Preclinical Efficacy Examination on Healing Practices and Experiences of Users for Pillows and Mattresses of Loess Ball Bio-products

AbstractIn Korea, loess has been known as a healthy material traditionally, and in everyday life it has been used in various fields. Korean loess ball has unique electrical and magnetic properties indispensable to survival of human being such as living-light of far-infrared radiation which has been applied to various bio-products. However, the medical investigation of its efficacy for such bio-products has remained insufficient. The purpose of this paper is to check not only chemico-physical data but also medical data on the medical efficacy for the various healing practices and effects shown in users of these products. The Korean loess ball was manufactured by several powder processes at low temperature such as aging, mild grinding, separation, granulation, and drying. The healing effects for the bio-products of the loess ball were confirmed based on the statistical analysis of user's experience for healing practices evaluated by Somatoscope microscope observations of the movement of red blood cells in living blood, the infrared thermography diagnostic equipment, the comparison of Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging, DITI photos, the survey of literature review on the loess healing including the Donguibogam edited by Jun Heo. In conclusion, when slept on loess ball bio-products such as pillows or mattresses, the congestion of red cells in the blood of the human body is relieved and the blood circulation in blood vessel is smoothly improved. The wave resonance actions of far-infrared rays radiated from the loess ball bio-products enforce the receptor and intracellular enzymes to act the interaction of a variety of pain and stress and to bring a healthy condition. Further study for clarifying medical healing mechanisms of bio-products through the clinical test in both the oriental and western hospital is requested and the upgrade of present bio-products becomes obvious

Diluting the inflationary axion fluctuation by a stronger QCD in the early Universe

We propose a new mechanism to suppress the axion isocurvature perturbation, while producing the right amount of axion dark matter, within the framework of supersymmetric axion models with the axion scale induced by supersymmetry breaking. The mechanism involves an intermediate phase transition to generate the Higgs \mu-parameter, before which the weak scale is comparable to the axion scale and the resulting stronger QCD yields an axion mass heavier than the Hubble scale over a certain period. Combined with that the Hubble-induced axion scale during the primordial inflation is well above the intermediate axion scale at present, the stronger QCD in the early Universe suppresses the axion fluctuation to be small enough even when the inflationary Hubble scale saturates the current upper bound, while generating an axion misalignment angle of order unity.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure; v2: discussion extended, references added, typos correcte

Mobile Phone Technology and Online Sexual Harassment among Juveniles in South Korea: Effects of Self-control and Social Learning

Mobile phones are increasingly developing into a technology-based device that everyone is dependent on. While previous research has been extensive in examining different theoretical explanations for interpreting juvenile delinquency, research on mobile induced online sexual harassment among juvenile populations have been rather scarce and limited. As a result of this dearth, the present study employs a theoretical approach in rationalizing why juveniles commit online sexual harassment using their mobile phones. Elements from both social learning and self-control theories are used to assess the causes for online sexual harassment using mobile phones. By conducting binomial logistic regression analyses, this study finds that both social learning and low self-control components are salient factors in determining the causes of juvenile sexual harassment in cyberspace. From these findings, policies will be introduced to address the major causes of juvenile online sexual harassment using mobile phones

Glutamate Receptors GluR1 and GluR4 in the Hamster Superior Colliculus: Distribution and Co-localization with Calcium-Binding Proteins and GABA

We investigated the distributions of AMPA glutamate receptor subtypes GluR1 and GluR4 in the hamster superior colliculus (SC) with antibody immunocytochemistry and the effect of enucleation on these distributions. We compared these labelings to those of GluR2/3 in our previous report (Park et al., 2004, Neurosci Res., 49:139–155) and calcium-binding proteins calbindin D28K, calretinin, parvalbumin, and GABA. Anti-GluR1-immunoreactive (IR) cells were scattered throughout the SC. By contrast, anti-GluR4-IR cells formed distinct clusters within the lower lateral stratum griseum intermediale (SGI) and lateral stratum album intermediale (SAI). The GluR1- and GluR4-IR neurons varied in size and morphology. The average diameter of the GluR1-IR cells was 13.00 µm, while the GluR4-IR cells was 20.00 µm. The large majority of IR neurons were round or oval cells, but they also included stellate, vertical fusiform and horizontal cells. Monocular enucleation appeared to have no effect on the GluR1 and GluR4 immunoreactivity. Some GluR1-IR cells expressed calbindin D28K (9.50%), calretinin (6.59%), parvalbumin (2.53%), and GABA (20.54%). By contrast, no GluR4-IR cells expressed calcium-binding proteins or GABA. Although the function of the AMPA receptor subunits in SC is not yet clear, the distinct segregation of the GluR subunits, its differential colocalization with calcium-binding proteins and GABA, and differential responses to enucleation suggest the functional diversity of the receptor subunits in visuo-motor integration in the SC

Robust Adaptive Depth Control of Hybrid Underwater Glider in Vertical Plane

Hybrid underwater glider (HUG) is an advanced autonomous underwater vehicle with propellers capable of sustainable operations for many months. Under the underwater disturbances and parameter uncertainties, it is difficult that the HUG coordinates with the desired depth in a robust manner. In this study, a robust adaptive control algorithm for the HUG is proposed. In the descend and ascend periods, the pitch control is designed using backstepping technique and direct adaptive control. When the vehicle approaches the target depth, the surge speed control using adaptive control combined with the pitch control is used to keep the vehicle at the desired depth with a constant cruising speed in the presence of the disturbances. The stability of the proposed controller is verified by using the Lyapunov theorem. Finally, the computer simulation using the numerical method is conducted to show the effectiveness of the proposed controller for a hybrid underwater glider system

Antimicrobial peptide from Bacillus subtilis CSB138: characterization, killing kinetics, and synergistic potency

We studied the prospect of synergy between the antimicrobial peptide p138c and non-peptide antibiotics for increasing the potency and bacterial killing kinetics of these agents. The production of p138c was maximized in the late exponential growth phase of Bacillus subtilis CSB138. Purification of p138c resulted in a total of 4800 arbitrary units (AU) with 19.15-fold and 3.2% recovery. Peptide p138c was thermo-tolerant up to 50 °C and stable at pH 5.8 to 11. The biochemical nature of p138c was determined by a bioassay, similar to tricine-SDS-PAGE, indicating inhibition at 3 kDa. The amino acid sequence of p138c was Gly-Leu-Glu-Glu-Thr-Val-Tyr-Ile-Tyr-Gly-Ala-Asn-Met-X-Ser. Potency and killing kinetics against vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus improved considerably when p138c was synergized with oxacillin, ampicillin, and penicillin G. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of p138c showed a 4-, 8-, and 16-fold improvement when p138c was combined with oxacillin, ampicillin, and penicillin G, respectively. The fractional inhibitory concentration index for the combination of p138c and oxacillin, ampicillin, and penicillin G was 0.3125, 0.25, and 0.09, respectively. Synergy with non-peptide antibiotics resulted in enhanced killing kinetics of p138c. Hence, the synergy between antimicrobial peptide and non-peptide antibiotics may enhance the potency and bacterial killing kinetics, providing more potent and rapidly acting agents for therapeutic use. [Int Microbiol 20(1):43-53 (2017)]Keywords: Bacillus subtilis · antimicrobial peptides · killing kinetic