Non-protein amino acid, β-amino-n-butyric acid (BABA), has been involved in diverse physiological processes including seedling growth, stress tolerance and disease resistance of many plant species. In the current study, treatment of kimchi cabbage seedlings with BABA significantly reduced primary root elongation and cotyledon development in a dose-dependent manner, which adverse effects were similar to the plant response to exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) application. BABA was synergistically contributing ABA-induced growth arrest during the early seedling development. Kimchi cabbage leaves were highly damaged and seedling growth was delayed by foliar spraying with high concentrations of BABA (10 to 20 mM). BABA played roles differentially in in vitro fungal conidial germination, mycelial growth and conidation of necrotroph Alternaria brassicicola causing black spot disease and hemibiotroph Colletotrichum higginsianum causing anthracnose. Pretreatment with BABA conferred induced resistance of the kimchi cabbage against challenges by the two different classes of fungal pathogens in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that BABA is involved in plant development, fungal development as well as induced fungal disease resistance of kimchi cabbage plant.

Background and objective: This study was carried out to assess the relationship between the internal and external environments and the ecological items in five sites with a high level of artificial use intensity prior to the establishment of Geumgang River riparian ecological belts. Methods: The sites were classified into forest type, cultivated land type and urbanized type in accordance with their respective locational types. Ecological items including plant ecology such as proportion, naturalization index and urbanization index of native species were analyzed and animal ecology such as the number of species and population of wild birds, amphibians and reptiles, mammals, and butterflies and dragonflies, which are indicator insects, were investigated. In addition, species diversity indices of wild birds, butterflies and dragonflies found in all the subject lands were computed. Results: Among the plant ecological items, the ratio of native species in the forest type was higher than 90%, which was a satisfactory level, while the naturalization and urbanization indices were less than 10%. The number of species in the animal ecological characteristics was reduced in the order of forest type, cultivated land type and urbanized type. As the results of correlation analysis, the internal area of the planted area showed a negative correlation with the total of individuals. The area of grasslands showed a positive correlation with the number of dragonfly species and the total number of individuals, thereby illustrating that wet grasslands have positive effects. The area of surrounding forests, as an external environment, had a negative correlation with the urbanization index (UI) but a positive correlation with the inhabitation of butterflies and the total number of species. Conclusion: The results confirmed the need for more diversified special compositions including planted land, grassland, wetland, bodies of water and waterways within the subject land in the wetland ecological belt along with the need for surrounding forest location and preservation from the perspective of purchase and restoration of land for enhancement of wider biodiversity in the future.

No abstract

This study is to examine the relation between Korean fermented food and discoloration on teeth, which have undergone profession tooth whitening. The color change of natural tooth, which has undergone professional tooth whitening, is objectively measured by dental colorimeter after being immersed in Korean fermented food for certain period. The tooth specimens used in this study are 30 pieces and measured 30 times per one tooth, 900 times totally by dental colorimeter ShadeEye NCC Ⓡ Dental Chroma Meter. As a result of analyzing the collected data by using PASW(statistical package) 18.0, the significant difference is found (p<0.001) in lightness and yellowness before and after of professional tooth whitening. The lightness and yellowness after immersion is changed (p<0.001) according to time. As a result of examining the degree of discoloration based on type of fluids, the similar difference is indicated (p=0.001, p<0.001 1,2 and 3 weeks after getting professional tooth whitening. As a result, Korean traditional fermented food influences on discoloration on bleached tooth depended on the duration of immersion and the type of fluids. However, this study failed to represent internal oral condition accurately therefore the results of this study could be altered by the internal oral condition, frequency of consumption of food, and the management oral hygiene.

eople often do not receive the kind of care they want at the end of their lives. 1,2 Although most people say they do not wish to have aggressive interventions if they are dying, 3-5 nearly one in five dies in the hospital and one in seven dies in the intensive care unit (ICU), where aggressive care is usually provided. 6 Coming demographic shifts will put this phenomenon in relief. The US Census Bureau estimates the number of people over age 85 will balloon to 20 million by 2050. 7 A proposed strategy for reducing this mismatch is to expand shared decision making for people facing life-sustaining treatment decisions. 8-10 Patient decision aids are tools that help people make informed healthcare decisions in light of their values and preferences, facilitating shared decision making. 8,11 Decision aids can take many forms: paper-based, audio/video-based, or online. They can be intended for the clinical encounter (used in partnership with a physician, nurse, or other clinician), independent patient use, or peer-to-peer use. 8 In a 2017 review, Stacey and colleagues found that patient decision aids improve knowledge, clarify values, encourage more active decision making, and improve risk perception, across a variety of treatment and screening decisions. 12 They also concluded that decision aids might help people make decisions that are more aligned with their values, without affecting health outcomes negatively. 12 The number of available patient decision aids for people making life-sustaining treatment choices during serious illness near death is currently unknown. A 2014 review of all advanced care planning decision aids, including those for people who are healthy and people who are seriously ill, found 16 published studies in the peer-reviewed literature that tested patient decision aids for advanced care planning, but they did not systematically search the Internet and query key informants. 13 Given the frequency of serious illness and death in hospital settings, awareness of potentially useful tools, their quality, and their use may be of interest to practicing hospitalists. This awareness may inform their decision making around whether or not to use decision aids in their own practice. METHODS Study Aims and Design With our systematic environmental scan, we aimed to identify all decision aids available to seriously ill people near death facing choices about life-sustaining treatments, developed by both