• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.145-154
• /
• 2022

Objectives : This study intends to assess the associations among perceived stigma at the time of infection, coping strategies adopted 12 months later and depressive and posttraumatic symptoms 24 months later in Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) survivors. Methods : A nationwide cohort study was conducted on 63 survivors of 2015 MERS outbreak. Demographic data, illness severity of MERS, depression and posttraumatic stress symptoms, coping strategies and MERS-related stigma were collected 12 and 24 months after the MERS outbreak, respectively. Results : Higher levels of perceived stigma at the time of outbreak were associated with higher levels of dysfunctional coping strategies after 12 months (p=0.003) and more severe depressive (p=0.058) and posttraumatic stress symptoms (p=0.011) after 24 months. Moreover, higher levels of dysfunctional coping strategies after 12 months were significantly associated with more severe depressive (p=0.002) and posttraumatic stress symptoms (p<0.001) after 24 months. Conclusions : Social stigma against people who have contracted an emerging infectious disease can leave a negative impact on the mental health of the survivors in the long term. In case of novel pandemics in the future, prompt rectification of stigma and promotion of adaptive coping strategies in survivors are needed.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
• /
• v.67 no.3
• /
• pp.147-154
• /
• 2022

This study was conducted by directly sowing Asemi in late April at 30 × 10 cm intervals to determine the optimal irrigation method and irrigation amount to maximize the use of limited agricultural water and to increase the yield when growing rice in a desert climate. Conventional irrigation (Conv.), surface drip irrigation (Sur), subsurface drip irrigation (Sub.), and sprinkler irrigation (Spr.) methods were used. The following amounts of irrigation were tested based on field capacity (0.33 bar): 80% (V/V, FC80), 100% (FC100), and 120% (FC120), and data for 2 years were averaged. The total amount of irrigation by irrigation method was the lowest, at 627 ton/10 a, for Sub. irrigation with the FC80 treatment, which was 60.4% less than the amount of irrigation with the FC120 treatment (1,584 ton/10a). Sub. irrigation with the FC120 treatment gave the greatest amount of rice, at 665 kg/10 a, and this condition obtained a yield of 88.1% (754 kg/10 a) of the yield obtained with the conventional treatment. Therefore, when planting rice in a desert climate, subsurface drip irrigation at 120% of field capacity is considered advantageous to increase water use efficiency and crop yield.

• The Journal of Society for e-Business Studies
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.133-154
• /
• 2021

Today smart phone is the most common media with a vehicle called 'application'. In order to understand how media users select applications and build their repertoire, this study conducted two-step approach using big data from smart phone log for 4 weeks in November 2019, and finally classified 8 media repertoire groups. Each of the eight media repertoire groups showed differences in time spent of mobile application category compared to other groups, and also showed differences between groups in demographic distribution. In addition to the academic contribution of identifying the mobile application repertoire with large scale behavioral data, this study also has significance in proposing a two-step approach that overcomes 'outlier issue' in behavioral data by extracting prototype vectors using SOM (Sefl-Organized Map) and applying it to k-means clustering for optimization of the classification. The study is also meaningful in that it categorizes customers using e-commerce services, identifies customer structure based on behavioral data, and provides practical guides to e-commerce communities that execute appropriate services or marketing decisions for each customer group.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.148-154
• /
• 2022

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is known to regulate cell adhesion, migration, and mechanotransduction in focal adhesions (FAs). However, studies on how FAK activity is regulated in the plasma membrane microdomains according to the composition of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins are still lacking. A genetically encoded fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based biosensor can provide useful information on the activity of intracellular signals with high spatiotemporal resolution. In this study, we analyzed the FAK activities in lipid raft (detergent-resistant membrane) and non-lipid raft (non-detergent-resistant membrane) microdomains using FRET-based membrane targeting FAK biosensors (FAK-Lyn and FAK-KRas biosensors) under four different ECM protein compositions: glass, type 1 collagen, fibronectin, and laminin. Interestingly, FAK activity in response to laminin in a lipid raft microdomain was lower than that in other ECM conditions. Cells subjected to fibronectin showed higher FAK activity in a lipid raft microdomain than that in a non-lipid raft microdomain. Therefore, this study demonstrates that the FAK activity can be distinctively regulated according to the ECM type and the environment of the plasma membrane microdomains.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.46 no.3
• /
• pp.154-160
• /
• 2022

