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Isolation and characterization of a new Methanoculleus bourgensis strain KOR-2 from the rumen of Holstein steers

  • Battumur, Urantulkhuur;Lee, Manhee;Bae, Gui Sek;Kim, Chang-Hyun
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.32 no.2
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    • pp.241-248
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    • 2019
  • Objective: To isolate and identify new methanogens from the rumen of Holstein steers in Korea. Methods: Representative rumen contents were obtained from three ruminally cannulated Holstein steers ($793{\pm}8kg$). Pre-reduced media were used for the growth and isolation of methanogens. Optimum growth temperature, pH, and sodium chloride (NaCl) concentration as well as substrate utilization and antibiotic tolerance were investigated to determine the physiological characteristics of the isolated strain. Furthermore, the isolate was microscopically studied for its morphology. Polymerase chain reaction of 16S rRNA and mcrA gene-based amplicons was used for identification. Results: One strain designated as KOR-2 was isolated and found to be a non-motile irregular coccus with a diameter of 0.2 to $0.5{\mu}m$. KOR-2 utilized $H_2+CO_2$ and formate but was unable to metabolize acetate, methanol, trimethylamine, 2-propanol, and isobutanol for growth and methane production. The optimum temperature and pH for the growth of KOR-2 were $38^{\circ}C$ and 6.8 to 7.0, respectively, while the optimum NaCl concentration essential for KOR-2 growth was 1.0% (w/v). KOR-2 tolerated ampicillin, penicillin G, kanamycin, spectromycin, and tetracycline. In contrast, the cell growth was inhibited by chloramphenicol. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA and mcrA genes revealed the relatedness between KOR-2 and Methanoculleus bourgensis. Conclusion: Based on the physiological and phylogenetic characteristics, KOR-2 was thought to be a new strain within the genus Methanoculleus and named Methanoculleus bourgensis KOR-2.

Efficient Inference of Image Objects using Semantic Segmentation (시멘틱 세그멘테이션을 활용한 이미지 오브젝트의 효율적인 영역 추론)

  • Lim, Heonyeong;Lee, Yurim;Jee, Minkyu;Go, Myunghyun;Kim, Hakdong;Kim, Wonil
    • Journal of Broadcast Engineering
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    • v.24 no.1
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    • pp.67-76
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    • 2019
  • In this paper, we propose an efficient object classification method based on semantic segmentation for multi-labeled image data. In addition to various pixel unit information and processing techniques such as color information, contour, contrast, and saturation included in image data, a detailed region in which each object is located is extracted as a meaningful unit and the experiment is conducted to reflect the result in the inference. We use a neural network that has been proven to perform well in image classification to understand which object is located where image data containing various class objects are located. Based on these researches, we aim to provide artificial intelligence services that can classify real-time detailed areas of complex images containing various objects in the future.

Bacterial Stringent Signal Directs Virulence and Survival in Vibrio cholerae.

  • Oh, Young Taek;Kim, Hwa Young;Yoon, Sang Sun
    • Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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    • 2019.10a
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    • pp.8-8
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    • 2019
  • The stringent response (SR) is characterized as a bacterial defense mechanism in response to various growth-inhibiting stresses. It is activated by accumulation of a small nucleotide regulator, (p)ppGpp, and induces global changes in bacterial transcription and translation. Recent work from our group has shown that (p)ppGpp plays a critical role in virulence and survival in Vibrio cholerae. The genes, relA and relV, are involved in the production of (p)ppGpp, while the spoT gene encodes an enzyme that hydrolyzes it in V. cholerae. A mutant strain defective in (p)ppGpp production (i.e. ${\Delta}relA{\Delta}relV{\Delta}spoT$ mutant) lost the ability to produce cholera toxin (CT) and lost their viability due to uncontrolled production of organic acids, when grown with extra glucose. In contrast, the ${\Delta}relA{\Delta}spoT$ mutant, a (p)ppGpp overproducer strain, produced enhanced level of CT and exhibited better growth in glucose supplemented media via glucose metabolic switch from organic fermentation to acetoin, a neutral fermentation end product, fermentation. These findings indicates that (p)ppGpp, in addition to its well-known role as a SR mediator, positively regulates CT production and maintenance of growth fitness in V. cholerae. This implicates SR as a promising drug target, inhibition of which may possibly downregulate V. cholerae virulence and survival fitness. Therefore, we screened a chemical library and identified a compound that induces medium acidification (termed iMAC) and thereby loss of wild type V. cholerae viability under glucose-rich conditions. Further, we present a potential mechanism by which the compound inhibits (p)ppGpp accumulation. Together, these results indicate that iMAC treatment causes V. cholerae cells to produce significantly less (p)ppGpp, an important regulator of the bacterial virulence and survival response, and further suggesting that it has a therapeutic potential to be developed as a novel antibacterial agent against cholera.

