This study used both kinesiotaping and extracorporeal shock wave therapy on patients diagnosed with frozen shoulder - a common musculoskeletal disorder in adults - in order to observe the effects on the joint range of motion. 21 adult(male 12, female 9) were selected and distributed into randomized groups. One group received kinesiotaping (n=10) and the other group received kinesiotaping together with extracorporeal shockwave therapy (n=11). After a 6 week duration of receiving kinesiotaping and extracorporeal shockwave therapy, changes in the joint range of motion in the patients were observed. Post-treatment of frozen shoulder, the changes in abduction within the shoulder joint were as follows: in both groups there was a noticeable increase in the joint range of motion (p<.05). Post-treatment of frozen shoulder, the changes in external rotation within the shoulder joint were as follows: both groups showed a significant increase in the joint range of motion (p<.05). The result of suggest that, it can be inferred that both the extracorporeal shockwave therapy and kinesiotaping are effective in increasing the joint range of motion in patients with frozen shoulder.

The unique characteristics of graphene make it an optimal material for crucial studies; likewise, its potential applications are numerous. Graphene’s characteristics change with the number of total layers, and thus the rapid and accurate estimation of the number of graphene layers is essential. In this work, we review the methods till date used to identify the number of layers but they incorporate certain drawbacks and limitations. To overcome the limitations, a combination of these methods will provide a direct approach to identify the number of layers. Here we correlate the data obtained from Raman spectroscopy, optical microscopy images, and atomic force microscopy to identify the number of graphene layers. Among these methods, correlation of optical microscopy images with Raman spectroscopy data is proposed as a more direct approach to reliably determine the number of graphene layers.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of music therapy and ball exercise on women experiencing menstrual discomforts, thereby identifying the validity of these methods as interventions against menstrual discomforts, with a particular goal of presenting basic data for clinical use. Twenty university students in their 20s were assigned to two therapy groups in a sequence via simple random sampling; ten subjects attended a ball exercise combined with music therapy group and the other ten subjects attended a music therapy group. Ball exercises were conducted 3 times per week for a total of 12 times, starting from 3 weeks before the expected first day of the menstrual period and ending on the last day of the menstrual period. Similarly, the subjects participated in music therapy by listening to music for 35 minutes per session and 3 sessions per week, starting from 3 weeks before the expected first day of the menstrual period and ending on the last day of the menstrual period. Five out of six categories of menstrual discomforts were significantly decreased in both music therapy and ball exercise, the exception being changes in the autonomic nervous system, while those in the music therapy group showed a significant difference only in the category of behavioral changes. The results of the present study demonstrate that the ball exercise combined with music therapy more effective in improving menstrual discomforts than the music therapy group.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the screen size of smart devices on the bending angle of the cervical spine. The subjects of this study were 30 healthy adults(15 men and 15 women) who used smartphones and tablet PC(personal computer). The changes in the bending angle of the upper and lower cervical spine were measured in the subjects after they had used a smartphone and a tablet PC for 300 seconds each. To make sure that all subjects began in the same starting position, an angle-measuring instrument was used to set the angles of the ankle, knee, hip, and arm joints to 90 degree. The subjects were asked to keep the trunk straight. They were asked to hold a smartphone in their hand and to bend their neck so that they could look down at the screen. Once they began using the smartphone in this manner, they were free to change their posture. We used a paired t-test to compare the bending angle of the cervical spine on subjects who used smartphones and tablet PC in the longterm and short-term there production error of cervical and the significance level was cervical. The results showed that, when using a smartphone and a tablet PC for 300 seconds, there was no significant difference in the bending angle of the upper cervical spine(p>.05), although there was a significant difference in the bending angle of the lower cervical spine(p<.05).

The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, is one of the most important pests of crops. However, chemical acaricides are not always effective and their continuous use has resulted in resistance among two-spotted spider mite populations. To reduce or replace use of chemical acaricides, the entomopathogenic fungi having acaricidal activity were investigated. As results, 12 isolates could be selected from 342 isolates of fungi against two-spotted spider mite. To show the multiple roles of entomopathogenic fungi against plant pathogen, the antimicrobial activity of selected 12 isolates were evaluated to plant pathogenic bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum and fungus Botrytis cinerea. Various antimicrobial activities were observed against these plant pathogens. Consequently, these entomopathogenic fungi would be offered an alternative for dual control agents against the two-spotted spider mite and plant diseases.

