Background: Acupotomy is a type of acupuncture where a scalpel-shaped needle (miniscalpel needle) is used instead of a normal acupuncture needle to exfoliate adhesion sites or to relax entrapped ...regions. This study aimed to identify the descriptive characteristics of patients who received acupotomy treatment at a single Korean Medicine Clinic.Methods: This retrospective review analyzed the medical charts of patients who had received acupotomy at least once from August 2017 to December 2019 at a single Korean Medicine Clinic. The demographic characteristics, chief complaints, acupotomy treatment sites, and principal diagnosis codes were analyzed.Results: We identified 551 outpatients; the average age was 52 ± 14.26 years and 49.9% were male. The patients underwent an average of 8.47 sessions of acupotomy. Altogether, 35.91% of the acupotomy treatments were administered to the spinal regions, of which 60.01% were in the lumbar region. The codes related to the lumbar spinal condition/disease which were used most frequently. The chief complaints were dizziness, lumbar spinal stenosis, and Dupuytren’s contracture in patients over 60 years of age.Conclusion: This is the 1st analysis of acupotomy treatment patterns in Korea to date. Acupotomy is primarily administered in the treatment of spinal conditions/diseases, especially for those involving the lumbar region. Future studies are necessary to determine the clinical outcomes of patients who receive acupotomy treatment and the safety of this treatment.
Alkaloid accumulation in plants is activated in response to stress, is limited in distribution and specific alkaloid repertoires are variable across taxa. Rauvolfioideae (Apocynaceae, Gentianales) ...represents a major center of structural expansion in the monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIAs) yielding thousands of unique molecules including highly valuable chemotherapeutics. The paucity of genome-level data for Apocynaceae precludes a deeper understanding of MIA pathway evolution hindering the elucidation of remaining pathway enzymes and the improvement of MIA availability in planta or in vitro. We sequenced the nuclear genome of Rhazya stricta (Apocynaceae, Rauvolfioideae) and present this high quality assembly in comparison with that of coffee (Rubiaceae, Coffea canephora, Gentianales) and others to investigate the evolution of genome-scale features. The annotated Rhazya genome was used to develop the community resource, RhaCyc, a metabolic pathway database. Gene family trees were constructed to identify homologs of MIA pathway genes and to examine their evolutionary history. We found that, unlike Coffea, the Rhazya lineage has experienced many structural rearrangements. Gene tree analyses suggest recent, lineage-specific expansion and diversification among homologs encoding MIA pathway genes in Gentianales and provide candidate sequences with the potential to close gaps in characterized pathways and support prospecting for new MIA production avenues.
An approximately 40‐km long high‐resolution reflection seismic profile (P3) was acquired in the metropolitan area of Seoul in South Korea for the purpose of fault system imaging in a highly noisy and ...challenging urban environment. Two 12t seismic vibrators (mini‐vibs) were used as the seismic source. Data were recorded using a dual element seismic spread; 20 m spaced 421 wireless seismic recorders connected to 10 Hz geophones and 20 micro‐electro‐mechanical‐based landstreamer sensors (2 m sensor spacing) attached to one of the vibrators. The purpose of the dual spread employed was to delineate both near‐surface and deep structures. The processing results show good quality and the processing work was complemented by different analysis to further constraints the geological interpretation. The survey results provide evidence for the 3D geometry of three fault systems, including Chugaryeong, Pocheon, and Wangsukcheon faults. A gently westerly dipping set of reflectivity underlying a dome‐shaped package of reflectivity is interpreted as a fault, and could project to the known surface position of the Pocheon fault. The dome‐shaped reflectivity is interpreted as folded and faulted dyke or sill systems. Downward continuation of the interpreted fault intersects the sub‐vertical Chugaryeong fault in a zone where the current seismicity is observed, suggesting that these two major fault systems may have jointly evolved in the form of splay faults. Reflections from the Wangsukcheon fault are also present in the data and interpreted to dip approximately 60° to the east, in an opposite direction to the two other faults.
