This study aimed to investigate the tick species and give background for tick-borne investigations in Korea. Ticks were collected from the area within 2 km radius of the 4 domestic animal farms, where they were located in mountainous areas and raising animals on pasture, and from animal bodies in 2014 and 2015. In total, 7,973 nymphal and adult ticks were collected from the farms - 7,758 Haemaphysalis longicornis , 198 Haemaphysalis flava , and 17 Ixodes nipponensis , and 1,763 were collected from animals - 729 H. longicornis from cattle; 569 H. longicornis from goats; and 297 H. longicornis , 118 H. flava , 1 I. nipponensis , and 49 Amblyomma testudinarium from wild boars. As more species of ticks were collected from wild boars than domesticated animals and their habitats, various animal hosts should be considered while investigating tick species.

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Our results indicate that 60.96% (89/146) of isolated ventricular septal defects diagnosed during the fetal life are closed naturally. Perimembranous type defect, small defect (<2 mm) and maternal age less than 35 years are the good prognostic factors for the natural closure during fetal life. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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ABA triblock copolymers consisting of different carbazole‐containing blocks and ruthenium complexes were designed with respect to their energy‐transfer behavior. The number of 2‐vinylpyridine (2VP) units in a polymer chain was tailored from 0 to 20 to observe the size effect of the metal complex as a luminophore or as a luminescence quencher. Photoluminescence and optical absorption measurements as well as the intermolecular energy transfer in the block copolymers were studied. Evidence is provided for a fast energy transfer from carbazole to the ruthenium‐coordinated 2VP.

Long-term antibiotic use can have consequences on systemic diseases, such as obesity, allergy, and depression, implicating the causal role of gut microbiome imbalance. However, the evaluation of the effect of antibiotics in early infancy on alterations to the gut microbiome remains poorly understood. This study aimed to evaluate the gut microbiome state in infancy following systemic antibiotic treatment. Twenty infants under 3 months of age who had received antibiotics for at least 3 days were enrolled, and their fecal samples were collected 4 weeks after antibiotic administration finished. Thirty-four age-matched healthy controls without prior exposure to antibiotics were also assessed. The relative bacterial abundance in feces was obtained via sequencing of 16 S rRNA genes, and alpha and beta diversities were evaluated. At the genus level, the relative abundance of Escherichia/Shigella and Bifidobacterium increased (p = 0.03 and p = 0.017, respectively) but that of Bacteroides decreased (p = 0.02) in the antibiotic treatment group. The microbiome of the antibiotic treatment group exhibited an alpha diversity lower than that of the control group. Thus, systemic antibiotic administration in early infancy affects the gut microbiome composition even after a month has passed; long-term studies are needed to further evaluate this.