Honeybees have faced many diseases which treaten bee colony including a serious population decline phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Nosema ceranae is a pathogen cause nosemosis, which is now wide spread around the world. According to the genome sequencing for N. ceranae, it has been identified that the presence of machinery for RNA silencing. Microsporidia N. ceranae that are obligated intracellular parasites depend on their host for energetic and metabolic needs. Here we selected the several genes from mitosome of N. ceranae to develop RNAi for the control of Nosema. Especially, TOM40, FNR1, FNR2 and Nar1 were chosen. After infection of N. ceranae, the Honeybee were treated with RNAi either by using only one or combining two or more. The infection rate and specific gene silecing in Nosema were analyzed.

The effects of some essential oils and Sopophora extract on Frankliniella occidentalis adults, Myzus persicae adults, Plutella xylostella larvae, and Spodoptera exigua larvae were investigated. Insecticidal and phytotoxicity activities of emulsion in water formulations containing the active essential oils as active ingredients under laboratory and pot conditions were also tested. Based on these results, NRS-13 and NRS-24 formulations were selected to further assess as follows; the GC and GC-MS analysis on the active essential oils, the quantity analysis of the major components contained in the formulations, their insecticidal activities under pot and field conditions, and their oral, dermal, skin and eye irritation, and fish toxicities. Thus, the NRS-13 (BaechooSaferTM) and NRS-24 (JindiOutTM) formulations could be considered as insecticides for pest control.

Cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Gloever is one of the major pests on a wide range of economically important crops in the world. The sustained use of chemical insecticides to control the aphid has led to the emergence of resistant strains to numerous used insecticides. As an alternative strategy entomopathogenic fungi have been used as part of integrated pest management program to control aphid, especially insecticide-resistance population. In particular, Beauveria bassiana-based commercial bio-insecticide has been used to reduce the pest population under greenhouse conditions in various countries. In this study, we investigated the control efficacy of a prototype of commercial mycopesticide using an B. bassiana (wettable powder) against cotton aphid on potted cucumber plant in greenhouse conditions.

Broccoli, one of Brassica vegetables, has been known to possess various health beneficial activities including anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation and anti-cancer etc. Various metabolites were indicated as active compounds in broccoli. Glucosinolates such as glucoraphanin, glucobrassicin, glucoerucin and isothiocyanates, i.e. sulforaphane, which is produced through the enzymatic action of myrosinase are getting focus as their bioactivities. In this study, we treated broccoli with pulsed electric field (PEF) processing and the metabolite profiles were investigated based on the metabolomics analysis. PEF process was applied to stem and floret of broccolis with three different levels; 500, 1000, 1500 pulses with 2 kV/cm, then metabolites were extracted with 70% methanol. Metabolomic analysis was carried out with mass spectrometry through multivariate statistical analysis based on the OPLS-DA model. Significant changes of metabolite profiles were observed by PEF treatment and specific metabolites were affected as dose dependent manner. Content of major glucosinolates compounds such as glucoerucin, glucoiberin, glucoraphanin, glucobrassicin, 4-hydroxy glucobrassicin, and 4-methoxy glucobrassicin were significantly reduced, while sulforaphane was distinctively increased in PEF treated broccolis. The results implied that myrosinase released from vacuole by PEF processing transformed glucosinolate into isothiocyanate, which would be useful findings for enhancing bioactivity of broccoli by simple PEF treatment.

Arsenic (As) is a toxic element that easily taken up by plants root. Several toxic forms of As disrupt plant metabolism by a series of cellular alterations. In this study, we applied annealing control primer (ACP)-based reverse transcriptase PCR (polymerase chain reaction) technique to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in alfalfa roots in response to As stress. Two-week-old alfalfa seedlings were exposed to As treatment for 6 hours. DEGs were screened from As treated samples using the ACP-based technique. A total of six DEGs including heat shock protein, HSP 23, plastocyanin-like domain protein162, thioredoxin H-type 1 protein, protein MKS1, and NAD(P)H dehydrogenase B2 were identified in alfalfa roots under As stress. These genes have putative functions in abiotic stress homeostasis, antioxidant activity, and plant defense. These identified genes would be useful to increase As tolerance in alfalfa plants.

