A Comparative Study on the Carcass and Meat Chemical Composition, and Lipid-Metabolism-Related Gene Expression in Korean Hanwoo and Brindle Chikso Cattle.

The objective of this study was to elucidate the effect of cattle breed on carcass and meat chemical composition, fatty acid profiles, and lipid-metabolism-related genes. For this study, same-age Hanwoo and Chikso steers ( = 6 per breed) reared under identical conditions were used. Immediately after slaughter, muscle tissues were collected for analysis of mRNA expression.

A Comparative Study on the Meat Quality, Taste and Aroma Related Compounds between Korean Hanwoo and Chikso Cattle.

The aim of this study was to compare the meat quality and taste-and-aroma-related components of beef between breeds. For this purpose, Hanwoo and Chikso steers ( = 7 per breed) raised under identical conditions until 30 months old were used. After 24 h of slaughter, (LL) and (SM) muscles were collected and analyzed for technological quality, free amino acids, metabolites, and volatile compounds.

Mask-wearing behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea: The role of individualism in a collectivistic country.

The behavior of the general public is crucial for an effective COVID-19 response. The Republic of Korea has shown better performance in this regard than many other countries worldwide. Based on the theories of individualism and collectivism, this study analyzes how Korean culture and political preferences influence the mask-wearing behavior of people in Korea.

Chemo-Mechanical Energy Harvesters with Enhanced Intrinsic Electrochemical Capacitance in Carbon Nanotube Yarns.

Predicting and preventing disasters in difficult-to-access environments, such as oceans, requires self-powered monitoring devices. Since the need to periodically charge and replace batteries is an economic and environmental concern, energy harvesting from external stimuli to supply electricity to batteries is increasingly being considered. Especially, in aqueous environments including electrolytes, coiled carbon nanotube (CNT) yarn harvesters have been reported as an emerging approach for converting mechanical energy into electrical energy driven by large and reversible capacitance changes under stretching and releasing.

Primary Ciliogenesis by 2-Isopropylmalic Acid Prevents PM2.5-Induced Inflammatory Response and MMP-1 Activation in Human Dermal Fibroblasts and a 3-D-Skin Model.

Particulate matters (PMs) increase oxidative stress and inflammatory response in different tissues. PMs disrupt the formation of primary cilia in various skin cells, including keratinocytes and melanocytes. In this study, we found that 2-isopropylmalic acid (2-IPMA) promoted primary ciliogenesis and restored the PM2.

Public perception of geothermal power plants in Korea following the Pohang earthquake: A social representation theory study.

This study sought to determine how the residents of Pohang, Korea, perceive geothermal plants after the 2017 Pohang earthquake by applying social representation theory through a mixed-method approach incorporating qualitative and quantitative research. The residents' perception of the geothermal plant was largely anchored to their perception of nuclear power plants. At the time of the Gyeongju earthquake in 2016, public discourse on nuclear accidents developed and was thereafter perpetuated by the Pohang earthquake victims via cognitive anchoring.

Korean mothers' morality in the wake of COVID-19 contact-tracing surveillance.

The Korean government collects and releases sociodemographic information about people infected with COVID-19, their travel histories, and whether or not the patients wore masks. Korean mothers then upload this information on the boards of online groups called "mom cafes." Based upon a digital ethnography of 15 "mom cafes," we examine how Korean mothers understand the travel histories of virus patients and explore the relationships between morality and materiality in the context of infectious disease surveillance.

Does central sensitization affect hyperalgesia after staged bilateral total knee arthroplasty? A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Osteoarthritis (OA) patients who undergo staged bilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA) feel postoperative hyperalgesia in the second operated knee compared with the first knee. Ketamine is an important drug for central temporal summation and inhibition of secondary mechanical hyperalgesia. This study investigated whether central sensitization has a significant effect on hyperalgesia after consecutive operations.

An active carbon-nanotube polarizer-embedded electrode and liquid-crystal alignment.

We report a method for constructing an active optical polarizer using an aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) sheet that is flexible, bendable, transparent, conductive, and also serves to anchor liquid-crystal (LC) molecules. A horizontally aligned CNT sheet was obtained by mechanical stretching from a vertically grown CNT forest, which was then transferred onto a substrate. A liquid polymer was infiltrated into the CNT sheet followed by UV curing, while a part of the CNT sheet was still exposed on the film surface without polymer coating.

Acute mental change as the presenting sign of posthepatectomy hepatic failure: A case report.

Rationale: Hepatectomy is a treatment to increase survival and curability of patients with intrahepatic lesions or malignant tumors. However, posthepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) can occur. This case is a patient showing acute mental change in postanesthetic care unit (PACU) as an uncommon symptom of PHLF after extended right hepatectomy.

Prognosis after wedge resection in patients with 8 edition TNM stage IA1 and IA2 non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: According to the 8 edition TNM classification for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), tumor stage (T) is determined by the maximum size of the invasive component, without the lepidic component, and the T category has been further subdivided. We investigated the indications for wedge resection using the 8 edition TNM staging system, which measures only the size of the invasive component in tumor size.

Methods: We compared 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates in 429 consecutive patients with 8 edition stage IA1 and IA2 NSCLC who underwent lobectomy or wedge resection from 2007 to 2017.

Inhibition of VEGF-dependent angiogenesis and tumor angiogenesis by an optimized antibody targeting CLEC14a.

