Analytic study on strengthening the Future Education competencies in Korea

The purpose of this study is to devise and present an educational model to strengthen pre-service elementary school teachers’ future competencies based on the effects of existing core competency education. For this purpose, a literature study was conducted to examine the concepts and directions of future education and core competencies, core values, teaching and learning models and instructional design principles, components and instructional design procedures, and major characteristics of the 2015 revised curriculum of Korea. After the second expert validation of the developed draft was conducted, it was revised and supplemented to complete the final model of the education model for fostering future education capabilities. Based on the future education competencies obtained through literature research and the Delphi survey, a survey was conducted on professors, in-service elementary school teachers, and pre-service teachers to present the final future core competencies. Specifically, in order to find a framework suitable for the needs and competencies of instructors, previous research cases in and outside of Korea were analyzed, and surveys were conducted with pre-service and in-service teachers, and analyzed. Through this, the focus was on presenting specific methods for the expression of future teaching capabilities as instructors and providing an efficient roadmap to keep up with the overall trend of the education field according to the needs of the times

Inhibition of REV-ERBs stimulates microglial amyloid-beta clearance and reduces amyloid plaque deposition in the 5XFAD mouse model of Alzheimer\u27s disease

A promising new therapeutic target for the treatment of Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) is the circadian system. Although patients with AD are known to have abnormal circadian rhythms and suffer sleep disturbances, the role of the molecular clock in regulating amyloid-beta (Aβ) pathology is still poorly understood. Here, we explored how the circadian repressors REV-ERBα and β affected Aβ clearance in mouse microglia. We discovered that, at Circadian time 4 (CT4), microglia expressed higher levels of the master clock protein BMAL1 and more rapidly phagocytosed fibrillary A

A Unified Approach for Comprehensive Analysis of Various Spectral and Tissue Doppler Echocardiography

Doppler echocardiography offers critical insights into cardiac function and phases by quantifying blood flow velocities and evaluating myocardial motion. However, previous methods for automating Doppler analysis, ranging from initial signal processing techniques to advanced deep learning approaches, have been constrained by their reliance on electrocardiogram (ECG) data and their inability to process Doppler views collectively. We introduce a novel unified framework using a convolutional neural network for comprehensive analysis of spectral and tissue Doppler echocardiography images that combines automatic measurements and end-diastole (ED) detection into a singular method. The network automatically recognizes key features across various Doppler views, with novel Doppler shape embedding and anti-aliasing modules enhancing interpretation and ensuring consistent analysis. Empirical results indicate a consistent outperformance in performance metrics, including dice similarity coefficients (DSC) and intersection over union (IoU). The proposed framework demonstrates strong agreement with clinicians in Doppler automatic measurements and competitive performance in ED detection

Echocardiographic View Classification with Integrated Out-of-Distribution Detection for Enhanced Automatic Echocardiographic Analysis

In the rapidly evolving field of automatic echocardiographic analysis and interpretation, automatic view classification is a critical yet challenging task, owing to the inherent complexity and variability of echocardiographic data. This study presents ECHOcardiography VIew Classification with Out-of-Distribution dEtection (ECHO-VICODE), a novel deep learning-based framework that effectively addresses this challenge by training to classify 31 classes, surpassing previous studies and demonstrating its capacity to handle a wide range of echocardiographic views. Furthermore, ECHO-VICODE incorporates an integrated out-of-distribution (OOD) detection function, leveraging the relative Mahalanobis distance to effectively identify 'near-OOD' instances commonly encountered in echocardiographic data. Through extensive experimentation, we demonstrated the outstanding performance of ECHO-VICODE in terms of view classification and OOD detection, significantly reducing the potential for errors in echocardiographic analyses. This pioneering study significantly advances the domain of automated echocardiography analysis and exhibits promising prospects for substantial applications in extensive clinical research and practice

Exercise Training Attenuates Ovariectomy-Induced Alterations in Skeletal Muscle Remodeling, Apoptotic Signaling, and Atrophy Signaling in Rat Skeletal Muscle

Purpose The effects of aerobic exercise training on soleus muscle morphology, mitochondria-mediated apoptotic signaling, and atrophy/hypertrophy signaling in ovariectomized rat skeletal muscle were investigated. Methods Female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into control (CON), ovariectomy (OVX), and ovariectomy plus exercise (OVX+EX) groups. After ovarian excision, exercise training was performed using a rat treadmill at 20 m/min, 50 min/day, 5 days/week for 12 weeks. Protein levels of mitochondria-mediated apoptotic signaling and atrophy/hypertrophy signaling in the skeletal muscle (soleus) were examined through western immunoblot analysis. Results The number of myocytes and myocyte cross-sectional area (CSA) were increased and the extramyocyte space was decreased in the OVX group compared to those in the CON group. However, aerobic exercise training significantly increased myocyte CSA and decreased extramyocyte space in the OVX+EX group compared to those in the OVX group. The protein levels of proapoptotic signaling and muscle atrophy signaling were significantly increased, whereas the protein levels of muscle hypertrophy signaling were significantly decreased in the OVX group compared to that in the CON group. Aerobic exercise training significantly decreased the protein levels of proapoptotic signaling and increased the protein level of antiapoptotic protein in the OVX+EX group compared to that in the OVX group. Aerobic exercise training significantly increased the protein levels of hypertrophy signaling and decreased protein levels of atrophy signaling in the OVX+EX group compared to those in the OVX group. Conclusions Treadmill exercise improved estrogen deficiency-induced impairment in skeletal muscle remodeling, mitochondria-mediated apoptotic signaling, and atrophy/hypertrophy signaling in skeletal muscle

Tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes evaluated using digital image analysis predict the prognosis of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Background The implication of the presence of tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes (TIL-T) in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is yet to be elucidated. We aimed to investigate the effect of TIL-T levels on the prognosis of patients with DLBCL. Methods Ninety-six patients with DLBCL were enrolled in the study. The TIL-T ratio was measured using QuPath, a digital pathology software package. The TIL-T ratio was investigated in three foci (highest, intermediate, and lowest) for each case, resulting in TIL-T–Max, TIL-T–Intermediate, and TIL-T–Min. The relationship between the TIL-T ratios and prognosis was investigated. Results When 19% was used as the cutoff value for TIL-T–Max, 72 (75.0%) and 24 (25.0%) patients had high and low TIL-T–Max, respectively. A high TIL-T–Max was significantly associated with lower serum lactate dehydrogenase levels (p < .001), with patient group who achieved complete remission after RCHOP therapy (p < .001), and a low-risk revised International Prognostic Index score (p < .001). Univariate analysis showed that patients with a low TIL-T–Max had a significantly worse prognosis in overall survival compared to those with a high TIL-T–Max (p < .001); this difference remained significant in a multivariate analysis with Cox proportional hazards (hazard ratio, 7.55; 95% confidence interval, 2.54 to 22.42; p < .001). Conclusions Patients with DLBCL with a high TIL-T–Max showed significantly better prognosis than those with a low TIL-T–Max, and the TIL-T–Max was an independent indicator of overall survival. These results suggest that evaluating TIL-T ratios using a digital pathology system is useful in predicting the prognosis of patients with DLBCL

When river water meets seawater: Insights into primary marine aerosol production

The impact of inorganic salts and organic matter (OM) on the production of primary marine aerosols is still under debate. To constrain their impact, we investigated primary aerosols generated by a sea-spray generator chamber using surface water samples from rivers, estuaries, and seas that were collected along salinity gradients in two temperate Korean coastal systems and one Arctic coastal system. Salinity values showed an increasing trend along the river-estuary-coastal water transition, indicating the lowest amount of inorganic salts in the river but the highest amount in the sea. In river samples, the lowest number concentration of primary aerosol particles (1.01 x 10(3) cm(-3)) was observed at the highest OM content, suggesting that low salinity controls aerosol production. Moreover, the number concentration of primary aerosols increased drastically in estuarine (1.13 x 10(4) cm(-3)) and seawater (1.35 x 10(4) cm(-3)) samples as the OM content decreased. Our results indicate that inorganic salts associated with increasing salinity play a much larger role than OM in aerosol production in river-dominated coastal systems. Laboratory studies using NaCl solution supported the conclusion that inorganic salt is a critical factor in modulating the particles produced from river water and seawater. Accordingly, this study highlights that inorganic salts are a critical factor in modulating the production of primary marine aerosols. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V

Nonselective Blocking of the Sympathetic Nervous System Decreases Detrusor Overactivity in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

The involuntary dual control systems of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in the bladder of awake spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) were investigated through simultaneous registrations of intravesical and intraabdominal pressures to observe detrusor overactivity (DO) objectively as a core symptom of an overactive bladder. SHRs (n = 6) showed the features of overactive bladder syndrome during urodynamic study, especially DO during the filling phase. After injection of the nonselective sympathetic blocking agent labetalol, DO disappeared in 3 of 6 SHRs (50%). DO frequency decreased from 0.98 ± 0.22 min−1 to 0.28 ± 0.19 min−1 (p < 0.01), and DO pressure decreased from 3.82 ± 0.57 cm H2O to 1.90 ± 0.86 cm H2O (p < 0.05). This suggests that the DO originating from the overactive parasympathetic nervous system is attenuated by the nonselective blocking of the sympathetic nervous system. The detailed mechanism behind this result is still not known, but parasympathetic overactivity seems to require overactive sympathetic nervous system activity in a kind of balance between these two systems. These findings are consistent with recent clinical findings suggesting that patients with idiopathic overactive bladder may have ANS dysfunction, particularly a sympathetic dysfunction. The search for newer and better drugs than the current anticholinergic drugs as the mainstay for overactive bladder will be fueled by our research on these sympathetic mechanisms. Further studies of this principle are required