Plain Language Summary
An approximately 40‐km long high‐resolution reflection seismic profile was acquired in the metropolitan area of Seoul in South Korea for the purpose of in‐depth fault system imaging in a highly noisy and challenging urban environment. Two different types of receivers were used simultaneously to achieve good results from both shallow and deep structures. Processing results have good quality and are complemented with different analysis to further constraints the geological interpretation. The survey results provide evidence for the 3D geometry of three fault systems, including Chugaryeong, Pocheon, and Wangsukcheon faults. A gently westerly dipping structure underlying a dome‐shaped structure is interpreted as a fault, and could project to the known surface position of the Pocheon fault. A dome‐shaped reflectivity is interpreted as folded and faulted dyke or sill systems. Downward continuation of the interpreted fault intersects the sub‐vertical Chugaryeong fault in a zone where the current seismicity is observed, suggesting that these two major fault systems may be connected and jointly evolved. Results from the Wangsukcheon fault are also present in the data and it is interpreted to approximately dip 60° to the east, in an opposite direction to the two other faults.
Key Points
Reflection seismic imaging of fault systems in Seoul metropolitan area
Suggested dependency of the regional seismicity from Chugaryeong fault system
Deep geometry reconstruction of three regional fault systems
The commercialization of graphene-based products is challenging, because many engineering and economical aspects have to be taken into consideration. A stronger collaboration between academia and ...industry would be beneficial for accelerating the process.The commercialization of graphene-based products is challenging, because many engineering and economical aspects have to be taken into consideration. A stronger collaboration between academia and industry would be beneficial for accelerating the process.
This study exploited the concept of the minimum/maximum substrate concentrations (MSC values) for identifying proper start-up conditions and achieving stable and low effluent total ammonium nitrogen ...(TAN) concentrations in suspended-growth short-cut biological nitrogen removal (SSBNR). Calculations based on the MSC concept indicated that S
Dmax, the TAN concentration above which ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) are washed out, was around 450
mgTAN/L at the given operating conditions of 2
mg/L of dissolved oxygen and pH 8, while nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) should be washed out at around 40
mgTAN/L. Therefore, the experimental research was focused on the optimal TAN-concentration range for SSBNR, between 50 and 100
mg/L. Experimental results showed that a nitrification reactor with initial TAN concentration above 450
mg/L did not give a successful start-up. However, two days of starvation, which decreased the TAN concentration in the reactor to 95
mg/L, stabilized the reaction quickly, and stable SSBNR was sustained thereafter with 80
mgTAN/L and 98% nitrite accumulation in the reactor. During stable SSBNR, the removal ratio of chemical oxygen demand per nitrite nitrogen (ΔCOD/ΔNO
2–N) for denitrification was 1.94
gCOD/gN, which is around 55% of that required for nitrate denitrification. Based on a clone library,
Nitrosomonas occupied 14% of the total cells, while the sum of
Nitrobacter and
Nitrospira was less than the detection cut-off of 2%, confirming the NOB were washed out during SSBNR. A spiking test that doubled the influent ammonium loading caused the TAN concentration in the reactor to reach washout for AOB, which lasted until the loading was reduced. Thus, a loading increase should be controlled carefully such that the system does not exceed the washout range for AOB.
Since January 2020, novel coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) – infected pneumonia (COVID-19) rapidly spread in Korea. This study aimed to introduce the Korean Medicine (KM) telemedicine center for treatment of ...COVID patients in Korea.
This work was a retrospective review of medical records on patients who received at least one telemedicine session from March 9, 2020 to April 12, 2020 provided by the COVID-19 telemedicine center of Korean Medicine. Data on demographic characteristics, treatment frequency, number of consultation were collected. A descriptive statistical analysis was conducted to report characteristics of patients.
A total of 1742 patients underwent consultation through KM telemedicine centers. Despite the rapid increase in the number of patients, the telemedicine center provided treatments to an average of 192 patients per day by about an average of 15 doctors. Furthermore, 4552 herbal medicines were prescribed through telemedicine center, among which 1366 cases (30%) being Qing-Fei-Pai-Du-tang. Telemedicine care also has shown that even with patient's residence transition, medical care can be continued without pause.
These results show some advantages of the telemedicine center's implementation in terms of the effective use of medical resources and continuous treatment for patients.
