• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.423-434
• /
• 2009

The Arctic environment is sensitive to change of sea-ice distribution. The increase and decrease of sea ice work to an index of globe warming progress. In order to predict the progress of hereafter earth global warming, continuous monitoring regarding a change of the sea ice area in the Arctic should be performed. The remote sensing based on an artificial satellite is most effective on the North Pole. The sea ice observation using a passive microwave sensor has been continued from 1970's. The determination of sea ice extent and ice type is one of the great successes of the passive microwave imagers. In this paper, to investigate the seasonal and inter-annual variation of sea-ice distribution we used here the sea ice data from July 2002 to May 2009 around the Arctic within $60^{\circ}N$ for the AMSR-E 12.5km sea-ice concentration, a passive microwave sensor. From an early analysis of these data, the arctic sea-ice extent has been steadily decreasing at a rate of about 3.1%, accounting for about $2{\times}10^5\;km^2$, which was calculated for the sea-ice cover reaching its minimum extent at the end of each summer. It is also revealed that this trend corresponds to a decline in the multi-year ice that is affected mainly by summer sea surface and air temperature increases. The extent of younger and thinner (first-year) ice decreased to the 2007 minimum, but rapidly recovered in 2008 and 2009 due to the dramatic loss in 2007. Seasonal variations of the sea-ice extent show significant year-to-year variation in the seasons of January-March in the Barents and Labrador seas and August-October in the region from the East Siberian and Chukchi seas to the North Pole. The spatial distribution of multi-year ice (7-year old) indicates that the perennial ice fraction has rapidly shrunk recently out of the East Siberian, Laptev, and Kara seas to the high region of the Arctic within the last seven years and the Northeast Passage could become open year-round in near future.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.62-67
• /
• 2018

Hunter syndrome, also known as mucopolysaccharidosis Type II (MPS II), is one of the lysosomal storage diseases caused by a lack of the enzyme iduronate 2-sulfatase (I2S). Lack of the I2S enzyme activity leads to accumulation of the glycosaminoglycans (GAG), causing dysfunction of multiple organs and systems. MPS II is an X-linked recessive disease due to mutation of IDS gene located on long arm of the X chromosome (Xq28). To date, more than 350 mutations of IDS gene have been identified in Hunter syndrome. Phenotypes of MPS II are classified as either severe or attenuated depending on the degree of cognitive impairment. Because the phenotype of MPS II is related to the type of mutation, identifying mutations is useful in predicting prognosis. We recently had a case of MPS II diagnosed by exome sequencing in a 7 month old boy with infantile spasm uncontrolled by AED. He was diagnosed with hearing loss at 2 months of age, and he took vigabatrin and prednisolone to control infantile spasms diagnosed at 3 months of age. At 6 months of age, whole exome sequencing was performed to evaluate the infantile spasm and hearing loss in this patient, and the mutation c.851C>T (p.Pro284Leu) inherited from hemizygous mother was revealed. The results of urine Cetylpyridinium Chloride (CPC) precipitation test, which were negative until 8 months of age, were positive from 9 months of age. We report a case of MPS II diagnosed by exome sequencing and treated through enzyme replacement therapy from 9 months after birth.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.49 no.1
• /
• pp.111-119
• /
• 2021

A bacterial strain isolated from a Malva verticillata leaf was identified as Bacillus velezensis MV2 based on the 16S rRNA sequencing results. Complete genome sequencing revealed that B. velezensis MV2 possessed a single 4,191,702-bp contig with 45.57% GC content. Generally, Bacillus spp. are known to produce diverse antimicrobial compounds including bacteriocins, polyketides, and non-ribosomal peptides. Antimicrobial compounds in the B. velezensis MV2 were extracted from culture supernatants using hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The crude extracts showed antimicrobial activity against both gram-positive bacteria and gram-negative bacteria; however, they were more effective against gram-positive bacteria. The extracts also showed antifungal activity against phytopathogenic fungi such as Fusarium fujikuroi and F. graminearum. In time-kill assays, these antimicrobial compounds showed bactericidal activity against Bacillus cereus, used as indicator strain. To predict the type of antimicrobial compounds produced by this strain, we used the antiSMASH algorithm. Forty-seven secondary metabolites were predicted to be synthesized in MV2, and among them, fourteen were identified with a similarity of 80% or more with those previously identified. Based on the antimicrobial properties, the antimicrobial compounds may be nonribosomal peptides or polyketides. These compounds possess the potential to be used as biopesticides in the food and agricultural industry as an alternative to antibiotics.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
• /
• v.26 no.1 s.70
• /
• pp.13-23
• /
• 1987

