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Metabacillus sp. strain B2-18 was isolated from human skin. Here, we present the whole-genome sequences of this strain and Metabacillus endolithicus KCTC 33579 T . The genomes of these strains contain 14 and 15 rRNA gene operons, respectively.

Caragana sinica (CS; family Legume) was used as a medicinal material to treat neuralgia and arthritis in folk remedies and has been shown to have antioxidant, neuroprotective, and anti-apoptotic effects. However, CS is unknown for its biological activities related to skin. The present study explored the effects of CS flower absolute (CSFAb) on skin repair responses, viz., wound healing and anti-wrinkle-related responses using keratinocytes. CSFAb was extracted using hexane, and its composition was analyzed by GC/MS. The effects of CSFAb on human keratinocytes (HaCaT cells) were evaluated using Boyden chamber, sprouting, water-soluble tetrazolium salt, 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine incorporation, ELISA, zymography, and immunoblotting assays. GC/MS detected 46 components in CSFAb. In addition, in HaCaT cells, CSFAb increased the proliferation, migration, and sprout outgrowth and the phosphorylation of ERK1/2, JNK, p38 MAPK, and AKT, and also increased collagen type I and IV synthesis, reduced TNF-α-increased MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities, and upregulated hyaluronic acid (HA) and HA synthase-2 levels. These effects of CSFAb on wound healing and anti-wrinkle-related responses in keratinocytes suggest its potential use for skin repair and care preparations.

Introduction: To determine the short-term real-world safety and efficacy of intravitreal brolucizumab injections in Korean patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Methods: This multicenter retrospective study involved 294 eyes (treatment naïve 20 eye (6.8%) and non-treatment naïve 274 eyes (93.2%)) of 290 patients from 13 hospitals or retinal centers in South Korea. Patients with nAMD who received brolucizumab injection(s) between April 1 and November 30, 2021, with a follow-up ≥1 month, were included. Primary outcomes were safety, incidence of intraocular inflammation (IOI), and potential risk factors. The secondary outcome was efficacy, i.e., change in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and optical coherence tomography-measured macular thickness and retinal fluid. Results: The mean age was 71.63±8.66. The follow-up period was 2.38±0.79 months. The mean number of brolucizumab injections during the follow-up was 1.52±0.58. The overall incidence of IOI was 13.9% (n=41 eyes). Most IOI cases were of anterior uveitis (8.8%, 26 eyes), followed by retinal vasculitis (2.4%, seven eyes) and occlusive retinal vasculitis (0.3%, one eye). Most eyes showed IOI resolution (n=40, 97.5%) and BCVA restoration (n=39, 95.1%) with or without corticosteroid treatment during the follow-up. Age, sex, IOI history, or other anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injection histories were not associated with the occurrence of IOI. However, only thin subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) was associated with the occurrence of IOI (odds ratio=0.995, p=0.020). BCVA at 1 month improved from baseline (Baseline 0.518±0.356 vs. 1 month 0.503±0.383, p=0.023), but the improvement was not maintained. Anatomical improvement was significant after 3 months. Conclusion: IOI was well-controlled with or without steroid treatment. Most IOI eyes (95.1%) were restored to the level of vision before IOI occurrence and occlusive vasculitis was rare. In the short term, brolucizumab injection effectively improved vision at 1 month and dried retinal fluid for 3 months.

