CMA-Based design of a Novel structure for isolation enhancement and Radiation Pattern correction in MIMO antennas.

This paper presents novel MIMO microstrip patch antennas with dimensions of 40 × 80 × 1.6 mm³ incorporating a decoupling and pattern correction structure (DPCS) designed to mitigate mutual coupling and radiation pattern distortion, operating within 3.6-3.

Discordance in Secular Trends of Bone Mineral Density Measurements in Different Ages of Postmenopausal Women.

Background: Age-adjusted bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women decreases in developed countries whereas incidence of osteoporotic fracture decreases or remains stable. We investigated secular trends of bone density from 2008 to 2017 among different age groups of postmenopausal women.

Methods: We analyzed BMD data obtained from health check-ups of 4,905 postmenopausal women during three survey cycles from 2008 to 2017.

Guidelines for the Laboratory Diagnosis of Monkeypox in Korea.

While the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is ongoing, monkeypox has been rapidly spreading in non-endemic countries since May 2022. Accurate and rapid laboratory tests are essential for identifying and controlling monkeypox. Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine and the Korea Disease Prevention and Control Agency have proposed guidelines for diagnosing monkeypox in clinical laboratories in Korea.

Numerical Stability of Modified Lorentz FDTD Unified From Various Dispersion Models.

The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method has been widely used to analyze electromagnetic wave propagation in complex dispersive media. Until now, there are many reported dispersion models including Debye, Drude, Lorentz, complex-conjugate pole-residue (CCPR), quadratic complex rational function (QCRF), and modified Lorentz (mLor). The mLor FDTD is promising since the mLor dispersion model can simply unify other dispersion models.

Nationwide External Quality Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 Molecular Testing, South Korea.

External quality assessment (EQA) is essential for ensuring reliable test results, especially when laboratories are using assays authorized for emergency use for newly emerging pathogens. We developed an EQA panel to assess the quality of real-time reverse transcription PCR assays being used in South Korea to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). With the participation of 23 public health organization laboratories and 95 nongovernmental laboratories involved in SARS-CoV-2 testing, we conducted qualitative and semiquantitative performance assessments by using pooled respiratory samples containing different viral loads of SARS-CoV-2 or human coronavirus OC43.

Current status, challenges, policies, and bioethics of biobanks.

Many biobanks were established as biorepositories for biomedical research, and a number of biobanks were founded in the 1990s. The main aim of the biobank is to store and to maintain biomaterials for studying chronic disease, identifying risk factors of specific diseases, and applying personalized drug therapies. This report provides a review of biobanks, including Korean biobanks and an analysis of sample volumes, regulations, policies, and ethical issues of the biobank.

A strategic plan for the second phase (2013-2015) of the Korea biobank project.

The Korea Biobank Project (KBP) was led by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to establish a network between the National Biobank of Korea and biobanks run by university-affiliated general hospitals (regional biobanks). The Ministry of Health and Welfare started the project to enhance medical and health technology by collecting, managing, and providing researchers with high-quality human bioresources. The National Biobank of Korea, under the leadership of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, collects specimens through various cohorts and regional biobanks within university hospitals gather specimens from patients.

Identification of clinical biomarkers for pre-analytical quality control of blood samples.

Background: Pre-analytical conditions are key factors in maintaining the high quality of biospecimens. They are necessary for accurate reproducibility of experiments in the field of biomarker discovery as well as achieving optimal specificity of laboratory tests for clinical diagnosis. In research at the National Biobank of Korea, we evaluated the impact of pre-analytical conditions on the stability of biobanked blood samples by measuring biochemical analytes commonly used in clinical laboratory tests.

Identification and characterization of a novel β-galactosidase from Victivallis vadensis ATCC BAA-548, an anaerobic fecal bacterium.

Victivallis vadensis ATCC BAA-548 is a Gram-negative, anaerobic bacterium that was isolated from a human fecal sample. From the genomic sequence of V. vadensis, one gene was found to encode agarase; however, its enzymatic properties have never been characterized.

Lung infection caused by Mycobacterium riyadhense confused with Mycobacterium tuberculosis: the first case in Korea.

A slowly growing, non-chromogenic mycobacterial strain was isolated from sputum and bronchial lavage fluid samples of a patient presenting with productive cough, blood-tinged sputum, low-grade fever, and weakness. A positive acid-fast bacilli sputum smear result prompted the initiation of an anti-tuberculosis regimen. Multiplex real-time PCR showed a negative result for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and a positive result for nontuberculous mycobacteria.

Coordinated regulation of angiopoietin-1 and vascular endothelial growth factor by arsenite in human brain microvascular pericytes: implications of arsenite-induced vascular dysfunction.

Arsenite is an environmental toxicant that is associated with vascular disease; however, the underlying mechanism of its toxicity has yet to be elucidated. Vascular stability appears to be tightly regulated by several vasoactive proteins produced by two adjacent vascular cells, endothelial cells (EC) and pericytes. The disruption of vascular stability may be involved in arsenite toxicity.

Isolation of a ventricle-specific promoter for the zebrafish ventricular myosin heavy chain (vmhc) gene and its regulation by GATA factors during embryonic heart development.

We investigated chamber-specific gene expression by isolating a 2.2-kb polymerase chain reaction product containing the 5'-flanking region of the zebrafish ventricular myosin heavy-chain gene (vmhc). Promoter analysis revealed that the fragment, consisting of nucleotides from -301 to +26, is sufficient for vmhc promoter activity.

Characterization of a chromosomal nickel resistance determinant from Klebsiella oxytoca CCUG 15788.

Klebsiella oxytoca CCUG 15788 is resistant to Ni2+ at a concentration of 10 mM and grows in an inducible manner when exposed to lower concentrations of Ni2+. The complete genomic sequence of a 4.2-kb HindIII-digested fragment of this strain was determined from genomic DNA.

Anopheles kleini, Anopheles pullus, and Anopheles sinensis: potential vectors of Plasmodium vivax in the Republic of Korea.

Anopheles sinensis Wiedemann (63.3%) was the most abundant Anopheles mosquito captured at cowshed resting collections in malaria high-risk areas (northern Gyeonggi Province) near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in Korea during 2005, followed by Anopheles kleini Rueda (24.7%) and Anopheles pullus M.