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The Characteristics of Literary therapy through a contrast with Literature education (문학교육과의 대비를 통해 본 문학치료의 특성)

  • Cho, Eun-sang
    • Journal of Korean Classical Literature and Education
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    • no.39
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    • pp.5-39
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    • 2018
  • This paper aims to identify the characteristics of literary therapy in relation to literature education. It also intends to clarify its distinctiveness. Literary therapy is not to teach literature. It does not deliver knowledge on agreed analyses, backgrounds and the nature of genres. Literary therapy encourages participants to fully appreciate one's thought and emotions and express them. The end goal is self-knowledge rather than the understanding of texts. Literary therapy focuses on self-knowledge through literatures as opposed to literature education which aims to encourage understandings of literature texts. In literary therapy, literature is media for personal growth facilitating self-expansion. Literature works enable participants to view oneself objectively by the means of one's responses to literature works. Literary therapy has more permissive viewpoints on recipients' response to literature texts than literature education. In addition, the subject of literary therapy is more unique and individualistic.

Dacryocystectomy for Chronic Dacryocystitis in a Beagle Dog

  • Jeong, Youngseok;Lee, Songhui;Kim, Su An;Woo, Sangho;Ko, Dumin;Seo, Kangmoon;Kang, Seonmi
    • Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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    • v.38 no.3
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    • pp.152-158
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    • 2021
  • A 3-year-old spayed female beagle dog was presented with epiphora, severe hemorrhagic and purulent ocular discharge in the right eye (OD). A reflux of the discharge through the other canaliculi, associated with signs of chronic inflammation, was observed on cytology. Dacryocystorhinography revealed retention of contrast media ventral to the lower punctum, indicating complete obstruction and the potential presence of radiolucent foreign body. Ocular discharge subsided after the first treatment, including flushing of the nasolacrimal duct and application of topical antibiotics and corticosteroids, but clinical symptoms of the dacryocystitis waxed and waned thereafter. Surgical treatment was delayed for 8 months due to Dirofilaria immitis infection, and topical treatment and monthly flushing were maintained. On the day of operation, a foreign body was released through the fistula, while flushing for disinfection under general anesthesia, just before the surgery. Dacryocystectomy was performed to remove necrotic tissue and residual foreign body around the nasolacrimal cyst. Upon histopathologic findings, the removed foreign body was considered to be a plant, and the nasolacrimal cyst was comprised of chronic active ulcerative inflammation and necrotic tissues. At the 1-week recheck, improvement of epiphora and ocular discharge and healing of the surgical site was noted. In conclusion, nasolacrimal duct foreign body can be considered in recurrent dacryocystitis, despite nasolacrimal flushing and topical medication. In this study, dacryocystectomy was curative without recurrence of dacryocystitis or epiphora.

High-frequency regeneration of plants in vitro from seedling-derived apical bud explants of Tilia mandshurica Rupr. & Maxim

  • Kim, Tae-Dong;Kim, Nam-Ho;Park, Eung-Jun;Lee, Na-Nyum
    • Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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    • v.48 no.1
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    • pp.54-61
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    • 2021
  • This work describe an efficient method for the shoot induction and plant regeneration of seedling-derived apical bud explants of Tilia mandshurica Rupr. & Maxim. The highest rate of shoot induction (82.2%) was obtained when apical bud explants from juvenile seedlings (5 months old) were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 1.0 mg/L 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP). However, apical bud explants obtained from mature trees (12 years old) did not produce any shoots, even with BAP supplementation. Among the three cytokinins tested for shoot multiplication (BAP, zeatin, and kinetin), BAP was the most effective; the highest number of shoots per explant (2.1) was observed on MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/L BAP. In contrast, the longest average shoot length (3.0 cm) was observed after growth on MS medium with 2.0 mg/L zeatin. No multiplication occurred when apical bud explants were cultured with kinetin-supplemented media. During rooting of in vitro-elongated shoots, the highest rooting rate (100%) was observed in half-strength MS medium supplemented with 0.5 ~ 1.0 mg/L indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) or 3.0 mg/L 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). During the acclimatization process, plantlets that were rooted on the IBA (0.5 mg/L)-supplemented medium had the highest survival rate (100%) and maximum root length (18.5 cm). These findings suggest that a low concentration (0.5 mg/L) of IBA is appropriate for the rooting and acclimatization of T. mandshurica. Plants were successfully transferred to the greenhouse with a 100% survival rate. This protocol will be useful for the large-scale propagation of Tilia species.

Dynamic Reconstruction Algorithm of 3D Volumetric Models (3D 볼류메트릭 모델의 동적 복원 알고리즘)

  • Park, Byung-Seo;Kim, Dong-Wook;Seo, Young-Ho
    • Journal of Broadcast Engineering
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    • v.27 no.2
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    • pp.207-215
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    • 2022
  • The latest volumetric technology's high geometrical accuracy and realism ensure a high degree of correspondence between the real object and the captured 3D model. Nevertheless, since the 3D model obtained in this way constitutes a sequence as a completely independent 3D model between frames, the consistency of the model surface structure (geometry) is not guaranteed for every frame, and the density of vertices is very high. It can be seen that the interconnection node (Edge) becomes very complicated. 3D models created using this technology are inherently different from models created in movie or video game production pipelines and are not suitable for direct use in applications such as real-time rendering, animation and simulation, and compression. In contrast, our method achieves consistency in the quality of the volumetric 3D model sequence by linking re-meshing, which ensures high consistency of the 3D model surface structure between frames and the gradual deformation and texture transfer through correspondence and matching of non-rigid surfaces. And It maintains the consistency of volumetric 3D model sequence quality and provides post-processing automation.

