Wave Run-Up Phenomenon on Offshore Platforms: Part 1. Tension Leg Platform

This study reports on an extensive experimental campaign carried out to evaluate non-linear waves applied to offshore structures in extreme marine environments. An offshore tension leg platform (TLP) model was used to observe the waves around a fixed-type offshore structure. The wave amplitude measured in the experiments of this study was indicated as a wave run-up ratio. Both the first-order analysis and the analysis of the entire wave amplitude were described. The experimental results were compared with the calculations from a potential-based code in order to verify the effectiveness of the developed technology

The Rice Oligonucleotide Array Database: an atlas of rice gene expression

BACKGROUND: Microarray technologies facilitate high-throughput gene expression analysis. However, the diversity of platforms for rice gene expression analysis hinders efficient analysis. Tools to broadly integrate microarray data from different platforms are needed. RESULTS: In this study, we developed the Rice Oligonucleotide Array Database (ROAD,http://www.ricearray.org) to explore gene expression across 1,867 publicly available rice microarray hybridizations. The ROAD’s user-friendly web interface and variety of visualization tools facilitate the extraction of gene expression profiles using gene and microarray element identifications. The ROAD supports meta-analysis of genes expressed in different tissues and at developmental stages. Co-expression analysis tool provides information on co-regulation between genes under general, abiotic and biotic stress conditions. Additionally, functional analysis tools, such as Gene Ontology and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) Orthology, are embedded in the ROAD. These tools facilitate the identification of meaningful biological patterns in a list of query genes. CONCLUSIONS: The Rice Oligonucleotide Array Database provides comprehensive gene expression profiles for all rice genes, and will be a useful resource for researchers of rice and other grass species. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1939-8433-5-17) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Clinical Study A Comparison of Clinical Outcomes of Dislocated Intraocular Lens Fixation between In Situ Refixation and Conventional Exchange Technique Combined with Vitrectomy

. Purpose. To evaluate surgical efficacy of in situ refixation technique for dislocated posterior chamber intraocular lens (PCIOL). Methods. This was a single-center retrospective case series. 34 patients (34 eyes) who underwent sclera fixation for dislocated IOLs combined with vitrectomy were studied. Of 34 eyes, 17 eyes underwent IOL exchange and the other 17 eyes underwent in situ refixation. Results. Mean follow-up period was 6 months. Mean logMAR best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was not significantly different between the groups 6 months after surgery (0.10 ± 0.03 in the IOL exchange group and 0.10 ± 0.05 in the refixation group; = 0.065). Surgically induced astigmatism (SIA) was significantly lower in the refixation group (0.79 ± 0.41) than in the IOL exchange group (1.29 ± 0.46) ( = 0.004) at 3 months, which persisted to 6 months (1.13 ± 0.18 in the IOL exchange group and 0.74 ± 0.11 in the refixation group; = 0.006). Postoperative complications occurred in 3 eyes in the IOL exchange group (17.6%) and 2 eyes in the refixation group (11.8%). However, all of the patients were well managed without additional surgery. Conclusion. The in situ refixation technique should be preferentially considered if surgery is indicated since it seemed to produce a sustained less SIA compared to IOL exchange

Increasing the Durability of Piezoelectric Impact-based Micro Wind Generator in Real Application

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to increase the durability of piezoelectric impact-based micro wind generator (PIMWG) in real application. Using new PIMWG design, numerical simulation, and experimental comparison analysis, we improved the durability of PIMWGs in real application. The experimental results show that the optimized PIMWG generated 2.4 mW (RMS value), and it did not crack within 40h. In this study, we improved the durability of PIMWGs for real application

Draft genome sequence of a caprolactam degrader bacterium: Pseudomonas taiwanensis strain SJ9

AbstractPseudomonas taiwanensis strain SJ9 is a caprolactam degrader, isolated from industrial wastewater in South Korea and considered to have the potential for caprolactam bioremediation. The genome of this strain is approximately 6.2 Mb (G+C content, 61.75%) with 6,010 protein-coding sequences (CDS), of which 46% are assigned to recognized functional genes. This draft genome of strain SJ9 will provide insights into the genetic basis of its caprolactam-degradation ability

