• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.45 no.6
• /
• pp.1114-1119
• /
• 2012

This study was conducted to assess the microbial toxicity of ionic silver solution ($Ag^+N$) and silver nanoparticle suspension ($Ag^0NP$) based on the Microtox bioassay. In this test, the light inhibition of luminescent bacteria was measured after 15 and 30 min exposure to aqueous solutions and soils spiked with a dilution series of $Ag^+N$ and $Ag^0NP$. The resulting dose-response curves were used to derive effective concentration (EC25, $EC_{50}$, EC75) and effective dose ($ED_{25}$, $ED_{50}$, $ED_{75}$) that caused a 25, 50 and 75% inhibition of luminescence. In aqueous solutions, $EC_{50}$ value of $Ag^+N$ after 15 min exposure was determined to be < $2mg\;L^{-1}$ and remarkably lower than $EC_{50}$ value of $Ag^0NP$ with $251mg\;L^{-1}$. This revealed that $Ag^+N$ was more toxic to luminescent bacteria than $Ag^0NP$. In soil extracts, however, $ED_{50}$ value of $Ag^+N$ with 196 mg kg-1 was higher than $ED_{50}$ value of $Ag^0NP$ with $104mg\;kg^{-1}$, indicating less toxicity of $Ag^+N$ in soils. The reduced toxicity of $Ag^+N$ in soils can be attributed to a partial adsorption of ionic $Ag^+$ on soil colloids and humic acid as well as a partial formation of insoluble AgCl with NaCl of Microtox diluent. This resulted in lower concentration of active Ag in soil extracts obtained after 1 hour shaking with $Ag^+N$ than that spiked with $Ag^0NP$. With longer exposure time, EC and ED values of both $Ag^+N$ and $Ag^0NP$ decreased, so their toxicity increased. The toxic characteristics of silver nanomaterials were different depending on existing form of Ag ($Ag^+$, $Ag^0$), reaction medium (aqueous solution, soil), and exposure time.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.305-312
• /
• 2007

It was the investigated the response to metalaxyl of Phytophthora capsici isolates collected in 2005 and 2006. With effective concentrations ($EC_{50}$) of metalaxyl causing 50% growth inhibition, resistance baseline was determined as more than $1.0\;{\mu}g\;mL^{-1}$. Based on the resistance baseline, isolation frequency (%) of P. capsici resistant to metalaxyl was 29.0% and 218% in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Among the isolates of P. capsici obtained in 2006, the isolation was variable; 33.3% in Chungnam, 26.3% in Chungbuk and 11.1% in Gyeongbuk. Two isolates of metalaxyl-sensitive (MS) and too isolates of metalaxyl-resistant (MR) P. capsici were selected and then used to investigate the activity of metalaxyl to their development stages. Even though there was a difference in mycelial growth inhibition by metalaxyl between MS and MR isolates, the fungicide was not active or nearly to sporangium germination, zoospore release, and zoospore germination of both MS and MR isolates. However, the fungicide showed weak activity against sporangium germination and zoospore release of P. capsici, not related with its resistance. Also, it was not inhibitory to zoospore germination of both resistant and sensitive isolates. In a greenhouse test, it showed 100% of control value against P. capsici 06-86 sensitive to metalaxyl, when it was applied by soil-drenching at $25\;{\mu}g\;mL^{-1}$. However, 06-130 and 16-155 resistant to metalaxyl showed less than 20% of control value.

• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.297-304
• /
• 2007

For large and rapid screening of high-yielding mutants of lovastatin produced by filamentous fungal cells of Aspergillus terreus, one of the most important stage is to test as large amounts of mutated strains as possible. For this purpose, we intended to develop a miniaturized cultivation method using $7m{\ell}$ culture tube instead of traditional $250m{\ell}$ flask (working volume $50m{\ell}$). For obtaining large amounts of conidiospores to be used as inoculums for miniaturized cultures, 4 components i.e., glucose, sucrose, yeast extract and $KH_2PO_4$ were intensively investigated, which had been observed to show positive effect on enhancement of spore production through Plackett-Burman design experimet. When optimum concentrations of these components that were determined through application of response surface method (RSM) based on central composite design (CCD) were used, maximum spore numbers amounting to $1.9\times10^{10}$ spores/plate were obtained, resulting in approximately 190 fold increase as compared to the commonly used PDA sporulation medium. Using the miniaturized cultures, intensive strain development programs were carried out for screening of lovastatin high-yielding as well as highly reproducible mutants. It was observed that, for maximum production of lovastatin, the producers should be activated through 'PaB' adaptation process during the early solid culture stage. In addition, they should be proliferated in condensed filamentous forms in miniaturized growth cultures, so that optimum amounts of highly active cells could be transferred to the production culture-tube as reproducible inoculums. Under these highly controlled fermentation conditions, compact-pelleted morphology of optimum size (less than 1 mm in diameter) was successfully induced in the miniaturized production cultures, which proved essential for maximal utilization of the producers' physiology leading to significantly enhanced production of lovastatin. As a result of continuous screening in the miniaturized cultures, lovastatin production levels of the 81% of the daughter cells derived from the high-yielding producers turned out to be in the range of 80%$\sim$120% of the lovastatin production level of the parallel flask cultures. These results demonstrate that the miniaturized cultivation method developed in this study is efficient high throughput system for large and rapid screening of highly stable and productive strains.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.62 no.4
• /
• pp.270-275
• /
• 2007

The QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay and tuberculin skin test (TST) have been useful test for diagnosing latent tuberculosis infections (LTBI). However, there are few reports on the efficacy of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay and TST in evaluating the response after the treatment of LTBI. This study examined the changes in the TST and QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay before and after a treatment for latent tuberculosis in health care workers (HCWs) at a local tertiary hospital. Methods: A cohort of volunteers working as nurses and doctors who underwent a TST and QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay was established. The volunteers positive for the QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay had been treated with 3 months of isoniazid (INH) and rifampin (RFP). After completing treatment, the TST and QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay were repeated. Results: Of the 48 participants (14 doctors, 34 nurses, M: F=11:37, mean $age=29.9{\pm}5.5$ years, mean employment $period=74.9{\pm}64.3$ months), 19 (39.6%) tested positive to the TST (mean induration=$19.1{\pm}9.7mm$) and 8 (16.7%) were QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay. Among them, one had active pulmonary tuberculosis. Seven volunteers were consistently positive to both the TST and QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay after being medicated with INH and RFP for 3 months. Conclusion: TST and QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay are unsuitable for evaluating the treatment response of LTBI because they were consistently positive both before and after the anti-tuberculosis medication.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.43-72
• /
• 2009

Recently, user-created content (UCC) have emerged as popular medium of on-line participation among users. The Internet environment has been constantly evolving, attracting active participation and information sharing among common users. This tendency is a significant deviation from the earlier Internet use as an one-way information channel through which users passively received information or contents from contents providers. Thanks to UCCs online users can now more freely generate and exchange contents; therefore, identifying the critical factors that affect content-generating activities has increasingly become an important issue. This paper proposes a set of critical factors for stimulating contents generation and sharing activities by Internet users. These factors were derived from the theories of folklores such as tales and songs. Based on some shared traits of folklores and UCC content, we found four critical elements which should be heeded in constructing UCC contents, which are: context of culture, context of situation, skill of generator, and response of audience. In addition, we selected three major UCC websites: a specialized contents portal, a general internet portal, and an official contents service site, They have different use environments, user interfaces, and service policies, To identify critical factors for generating, sharing and transferring UCC, we traced user activities, interactions and flows of content in the three UCC websites. Moreover, we conducted extensive interviews with users and operators as well as policy makers in each site. Based on qualitative and quantitative analyses of the data, this research identifies nine critical factors that facilitate contents generation and sharing activities among users. In the context of culture, we suggest voluntary community norms, proactive use of copyrights, strong user relationships, and a fair monetary reward system as critical elements in facilitating the process of contents generation and sharing activities. Norms which were established by users themselves regulate user behavior and influence content format. Strong relationships of users stimulate content generation activities by enhancing collaborative content generation. Particularly, users generate contents through collaboration with others, based on their enhanced relationship and specialized skills. They send and receive contents by leaving messages on website or blogs, using instant messenger or SMS. It is an interesting and important phenomenon, because the quality of contents can be constantly improved and revised, depending on the specialized abilities of those engaged in a particular content. In this process, the reward system is an essential driving factor. Yet, monetary reward should be considered only after some fair criterion is established. In terms of the context of the situation, the quality of contents uploading system was proposed to have strong influence on the content generating activities. Among other influential factors on contents generation activities are generators' specialized skills and involvement of the users were proposed. In addition, the audience response, especially effective development of shared interests as well as feedback, was suggested to have significant influence on contents generation activities. Content generators usually reflect the shared interest of others. Shared interest is a distinct characteristic of UCC and observed in all the three websites, in which common interest is formed by the "threads" embedded with content. Through such threads of information and contents users discuss and share ideas while continuously extending and updating shared contents in the process. Evidently, UCC is a new paradigm representing the next generation of the Internet. In order to fully utilize this innovative paradigm, we need to understand how users take advantage of this medium in generating contents, and what affects their content generation activities. Based on these findings, UCC service providers should design their websites as common playground where users freely interact and share their common interests. As such this paper makes an important first step to gaining better understand about this new communication paradigm created by UCC.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.94 no.4 s.161
• /
• pp.214-225
• /
• 2005

