• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2015

Innate immune cells survey antigenic materials beneath our body surfaces and provide a front-line response to internal and external danger signals. Dendritic cells (DCs), a subset of innate immune cells, are critical sentinels that perform multiple roles in immune responses, from acting as principal modulators to priming an adaptive immune response through antigen-specific signaling. In the gut, DCs meet exogenous, non-harmful food antigens as well as vast commensal microbes under steady-state conditions. In other instances, they must combat pathogenic microbes to prevent infections. In this review, we focus on the function of intestinal DCs in maintaining intestinal immune homeostasis. Specifically, we describe how intestinal DCs affect IgA production from B cells and influence the generation of unique subsets of T cell.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.719-727
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• 2000

A study was conducted to determine the susceptibility of swine to Korean foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV; subtype O, isolated from Chungju province) in April, 2ooo. One holstein cow was inoculated intradermolingually with suspension of homogenized tissue from a Korean native cow naturally infected with Korean FMDY. Infected cow was housed with one susceptible cow and one susceptible pig (contact sentinels). Four additional susceptible pigs were housed in the same room but caged separately (non-contacted sentinels). The contacted pig and cow as well as non-contact pigs developed typical clinical signs after 2, 3, and 7 days post exposure, respectively. We compared neutralizing antibody from the animals to FMDV $O_1$ Lombardy, O Taiwan, $O_1$ Campos, and $O_1$ Manisa after 0, 4, 7, 10, 14, 21, 28 days post challenge and post-exposure. The highest viral neutralization titer could be interpreted that serotype O Korea (Chungju isolate) is antigenically more related to $O_1$ Manisa. In addition, immunohistochemistry was used to further characterize Korean FMDV from tissues of infected pigs. Korean FMDV antigen was observed in the tongue, hoof, esophagus, and tonsil tissues of sentinel pigs. These findings suggest that Korean FMD virus isolated from cattle can be rapidly transmitted to pigs both directly and indirectly contrast field observation in which only cattle were clinically ill.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.239-246
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• 2017

Strains of Toxoplasma gondii in Brazil are highly genetically diverse compared to strains from North America and Europe. Dogs are epidemiologically important because they act as sentinels for T. gondii infections in humans and are good indicators of environmental contamination. The aim of this study was to isolate and genetically characterize T. gondii strains from tissues of naturally infected Brazilian dogs. For this study, 21 blood samples were collected from dogs at the Zoonosis Control Centers of $Ilh{\acute{e}}us$ and Itabuna cities, Bahia, Brazil. The sera were examined for T. gondii antibodies using the indirect hemagglutination test. Brains and hearts of seropositive dogs were bioassayed in mice to isolate and characterize T. gondii parasites by PCR-RFLP using 10 genetic markers (SAG1, newSAG2, SAG3, BTUB, c22-8, c29-2, GRA6, PK1, APICO, and L358). However, T. gondii was isolated from only 4 (57.1%) dogs, designated TgDgBr6, 13, 17, and 21. All strains were virulent, causing clinical changes (rough hair coat, lethargy, and abdominal distention) and the death of all mice within 8-20 days after inoculation. Genetic analysis of these 4 T. gondii isolates revealed 4 distinct genotypes with different clonal lineage combinations (types I, II, and III) and 2 atypical alleles. Using PCR-RFLP with several markers, this study contributes to evaluations of the genetic diversity of strains circulating in Brazil.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1789-1794
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• 2011

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells playing key roles in immune sentinels as initiators of T-cell responses against microbial pathogens and tumors. Sarijang, a folk sauce containing extracts of Rhynchosia nulubilis, Ulmus davidiana roots, Allium sativum, and Rhus Verniaiflura bark, has been used as a nonspecific immunostimulant for cancer patients. However, little is known about its immunomodulating effects or their mechanisms. In this study, we investigated whether sarijang induces phenotypic and functional maturation of DCs. For this study, murine bone marrow-derived myeloid DCs were cultured in the presence of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and the generated immature DCs were stimulated with sarijang or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Our data indicated that sarijang significantly enhanced the expression of co-stimulatory molecules (CD80 and CD86) as well as major histocompatibility complex (MHC) II, as did LPS. The results provide new insight into the immunopharmacology of sarijang and suggest a novel approach to the manipulation of DC for therapeutic application.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.272-281
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• 2023

Ecosystem observatories are burgeoning globally in an endeavour to detect national and global scale trends in the state of biodiversity and ecosystems in an era of rapid environmental change. In this paper we highlight the additional importance of regional scale outcomes of such infrastructure, through an introduction to the Great Western Woodlands TERN (Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network) SuperSite, and key findings from three gradient plot networks that are part of this infrastructure. The SuperSite was established in 2012 in the 160,000 km² Great Western Woodlands region, in a collaboration involving 12 organisations. This region is globally significant for its largely intact, diverse landscapes, including the world's largest Mediterranean-climate woodlands and highly diverse sandplain shrublands. The dominant woodland eucalypts are fire-sensitive, requiring hundreds of years to regrow after fire. Old-growth woodlands are highly valued by Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, and managing impacts of climate change and the increasing extent of intense fires are key regional management challenges. Like other TERN SuperSites, the Great Western Woodlands TERN SuperSite includes a core eddy-covariance flux tower measuring exchanges of carbon, water and energy between the vegetation and atmosphere, along with additional environmental and biodiversity monitoring around the tower. The broader SuperSite incorporates three gradient plot networks. Two of these represent aridity gradients, in sandplains and woodlands, informing regional climate adaptation and biodiversity management by characterising biodiversity turnover along spatial climate gradients and acting as sentinels for ecosystem change over time. For example, the sandplains transect has demonstrated extremely high spatial turnover rates in plant species, that challenge traditional approaches to biodiversity conservation. The third gradient plot network represents a 400-year fire-age gradient in Eucalyptus salubris woodlands. It has enabled characterisation of post-fire recovery of vegetation, birds and invertebrates over multi-century timeframes, and provided tools that are directly informing management to reduce stand-replacing fires in eucalypt woodlands. By building regional partnerships and applying globally or nationally consistent methodologies to regional scale questions, ecological observatories have the power not only to detect national and global scale trends in biodiversity and ecosystems, but to directly inform environmental decisions that are critical at regional scales.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.55 no.12
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• pp.1125-1135
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• 2022

Damages by heavy snow does not occur very often, but when it does, it causes damage to a wide area. To mitigate snow damage, it is necessary to know, in advance, the depth of snow that causes damage in each region. However, snow depths are measured at observatory locations, and it is difficult to understand the spatial distribution of snow depth that causes damage in a region. To understand the spatial distribution of snow depth, the point measurements are interpolated. However, estimating spatial distribution of snow depth is not easy when the number of measured snow depth is small and topographical characteristics such as altitude are not similar. To overcome this limit, satellite images such as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) can be analyzed using Differential Interferometric SAR (DInSAR) method. DInSAR uses two different SAR images measured at two different times, and is generally used to track minor changes in topography. In this study, the spatial distribution of snow depth was estimated by DInSAR analysis using dual polarimetric IW mode C-band SAR data of Sentinel-1B satellite operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). In addition, snow depth was estimated using geostationary satellite Chollian-2 (GK-2A) to compare with the snow depth from DInSAR method. As a result, the accuracy of snow cover estimation in terms with grids was about 0.92% for DInSAR and about 0.71% for GK-2A, indicating high applicability of DInSAR method. Although there were cases of overestimation of the snow depth, sufficient information was provided for estimating the spatial distribution of the snow depth. And this will be helpful in understanding regional damage-causing snow depth.