No abstract

The availability of inexpensive, on demand synthetic DNA has enabled numerous powerful applications in biotechnology, in turn driving considerable present interest in the de novo synthesis of increasingly longer DNA constructs. The synthesis of DNA from oligonucleotides into products even as large as small viral genomes has been accomplished. Despite such achievements, the costs and time required to generate such long constructs has, to date, precluded gene-length (and longer) DNA synthesis from being an everyday research tool in the same manner as PCR and DNA sequencing. A critical barrier to low-cost, high-throughput de novo DNA synthesis is the frequency at which errors pervade the final product. Here, we employ a DNA mismatch-binding protein, MutS (from Thermus aquaticus) to remove failure products from synthetic genes. This method reduced errors by >15-fold relative to conventional gene synthesis techniques, yielding DNA with one error per 10 000 base pairs. The approach is general, scalable and can be iterated multiple times for greater fidelity. Reductions in both costs and time required are demonstrated for the synthesis of a 2.5 kb gene.

BackgroundTreatment effectiveness holds considerable importance in the association between service quality and satisfaction in medical service studies. While complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use grows more prominent, comprehensive evaluations of the quality of medical service at CAM-oriented hospitals are scarce. This study assesses the quality of medical services provided at a CAM-oriented hospital of Korean medicine using the service encounter system approach and analyzes the influence of treatment effectiveness on patient loyalty.MethodsA survey study using one-on-one interviews was conducted using a cross-sectional design in outpatients visiting one of fifteen Korean medicine facilities located throughout Korea. A total of 880 surveys were completed from June to July, 2014, and 728 surveys were included in the final analysis after excluding incomplete or incorrect questionnaires. The reliability and validity of the surveys was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and confirmatory factor analysis, and a structural equation modeling analysis was performed to verify causality and association between factors (quality of medical service, treatment effectiveness, patient satisfaction, and intent to revisit).ResultsThe measured factors of physician performance and quality of service procedures had a positive effect on treatment effectiveness. The impression of the facilities and environment directly impacted satisfaction rates for interpersonal-based medical service encounters, while treatment effectiveness positively affected satisfaction regarding quality of medical service. However, treatment effectiveness had a more significant effect on satisfaction compared to facilities and environment, and it indirectly affected satisfaction and directly influenced intent to revisit. Treatment effectiveness and satisfaction both positively influenced intent to revisit.ConclusionsThe importance of treatment effectiveness should be recognized when examining quality of medical services, and we hope that these findings may contribute to future studies.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12906-017-1691-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundSleep duration holds considerable importance as an indicator of mental/physical health. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between sleep duration, mental health, and chronic disease prevalence in Koreans.MethodsOf 31,596 subjects eligible for the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V (2010–2012), 17,638 participants who answered items on sleep duration (aged ≥19 yrs) were analyzed in a cross-sectional study. Association between sleep duration, mental health, and chronic disease prevalence was assessed using logistic regression, and adjusted for various socioeconomic and lifestyle characteristics.ResultsShort or long sleep duration showed correlations with mental health, and items of significance showed gender-specific patterns. Women displayed significant associations with stress and depressive symptoms, and men with stress, thoughts of suicide, and psychiatric counseling. While stress was related with short sleep duration in both genders, depressive symptoms showed a relationship with long duration in men, and short duration in women. Prevalence of any chronic disease was associated with ≤6 h sleep when adjusted for factors including mental health, and among chronic diseases, cancer and osteoarthritis showed associations with short sleep duration, while diabetes and dyslipidemia were associated with normal sleep duration.ConclusionsMental health problems were associated with sleep duration with gender-specific patterns. Associations with osteoarthritis, cancer, diabetes, dyslipidemia and abnormal sleep duration persisted after adjustment for mental health.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2542-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.