Safety Assessment of Levilactobacillus brevis KU15006: A Comprehensive Analysis of its Phenotypic and Genotypic Properties.

Levilactobacillus brevis KU15006, isolated from kimchi, exhibits pathogen-antagonistic and anti-diabetic activities; however, the safety of this strain has not been assessed. In the present study, L. brevis KU15006 was evaluated to elucidate its safety as a probiotic strain using phenotypic and genotypic analyses. Its safety was assessed using a minimum inhibitory concentration test comprising nine antibiotics, 26 antibiotic resistance genes, a single conjugative element, virulence gene analysis, hemolysis, cell cytotoxicity, mucin degradation, and toxic metabolite production. L. brevis KU15006 exhibited equal or lower minimum inhibitory concentration for the nine antibiotics than the cut-off value established by the European Food Safety Authority. It did not harbor antibiotic resistance and virulence genes. L. brevis KU15006 lacked ß-hemolysis, mucin degradation, cytotoxicity against Caco-2 cells, gelatin liquefaction, bile salt deconjugation, and toxic metabolite production abilities. Based on the results, L. brevis KU15006, which has antagonistic and anti-diabetic effects, could be marketed as a probiotic in the future.

Structural analysis and prebiotic activity of exopolysaccharide produced by probiotic strain Bifidobacterium bifidum EPS DA-LAIM.

Exopolysaccharide (EPS)-producing Bifidobacterium bifidum EPS DA-LAIM was isolated from healthy human feces, the structure of purified EPS from the strain was analyzed, and its prebiotic activity was evaluated. The EPS from B. bifidum EPS DA-LAIM is a glucomannan-type heteropolysaccharide with a molecular weight of 407-1007 kDa, and its structure comprises 2-mannosyl, 6-mannosyl, and 2,6-mannosyl residues. The purified EPS promoted the growth of representative lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacterial strains. Bifidobacterium bifidum EPS DA-LAIM increased nitric oxide production in RAW 264.7 macrophage cells, indicating its immunostimulatory activity. Bifidobacterium bifidum EPS DA-LAIM also exhibited high gastrointestinal tract tolerance, gut adhesion ability, and antioxidant activity. These results suggest that EPS from B. bifidum EPS DA-LAIM is a potentially useful prebiotic material, and B. bifidum EPS DA-LAIM could be applied as a probiotic candidate. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10068-022-01213-w.

Roles of Small Polyetherimide Moieties on Thermal Stability and Fracture Toughness of Epoxy Blends.

Bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (DGEBA) was blended with polyetherimide (PEI) as a thermoplastic toughener for thermal stability and mechanical properties as a function of PEI contents. The thermal stability and mechanical properties were investigated using a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and a universal test machine, respectively. The TGA results indicate that PEI addition enhanced the thermal stability of the epoxy resins in terms of the integral procedural decomposition temperature (IPDT) and pyrolysis activation energy (Et). The IPDT and Et values of the DGEBA/PEI blends containing 2 wt% of PEI increased by 2% and 22%, respectively, compared to those of neat DGEBA. Moreover, the critical stress intensity factor and critical strain energy release rate for the DGEBA/PEI blends containing 2 wt% of PEI increased by 83% and 194%, respectively, compared to those of neat DGEBA. These results demonstrate that PEI plays a key role in enhancing the flexural strength and fracture toughness of epoxy blends. This can be attributed to the newly formed semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (semi-IPNs) composed of the epoxy network and linear PEI.

Influence of Ozone-Treated Silica Nanoparticles on Mechanical Interfacial Behavior and Thermal Stability of Silicone Composites.

Silica nanoparticles were ozone-treated to increase the dispersibility of silica in a silicone matrix. Silicone rubber/silica composites were prepared using a melt-blending method. The effect of silica content on the mechanical and thermal properties of the silica-reinforced silicone composites was examined. The tensile strength of the prepared silicone/silica composites was maximized at 1 wt.% silica, due to the improved interfacial interactions between the silica reinforcement surface and the silicone matrix. The thermal stability of the composites was significantly enhanced with increasing silica content.

Complete mitochondrial genome of the hybrid grouper Epinephelus lanceolatus (♀) × E. moara (♂).

The complete mitochondrial genome of the novel hybrid grouper (Epinephelus lanceolatus ♀ and E. moara ♂) includes 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNAs, 22 transfer RNA genes, and 1 control region (D-loop), for a total length of 16,743 bp. The overall nucleotide compositions encoded on the heavy strand are 29.73% A, 28.84% C, 15.08% G, and 26.64% T.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the hybrid grouper Epinephelus lanceolatus (♀) × E. akaara (♂).

This study determined the complete mitochondrial genome of the hybrid grouper Epinephelus lanceolatus ♀ × E. akaara ♂. The complete mitochondrial genome is 16,743 bp long and includes 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, and a control region. The nucleotide composition of the L-strand was as follows: A 20.00, C 14.10, G 29.21, and T 36.68%. All of the genes are encoded on the H-strand, except for NADH dehydrogenase subunit (ND6) and eight tRNA genes. A phylogenetic tree constructed using the maximum-likelihood (ML) method showed that the hybrid grouper E. lanceolatus ♀ × E. akaara ♂ is similar to E. lanceolatus.

Combining random forest with multi-block local binary pattern feature selection for multiclass head pose estimation.

