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Cryotherapy is widely used in veterinary medicine to manage pain and swelling, yet optimal methods for specific tissue depths remain unclear. Cryotherapy modalities, including cold packs (CPs), cold compression (CC), and hyperbaric gaseous cryotherapy (HGC), were applied to nine beagle dogs under general anaesthesia. A custom 3D-printed guide facilitated consistent and accurate measurements of tissue temperatures at depths of 1 and 3 cm. After a 20 min application, all modalities significantly reduced the muscular tissue temperatures at both measured depths. HGC exhibited the most effective rapid temperature reduction, whereas CC displayed the most extended sustained cooling effect. In comparison, CPs showed a lower temperature reduction. The effectiveness of cryotherapy varies with tissue depth, and selecting the appropriate method can improve therapeutic outcome.

Background and Objectives : Postoperative recovery from general anesthesia is a multidimensional process, and patient-centered outcome assessment should be considered an important indicator of recovery quality. This study compared the effectiveness of intraoperative lidocaine and magnesium on postoperative recovery in nasal bone fracture surgery, using the quality of recovery-40 questionnaire (QoR-40) to assess recovery quality and pain intensity. Materials and Methods : A total of 74 patients scheduled for elective closed reduction surgery for isolated nasal bone fracture were assigned to the intraoperative infusions of lidocaine or magnesium. Immediately after anesthetic induction, 1.5 mg/kg lidocaine or 20 mg/kg magnesium was administered over 10 min, followed by a continuous infusion of 2 mg/kg/h lidocaine or 20 mg/kg/h magnesium until the end of the surgery. The primary outcome variable was the QoR-40 survey on postoperative day 1. The secondary outcome variables included postoperative pain intensity, sedation score, the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting, and other side effects. Results : The global QoR-40 score at postoperatively 24 h was comparable between the intraoperative lidocaine and magnesium groups. Postoperative pain 30 min after surgery was significantly lower in the lidocaine group than in the magnesium group ( p = 0.01), along with lower rescue analgesic consumption ( p = 0.003), but pain intensity was not different at other time points (2, 6, and 24 h). The incidence of nausea and vomiting and the sedation score in the post-anesthetic care unit were not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusions : Intraoperative lidocaine and magnesium had no difference in the scores of postoperative QoR-40, but lidocaine was associated with lower postoperative pain scores and analgesic requirement in comparison to magnesium in the closed reduction of nasal bone fractures.

Recent clinical outbreaks of infectious diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms, such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi, along with the emergence of unwanted microorganisms in industrial settings, have significantly reduced efficiency. Graphene has recently attracted significant attention as a potential antimicrobial agent because of its low toxicity, ease of production and functionalization, and high solubility in water. The presence of oxygen functional groups allows the interaction of the compound with bacteria and other biomolecules, making it an interesting candidate for antimicrobial therapy. Moreover, integrating graphene into copper coatings has been shown to enhance their antimicrobial properties. However, the implementation of copper-graphene composite coatings is currently limited by the difficulty of uniformly distributing graphene within the copper matrix. Copper (Cu)-doped graphitic nanoplatelets (CuGnPs), one option to overcome this challenge, are made via a mechanochemical reaction between solid graphite and Cu powder. The configuration of C-Cu bonds within CuGnPs can be identified using a range of analytical techniques, including transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. To evaluate the antibacterial activity of the Cu-GnPs, we employed Escherichia coli or Staphylococcus aureus. Various amounts (250, 500, 750, and 1000 μg/mL) of prepared CuGnP samples were incubated in a bacterial suspension for 3 or 6 h at 150 rpm and 37 °C for a colony-forming unit assay. Three hours and six hours of treatment of the bacteria with CuGnPs led to a significant difference in bacterial survival compared with that of the control. It was observed that CuGnPs, with copper bound to graphene oxide, more effectively inhibited the proliferation of E. coli compared with nanoplatelets containing graphene oxide alone. These findings suggest that the unique properties of CuGnPs, such as C-Cu bonds, high surface area, and the coexistence of micropores and mesopores, are valuable for exerting strong antimicrobial effects making CuGnPs effective at preventing bacterial colonization on industrial surfaces.

Obesity is a complex health condition characterized by excessive adipose tissue accumulation, leading to significant metabolic disturbances such as insulin resistance and cardiovascular diseases. Fatty acid synthase (FAS), a key enzyme in lipogenesis, has been identified as a potential therapeutic target for obesity due to its role in adipocyte differentiation and lipid accumulation. This study employed a multidisciplinary approach involving in silico and in vitro analyses to investigate the anti-adipogenic properties of maclurin, a natural phenolic compound derived from Morus alba . Using SwissDock software (ChEMBL version 23), we predicted protein interactions and demonstrated a high probability (95.6%) of maclurin targeting FAS, surpassing the interaction rates of established inhibitors like cerulenin. Docking simulations revealed maclurin's superior binding affinity to FAS, with a binding score of -7.3 kcal/mol compared to -6.7 kcal/mol for cerulenin. Subsequent in vitro assays confirmed these findings, with maclurin effectively inhibiting FAS activity in a concentration-dependent manner in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, without compromising cell viability. Furthermore, maclurin treatment resulted in significant reductions in lipid accumulation and the downregulated expression of critical adipogenic genes such as PPARγ, C/EBPα, and FAS, indicating the suppression of adipocyte differentiation. Maclurin shows potential as a novel FAS inhibitor with significant anti-adipogenic effects, offering a promising therapeutic avenue for the treatment and prevention of obesity.

Bakanae disease (BD), caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium fujikuroi , is a serious threat to rice production worldwide. Breeding elite rice varieties resistant to BD requires the identification of resistance genes. Previously, we discovered a resistant quantitative trait locus (QTL), qFfR1 , in a Korean japonica rice variety, Nampyeong. In this study, we fine-mapped qFfR1 with a Junam *4 /Nampyeong BC 3 F 3 population and delimited its location to a 37.1 kb region on chromosome 1. Complementation experiments with seven candidate genes in this region revealed that OsI_02728 is the gene for qFfR1 . This gene encodes a protein with a typical leucine-rich repeat (LRR) receptor-like protein structure. RNA-sequencing-based transcriptomic analysis revealed that FfR1 induces the transcription of defense genes, including lignin and terpenoid biosynthesis genes, pathogenesis-related genes, and thionin genes. These results may facilitate investigations into the molecular mechanisms underlying BD resistance, including molecular patterns of Fusarium fujikuroi interacting with FfR1 and players working in signal transduction pathways downstream of FfR1, and the breeding of new BD-resistant varieties by providing a BD resistance gene with its precise selection marker. This will contribute to efficient control of BD, which is becoming more prevalent according to temperature rises due to climate change.

