본 논문에서는 빙하가 녹아 갈라져서 떠내려 온 새끼 펭귄이 다시 펭귄 무리로 되돌아가기 위 해서 길을 찾아 나서는 퍼즐 어드벤처 게임을 제안한다. 플레이어 40명의 로그 기록과 설문지 를 분석한 결과를 바탕으로 제안하는 게임의 특징을 살펴보고자 한다. 첫째, 제안하는 게임은 새끼 펭귄이 얼음 덩어리를 밀어서 길을 만들어 이동하는 직관적인 규칙을 제공한다. 로그 기 록에서 플레이 평균 시간은 19분이며, 이를 19개의 리스폰 지점으로 나누면, 구간별 플레이 평균시간은 1분이다. 설문에서 게임 목표 명확성은 4.45점, 게임 난이도는 4.16점을 받았다. 둘째, 제안하는 게임은 가마우지가 새끼 펭귄에게 도움말을 제시하는 등 유용한 정보를 친절 하게 제공한다. 전체 플레이 평균 시간은 baseline이 24분이고, kinder UI가 19분이다. kinder UI에서 새끼 펭귄이 얼음 덩어리를 덜 밀고, 게임 재시작을 덜 하고, 더 빨리 상호작 용하여, 문제를 빨리 해결한다. 설문에서 게임 스토리 이해는 4.15점, 유용한 정보는 4.45점을 받았다. 셋째, 제안하는 게임은 남극과 유사한 환경을 제공하여 몰입도를 상승시킨다. baseline에 비해서 kinder UI에서 다양한 게임 오브젝트와 더 적극적으로 상호작용을 시도하 고, 미션 완료 후 더 오랫동안 오로라를 지켜봤다. 설문에서 게임 캐릭터 선호도는 4.56점, 게 임 환경 만족도는 4.22점을 받았다.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is an endotoxin factor present in the cell wall of Gram-negative bacteria and induces various immune responses to infection. Recent studies have reported that LPS induces cellular stress in various cells including oocytes and embryos. Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is a regulatory hormone of circadian rhythm and a powerful antioxidant. It has been known that melatonin has an effective function in scavenging oxygen free radicals and has been used as an antioxidant to reduce the cytotoxic effects induced by LPS. However, the effect of melatonin on LPS treated early embryonic development has not yet been confirmed. In this study, we cultured mouse embryos in medium supplemented with LPS or/and melatonin up to the blastocyst stage in vitro and then evaluated the developmental rate. As a result of the LPS-treatment, the rate of blastocyst development was significantly reduced compared to the control group in all the LPS groups. Next, in the melatonin only treated group, there was no statistical difference in embryonic development and no toxic effects were observed. And then we found that the treatment of melatonin improved the rates of compaction and blastocyst development of LPS-treated embryos. In addition, we showed that melatonin treatment decreased ROS levels compared to the LPS only treated group. In conclusion, we demonstrated the protective effect of melatonin on the embryonic developmental rate reduced by LPS. These results suggest a direction to improve reproduction loss that may occur due to LPS exposure and bacterial infection through the using of melatonin during in vitro culture.

Background: The PyeongChang 2018 Winter Paralympic Games (WPG) being one of the most successful Paralympic Games (PG) in modern athletic world history, hosted the largest number of elite athletes representing 49 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs). Objects: The present investigation highlighted the demographic and clinical characteristics of injured athletes and non-athletes and the physiotherapy services provided during the PyeongChang 2018 WPG. Methods: Prospective descriptive epidemiology study, in which the study group comprised of 201 participants (51 athletes and 150 non-athletes) who were admitted to and utilized the polyclinic physiotherapy service of 2018 PyeongChang WPG in Physiotherapy Department of Paralympic Village from March 1, 2018 to March 20, 2018. Results: Qualitative frequency analysis of injury type demonstrated highest number of chronic injuries (51%, n = 100) in athletes and non-athletes. Anatomical injury site analysis revealed that the spine and shoulder areas were affected with equal frequency for athletes (54.9%, n = 14), whereas for non-athletes, the frequencies of spine and shoulder area injuries were 36.7% (n = 55) and 26% (n = 39), respectively. The Pyeongchang WPG showed a high rate of athletes visiting the physiotherapy service during the pre-competition period (33.3%, n = 50), which may have led to smaller incidence rate of traumatic injury. The physiotherapy treatment service analysis demonstrated that manual therapy (35.4%, n = 230) was most commonly utilized, followed by transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation/interference current therapy (TENS/ICT), therapeutic massage and therapeutic exercise. Conclusion: We established the importance of prophylactic and preventive physiotherapy services to reduce the risk of sports injuries during WPG.