Background: The mango is one of the essential fruit trees for the economy of Thailand. Mango pollination relies primarily on insects. Other external forces, such as wind, are less efficient since pollen is sticky and aggregating. There is only one report from Thailand on the use of bees as mango pollinators. The study of the behavior and pollination efficiency of honey bees (Apis mellifera) and stingless bees (Tetragonula laeviceps species complex) was conducted in Nam Dokmai mango plantings in Phrao and Mae Taeng districts, Chiang Mai province, between February and March 2019. Results: Our results reveal that the honey bees commenced foraging earlier than the stingless bee. The number of flowers visited within 1 minute by honey bees was higher than that visited by stingless bees. The average numbers of honey bees and stingless bees that flew out of the hive per minute from 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. in the Phrao district were 4.21 ± 1.62 and 9.88 ± 7.63 bees/min, respectively, i.e., higher than those observed in Mae Taeng, which were 3.46 ± 1.13 and 1.23 ± 1.20 bees/min, respectively. The numbers of fruits per tree were significantly higher in the honey bee and stingless bee treatments (T1 and T2) than in the open pollination treatment (T3). The number of fruits between T1 and T2 treatments was not different. In the pollinator exclusion treatment (T4), no fruit was produced. Fruit size factors were not significantly different among T1, T2, and T3 treatments. Conclusions: Our results showed that insect pollination is crucial for mango production, especially with the Nam Dokmai variety in Northern Thailand. As pollinator exclusion treatment showed no fruit set, and pollinator treatment significantly increased the fruit sets compared to open access plots, a managed pollinator program would benefit the mango growers for better productivity. Both the honey bee and the stingless bee were shown to be effective as pollinators.

• Analyses & Alternatives
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.117-154
• /
• 2022

The purpose of this study is to verify the practical validity of financial sanctions, which has recently emerged as the most powerful form of economic sanctions preferred by U.S. foreign policy tool. Based on the theoretical discussion, analyse this study the trend of de-dollarization appearing in connection with financial sanctions and argue that the effectiveness of financial sanctions erode the dollar financial hegemony, which is the source of its power can be degraded, so that its effectiveness could not be so great as most people likely think about. After World War II, there has been an increasing tendency in the international community to favor economic sanctions over the use of military force as an effective means of foreign policy. Among these economic sanctions, a distinct feature that has recently appeared is the remarkable increase in the frequency of use of financial sanctions. The country that favors financial sanctions most is the United States. The reason is that they believe that the power of their own dollar financial hegemony can exert deadly pressure on other countries. Financial sanctions favored by the United States are said to have increased the effectiveness of sanctions by upgrading the pressure of sanctions to the next level. Nevertheless, financial sanctions have a side that underestimates the cost. This problem is found in the signs that the backlash from not only countries subject to financial sanctions but also many countries with interests in these countries is leading to a tendency to de-dollarization. This study will try to see how likely this de-dollarization trend is to offset the effectiveness of financial sanctions.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.154-159
• /
• 1991

A field experiment was conducted to know the feasibility of direct-seeded rice. Dry seeds of a Japonica type rice variety, Donghaebyeo, was sown from May 10 to June 20 at the 10-day intervals. The number of days from seeding to emergence decreased as planting date delayed; 13, 12, 10, 9, and 7 days at May 10, May 20. May 30. and June 10 seedings, respectively. The number of maximum tillers per ㎡ was about 700-800 at all the seeding dates and effective tiller ratio ranged 40-45%. The number of days from seeding to heading decreased as seeding date delayed; from 97 days at May 10 planting to 71 days at June 20 planting. The cumulative effective temperature (mean air temperature-15$^{\circ}C$) from seeding to heading was fairly constant having 870$^{\circ}C$ with 2.3% C.V. The number of panicles per unit area at June 10 planting was higher than that of other planting dates. Panicle length and the number of spikelets per panicle tended to decrease as seeding date delayed. The number of spikelets per unit area, 1000-grain weight, and grain yield were similar among the seeding dates except June 20 seeding. At the June 20 seeding the number of spikelets and grain yield were much lower, but 1000-grain weight was higher compared with other seeding dates. Grain fertility and percent ripened grains was similar among all seeding dates.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.147-154
• /
• 2022

