• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.361-370
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• 2016

An area comprising Juwangsan National Park and its adjacent mountains (southeastern Korean Peninsula) is a good model system for testing the effects of physical barriers to gene flows in plant populations. We predicted that plant species consisting of isolated populations are genetically more differentiated than those that are rather continuously distributed. Most populations of Sedum polytrichoides occur in four isolated valleys, and we assessed the genetic variability and structures using twelve allozyme loci in ten populations. We also compared the present results to earlier findings pertaining to the two co-occurring herbs Hylotelephium ussuriense (${\equiv}$ Sedum ussuriense) (growing only in the four isolated valleys) and S. kamtschaticum (rather continuously distributed). We found moderate levels of within-population genetic variation in S. polytrichoides ($H_{e}=0.112$). Estimates of among-population divergence in S. polytrichoides were also moderate ($F_{ST}=0.250$) and, as expected, very similar to that of H. ussuriense (0.261) but considerably higher than the variation in S. kamtschaticum (0.165). An analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that S. polytrichoides and H. ussuriense had higher percentages of among-valley variation (19% each) than S. kamtschaticum (4%). Most of this variation, as also indicated by the STRUCTURE program, was due to differences in genetic profiles between the two central valleys. We concluded that the genetic differences observed between species (S. kamtschaticum vs. S. polytrichoides and H. ussuriense) are mainly due to differences in their distribution within the study area.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.118-126
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• 2019

The taxonomic rank of the tiny-leaved terrestrial orchid Cephalanthera subaphylla Miyabe & $Kud{\hat{o}}$ has been somewhat controversial, as it has been treated as a species or as an infraspecific taxon, under C. erecta (Thunb.) Blume [C. erecta var. subaphylla (Miyabe & $Kud{\hat{o}}$) Ohwi and C. erecta f. subaphylla (Miyabe & $Kud{\hat{o}}$) M. Hiro]. Allozyme markers, traditionally employed for delimiting species boundaries, are used here to gain information for determining the taxonomic status of C. subaphylla. To do this, we sampled three populations of five taxa (a total of 15 populations) of Cephalanthera native to the Korean Peninsula [C. erecta, C. falcata (Thunb.) Blume, C. longibracteata Blume, C. longifolia (L.) Fritsch, and C. subaphylla]. Among 20 putative loci resolved, three were monomorphic (Dia-2, Pgi-1, and Tpi-1) across the five species. Apart from C. longibracteata, there was no allozyme variation within the remaining four species. Of the 51 alleles harbored by these 17 polymorphic loci, each of the 27 alleles at 14 loci was unique to a single species. Accordingly, we found low average values of Nei's genetic identities (I) between ten species pairs (from I = 0.250 for C. erecta versus C. longifolia to I = 0.603 for C. falcata vs. C. longibracteata), with C. subaphylla being genetically clearly differentiated from the other species (from I = 0.349 for C. subaphylla vs. C. longifolia to 0.400 for C. subaphylla vs. C. falcata). These results clearly indicate that C. subaphylla is not genetically related to any of the other taxa of Cephalanthera that are native to the Korean Peninsula, including C. erecta. In a principal coordinate analysis (PCoA), C. subaphylla was positioned distant not only from C. falcata, C. longibracteata, and C. longifolia, but also from C. erecta. Finally, K = 5 was the best clustering scheme using a Bayesian approach, with five clusters precisely corresponding to the five taxa. Thus, our allozyme results strongly suggest that C. subaphylla merits the rank of species.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.564-573
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• 2019

Objective: Evaluate the effects of i) dehulling of lupine seed on chemical composition and apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and ii) soybean meal substitution by dehulled lupine seed in broiler diets with enzymes on productive performance, size of digestive organs and welfare-related variables. Methods: Experiment 1, chemical composition and AME were determined in whole and dehulled lupine seed. Experiment 2, two hundred eighty-eight one-day-old male Ross 308 broilers were used. The experimental diets were maize-soybean meal (MS), MS with enzymes (MSE) and maize-dehulled lupine seed with enzymes (MLE). Diets were assigned to the experimental units under a completely randomized design (eight replicates per diet). The body weight (BW) gain, feed intake, feed conversion, digestive organ weights, gait score, latency to lie down and valgus/varus angulation were evaluated. Results: The dehulling process increased protein (25.0% to 31.1%), AME (5.9 to 8.8 MJ/kg) and amino acid contents. The BW gain of broilers fed the MLE diet was similar (p>0.05) to that of those fed the MS diet, but lower than that of those fed the MSE diet. Feed intake of broilers fed the MLE diet was higher (p<0.05) than that of those fed the MS diet and similar (p>0.05) to those fed the MSE diet. Feed conversion of broilers fed the MLE diet was 8.0% and 8.7% higher (p<0.05) than that of those fed the MS and MSE diets, respectively. Broilers fed the MLE diet had the highest (p<0.05) relative proventriculus and gizzard weights, but had poor welfare-related variables. Conclusion: It is possible to substitute soybean meal by dehulled lupine seed with enzymes in broiler diets, obtaining similar BW gains in broilers fed the MLE and MS diets; however, a higher feed intake is required. Additionally, the MLE diet reduced welfare-related variables.

