We find a 1-parameter family of homogeneous structure tensors on contact hypersurfaces in Hermitian symmetric spaces. Among their associated Ambrose-Singer connections, we prove that the Tanaka-Webster connection is the unique pseudo-homothetically invariant connection.

Background: Both type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) are associated with an elevated risk of morbidity and mortality yet with increasing heterogeneity. This study primarily aimed to evaluate the prevalence of MetS among adult patients with T1DM in China and investigate its associated risk factors, and relationship with microvascular complications.
Methods: We included adult patients who had been enrolled in the Guangdong T1DM Translational Medicine Study conducted from June 2010 to June 2015. MetS was defined according to the updated National Cholesterol Education Program criterion. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) for the association between MetS and the risk of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) and diabetic retinopathy (DR).
Results: Among the 569 eligible patients enrolled, the prevalence of MetS was 15.1%. While female gender, longer diabetes duration, higher body mass index, and glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were risk factors associated with MetS (OR, 2.86, 1.04, 1.14, and 1.23, respectively), received nutrition therapy education was a protective factor (OR, 0.46). After adjustment for gender, age, diabetes duration, HbA1c, socioeconomic and lifestyle variables, MetS status was associated with an increased risk of DKD and DR (OR, 2.14 and 3.72, respectively; both P<0.05).
Conclusion: Although the prevalence of MetS in adult patients with T1DM in China was relatively low, patients with MetS were more likely to have DKD and DR. A comprehensive management including lifestyle modification might reduce their risk of microvascular complications in adults with T1DM.

Pt, PtSn 촉매를 제조한 후, 재분산 연구를 위해 수소분위기에서 소결시킨 후 여러 온도에서 산소처리를 적용하여 백금주석입자의 재분산 정도를 확인하고, 프로판 탈수소 반응실험으로 촉매의 활성을 측정하여 촉매의 물리적, 화학적 상태 변화와 활성의 관계를 이해하고자 하였다. 재분산 처리에 따른 촉매 활성 금속의 상태 및 촉매 입자 간 상호작용 등을 보기 위해 X-선 회절분석(XRD), CO-화학흡착(CO-pulse chemisorption), 수소 승온환원(H2-TPR) 분석을 실시하였다. 산소 재분산 처리 조건에 따라 백금의 분산도 및 입자 크기, 촉매의 결정상 및 환원 거동이 달라지는 것을 확인하였다. 촉매를 재분산 처리하였을 시 500℃에서 산소 처리한 촉매가 가장 높은 전환율과 활성회복률을 보였다. 500 ℃로 산소 처리한 촉매가 백금의 분산도도 비교적 높게 나타나고, 평균 입자 크기가 작아지는 것을 XRD와 CO-화학흡착 결과로부터 확인하여 백금주석입자가 재분산되는 것을 알 수 있었다. 이러한 산소처리에 의한 재분산으로 인해 촉매활성이 회복된다는 것을 알 수 있었고, 백금보다 백금주석 촉매의 활성회복률이 더 높았다.

Redispersion of Pt-Sn particles in Pt, PtSn catalyst which have been sintered by high temperature hydrogen reduction was investigated using oxygen treatment with various temperatures. The aim of this study was to understand the relationship between the catalytic activity for propane dehydrogenation reaction and the change in the physicochemical properties of the catalyst. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), CO pulse chemisorption, and H2 temperature programmed reduction (H2-TPR) were performed to investigate the state of active metal and interactions between particles of redispersed catalyst. It was confirmed that the dispersion and particle size of platinum, the crystal phase of the catalyst, and the reduction behavior were changed according to the oxygen treatment. As for the catalytic activity in propane dehydrogeantion, sintered PtSn catalyst treated with oxygen at 500℃ showed best activity and recovery of initial activity. It was confirm that catalyst after oxygen treatment at 500℃ showed high dispersion of Pt and decreased particle size as the results of CO pulse chemisorption and XRD of catalyst, and thus the redispersion of PtSn particles in sintered catalyst was occurred. Catalytic activity was recovered due to redispersion using oxygen treatment, and the activity recovery of the PtSn catalyst was higher than that of Pt catalyst.

