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In this paper, we propose a robust pose tracking method for mobile robot localization with an incomplete map in a highly non-static environment. This algorithm will work with a simple map that does not include complete information about the non-static environment. With only an initial incomplete map, a mobile robot cannot estimate its pose because of the inconsistency between the real observations from the environment and the predicted observations on the incomplete map. The proposed localization algorithm uses the approach of sampling from a non-corrupted window, which allows the mobile robot to estimate its pose more robustly in a non-static environment even when subjected to severe corruption of observations. The algorithm sequence involves identifying the corruption by comparing the real observations with the corresponding predicted observations of all particles, sampling particles from a non-corrupted window that consists of multiple non-corrupted sets, and filtering sensor measurements to provide weights to particles in the corrupted sets. After localization, the estimated path may still contain some errors due to long-term corruption. These errors can be corrected using nonlinear constrained least-squares optimization. The incomplete map is then updated using both the corrected path and the stored sensor information. The performance of the proposed algorithm was verified via simulations and experiments in various highly non-static environments. Our localization algorithm can increase the success rate of tracking its pose to more than 95% compared to estimates made without its use. After that, the initial incomplete map is updated based on the localization result.

Objectives: We conducted this study to identify factors influencing the burdens cancer brings to a patient’s family and to evaluate the association between the burdens and the caregiver’s quality of life (QOL). Methods: Participants were drawn from the primary family caregivers of cancer patients at 6 university hospitals and the National Cancer Center in Korea. Of the 738 eligible caregivers, 704 (95.4%) completed the questionnaire packets (Family Impact Questions and Caregiver’s QOL-Cancer). Results: Caregivers, who were poor (OR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.44–3.10), whose health status was poor (OR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.29–2.70), who were married (OR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.12–2.72), who provided care for a long time (OR, 2.29; 95% CI, 1.59–3.28), who cared for patients with poor performance status (OR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.00–1.82), and who paid high medical expenses (OR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.21–2.40), were more likely to lose their family savings. In multiple regression analysis, most burden variables – including requiring caregiving assistance, major life change, inability to function normally, loss of savings, loss of income, and altered educational plans – were associated with caregiver QOL. Loss of family income, which was related to economic issues, was most strongly associated with it (16.0%). Conclusions: Our study suggests that to improve caregiver QOL, we should give priority to decreasing the economic burden that cancer places on patient’s family.

AimsIn South Korea, to care for patients with dementia, a new dementia-specific nursing institution has been established that, unlike general nursing institutions, uses shared living rooms and provides customized programs for dementia. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of dementia-specific nursing institutions. For this purpose, whether psychotropic drugs (antipsychotics, antidepressants, sedatives, mood stabilizers) used to treat behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are prescribed, and the mortality and morbidity rates mentioned as side effects of psychotropic drugs (cerebrovascular disease, fall-related fractures, pneumonia, pressure ulcers) varied depending on the use of a dementia-specific nursing institution.MethodsUsing the National Health Insurance Service's customized and Long-Term Care Insurance databases for older people, we collected data over the four years since the introduction of dementia-specific nursing institutions. Among patients with dementia aged 65 years or older, those who used dementia-specific nursing institutions and those who used general nursing institutions were matched for gender, age, history of cerebrovascular disease, disability, comorbidities, and history of taking psychotropic drugs. Thus, 835 users of dementia-specific nursing institutions and 2,505 users of general nursing institutions were analyzed. During the study period, the subjects' use of psychotropic drugs, mortality, and morbidity (cerebrovascular disease, fall-related fractures, pneumonia, and pressure ulcers) were determined. After controlling for variables such as Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scores, the effect of using a dementia-specific nursing institution on mortality and morbidity was analyzed using a logistic regression model.ResultsUsers of dementia-specific nursing institutions were more likely to be prescribed antipsychotics, antidepressants, and sedatives during the study period compared with users of general nursing institutions. Also, users of dementia-specific nursing institutions had a lower mortality rate and lower morbidity rates of pneumonia and pressure ulcers than users of general nursing institutions.ConclusionUsers of dementia-specific nursing institutions had significantly lower mortality rates and morbidity rates of pneumonia and pressure ulcers. This is attributed to dementia-specific nursing institutions encouraging social interaction and physical activity by providing shared living rooms and specialized programs catered towards patients with dementia. However, since the influence of other confounding variables cannot be ruled out, more precisely designed research is needed in the future.