The determination of natural product stereochemistry plays a significant role in drug discovery and development. Understanding the stereochemistry of natural products is essential for predicting and optimizing their interactions with biological targets, which, in turn, influences their therapeutic efficacy, safety, and overall impact on living organisms. Here, we present the first application of competitive enantioselective acylation (CEA) reactions in conjunction with LC/MS analysis for determining the absolute configuration of secondary alcohols in natural products which were purified as a mixture. This approach utilizes the enantiomeric pair of HBTM (homobenzotetramisole) catalysts, demonstrating sufficient kinetic resolution for the acylation of secondary alcohols. The rapid reaction kinetics were quantitatively estimated with LC/MS analysis as the characterization technique for the enantioselective transformations. Our study has expanded the application of the CEA reaction coupled with LC/MS analysis to mixtures. Utilizing LC/MS analysis, the CEA reaction offers a sensitive and simple method for stereochemistry determination. Additionally, the application of the CEA reaction is cost/time-effective since only small quantities of substrates and a short reaction time are required for characterizing the absolute configuration of secondary alcohols in natural products compared to other conventional methods.

5G acts as a highway enabling innovative digital transformation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution in our lives. It is undeniable that the success of such a paradigm shift hinges on robust security measures. Foremost among these is primary authentication, the initial step in securing access to 5G network environments. For the 5G primary authentication, two protocols, namely 5G Authentication and Key Agreement (5G-AKA) and Improved Extensible Authentication Protocol Method for 3rd Generation Authentication and Key Agreement (EAP-AKA'), were proposed and standardized, where the former is for 3GPP devices, and the latter is for non-3GPP devices. Recent scrutiny has unveiled vulnerabilities in the 5G-AKA protocol, exposing it to security breaches, including linkability attacks. Moreover, mobile communication technologies are dramatically evolving while 3GPP has standardized Authentication and Key Management for Applications (AKMA) to reuse the credentials, generated during primary authentication, for 5G network applications. That makes it so significant for 5G-AKA to be improved to support forward secrecy as well as address security attacks. In response, several protocols have been proposed to mitigate these security challenges. In particular, they tried to strengthen security by reusing secret keys negotiated through the Elliptic Curve Integrated Encryption Scheme (ECIES) and countering linkability attacks. However, they still have encountered limitations in completing forward secrecy. Motivated by this, we propose an augmentation to 5G-AKA to achieve forward security and thwart linkability attacks (called 5G-AKA-FS). In 5G-AKA-FS, the home network (HN), instead of using its static ECIES key pair, generates a new ephemeral key pair to facilitate robust session key negotiation, truly realizing forward security. In order to thoroughly and precisely prove that 5G-AKA-FS is secure, formal security verification is performed by applying both BAN Logic and ProVerif. As a result, it is demonstrated that 5G-AKA-FS is valid. Besides, our performance comparison highlights that the communication and computation overheads are intrinsic to 5G-AKA-FS. This comprehensive analysis showcases how the protocol effectively balances between security and efficiency.

Telomeres play pivotal roles in processes closely related to somatic senescence and aging, making them a compelling target for interventions aimed at combating aging and age-related pathologies. Ginsenoside, a natural compound, has emerged as a potential remedy for promoting healthy aging, yet how it protects telomeres remains incompletely understood. Here, we show that treatment of F1 can effectively restore the level of TRF2, thereby preserving telomere integrity. This restoration leads to inhibition of the DNA damage response and improvements in mitochondrial function and, ultimately, delays in cellular senescence. Conversely, depletion of TRF2 causes mitochondrial dysfunction, accompanied by increased oxidative stress, autophagy inhibition, insufficient energy metabolism, and the onset of cellular senescence. These observations underscore the critical role of TRF2 in maintaining telomere integrity and direct association with the initiation of cellular senescence. We conduct a further analysis, suggesting F1 could bind in proximity to the TRF2 heterodimer interface, potentially enhancing dimerization stability. These findings suggest that F1 may be a promising natural remedy for anti-aging, and restoring TRF2 could potentially prevent telomere-dependent diseases commonly associated with the aging process.

Tiller number is an important trait associated with yield in rice. Tiller number in Korean japonica rice was analyzed under greenhouse conditions in 160 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between the temperate japonica varieties Odae and Unbong40 to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs). A genetic map comprising 239 kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) and 57 cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence markers was constructed. qTN3 , a major QTL for tiller number, was identified at 132.4 cm on chromosome 3. This QTL was also detected under field conditions in a backcross population; thus, qTN3 was stable across generations and environments. qTN3 co-located with QTLs associated with panicle number per plant and culm diameter, indicating it had pleiotropic effects. The qTN3 regions of Odae and Unbong40 differed in a known functional variant (4 bp TGTG insertion/deletion) in the 5' UTR of OsTB1 , a gene underlying variation in tiller number and culm strength. Investigation of variation in genotype and tiller number revealed that varieties with the insertion genotype had lower tiller numbers than those with the reference genotype. A high-resolution melting marker was developed to enable efficient marker-assisted selection. The QTL qTN3 will therefore be useful in breeding programs developing japonica varieties with optimal tiller numbers for increased yield.

This paper proposes a novel, degradation-sensitive, adaptive SST controller for cascode GaN-FETs. Unlike in traditional transformers, a semiconductor switch's degradation and failure can compromise its robustness and integrity. It is vital to continuously monitor a switch's health condition to adapt it to mission-critical applications. The current state-of-the-art degradation monitoring methods for power electronics systems are computationally intensive, have limited capacity to accurately identify the severity of degradation, and can be challenging to implement in real time. These methods primarily focus on conducting accelerated life testing (ALT) of individual switches and are not typically implemented for online monitoring. The proposed controller uses accelerated life testing (ALT)-based switch degradation mapping for degradation severity assessment. This controller intelligently derates the SST to (1) ensure robust operation over the SST's lifetime and (2) achieve the optimal degradation-sensitive function. Additionally, a fast behavioral switch loss model for cascode GaN-FETs is used. This proposed fast model estimates the loss accurately without proprietary switch parasitic information. Finally, the proposed method is experimentally validated using a 5 kW cascode GaN-FET-based SST platform.

