A Study to Verify the Practicality of Introducing an Arson Dog (K-9) Unit in Field Investigations

Combustion improvers are often found in acts of arson. Until recently, in fire investigations in Korea, these substances have been identified only by the olfactory sense of the fire inspectors or conventional gas detectors. These methods are neither efficient nor feasible in damaged buildings or large areas. Research on the canine sense of smell has shown that a dog can distinguish the remains of combusted hydrocarbon compounds, even in a large, open area. Field tests confirmed that arson dogs can find combustion improvers at fire sites in about five to 77 s. Therefore, this study verified the practicality of introducing arson dog units in field investigations of fire sites to identify combustion improvers sprayed for committing arson

The Characteristics of Action Potentials in Primo Vessels and the Effects of Acetylcholine Injection to the Action Potentials

In a previous study, we found that Primo vessels generate different action potentials in smooth muscles, but this study compared the pulse shape to distinguish the two tissues. Thus, a more sophisticated extracellular experiment was performed in this study using an acetylcholine injection; we then observed changes in the amplitude, FWHM (full width at half maximum), and period to explore Primo vessel function. A third type of pulse was recorded for Primo vessels. We observed fast depolarizing and repolarizing phases for this pulse. Further, its FWHM was 30 ms between smooth muscles and neurons. Acetylcholine affected only the period. The amplitude and FWHM were consistent after injection. Primo-vessels generated action potentials at twice the frequency after injection. From the results, we speculate that Primo-vessels perform a role in transferring signals in a different manner, which may be relevant for acupuncture treatment

Mathematical Distinction in Action Potential between Primo-Vessels and Smooth Muscle

We studied the action potential of Primo-vessels in rats to determine the electrophysiological characteristics of these structures. We introduced a mathematical analysis method, a normalized Fourier transform that displays the sine and cosine components separately, to compare the action potentials of Primo-vessels with those for the smooth muscle. We found that Primo-vessels generated two types of action potential pulses that differed from those of smooth muscle: (1) Type I pulse had rapid depolarizing and repolarizing phases, and (2) Type II pulse had a rapid depolarizing phase and a gradually slowing repolarizing phase

Perceived marginalization and mental health of young adults with migration backgrounds in South Korea: exploring moderating and mediating mechanisms

This study explored the mediating effect of career maturity moderated by intimacy with parents and immigration backgrounds (native- or foreign-born young adults) on the relationship between perceived marginalization and the mental health of young adults with migration backgrounds (having mixed parentage of one Korean and one non-Korean immigrant parent) in South Korea. We collected data from 300 adults aged 25–34 with migration backgrounds (204 born in Korea and 96 born abroad) through the Gallup Research Institute of Korea and conducted a moderated-moderated mediation analysis using Model 21 of PROCESS Macro in SPSS. The analysis showed that career maturity moderated by intimacy with parents and migration backgrounds mediated the relationship between perceived marginalization and mental health. However, the results were only significant for participants who were born abroad and immigrated to Korea, and not for those who were born in Korea. These findings suggest that while greater perceived marginalization leads to lower career maturity and negatively impacts the mental health of foreign-born young adults, higher levels of intimacy with parents can buffer these negative effects

Electroacupuncture Delays Hypertension Development through Enhancing NO/NOS Activity in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Using spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), this study investigated whether electroacupuncture (EA) could reduce early stage hypertension by examining nitric oxide (NO) levels in plasma and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) levels in the mesenteric resistance artery. EA was applied to the acupuncture point Governor Vessel 20 (GV20) or to a non-acupuncture point in the tail twice weekly for 3 weeks under anesthesia. In conscious SHR and normotensive Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats, blood pressure was determined the day after EA treatment by the tail-cuff method. We measured plasma NO concentration, and evaluated endothelial NO syntheses (eNOS) and neuronal NOS (nNOS) protein expression in the mesenteric artery. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were lower after 3 weeks of GV20 treatment than EA at non-acupuncture point and no treatment control in SHR. nNOS expression by EA was significantly different between both WKY and no treatment SHR control, and EA at GV20 in SHR. eNOS expression was significantly high in EA at GV 20 compared with no treatment control. In conclusion, EA could attenuate the blood pressure elevation of SHR, along with enhancing NO/NOS activity in the mesenteric artery in SHR

A Korean Female Patient with Thiamine-responsive Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex Deficiency Due to a Novel Point Mutation (Y161C)in the PDHA1 Gene

Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC) deficiency is mostly due to mutations in the X-linked E1α subunit gene (PDHA1). Some of the patients with PDHC deficiency showed clinical improvements with thiamine treatment. We report the results of biochemical and molecular analysis in a female patient with lactic acidemia. The PDHC activity was assayed at different concentrations of thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP). The PDHC activity showed null activity at low TPP concentration (1×10-3 mM), but significantly increased at a high TPP concentration (1 mM). Sequencing analysis of PDHA1 gene of the patient revealed a substitution of cysteine for tyrosine at position 161 (Y161C). Thiamine treatment resulted in reduction of the patient's serum lactate concentration and dramatic clinical improvement. Biochemical, molecular, and clinical data suggest that this patient has a thiamine-responsive PDHC deficiency due to a novel mutation, Y161C. Therefore, to detect the thiamine responsiveness it is necessary to measure activities of PDHC not only at high but also at low concentration of TPP

In Vitro inhibitory activity of Alpinia katsumadai extracts against influenza virus infection and hemagglutination

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Alpinia katsumadai </it>(AK) extracts and fractions were tested for <it>in vitro </it>antiviral activities against influenza virus type A, specially human A/PR/8/34 (H1N1) and avian A/Chicken/Korea/MS96/96 (H9N2), by means of time-of-addition experiments; pre-treatment, simultaneous treatment, and post treatment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In pre-treatment assay, the AK extracts and AK fractions did not show significant antiviral activity. During the simultaneous treatment assay, one AK extract and five AK fractions designated as AK-1 to AK-3, AK-5, AK-10, and AK-11 showed complete inhibition of virus infectivity against A/PR/8/34 (H1N1) and A/Chicken/Korea/MS96/96 (H9N2). The 50% effective inhibitory concentrations (EC₅₀) of these one AK extracts and five AK fractions with exception of the AK-9 were from 0.8 ± 1.4 to 16.4 ± 4.5 <it>μ</it>g/mL against A/PR/8/34 (H1N1). The two AK extracts and three AK fractions had EC₅₀values ranging from <0.39 ± 0.4 to 2.3 ± 3.6 <it>μ</it>g/mL against A/Chicken/Korea/MS96/96 (H9N2). By the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay, the two AK extracts and five AK fractions completely inhibited viral adsorption onto chicken RBCs at less than 100 <it>μ</it>g/mL against both A/PR/8/34 (H1N1) and A/Chicken/Korea/MS96/96 (H9N2). Interestingly, only AK-3 was found with inhibition for both viral attachment and viral replication after showing extended antiviral activity during the post treatment assay and quantitative real-time PCR.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results suggest that AK extracts and fractions had strong anti-influenza virus activity that can inhibit viral attachment and/or viral replication, and may be used as viral prophylaxis.</p