Selenium uptake from food (assimilation efficiency) and dissolved phase (influx rate) as well as loss kinetics (efflux rate) were compared between two bivalves, Corbicula fluminea and Potamocorbula amurensis. The effects of salinity and temperature on these kinetic parameters for both clam species also were evaluated. The Asiatic clam, C. fluminea, more efficiently assimilated Se associated with algae (66–87%) than Se associated with oxic sediments (20–37%). However, no consistent difference was found between Se assimilation efficiencies from both food types (19–60%) for P. amurensis. The temperature and salinity had a minor influence on the Se assimilation from ingested food. However, the effects of temperature and salinity were more evident in the uptake from dissolved sources. The influx rate of Se(IV) increased by threefold with the increase of temperature from 5 to 21°C for C. fluminea. The increase of salinity from 4 to 20 psu decreased the uptake rate constant (ku) of Se in P. amurensis from 0.011 to 0.005 L/g/h, whereas salinity change (0–8 psu) had a negligible effect on the Se influx rate of C. fluminea. The Se influx rate of P. amurensis decreased by half with the 3.5‐fold increase in tissue dry weight. The rate constant of loss was greater for P. amurensis (0.029/d at 8 psu) than for C. fluminea (0.014/d at 0 psu and 0.01/d at 8 psu). A bioenergetic model suggests that dietary uptake is the dominant pathway for Se bioaccumulation in the two clams in San Francisco Bay and that interspecies differences in Se bioaccumulation can be explained by differences in food ingestion rates.

Oysters are a major commercial and ecological fishery resource. Recently, the oyster industry has experienced mass mortality in summer due to environmental factors. Generally, the survival of oysters in aquatic environments is mainly impacted by environmental stressors such as elevated sea temperatures and reduced salinity; however, the stressors impacting tidal flat oysters that are repeatedly exposed to air remain poorly understood. Hence, we studied the relationship between environmental factors and the survival of tidal flat pacific oysters in Incheon, South Korea, where mass mortality is common. Principal component analysis and Bayesian networks revealed that air temperature (in spring and summer) and sea temperature (in summer) are related to oyster production. In habitats of the tidal flat oysters during the summer, high temperatures of 34.7–35.4°C (maximum 47.6°C) were observed for average durations of 0.8–1.9 hours (maximum 3.6 hours). Furthermore, heat waves occurred for up to 12 consecutive days. Results from the multiple stress test showed that when exposed to 45°C (air temperature) for 4 hours per day, the survival rate of oysters was 42.5% after only 2 days and 0% after 6 days. The findings stemming from the field observations and stress tests suggest that high temperatures during emersion may contribute to mass mortality of oysters in summer, indicating a potential threat to oysters due to climate change. To understand the effects of future thermal stress on oysters more accurately, simultaneous long-term trend analyses and field-based observations are required.

Artemisia argyi is widely used as traditional medicine in East Asia. However, its effects against inflammation and gastric ulcers have not been reported yet. We analyzed anti-inflammatory activity and its molecular mechanisms of A. argyi using RAW264.7 cells line, then evaluated the curative efficacy in rats with acute gastric ulcers. Nitric oxide and IL-6 production was measured using Griess reagent and an ELISA kit. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), interleukin (IL)-6, and mucin (MUC)1, MUC5AC, and MUC6 mRNA were determined by SYBR Green or Taqman qRT-PCR methods. The phosphorylation of ERK, JNK, p38, and c-Jun protein were detected by western blotting. RW0117 inhibited LPS-induced NO and IL-6 production. The mRNA levels of iNOS and IL-6 were strongly suppressed. The phosphorylation of ERK, JNK, and c-Jun decreased by treatment with RW0117. Oral administration of RW0117 recovered the amount of mucin mRNA and protein level that was decreased due to gastric ulcers by HCl-EtOH. A. argyi exhibited strong anti-inflammatory effects and contributed to the modulation of HCl-EtOH-induced gastric ulcer in rats.