Cluster validity indices (CVIs) for evaluating the result of the optimal number of clusters are critical measures in clustering problems. Most CVIs are designed for typical data-type objects called certain data objects. Certain data objects only have a singular value and include no uncertainty, so they are assumed to be information-abundant in the real world. In this study, new CVIs for uncertain data, based on kernel probabilistic distance measures to calculate the distance between two distributions in feature space, are proposed for uncertain clusters with arbitrary shapes, sub-clusters, and noise in objects. By transforming original uncertain data into kernel spaces, the proposed CVI accurately measures the compactness and separability of a cluster for arbitrary cluster shapes and is robust to noise and outliers in a cluster. The proposed CVI was evaluated for diverse types of simulated and real-life uncertain objects, confirming that the proposed validity indexes in feature space outperform the pre-existing ones in the original space.

Tension pneumothorax is a relatively rare complication after anesthetic induction that requires prompt diagnosis and treatment. Several handling errors related to intubation procedures or equipment and vigorous positive pressure ventilation are potentially important etiologies of tension pneumothorax in patients with underlying lung disease or in mechanically ventilated patients. We describe a case of tension pneumothorax observed after double-lumen tube (DLT) insertion followed by single-lumen tube replacement using an airway exchanger catheter in a mechanically ventilated patient. An 84-year-old female on mechanical ventilation underwent minimally invasive cardiac surgery under general anesthesia. Immediately after left-sided DLT insertion using an airway exchanger catheter, oxygen saturation decreased to 89%, peak airway pressure increased to 35 cm H 2 O with inadequate tidal volume, and blood pressure gradually dropped to 69/41 mmHg. Breath sounds from the right hemithorax were significantly reduced. Severe collapse of the right lung, a flattened diaphragm, and compressed abdominal organs were identified on chest radiography. Therefore, a tube thoracotomy was performed based on the findings of a tension pneumothorax. Then, oxygen saturation, peak airway pressure with adequate tidal volume, and blood pressure improved, and the distended abdomen normalized. After the pneumothorax resolved, a bronchoscopy was performed. Slight redness was noted in the right bronchus, indicating that the DLT was incorrectly inserted into the right side. In conclusion, the possibility of a tension pneumothorax should be considered during DLT intubation or endotracheal tube replacement with an airway exchange catheter.

Purpose: This study assessed the relationship between the choroidal morphology and short-term response to aflibercept treatment in pachychoroid neovasculopathy (PNV). Methods: This was a retrospective case-control study. Ultra-widefield indocyanine green angiography (UWICGA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) images of 90 PNV eyes of 90 patients treated with aflibercept were enrolled. Responsiveness to aflibercept was defined as a complete resolution of sub- or intra-retinal fluid after three loading doses (50 dry and 40 non-dry eyes). Subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) was measured on OCT images, and choroidal vessel density (CVD), CVD asymmetry, intervortex anastomosis, and choroidal vascular hyperpermeability (CVH) were assessed on UWICGA images. Results: CVD on UWICGA differed between groups in terms of the total area (0.323 ± 0.034 in dry vs. 0.286 ± 0.038 in non-dry, p < 0.001) and area of each quadrant (superotemporal: 0.317 ± 0.040 vs. 0.283 ± 0.040, superonasal: 0.334 ± 0.040 vs. 0.293 ± 0.045, inferonasal: 0.306 ± 0.051 vs. 0.278 ± 0.052, inferotemporal: 0.334 ± 0.047 vs. 0.290 ± 0.046; all p ≤ 0.010). The CVH grade differed between groups (mean 1.480 ± 0.735 vs. 1.875 ± 0.822, p = 0.013). ST and IT intervortex anastomoses were common in the dry group, while SN, ST, and IT were most common in the non-dry group (p = 0.001). Conclusions: A poor short-term response to aflibercept treatment in PNV eyes was associated with a lower Haller vessel density, higher CVH grade, and intervortex anastomosis involving more quadrants on UWICGA.

Overeducation means that the rapid growth in the numbers of secondary and higher education graduates begins to exceed the actual demand of the labor market due to this excessive expansion of education. Consequently, educated workers are faced with knowledge unemployment, or are engaged in jobs that do not match their academic qualifications, resulting in a decline in income and a waste of educational resources. In order to explore the effect of overeducation on workers' job satisfaction, we selected data from China Household Tracking Survey (CFPS) and conducted a fixed-effect ordered logit model regression analysis. It was found that overeducation has a negative impact on employees' job satisfaction and an impact on wage penalty. Wage income has a mediating effect on the relationship between overeducation and job satisfaction. We present three policy suggestions: for the Government's administration department, it is necessary to actively create an environment for matching education and occupation; to improve the possibility of matching education and occupation; and to reduce the negative effect of labor contracts on the improvement of human capital and the job satisfaction of overeducators by adjusting the flexibility and stability of the labor contract. For institutions of higher learning: it is necessary to make forward-looking adjustments to the educational structure, according to the actual needs of economic and social development to adapt to the social demand for talent and development trends; to train highly skilled and high-quality workers needed for social development; and to reduce the unreasonable distribution of resources caused by overeducation. For enterprises: employees should be guided to correctly understand the unpredictable relationship between education and work and reasonably reduce the job expectations of new employees, according to their own work experience and technical level.

Seaweeds are receiving much attention as a rich source of bioactive compounds with cosmeceutical potential. Recent studies have revealed that Sargassum spp., a genus of brown algae in the family Sargassaceae, has multiple functions in preventing and improving skin aging. Sargassum spp. contains many bioactive compounds, such as fucoidan, fucoxanthin, terpenoids, flavonoids, and meroterpenoids. These Sargassum spp. extracts and derivative compounds have excellent potential for skincare, as they exhibit skin health-promoting properties, including antioxidants, anti-inflammation, whitening, skin barrier repair, and moisturizing. Therefore, searching for bioactive compounds in marine resources such as Sargassum spp. could be an attractive approach to preventing and improving skin aging. The current review focused on the various biological abilities of Sargassum extracts or derived compounds for anti-skin aging.

Castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is still a major concern in men's health, with 375,000 cancer deaths annually. Hypoxia, which is a marked characteristic of advanced solid tumors, has been suggested to induce prostate cancer towards CRPC, metastasis and treatment resistance. To evaluate the effect of hypoxia on prostate cancer, two and five cycles of hypoxia and reoxygenation were administered using 22Rv1 cell lines and denominated as 22Rv1-CI and 22Rv1-PCI, respectively. Cancer cell migration was promoted in 22Rv1-CI compared to controls, and the expression of COL13A1 was significantly up-regulated in 22Rv1-CI according to differentially expressed gene analysis of RNA sequencing among groups. Cancer cell migration was impeded in a wound healing assay after transfecting si-COL13A1. Moreover, the expression of COL13A1 was also higher in the cell line originating from bone metastatic prostate cancer compared to other cell lines. Using the open database GEO, we also confirmed that the expression of COL13A1 was higher in bone metastatic prostate cancer tissue than in localized prostate cancer tissue in patients. Therefore, COL13A1 may be closely related to the bony metastasis of prostate cancer, and our findings may provide valuable information on the pathophysiology of the metastatic niche induced by hypoxia in patients with CRPC., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Social isolation and loneliness are the key risk factors for depression in late life. Older adults living alone and socially isolated are at greater risk for physical and mental health. This study aims to examine the mediating effects of subjective physical health, resilience, and social support on the association between loneliness and depression among the elderly female population living alone in South Korea. We included a total of 308 older women aged 60 years or older who live alone in a medium-sized city in South Korea. The survey data was collected using the validated survey instruments between November 2015 and April 2016. A parallel mediation model was performed to investigate whether physical health, resilience, and social support had mediating effects on the association of loneliness with depression. The findings of this study showed that loneliness was directly and indirectly associated with depression through its association with the subjective physical health, resilience, and social support among the older female population living alone. Our results suggest the importance of supporting community-based programs to improve physical and mental health of the elderly people as a way to minimize the level of loneliness and prevent depression.

Array pattern synthesis (APS) aims to create the desired array pattern as closely as possible to the prescribed mask template by varying the element excitations of the array. Herein, an efficient approach for the APS to control the sidelobe level is proposed. After designing the mask template to meet the prescribed sidelobe requirements and the waveform pattern, a set of element excitations is calculated through the Fourier transform performed on the projection the waveform pattern onto the mask template. Then, a desired array pattern can be synthesized from this updated set of excitation coefficients. The proposed APS approach directly presents a mathematical formulation of the exact set of excitations without any iterative optimization process. The proposed method is particularly suited for many array elements in linear antenna array. Thus, the proposed APS achieves substantial improvements in terms of computation complexity, performance, and ease of implementation in the algorithm when compared with conventional methods. Several simulation results are provided to verify the efficacy and effectiveness of the proposed method.

The development of efficient, robust, and high-throughput SNP genotyping platforms is pivotal for crop genetics and breeding. Recently, SNP genotyping platforms based on target capture sequencing, which is very flexible in terms of the number of SNP markers, have been developed for maize, cassava, and fava bean. We aimed to develop a target capture sequencing SNP genotyping platform for rice. A target capture sequencing panel containing 2565 SNPs, including 1225 SNPs informative for japonica and 1339 SNPs informative for indica , was developed. This platform was used in diversity analysis of 50 rice varieties. Of the 2565 SNP markers, 2341 (91.3%) produced useful polymorphic genotype data, enabling the production of a phylogenetic tree of the 50 varieties. The mean number of markers polymorphic between any two varieties was 854. The platform was used for QTL mapping of preharvest sprouting (PHS) resistance in an F 8 recombinant inbred line population derived from the cross Odae × Joun. A genetic map comprising 475 markers was constructed, and two QTLs for PHS resistance were identified on chromosomes 4 and 11. This system is a powerful tool for rice genetics and breeding and will facilitate QTL studies and gene mapping, germplasm diversity analysis, and marker-assisted selection.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major health concern worldwide, and its incidence is increasing steadily. To date, receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are the most favored molecular targets for the treatment of HCC, followed by immune checkpoint regulators such as PD-1, PD-L1, and CTLA-4. With less than desirable clinical outcomes from RTK inhibitors as well as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) so far, novel molecular target therapies have been proposed for HCC. In this review, we will introduce diverse molecular signaling pathways that are aberrantly activated in HCC, focusing on YAP/TAZ, Hedgehog, and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathways, and discuss potential therapeutic strategies targeting the signaling pathways in HCC.

This study proposes a 3D global localization method that implements mobile LiDAR mapping and point cloud registration to recognize the locations of objects in an underground mine. An initial global point cloud map was built for an entire underground mine area using mobile LiDAR; a local LiDAR scan (local point cloud) was generated at the point where underground positioning was required. We calculated fast point feature histogram (FPFH) descriptors for the global and local point clouds to extract point features. The match areas between the global and the local point clouds were searched and aligned using random sample consensus (RANSAC) and iterative closest point (ICP) registration. The object's location on the global coordinate system was measured using the LiDAR sensor trajectory. Field experiments were performed at the Gwan-in underground mine using three mobile LiDAR systems. The local point cloud dataset formed for the six areas of the underground mine precisely matched the global point cloud, with a low average error of approximately 0.13 m, regardless of the type of mobile LiDAR system used. In addition, the LiDAR senor trajectory was aligned on the global coordinate system to confirm the change in the dynamic object's position over time.

Accurate regional classification of highways is a critical prerequisite to implement a tailored safety assessment. However, there has been inadequate research on objective classification considering traffic flow characteristics for highway safety assessment purposes. We propose an objective and easily applicable classification method that considers the administrative divisions of South Korea. We evaluated the feasibility of this method through various theoretical analysis techniques using the data collected from 536 permanent traffic volume counting stations for the national highways in South Korea in 2019. The ratio of the annual average hourly traffic volume to the annual average daily traffic was used as the explanatory variable. The corresponding results of factor and cluster analyses with this ratio showed a 61% concordance with the urban, suburban, and rural areas classified by the administrative divisions. The results of two-sample goodness-of-fit tests also confirmed that the difference in the three distributions of hourly volume ratios was statistically significant. The results of this study can help enhance highway safety and facilitate the development and application of more appropriate highway safety assessment tools, such as Road Assessment Programs or crash prediction models, for specific regions using the proposed method.

