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The non-saponin fraction of Korean Red Ginseng has been reported to have many biological activities. However, the effect of this fraction on anti-diabetic activity has not been elucidated in detail. In this study, we investigated the effects of KGC05P0, a non-saponin fraction of Korean Red Ginseng, on anti-diabetic activity in vitroand in vivo.

Glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) is a 42-amino acid peptide hormone that regulates postprandial glucose levels. GIP binds to its cognate receptor, GIPR, and mediates metabolic physiology by improved insulin sensitivity, β-cell proliferation, increased energy consumption, and stimulated glucagon secretion. Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) catalyzes the rapid inactivation of GIP within 6 min in vivo. Here, we report a molecular platform for the design of GIP analogues that are refractory to DPP4 action and exhibit differential activation of the receptor, thus offering potentially hundreds of GIP-based compounds to fine-tune pharmacology. The lead compound from our studies, which harbored a combination of N-terminal alkylation and side-chain lipidation, was equipotent and retained full efficacy at GIPR as the native peptide, while being completely refractory toward DPP4, and was resistant to trypsin. The GIP analogue identified from these studies was further evaluated in vivoand is one of the longest-acting GIPR agonists to date.

Nonobstetric surgical interventions are required in some women during pregnancy. The most common nonobstetric conditions requiring surgery during pregnancy are acute appendicitis and cholecystitis. This study aimed to evaluate pregnancy outcomes and complications following surgical procedures for presumed nonobstetric surgical interventions during pregnancy, and to compare the outcomes between the laparoscopic and open approaches. We conducted a retrospective study of patients who underwent laparoscopic or open surgery during pregnancy for nonobstetric surgical indications at our institution between 2008 and 2016. A total of 62 consecutive patients who underwent surgical intervention due to nonobstetric causes during pregnancy were included in our study. Of these, 35 (56.5%) were managed with laparoscopy and 27 (43.5%) with the open approach. Patients who underwent laparoscopy had a significantly shorter hospital stay and lower pain score on postoperative day 2 than those who underwent open surgery (5.5 vs. 7.2 days, p= 0.03 and 1.4 vs. 2.4, p< 0.01, respectively). There were no significant differences in operative complications between both groups. In advanced pregnancy (gestational age ≥ 23 weeks), 7 patients (41.2%) were managed with laparoscopy and 10 (58.8%) with the open approach. No differences in surgical complications were found between both groups in advanced pregnancy as well. In our study, laparoscopic surgery was found to be feasible and safe in the late second and third trimesters as well as in the first and early second trimesters without adverse effects on pregnancy.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the seismic performance of a honeycomb shaped steel hysteretic damper applied to seismic retrofit or strengthening of a structure. The formulas for the initial stiffness and yield strength of a damper unit were derived based on the cell wall bending model, and the results were compared with those obtained from finite element analysis. Bilinear model of the honeycomb damper was developed based on the nonlinear force-displacement relationship obtained from finite element analysis. The honeycomb dampers were applied for seismic retrofit of a 15-story apartment building designed without considering seismic load and for seismic design of a 3-story moment frame designed with reduced seismic load. The analysis results showed that the honeycomb dampers were effective in the enhancement of seismic-load resisting capacity of the model structures.

Direct Reductive Amination of Aldehydes.

The trend toward patient- or consumer-centered healthcare has been accelerated by advances in technology, consumer empowerment, and a shift from infectious to chronic diseases. The purpose of this study was to examine the growing self-care market by analyzing self-care patterns.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence and utilization pattern of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) administered by oneself or by non-institutional practitioners in a general population in South Korea.

