• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.531-543
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• 2018

Historically, Plasmodium vivax malaria has been one of the most highly endemic parasitic diseases in the Korean Peninsula. Until the 1970s, vivax malaria was rarely directly lethal and was controlled through the Korean Government Program administered by the National Malaria Eradication Service in association with the World Health Organization's Global Malaria Eradication Program. Vivax malaria has re-emerged in 1993 near the Demilitarized Zone between South and North Korea and has since become an endemic infectious disease that now poses a serious public health threat through local transmission in the Republic of Korea. This review presents major lessons learned from past and current malaria research, including epidemiological and biological characteristics of the re-emergent disease, and considers some interesting patterns of diversity. Among other features, this review highlights temporal changes in the genetic makeup of the parasitic population, patient demographic features, and spatial distribution of cases, which all provide insight into the factors contributing to local transmission. The data indicate that vivax malaria in Korea is not expanding exponentially. However, continued surveillance is needed to prevent future resurgence.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.949-955
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• 2021

Previously, our research group isolated Bifidobacterium breve IDCC4401 from infant feces as a potential probiotic. For this study, we evaluated the safety of B. breve IDCC4401 using genomic and phenotypic analyses. Whole genome sequencing was performed to identify genomic characteristics and investigate the potential presence of genes encoding virulence, antibiotic resistance, and mobile genetic elements. Phenotypic analyses including antibiotic susceptibility, enzyme activity, production of biogenic amines (BAs), and proportion of D-/L-lactate were evaluated using E-test, API ZYM test, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and D-/L-lactic acid assay respectively. The genome of B. breve IDCC4401 consists of 2,426,499 bp with a GC content of 58.70% and 2,016 coding regions. Confirmation of the genome as B. breve was provided by its 98.93% similarity with B. breve DSM20213. Furthermore, B. breve IDCC4401 genes encoding virulence and antibiotic resistance were not identified. Although B. breve IDCC4401 showed antibiotic resistance against vancomycin, we confirmed that this was an intrinsic feature since the antibiotic resistance gene was not present. B. breve IDCC4401 showed leucine arylamidase, cystine arylamidase, α-galactosidase, β-galactosidase, and α-glucosidase activities, whereas it did not show production of harmful enzymes such as β-glucosidase and β-glucuronidase. In addition, B. breve IDCC4401 did not produce any tyramine, histamine, putrescine, cadaverine, or 2-phenethylamine, which are frequently detected BAs during fermentation. B. breve IDCC4401 produced 95.08% of L-lactate and 4.92% of D-lactate. Therefore, our findings demonstrate the safety of B. breve IDCC 4401 as a potential probiotic for use in the food industry.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.306-309
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• 2022

Probiotics are live microorganisms that confer health benefits onto the host when administered at adequate doses. Most widely used probiotics, such as lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, are known to be elements of healthy gut microflora and hence are not considered a threat to the host. However, probiotics may pose a risk in certain populations with compromised immune systems or defects in gut barrier functions. Herein, we evaluated the safety of Bifidobacterium breve BB077, according to the safety evaluation guidelines for probiotics produced by the National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation (NIFDS). The results show that B. breve BB077 is both non-hemolytic and non-cytolytic. In contrast, B. breve BB077 exhibited higher streptomycin and tetracycline resistance than the suggested NIFDS standard cut-off values. Hence, a genetic analysis of the streptomycin and tetracycline resistance genes was performed to determine the origin of antimicrobial resistance. Streptomycin and tetracycline resistance was shown have arisen from chromosomal mutations and considered intrinsic to the taxonomic group. In conclusion, the B. breve BB077 strain might be safe for human consumption.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.49-56
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• 2022

Tuned mass damper (TMD) is widely used to reduce dynamic responses of structures subjected to earthquake loads. A smart tuned mass damper (STMD) was proposed to increase control performance of a traditional passive TMD. A lot of research was conducted to investigate the control performance of a STMD based on analytical method. Experimental study of evaluation of control performance of a STMD was not widely conducted to date. Therefore, seismic response reduction capacity of a STMD was experimentally investigated in this study. For this purpose, a STMD was manufactured using an MR (magnetorheological) damper. A simple structure presenting dynamic characteristics of spacial roof structure was made as a test structure. A STMD was made to control vertical responses of the test structure. Two artificial ground motions and a resonance harmonic load were selected as experimental seismic excitations. Shaking table test was conducted to evaluate control performance of a STMD. Control algorithms are one of main factors affect control performance of a STMD. In this study, a groundhook algorithm that is a traditional semi-active control algorithm was selected. And fuzzy logic controller (FLC) was used to control a STMD. The FLC was optimized by multi-objective genetic algorithm. The experimental results presented that the TMD can effectively reduce seismic responses of the example structures subjected to various excitations. It was also experimentally shown that the STMD can more effectively reduce seismic responses of the example structures conpared to the passive TMD.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.311-316
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• 2011

