• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.74-81
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• 2015

The specific and sensitive nested-PCR method to detect Acidovorax citrulli, a causal agent of bacterial fruit blotch on cucurbitaceae, was developed. PCR primers were designed from the draft genome sequence which was obtained with the Next Generation Sequencing of A. citrulli KACC10651, and the nested-PCR primer set (Ac-ORF 21F/Ac-ORF 21R) were selected by checking of specificity to A. citrulli with PCR assays. The selected nested-PCR primer amplified the 140 bp DNA only from A. citrulli strains, and detection sensitivity of the nested PCR increased 10,000 times of $1^{st}$ PCR detection limit (10 ng genomic DNA/PCR). The nested PCR detected A. citrulli from the all samples of seed surface wash (external seed detection) of the artificially inoculated watermelon seeds with $10^1cfu/ml$ and above population of A. citrulli while the nested PCR could not detected A. citrulli from the mashed seed suspension (internal seed detection) of the all artificially inoculated watermelon seeds. When the naturally infested watermelon seeds (10% seed infested rate with grow-out test) used, the nested PCR detected A. citrulli from 2 seed samples out of 10 replication samples externally and 5 seed samples out of 10 replication samples internally. We believe that the nested-PCR developed in this study will be useful method to detect A. citrulli from the Cucurbitaceae seeds.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.29-40
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• 2024

This study aimed to evaluate the swelling behavior characteristics of KJ-II buffer blocks by performing numerical analysis of swelling pressure measurement experiments using the nonlinear elasticity model of COMSOL Multiphysics. The analysis was conducted under boundary conditions that included isotropic constraints and water injection pressure, mirroring the experimental settings. Validation of the numerical model was achieved by comparing its outputs with experimental results. The validated model was then used to simulate swelling deformations under unconfined conditions and to analyze swelling pressure as influenced by dry density and the geometric shape of the buffer material. The results accurately represented the swelling deformation observed during the saturation process and demonstrated that swelling pressure increases with higher dry density. Moreover, simulations concerning the geometric shape of the buffer material indicated a markedly faster rate of pressure increase in U-shaped samples compared to cylindrical ones. Analysis suggested that stress manifested preemptively near the internal edges of U-shaped samples during saturation. To enhance the simulation's fidelity to actual buffer material behavior, further refinement of the analysis model using a nonlinear elasticity model is recommended.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.349-355
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• 2018

This study was aimed at predicting the yield of paprika (Capsicum annuum L.) through analyzing the growth characteristics, yield pattern and greenhouse environment. In the greenhouse of the Gyeongnam area (667 m above sea level), the red paprika 'Cupra' and the yellow paprika 'Fiesta' were grown from July 5, 2016 to July 15, 2017. The planting density was $3.66plants/m^2$ and attracted 2 stems. During the cultivation period, the average external radiation of the glasshouse was $14.36MJ/m^2/day$ and the internal average temperature was controlled as $20.1^{\circ}C$. After 42 weeks of planting, the growth rate of 'Cupra' was 7.3 cm/week and that of 'Fiesta' was 6.9 cm/week. The first fruit setting of 'Cupra' appeared at 1.0th node and 'Fiesta' at 2.7th node. The first harvest of 'Fiesta' was 11 weeks after planting and 'Fiesta' was 14 weeks. Comparing the yield per 10 a until the end of the cultivation in July, 'Fiesta' was 19,307 kg, which was 2.4% higher than that of 'Cupra'. And the fruit weight ratio of over 200 g of 'Cupra' was 27.7% which was 7.7% higher than that of 'Fiesta'. The average required days to harvest after fruit setting of 'Cupra' was 72.6 days and 'Fiesta' was 63.8 days. According to the relationship between the average required days to harvest and the cumulative radiation (during from fruit setting to harvest), the more radiation increases the less required days to harvest increases after February. In terms of yield, 'Cupra' increased in yield as the cumulative radiation increased, while 'Fiesta' showed an irregular pattern. Cumulative radiation from fruit setting to harvest was negatively correlated with required days to harvest after February in both cultivars. But in relation to yield, there were difference between 'Cupra' and 'Fiesta'.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.216-221
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• 2017