A new head pose estimation technique based on Random Forest (RF) and texture features for facial image analysis using a monocular camera is proposed in this paper, especially about how to efficiently combine the random forest and the features. In the proposed technique a randomized tree with useful attributes is trained to improve estimation accuracy and tolerance of occlusions and illumination. Specifically, a number of features including Multi-scale Block Local Block Pattern (MB-LBP) are extracted from an image, and random features such as the MB-LBP scale parameters, a block coordinate, and a layer of an image pyramid in the feature pool are used for training the tree. The randomized tree aims to maximize the information gain at each node while random samples traverse the nodes in the tree. To this aim, a split function considering the uniform property of the LBP feature is developed to move sample blocks to the left or the right children nodes. The trees are independently trained with random inputs, yet they are grouped to form a random forest so that the results collected from the trees are used for make the final decision. Precisely, we use a Maximum-A-Posteriori criterion in the decision. It is demonstrated with experimental results that the proposed technique provides significantly enhanced classification performance in the head pose estimation in various conditions of illumination, poses, expressions, and facial occlusions.

Intrusion Detection System Using Deep Neural Network for In-Vehicle Network Security.

A novel intrusion detection system (IDS) using a deep neural network (DNN) is proposed to enhance the security of in-vehicular network. The parameters building the DNN structure are trained with probability-based feature vectors that are extracted from the in-vehicular network packets. For a given packet, the DNN provides the probability of each class discriminating normal and attack packets, and, thus the sensor can identify any malicious attack to the vehicle. As compared to the traditional artificial neural network applied to the IDS, the proposed technique adopts recent advances in deep learning studies such as initializing the parameters through the unsupervised pre-training of deep belief networks (DBN), therefore improving the detection accuracy. It is demonstrated with experimental results that the proposed technique can provide a real-time response to the attack with a significantly improved detection ratio in controller area network (CAN) bus.

Effectiveness of education interventions for the management of cancer pain: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Many cancer patients experience poor pain control due to various factors, including misconceptions regarding the use of opioid analgesics. For management of cancer pain, interventions involving education of both patients and physicians have been attempted. OBJECTIVES: This review aimed to assess the current evidence of the benefits of education for the management of cancer pain. METHODS: We searched the Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane library, and major Korean databases to identify relevant studies. We included most study designs, but excluded case series. The primary outcomes were pain intensity and quality of life (QoL). Two reviewers assessed the risk of bias using the Cochrane's tool for RCT and Risk of Bias Assessment tool for Non-randomized Studies (RoBANS) for non-randomized studies, independently. RESULTS: After extensive searches, 3,324 publications were screened, and 32 studies were selected. The education interventions used in the included studies included a wide variety of education methods, but the most common method was a booklet produced for patients. Regardless of the education method used, the results of the meta-analysis were as follows. The SMDs of the most severe, average, and current pain in the RCTs were significant. The SMD of worst, average, and current pain were -0.34 (-0.55, -0.13), -0.40 (-0.64, -0.15), and -0.79 (-1.35, -0.23). In the non-randomized studies, the effects on average pain were significant, but those on worst and current pain were not. CONCLUSIONS: Education intervention reduced the pain of cancer patients. Therefore, patient education could be considered to be an effective method of cancer pain management. However, our data should be interpreted with caution, and studies using standardized protocols are needed to confirm these observations.

Acupuncture as analgesia for non-emergent acute non-specific neck pain, ankle sprain and primary headache in an emergency department setting: a protocol for a parallel group, randomised, controlled pilot trial.

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to assess the feasibility of acupuncture as an add-on intervention for patients with non-emergent acute musculoskeletal pain and primary headache in an emergency department (ED) setting. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A total of 40 patients who present to the ED and are diagnosed to have acute non-specific neck pain, ankle sprain or primary headache will be recruited by ED physicians. An intravenous or intramuscular injection of analgesics will be provided as the initial standard pain control intervention for all patients. Patients who still have moderate to severe pain after the 30 min of initial standard ED management will be considered eligible. These patients will be allocated in equal proportions to acupuncture plus standard ED management or to standard ED management alone based on computer-generated random numbers concealed in opaque, sealed, sequentially numbered envelopes. A 30 min session of acupuncture treatment with manual and/or electrical stimulation will be provided by qualified Korean medicine doctors. All patients will receive additional ED management at the ED physician's discretion and based on each patient's response to the allocated intervention. The primary outcome will be pain reduction measured at discharge from the ED by an unblinded assessor. Adverse events in both groups will be documented. Other outcomes will include the patient-reported overall improvement, disability due to neck pain (only for neck-pain patients), the treatment response rate, the use of other healthcare resources and the patients' perceived effectiveness of the acupuncture treatment. A follow-up telephone interview will be conducted by a blinded assessor 72±12 h after ED discharge. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants. The study has been approved by the Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). The results of this study will guide a full-scale randomised trial of acupuncture in an ED context. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02013908.

Determinants of family satisfaction with inpatient palliative care in Korea.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to identify which structures and processes of care are key determinants of overall satisfaction with palliative care. METHODS: A nationwide, multicentre, cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted with 501 bereaved family members of terminal cancer patients (effective response rate: 20.9 percent). Structures and processes were evaluated using the Care Evaluation Scale (CES). RESULTS: In univariate analyses, all domains of the CES were significantly associated with overall satisfaction with care. In multivariate analyses, the domains of physical care by physician, physical care by nurse, environment, and coordination positively influenced overall satisfaction. After case-mix adjustment, physical care by nurse, age of patient, and lower education level of bereaved family member remained as significant determinants. CONCLUSION: Our finding that nursing is the most critical determinant of overall satisfaction within many structure and process domains has an important implication for clinical quality improvement and resource allocation.