The C-type lectin-like domain of CLEC14a (CLEC14a-C-type lectin-like domain [CTLD]) is a key domain that mediates endothelial cell-cell contacts in angiogenesis. However, the role of CLEC14a-CTLD in pathological angiogenesis has not yet been clearly elucidated. In this study, through complementarity-determining region grafting, consecutive deglycosylation, and functional isolation, we generated a novel anti-angiogenic human monoclonal antibody that specifically targets CLEC14a-CTLD and that shows improved stability and homogeneity relative to the parental antibody.

Incidence and risk factors of postoperative sore throat after endotracheal intubation in Korean patients.

Objective To investigate the incidence of postoperative sore throat (POST) in Korean patients undergoing general anaesthesia with endotracheal intubation and to assess potential risk factors. Methods This prospective study enrolled patients who underwent all types of elective surgical procedures with endotracheal intubation and general anaesthesia. The patients were categorized into group S (those with a POST) or group N (those without a POST).

Highly Oriented SrTiO Thin Film on Graphene Substrate.

Growth of perovskite oxide thin films on Si in crystalline form has long been a critical obstacle for the integration of multifunctional oxides into Si-based technologies. In this study, we propose pulsed laser deposition of a crystalline SrTiO thin film on a Si using graphene substrate. The SrTiO thin film on graphene has a highly (00l)-oriented crystalline structure which results from the partial epitaxy.

Graphene Substrate for van der Waals Epitaxy of Layer-Structured Bismuth Antimony Telluride Thermoelectric Film.

Graphene as a substrate for the van der Waals epitaxy of 2D layered materials is utilized for the epitaxial growth of a layer-structured thermoelectric film. Van der Waals epitaxial Bi Sb Te film on graphene synthesized via a simple and scalable fabrication method exhibits good crystallinity and high thermoelectric transport properties comparable to single crystals.

Primary Cilia Negatively Regulate Melanogenesis in Melanocytes and Pigmentation in a Human Skin Model.

The primary cilium is an organelle protruding from the cell body that senses external stimuli including chemical, mechanical, light, osmotic, fluid flow, and gravitational signals. Skin is always exposed to the external environment and responds to external stimuli. Therefore, it is possible that primary cilia have an important role in skin.

The sensory power of cameras and noise meters for protest surveillance in South Korea.

This article analyzes sensory aspects of material politics in social movements, focusing on two police tools: evidence-collecting cameras and noise meters for protest surveillance. Through interviews with Korean political activists, this article examines the relationship between power and the senses in the material culture of Korean protests and asks why cameras and noise meters appeared in order to control contemporary peaceful protests in the 2000s. The use of cameras and noise meters in contemporary peaceful protests evidences the exercise of what Michel Foucault calls 'micro-power'.

Haplogroup Classification of Korean Cattle Breeds Based on Sequence Variations of mtDNA Control Region.

Many studies have reported the frequency and distribution of haplogroups among various cattle breeds for verification of their origins and genetic diversity. In this study, 318 complete sequences of the mtDNA control region from four Korean cattle breeds were used for haplogroup classification. 71 polymorphic sites and 66 haplotypes were found in these sequences.

The Efficacy of Lumbosacral Spine Phantom to Improve Resident Proficiency in Performing Ultrasound-Guided Spinal Procedure.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a lumbosacral spine phantom to improve novices' proficiency in performing ultrasound-guided facet joint injection and medial branch block.

Design And Setting: Prospective study in a university hospital.

Subjects: In total, 30 participants with no experience of spinal ultrasonography were included and were allocated to one of two groups (control group, N = 10 and training group, N = 20).

Prediction of Intraoperative Circulatory Risk Based on Preoperative Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Patients Undergoing Living Donor Liver Transplantation.

Background: Intraoperative circulatory risk factors are associated with unfavorable outcomes after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). We investigated whether the preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) can predict intraoperative circulatory risks.

Material And Methods: The perioperative data of 276 patients who underwent LDLT were reviewed retrospectively.

Autophagy Regulates Formation of Primary Cilia in Mefloquine-Treated Cells.

Primary cilia have critical roles in coordinating multiple cellular signaling pathways. Dysregulation of primary cilia is implicated in various ciliopathies. To identify specific regulators of autophagy, we screened chemical libraries and identified mefloquine, an anti-malaria medicine, as a potent regulator of primary cilia in human retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) cells.

Contribution of donor factors to post-reperfusion severe hyperglycemia in patients undergoing living donor liver transplantation.

Background: Blood glucose levels increase abruptly after graft reperfusion during living donor liver transplantation (LDLT), but studies on perioperative factors contributing to this phenomenon are rare. We developed a predictive model for post-reperfusion severe hyperglycemia (PRSH) based on donor-related factors.

Material And Methods: Preoperative and intraoperative recipient data, as well as donor data, on 279 LDLT cases were reviewed.

Conditioned Media from Human Umbilical Cord Blood-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Inhibits Melanogenesis by Promoting Proteasomal Degradation of MITF.

Human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUCB-MSCs) secrete various beneficial molecules, which have anti-apoptotic activity and cell proliferation. However, the effect of hUCB-MSCs in melanogenesis is largely unclear. In this study, we show that conditioned media (CM) derived from hUCB-MSCs inhibit melanogenesis by regulating microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) expression via the ERK signalling pathway.

BIX-01294-induced autophagy regulates elongation of primary cilia.

Previously, we showed that BIX-01294 treatment strongly activates autophagy. Although, the interplay between autophagy and ciliogenesis has been suggested, the role of autophagy in ciliogenesis is controversial and largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the effects of autophagy induced by BIX-01294 on the formation of primary cilia in human retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) cells.