Next-generation sequencing technologies have enabled the discovery of numerous sequence variations among closely related crop varieties. We analyzed genome resequencing data from 24 Korean temperate japonica rice varieties and discovered 954,233 sequence variations, including 791,121 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 163,112 insertions/deletions (InDels). On average, there was one variant per 391 base-pairs (bp), a variant density of 2.6 per 1 kbp. Of the InDels, 10,860 were longer than 20 bp, which enabled conversion to markers resolvable on an agarose gel. The effect of each variant on gene function was predicted using the SnpEff program. The variants were categorized into four groups according to their impact: high, moderate, low, and modifier. These groups contained 3524 (0.4%), 27,656 (2.9%), 24,875 (2.6%), and 898,178 (94.1%) variants, respectively. To test the accuracy of these data, eight InDels from a pre-harvest sprouting resistance QTL ( qPHS11 ) target region, four highly polymorphic InDels, and four functional sequence variations in known agronomically important genes were selected and successfully developed into markers. These results will be useful to develop markers for marker-assisted selection, to select candidate genes in map-based cloning, and to produce efficient high-throughput genome-wide genotyping systems for Korean temperate japonica rice varieties.

UAV equipped three-dimensional (3D) wireless networks can provide a solution for the requirements of 5G communications, such as enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) and massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC). Especially, the introduction of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as a relay node can improve the connectivity, extend the terrestrial base station (BS) coverage and enhance the throughput by taking advantage of a strong air-to-ground line of sight (LOS) channel. In this paper, we consider the deployment and resource allocation of UAV relay network (URN) to maximize the throughput of user equipment (UE) within a cell, while guaranteeing a reliable transmission to UE outside the coverage of BS. To this end, we formulate joint UAV deployment and resource allocation problems, whose analytical solutions can be hardly obtained, in general. We propose a fast and practical algorithm to provide the optimal solution for the number of transmit time slots and the UAV relay location in a sequential manner. The transmit power at BS and UAV is determined in advance based on the availability of channel state information (CSI). Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms can significantly reduce the computational effort and complexity to determine the optimal UAV location and transmit time slots over an exhaustive search.

As members of the MAPK family, c-Jun-N-terminal kinases (JNKs) regulate the biological processes of apoptosis. In particular, the isoform JNK3 is expressed explicitly in the brain at high levels and is involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). In this study, we prepared a series of five 6-dihydroxy-1 H -benzo[d]imidazoles as JNK3 inhibitors and found them have potential as neuroprotective agents. Following a previous lead scaffold, benzimidazole moiety was modified with various aryl groups and hydroxylation, and the resulting compounds exhibited JNK3 inhibitory activity with improved potency and selectivity. Out of 37 analogues synthesized, ( S )-cyclopropyl(3-((4-(2-(2,3-dihydrobenzo[b][1,4]dioxin -6-yl)-5,6-dihydroxy-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-1-yl)pyrimidin-2-yl)amino) piperidin-1-yl)methanone ( 35b ) demonstrated the highest JNK3 inhibition (IC 50 = 9.7 nM), as well as neuroprotective effects against Aβ-induced neuronal cell death. As a protein kinase inhibitor, it also showed excellent selectivity over other protein kinases including isoforms JNK1 (>1000 fold) and JNK2 (-10 fold).

In this paper, a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) change detection approach is proposed based on a structural similarity index measure (SSIM) and multiple-window processing (MWP). The proposed scheme is performed in two steps: (1) generation of a coherence image based on MWP associated with SSIM and (2) gamma correction (GC) filtering. The proposed method is capable of providing a high-quality coherence image because the MWP operation based on SSIM has high sensitivity to the similarity measure for intensity between two SAR images. By finding an optimum value of order of GC, the proposed method can considerably reduce the effect of speckle noise on the coherence image, while retaining nearly all the information related to changed region involved in the change detection map. Several experimental results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

Along with advances in technology, matrix data, such as medical/industrial images, have emerged in many practical fields. These data usually have high dimensions and are not easy to cluster due to their intrinsic correlated structure among rows and columns. Most approaches convert matrix data to multi dimensional vectors and apply conventional clustering methods to them, and thus, suffer from an extreme high-dimensionality problem as well as a lack of interpretability of the correlated structure among row/column variables. Recently, a regularized model was proposed for clustering matrix-valued data by imposing a sparsity structure for the mean signal of each cluster. We extend their approach by regularizing further on the covariance to cope better with the curse of dimensionality for large size images. A penalized matrix normal mixture model with lasso-type penalty terms in both mean and covariance matrices is proposed, and then an expectation maximization algorithm is developed to estimate the parameters. The proposed method has the competence of both parsimonious modeling and reflecting the proper conditional correlation structure. The estimators are consistent, and their limiting distributions are derived. We applied the proposed method to simulated data as well as real datasets and measured its clustering performance with the clustering accuracy (ACC) and the adjusted rand index (ARI). The experiment results show that the proposed method performed better with higher ACC and ARI than those of conventional methods.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is caused by homozygous survival of motor neurons 1 ( SMN1 ) gene deletion, leaving a duplicate gene, SMN2 , as the sole source of SMN protein. However, a defect in SMN2 splicing, involving exon 7 skipping, results in a low level of functional SMN protein. Therefore, the upregulation of SMN protein expression from the SMN2 gene is generally considered to be one of the best therapeutic strategies to treat SMA. Most of the SMA drug discovery is based on synthetic compounds, and very few natural compounds have been explored thus far. Here, we performed an unbiased mechanism-independent and image-based screen of a library of microbial metabolites in SMA fibroblasts using an SMN-specific immunoassay. In doing so, we identified brefeldin A (BFA), a well-known inhibitor of ER-Golgi protein trafficking, as a strong inducer of SMN protein. The profound increase in SMN protein was attributed to, in part, the rescue of the SMN2 pre-mRNA splicing defect. Intriguingly, BFA increased the intracellular calcium concentration, and the BFA-induced exon 7 inclusion of SMN2 splicing, was abrogated by the depletion of intracellular calcium and by the pharmacological inhibition of calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinases (CaMKs). Moreover, BFA considerably reduced the expression of Tra2-β and SRSF9 proteins in SMA fibroblasts and enhanced the binding of PSF and hnRNP M to an exonic splicing enhancer (ESE) of exon 7. Together, our results demonstrate a significant role for calcium and its signaling on the regulation of SMN splicing, probably through modulating the expression/activity of splicing factors.