• Clinical and Molecular Hepatology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.384-391
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• 2018

Backgrounds/Aims: The objective of our study was to determine the epidemiological, laboratory, and serological characteristics of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and normal transaminases. The study also aimed to evaluate liver damage by measuring the liver fibrosis (LF) grade and to identify possible factors associated with the presence of fibrosis. Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted in patients with chronic HBV infection and classified as inactive carriers or immune-tolerant. Epidemiological variables of age, sex, immigrant, alcohol consumption, and body mass index (BMI), as well as virological variables (HBV DNA) and transaminase level were collected throughout the follow-up. The LF grade was evaluated by transient elastography. The cutoff value for significant fibrosis (SF) was liver stiffness ${\geq}7.9kPa$. Results: A total of 214 patients were included in the analysis, and 62% of them had a BMI ${\geq}25kg/m^2$. During follow-up, 4% of patients showed transaminase elevation (<1.5 times normal). Most patients had a viral DNA level <2,000 IU/mL (83%). Data on LF were available in 160 patients; of these, 14% had SF, 9% F3, and 6% F4. The variables associated with the presence of SF were transaminase alteration during follow-up, as 23% of patients with SF had elevated transaminases versus 3% of patients without SF (P<0.005), and BMI, as the vast majority of patients with SF (88%) had a BMI ${\geq}25kg/m^2$ versus 56% of patients without SF (P<0.05). Conclusions: In patients with chronic HBV infection and normal transaminases, liver damage does not seem to be related to DNA levels, alcohol consumption, or immigrant status. SF seems to be associated with transaminase alteration during follow-up and elevated BMI. It is therefore recommended to measure LF grade with validated non-invasive methods in such patients.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.15 no.sup1
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• pp.32-40
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• 2021

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Considering the high number of deaths from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Latin American countries, together with multiple factors that increase the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, we aimed to determine 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels and its association with mortality in patients with critical COVID-19. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This was a prospective observational study including adult patients with critical COVID-19. Data, including clinical characteristics and 25(OH)D levels measured at the time of intensive care unit admission, were collected. All patients were followed until hospital discharge or in-hospital death. The patients were divided into those surviving and deceased patient groups, and univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine independent predictors of in hospital mortality. RESULTS: The entire cohort comprised 94 patients with critical COVID-19 (males, 59.6%; median age, 61.5 years). The median 25(OH)D level was 12.7 ng/mL, and 15 (16%) and 79 (84%) patients had vitamin D insufficiency and vitamin D deficiency, respectively. The median serum 25(OH)D level was significantly lower in deceased patients compared with surviving (12.1 vs. 18.7 ng/mL, P < 0.001). Vitamin D deficiency was present in 100% of the deceased patients. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that age, body mass index, other risk factors, and 25(OH)D level were independent predictors of mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin D deficiency was present in 84% of critical COVID-19 patients. Serum 25(OH)D was independently associated with mortality in critical patients with COVID-19.

• KIPS Transactions on Software and Data Engineering
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.179-186
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• 2021

Manipulation of complex objects with an anthropomorphic robot hand like a human hand is a challenge in the human-centric environment. In order to train the anthropomorphic robot hand which has a high degree of freedom (DoF), human demonstration augmented deep reinforcement learning policy optimization methods have been proposed. In this work, we first demonstrate augmentation of human demonstration in deep reinforcement learning (DRL) is effective for object manipulation by comparing the performance of the augmentation-free Natural Policy Gradient (NPG) and Demonstration Augmented NPG (DA-NPG). Then three DRL policy optimization methods, namely NPG, Trust Region Policy Optimization (TRPO), and Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO), have been evaluated with DA (i.e., DA-NPG, DA-TRPO, and DA-PPO) and without DA by manipulating six objects such as apple, banana, bottle, light bulb, camera, and hammer. The results show that DA-NPG achieved the average success rate of 99.33% whereas NPG only achieved 60%. In addition, DA-NPG succeeded grasping all six objects while DA-TRPO and DA-PPO failed to grasp some objects and showed unstable performances.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.77.1-77.14
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• 2020

Background: Staphylococcus aureus is one of the main microorganisms that causes bovine mastitis, and its well-known virulence characteristics and interactions with the environment are used to aid the design of more efficient therapies. Objectives: To determine whether the virulence traits, such as antibiotic resistance and biofilm-forming and internalization abilities, of S. aureus isolated from bovine mastitis are related to dairy production system types. Methods: The study was performed in the Mexican states of Guanajuato and Michoacan. Semi-intensive dairy farms (SIDFs) and family dairy farms (FDFs) (454 and 363 cows, respectively) were included. The 194 milk samples from mastitis affected quarters were collected and 92 strains of S. aureus were isolated and identified by biochemical and molecular tests. Antibiotic resistance, biofilm and internalization assays were performed on 30 randomly selected isolated strains to determine virulence traits, and these strains were equally allocated to the 2 dairy production systems. Results: All 30 selected strains displayed a high degree of resistance (50%-91.7%) to the antibiotics tested, but no significant difference was found between SIDF and FDF isolates. S. aureus strains from SIDFs had an average biofilm forming capacity of up to 36% (18.9%-53.1%), while S. aureus strains from FDFs registered an average of up to 53% (31.5%-77.8%) (p > 0.05). Internalization assays revealed a higher frequency of internalization capacity for strains isolated from FDFs (33.3%) than for those isolated from SIDFs (6.7%) (p > 0.05). fnbpA gen was detected in 46.6% of FDF strains and 33.3% of SIDF strains, and this difference was significant (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Our findings show that the virulence traits of S. aureus isolates analyzed in this study, depend significantly on several factors, such as phenotype, genotype, and environmental conditions, which are significantly related to dairy production system type and daily management practices.