The mountain village development program in Korea started in the mountain villages, the 45.9% of total land and one of the typical marginal region, from 1995 to achieve the equilibrium development of national land and the sustainable mountain development in Chapter 13 in Agenda 21, and it has been accelerated to increase the happiness and the quality of life of mountain community residents through the expansion by province and the improvement of related laws and regulations. This study has been aimed to analyze the response of main stakeholder's -mountain village residents and local government officials - on mountain villages development, and to provide the future plan as community development. The survey and interview data were collected from the mountain villages which already developed 59 villages and developing 15 villages in 2003. The mountain village development program has achieved the positive aspects as community development plan in the several fields, - the voluntary participation of residents, the establishment of self-support spirit as the democratic civilians, the development of base of income increasement, the creation of comfortable living environment, the equilibrium development with the other regions. Especially the mountain residents and local government officials both highly satisfy with the development of base of income increasement and the creation of comfortable living environment which are the main concerns to both stakeholder. However through the mountain development program, it is not satisfied to increase the maintenance of local community and the strengthening of traditional value of mountain villages. Also to improve the sustainable income improvement effects, it is necessary to develop the income items and technical extension which good for the each region. In the decentralization era, it is necessary for local government should have the more active and multilateral activities for these. With this, the introduction of methods which the mountain community people and the local government officials could co-participate in the mountain villages' development from the initial stages and the renovation of related local government organizations and the cooperatives will be much helpful to the substantiality of mountain development program. Also it is essential for the assistance of central government to establish the complex plan and the mountain villages network for all mountain area and the exchange of information, the education and training of mountain villages leader who are the core factor for the developed mountain villages maintenance, the composition of national mountain villages representatives. In case the development proposals which based on the interests of the main stakeholder's on mountain community could be positively accepted, then the possibility of the mountain village development as one of community development will be successfully improved in future.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.293-307
• /
• 1975