Background: The presence of the lumbopelvic-hip neuromuscular chain is essential for dynamic spinal stabilization; its therapeutic effects on dynamic movements of the distal extremity segment and underpinning motor mechanism remain unknown and warrant further study on participants with low back pain (LBP). Objects: We aim to compare the effects of the broken chain exercise (BCE) and connected chain exercise (CCE) on electromyography (EMG) amplitude and onset time in participants with and without LBP. Methods: Randomized controlled clinical trial. A convenience sample of 40 nonathletic participants (mean age: 24.78 ± 1.70) with and without LBP participated in this study. All participants underwent CCE for 30 minutes, 30-minute daily. We measured EMG amplitude and onset times on bilateral erector spinae (ES), gluteus maximus (GM), hamstring (HAM), transverse abdominis (TrA), internal oblique (IO), and external oblique (EO) during the prone hip extension (PHE) test before and after the BCE and CCE. We used multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to analyze the amplitude and onset time difference between exercises (BCE and CCE) and Pearson’s correlations to determine any synergistic relationship among the HAM, GM, bilateral TrA/IO, and ES muscles. The statistical analyses were used at p < 0.05. Results: MANOVA showed that CCE was more decreased on EMG amplitude in HAM and bilateral ES, while increased GM and contralateral TrA/IO than BCE (p < 0.05). MANOVA EMG onset time data analyses revealed that the main effect of the conditions was significant for all HAM, GM, and bilateral ES muscles, whereas the main effect for the group was significant only for GM and contralateral ES in healthy and LBP groups. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was computed to assess the relationship between BCE and CCE on dependent variables. In most of the muscles, there was a strong, positive correlation between the two variables, and there was a significant relationship (p < 0.001). Conclusion: CCE produced more effective and coordinated core stabilization and motor control mechanism in the lumbopelvic-hip muscles in participants with and without LBP during PHE than BCE.

The purpose of this study was to improve the nutrition and the permeability of functional plants by using cryogenic grinding technology. Barley sprouts, Curcuma longa L., Dendropanax morbifera LEV., Phellinus linteus were dried, ground and extracted in different temperature conditions. Powder size of barley sprouts and Curcuma longa L. were about 50 μm and Dendropanax morbifera LEV. and Phellinus linteus were about 20 μm. Cryogenic ground of Barley sprouts preserved 18.27-124.65% of nutrients such as protein, ash, carbohydrate, beta carotene, minerals, vitamins. Cryogenic grinding powder of Curcuma longa L. show high nutrients retention rate of lipid and carbohydrate. Permeability was measured by Parallel Artificial Membrane Permeability Assay (PAMPA) to predict passive gastrointestinal absorption. Permeability of saponarin, which is marker compound of Barley sprouts, is 9.88 times higher in cryogenic grinding powder than ambient grinding powder. Curcumin permability is 3.1 times higher than ambient grinded powder. As a result, particle size, nutrition, protein digestion degree and permeability demonstrated a positive relationship with the decreasing grinding temperature for the powders. These results confirm that the cryogenic grinding method had good suitability to increase functionality of plants, since it could minimize the heat generated while processing and effectively reduce the particle size.

A data simulator and reduction package for the Devasthal Optical Telescope Integral Field Spectro- graph (DOTIFS) has been developed. Since data reduction for the Integral Field Spectrograph (IFS) requires complicated procedures due to the complex nature of the integral spectrograph, common reduc- tion procedures are usually not directly applicable for such an instrument. Therefore, the development of an optimized package for the DOTIFS is required. The data simulator observes artificial object and simulates CCD images for the instrument considering various effects; e.g. atmosphere, sky background, transmission, spectrograph optics aberration, and detector noise. The data reduction package has been developed based on the outcomes from the DOTIFS data simulator. The reduction package includes the entire processes for the reduction; pre-processing, at-fielding, and sky subtraction. It generates 3D data cubes as a final product, which users can use for science directly.

Traditionally, Centella asiatica leaf extracts are used to treat neurodegenerative diseases in India. Centella asiatica is reportedly used to enhance memory and treat dementia, but its promoting effect on neural stem cell differentiation has not been studied yet. In the present study, we investigated whether or not Centella asiatica leaf extracts act on neuronal precursor cells and neuronal cell lines to induce neuronal differentiation, neurite outgrowth, and neuroprotection. The neurogenesis-promoting potential of Centella asiatica leaf extracts was determined by differentiation assay on neural stem cells isolated from mouse embryos and PC12 cell lines. To understand the contribution of specific neural cell types towards increase after Centella asiatica treatment, neural stem cells were differentiated into various neural subtypes and checked by Western blotting using neural cell lineage-specific antibody markers. Neuroprotective activity of Centella asiatica was analyzed in PC12 cells exposed to 100 μM of H2O2. Cell growth was analyzed by MTT assay while cell death was analyzed by Western blotting detection of apoptosis-related proteins. Cells treated with Centella asiatica had significantly longer primary and secondary neurites as well as a higher number of neurites per cell compared to control cells. Expression levels of TUBBIII, TH, NF, and BDNF increased upon Centella asiatica treatment, suggesting that Centella asiatica has a neurogenesis-promoting effect. Centella asiatica also inhibited oxidative stress-induced neural cell damage through regulation of apoptosis- and cell cycle-related proteins. Thus, leaf extracts of Centella asiatica might promote neurogenesis, neuroregeneration, and neuroprotection in the context of neurodegenerative diseases.