The antifungal activity of cork tree extract against three plant pathogenic fungi (Colletrotrichum gloeosporiodes (Penz.) Penz. & Sacc., Pythium ultimum Trow. and Botrytis cinerea Pers.) was investigated antifungal active substances were identified. Cork tree extract showed concentration-dependent antifungal activity against three plant pathogenic fungi. The cork extract had antifungal activity in a concentration-dependent manner, and in particular, showed the most vigorous antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea. In cork tree extract, the incidence of strawberry powdery mildew fungus after 7 days of treatment was significantly lower as the treatment concentration increased. Control value against strawberry powdery mildew fungus was 49% of cork tree extract, 69% of berberine chloride, and 67% of berberine bromine, which was lower than 80.5% of Rifzol, a representative antifungal compound, but showed strong antifungal activity. The isolated compound and berberine derivative showed similar effects to Rifzol at the treatment concentration (75 μg/ml), and a concentration of at least 10 μg/ml of fresh weight showed a preventive effect against strawberry powdery mildew fungus. Fractions showing antifungal activity were obtained by TLC, and each fraction was examined for the antifungal activity to obtain fractions showing antifungal activity against three types of pathogenic fungi. The compound isolated through TLC analysis was analyzed by HPLC equipped with an ODS column to obtain the main peak presumed to be berberine, which was confirmed as a berberine through 1H NMR analysis. The results of this study are expected to be utilized as biological pesticides with strong antifungal activity against plant powdery mildew etc.

Ensiling is the most preferred technology to preserve the silage quality with high nutrients by the presence of lactic acid bacteria. In this study, lactic acid bacteria RJ1 and S22 were used to make the silages from different leguminous plants such as alfalfa, hairy vetch and red clover. Experimental groups were divided into control and LAB inoculated groups. LAB inoculated group; all legumes treated with a mixture of RJ1 and S22 and made an anaerobic condition for 45d. Without the addition of LAB considered the control group. The results showed that the lactic acid content was higher in all silages in response to LAB treatment and acetic acid content was slightly increased except red clover by LAB compared to control silages. A poor silage quality marker butyric acid was reduced all legume silages in response to LAB inoculation than control silages. The organic acid is closely associated with microbial population experimental silages. We noted that higher LAB and lower yeast were found in the silage in response to LAB treatment. The contents of crude protein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and total digestible nutrient (TDN) were not altered significantly between control and LAB treated silages. Overall data suggested that the inclusion of additional LAB potentially enhance the silage quality and preserved the nutrients for long period.

This study examines the effects of the public’s perception of emergency medical service (EMS) on the public health system’s brand equity and the moderating effect of governance on this relationship using Keller’s customer-based brand equity model. It uses four EMS functions: rescue/first-aid and transfer activities; disaster prevention, preparation, and response activities; educational activities in urgent situations; and medical treatment in emergency rooms to examine the effects of them on brand meaning of the public health system. Our findings are important for understanding the public as customers of the public health system and devising and/ or adapting healthcare policies and marketing strategies to develop brand equity and increase customers’ loyalty to the public health system.

Periodontitis and periimplantitis are caused as a result of dental biofilm formation. This biofilm is composed of multiple species of pathogens. Therefore, controlling biofilm formation is critical for disease prevention. To inhibit biofilm formation, sugars can be used to interrupt lectin-involving interactions between bacteria or between bacteria and a host. In this study, we evaluated the effect of D-Arabinose on biofilm formation of putative periodontal pathogens as well as the quorum sensing activity and whole protein profiles of the pathogens. Crystal violet staining, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy revealed that D-Arabinose inhibited biofilm formation of Porphyromonas gingivalis , Fusobacterium nucleatum , and Tannerella forsythia . D-Arabinose also significantly inhibited the activity of autoinducer 2 of F. nucleatum and the expression of representative bacterial virulence genes. Furthermore, D-Arabinose treatment altered the expression of some bacterial proteins. These results demonstrate that D-Arabinose can be used as an antibiofilm agent for the prevention of periodontal infections.

Solid-state mechanochemical reduction combined with subsequent melting consolidation was suggested as a technical option for the oxide reduction in pyroprocessing. Ni ingot was produced from NiO as a starting material through this technique while Li metal was used as a reducing agent. To determine the technical feasibility of this approach for pyroprocessing, which handles spent nuclear fuels, thermodynamic calculations of the phase stabilities of various metal oxides of U and other fission elements were made when several alkaline and alkali-earth metals were used as reducing agents. This technique is expected to be beneficial, not only for oxide reduction but also for other unit processes involved in pyroprocessing.