Diesel engines have the highest brake thermal efficiency among internal combustion engines. Therefore, they are utilized in medium and large transportation vehicles requiring large amounts of power such as heavy trucks, ships, power generation systems, etc. However, diesel engines have a disadvantage of generating large quantities of nitrogen oxides during the combustion process. Therefore, the authors tried to reduce the amount of nitrogen oxides in marine diesel engines using a wet-type exhaust gas cleaning system utilizing the undivided electrolyzed seawater method. In this method, electrolyzed seawater in injected into the harmful gas discharge from the diesel engine using real seawater. The authors investigated the reduction of NO and NOx from the pH value, available chlorine concentration, and the temperature of electrolyzed seawater. The results of this experiment indicated that when the electrolyzed seawater is acidic, the NO oxidation rate in the oxidation tower is higher than that when the electrolyzed seawater has a neutral pH. Likewise, the NO oxidation rate increased with the increase in concentration of chlorine. Further, it was confirmed that the electrolyzed seawater temperature had no effect on the NO oxidation rate. Thus, the NOx exhaust emission value produced by the diesel engine was reduced by means of electrolyzed seawater treatment.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.382-386
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• 2011

Microbial fuel cells (MFC), devices that use bacteria as a catalyst to generate electricity, can utilize a variety of organic wastes as electron donors. The current generated may differ depending on the organic matter concentrations used, when other conditions, such as oxidant supply, proton transfer, internal resistance and so on, are not limiting factors. In these studies, a single-cathode type MFC (SCMFC) and dual-cathode type MFC (DCMFC) were used to ascertain the current's improvement through an increase in the contact area between the anode and the cathode compartments, because the cathode reaction is one of the most serious limiting factors in an MFC. Also an MFC was conducted to explore whether an improvement in electricity generation resulted from oxidizing the carbon sources and nitrates. About 250 mg $L^{-1}$ sodium acetate was fed to an anode compartment with a flow rate of 0.326 mL $min^{-1}$ by continuous mode. The current generated from the DCMFC was higher than the value produced from MFC with a single cathode. COD removal of dual-cathode MFC was also higher than that of single-cathode MFC. The nitrate didn't affect current generation at 2 mM, but when 4 and 8 mM nitrate was supplied, the current in the single-cathode and dual-cathode MFC was decreased by 98% from $5.97{\pm}0.13$ to $0.23{\pm}0.03$ mA and $8.40{\pm}0.23$ to $0.20{\pm}0.01$ mA, respectively. These results demonstrate that increasing of contact area of the anode and cathode can raise current generation by an improvement in the cathode reaction.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.253-262
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• 2015

The sustainability of Cypripedium japonicum, a rare plant designated by the Korea Forest Service, is threatened due to artificial factors such as habitat loss and climate change etc. and internal factors such as changes in biological properties of the habitat etc. but conservation research has not been performed in South Korea. The objective of this study is to establish the species conservation strategies by analyzing the characteristics of their habitats, including: 1) Population characteristics, and 2) habitat analysis of the vegetation and abiotic environments. From April to September, 2014, population characteristics [density (stems $m^{-2}$), flowering rate (%), and leaf area ($cm^2$)] in Cypripedium japonicum habitats such as Chuncheon (CC), Hwacheon (HC), Muju (MJ), and Gwangyang (GY) and vegetation characteristics (plant sociological research and ordination analysis), and abiotic environments [temperature ($^{\circ}C$), relative humidity (%), transmitted light ($mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}d^{-1}$) and canopy openness (%)] were measured. Cypripedium japonicum was mainly distributed at elevation 450 to 990 m and 5 to $30^{\circ}$ slope. Slope direction was shown as 0 to $110^{\circ}$. Habitats temperature (mean $18.94^{\circ}C$) was well matched to seasonal changes. Differences among sites showed greater level according to latitude difference. It showed the highest in habitat, GY located in the South. On the other hand, relative humidity (77.38%) didn't show much difference among sites. The average degree of canopy openness was 18.17%. It showed the highest at HC (22.1%) and the lowest at MJ (16.1%). The average degree of transmitted light was $9.1mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}d^{-1}$. It showed the highest at CC ($10.6mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}d^{-1}$) and the lowest at GY ($6.87mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}d^{-1}$). Chlorophyll content showed average 26.12 SPAD. It showed the highest at MJ (30.64 SPAD value) and the lowest at HC (23.69 SPAD value). Leaf area was average $253.35cm^2$. It showed the highest at CC ($281.51cm^2$) and the lowest at HC ($238.23cm^2$).