An Angiotensin I Converting Enzyme Polymorphism Is Associated with Clinical Phenotype When Using Differentiation-Syndrome to Categorize Korean Bronchial Asthma Patients

In this study, genetic analysis was conducted to investigate the association of angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphism with clinical phenotype based on differentiation-syndrome of bronchial asthma patients. Differentiation-syndrome is a traditional Korean medicine (TKM) theory in which patients are classified into a Deficiency Syndrome Group (DSG) and an Excess Syndrome Group (ESG) according to their symptomatic classification. For this study, 110 participants were evaluated by pulmonary function test. Among them, 39 patients were excluded because they refused genotyping. Of the remaining patients, 52 with DSG of asthma (DSGA) and 29 with ESG of asthma (ESGA), as determined by the differentiation-syndrome techniques were assessed by genetic analysis. ACE insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism analysis was conducted using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Student's t, chi-square, Fisher and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium tests were used to compare groups. No significant differences in pulmonary function were observed between DSGA and ESGA. The genotypic frequency of ACE I/D polymorphism was found to differ slightly between DSGA and ESGA (P = .0495). However, there were no significant differences in allelic frequency observed between DSGA and ESGA (P = .7006, OR = 1.1223). Interestingly, the allelic (P = .0043, OR = 3.4545) and genotypic (P = .0126) frequencies of the ACE I/D polymorphism in female patients differed significantly between DSGA and ESGA. Taken together, the results presented here indicate that the symptomatic classification of DSGA and ESGA by differentiation-syndrome in Korean asthma patients could be useful in evaluation of the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma

A Case of Severe Anemia by Necator americanus Infection in Korea

This report describes clinical and parasitological findings of an 82-yr-old female patient who lived in a local rural village and suffered from severe chronic anemia for several years. She was transferred to the National Police Hospital in Seoul for management of severe dyspnea and dizziness. At admission, she showed symptoms or signs of severe anemia. Gastroduodenoscopy observed hyperemic mucosa of the duodenum and discovered numerous moving roundworms on the mucosa. Endoscopy isolated seven of them, which were identified as Necator americanus by characteristic morphology of cutting plates in the buccal cavity. The patient was treated with albendazole and supportive measures for anemia, and her physical condition much improved. This case suggests the possibility that hookworm N. americanus is still transmitted in a remote local mountainous area in Korea

Epileptic nystagmus: A case report and systematic review

AbstractPurposeWe aimed to define the characteristics of epileptic nystagmus and correlate those with other clinical findings in a large number of patients.MethodsWe report a patient with epileptic nystagmus and additionally reviewed the reported clinical features of 36 more patients through a systematic literature search. We analyzed the characteristics of epileptic nystagmus and attempted correlations of those with alertness of the patients and epileptic foci on EEG.ResultsAll 33 patients with unilateral horizontal nystagmus showed nystagmus beating away from the side of ictal discharges. Epileptic nystagmus was preceded by gaze deviation in 21 patients, with contraversive in 19 and ipsiversive in 2. Seizures associated with epileptic nystagmus were mostly focal (25/29, 86.2%) with or without loss of awareness. Ictal discharges originated from the occipital (n=16), parietal (n=9), temporo-occipital (n=6), frontal (n=4), and temporal (n=3) areas, and two patients had multiple epileptic foci. Seizures were usually symptomatic (24/37, 64.9%). The presence of preceding gaze deviation and midline crossing of the nystagmus did not correlate with the ictal onset zone or alertness of the patients. Recording of epileptic nystagmus was available only in 6 patients, and the epileptic nystagmus could be localized to the saccadic areas in two and to the smooth pursuit areas in another two. Two patients showed the features of epileptic nystagmus from both areas.ConclusionEven though the localizing value of epileptic nystagmus seems limited in previous reports, the fast phase of epileptic nystagmus was almost always directed away from the epileptic focus that mostly arose from the posterior part of the cerebral hemisphere