We previously reported that pyridoxine and its derivatives exert antidiabetic effects by alleviating postprandial hyperglycemia via inhibition of carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzymes in normal sprague–dawley (SD) rats. In this study, we aimed to further evaluate whether long-term pyridoxal supplementation decreases the blood glucose levels using SD rats. SD rats were randomly assigned to groups fed a high-carbohydrate diet (66.1% cornstarch) with or without pyridoxal (4%) for 36 days. Changes in body weight, blood glucose levels, and food intake were measured daily for 36 days. Dietary supplementation with pyridoxal significantly decreased the blood glucose levels (P<0.001) and body weight (P<0.001) in mice. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels, which are good indicators of plasma glucose concentrations over prolonged periods, were also significantly decreased over five weeks (P<0.001). Similarly, dietary treatment with Acarbose ® (0.04%), a positive control, also significantly decreased the blood glucose and HbA1c levels and body weight. Overall, our findings suggest that pyridoxal inhibits weight gain and alleviates postprandial hyperglycemia by decreasing glucose absorption and HbA1c levels.

Coal tar pitch is a raw material that can be made from various carbon materials such as activated carbon, carbon fiber, and artificial graphite through heat treatment. In particular, it is an important raw material used as a binder and impregnated pitch when manufacturing carbon composite materials. In order to improve the physical properties of such a carbon composite material, the content of β-resin is an important factor. Although β-resin plays the role of a binder, it also corresponds to fixed carbon, so it can determine the physical properties after carbonization. In this study, we compared the physical properties of coal tar pitch various temperature ramping rate, and found through Py-GC/MS analysis that intermediate materials were generated by heteroatoms such as oxygen and nitrogen. MALDI-TOF/MS analysis revealed that these intermediate materials overlapped with the molecular weight region of β-resin. Therefore, the content of β-resin is in the following order: 430–5 (12.8 wt%), 430–10 (10.2 wt%), and 430–2 (6.3 wt%), and when 430–5 is used as a binder, the highest density appeared at 1.75 g/cm3. However, such intermediate materials undergo thermal decomposition even at temperatures above 900 °C. As a result, after carbonization, 430–5 had a density of 1.60 g/cm3, which was similar or lower than that of 430–2 (1.72 → 1.63 g/ cm3) and 430–10 (1.73 → 1.61 g/cm3). From these results, it is expected that if the heteroatom content is distributed in an appropriate amount and the heating rate is well controlled, it will be possible to maintain a high density even after carbonization while ensuring a high beta-resin content.

This study evaluated the immunogenicity of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine in a guinea pig model to refine preclinical assessment methods. 24 guinea pigs were divided into four groups for immunohistochemical, histopathological, and molecular analyses, including qRT-PCR and ELISA. The ELISA results revealed significant elevations in interleukin 2 (IL-2), interferon-gamma (IFN- ), and tuberculosis-specific antibodies in vaccinated guinea pigs, particularly γ notable after 6 weeks. Although lung cytokine levels remained unchanged, spleen gene expression showed significant differences in interleukin-17, interleukin-12, interleukin-1β, and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10 after 6 weeks. Immunohistochemistry revealed peak IL-2 expression at 8 weeks and significant IFN-γ and TNF-α expression at 6 weeks. This study confirmed the effectiveness of BCG vaccine in guinea pigs, providing crucial insights for future tuberculosis vaccine development and standardizing immune response indicators.

This study aimed to determine how 15 weeks of Tai Chi training affected attention and brain waves. Thirty-six university students (mean age = 24.27 years; SD = ±1.054) participated in this experiment. Participants practiced form postures from the first section of form 85 of the traditional Yang style of Tai Chi Chuan. The Frankfurt Attention Inventory (FAIR) was used to assess each participant’s level of attention. The sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) power analysis demonstrated that participants in the Tai Chi group show higher SMR power than the control group. This study showed that Tai Chi Chuan increases theta and alpha waves by relaxing the body and mind, as well as through soft and slow movement and deep breathing. It reduces fast beta waves, which stabilizes the brain and improves attention. FAIR results showed that 15 weeks of Tai Chi training improved selective ability, control index, and persistence index. These findings suggested that Tai Chi is an exercise that helps improve attention.

최근 국내외 화장품과 식품산업에서 다양하게 사용되어 지고 있는 콜라겐 단백질 제품은 점차 그 용도와 특성에 따라 보다 고도화, 기능화 되어 가고 있다. 피부 건강의 지표인 콜라겐은 다양한 용도로 개발되어 사용되고 있으 며, 콜라겐의 소비가 증가함에 따라 용도에 적합한 최적 화된 콜라겐 제품의 개발이 중요한 연구 분야이다. 특히 여러 기업과 연구기관들에 의해서 콜라겐의 흡수율을 높 이기 위한 다양한 노력이 이루어지고 있다. 따라서 본 연 구에서는 프란즈(Franz) 세포 시스템을 이용하여 국내에서 판매되는 다양한 분자량별 콜라겐 제품의 경피 및 구강 상피세포 투과성을 비교하였다. 그 결과, 피부 표피/진피 조직과 비교하여 구강점막 조직의 콜라겐 흡수율이 분자 량 500달톤과 1,000달톤의 경우 모두 통계적으로 유의하 게(각각 약 10배, 2배) 높은 것으로 확인되었다. 또한, 분 자량별 구강점막 조직 흡수율을 비교한 결과, 분자량 500 달톤의 콜라겐이 분자량 1,000달톤 제품에 비해 흡수율이 2-3배 증가함을 확인하였다. 분자량 500달톤의 경우 Cmax 와 AUCt 값이 가장 높게 나타났으며, 피부 표피/진피 세 포에 비해 구강점막세포 시험군의 모든 지표가 높은 것으 로 나타났다. 본 연구 결과는 피부 흡수보다는 구강 점막 세포를 통한 콜라겐의 흡수방법이 콜라겐 체내 흡수증가 에 유효한 수단임을 시사하며, 분자량 1,000달톤 이하에서 도 보다 더 작은 500달톤의 저분자 콜라겐의 흡수율이 증 가되는 것으로 보아 콜라겐의 분자량이 흡수율 증가의 주 요한 요소임을 확인할 수 있었다.

Vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) is a core feature of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are commonly referred to as drones. In emerging smart logistics, drones are expected to play an increasingly important role as mobile platforms. Therefore, research on last-mile delivery using drones is on the rise. There is a growing trend toward providing drone delivery services, particularly among retailers that handle small and lightweight items. However, there is still a lack of research on a structural definition of the VTOL drone flight model for multi-point delivery service. This paper describes a VTOL drone flight route structure for a multi-drone delivery service using rotary-wing type VTOL drones. First, we briefly explore the factors to be considered when providing drone delivery services. Second, a VTOL drone flight route model is introduced using the idea of the nested graph. Based on the proposed model, we describe various time-related attributes for delivery services using drones and present corresponding calculation methods. Additionally, as an application of the drone route model and the time attributes, we comprehensively describe a simple example of the multi-drone delivery for first-come-first-served (FCFS) services.

화분매개의존도는 밀원가치를 평가하는데 매우 필요한 자료임에도 불구하고, 산림 자원에 대한 화분매개의 존도 자료는 매우 부족하다 본 연구는 국내 중부지방에 분포하는 밀원수를 대상으로 화분매개의존도, 화밀/화분 생산량 및 꽃의 형태학적 특징을 규명을 목적으로 하였다. 화분매개의존도는 개화 전 꽃봉오리를 망사를 씌워 화분매개자의 출입을 제한 후, 결실률을 조사하여 평가했다. 화밀은 모세관 튜브를 이용하여 조사하며, 화분은 꽃가루의 수와 무게 측정을 통해 생산량을 추정하였다. 식물의 특징으로는 각 식물의 본 당 꽃 수, 개화시기, 화관 및 화서의 형태 등 형태적 특징을 조사하였다. 65종 평균 화분매개자 의존도는 평균 56±3.12%로 나타났고, 최대 100%(산수유), 최소 0%(상수리)로 나타났다. 45종의 화밀 및 화분량을 추정한 결과, 꽃 당 평균 화밀의 분비량은 인동 3.56±0.33㎕으로 가장 높았으나, 본 당 평균 화밀 분비량은 피나무 212.7㎖로 가장 높았다. 평균 화분의 무게는 피나무가 141.75g로 가장 많았다. 꽃 당 화밀량은 밀원수의 개화하는 시기가 봄에서 여름이 가까워질수록 적어졌 으나, 7, 8월에는 본 당 꽃의 수가 증가하여 여름에 개화하는 식물들이 본 당 화밀의 양을 더 많이 분비하는 경향을 확인하였다. 이는 산림 생태계의 밀원가치를 평가하는데 기초적인 자료로 활용될 수 있을 것으로 판단된다.

Governments around the world are enacting laws mandating explainable traceability when using AI(Artificial Intelligence) to solve real-world problems. HAI(Human-Centric Artificial Intelligence) is an approach that induces human decision-making through Human-AI collaboration. This research presents a case study that implements the Human-AI collaboration to achieve explainable traceability in governmental data analysis. The Human-AI collaboration explored in this study performs AI inferences for generating labels, followed by AI interpretation to make results more explainable and traceable. The study utilized an example dataset from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to reproduce the Human-AI collaboration process used in actual policy-making, in which the Ministry of Science and ICT utilized R&D PIE(R&D Platform for Investment and Evaluation) to build a government investment portfolio.

Cloud-aerosol interactions are one of the paramount but least understood forcing factors in climate systems. Generally, an increase in the concentration of aerosols increases the concentration of cloud droplet numbers, implying that clouds tend to persist for longer than usual, suppressing precipitation in the warm boundary layer. The cloud lifetime effect has been the center of discussion in the scientific community, partly because of the lack of cloud life cycle observations and partly because of cloud problems. In this study, the precipitation susceptibility (So) matrix was employed to estimate the aerosols' effect on precipitation, while the non-aerosol effect is minimized. The So was calculated for the typical coupled, well-mixed maritime stratocumulus decks and giant cloud condensation nucleus (GCCN) seeded clouds. The GCCN— artificially introduced to the marine stratocumulus cloud decks—is shown to initiate precipitation and reduces So to approximately zero, demonstrating the cloud lifetime hypothesis. The results suggest that the response of precipitation to changes in GCCN must be considered for accurate prediction of aerosol-cloud-precipitation interaction by model studies