A study on the birth and globalization of sports originated from each continent.

The purpose of this research is to see how continent specific sports rose to its modern-day status through globalization. This research focuses on the historical background of how England's football, America's national pastime, baseball, Japan's Judo, and Korea's Taekwondo developed into sports in addition to the reasoning behind its globalization. Promoted by England and the rest of the European continent, Soccer is considered to be one of the world's most popular sports and has served its function as a form of cultural imperialism. It has also advanced alongside commerce, missionary work and other types of cultural clashes. In America, baseball was used to integrate its multicultural society and developed so that the team captain leads the rest of his team. The sports of Oriental countries were reborn through modernization that was influenced by the modern rationality, education etc. of its Western counterparts. Judo and Taekwondo were introduced globally through the Olympic Games. As mentioned above the birth of sporting events has a close connection to a nation's cultural background and globalization has taken different forms depending on which continent it originated from.

Microfluidic static droplet array for analyzing microbial communication on a population gradient.

Quorum sensing (QS) is a type of cell-cell communication using signal molecules that are released and detected by cells, which respond to changes in their population density. A few studies explain that QS may operate in a density-dependent manner; however, due to experimental challenges, this fundamental hypothesis has never been investigated. Here, we present a microfluidic static droplet array (SDA) that combines a droplet generator with hydrodynamic traps to independently generate a bacterial population gradient into a parallel series of droplets under complete chemical and physical isolation. The SDA independently manipulates both a chemical concentration gradient and a bacterial population density. In addition, the bacterial population gradient in the SDA can be tuned by a simple change in the number of sample plug loading. Finally, the method allows the direct analysis of complicated biological events in an addressable droplet to enable the characterization of bacterial communication in response to the ratio of two microbial populations, including two genetically engineered QS circuits, such as the signal sender for acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) production and the signal receiver bacteria for green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression induced by AHL. For the first time, we found that the population ratio of the signal sender and receiver indicates a significant and potentially interesting partnership between microbial communities. Therefore, we envision that this simple SDA could be a useful platform in various research fields, including analytical chemistry, combinatorial chemistry, synthetic biology, microbiology, and molecular biology.

Prediction of resistance to standard intravenous immunoglobulin therapy in kawasaki disease.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Ten to twenty percent of children with Kawasaki disease (KD) do not respond to initial intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment. If untreated, approximately 15% to 25% of KD patients have complications. The aim of this study was to find useful predictors of responsiveness to initial IVIG treatment in KD. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 91 children diagnosed with KD at Myong Ji Hospital from March 2012 to April 2014. Before and after (24 hours to 36 hours) IVIG treatment, the following laboratory data were obtained: hemoglobin (Hb) level, white blood cell count, proportion of neutrophil, lymphocyte and eosinophil, platelet count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ERS), C-reactive protein (CRP), creatine kinase (CK), creatine kinase MB (CK-MB), and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP). Subjects were then divided into two groups: IVIG-responsive or IVIG-resistant. RESULTS: Of 91 patients, 11 (12%) required retreatment. By univariate analysis, before-IVIG laboratory parameters of white blood cell count, % neutrophil, ERS, CRP, sodium, CK, CK-MB, and NT-proBNP were significantly different between IVIG-responsive and IVIG-resistant patient groups. In the after-IVIG laboratory parameters, Hb level, white blood cell count, % neutrophil, % lymphocyte, CRP, CK, CK-MB, and NT-pro-BNP were significantly different between the two groups. While the mean-differences were not statistically significant, fractional change (FC)-CRP and FC-% neutrophil showed significant difference. By multivariate analysis, FC-CRP was confirmed to be an independent predictor for initial IVIG resistance. CONCLUSION: Fractional change-C-reactive protein might be a useful and important value for predicting initial IVIG resistance in KD patients.

Effects of alcohol-partitioning type and airflow on cosolvent flooding to benzene-LNAPL saturated porous media.

This study fundamentally investigated the swelling and distribution of benzene-light nonaqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) in porous media while cosolvent was flushed to the benzene-partially saturated system. Furthermore, the effects of simultaneous injection of cosolvent and air on the LNAPL behavior were visualized and thus quantified within a two-dimensional transparent porous medium. Partitioning types of alcohols affected dissolution of benzene entrapped in porous media. Tert-butanol (TBA) and 1-propanol floods apparently increased the LNAPL area, while a 70% ethanol flood reduced the LNAPL area by dissolution. Airflow facilitates mobilization of the swollen LNAPL by TBA and 1-propanol, while it facilitates dissolution of non-swollen LNAPL by ethanol. Therefore, LNAPL behavior during cosolvent flooding would be determined by partitioning type of alcohols and the presence of airflow.