• KIPS Transactions on Software and Data Engineering
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• v.11 no.9
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• pp.363-370
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• 2022

Grasping a target object among clutter objects without collision requires machine intelligence. Machine intelligence includes environment recognition, target & obstacle recognition, collision-free path planning, and object grasping intelligence of robot hands. In this work, we implement such system in simulation and hardware to grasp a target object without collision. We use a RGB-D image sensor to recognize the environment and objects. Various path-finding algorithms been implemented and tested to find collision-free paths. Finally for an anthropomorphic robot hand, object grasping intelligence is learned through deep reinforcement learning. In our simulation environment, grasping a target out of five clutter objects, showed an average success rate of 78.8%and a collision rate of 34% without path planning. Whereas our system combined with path planning showed an average success rate of 94% and an average collision rate of 20%. In our hardware environment grasping a target out of three clutter objects showed an average success rate of 30% and a collision rate of 97% without path planning whereas our system combined with path planning showed an average success rate of 90% and an average collision rate of 23%. Our results show that grasping a target object in clutter is feasible with vision intelligence, path planning, and deep RL.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.228-240
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Cocoa consumption is associated with health benefits due to its high content of polyphenols. However, the effects of short-term cocoa consumption remain unclear. We aimed to determine the effects generated by cocoa consumption (for 7 days) in young adults in normoweight and class II obesity. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Before-and-after study was carried out in normoweight (NW) (n = 15) and class II obesity (CIIO) (n = 15) young adults. The NW and CIIO participants consumed 25 and 39 g of cocoa, respectively, per day for 7 days. The effect of cocoa consumption was evaluated on the lipid profile, insulin resistance (IR), and inflammation. Oxidative damage was also examined by assessing the biomarkers of oxidative damage in plasma. In addition, recombinant human insulin was incubated with blood obtained from the participants, and the molecular damage to the hormone was analyzed. RESULTS: Cocoa consumption resulted in decreased low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol in both groups (P = 0.04), while the total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides were maintained at the recommended levels. Initially, IR was detected in the CIIO group (homeostasis model assessment [HOMA] = 4.78 ± 0.4), which is associated with molecular damage to insulin. Interestingly, intervention with cocoa resulted in improved IR (HOMA = 3.14 ± 0.31) (P = 0.0018) as well as molecular damage to insulin. Finally, cocoa consumption significant decreased the arginase activity (P = 0.0249) in the CIIO group; this is a critical enzymatic activity in the inflammatory process associated with obesity. CONCLUSIONS: The short-term consumption of cocoa improves the lipid profile, exerts anti-inflammatory effects, and protects against oxidative damage. Results of this study indicate that cocoa consumption can potentially improve IR and restore a healthy redox status.

• Proceedings of the Korea Information Processing Society Conference
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• 2020.11a
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• pp.858-861
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• 2020

로봇이 사람과 같이 다양하고 복잡한 사물 조작을 하기 위해서 휴먼형 로봇손의 사물 파지 작업이 필수적이다. 자유도 (Degree of Freedom, DoF)가 높은 휴먼형(anthropomorphic) 로봇손을 학습시키기 위하여 사람 데모(human demonstration)가 결합된 강화학습 최적화 방법이 제안되었다. 본 연구에서는 강화학습 최적화 방법에 사람 데모가 결합된 Demonstration Augmented Natural Policy Gradient(DA-NPG)와 NPG 의 성능 비교를 통하여 행동 복제의 효율성을 확인하고, DA-NPG, DA-Trust Region Policy Optimization (DA-TRPO), DA-Proximal Policy Optimization (DA-PPO)의 최적화 방법의 성능 평가를 위하여 6 종의 물체에 대한 휴먼형 로봇손의 사물 조작 작업을 수행한다. 그 결과, DA-NPG 와 NPG를 비교한 결과를 통해 휴먼형 로봇손의 사물 조작 강화학습에 행동 복제가 효율적임을 증명하였다. 또한, DA-NPG 는 DA-TRPO 와 유사한 성능을 보이면서 모든 물체에 대한 사물 파지에 성공하여 가장 안정적이었다. 반면, DA-TRPO 와 DA-PPO 는 사물 조작에 실패한 물체가 존재하여 불안정한 성능을 보였다. 본 연구에서 제안하는 방법은 향후 실제 휴먼형 로봇에 적용하여 휴먼형 로봇 손의 사물조작 지능 개발에 유용할 것으로 전망된다.