As it has been known recently that anisakis type larvae harbouring in marine fishes are a causal agent of zoonosis to human and probably to land living mammal animals, attention was focused on the study on the larvae in an aspect of epidemiology or epizootiology. The present work was conducted from 1966 to 1975 for i) survey on the harbouring status of anisakis type larvae in marine fishes of this country, ii) observation on the response to the experimental infestation of the larvae to the pigs, in the reason that they could well fetid raw fish viscera occasionally containing the larvae as a high protein source of swine food, and iii) observation on the larval resistance and response to vermicidal agents for the purpose of prevention of the larval infection to the mammal animals. The data obtained in the studies were summarized as follows: 1. In the survey on the status of larvae harbouring in main species of marine fishes of this country, 15 species, a total of 1,940 fishes, were observed and the result was summarized in table 2. Average number of larvae, in upper rank of 5 out of all 15 species of fishes, were as highest as 156 larvae ranging 74 to 450 in Pseudosciaena manchurica (chamjogi), 54.5 ranging 15 to 240 in Trichiurus haumela (kalchi), 35.6 ranging 8 to 112 in Trachurus japonica (junggengi), 30.6 ranging 4 to 65 in Parapristipama trilineatum (benjari) and 20.5 ranging 3 to 48 in Nibea argentata (boguchi) respectively. In morphological observation, size of the larvae in the fishes were varied, ranging from 2 to 32mm long, and a tendency to larger size and number of larvae in the fishes, which were wider sea migration, higher age and lager bodily size, was observed The favorite places harbouring the larvae in fishes were mainly around the intraperitoneal viscera such as mesentery, omentum, liver, pyloric suspensory, fat tissue and cloaca, and rarely in body muscles of fish. Fishes heartily infested with the larvae showed stunted growth decreased egg formation and severe damage of liver. 2. In the experimental infestation of the larvae to normal pigs, as illustrated in table 3, a group with large dose of larvae (a total of 1,800 larvae, 300 larvae Per dose, twice in a dart for 3 days) showed acute clinical syndrome terminatine death with a week course, whereas two groups with less dose of larvae (a total of 180~360 larvae, 10 larvae per dose, at 5 days interval for 70~180 days) showed subclinical syndrome with remarkably stunted growth as. much as approximately one half of body size in contest to the control pigs. In the pathological findings, a group with large dose of larvae showed macroscopically larvae penetrating to the gastric wall with severe gastroenteritis, and histopathologically various acute lesions caused by active larvae penetration into the wall of stomach and interstine, whereas two groups with less dose of larvae showed chronic lesions such as hypertrophy and verminous granulomatous swelling of gastric wall, suggesting strongly the possibility of natural infestation of larvae to swine. 3. In the resistance of the larvae to the chemical solutions, the larvae tolerated for 2 days in 15 percent solution of sodium chloride and acetic acid, and for 7 days in 70 percent solution of ethyl alcohol. In the resistance to the temperature, the larvae died within 1 second at $62^{\circ}C$ and tolerated for 24 hours at $-3^{\circ}C$, 12 hours $-5^{\circ}C$ respectively. 4. For the experiment on the vermicidal effect to larvae, general vermicidal drugs such as Neguvon, Combantrin, antimony Potassium, piperazine adipate and piperazine dihydrochloride, oxidizer such as potassium permanganate and potassium chlorate, and dyes such as gentian violet and crystal violet were used, and among them, as illustrated in table 6, potassium permanganate was proved as the best. In the successive test for the practical use of potassium permanganate, vermicidal effect in seawater solution of potassium permanganate and common-water solution of potassium permanganate were compared, and then retested by dipping the fish viscera including the larvae into the two different solutions of potassium permanganate. The result through these tests indicated that 0.01 percent common water and sea-water solution of potassium permanganate could be apparently recommended as a preventive vermicidal solution, having 90 to 100 percent vermicidal effect by dipping for 12 to 24 hours even though sea-water solution of potassium permanganate had a tendency to slightly less effect than the common-water solution of potassium permanganate (Table 8).

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.269-289
• /
• 2010

In Summer 2008, a multidisciplinary survey was conducted onboard R/V Haeyang 2000 to understand plankton response to the three distinct physico-chemical settings that developed in the Ulleung Basin of the East Sea. Baseline settings of hydrographic conditions included the presence of the thin (<20 m) Tsushima Surface Water (TSW) on top of the Tsushima Middle Water (TMW). It extends from the Korea Strait to $37^{\circ}N$ along the $130^{\circ}E$ and then turns offshore and encompasses the relatively saline (T>$26^{\circ}C$, S>33.7) Ulleung Warm Eddy surface water centered at $36.5^{\circ}N$ and $131^{\circ}E$. A relatively colder and saline water mass appeared off the southeastern coast of Korea. It was accompanied by higher nutrient and chlorophyll-a concentrations, suggesting a coastal upwelling. Most of the offshore surface waters support low phytoplankton biomass (0.3 mg chl-a $m^{-3}$). A much denser phytoplankton biomass (1-2.3 mg $m^{-3}$) accumulated at the subsurface layer between 20-50 m depth. The subsurface chlorophyll-a maximum (SCM) layer was closely related to the nutricline, suggesting an active growth of phytoplankton at depth. The SCM developed at shallow depth (20-30 m) near the coast and deepened offshore (50-60 m). A fucoxanthin/zeaxanthin ratio was high in coastal waters while it was low in offshore waters, which indicated that diatoms dominate coastal waters while cyanobacteria dominate offshore waters. The community structure and biomass of phytoplanktonare closely related to nitrogen availability. Zooplankton biomass was higher in the coastal region than in the offshore region while species richness showed an opposite trend. Zooplankton community structure retained a coastal/offshore contrast. These suggest that summer hydrography is a stable structure, lasting long enough to allow a hydrography-specific plankton community to evolve.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.56 no.6
• /
• pp.781-797
• /
• 2023

