper level data of both Incheon and Boseong (INC_BOS_EXP) about accumulated precipitation more than 5 mm / 12 hours on 31 January 2012.

Gene encoding for a putative glutamate decarboxylase (GAD: EC 4.1.1.15) from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus was cloned and the biochemical characteristics of the resulting recombinant protein were examined. The gene (PF1159) from P. furiosus showed some identity with other group II decarboxylases from an archaea and bacteria. The GAD from P. furiosus (PfGAD) was expressed in Escherichia coli, and the recombinant protein has a molecular mass of 41 kDa, determined by SDS-PAGE. The optimum temperature and pH for GAD activity were 75°C and 6.0, respectively. The half-life of heat inactivation was approximately 60 min at 90°C. The GAD activity was found to be dependent on various salts, such as CaCl2, NaCl, KCl, and NaBr, with an optimum concentration of 400 mM, but not (NH4)2SO4. PfGAD demonstrated activity against various substrates, such as l-glutamate, l-aspartate, and l-tyrosine. The results of the kinetics experiment indicated that l-aspartate was a better substrate of PfGAD than l-glutamate and Ltyrosine.

The vertical structure and microphysics of Typhoon Kompasu that caused a lot of damage associated with strong winds and heavy rainfall over the Seoul metropolitan area on 1∼2 September 2010 were examined primarily from wind profiler measurements. Four different periods that represent a stratiform, outer rainband, inner rainband, and eyewall region during passage of Typhoon Kompasu from 1200 to 2300 UTC 1 September were selected based on bright band intensities and vertical profiles of radar reflectivities and Doppler velocities. The bright band signatures observed in all of these periods indicated that the structure of Kompasu was basically stratiform in a weakening phase. Maximum rainfall rates up to 50 mm hr−1 at the surface and mean wind speeds greater than 30 m s−1 in the 2–4 km layer were observed in the eyewall region. Unlike the other regions that showed nearly zero vertical air motions or weak downdrafts below a melting layer, a mean updraft of ∼1 m s−1 was analyzed only in the eyewall region, which suggests that the updrafts may have enhanced drop growth that led to increasing surface rainfall rates. For each region, the vertical mean characteristics of rainfall parameters retrieved from wind profiler spectra below the melting layer were also examined. The rain properties between the inner and outer rainband were similar although they were apart with a distance of more than 100 km (> 2 hrs in time). The averaged mass-weighted mean diameters within the rainbands were larger than those in the stratiform and eyewall regions. A weaker bright band in the eyewall region suggests the presence of a relatively larger number of rimed particles associated with the updrafts around the melting layer. A stronger bright band was present in the rainbands, which indicates more active aggregation right above the melting layer.

Background Critical reflection is effective in improving students’ communication abilities and confidence. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a work-based critical reflection program to enhance novice nurses’ clinical critical-thinking abilities, communication competency, and job performance. Methods The present study used a quasi-experimental design. From October 2014 to August 2015, we collected data from 44 novice nurses working in an advanced general hospital in S city in Korea. Nurses in the experimental group participated in a critical reflection program for six months. Outcome variables were clinical critical-thinking skills, communication abilities, and job performance. A non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test and a Wilcoxon rank sum test were selected to evaluate differences in mean ranks and to assess the null hypothesis that the medians were equal across the groups. Results The results showed that the clinical critical-thinking skills of those in the experimental group improved significantly (p = 0.003). The differences in mean ranks of communication ability between two groups was significantly statistically different (p = 0.028). Job performance improved significantly in both the experimental group and the control group, so there was no statistical difference (p = 0.294). Conclusions We therefore suggest that a critical reflection program be considered an essential tool for improving critical thinking and communication abilities among novice nurses who need to adapt to the clinical environment as quickly as possible. Further, we suggest conducting research into critical reflection programs among larger and more diverse samples.

The aim of this study was to explore characteristics of and risk factors for accidental inpatient falls.Participants were classified as fallers or non-fallers based on the fall history of inpatients in a tertiary hospital in Seoul between June 2014 and May 2015. Data on falls were obtained from the fall report forms and data on risk factors were obtained from the electronic nursing records. Characteristics of fallers and non-fallers were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Risk factors for falls were identified using univariate analyses and logistic regression analysis.Average length of stay prior to the fall was 21.52 days and average age of fallers was 61.37 years. Most falls occurred during the night shifts and in the bedroom and were due to sudden leg weakness during ambulation. It was found that gender, BMI, physical problems such elimination, gait, vision and hearing and medications such as sleeping pills, antiarrhythmics, vasodilators, and muscle relaxant were statistically significant factors affecting falls.The findings show that there are significant risk factors such as BMI and history of surgery which are not part of fall assessment tools. There are also items on fall assessment tools which are not found to be significant such as mental status, emotional unstability, dizziness, and impairment of urination. Therefore, these various risk factors should be examined in the fall risk assessments and these risk factors should be considered in the development of fall assessment tools.

Background The clinical ladder system categorizes the degree of nursing professionalism and rewards and is an important human resource tool for managing nursing. Aim We developed a model to evaluate nursing professionalism, which determines the clinical ladder system levels, and verified its validity. Methods Data were collected using a clinical competence tool developed in this study, and existing methods such as the nursing professionalism evaluation tool, peer reviews, and face-to-face interviews to evaluate promotions and verify the presented content in a medical institution. Reliability and convergent and discriminant validity of the clinical competence evaluation tool were verified using SmartPLS software. The validity of the model for evaluating overall nursing professionalism was also analyzed. Results Clinical competence was determined by five dimensions of nursing practice: scientific, technical, ethical, aesthetic, and existential. The structural model explained 66% of the variance. Clinical competence scales, peer reviews, and face-to-face interviews directly determined nursing professionalism levels. Conclusions The evaluation system can be used for evaluating nurses' professionalism in actual medical institutions from a nursing practice perspective. Implications for nursing management A conceptual framework for establishing a human resources management system for nurses and a tool for evaluating nursing professionalism at medical institutions is provided.