Ultrasound B-mode imaging provides anatomical images of the body with a high resolution and frame rate. Recently, to improve its flexibility, most ultrasound signal and image processing modules in ...modern ultrasound B-mode imaging systems have been implemented in software. In a software-based B-mode imaging system, an efficient processing technique for calculating a logarithm instruction is required to support its high computational burden. In this paper, we present a new method to efficiently implement a logarithm operation based on exponent bit extraction. In the proposed method, the exponent bit field is first extracted and then some algebraic operations are applied to improve its precision. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and the execution time were measured. The proposed efficient logarithm operation method substantially reduced the execution time, i.e., eight times, compared to direct computation while providing a PSNR of over 50 dB. These results indicate that the proposed efficient logarithm computation method can be used for lowering the computational burden in software-based ultrasound B-mode ultrasound imaging systems while improving or maintaining the image quality.
Atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materialssuch as transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayers and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN)and their van der Waals layered preparations have been ...actively researched to build electronic devices such as field-effect transistors, junction diodes, tunneling devices, and, more recently, memristors. Two-dimensional material memristors built in lateral form, with horizontal placement of electrodes and the 2D material layers, have provided an intriguing window into the motions of ions along the atomically thin layers. On the other hand, 2D material memristors built in vertical form with top and bottom electrodes sandwiching 2D material layers may provide opportunities to explore the extreme of the memristive performance with the atomic-scale interelectrode distance. In particular, they may help push the switching voltages to a lower limit, which is an important pursuit in memristor research in general, given their roles in neuromorphic computing. In fact, recently Akinwande et al. performed a pioneering work to demonstrate a vertical memristor that sandwiches a single MoS2 monolayer between two inert Au electrodes, but it could neither attain switching voltages below 1 V nor control the switching polarity, obtaining both unipolar and bipolar switching devices. Here, we report a vertical memristor that sandwiches two MoS2 monolayers between an active Cu top electrode and an inert Au bottom electrode. Cu ions diffuse through the MoS2 double layers to form atomic-scale filaments. The atomic-scale thickness, combined with the electrochemical metallization, lowers switching voltages down to 0.1–0.2 V, on par with the state of the art. Furthermore, our memristor achieves consistent bipolar and analogue switching, and thus exhibits the synapse-like learning behavior such as the spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP), the very first STDP demonstration among all 2D-material-based vertical memristors. The demonstrated STDP with low switching voltages is promising not only for low-power neuromorphic computing, but also from the point of view that the voltage range approaches the biological action potentials, opening up a possibility for direct interfacing with mammalian neuronal networks.
Atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materials--such as transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayers and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN)--and their van der Waals layered preparations, have been ...actively researched to build electronic devices such as field effect transistors, junction diodes, tunneling devices, and more recently, memristors. 2D material memristors built in lateral form, with horizontal placement of electrodes and the 2D material layers, have provided an intriguing window into the motions of ions along the atomically thin layers. On the other hand, 2D material memristors built in vertical form with top and bottom electrodes sandwiching 2D material layers may provide opportunities to explore the extreme of the memristive performance with the atomic-scale inter-electrode distance. In particular, they may help push the switching voltages to a lower limit, which is an important pursuit in the memristors research in general, given their roles in neuromorphic computing. In fact, recently Akinwande et al. performed a pioneering work to demonstrate a vertical memristor that sandwiches a single MoS
monolayer between two inert Au electrodes, but it could neither attain switching voltages below 1 V nor control the switching polarity, obtaining both unipolar and bipolar switching devices. Here we report a vertical memristor that sandwiches two MoS
monolayers between an active Cu top electrode and an inert Au bottom electrode. Cu ions diffuse through the MoS
double layers to form atomic-scale filaments. The atomic-scale thickness, combined with the electrochemical metallization, lowers switching voltages down to 0.1 ~ 0.2 V, on a par with the state of the art. Furthermore, our memristor achieves consistent bipolar and analog switching, and thus exhibits the synapse-like learning behavior such as the spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP), the very first STDP demonstration among all 2D material based vertical memristors. The demonstrated STDP with low switching voltages is promising not only for low power neuromorphic computing, but also from the point of view that the voltage range approaches the biological action potentials, opening up a possibility for direct interfacing with the mammalian neuronal networks.
PDF