This paper presents a small-sized, low-power gas sensor system combining a high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) device and readout integrated circuit (ROIC). Using a semiconductor-based HEMT as a gas-sensing device, it is possible to secure high sensitivity, reduced complexity, low power, and small size of the ROIC sensor system. Unlike existing gas sensors comprising only HEMT elements, the proposed sensor system has both an ROIC and a digital controller and can control sensor operation through a simple calibration process with digital signal processing while maintaining constant performance despite variations. The ROIC mainly consists of a transimpedance amplifier (TIA), a negative-voltage generator, and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and is designed to match a minimum target detection unit of 1 ppm for hydrogen. The prototype ROIC for the HEMT presented herein was implemented in a 0.18 µm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process. The total measured power consumption and detection unit of the proposed ROIC for hydrogen gas were 3.1 mW and 2.6 ppm, respectively.

Metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of diabetic kidney disease (DKD); nutrient overload leads to increased production of metabolic byproducts that may become toxic at high levels. One metabolic byproduct may be 2-hydroxyglutarate (2-HG), a metabolite with many regulatory functions that exists in both enantiomeric forms physiologically. We quantitatively determined the levels of L and D-2HG enantiomers in the urine, plasma, and kidney cortex of db / db mice, a pathophysiologically relevant murine model of type 2 diabetes and DKD. We found increased fractional excretion of both L and D-2HG enantiomers, suggesting increased tubular secretion and/or production of the two metabolites in DKD. Quantitation of TCA cycle metabolites in db / db cortex suggests that TCA cycle overload and an increase in 2-HG precursor substrate, α-ketoglutarate, drive the increased L and D-2HG production in DKD. In conclusion, we demonstrated increased 2-HG enantiomer production and urinary excretion in murine type 2 DKD, which may contribute to metabolic reprogramming and progression of diabetic kidney disease.

The AP2/EREBP family transcription factors play important roles in a wide range of stress tolerance and hormone signaling. In this study, a heat-inducible rice ERF gene was isolated and functionally characterized. The OsERF115/AP2EREBP110 was categorized to Group-IIIc of the rice AP2/EREBP family and strongly induced by heat and drought treatment. The OsERF115/AP2EREBP110 protein targeted to nuclei and suppressed the ABA-induced transcriptional activation of Rab16A promoter in rice protoplasts. Overexpression of OsERF115/AP2EREBP110 enhanced thermotolerance of seeds and vegetative growth stage plants. The OsERF115/AP2EREBP110 overexpressing (OE) plants exhibited higher proline level and increased expression of a proline biosynthesis P5CS1 gene. Phenotyping of water use dynamics of the individual plant indicates that the OsERF115/AP2EREBP110 -OE plant exhibited better water saving traits under heat and drought combined stress. Our combined results suggest the potential use of OsERF115/AP2EREBP110 as a candidate gene for genetic engineering approaches to develop heat and drought stress-tolerant crops.

As travel activity has gained attention as one of the essential ways of understanding the sustainable growth of social tourism, a growing number of research projects have been conducted to elucidate the relationship between residents' travel quantity (frequency) and quality (experience) in both macro and micro perspectives. Yet, very little research has highlighted that travel opportunities are not equally available to residents, especially a longitudinal perspective. The current study classified domestic travelers into four distinct classes using four years of longitudinal data from 5054 Korean residents. Latent growth curve modeling (LGCM) and growth mixture modeling (GMM) were employed to find out (1) the optimal number of classes, (2) the longitudinal travel frequency trajectory of each class, and (3) the distinctive demographic and travel characteristics of the four classes. This study provides some practical implications for policymakers when optimizing available resources for sustainable travel opportunities to relevant target sub-populations. Furthermore, detailed step-by-step analytic tutorials are also introduced for the extended application of longitudinal latent variable analysis in the tourism and hospitality fields, providing additional insights for relevant stakeholders.

Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) plays an important role in cell cycle progression and proliferation in cancer cells. PLK1 also contributes to anticancer drug resistance and is a valuable target in anticancer therapeutics. To identify additional effective PLK1 inhibitors, we performed QSAR studies of two series of known PLK1 inhibitors and proposed a new structure based on a hybridized 3D-QSAR model. Given the hybridized 3D-QSAR models, we designed and synthesized 4-benzyloxy-1-(2-arylaminopyridin-4-yl)-1 H -pyrazole-3-carboxamides, and we inspected its inhibitory activities to identify novel PLK1 inhibitors with decent potency and selectivity.

The advent of the Hydrogen Society created great interest around hydrogen-based energy a decade ago, with several types of vehicles based on hydrogen fuel cells already being produced in the automotive sector. For highly efficient fuel cell systems, the control of hydrogen inside a polymer-based electrolyte membrane is crucial. In this study, we investigated the molecular behavior of hydrogen inside a polymer-based proton-exchange membrane, using quantum and molecular dynamics simulations. In particular, this study focused on the structural difference of the pendent-like side chain polymer, resulting in the penetration ratio of hydrogen into the membrane deriving from the penetration depth of the membrane's thickness while keeping the simulation time constant. The results reveal that the penetration ratio of the polymer with a shorter side chain was higher than that with the longer side chain. This was justified via two perspectives; electrostatic and van der Waals molecular interactions, and the structural difference of the polymers resulting in the free volume and different behavior of the side chain. In conclusion, we found that a longer side chain is more trembling and acts as an obstruction, dominating the penetration of hydrogen inside the polymer membrane.

Few studies have evaluated the association between ambient air pollution and hospital readmissions among children with asthma, especially in low-income communities. This study examined the short-term effects of ambient air pollutants on hospital readmissions for pediatric asthma in South Texas. A time-stratified case-crossover study was conducted using the hospitalization data from a children's hospital and the air pollution data, including particulate matter 2.5 (PM 2.5 ) and ozone concentrations, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 2010 and 2014. A conditional logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the association between ambient air pollution and hospital readmissions, controlling for outdoor temperature. We identified 111 pediatric asthma patients readmitted to the hospital between 2010 and 2014. The single-pollutant models showed that PM 2.5 concentration had a significant positive effect on risk for hospital readmissions (OR = 1.082, 95% CI = 1.008-1.162, p = 0.030). In the two-pollutant models, the increased risk of pediatric readmissions for asthma was significantly associated with both elevated ozone (OR = 1.023, 95% CI = 1.001-1.045, p = 0.042) and PM 2.5 concentrations (OR = 1.080, 95% CI = 1.005-1.161, p = 0.036). The effects of ambient air pollutants on hospital readmissions varied by age and season. Our findings suggest that short-term (4 days) exposure to air pollutants might increase the risk of preventable hospital readmissions for pediatric asthma patients.

