• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.895-908
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• 2023

Disposal of waste containing heavy metals into the environment is a major threat to human health and can result in toxic or chronic poisoning in aquatic life. In the current study, metal-resistant Raoultella ornithinolytica was isolated from metal-contaminated samples collected from the Tanjaro River, located southwest of Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. R. ornithinolytica was identified by partial amplification of 16S rRNA. The uptake potency of heavy metals was assessed using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and indicated that R. ornithinolytica removed 67, 89, 63.4, 55.6, 56.5, 65, and 61.9% of Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni, Zn, Co, and Fe, respectively. These removal rates were influenced by temperature, pH, and contact time; at 35℃ and pH 5 with a change in the incubation time, the reduction rate improved from 89 to 95% for Pb, from 36.4 to 45% for Cu, and from 55.6 to 64% for Ni. Gene analysis indicated that R. ornithinolytica contained pbrT, chrB, nccA, iroN, and czcA genes, but the pcoD gene was absent. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) images showed evidence of metal ion binding on the cell wall surface with different rates of binding. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) detected different mechanisms for metal particle localization; cell surface adsorption was the main mechanism for Pb, Zn, and Co uptake, while Cd, Ni, and Fe were accumulated inside the cell. The current study describes, for the first time, the isolation of R. ornithinolytica from metal-contaminated water, which can be used as an eco-friendly biological expedient for the remediation and detoxification of metals from contaminated environments.

• Youth Facilities and Environment
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.91-104
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• 2012

This study investigated the process of how adolescents get caught into a net of online prostitution and get out of it. An in-depth interview was done with 43 adolescents who experienced online prostitution. It was found that 38 of 43 interviewees(88%) had an experience of running away from home and that 23 adolescents(53%) among them got involved in online prostitution for living expenses. Leaving home was a major route to prostitution. Fifty six percents experienced prostitution at the ages of 16 or 17 for the first time. The age group of 13-15 took 35%, which provided an evidence that most prostitutes experienced young. Moreover, the frequency of prostitution was shocking. Those who prostituted themselves 'more than 10, but less than 50 times(40%)' were more than those who did 'less than 10 times(37%).' Those who did 'more than 100 times' or even countlessly were 21%. Violation of human rights such as perverted sex, violence, sexual violence, threat, abduction, fraud, extortion by threats, and infection of sexually transmitted disease(STD) occurred quite often. In addition, the process of adolescent online prostitution categorized into the three stages: vulnerable stage, chaotic stage, and stabilized(out-of-prostitution) stage. It was possible that the three stages moved back and forth. The process shifted from the vulnerable stage to the chaotic one, and could get back to the vulnerable one. Or the speed of moving forward to the next sage could be accelerated if the individual management skills were coupled with support from many people and institutions.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.315-328
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• 2023

Cyanobacteria have been used as pollution indicator species in freshwater ecosystems, and identifying their fluctuations can be an important part about management of surface waters globally. Cyanotoxins produced by cyanobacteria are directly or indirectly a threat to human and environmental health. In order to confirm the potential risk of these cyanotoxins, the fluctuations of phytoplankton and phylogenetic analysis of cyanotoxin synthetase genes were conducted at each point in the Yeongsan River water system in Gwangju from November 2021 to October 2022. Diatoms which grow well in winter were dominant at 99.4 ~ 99.5%, and diatoms and green algae were dominant from the spring to autumn when the water temperature rises. Stephanodiscus spp. were dominant at 92.7 to 97.5 % at all sites in the winter, and Aulacoseira spp., which grow in warm water temperatures, were dominant in summer and autumn. Microcystis aeruginosa was dominant at 25.2% in summer only at site 5. mcyB and anaC have been detected as cyanotoxin synthetase genes. The phylogenetic tree of anaC could be divided into two groups (Group 1 & Group 2). Group 1 contained Aphanizomenon sp. and Cuspidothrix issatschenkoi. It is combined with Aphanizomenon sp. and Cuspidothrix issatschenkoi, which are known to produce cyanotoxins.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.439-448
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• 2023

Tick infestation causes a significant threat to human and animal health, requiring effective immunological control methods. This study aimed to investigate the potential of recombinant Haemaphysalis longicornis enolase protein for tick vaccine development. The exact mechanism of the recently identified enolase protein from the H. longicornis Jeju strain remains poorly understood. Enolase plays a crucial role in glycolysis, the metabolic process that converts glucose into energy, and is essential for the motility, adhesion, invasion, growth, and differentiation of ticks. In this study, mice were immunized with recombinant enolase, and polyclonal antibodies were generated. Western blot analysis confirmed the specific recognition of enolase by the antiserum. The effects of immunization on tick feeding and attachment were assessed. Adult ticks attached to the recombinant enolase-immunized mice demonstrated longer attachment time, increased bloodsucking abilities, and lower engorgement weight than the controls. The nymphs and larvae had a reduced attachment rate and low engorgement rate compared to the controls. Mice immunized with recombinant enolase expressed in Escherichia coli displayed 90% efficacy in preventing tick infestation. The glycolytic nature of enolase and its involvement in crucial physiological processes makes it an attractive target for disrupting tick survival and disease transmission. Polyclonal antibodies recognize enolase and significantly reduce attachment rates, tick feeding, and engorgement. Our findings indicate that recombinant enolase may be a valuable vaccine candidate for H. longicornis infection in experimental murine model.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.203-209
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• 2023