BACKGROUND This study focuses on the potential of health big data in the South Korean context. Despite huge data reserves and pan-government efforts to increase data use, the utilization is limited to public interest research centered in public institutions that have data. To increase the use of health big data, it is necessary to identify and develop measures to meet the various demands for such data from individuals, private companies, and research institutes. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to identify the perceptions of and demands for health big data analysis and use among workers in health care–related occupations and to clarify the obstacles to the use of health big data. METHODS From May 8 to May 18, 2022, we conducted a web-based survey among 390 health care–related workers in South Korea. We used Fisher exact test and analysis of variance to estimate the differences among occupations. We expressed the analysis results by item in frequency and percentage and expressed the difficulties in analyzing health big data by mean and standard deviation. RESULTS The respondents who revealed the need to use health big data in health care work–related fields accounted for 86.4% (337/390); 65.6% (256/390) of the respondents had never used health big data. The lack of awareness about the source of the desired data was the most cited reason for nonuse by 39.6% (153/386) of the respondents. The most cited obstacle to using health big data by the respondents was the difficulty in data integration and expression unit matching, followed by missing value processing and noise removal. Thus, the respondents experienced the greatest difficulty in the data preprocessing stage during the health big data analysis process, regardless of occupation. Approximately 91.8% (358/390) of the participants responded that they were willing to use the system if a system supporting big data analysis was developed. As suggestions for the specific necessary support system, the reporting and provision of appropriate data and expert advice on questions arising during the overall process of big data analysis were mentioned. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate respondents’ high awareness of and demand for health big data. Our findings also reveal the low utilization of health big data and the need to support health care workers in their analysis and use of such data. Hence, we recommend the development of a customized support system that meets the specific requirements of big data analysis by users such as individuals, nongovernmental agencies, and academia. Our study is significant because it identified important but overlooked failure factors. Thus, it is necessary to prepare practical measures to increase the utilization of health big data in the future.

UNSTRUCTURED Most artificial pancreas systems require a blood glucose (BG) forecasting model that captures the dynamics of the human metabolic system. Machine learning researchers train these models by optimizing for metrics such as root mean squared error (RMSE). However, we found that when combined with a standard controller, models that minimize RMSE do not necessarily yield a higher percent time-in-range (%TIR). We compared the predictive accuracy and control performance of two forecasters: a machine learning-based model that minimizes RMSE (LSTM) and a rule-based model (Loop). Despite achieving RMSE comparable to state-of-the-art (RMSE 15.24mg/dL at 30min), LSTM only achieved 24.35% (IQR 22.35-25.61) TIR. While Loop’s prediction accuracy was worse (RMSE 19.50mg/dL at 30min, p < 0.05), it achieved higher TIR: 34.20% (IQR 31.25-41.02). Thus, the standard approach to evaluating BG forecasters could lead to poor model selection with respect to improving closed-loop control.

Sensory loss leads to widespread adaptation of neural circuits to mediate cross-modal plasticity, which allows the organism to better utilize the remaining senses to guide behavior. While cross-modal interactions are often thought to engage multisensory areas, cross-modal plasticity is often prominently observed at the level of the primary sensory cortices. One dramatic example is from functional imaging studies in humans where cross-modal recruitment of the deprived primary sensory cortex has been observed during the processing of the spared senses. In addition, loss of a sensory modality can lead to enhancement and refinement of the spared senses, some of which have been attributed to compensatory plasticity of the spared sensory cortices. Cross-modal plasticity is not restricted to early sensory loss but is also observed in adults, which suggests that it engages or enables plasticity mechanisms available in the adult cortical circuit. Because adult cross-modal plasticity is observed without gross anatomical connectivity changes, it is thought to occur mainly through functional plasticity of pre-existing circuits. The underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms involve activity-dependent homeostatic and Hebbian mechanisms. A particularly attractive mechanism is the sliding threshold metaplasticity model because it innately allows neurons to dynamically optimize their feature selectivity. In this mini review, I will summarize the cellular and molecular mechanisms that mediate cross-modal plasticity in the adult primary sensory cortices and evaluate the metaplasticity model as an effective framework to understand the underlying mechanisms.

The H9N2 avian influenza (AI) has become endemic in poultry in many countries since the 1990s, which has caused considerable economic losses in the poultry industry. Considering the long history of the low pathogenicity H9N2 AI in many countries, once H9N2 AI is introduced, it is more difficult to eradicate than high pathogenicity AI. Various preventive measures and strategies, including vaccination and active national surveillance, have been used to control the Y439 lineage of H9N2 AI in South Korea, but it took a long time for the H9N2 virus to disappear from the fields. By contrast, the novel Y280 lineage of H9N2 AI was introduced in June 2020 and has spread nationwide. This study reviews the history, genetic and pathogenic characteristics, and control strategies for Korean H9N2 AI. This review may provide some clues for establishing control strategies for endemic AIV and a newly introduced Y280 lineage of H9N2 AI in South Korea.