Copper (Cu) is a necessary microelement for plants. However, high concentrations of Cu are toxic to plants that change the regulation of several stress-induced proteins. In this study, an annealing control primer (ACP) based approach was used to identify differentially expressed Cu-induced genes in alfalfa leaves. Two-week-old alfalfa plants (Medicago sativa L.) were exposed to Cu for 6 h. Total RNAs were isolated from treated and control leaves followed by ACP-based PCR technique. Using GeneFishing ACPs, we obtained several genes those expression levels were induced by Cu. Finally, we identified several genes including UDP-glucuronic acid decarboxylase, transmembrane protein, small heat shock protein, C-type cytochrome biogenesis protein, mitochondrial 2-oxoglutarate, and trans-2,3-enoyl-CoA reductase in alfalfa leaves. These identified genes have putative functions in cellular processes such as cell wall structural rearrangements, transduction, stress tolerance, heme transport, carbon and nitrogen assimilation, and lipid biosynthesis. Response of Cu-induced genes and their identification in alfalfa would be useful for molecular breeding to improve alfalfa with tolerance to heavy metals.

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in men and women who consume a Western diet. We investigated the inhibitory effect of selenium (sodium selenite, Na2SeO3) and selenium nanoparticles (nano-Se) on experimental colon carcinogenesis in ICR mice. After a 1-week acclimation, 6-week-old mice received three intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections (experimental week 0-2) of azoxymethane (AOM, 10 mg/kg body weight, b.w.), followed by 2% dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-containing drinking water for the next 1 week. The three groups (10 mice/group) were orally administered either distilled water (control), selenium (1.7 ppm), or nano-Se (1.7 ppm) daily for 8 weeks. The numbers of aberrant crypt foci (ACF), aberrant crypt (AC), and tumorous lesions were measured in colonic mucosa. Se and nano-Se treatments significantly decreased the number of ACF, AC, and tumorous lesions compared with the control. However, there was no significant difference between the selenium and nano-Se groups. The glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity in the liver and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity in serum, were high in the selenium and nano-Se groups, while thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) level was low in both Se and nano-Se groups when compared with that in the control group. These findings indicate that selenium and nano-Se showed similar protective effects against colon carcinogenesis by inhibiting the development of ACF and tumorous lesions in mice.

Iron-overload can cause harmful effects such as cancer and aging via promoting the production of free radicals. The effect of orally administered nano-Fe overload with ascorbic acid on colon carcinogenesis was investigated in male ICR mice. After a 1-week acclimation, 5-week-old mice received three intraperitoneal injections (experimental week 0-2) of azoxymethane (AOM, 10 mg/kg body weight) weekly, followed by 2% dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) in drinking water for the next 1 week to induce aberrant crypt foci (ACF). Animals were divided into four groups; carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) alone (control), CMC + ascorbic acid (AA), CMC + nano-Fe (NFe), and CMC + NFe + AA groups. Animals were fed an AIN-76A purified rodent diet and daily administrated oral doses of 450 ppm each of nano-Fe and AA combination for 6 weeks. The colonic mucosa was stained with 0.5% methylene blue, and then the ACF and polyps were counted. Lipid peroxidation in the serum and liver was evaluated using the thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) assay. Iron concentration in the liver was measured using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES). Iron concentration in the liver of the NFe-overloaded groups was higher than that of the control (p<0.05). AA treatment increased the iron concentration in the liver. The number of ACF was not significantly different among all the groups. The number of polyps in all the NFe-treated groups was slightly higher than that in the control group and AA only-treated group. The serum TBARS was not significantly different among all the groups, but that in the liver was higher in all the NFe-treated groups than it was in the control group (p<0.05). These results indicate that the additional NFe treatment did not affect the experimental colon carcinogenesis in mice regardless of the presence of ascorbic acid.

Microalgae are of significant importance for future biotechnological applications. Many microalgae banks or laboratories attempt to maintain various microalgae for further research purposes. Cryopreservation has been preferred to reduce a labor-intensive and costly routine sub-culturing. Cryopreservation can also diminish the genetic drift risk. However, cryopreservation as a long term storage of microalgae method are still in developing progress because it cannot be generalized for all microalgae. Microalgae types, cryoprotectant agents (CPAs) types, freezing and thawing methods are the most important factors that should be considered for cryopreservation. In this short review the basic principles and the current advanced of microalgae cryopreservation methods are discussed with a suggested starting parameters for microalgae cryopreservation.