A Study on the Driving Characteristics of Microbial Fuel Cell Using Mixed Strains in Domestic Wastewater (생활폐수 내 혼합균주를 이용한 미생물 연료전지의 구동 특성에 관한 연구)

  • KIM, SANG KYU;YOO, DONG JIN
    • Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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    • v.32 no.6
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    • pp.506-513
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    • 2021
  • The use of fossil fuels is a major contributor to the increase atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions. As such problems arise, interest in new and renewable energy devices, particularly fuel cells, is greatly increasing. In this study, various characteristics of mixed strains were observed in wastewater collected by the Jeonju Environment Office to investigate the effects of microorganisms on voltage generation and voltage generation of substrates, electrode materials, electrons, electron transport media, and ash microbial fuel cells. As a result of separately measuring the voltage generated during inoculation, the inoculation voltage of Escherichia coli K12 (E. coli K12) was 0.45 V, and the maximum inoculation voltage of the mixed strain was 1.2 V. Thereafter, voltage values were collected using a digital multimeter and the amount of voltage generated over time was measured. In the case of E. coli K12, the maximum voltage reached 0.45 V, and the cell voltage was maintained above 0.23 V for 140 hours. In contrast, for the mixed strain, the maximum voltage reached 1.2 V and the voltage was slowly decreased to 0.97 V. In addition, the degree of microbial adsorption to the electrod surface after the inoculation test was confirmed using a scanning electron microscope. Therefore, these results showed the possibility of purifying pollutants at the same time as power generation through the production of hydrogen ions using microorganisms and wastewater.

A standardized method to study immune responses using porcine whole blood

  • Sameer-ul-Salam Mattoo;Ram Prasad Aganja;Seung-Chai Kim;Chang-Gi Jeong;Salik Nazki;Amina Khatun;Won-Il Kim;Sang-Myeong Lee
    • Journal of Veterinary Science
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    • v.24 no.1
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    • pp.11.1-11.14
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    • 2023
  • Background: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are commonly used to assess in vitro immune responses. However, PBMC isolation is a time-consuming procedure, introduces technical variability, and requires a relatively large volume of blood. By contrast, whole blood assay (WBA) is faster, cheaper, maintains more physiological conditions, and requires less sample volume, laboratory training, and equipment. Objectives: Herein, this study aimed to develop a porcine WBA for in vitro evaluation of immune responses. Methods: Heparinized whole blood (WB) was diluted (non-diluted, 1/2, 1/8, and 1/16) in RPMI-1640 media, followed by phorbol myristate acetate and ionomycin. After 24 h, cells were stained for interferon (IFN)-γ secreting T-cells followed by flow cytometry, and the supernatant was analyzed for tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. In addition, diluted WB was stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (poly I:C), reference strain KCTC3557 (RS), field isolate (FI), of heat-killed (HK) Streptococcus suis, and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV). Results: The frequency of IFN-γ+CD3+ T-cells and concentration of TNF-α in the supernatant of WB increased with increasing dilution factor and were optimal at 1/8. WB TNF-α and interleukin (IL)-10 cytokine levels increased significantly following stimulation with LPS or poly I:C. Further, FI and RS induced IL-10 production in WB. Additionally, PRRSV strains increased the frequency of IFN-γ+ CD4-CD8+ cells, and IFN-γ was non-significantly induced in the supernatant of re-stimulated samples. Conclusions: We propose that the WBA is a rapid, reliable, and simple method to evaluate immune responses and WB should be diluted to trigger immune cells.

Social Capital and Cross-Cultural Effect of Korean Wave (Hallyu): Genre-specific Hallyu, Social Trust, and Network Heterogeneity in Europe (한류의 사회자본 효과와 문화간 커뮤니케이션 영향: 유럽 사회 한류 문화소비와 사회 연계망의 관계를 중심으로)

  • Na, Eunkyung
    • The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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    • v.8 no.3
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    • pp.367-375
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    • 2022
  • Given the growing changes in media environment and cultural consumption, globally popular contents of Korean Wave(Hallyu) has also been transformed in its forms and genres. Moreover, extant research on Hallyu has focused on any single respective genre, mostly on East-Asian countries, or studied from Korea-centered perspective. This study examined the social capital effect of Korean Wave in users' own counties, especially in non-English European societies. Survey analysis results reveal that both narrative and non-narrative contents in Hallyu had negative impact on social trust and trust toward people of their own country, whereas positive effect on trust toward Koreans. In contrast, K-pop Hallyu showed positive effect on all types of social trust toward their own country and Koreans, as well as on social participation and bridging/bonding social networks.