Shift work nurses experience multiple health problems due to irregular shifts and heavy job demands. However, the comorbidity patterns of nurses' health problems and the association between health problems and turnover intention have rarely been studied. This study aimed to identify and cluster shift work nurses' health problems and to reveal the associations between health problems and turnover intention. In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed data from 500 nurses who worked at two tertiary hospitals in Seoul, South Korea. Data, including turnover intention and nine types of health issues, were collected between March 2018 and April 2019. Hierarchical clustering and multiple ordinal logistic regressions were used for the data analysis. Among the participants, 22.2% expressed turnover intention and the mean number of health problems was 4.5 (range 0-9). Using multiple ordinal logistic regressions analysis, it was shown that sleep disturbance, depression, fatigue, a gastrointestinal disorder, and leg or foot discomfort as a single health problem significantly increased turnover intention. After clustering the health problems, four clusters were identified and only the neuropsychological cluster-sleep disturbance, fatigue, and depression-significantly increased turnover intention. We propose that health problems within the neuropsychological cluster must receive close attention and be addressed simultaneously to decrease nurse's turnover intentions.

Although hospital length of stay (LOS) has been identified as a proxy measure of healthcare expenditures in the United States, there are limited studies investigating the potentially important association between outdoor air pollution and LOS for pediatric asthma. This study aims to examine the effect of ambient air pollution on LOS among children with asthma in South Texas. It included retrospective data on 711 children aged 5-18 years old admitted for asthma to a pediatric tertiary care hospital in South Texas between 2010 and 2014. Air pollution data including particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) and ozone were collected from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The multivariate binomial logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the association between each air pollutant and LOS, controlling for confounders. The regression models showed the increased ozone level was significantly associated with prolonged LOS in the single- and two-pollutant models ( p < 0.05). Furthermore, in the age-stratified models, PM 2.5 was positively associated with LOS among children aged 5-11 years old ( p < 0.05). In conclusion, this study revealed a concerning association between ambient air pollution and LOS for pediatric asthma in South Texas., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

A smart glasses-based wearable personnel proximity warning system (PWS) was developed for pedestrian safety in construction and mining sites. The smart glasses receive signals transmitted by Bluetooth beacons attached to heavy equipment or vehicles, with the proximity determined by the signal strength. A visual alert is displayed to the wearer when in close proximity. The media access control address of the Bluetooth beacon provides information on the approaching equipment or vehicle, which is displayed to the wearer so that they can respond appropriately. There was a detection distance of at least 10 m regardless of the direction the pedestrian was looking and the alert was successful in all 40 trials at ≥10 meters. The subjective workload was evaluated using the NASA task load index on ten subjects, either without a personal PWS, with a smartphone-based PWS, or with the smart glasses-based PWS. The mental, temporal, and physical stresses were lowest when using the smart glasses-based PWS. Smart glasses-based PWSs can improve work efficiency by freeing both hands of the pedestrians, and various functions can be supported through application development. Therefore, they are particularly useful for pedestrian safety in construction and mining sites.

Data phenotyping traits on soybean seeds such as shape and color has been obscure because it is difficult to define them clearly. Further, it takes too much time and effort to have sufficient number of samplings especially length and width. These difficulties prevented seed morphology to be incorporated into efficient breeding program. Here, we propose methods for an image acquisition, a data processing, and analysis for the morphology and color of soybean seeds by high-throughput method using images analysis. As results, quantitative values for colors and various types of morphological traits could be screened to create a standard for subsequent evaluation of the genotype. Phenotyping method in the current study could define the morphology and color of soybean seeds in highly accurate and reliable manner. Further, this method enables the measurement and analysis of large amounts of plant seed phenotype data in a short time, which was not possible before. Fast and precise phenotype data obtained here may facilitate Genome Wide Association Study for the gene function analysis as well as for development of the elite varieties having desirable seed traits.

Detecting the depth and size of debonding in composite structures is essential for assessing structural safety as it can weaken the structure possibly leading to a failure. As composite materials are used in various fields up to date including aircrafts and bridges, inspections are carried out to maintain structural integrity. Although many inspection methods exist for detection damage of composites, most of the techniques require trained experts or a large equipment that can be time consuming. In this study, the possibility of using the piezoelectric material-based non-destructive method known as the electromechanical impedance (EMI) technique is used to identify the depth of debonding damage of glass epoxy laminates. Laminates with various thicknesses were prepared and tested to seek for the possibility of using the EMI technique for identifying the depth of debonding. Results show promising outcome for bringing the EMI technique a step closer for commercialization.

Bakanae disease (BD), caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium fujikuroi , has become a serious threat in rice-cultivating regions worldwide. In the present study, quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping was performed using F2 and F3 plants derived after crossing a BD-resistant and a BD-susceptible Korean japonica rice variety, 'Samgwang' and 'Junam', respectively. Resequencing of 'Junam' and 'Samgwang' genomes revealed 151,916 DNA polymorphisms between the two varieties. After genotyping 188 F2 plants, we constructed a genetic map comprising 184 markers, including 175 kompetitive allele-specific PCR markers, eight cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) markers, and a derived CAPS (dCAPS) marker. The degree of BD susceptibility of each F2 plant was evaluated on the basis of the mortality rate measured with corresponding F3 progeny seedlings by in vitro screening. Consequently, qFfR9 , a major QTL, was discovered at 30.1 centimorgan (cM) on chromosome 9 with a logarithm of the odds score of 60.3. For the QTL interval, 95% probability lay within a 7.24-7.56 Mbp interval. In this interval, we found that eight genes exhibited non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) by comparing the 'Junam' and 'Samgwang' genome sequence data, and are possibly candidate genes for qFfR9 ; therefore, qFfR9 could be utilized as a valuable resource for breeding BD-resistant rice varieties.

