Background: Recently, a new method of dysphagia rehabilitation using Kinesio taping (KT) has been attempted and demonstrated an immediate increase in the activation of the suprahyoid muscle during swallowing in healthy adults. Objectives: To investigate the effect of dysphagia rehabilitation using KT on the thickness change of the suprahyoid muscle in patients with dysphagia after stroke. Design: Two-group pre-post design. Methods: In this study, 20 patients with dysphagia after stroke were enrolled and assigned to the experimental and control groups. The experimental group applied KT to the front of the neck and repeatedly swallowed against the tension of the tape. On the other hand, the control group performed repeated swallowing without applying KT. Patients in both groups had swallowed 50 times a day/5 times a week for 4 weeks. For evaluation, the volume of the geniohyoid, mylohyoid, and digastric muscle was measured before and after the intervention using portable ultrasound equipment. Results: As a result of comparing the two groups after the intervention, the experimental group showed more volume increase in mylohyoid (P<.05) and digastric muscle (P<.05) than the control group. Conclusion: This study proved that suprahyoid muscle resistance exercise using KT is effective in increasing the volume of the suprahyoid muscle.

Background: Static hamstring stretching exercises have been widely used to improve flexibility of the hamstring muscles. However, few studies have examined the influence of standing static hamstring stretching (e.g., jack-knife stretching) on movements of the lumbopelvic–hip complex. Objectives: To examine the short-term effects of jack-knife stretching on movements of the lumbopelvic–hip complex. Design: Case series. Methods: Fourteen participants with hamstring tightness (8 male, 6 female) were recruited. Participants performed jack-knife stretching for 150 s. Before and after stretching, participants performed the finger-to-floor distance (FFD), sit and reach (SRT), active knee extension (AKE), passive straight leg raising (PSLA), and active straight leg raising (ASLR) tests as well as pelvic tilt while standing to identify the effects of stretching. Results: There were significant improvements in the FFD, SRT, AKE, PSLA, and ASLR tests after stretching. However, pelvic tilt angle while standing did not significantly change. Conclusion: Jack-knife stretching can be a useful exercise to improve flexibility of the hamstring muscles, but not pelvic alignment while standing.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of ladder-climbing exercise training on neurobiological markers in the hippocampus of mice with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Twenty-one C57BL/6 male mice were randomly assigned to the non-diabetic control (NDC, n = 7), diabetic control (DC, n = 7), and diabetic training (DT, n = 7) groups. The DT group performed ladder-climbing training (LCT) five times a week for eight weeks. We measured the levels of hippocampal neurobiological markers (catalase [CAT], brain-derived neurotrophic factor [BDNF], nerve growth factor [NGF], amyloid-beta [Aβ], tau, and CC motif chemokine ligand 11 [CCL11]). The BDNF levels were significantly higher in the DT group than in the DC group (p < 0.05). The Aβ and CCL11 levels were significantly higher in the DC group than in the NDC and DT groups (p < 0.05). The tau levels were significantly higher in the DC group than in the NDC group (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in CAT and NGF levels among the groups (p > 0.05). These results suggest that while T2DM could induce neurodegeneration, LCT may be effective in alleviating neurodegeneration caused by T2DM.

The occurrence of exotic weeds and their influx into farmlands due to climate change poses many problems. Therefore, it is necessary to generate a prediction model for the occurrence pattern of these exotic weeds based on scientific evidence and devise prevention measures. The photosynthetic apparatus is known as the most temperaturesensitive component of a plant cell and its initial response to temperature stress is to inhibit the activation of photosystem II. This study investigated the potential of OJIP transients in assessing temperature stress in exotic weeds. The four exotic weeds currently flowing into Korean farmlands include Amaranthus spinosus, Conyza bonariensis, Crassocephalum crepidioides, and Amaranthus viridis. These weeds were treated at 5°C, 10°C, 15°C, 20°C, 25°C, 30°C, 35°C, and 40°C and the OJIP curves and JIP parameters were measured and analyzed. The results showed that heat and chilling stress affected the photosystem II (PSII) electron transport of A. spinosus, whereas C. crepidioides and A. viridis were more affected by high-temperature stress than by low-temperature stress. Lastly, C. bonariensis showed resistance to both high and low-temperature stress. The results of this study suggest that OJIP transients and JIP parameters can be used to analyze damage to the photosynthetic apparatus by temperature stress and that they can serve as sensitive indicators for the occurrence pattern of exotic weeds.