This study was conducted to know the effects of temperature conditions on the growth and oviposition of the brown planthopper(BPH), Nilaparvata lugens $St{\aa}l$. Results obtained were to predict the timing of the BPH control by measuring population dynamics of the BPH in response to temperature fluctuations upon migration of the insects in paddy fields. Developmental and ovipositional rates under constant and alternating temperature conditions were observed in a plant growth cabinet. Hatchabilities of eggs of the BPH were the highest at $25^{\circ}C$ and were decreased below or above the optimum temperature. Egg periods were the shortest at $27.5^{\circ}C$ and prolonged with decreasing temperature, but retarded at higher temperature above $30^{\circ}C$. Adult emergence rates were the highest at $27.5^{\circ}C$ and reduced with decreasing temperature, and no adult emerged at $32.5^{\circ}C$ and $35^{\circ}C$. Developmental period of nymph was the shortest at both $27.5^{\circ}C$ and $30^{\circ}C$, but extended with decreasing temperature. Female longevity was increased with decreasing temperature and the male longevity was the shortest at $27.5^{\circ}C$. Preoviposition period was the shortest at $32.5^{\circ}C$, but prolonged with decreasing temperature. It was about 6.5 times longer at $17.5^{\circ}C$ than that at $32.5^{\circ}C$. Number of eggs oviposited per female was the greatest at $25^{\circ}C$, but decreased at the temperature below or above the optimum. Under the same total effective day-degrees, hatchabilty at the alternating temperature was about 10% higher than that at the constant temperature but egg period at the alternating temperature was nearly identical as that at the constant. Under the $22^{\circ}C$ condition, emergence rate was about 8% higher at the alternating temperature than that at the constant, however, at the $28^{\circ}C$, the rate was about 8% higher at the constant than that at the alternating. Nymphal period was about $4{\sim}6$ days longer at the alternating temperature than that at the constant. Under the same total effective day-degrees in adult stage, both longevity and oviposition period were longer at alternating temperature than those at the constant. Number of eggs oviposited per female was also higher at the alternating. Longevities of females reared under $28^{\circ}C$ of constant temperature was the longest no matter what temperatures they were exposed after the emergence. This result seems to be indicating that female longevity is greatly influenced by the temperature to which they were exposed durings immature stages. Preoviposition period was affected by the temperature exposed during the nympal and adult stage whereas the number of eggs oviposited was affected by the temperature during the adult stage only. Based on the results from this study, the developmental threshold temperatures seem to be $14.12^{\circ}C$ for eggs, $14.76^{\circ}C$ for nymphs, $9.62^{\circ}C$ for adults, and $15.95^{\circ}C$ for preoviposition period. Estimated values of the total effective temperature for completing each stage were 141.25 day-degrees for eggs, 167.83 day-degrees for nymphs, 349.64 day-degrees for adults, and 58.60 day-degrees for preoviposition.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.58 no.5
• /
• pp.498-506
• /
• 2005

Background : This study compared the bronchodilator efficacy and safety of tiotropium inhalation capsules ($18{\mu}g$ once daily) with a ipratropium metered dose inhaler (2 puffs of $20{\mu}g$ q.i.d.) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Method : After the initial screening assessment and a two-week run-in period, patients received either tiotropium $18{\mu}g$ once daily or ipratropium $40{\mu}g$ four times daily over a period of 4 weeks in a double blind, double dummy, parallel group study. The outcome measures were the lung function, the daily records of the peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), the patients' questionnaire, and the use of concomitant salbutamol. The forced expiratory volume in one second ($FEV_1$) and the forced vital capacity (FVC) were measured 5 minutes before inhalation, and 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 hours after inhaling the study drug on days 0, 14 and 28. Result : In 16 centers, 134 patients with a mean (SD) age of 66 (7) years and a predicted $FEV_1$ of 42 (12)% were analyzed. The trough $FEV_1$ response was significantly higher in the tiotropium group than in the ipratropium group after a four-week treatment period. The weekly mean morning PEFR of the tiotropium group was consistently higher than that of the ipratropium group during the 4-week treatment period with differences ranging from 12.52 to 13.88 l/min, which were statistically significant. Tiotropium was well tolerated by the COPD patients during the 4-week treatment period and had a similar safety profile to ipratropium. Conclusion : This study shows that tiotropium administrated once daily has a superior bronchodilator effect with a similar safety profile in treating COPD patients compared with ipratropium, inhaled four times daily.