• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.104-114
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• 2023

In this study, the distribution, bait preference, hosts, symbionts, habitat status, and cytochrome c oxidase subunit-I sequences of the ant Linepithema humile were analyzed. This species habitat comprised approximately 1.5 km along stone crevices, flower gardens, roadsides, and container yards in the vicinity of Busan station, Korea. Feeding activity of this species was confirmed in 9 species of 7 families of plants. Which was approximately 14% of total flora (63 species of 37 families) in the studied area. Particularly, it was observed that Dendranthema indicum and Camellia japonica were the most frequently visited. Further, we verified that they interacted with four species of aphids. We identified 22 species of ants (17 genera, 4 subfamilies) inhabiting the Busan station area, including L. humile, Tetramorium tsushimae, Nylanderia flavipes and the alien species Paratrechina longicornis. In areas where L. humile was the dominant species, the habitat of local native ants was reduced by approximately 30%. Bait preference was ranked in the following order: jelly, water with glucose (25%), and yogurt, with the highest preference for baits containing sugar and protein. The 630-bp cytochrome c oxidase subunit-I sequences of the local L. humile populations were 99% identical to those of L. humile in the National Center for Biotechnology Information database, and the Argentine ants that invaded Korea had a sequence identical to that of other invasive populations from China, Japan, and New Zealand. As L. humile rapidly increases due to domestic adaptation, continuous monitoring and control strategy for eradication are needed to protect domestic biodiversity.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.109-113
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• 1969

Exeriments were carried out to determine the effect of age on the functional response of the predator, Podisus maculiventris reared on the different prey size of Hyphantria cunea in simple vial, twice at the 1st and 2nd generations of Hyphantria cunea. 1. Larvae ingested about 11.23, 18.4 and 20.7mg for each diet level (cf, table 1 to 3)in 2nd instar, 12.3, 23.37 and 28.3mg in 3rd instar, 18.17, 40.3 and 42.7mg in 4th instar, 51.7, 92.7 and 130.2mg in 5th instar for each diet level. 2. Adult males ingested about 528, 740, 545.1mg and females about 516.5, 627.5, 603.3mg in their whole life for each diet level. 3. The relationship between observed and predicted values, established by regression analysis was revealed as 0.80 to 0.91 in correlation coefficient.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.103-108
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• 1969

The present experiment was designed to learn the mortality (response per predator) of Hyphantria cunea and Podisus maculiventris, both reared in different ratios of densities in net cage. 1. Podisus maculiventris attacked about 94.6, 91.4 and 62.4% of the hosts at the ratio of densities, 200:10, 400:10 and 800:10 in each net cage in the lst generation. 2. Podisus maculiventris attacked about 96.3, 93.6 and 67% of the hosts at the ratio of densities, 200:10, 400:10 and 800:10 in each net cage in the 2nd generation. 3. About 98.7 and 98.4% of the hosts were pupated in the 1st and 2nd generations in the controlled group.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.55.1-55.12
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• 2023

Background: Peste des petits ruminants (PPR), caused by the PPR virus (PPRV), is an acute and fatal contagious disease that mainly infects goats, sheep, and other artiodactyls. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are considered the primary innate immune cells. Objectives: PBMCs derived from goats were infected with PPRV and analyzed to detect the relationship between PPRV replication and apoptosis or the inflammatory response. Methods: Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to identify PPRV replication and cytokines expression. Flow cytometry was conducted to detect apoptosis and the differentiation of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells after PPRV infection. Results: PPRV stimulated the differentiation of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells. In addition, PPRV induced apoptosis in goat PBMCs. Furthermore, apoptosis and the inflammatory response induced by PPRV could be suppressed by Z-VAD-FMK and Z-YVAD-FMK, respectively. Moreover, the virus titer of PPRV was attenuated by inhibiting caspase-1-dependent apoptosis and inflammation. Conclusions: This study showed that apoptosis and the inflammatory response play an essential role in PPR viral replication in vitro, providing a new mechanism related to the cell host response.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.51.1-51.20
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• 2022

Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, is an intracellular protozoan parasite, which is now present in most industrialized countries. About 40% of T. cruzi infected individuals will develop severe, incurable cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, or neurological disorders. The molecular mechanisms by which T. cruzi induces cardiopathogenesis remain to be determined. Previous studies showed that increased IL-6 expression in T. cruzi patients was associated with disease severity. IL-6 signaling was suggested to induce pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic responses, however, the role of this pathway during early infection remains to be elucidated. We reported that T. cruzi can dysregulate the expression of host PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) during early infection. Here, we aim to evaluate the dysregulation of IL-6 signaling and the piRNAs computationally predicted to target IL-6 molecules during early T. cruzi infection of primary human cardiac fibroblasts (PHCF). Using in silico analysis, we predict that piR_004506, piR_001356, and piR_017716 target IL6 and SOCS3 genes, respectively. We validated the piRNAs and target gene expression in T. cruzi challenged PHCF. Secreted IL-6, soluble gp-130, and sIL-6R in condition media were measured using a cytokine array and western blot analysis was used to measure pathway activation. We created a network of piRNAs, target genes, and genes within one degree of biological interaction. Our analysis revealed an inverse relationship between piRNA expression and the target transcripts during early infection, denoting the IL-6 pathway targeting piRNAs can be developed as potential therapeutics to mitigate T. cruzi cardiomyopathies.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.69-89
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• 2019