Composite materials such as glass and carbon fibre composites have become popular and the preferred choice in various applications due to their many advantages such as corrosion resistance, design flexibility, high strength and light weight. Combining materials with different mechanical properties make composites more difficult to evaluate where the damage mechanisms for composites are more complex than traditional materials such as steel. A relatively new non-destructive testing (NDT) method known as the electromechanical impedance (EMI) technique has been studied by various researchers, but the damage detection performance of the method on composite structures still requires more investigations before it can be accepted for field application, especially in aerospace industry due to the high standard of safety. In this paper, the detection capabilities and performance of the EMI technique subjected to different PZT attachment methods have been investigated. To this end, glass fibre composite plates with various attachment methods for the sensor have been prepared and detection of common defects such as delamination and crack with the EMI technique under study has been performed. The performance of each attachment method for identifying different damage types has been analysed and finite element analysis (FEA) was carried out for verification of the experimental results., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Lespedeza cuneata (Fabaceae), known as Chinese bushclover, has been used in traditional medicines for the treatment of diseases including diabetes, hematuria, and insomnia. As part of a continuing search for bioactive constituents from Korean medicinal plant sources, phytochemical analysis of the aerial portion of L. cuneata led to the isolation of two new lignan glycosides ( 1 , 2 ) along with three known lignan glycosides ( 3 ⁻ 7 ) and nine known flavonoid glycosides ( 8 ⁻ 14 ). Numerous analysis techniques, including 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy, CD spectroscopy, HR-MS, and chemical reactions, were utilized for structural elucidation of the new compounds ( 1 , 2 ). The isolated compounds were evaluated for their applicability in medicinal use using cell-based assays. Compounds 1 and 4 ⁻ 6 exhibited weak cytotoxicity against four human breast cancer cell lines (Bt549, MCF7, MDA-MB-231, and HCC70) (IC 50 < 30.0 μM). However, none of the isolated compounds showed significant antiviral activity against PR8, HRV1B, or CVB3. In addition, compound 10 produced fewer lipid droplets in Oil Red O staining of mouse mesenchymal stem cells compared to the untreated negative control without altering the amount of alkaline phosphatase staining.

The birth of smart materials such as piezoelectric (PZT) transducers has aided in revolutionizing the field of structural health monitoring (SHM) based on non-destructive testing (NDT) methods. While a relatively new NDT method known as the electromechanical (EMI) technique has been investigated for more than two decades, there are still various problems that must be solved before it is applied to real structures. The technique, which has a significant potential to contribute to the creation of one of the most effective SHM systems, involves the use of a single PZT for exciting and sensing of the host structure. In this paper, studies applied for the past decade related to the EMI technique have been reviewed to understand its trend. In addition, new concepts and ideas proposed by various authors are also surveyed, and the paper concludes with a discussion of the potential directions for future works.

Recently, more than 30 small molecules and eight monoclonal antibodies that modulate kinase signaling have been approved for the treatment of several pathological conditions, including cancer, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Among them, kinase modulators have been a primary focus for use in cancer treatment. Cellular senescence is believed to protect cells from tumorigenesis by irreversibly halting cell cycle progression and avoiding the growth of damaged cells and tissues. Senescence can also contribute to tumor suppression and be utilized as a mechanism by anti-cancer agents. Although the role of kinase modulators in cancer treatment and their effects on senescence in tumor development have been extensively studied, the relationship between kinase modulators for cancer treatment and senescence has not been fully discussed. In this review, we discuss the pro- and anti-tumorigenesis functions of senescence and summarize the key roles of kinase modulators in the regulation of senescence against tumors., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Most of the commercial nighttime pedestrian detection (PD) methods reported previously utilized the histogram of oriented gradient (HOG) or the local binary pattern (LBP) as the feature and the support vector machine (SVM) as the classifier using thermal camera images. In this paper, we propose a new feature called the thermal-position-intensity-histogram of oriented gradient (TPIHOG or T π HOG) and developed a new combination of the T π HOG and the additive kernel SVM (AKSVM) for efficient nighttime pedestrian detection. The proposed T π HOG includes detailed information on gradient location; therefore, it has more distinctive power than the HOG. The AKSVM performs better than the linear SVM in terms of detection performance, while it is much faster than other kernel SVMs. The combined T π HOG-AKSVM showed effective nighttime PD performance with fast computational time. The proposed method was experimentally tested with the KAIST pedestrian dataset and showed better performance compared with other conventional methods., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The emergence of composite materials has revolutionized the approach to building engineering structures. With the number of applications for composites increasing every day, maintaining structural integrity is of utmost importance. For composites, adhesive bonding is usually the preferred choice over the mechanical fastening method, and monitoring for delamination is an essential factor in the field of composite materials. In this study, a non-destructive method known as the electromechanical impedance method is used with an approach of monitoring multiple areas by specifying certain frequency ranges to correspond to a certain test specimen. Experiments are conducted using various numbers of stacks created by attaching glass fiber epoxy composite plates onto one another, and two different debonding damage types are introduced to evaluate the performance of the multiple monitoring electromechanical impedance method., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

All kinds of vehicles have different ratios of width to height, which are called the aspect ratios. Most previous works, however, use a fixed aspect ratio for vehicle detection (VD). The use of a fixed vehicle aspect ratio for VD degrades the performance. Thus, the estimation of a vehicle aspect ratio is an important part of robust VD. Taking this idea into account, a new on-road vehicle detection system is proposed in this paper. The proposed method estimates the aspect ratio of the hypothesized windows to improve the VD performance. Our proposed method uses an Aggregate Channel Feature (ACF) and a support vector machine (SVM) to verify the hypothesized windows with the estimated aspect ratio. The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, the estimation of vehicle aspect ratio is inserted between the HG (hypothesis generation) and the HV (hypothesis verification). Second, a simple HG method named a signed horizontal edge map is proposed to speed up VD. Third, a new measure is proposed to represent the overlapping ratio between the ground truth and the detection results. This new measure is used to show that the proposed method is better than previous works in terms of robust VD. Finally, the Pittsburgh dataset is used to verify the performance of the proposed method.

This paper proposes the design and implementation of a micro-electrode array (MEA) for neuroblastoma cell culturing. It also explains the implementation of a multi-photon microscope (MPM) customized for neuroblastoma cell excitation and imaging under ambient light. Electrical signal and fluorescence images were simultaneously acquired from the neuroblastoma cells on the MEA. MPM calcium images of the cultured neuroblastoma cell on the MEA are presented and also the neural activity was acquired through the MEA recording. A calcium green-1 (CG-1) dextran conjugate of 10,000 D molecular weight was used in this experiment for calcium imaging. This study also evaluated the calcium oscillations and neural spike recording of neuroblastoma cells in an epileptic condition. Based on our observation of neural spikes in neuroblastoma cells with our proposed imaging modality, we report that neuroblastoma cells can be an important model for epileptic activity studies.