This study aimed to assess the performance of deep learning (DL) algorithms in the diagnosis of nasal bone fractures on radiographs and compare it with that of experienced radiologists. In this retrospective study, 6713 patients whose nasal radiographs were examined for suspected nasal bone fractures between January 2009 and October 2020 were assessed. Our dataset was randomly split into training (n = 4325), validation (n = 481), and internal test (n = 1250) sets; a separate external dataset (n = 102) was used. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity of the DL algorithm and the two radiologists were compared. The AUCs of the DL algorithm for the internal and external test sets were 0.85 (95% CI, 0.83–0.86) and 0.86 (95% CI, 0.78–0.93), respectively, and those of the two radiologists for the external test set were 0.80 (95% CI, 0.73–0.87) and 0.75 (95% CI, 0.68–0.82). The DL algorithm therefore significantly exceeded radiologist 2 (P = 0.021) but did not significantly differ from radiologist 1 (P = 0.142). The sensitivity and specificity of the DL algorithm were 83.1% (95% CI, 71.2–93.2%) and 83.7% (95% CI, 69.8–93.0%), respectively. Our DL algorithm performs comparably to experienced radiologists in diagnosing nasal bone fractures on radiographs.

Job embeddedness (JE) has been recognized as a key factor to address the issue of employee turnover and employee attitudes. This study explores underlying mechanisms of job embeddedness that link the organizational environment and the individuals’ perceptions of the job. Particularly, the effects of psychological empowerment and learning orientation on organizational commitment were examined. This study hypothesizes that psychological empowerment (PE) and learning orientation (LO) should influence organizational commitment (OC) and job embeddedness plays a significant mediating role in these relationships. Data were collected from 27 offices of Human Resource Development Service of Korea (governmental agency) located in major cities in South Korea. Results indicate that all hypothesized relationships (PE and JE, LO and JE, LO and OC, JE and OC, and the mediating role of JE) are supported, except for psychological empowerment and organizational commitment. While the impact of psychological empowerment was not significantly related to organizational commitment, it is notable that through job embeddedness, psychological empowerment had indirect effects on organizational commitment. Further, learning orientation had significant effects on job embeddedness and organizational commitment. Lastly, the most compelling finding is a full mediation of job embeddedness in the relationship between psychological empowerment and organization commitment. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Because sequential patterns of multiple transition events (i.e., college graduation, full-time employment, marriage, and parenthood) are associated with turning points in depressive symptom trajectories during young adulthood, the present study used a sample of 446 White adolescents (52.3% females; 15.58 years old, on average) over 18 years (1992 to 2010) to (a) identify distinct

Radiographic factors estimate the state of the static knee joint, and it is questionable how well these parameters reflect the dynamic knee condition. The external knee adduction moment (KAM) during gait is known to be a kinetic variable contributing to osteoarthritis progression. This study aims to investigate the effects of static radiographic parameters on the dynamic KAM during gait.Overall, 123 patients (mean age, 65.7 years; standard deviation, 8.1 years; 34 men and 89 women) were included. Seven radiographic parameters including the mechanical tibiofemoral angle (mTFA), Kellgren-Lawrence grade, and ankle joint line orientation (AJLO) were measured on radiographs, and the maximum KAM and KAM-time integral in the stance phase were obtained using three-dimensional gait analysis. The correlation and multiple regression analyses were performed for identifying significant radiographic measurements associated with the KAM.Most of the radiographic measurements correlated with the maximum KAM and KAM-time integral. As a result of multiple regression analysis, the mTFA (p 0.001) and AJLO (p = 0.003) were identified as significant factors associated with the KAM-time integral (RThe mTFA and AJLO were significantly associated with the KAM. However, to be used as a surgical indication for corrective osteotomy, a longitudinal study is needed to validate whether the mTFA and AJLO values directly cause osteoarthritis progression as we have suggested.III.