The clinical severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children is usually mild. Most of the affected patients completely recovered from COVID-19 before being released from approximately 7-day quarantine. However, children with comorbidities are at risk of more severe disease and adverse outcomes. We report three cases of COVID-19-affected adolescents with underlying chronic respiratory difficulty due to neurologic diseases who showed sudden clinical aggravations at the time of discharge, even after full clinical improvement. Patient 1 is a 17-year-old boy with Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy who had cardiopulmonary arrest 9 days after the initial COVID-19 symptoms. Patient 2 is a 17-year-old girl with intracerebral hemorrhage with infarction in bed-ridden status who had cardiopulmonary arrest 11 days after the initial symptoms. Patient 3 is a 12-year-old boy with intraventricular hemorrhage with hydrocephalus in bed-ridden status who showed multiorgan failure 10 days after the initial symptoms. Remdesivir, dexamethasone, and empirical antibiotics were administered with mechanical ventilation and intensive unit care. Among the three patients, two (patients 1 and 3) were alive, and one (patient 2) expired. Clinicians caring for adolescents with chronic neurologic and/or pulmonary disease should keep in mind that these patients could have sudden deterioration after recovery from the acute phase of COVID-19 around or after the time of discharge.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.56 no.2
• /
• pp.140-154
• /
• 2023

Purpose: Deodeok (Codonopsis lanceolata) is generally used in conventional medicines and is considered to have remedial properties to cure several diseases. However, application of the C. lanceolata bud as a novel food ingredient has not been fully explored. Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is associated with the production of oxidative damage that results in mutagenesis, carcinogenesis, and cell death. This study examines the neuroprotective effect of C. lanceolate bud extracts (CLBE) on H₂O₂-stimulated apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells. Methods: C. lanceolata bud of length 10 to 15 cm was collected and extracted using 70% ethanol. Cytotoxicity was evaluated by the EZ-cytox reagent, measurement of lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) release and reactive oxygen species (ROS). The morphological changes of the nuclei were determined using the Hoechst 33258 dye. Enzyme activities were analyzed using the caspase activity assay kit. Related protein expressions were quantified by the Western blot immunoassay in H₂O₂-stimulated SH-SY5Y cells. Results: Cell viability, LDH release and ROS generation, demonstrated neuroprotective effects of CLBE in H₂O₂-stimulated SH-SY5Y cells. The occurrence of apoptosis in H₂O₂-stimulated cells was confirmed by caspase activity, which was increased in H₂O₂-stimulated SH-SY5Y cells compared to the unexposed group. Pretreatment of CLBE was observed to inhibit the H₂O₂-stimulated apoptosis. In addition, exposure to CLBE resulted in increased expression of the Bcl-2 (B cell lymphoma 2) protein and decreased expression of the Bax (Bcl2 associated X) protein. Conclusion: This study shows that exposure to CLBE alleviates the H₂O₂-stimulated neuronal damage in SH-SY5Y cells. Our results indicate the potential application of CLBE in neurodegenerative disease therapy or prevention.

• Journal of International Area Studies (JIAS)
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.129-154
• /
• 2010

In Post-soviet Space, particularly the Central Asian is a great turbulence region called the 'Eurasian Balkan', where diverse factors of conflict and dispute are existed. In Central Asia, a current regional security system is characterized by various multilateral cooperation relations among Central Asian nations and the world powers, such as NATO(PfP), OSCE, CIS, CSTO, CACO, SCO, CICA and so on. But nothing could obtain superiority as pan-regional security system. Unless internal problems and conflicts of the Central Asian nations be solved, security won't be assured in this region. Narrow-minded and blind realism will spread insecure region, make a lasting trouble spot in Eurasian continent. The purpose of this article is to explore significance for international relations of security system in the Central Asia. I examine general features of regional security environment formed after the Soviet Union's collapse, characteristics of multilateral cooperation related with Central Asian nations. Through consideration current situations I suggest prospects of security system in Central Asia.