본 논문에서는 전기자동차용 배터리 충/방전 상태 추정의 정확도를 개선하기 위해 칼만 필터(Kalman Filter, KF) 알고리즘과 등가회로모델(Equivalent Circuit Model)을 활용한 State Of Charge (SOC) 추정 방법을 적용하였다. 특히 노화된 배터리 용량을 함께 추정 가능한 관측기(observer)를 설계하였다. 우선 노화가 없는 경우, 칼만 필터를 이용하여 SOC를 단일 추정하면, 관측기 없이 모델로 계산된 경우와 비교하여 평균 절대 오차율이 1.43%(관측기 미사용)에서 0.27%(관측기 사용)로 감소하였다. 차량 주행상태에서는 전류가 고정되지 않아 SOC와 배터리 용량을 모두 추정하는 것에 일반적인 KF 혹은 Extended KF 알고리즘을 이용할 수 없다. 배터리 노화에 의한 용량 변화는 단시간에 일어나지는 않다는 점에 착안하여, 충전 시 배터리 용량 추정을 주기적으로 실시하는 전략을 제시하였다. 충전 모드에서는 일정 구간마다 전류가 고정되기에, 해당 상황에서 배터리 노화 용량을 SOC와 함께 추정 전략을 제시하였다. 전류가 고정된 상태에서 SOC 추정의 평균 절대 오차율은 0.54% 였으며, 용량 추정의 평균 절대 오차율은 2.24%로 나타났다. 충전상태에서 전류가 고정됨으로 일반적인 EKF를 활용하여 배터리 용량과 SOC 동시 추정이 가능하도록 하였다. 이를 통하여 배터리 충전 시 주기적인 배터리 용량 보정을 수행할 수 있다. 그리고, 방전 시에는 해당 용량으로 고정한 채 SOC를 추정하는, 배터리 관리 시스템에서 활용 가능한 추정 알고리즘을 제안하였다.

In this paper, an estimation algorithm for state of charge (SOC) was applied using an equivalent circuit model (ECM) and an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to improve the estimation accuracy of the battery system states. In particular, an observer was designed to estimate SOC along with the aged capacity. In the case of the fresh battery, when SOC was estimated by Kalman Filter (KF), the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) was 0.27% which was smaller than MAPE of 1.43% when the SOC was calculated by the model without the observer. In the driving mode of the vehicle, the general KF or EKF algorithm cannot be used to estimate both SOC and capacity. Considering that the battery aging does not occur in a short period of time, a strategy of periodically estimating the battery capacity during charging was proposed. In the charging mode, since the current is fixed at some intervals, a strategy for estimating the capacity along with the SOC in this situation was suggested. When the current was fixed, MAPE of SOC estimation was 0.54%, and the MAPE of capacity estimation was 2.24%. Since the current is fixed when charging, it is feasible to estimate the battery capacity and SOC simultaneously using the general EKF. This method can be used to periodically perform battery capacity correction when charging the battery. When driving, the SOC can be estimated using EKF with the corrected capacity.

Microbial diversity in the soil is responsive to changes in soil composition. However, the impact of soil amendments on the diversity and structure of rare and abundant sub-communities in agricultural systems is poorly understood. We investigated the effects of different Chinese herb residue (CHR) soil amendments and cropping systems on bacterial rare and abundant subcommunities. Our results showed that the bacterial diversity and structure of these subcommunities in soil had a specific distribution under the application of different soil amendments. The CHR soil amendments with high nitrogen and organic matter additives significantly increased the relative abundance and stability of rare taxa, which increased the structural and functional redundancy of soil bacterial communities. Rare and abundant sub-communities also showed different preferences in terms of bacterial community composition, as the former was enriched with Bacteroidetes while the latter had more Alphaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria. All applications of soil amendments significantly improved soil quality of newly created farmlands in whole maize cropping system. Rare sub-communitiy genera Niastella and Ohtaekwangia were enriched during the maize cropping process, and Nitrososphaera was enriched under the application of simple amendment group soil. Thus, Chinese medicine residue soil amendments with appropriate additives could affect soil rare and abundant sub-communities and enhance physicochemical properties. These findings suggest that applying soil composite amendments based on CHR in the field could improve soil microbial diversity, microbial redundancy, and soil fertility for sustainable agriculture on the Loess Plateau.

국화과(Asteraceae) 식물은 현화식물 중 세계에서 가장 넓게 분포하며, 식용 가능한 특산 약용식물로서 대량으로 얻을 수 있다는 장점이 있다. 본 연구는 국화과 식물인 감국(Chrysanthemum indicum L.)과 곰취(Ligularia fischeri (Ledeb.) Turcz.), 사철쑥(Artemisia capillaris Thunb.), 산구절초(Chrysanthemum zawadskii Herbich), 섬쑥부쟁이(Aster glehnii F.Schmidt) 정유 5종의 항천식 효과를 평가하여 가장 활성이 우수한 정유를 선발하고자하였다. 실험에 사용된 정유는 증류법(hydro-distillation)으로 추출하였으며, GC-MS(Trace 1310/ISQ-LT, ThermoScientific, USA)를 이용하여 구성성분을 분석하였다. 정유의 성분분석 결과, α-pinene, sabinene, β-pinene, germacrene-D, τ-muurolol 성분이 5종의 정유에서 모두 공통으로 검출되었다.
NCI-H292 기관지 상피 세포주에 대하여 국화과 정유들의 CCK assay를 통해 세포독성을 조사한 후 5종 정유의 처리 농도를 10-7%로 결정하였다. 국화과 식물 5종 정유의 항천식 효과는 1 ug/mL LPS로 염증반응이 유도된 NCI-H292에 정유를 처리한 후 겔 형성 점액 유전자(MUC4, MUC5AC, MUC5B) 및 전염증성 사이토카인(IL-6, IL-8)의 발현변화를 조사하였다. 사이토카인의 발현변화를 분석한 결과, 국화과 식물 정유 5종 모두 IL-6 및 IL-8의 발현을 효과적으로 억제하였으며, 사철쑥과 산구절초 정유의 활성이 우수하였다. 또한 곰취, 사철쑥, 섬쑥부쟁이 정유는 결합형 점액 유전자인 MUC4와 분비형 점액 유전자인 MUC5B의 발현을 유의적으로 감소시켰으며, 분비형 점액 유전자인 MUC5AC의 발현은 사철쑥 정유 처리 시 효과적으로 감소하였다. 이러한 결과로 볼 때 국화과 식물 정유 5종 중 사철쑥 정유의 항천식 효과가 가장 우수한 것으로 판단되며, 주요성분인 α-farnesene(32.87%), caryophyllene(19.14%), β-pinene(7.82%), β-himachalene(6.58%)이 항천식 활성물질로 사료된다.