Background: In recent events of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, computed tomography (CT) scans are being globally used as a complement to the reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests. It will be important to be aware of major organ dose levels, which are more relevant quantity to derive potential long-term adverse effect, for Korean pediatric and adult patients undergoing CT for COVID-19.Materials and Methods: We calculated organ dose conversion coefficients for Korean pediatric and adult CT patients directly from Korean pediatric and adult computational phantoms combined with Monte Carlo radiation transport techniques. We then estimated major organ doses delivered to the Korean child and adult patients undergoing CT for COVID-19 combining the dose conversion coefficients and the international survey data. We also compared our Korean dose conversion coefficients with those from Caucasian reference pediatric and adult phantoms.Results and Discussion: Based on the dose conversion coefficients we established in this study and the international survey data of COVID-19-related CT scans, we found that Korean 7-yearold child and adult males may receive about 4–32 mGy and 3–21 mGy of lung dose, respectively. We learned that the lung dose conversion coefficient for the Korean child phantom was up to 1.5-fold greater than that for the Korean adult phantom. We also found no substantial difference in dose conversion coefficients between Korean and Caucasian phantoms.Conclusion: We estimated radiation dose delivered to the Korean child and adult phantoms undergoing COVID-19-related CT examinations. The dose conversion coefficients derived for different CT scan types can be also used universally for other dosimetry studies concerning Korean CT scans. We also confirmed that the Caucasian-based CT organ dose calculation tools may be used for the Korean population with reasonable accuracy.

Objectives: Recently, as the population of various students in school classrooms has increased, the need for intervention on various communication problems has been emphasized. This study aims to provide basic data for legislative proposals for speech and language services in schools by investigating teachers’ perceptions and demands for establishment of school-based service delevery in speech-language pathology (SLP) in Korea.Methods: Using a Google survey, teachers at kindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools were questioned regarding their perception and demand for school SLP, with a total of 141 teachers responding.Results: The types of communication problems for the students in charge were 37.3% for multicultural families, 33.3% for slow learners, and 27% for children with other communication problems. Among the difficulties in communication among students, social communication skills accounted for 40.6%, followed by literacy with 22.7%, articulation with 16.4%, and vocabulary with 9.4%. More than 80% of teachers answered that there were students who had difficulty participating in class. Among them, 73.9% had the most difficulty in understanding the contents of the class, 32.2% of teachers’ instructions, and 17.4% of class presentations. In addition, it was found that more than half of the teachers interfered with the class or felt a work burden due to students who had difficulty participating in the class. Therefore, for this reason, 96.5% of teachers thought that having experts to help students would reduce their work burden and help children.Conclusion: Our outcomes demonstrated that teachers recognized the need for professional support at school sites, and mandatory placement of school SLP could provide students and parents with programs that could help improve their academic achievement or social communication skills.

본 연구는 돈내기 게임 또는 도박을 하지 않는 청소년을 대상으로 게임을 통한 사행심 촉발경험이 보상민감성과 도박에 대한 비합리적신념을 매개로 도박에 대한 긍정적 태도를 갖게 하는지 검증하는데 목적이 있다. 이는 게임을 하는 청소년들이 도박행위를 하지 않더라도 게임을 통해 사행심이 촉발되는 경험을 하고, 이러한 경험이 도박행위로 이어질 가능성을 탐색하기 위함이다. 이에 한국도박문제관리센터에서 제공하는 원자료 중 게임을 하는 청소년 607명의 자료를 분석에 활용하였고, PROCESS macro 분석방법을 통해 매개효과를 검증하였다. 분석결과, 게임 내 사행심 촉발경험은 도박태도에 영향을 미쳤고, 보상민감성과 도박에 대한 비합리적신념의 단순매개효과 및 이중매개효과가 통계적으로 유의미하게 나타났다. 즉, 청소년들은 도박을 하지 않아도 게임을 통해 사행심 촉발경험을 하는 경우 보상민감성과 비합리적신념이 증가하며 도박에 대해 긍정적 태도를 갖게 됨을 알 수 있다. 본 연구는 이러한 결과를 토대로 청소년의 사행심을 조장하는 게임의 영향과 도박문제에 개입하기 위한 정책적 · 실천적 방안에 대해 논의하였다.

This study examined how the prevalence of online learning increases educational outcomes and access for students with disabilities, exploring the factors associated with these learners’ self-effica...

In this paper I consider Aristotle’s solutions to two questions about justice and the laws: why think that obeying the law is just? And why think that doing what is just will promote one’s happiness? I analyze Aristotle’s solutions to these two problems in terms of four claims concerning the laws that come from Plato and underwrite Aristotle’s optimism about the potential for politikê epistêmê to issue in laws which are objectively correct.