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.7.1-7.11
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• 2019

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disorder that affects mainly salivary and lacrimal glands, but its cause remains largely unknown. Clinical data indicating that SS occurs in a substantial proportion of patients with lupus points to common pathogenic mechanisms underlying the two diseases. To address this idea, we asked whether SS develops in the lupus-prone mouse strain sanroque (SAN). Owing to hyper-activation of follicular helper T (Tfh) cells, female SAN mice developed lupus-like symptoms at approximately 20 wk of age but there were no signs of SS at that time. However, symptoms typical of SS were evident at approximately 40 wk of age, as judged by reduced saliva flow rate, sialadenitis, and IgG deposits in the salivary glands. Increases in serum titers of SS-related autoantibodies and numbers of autoantibody-secreting cells in cervical lymph nodes (LNs) preceded the pathologic manifestations of SS and were accompanied by expansion of Tfh cells and their downstream effector cells. Thus, our results suggest that chronic dysregulation of Tfh cells in salivary gland-draining LNs is sufficient to drive the development of SS in lupus-prone mice.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.53 no.8
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• pp.499-518
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• 2023

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), including coronary artery disease, stroke, heart failure, and hypertension, are the global leading causes of death, accounting for more than 30% of deaths worldwide. Although the risk factors of CVDs have been well understood and various treatment and preventive measures have been established, the mortality rate and the financial burden of CVDs are expected to grow exponentially over time due to the changes in lifestyles and increasing life expectancies of the present generation. Recent advancements in metagenomics and metabolomics analysis have identified gut microbiome and its associated metabolites as potential risk factors for CVDs, suggesting the possibility of developing more effective novel therapeutic strategies against CVD. In addition, increasing evidence has demonstrated the alterations in the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes and the imbalance of microbial-dependent metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids and trimethylamine N-oxide, play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of CVD. However, the exact mechanism of action remains undefined to this day. In this review, we focus on the compositional changes in the gut microbiome and its related metabolites in various CVDs. Moreover, the potential treatment and preventive strategies targeting the gut microbiome and its metabolites are discussed.

• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.28-41
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• 2018

Objectives The purpose of this study is to evaluate the quality of case reports about Sasang Constitutional Medicine(SCM). Methods Case reports published from March, 2015 to March, 2018 in Journal of SCM were identified by searching from Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System(OASIS). We assessed the quality of reporting of them based on CAse REport (CARE) guideline. Results A total of 39 case reports were finally included for the assessment. Overall quality of reporting was acceptable because case report even less reporting items mentioned 70.4% of them. However, the quality level was uneven because the maximum report rate was 77.8 %, the minimum 44.4 %, and the median 66.7 % when rigorously assessed. More than 50% of 39 case reports did not report 6 items about intervention adherence and tolerability, Diagnostic challenges, patient's perspective on interventions, informed consent, timeline, and adverse events, and did not sufficiently report 4 items about inclusion of terms such as case reports or SCM in keyword, symptoms of patient in abstract, information such as occupation relevant with psychosocial history, and the rationale for conclusions. Conclusions Efforts to improve the quality of reporting in SCM, and to develop case reporting guidelines appropriate for SCM are required.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.313-322
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• 2022

Seed-borne pathogens in crops reduce the seed germination rate and hamper seedling growth, leading to significant yield loss. Due to the growing concerns about environmental damage and the development of resistance to agrochemicals among pathogen populations, there is a strong demand for eco-friendly alternatives to synthetic chemicals in agriculture. It has been well established during the last few decades that plant seeds harbor diverse microbes, some of which are vertically transmitted and important for plant health and productivity. In this study, we isolated culturable endophytic bacteria and fungi from soybean seeds and evaluated their antagonistic activities against common bacterial and fungal seed-borne pathogens of soybean. A total of 87 bacterial isolates and 66 fungal isolates were obtained. Sequencing of 16S rDNA and internal transcribed spacer amplicon showed that these isolates correspond to 30 and 15 different species of bacteria and fungi, respectively. Our antibacterial and antifungal activity assay showed that four fungal species and nine bacterial species have the potential to suppress the growth of at least one seed-borne pathogen tested in the study. Among them, Pseudomonas koreensis appears to have strong antagonistic activities across all the pathogens. Our collection of soybean seed endophytes would be a valuable resource not only for studying biology and ecology of seed endophytes but also for practical deployment of seed endophytes toward crop protection.