Pepper powdery mildew causes increasingly economical damage due to increased cultivation of pepper in greenhouses. To assess resistance of pepper resources against pepper powdery mildew, we developed a novel evaluation formula for pepper resistance against powdery mildew. The evaluation formula named S index is as follows; (number of the highest disease leaf/top leaf number)-(number of the lowest disease leaf/top leaf number). Positive correlation (81%, P = 0.01) between S index and authentic disease leaf rate was observed from the pepper plants infected by powdery mildew. Various pepper species from our genetic resources were evaluated to identify pepper varieties conferring resistance against powdery mild using S-index. Capsicum frutescens accessions 3CA131 and C. baccatum accessions 3CA0162, 3CA174, 3CA176 showed high resistance to powdery mildew, but none of C. annuum was resistant. Results suggest that S-index proposed in this study is useful to assess resistance evaluation of powdery mildew in chili pepper breeding.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.9-19
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• 2014

The objective of this study was to evaluate of the Tank model in simulating runoff discharge from rural watershed in comparison to the SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model. The model parameters of SWAT was calibrated by the shuffled complex evolution-university Arizona (SCE-UA) method while Tank model was calibrated by genetic algorithm (GA) and validated. Four dam watersheds were selected as the study areas. Hydrological data of the Water Management Information System (WAMIS) and geological data were used as an input data for the model simulation. Runoff data were used for the model calibration and validation. The determination coefficient ($R^2$), root mean square error (RMSE), Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency index (NSE) were used to evaluate the model performances. The result indicated that both SWAT model and Tank model simulated runoff reasonably during calibration and validation period. For annual runoff, the Tank model tended to overestimate, especially for small runoff (< 0.2 mm) whereas SWAT model underestimate runoff as compared to observed data. The statistics indicated that the Tank model simulated runoff more accurately than the SWAT model. Therefore the Tank model could be a good tool for runoff simulation considering its ease of use.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2015.05a
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• pp.20-20
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• 2015

Endophytic fungi are microorganisms inhabiting living plant tissues without causing apparent harm to the host. They are drawing increasing attention due to their ability to produce various bioactive compounds as well as their effects on host growth and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. As a first step to assess biodiversity of plant associated fungi in Korea and the following evaluation on diverse biological activities, we are collecting endophytic fungi from plant in wild followed by systematic long-term storage in liquid nitrogen. Molecular identification using ITS sequences was also incorporated for pure culture by hyphal tip isolation. As of April 2015, about 1,400 fungal strains had been isolated from about 170 plant taxa. Fungal isolates belonging to Pleosporales, Diaporthales, Glomerellales, Hypocreales, and Xylariales were the most abundant. These collections are being used for several complementary researches, including screening of isolates with novel bioactive compounds or conferring drought stress resistance, phylogenetic and genomic study. Genome sequencing was performed for 3 isolates, one Xylaria sp. strain JS573 producing griseofulvin, an antifungal compound, and two Fusarium spp. strains JS626 and JS1030, which are assumed to be new species found in Korea. More detailed analysis on these genomes will be presented. These collections and genome informations will serve as invaluable resources for identifying novel bioactive materials in addition to expand our knowledge on fungal biodiversity.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.174-181
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• 2012

In this paper, the Flow Control Fin(FCF) optimization has been carried out using computational fluid dynamics(CFD) techniques. This study focused on evaluation for the performance of the FCF attached in the stern part of the ship. The main advantage of FCF is to enhance the resistance performance through the lift generation with a forward force component on the foil section, and the propulsive performance by the uniformity of velocity distribution on the propeller plane. This study intended to evaluate these functions and to find optimized FCF form for minimizing viscous resistance and equalizing wake distribution. Four parameters of FCF are used in the study, which were angle and position of FCF, longitudinal location, transverse location, and span length in the optimization process. KRISO 300K VLCC2(KVLCC2) was chosen for an example ship to demonstrate FCF for optimization. The optimization procedure utilized genetic algorithms (GAs), a gradient-based optimizer for the refinement of the solution, and Non-dominated Sorting GA-II(NSGA-II) for Multiobjective Optimization. The results showed that the optimized FCF could enhance the uniformity of wake distribution at the expense of viscous resistance.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.207-215
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• 2004

A finite element analysis is used in this study to model 6 kinds of electrode by a genetic program in order to evaluate the mechanical effect on the 3D human cochlea model and the behavior of electrode. Human cochlea is modeled by the spiral-approximation method and the shape of scala tympani is extracted from the mid section of the human cochlea. Contact pressure at the tip and the insertion force are found to be highest when the wires stack horizontally. Axial rotation of electrode is minimal comparing with the stimulating current spread. The results indicate that the electrode stiffness is important to minimize the trauma.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.82-92
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• 1997

In this paper, a fuzzy measure and integral-based model fnr interactive systems is proposed. The processes of model identification consists of the following three steps : (i) structure identification (ii) parameter identification and (iii) selection of an optimal model. An algorithm for the model structure identification using the well-known genetic algorithm ((;A) with a modified selection operator is proposed. A method for the identification of par;imetcrs corresponding to fuzzy measures is presented. A statistical model selection criterion is used for the selection of an optimal model among the candidates. Finally, experimental results obtained hy applying the proposed model to the subjective evaluation data set and the well-known time series data are presented to show the validity of the proposed model.