Abstract: Geological sequestration of CO2 necessarily involves reliable techniques for monitoring the migration of CO2 injected in deep formations. In this study, a series of lab-scale experiments was conducted to investigate the feasibility of geochemical sampling and electrical resistivity survey in imaging and characterizing various phases of CO2 in a homogeneous medium. An acryl box packed with 1-mm dia. glass beads was used as the brine aquifer for CO2 sequestration. Two phases of CO2 and a supercritical CO2 substitute were applied in a series of injection processes in modified experiments for simulating CO2 sequestration. As well as porewater analysis, time-lapse electrical resistivity survey was performed with electrodes positioned on the box. For reconstructing two-dimensional resistivity images, electrical potential differences were measured at potential dipoles on the top surface of the box. To investigate the spatial and temporal evolution of the plume of injecting fluids, 2D resultant resistivity images at specified time were compared with discrete distributions of CO2 concentration in the box. In the experiment of CO2 gas, the time-lapse resistivity images showed the distinct increase in resistivity and suggested that the sequential changes in electrical resistivity images could be acquired when the CO2 gas plume migrates in deep brine aquifers. In the experiment of supercritical CO2 substitute, the time-lapse resistivity images showed that injected KF-50 was kept afloat by buoyancy, which accumulated under the impermeable layer in free phase, and leaked somewhat to the surface. The electrical resistivity survey can be successfully detect the heterogeneous and localized distributions of supercritical CO2 in deep brine aquifers, implying that the electrical resistivity tomography could be a useful technical option for monitoring CO2 during geological sequestration.

Abstract: Sorption batch experiments using bacterial strains isolated from soil were performed to remove heavy metals such as Cd, Cu, and Pb from an aqueous solution. Ralstonia sp. and Bacillus sp. were used as biosorbents and the distilled water, artificially titrated at 5 mg/L for Cd, Cu, and Pb, was used for the aqueous solution. Various amounts of biosorbents were mixed with the aqueous solution and the removal efficiency of each heavy metal ion in solution was calculated. From the results of the experiment, the removal efficiency ratings of Ralstonia sp. for Cd, Cu, and Pb were greater than 90% after adding 0.5 g of Ralstonia sp. to 50 ml of aqueous solution. With only 0.2 g of Bacillus sp., the removal efficiencies for Cd, Cu, and Pb were over 90%, suggesting that they are excellent biosorbents for the removal of heavy metal ions from an aqueous solution. Sorption experiments were duplicated in aqueous solutions at various pH conditions. For a solution at pH 1, the removal efficiency ratings of Ralstonia sp. for Cd and Pb were less than 20%. However, when the pH of the solution was higher than 3, the removal efficiency dramatically increased to 90%. It decreased slightly when the pH was greater than 10. Most of the biosorption of heavy metals in the experiment were completed within 10 min. From a TEM analysis image, it was observed that many clods of materials were concentrated at the boundary of the cell walls, suggesting that the biosorption activities of Ralstonia sp. and Bacillus sp. occur mostly at their cell walls. From the results of the fitting process of the experimental data to the Freundlich isotherm model, the Freundlich sorption coefficients (Kf) of Cd, Cu, and Pb for Ralstonia sp. and Bacillus sp. ranged from 646 to 754 and from 113 to 221, respectively; their sorption constants (1/n) ranged from 1.06 to 1.90 for Ralstonia sp., and from 0.98 to 1.07 for Bacillus sp. The results of these experiments suggest that the biosorption process with both microorganisms is a promising removal process for water contaminated with heavy metals.

A stereocontrolled approach to the preparation of the Weinreb intermediate 3 has been developed. The important features of this approach are the creation of stereogenic centers through a cyclic amino acid ester−enolate Claisen rearrangement and the use of ring-closing metathesis for the construction of the azaspirocyclic skeleton.

Supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) was used in extrusion for the improvement of polymer blend properties. Various extruder configurations using a twin‐screw extruder and a single‐screw extruder were designed for investigating the effects of dissolved supercritical CO2on the viscosity and morphological properties of polyethylene, polystyrene, and their blends. The viscosities of the polymer/CO2and the blend/CO2solutions were measured at various concentrations of CO2and PE/PS blending ratios using a wedge die mounted on the twin‐screw extruder. The effect of CO2on the morphology of PE/PS blends was also investigated using a twin/single‐screw tandem system. This system allowed for preferential dissolution of the CO2into the matrix and/or dispersed polymer phase. By introducing devolatilization to the tandem system, the morphological behaviors of PE/PS blends were investigated on unfoamed filaments. In general, the mixing between two polymers was improved by the dissolution of CO2. The size reduction of the dispersed phase was explained using the viscosity ratio of the two polymers. Finally, the interface between foamed and unfoamed polymers was studied in a bilayer structure produced by using a special configuration of the tandem system. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Adv Polym Techn 19: 300–311, 2000

Supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) was used in extrusion for the improvement of polymer blend properties. Various extruder configurations using a twin-screw extruder and a single-screw extruder were designed for investigating the effects of dissolved supercritical CO2 on the viscosity and morphological properties of polyethylene, polystyrene, and their blends. The viscosities of the polymer/CO2 and the blend/CO2 solutions were measured at various concentrations of CO2 and PE/PS blending ratios using a wedge die mounted on the twin-screw extruder. The effect of CO2 on the morphology of PE/PS blends was also investigated using a twin/single-screw tandem system. This system allowed for preferential dissolution of the CO2 into the matrix and/or dispersed polymer phase. By introducing devolatilization to the tandem system, the morphological behaviors of PE/PS blends were investigated on unfoamed filaments. In general, the mixing between two polymers was improved by the dissolution of CO2. The size reduction of the dispersed phase was explained using the viscosity ratio of the two polymers. Finally, the interface between foamed and unfoamed polymers was studied in a bilayer structure produced by using a special configuration of the tandem system. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Adv Polym Techn 19: 300–311, 2000

In laboratory experiments performed to evaluate the efficiency of surfactant flushing for remediation of non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) in the unsaturated zone, less than 0.001% of the original mass of tetra-chloroethylene (PCE) remained in the column after 15 pore volumes of a 1% sorbitan monooleate solution or after 7 pore volumes of a 1% Ethomid O/17 solution were passed through the columns. Mass removed as dissolved phase in the effluent accounted for more than 90% of PCE removed; the remainder was lost by volatilization. To determine the influence of parameters that may affect the remediation process, column tests were repeated with different values of parameters, including grain size, application rate, surfactant type, surfactant concentration, and solution viscosity. The results from the column experiments were simulated with the two-dimensional finite element computer code for multiphase flow and transport, MOTRANS. Results of the simulation were similar to those from the experiments. Both experimental and modeling results suggest that surfactant flushing has a great potential to remove mass from NAPL in the unsaturated zone.

The seeds of Pelargoniumspecies possess a long slender appendage called an awn, which enables self-burial of the seeds into soil by helically coiling in response to environmental humidity change. Here we analyze morphology of the helix formed by the awn, and fabricate artificial hygroresponsive helical actuators by depositing aligned nanofibers, and show that our theory agrees well with the experimental results of both the biological and the artificial actuators. To go beyond previous analysis of individual cell deformation, which cannot predict the overall awn shape, we model the awn as a trilayer structure consisting of two active sublayers and one inactive layer by noting that the inextensible microfibrils coiling individual active cells are tilted at constant angles in each sublayer. The laminated composite anisotropic plate theory allows us to predict the shape of the biological and artificial helices as a function of the mechanical properties, the layer thickness, the fiber tilt angle, and the environmental humidity. Our tissue-level understanding of the biological actuator and cost-effective nanofabrication schemes can lead to soft actuators capable of versatile helical deformation driven by external stimuli.

ABSTRACTRecent reports highlighting the global significance of cryptosporidiosis among children have renewed efforts to develop control measures. We evaluated the efficacy of bumped kinase inhibitor (BKI) 1369 in the gnotobiotic piglet model of acute diarrhea caused by Cryptosporidium hominis, the species responsible for most human cases. Five-day treatment with BKI 1369 reduced signs of disease early during treatment compared to those of untreated animals. Piglets treated with BKI 1369 exhibited significant reductions of oocyst excretion, mucosal colonization by C. hominis, and mucosal lesions, which resulted in considerable symptomatic improvement. BKI 1369 reduced the parasite burden and disease severity in the gnotobiotic pig model. Together these data suggest that a BKI-mediated therapeutic may be an effective treatment against cryptosporidiosis.

Our objective is to evaluate the effects of qigong on blood pressure, health status and hormone levels for pre- or mild hypertension.

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