Retrospective study. To evaluate the radiological and clinical results of three different methods in the deformity correction of a degenerative flat back. There are no comparative studies about different procedures in the treatment of degenerative flat back. Sixty-four patients who consecutively underwent corrective surgery for degenerative flat back were reviewed. The operations were performed by three different methods: posterior-only (group P, n=20), one-stage anterior-posterior (group AP, n=12), and two-stage anterior-posterior with iliac screw fixation (group AP-I, n=32). Medical and surgical complications were examined and radiological and clinical results were compared. The majority of medical and surgical complications were found in group AP (5/12) and group P (7/20). The sagittal vertical axes were within normal range immediately postoperatively in all groups, but only group AP-I showed normal sagittal alignment at the final follow-up. Postoperative lumbar lordosis was also significantly higher in group AP-I than in group P or group AP and the finding did not change through the last follow-up. The Oswestry disability index was significantly lower in groups AP and AP-I than in group P at the final follow-up. Meanwhile, the operating time was the longest in group AP-I, and total amount of blood loss was larger in group AP-I and group AP than in group P. Anterior-posterior correction showed better clinical results than posterior-only correction. Two-staged anterior-posterior correction with iliac screw fixation showed better radiological results than posterior-only or one-staged anterior-posterior correction. Two-staged anterior-posterior correction with iliac screw fixation also showed a lower complication rate than one-staged anterior-posterior correction.

Limited studies have been conducted on polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) in the coastal environment worldwide. In this study, analytical methods were optimized for 18 PCN congeners in sediment using a multi-layer silica gel column and a gas chromatograph coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). The optimized analytical methods of PCNs were employed for sediment samples from heavily industrialized bays of Korea to assess the occurrence, contamination, potential sources, and ecotoxicological concerns. PCNs were detected in all sediment samples, indicating ubiquitous contamination in industrialized coastal regions of Korea. Total concentrations and toxic equivalents (TEQs) of PCNs ranged from 0.99 to 21,500 (mean: 568) pg/g dry weight and from 1.72 × 10 –5 to 18.8 (mean: 0.52) pg TEQ/g dry weight, respectively, which were within the ranges reported by other studies. A clear decreasing gradient was observed for the sedimentary PCNs from inner to outer parts of the bays, streams, and rivers. This result indicates that industrial activities are primary sources of PCNs. The highest PCN concentrations were observed in sediment close to non-ferrous and petrochemical industries, indicating potential sources. CNs 73 and 52 were predominant congeners of PCNs in all sediment samples. Diagnostic ratios and non-parametric multidimensional scaling analysis showed that the potential primary sources of PCNs are thermal-related emissions and the use of PCB technical mixtures. Although a few sediment samples exceeded the sediment quality guidelines of TEQs, the cumulative risks by dioxin-like contaminants may be caused for almost all coastal zones surveyed. This is the first report on PCNs in sediment from Korean coastal waters.

Aberrant emotional salience attribution has been reported to be an important clinical feature in patients with schizophrenia. Real life stimuli that incorporate both positive and negative emotional traits lead to affective asymmetry such as negativity bias and positivity offset. In this study, we investigated the neural correlates of emotional salience attribution in patients with schizophrenia when affective asymmetry was processed. Fifteen patients with schizophrenia and 14 healthy controls were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing an emotion judgment task in which two pictures were juxtaposed. The task consisted of responding to affective asymmetry condition (ambivalent and neutral) and affective symmetry conditions (positive and negative), and group comparisons were performed for each condition. Significantly higher activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus was observed for the ambivalent condition than for the other conditions in controls, but not in patients. Compared with controls, patients showed decreased activities in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, insula, and putamen for the ambivalent condition, but no changes were observed for the neutral condition. Multiple prefrontal hypoactivities during salience attribution of negativity bias in schizophrenia may underlie deficits in the integrative processing of emotional information. Regional abnormalities in the salience network may be the basis of defective emotional salience attribution in schizophrenia, which is likely involved in symptom formation and social dysfunction.

It has been reported that reality evaluation and recognition are impaired in patients with schizophrenia and these impairments are related to the severity of psychotic symptoms. The current study aimed to investigate the neural basis of impairments in reality evaluation and recognition and their relationships with cognitive insight in schizophrenia. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, 20 patients with schizophrenia and 20 healthy controls performed a set of reality evaluation and recognition tasks, in which subjects judged whether scenes in a series of drawings were real or unreal and whether they were familiar or novel. During reality evaluation, patients showed decreased activity in various regions including the inferior parietal lobule, retrosplenial cortex and parahippocampal gyrus, compared with controls. Particularly, parahippocampal gyrus activity was correlated with the severity of positive symptoms in patients. During recognition, patients also exhibited decreased activity in various regions, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, inferior parietal lobule and posterior cingulate cortex. Particularly, inferior parietal lobule activity and posterior cingulate cortex activity were correlated with cognitive insight in patients. These findings provide evidence that neural impairments in reality evaluation and recognition are related to psychotic symptoms. Anomalous appraisal of context by dysfunctions in the context network may contribute to impairments in the reality processing in schizophrenia, and abnormal declarative memory processes may be involved in cognitive insight in patients with schizophrenia.