국내 유통 활엽수 펄프를 이용한 셀룰로오스 나노섬유의 경제적 양산을 위해 물리·화학적 처리된 나노섬유를 제조하고 형태학적 특성 및 입도 평가를 통해 전처리 조건에 따른 나노섬유의 특성을 분석하였다. 셀룰로오스 나노섬유 제조를 위한 화학적 전처리로 20% 수산화나트륨을 사용하였으며 전처리된 펄프를 디스크 간격 -200 μm, 그라인딩은 90회 반복처리하여 나노화 하였다. 그라인더를 이용한 나노섬유 제조 시 마이크론 및 나노 크기의 셀룰로오스 입자가 혼재되어 있었으며 SEM 분석을 통한 입도 평가 결과, 처리 횟수가 증가함에 따라 마이크로섬유의 크기가 크게 감소되고 나노섬유 발생 비율이 증가되는 것을 확인하였다. 카르복실기(-COOH)의 도입이 셀룰로오스 나노섬유의 입도에 미치는 영향을 평가하기 위하여 TEMPO 산화 전처리를 수행하였으며, 표면 치환도 분석 결과 최적 산화 시간은 2시간으로 나타났다. TEMPO 산화만으로 나노섬유의 발생이 증가하였으며, 산화된 펄프를 고압균질기로 처리시 그라인더로 제조된 나노섬유보다 마이크로섬유가 크게 감소하고 나노섬유의 균일도가 상승하는 것을 확인하였다.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify effects of the thoracic spine mobility exercise in patients with subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS).
Methods: Twenty patients diagnosed with SIS were selected and randomized into the combination exercise (CE) group (n=10) and shoulder exercise (SE) group (n=10). Both groups performed the same SE program for 12 weeks, and CE group performed the thoracic spine mobility exercises additionally. Before and after the exercises, visual analogue scale (VAS), shoulder range of motion (ROM), thoracic spine mobility, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Shoulder Score (ASES) and Constant score, isokinetic strength, and scapula position were assessed.
Results: After 12 weeks of exercise intervention, there were significant improvements in VAS, thoracic spine mobility, ASES, isokinetic shoulder external rotation, and abduction strength in the CE group (p< 0.05). However, there were no significant interaction effects between the groups in shoulder ROM, Constant score, isokinetic shoulder internal rotation, and adduction strength. With scapular position, the internal rotation, anterior tilting, and protraction angles were significantly decreased after thoracic spine mobility exercise in the CE group (p< 0.05).
Conclusion: The symptoms and scapular positions of patients with SIS showed more improvement when the thoracic spine mobility exercises were performed in combination with shoulder exercises compared to shoulder exercises only.

Purpose: The quadriceps muscle has a positive effect on anterior knee pain. However, its effect on the patellofemoral (PF) cartilage in patients with end-stage knee osteoarthritis is unknown. The present study aimed to evaluate whether the quadriceps muscle area had a positive effect on the PF cartilage and whether this muscle had a positive effect on the clinical scores.
Materials and methods: Patients with confirmed cartilage status and clinical scores who underwent total knee arthroplasty (TKA) were included. The PF cartilage status was evaluated during TKA. The thickness and the area of the quadriceps muscle were measured using a knee computed tomography scan obtained before the surgery. The Q-angle, hip-knee-ankle angle, alignment, and Insall-Salvati ratio were measured by radiography.
Results: Altogether, 204 patients were included in the study. Logistic regression was performed including factors associated with PF cartilage lesions. The regression model was found to be statistically significant (Hosmer-Lemeshow test, χ2 = 0.493). A smaller hip-knee-ankle (HKA) angle was associated with a higher incidence of PF cartilage lesions (p = 0.033) and only the alignment had an effect on the PF cartilage lesions. PF cartilage lesions did not correlate with the clinical scores. A thicker medial portion of the quadriceps muscle was associated with a significantly higher Knee Society Knee Score (KSKS) (p = 0.028).
Conclusions: Quadriceps muscle thickness and area, Q-angle, and patellar height were not associated with PF cartilage lesions, while a smaller HKA angle was associated with PF cartilage lesions. The presence of PF cartilage lesions did not affect the clinical symptoms. However, a thicker medial portion of the quadriceps muscle was associated with a higher KSKS.