Recently, consumers are increasingly interested in the sharing economy, which utilizes various resources by sharing unused or under-used products/services with others. This study focuses on Airbnb, a representative sharing economy platform, to identify the success factors of the sharing accommodation services. The key properties of sharing accommodation services are extensively surveyed from extant literature and are classified them into the three important factors (economic, convenience, and trust) that influence the success of room-sharing services. The research data include 1,673 Airbnb hosts who offered accommodations in New York City, USA, in June 2018. The research variables of economic-, convenience-, and trust-related factors are utilized in the empirical analyses. The results of this study show that the number of available facilities, flexibility of refunds, the response rate and time to customer requests, and the status of Super host are positively associated with guest satisfaction from sharing accommodation services. This study bears significant managerial implications by suggesting a set of practical guidelines to participants in sharing accommodation services.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.242-248
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• 2016

Thymic atrophy is a complication that results from exposure to many environmental stressors, disease treatments, and microbial challenges. Such acute stress-associated thymic loss can have a dramatic impact on the host's ability to replenish the necessary naïve T cell output to reconstitute the peripheral T cell numbers and repertoire to respond to new antigenic challenges. We have previously reported that treatment with the orexigenic hormone ghrelin results in an increase in the number and proliferation of thymocytes after dexamethasone challenge, suggesting a role for ghrelin in restraint stress-induced thymic involution and cell apoptosis and its potential use as a thymostimulatory agent. In an effort to understand how ghrelin suppresses thymic T cell apoptosis, we have examined the various signaling pathways induced by receptor-specific ghrelin stimulation using a restraint stress mouse model. In this model, stress-induced apoptosis in thymocytes was effectively blocked by ghrelin. Western blot analysis demonstrated that ghrelin prevents the cleavage of pro-apoptotic proteins such as Bim, Caspase-3, and PARP. In addition, ghrelin stimulation activates the Akt and Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) signaling pathways in a time/dose-dependent manner. Moreover, we also revealed the involvement of the FoxO3a pathway in the phosphorylation of Akt and ERK1/2. Together, these findings suggest that ghrelin inhibits apoptosis by modulating the stress-induced apoptotic signal pathway in the restraint-induced thymic apoptosis.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.91 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 2024

This paper formulates a new integral shear deformation shell theory to investigate the free vibration response of carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced structures with only four independent variables, unlike existing shell theories, which invariably and implicitly induce a host of unknowns. This approach guarantees traction-free boundary conditions without shear correction factors, using a non-polynomial hyperbolic warping function for transverse shear deformation and stress. By introducing undetermined integral terms, it will be possible to derive the motion equations with a low order of differentiation, which can facilitate a closed-form solution in conjunction with Navier's procedure. The mechanical properties of the CNT reinforcements are modeled to vary smoothly and gradually through the thickness coordinate, exhibiting different distribution patterns. A comparison study is performed to prove the efficacy of the formulated shell theory via obtained results from existing literature. Further numerical investigations are current and comprehensive in detailing the effects of CNT distribution patterns, volume fractions, and geometrical configurations on the fundamental frequencies of CNT-reinforced nanocomposite shells present here. The current shell theory is assumed to serve as a potent conceptual framework for designing reinforced structures and assessing their mechanical behavior.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.498-511
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• 2024

Bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum is a destructive disease that affects potato production, leading to severe yield losses. Currently, little is known about the changes in the assembly and functional adaptation of potato rhizosphere microbial communities during different stages of R. solanacearum infection. In this study, using amplicon and metagenomic sequencing approaches, we analyzed the changes in the composition and functions of bacterial and fungal communities in the potato rhizosphere across four stages of R. solanacearum infection. The results showed that R. solanacearum infection led to significant changes in the composition and functions of bacterial and fungal communities in the potato rhizosphere, with various microbial properties (including α,β-diversity, species composition, and community ecological functions) all being driven by R. solanacearum infection. The relative abundance of some beneficial microorganisms in the potato rhizosphere, including Firmicutes, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, and Mortierella, decreased as the duration of infection increased. Moreover, the related microbial communities played a significant role in basic metabolism and signal transduction; however, the functions involved in soil C, N, and P transformation weakened. This study provides new insights into the dynamic changes in the composition and functions of potato rhizosphere microbial communities at different stages of R. solanacearum infection to adapt to the growth promotion or disease suppression strategies of host plants, which may provide guidance for formulating future strategies to regulate microbial communities for the integrated control of soil-borne plant diseases.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.32 no.2A
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• pp.152-161
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• 2007

IEEE 802.11 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) became a prevailing technology for the broadband wireless Internet access, and new applications such as Voice over WLAM (VoWLAN) are fast emerging today. For the battery-powered VoWLAN devices, the standby time extension is a key concern for the market acceptance while today's 802.11 is not optimized for such an operation. In this paper, we propose a novel Idle Mode operation, which comprises paging, idle handoff, and delayed handoff. Under the idle mode operation, a Mobile Host (MH) does not need to perform a handoff within a predefined Paging Area (PA). Only when the MH enters a new PA, an idle handoff is performed with a minimum level of signaling. Due to the absence of such an idle mode operation, both IP paging and Power Saving Mode (PSM) have been considered the alternatives so far even though they are not efficient approaches. We implement our proposed scheme in order to prove the feasibility. The implemented prototype demonstrates that the proposed scheme outperforms the legacy alternatives with respect to energy consumption, thus extending the standby time.