We determined the composition of water and sediment bacterial assemblages from the East Sea using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Total bacterial reads were greater in surface waters (<100 m) than in deep seawaters (>500 m) and sediments. However, total OTUs, bacterial diversity, and evenness were greater in deep seawaters than in surface waters with those in the sediment comparable to the deep sea waters. Proteobacteria was the most dominant bacterial phylum comprising 67.3% of the total sequence reads followed by Bacteriodetes (15.8%). Planctomycetes, Verrucomicrobia, and Actinobacteria followed all together consisting of only 8.1% of the total sequence. Candidatus Pelagibacter ubique considered oligotrophic bacteria, and Planctomycetes copiotrophic bacteria showed an opposite distribution in the surface waters, suggesting a potentially direct competition for available resources by these bacteria with different traits. The bacterial community in the warm surface waters were well separated from the other deep cold seawater and sediment samples. The bacteria exclusively associated with deep sea waters was Actinobacteriacea, known to be prevalent in the deep photic zone. The bacterial group Chromatiales and Lutibacter were those exclusively associated with the sediment samples. The overall bacterial community showed similarities in the horizontal rather than vertical direction in the East Sea.

This study was carried out determination of characteristics of leaf and fruit of 13 astringent persimmon (Diospyros kaki) cultivars cultivated in Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea. In leaf size, Deabonggam was smaller than that of other astringent persimmon cultivars, however, Dansungsi and Bansi were largest compared to other persimmon cultivars. Fruit width size of Sancheong Deabonggam and Bansi were the biggest. And fruit width size was the biggest in Sancheong Deabonggam. When same cultivars as Dansungsi and Godongsi were cultivated at other regions, it was not somewhat different in fruit weight. The size of fruits of the cultivar varied depending on the maturation of the fruits. In immature fruit, Curigam and Susi cultivars were the biggest and these cultivars were also were the biggest in mature-green fruit. In full ripe fruit, Hamyang Daebonggam and Hadong Daebonggam and Daeheakmu were bigger than that of other cultivars. When the astringent persimmon varieties collected in July were divided into three clusters, group A had a higher leaf area and the lightest fruit weight than the other clusters. In cluster C, the leaf area was small, but the fruit weight was classified as heavier than the other clusters. This study is expected to be widely used for breeding, conservation and processing of sweet persimmons.

The detection of Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) in environmental samples with precision is imperative to control bovine tuberculosis (bTB) infections at the herd level, as residual M. bovis remains one of the major causes of recurring infections. In this study, a nested PCR method for the detection of M. bovis in environmental samples was applied to identify potential environmental reservoirs of the bacterium. A set of 200 environmental samples (167 fecal samples and 33 water samples) from 39 herds with a history of bTB outbreak was analyzed using a nested PCR method to detect residual M. bovis. Amplicon libraries of the IS6110 target gene fragment were amplified from M. bovis DNA using two established primer sets. A positive nested PCR result was observed in 69.5% of fecal samples and 66.7% of water samples, thus showing that residual M. bovis was present in the environmental samples of bTB-positive herds in a high proportion. This study is the first to demonstrate high levels of M. bovis DNA in environmental samples and to show that environmental reservoirs of this pathogen contribute to recurring outbreaks of bTB. Environmental monitoring of herds in which bTB outbreaks have occurred with high sensitivity and specificity is expected to help prevent the recurrence of potential bTB disease and improve the herd environment.

We report the structural characterization and electric heating performance of carbon thin films (CTFs), which were prepared from negative-type SU-8 photoresist by deep UV exposure and following carbonization. The prepared CTFs were found to have pseudo-graphitic carbon structures containing partially graphite domains in the amorphous carbon matrix. The CTFs showed a very smooth surface morphology with a roughness of 0.42 nm. The 107 nm-thick CTFs exhibited an excellent electric heating performance by attaining a high maximal temperature of 207 °C and a rapid heating rate of 13.2 °C/s at an applied voltage of 30 V. Therefore, the CTFs prepared in this study can be applied as electrode materials for high-performance electric heaters.

Background: Patients with low back pain (LBP) experience misalignments in the center of pressure (COP) and muscle imbalances due to frequent onesided posture adjustments to avoid pain. Objectives: To identify the effects of Squat Exercises with Vertical Whole-Body Vibration on the Center of Pressure and Trunk Muscle Activity. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Methods: Thirty LBP patients with an imbalance in the COP were sampled and randomly assigned to an experimental group of 15 patients who under went an intervention involving squat exercises with vertical WBV and a control group of 15 patients who were treated via a walking intervention. As pretests before the interventions, the subjects’ COP was identified by measuring their stability index (ST), and erector spinae, rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, gluteus medius muscle activity was analyzed by determining the % reference voluntary contraction (%RVC) value using surface electromyography while sit to stand. After four weeks, a post test was conducted to remeasure the same variables using the same methods. Results: Statistically significant differences were found in the ST (P<.01) and trunk muscle (P<.05, P<.001) in the experimental group before and after the intervention. In terms of the differences between the left- and right-side (RL) muscle activity, only the transverse abdominis (TrA) and gluteus medius (GM) exhibited statistically significant increase (P<.05). A comparison of the groups showed statistically significant differences in the TrA with respect to muscle activity (P<.05) and in the RLTrA and RLGM in terms ofthe difference between left- and right-side muscle activity (P<.01). Conclusion: Squat exercises with vertical WBV produced effective changes in the COP of patients with LBP by reducing muscle imbalances through the delivery of a uniform force. In particular, strengthening the TrA and reducing an imbalance in the GM were determined to be important factors in improving the COP.