The increasing saturation challenges in storage facilities for Low- and Intermediate-Level Radioactive Waste call for a more efficient storage approach. Consequently, we have developed a square-structured container that features a storage capacity approximately 20% greater than that of conventional drum-type containers. Considering the need to contain various radioactive wastes from nuclear power usage securely until they no longer pose a threat to human health or the environment, this study focuses on evaluating the sealing efficacy of the newly designed rectangular container using finite element analysis. Since radioactive waste containers typically do not experience external forces except under special circumstances, our analysis simulated the impact of an external force, assuming a fall scenario. After fastening the bolts, we examined the vertical stress distribution on the container by applying the calculated external force. The analysis confirms the container's stable seal.

• Smart Media Journal
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.19-25
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• 2024

The biggest type of behavior that prevents people with developmental disabilities from entering society is aggressive behavior. Aggressive behavior can pose a threat not only to the personal safety of the person with a developmental disability, but also to the physical safety of others. In this study, we propose a wearable system using a low-power processor. The proposed system uses an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) to analyze user behavior, and when attack behavior is not detected for a certain period of time through an LED array attached to the developed system, an interesting LED is displayed. By expressing patterns, we provide behavioral intervention through compensation to people with developmental disabilities. In order to implement a system that must be worn for a long time in a power-limited environment, we present a method to optimize performance and energy consumption across all stages, from data preprocessing to AI model application.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.21.1-21.21
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• 2022

As far the current severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), respiratory disease is still the biggest threat to human health. In addition, infectious respiratory diseases are particularly prominent. In addition to killing and clearing the infection pathogen directly, regulating the immune responses against the pathogens is also an important therapeutic modality. Sirtuins belong to NAD+-dependent class III histone deacetylases. Among 7 types of sirtuins, silent information regulator type-1 (SIRT1) played a multitasking role in modulating a wide range of physiological processes, including oxidative stress, inflammation, cell apoptosis, autophagy, antibacterial and antiviral functions. It showed a critical effect in regulating immune responses by deacetylation modification, especially through high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a core molecule regulating the immune system. SIRT1 was associated with many respiratory diseases, including COVID-19 infection, bacterial pneumonia, tuberculosis, and so on. Here, we reviewed the latest research progress regarding the effects of SIRT1 on immune system in respiratory diseases. First, the structure and catalytic characteristics of SIRT1 were introduced. Next, the roles of SIRT1, and the mechanisms underlying the immune regulatory effect through HMGB1, as well as the specific activators/inhibitors of SIRT1, were elaborated. Finally, the multitasking roles of SIRT1 in several respiratory diseases were discussed separately. Taken together, this review implied that SIRT1 could serve as a promising specific therapeutic target for the treatment of respiratory diseases.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.1
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• pp.47-85
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• 1989

The Fundamental purpose of the Warsaw Convention was to establish uniform rules applicable to international air transportation. The emphasis on the benefits of uniformity was considered important in the beginning and continues to be important to the present. If the desire for uniformity is indeed the mortar which holds the Warsaw system together then it should be possible to agree on a worldwide liability limit. This liability limit would not be so unreasonable, that it would be impossible for nations to adhere to it. It would preclude any national supplemental compensation plan or Montreal Agreement type of requirement in any jurisdiction. The differentiation of liability limits by national requirement seems to be what is occurring. There is a plethora of mandated limits and Montreal Agreement type 'voluntary' limits. It is becoming difficult to find more than a few major States where an unmodified Warsaw Convention or Hague Protocol limitation is still in effect. If this is the real world in the 1980's, then let the treaty so reflect it. Upon reviewing the Warsaw Convention, its history and the several attempts to amend it, strengths become apparent. Hijackings of international flights have given rise to a number of lawsuits by passengers to recover damages for injuries suffered. This comment is concerned with the liability of an airline for injuries to its passengers resulting from aviation terrorism. In addition, analysis is focused on current airline security measures, particularly the pre-boarding screening system, and the duty of air carriers to prevent weapons from penetrating that system. An airline has a duty to exercise a high degree of care to protect its passengers from the threat of aviation terrorism. This duty would seemingly require the airline to exercise a high degree of care to prevent any passenger from smuggling a weapon or explosive device aboard its aircraft. In the case an unarmed hijacker who boards having no instrument in his possession with which to promote the hoax, a plaintiff-passenger would be hard-pressed to show that the airline was negligent in screening the hijacker prior to boarding. In light of the airline's duty to exercise a high degree of care to provide for the safety of all the passengers on board, an acquiescene to a hijacker's demands on the part of the air carrier could constitute a breach of duty only when it is clearly shown that the carrier's employees knew or plainly should have known that the hijacker was unarmed. A finding of willful misconduct on the part of an air carrier, which is a prerequisite to imposing unlimited liability, remains a question to be determined by a jury using the definition or standard of willful misconduct prevailing in the jurisdiction of the forum court. Through the willful misconduct provision of the Warsaw Convention, air carrier face the possibility of unlimited liability for failure to implement proper preventive precautions against terrorist. Courts, therefore, should broadly construe the willful misconduct provision of the Warsaw Convention in order to find unlimited liability for passenger injuries whenever air carrier security precautions are lacking. In this way, the courts can help ensure air carrier safety and prevention against terrorist attack. Air carriers, therefore, would have an incentive to increase, impose and maintain security precautions designed to thwart such potential terrorist attacks as in the case of Korean Air Lines Flight No.858 incident having a tremendous impact on the civil aviation community. The crash of a commercial airliner, with the attending tragic loss of life and massive destruction of property, always gives rise to shock and indignation. The general opinion is that the legal system could be sufficient, provided that the political will is there to use and apply it effectively. All agreed that the main responsibility for security has to be borne by the governments. I would like to remind all passengers that every discovery of the human spirit may be used for opposite ends; thus, aircraft can be used for air travel but also as targets of terrorism. A state that supports aviation terrorism is responsible for violation of International Aviation Law. Generally speaking, terrorism is a violation of international law. It violates the soverign rights of the states, and the human rights of the individuals. I think that aviation terrorism as becoming an ever more serious issue, has to be solved by internationally agreed and closely co-ordinated measures. We have to contribute more to the creation of a general consensus amongst all states about the need to combat the threat of aviation terrorism.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.97-102
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• 2007