Recently, there has been a rapid response from mineral-demanding countries for securing critical minerals in a high tech industries. Graphite, while overwhelmingly dominated by China in production, is changing in global supply due to the exponential growth in EV battery sector, with active exploration in East Africa. Rare earth elements are essential raw materials widely used in advanced industries. Globally, there are ongoing developments in the production of REEs from three main deposit types: carbonatite, laterite, and ion-adsorption clay types. While China's production has decreased somewhat, it still maintains overwhelming dominance in this sector. Recent changes over the past few years include the rapid emergence of Myanmar and increased production in Vietnam. Nickel has been used in various chemical and metal industries for a long time, but recently, its significance in the market has been increasing, particularly in the battery sector. Worldwide, nickel deposits can be broadly classified into two types: laterite-type, which are derived from ultramafic rocks, and ultramafic hosted sulfide-type. It is predicted that the development of sulfide-type, primarily in Australia, will continue to grow, while the development of laterite-type is expected to be promoted in Indonesia. This is largely driven by the growing demand for nickel in response to the demand for lithium-ion batteries. The global lithium ores are produced in three main types: brine lake (78%), rock/mineral (19%), and clay types (3%). Rock/mineral type has a slightly higher grade compared to brine lake type, but they are less abundant. Chile, Argentina, and the United States primarily produce lithium from brine lake deposits, while Australia and China extract lithium from both brine lake and rock/mineral sources. Canada, on the other hand, exclusively produces lithium from rock/mineral type. Vanadium has traditionally been used in steel alloys, accounting for approximately 90% of its usage. However, there is a growing trend in the use for vanadium redox flow batteries, particularly for large-scale energy storage applications. The global sources of vanadium can be broadly categorized into two main types: vanadium contained in iron ore (81%) produced from mines and vanadium recovered from by-products (secondary sources, 18%). The primary source, accounting for 81%, is vanadium-iron ores, with 70% derived from vanadium slag in the steel making process and 30% from ore mined in primary sources. Intermediate vanadium oxides are manufactured from these sources. Vanadium deposits are classified into four types: vanadiferous titanomagnetite (VTM), sandstone-hosted, shale-hosted, and vanadate types. Currently, only the VTM-type ore is being produced.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.46 no.5
• /
• pp.685-696
• /
• 1999

Background : Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a diffuse inflammatory and fibrosing process that occurs within the interstitium and alveolus of the lung with invariably poor prognosis. The major problem in management of IPF results from the variable rate of disease progression and the difficulties in predicting the response to therapy. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the short-term efficacy of steroid and immunosuppressive therapy for IPF and to identify the pre-treatment determinants of favorable response. Method : Twenty patients of IPF were included. Diagnosis of IPF was proven by thoracoscopic lung biopsy and they were presumed to have active progressive disease. The baseline evaluation in these patients included clinical history, pulmonary function test, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), and chest high resolution computed tomography (HRCT). Fourteen patients received oral prednisolone treatment with initial dose of 1mg/kg/day for 8 to 12 weeks and then tapering to low-dose prednisolone (0.25mg/kg/day). Six patients who previously had experienced significant side effects to steroid received 2mg/kg/day of oral cyclophosphamide with or without low-dose prednisolone. Follow-up evaluation was performed after 6 months of therapy. If patients met more than one of followings, they were considered to be responders : (1) improvement of more than one grade in dyspnea index, (2) improvement in FVC or TLC more than 10% or improvement in DLco more than 20% (3) decreased extent of disease in chest HRCT findings. Result : One patient died of extrapulmonary cause after 3 month of therapy, and another patient gave up any further medical therapy due to side effect of steroid. Eventually medical records of 18 patients were analyzed. Nine of 18 patients were classified into responders and the other nine patients into nonresponders. The histopathologic diagnosis of the responders were all nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) and that of nonresponders were all usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) (p<0.001). The other significant differences between the two groups were female predominance (p<0.01), smoking history (p<0.001), severe grade of dyspnea (p<0.05), lymphocytosis in BAL fluid ($23.8{\pm}16.3%$ vs $7.8{\pm}3.6%$, p<0.05), and less honeycombing in chest HRCT findings (0% vs $9.2{\pm}2.3%$, p<0.001). Conclusion : Our results suggest that patients with histopathologic diagnosis of NSIP or lymphocytosis in BAL fluid are more likely to respond to steroid or immunosuppressive therapy. Clinical results in large numbers of IPF patients will be required to identify the independent variables.