The present study aimed to analyze the metaproteome of the microbial community comprising harmful algal bloom (HAB) in the Daechung reservoir, Korea. HAB samples located at GPS coordinates of 36°29’N latitude and 127°28’E longitude were harvested in October 2013. Microscopic observation of the HAB samples revealed red signals that were presumably caused by the autofluorescence of chlorophyll and phycocyanin in viable cyanobacteria. Metaproteomic analysis was performed by a gelbased shotgun proteomic method. Protein identification was conducted through a two-step analysis including a forward search strategy (FSS) (random search with the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Cyanobase, and Phytozome), and a subsequent reverse search strategy (RSS) (additional Cyanobase search with a decoy database). The total number of proteins identified by the two-step analysis (FSS and RSS) was 1.8-fold higher than that by one-step analysis (FSS only). A total of 194 proteins were assigned to 12 cyanobacterial species (99 mol%) and one green algae species (1 mol%). Among the species identified, the toxic microcystin-producing Microcystis aeruginosa NIES-843 (62.3%) species was the most dominant. The largest functional category was proteins belonging to the energy category (39%), followed by metabolism (15%), and translation (12%). This study will be a good reference for monitoring ecological variations at the meta-protein level of aquatic microalgae for understanding HAB.

The genus Petroderma never been reported from the coast of Korea. In this study, our collection from Chaeseokang is matched with P. maculiforme morphologically. Petroderma maculiforme is characterized by having small irregular light to dark brown crusts, a basal layer of irregularly shaped cells giving rise to erect parallel filaments which easily separate with pressure, single chromatophore per cell, small spherical to cylindrical unilocular sporangia in a terminal position, and plurilocular sporangia narrower than erect filaments or wider and shorter than erect filaments in a terminal position. In addition, Hineksia sordida was also collected from Korea. It is mostly epiphytic and characterized by uniseriate filamentous thalli forming loose tangled masses, sparse and spiral branching, some long lateral branches, rhizoids occurring throughout the plant, plurilocular and unilocular sporangia scattered on separate plants. Our molecular analyses based on the rbcL gene reveal that our samples of P. maculiforme and H. sordida are nested within the clades of Petroderma and Hincksia, respectively. Therefore P. maculiforme and H. sordida are reported as new records from Korea based on morphological and molecular analyses.

벼의 잎은 광합성을 위한 주요 기관으로, 동화산물의 생산을 통해 벼의 수량 결정에 영향을 준다. 따라서, 상위엽의 형태적 특징은 다수성 벼 품종의 육성을 위한 필수적인 고려요소이다. 본 연구에서는, 연차간 안정적으로 발현하는 3개의 엽폭 조절 QTL인 qLW4.1, qLW4.2, qLW7을 탐지하였다. 이들은 분석집단에서 나타난 엽폭 표현형 변이의 5.2~44.9% 를 설명할 수 있었다. qLW4.2 영역에 대한 후보유전자 분석 결과, 해당 QTL 영역에서 엽폭 조절 유전자인 NAL1을 발견하였다. 상위엽은 수량에 대해 정의 간접효과 나타냈으며, 그 효과의 크기는 수당립수에 대한 상위엽의 정의 직접효과와 수수에 대한 상위엽의 부의 직접효과에 의해 결정되었다. 한국 벼 유전자원에서 엽폭은 상대적으로 좁은 범위에서 표현형 변이를 나타내었으며, 이는 특정 상위엽폭이 한국 자원에서 선호 되었음을 시사한다. NAL1의 하플로타입 분석결과는 대다수의 한국 자원들이 자포니카형 하플로타입을 지닌 반면에, 모든 통일형 품종들은 인디카형을 지니고 있음을 밝혀냈다. 이러한 결과는 유용 대립유전자형인 자포니카형 NAL1의 도입을 통해 통일형 품종의 다수성 형질을 더욱 향상시킬 수 있음을 의미 한다.