An environmental survey from three abandoned metal mine areas was undertaken on to assess the risk of adverse health effects on human exposure to heavy metals influenced by past mining activities. Tailings contained high concentrations of heavy metals may have a impact on soils and waters around the tailing piles. In order to perform the human risk assessment, chemical analysis data of soils, rice grains and waters for As, Cd, Cu and Pb have been used. The HQ values for heavy metals via the rice consumption were significantly higher compared with other exposure pathways in all metal mine areas. The resulting HI values in three mine areas were higher than 9.0, and their toxic risk due to rice ingestion was strong in these mine areas. The cancer risk of being exposed to As by the rice consumption from the A, B and C mine areas was $5.1\;{\times}\;10^{-3}$, $6.8\;{\times}\;10^{-3}$ and $3.1\;{\times}\;10^{-3}$, respectively. The As cancer risk via the exposure pathway of rice ingestion from these mine areas exceeds the acceptable risk of 1 in 10,000 set for regulatory purposes. Thus, the daily intakes of rice by the local residents from these mine areas can pose a potential health threat if exposed by long-term As exposure.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2014.10a
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• pp.11-11
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• 2014

Fungal pathogens have huge impact on health and economic wellbeing of human by causing life-threatening mycoses in immune-compromised patients or by destroying crop plants. A key determinant of fungal pathogenesis is their ability to undergo developmental change in response to host or environmental factors. Genetic pathways that regulate such morphological transitions and adaptation are therefore extensively studied during the last few decades. Given that epigenetic as well as genetic components play pivotal roles in development of plants and mammals, contribution of microbial epigenetic counterparts to this morphogenetic process is intriguing yet nearly unappreciated question to date. To bridge this gap in our knowledge, we set out to investigate histone modifications among epigenetic mechanisms that possibly regulate fungal adaptation and processes involved in pathogenesis of a model plant pathogenic fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae. M. oryzae is a causal agent of rice blast disease, which destroys 10 to 30% of the rice crop annually. Since the rice is the staple food for more than half of human population, the disease is a major threat to global food security. In addition to the socioeconomic impact of the disease it causes, the fungus is genetically tractable and can undergo well-defined morphological transitions including asexual spore production and appressorium (a specialized infection structure) formation in vitro, making it a model to study fungal development and pathogenicity. For functional and comparative analysis of histone modifications, a web-based database (dbHiMo) was constructed to archive and analyze histone modifying enzymes from eukaryotic species whose genome sequences are available. Histone modifying enzymes were identified applying a search pipeline built upon profile hidden Markov model (HMM) to proteomes. The database incorporates 22,169 histone-modifying enzymes identified from 342 species including 214 fungal, 33 plants, and 77 metazoan species. The dbHiMo provides users with web-based personalized data browsing and analysis tools, supporting comparative and evolutionary genomics. Based on the database entries, functional analysis of genes encoding histone acetyltransferases and histone demethylases is under way. Here I provide examples of such analyses that show how histone acetylation and methylation is implicated in regulating important aspects of fungal pathogenesis. Current analysis of histone modifying enzymes will be followed by ChIP-Seq and RNA-seq experiments to pinpoint the genes that are controlled by particular histone modifications. We anticipate that our work will provide not only the significant advances in our understanding of epigenetic mechanisms operating in microbial eukaryotes but also basis to expand our perspective on regulation of development in fungal pathogens.