• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
• /
• v.14 no.5
• /
• pp.920-931
• /
• 2011

Nerve agents are irreversible inhibitors of the cholinesterase enzyme. Exposure causes a progression of toxic signs, including hypersecretions, fasciculations, tremor, convulsions, respiratory distress, epileptiform seizures, brain injuries and death. A combined regimen of prophylaxis and therapy is the most effective medical countermeasure for dealing with the threat of nerve agent poisoning to military personnel. In this paper, the author investigated the updated technologies regarding various pre- and post-treatment drugs for nerve agents detoxification which are under development in several countries including Korea. Some characteristics of active ingredients in the formulations of drugs, their action mechanisms, and effectiveness were analyzed. Additionally, part of experimental data on the transdermal patch studied in ADD using beagle dogs was introduced.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.395-398
• /
• 2006

Nerve agents (sarin, tabun, soman and VX) are class of military important substances able to cause many severe intoxications during few minutes. Currently, the threat of misuse of these agents is daily discussed. Unfortunately, there is no single antidote able to treat intoxication caused by all of these agents. Owing to this fact, new generation of antidotes, especially acetylcholinesterase (AChE; EC 3.1.1.7) reactivators, is still developed. In this study, we have tested four newly developed AChE reactivators: 1-(4-hydroxyiminomethylpyridinium)- 5-(4-carbamoylpyridinium)-3-oxa-pentane dibromide (1), 1-(3-hydroxyiminomethylpyridinium)-5-(4-carbamoylpyridinium)-3-oxa-pentane dibromide (2), 1,5-bis(2-hydroxyiminomethylpyridinium)-3-oxa-pentane dichloride (3) and 1,5-bis(4-hydroxyiminomethylpyridinium)-3-oxa-pentane dibromide (4) for their potency to reactivate in vitro tabun and cyclosarin-inhibited AChE. Their reactivation efficacy was compared with currently the most promising oxime HI-6 (1-(2-hydroxyiminomethylpyridinium)-3-(4-carbamoylpyridinium)-2-oxa-propane dichloride). According to obtained results, two AChE reactivators 1 and 4 were able to reactivate tabun-inhibited AChE. On the contrary, there was no better AChE reactivator than HI-6 able to reactivate cyclosarin-inhibited AChE.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
• /
• v.31 no.6C
• /
• pp.651-657
• /
• 2006

This paper propose the technique for the execution authentication of digital signature with TTS(traceable trust server) to guarantee the safe execution of mobile agents. That is to say, it is focused on improving the processing speed of systems and the traffic of network which are problems in the existing studies. The digital signature is used to guarantee the efficient and safe execution and the integrity of mobile agents. The certificate of it is chained with synthesis function, cryptographic algorithm based on public key, and hash function. And white hosts can be protected against the threat of being used maliciously. Then, we prove the efficiency of system overhead and the traffic of network by the analysis. In case the certificate chain of a digital signature is used, the safe execution of mobile agents can be protected against attackers that wish to insert a newly created certificate after cutting off the chain after striking space key 2 times.

• Carbon letters
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.167-172
• /
• 2012

Most heavy metals are well-known toxic and carcinogenic agents and when discharged into wastewater represent a serious threat to the human population and the fauna and flora of the receiving water bodies. The present study aims to develop a procedure for Pb (II) removal. This procedure is based on using powdered activated carbon, which was prepared from walnut shells that were generated as plant wastes and modified with potassium carbonate and phosphoric acid as chemical agents. The main parameters, such as effect of pH, effect of sorbent dosage, Pb (II) concentrations, and various contact times influence the sorption process. The experimental results were analyzed by using Langmuir, Freundlich, Tempkin, and Dubinin-Radushkevich adsorption models. The kinetic study of Pb (II) on activated carbon from walnut shells was performed based on pseudo- first order and pseudo- second order equations. The data indicate that the adsorption kinetics follow the pseudo- second order rate. The procedure was successfully applied for Pb (II) removal from aqueous solutions.

• Carbon letters
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.115-120
• /
• 2012

Most heavy metals are well-known toxic and carcinogenic agents and when discharged into wastewater represent a serious threat to the human population and the fauna and flora of the receiving water bodies. The present study aims to develop a procedure for Pb(II) removal. The study was based on using powdered activated carbon, which was prepared from walnut shells generated as plant wastes and modified with potassium carbonate or phosphoric acid as chemical agents. The main parameters, such as effect of pH, effect of sorbent dosage, Pb(II) concentrations, and various contact times influence the sorption process. The experimental results were analyzed by using Langmuir, Freundlich, Tempkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich adsorption models. The kinetic study of Pb(II) on activated carbon from walnut shells was performed based on pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order equations. The data indicate that the adsorption kinetics follow the pseudo-second order rate. The procedure was successfully applied for Pb(II) removal from aqueous solutions.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.204-217
• /
• 2020

In nature, plants are always under the threat of pests and diseases. Pathogenic bacteria are one of the major pathogen types to cause diseases in diverse plants, resulting in negative effects on plant growth and crop yield. Chemical bactericides and antibiotics have been used as major approaches for controlling bacterial plant diseases in the field or greenhouse. However, the appearance of resistant bacteria to common antibiotics and bactericides as well as their potential negative effects on environment and human health demands bacteriologists to develop alternative control agents. Bacteriophages, the viruses that can infect and kill only target bacteria very specifically, have been demonstrated as potential agents, which may have no negative effects on environment and human health. Many bacteriophages have been isolated against diverse plant-pathogenic bacteria, and many studies have shown to efficiently manage the disease development in both controlled and open conditions such as greenhouse and field. Moreover, the specificity of bacteriophages to certain bacterial species has been applied to develop detection tools for the diagnosis of plant-pathogenic bacteria. In this paper, we summarize the promising results from greenhouse or field experiments with bacteriophages to manage diseases caused by plant-pathogenic bacteria. In addition, we summarize the usage of bacteriophages for the specific detection of plant-pathogenic bacteria.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.429-438
• /
• 2020

The emergence of multi-drug resistant, pathogenic methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a threat to global health and has created a need for novel functional therapeutic agents. In this study, we evaluated the underlying mechanisms of the anti-MRSA effect of an azaphilone pigment, sclerotiorin (SCL) from Penicillium sclerotiorum. The antimicrobial activity of SCL was evaluated using agar disc diffusion, broth microdilution, time-kill assays and biophysical studies. SCL exhibits selective activity against Gram positive bacteria including MRSA (range, MIC = 128-1028 ㎍/ml) and exhibited rapid bactericidal action against MRSA with a > 4 log reduction in colony forming units within three hours of administration. Biophysical studies, using fluorescent probes and laser or electron microscopy, demonstrated a SCL dose-dependent alternation in membrane potential (62.6 ± 5.0.4% inhibition) and integrity (> 95 ± 2.3%), and the release of UV260 absorbing materials within 60 min (up to 3.2 fold increase, p < 0.01) of exposure. Further, SCL localized to the cytoplasm and hydrolyzed plasmid DNA. While in vitro checkerboard studies revealed that SCL potentiated the antimicrobial activity of topical antimicrobials such as polymixin, neomycin, and bacitracin (Fractional Inhibitory Concentration Index range, 0.26-0.37). Taken together these results suggest that SCL targets the membrane and DNA of MRSA to facilitate its anti-MRSA antimicrobial effect.

• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.5.1-5.13
• /
• 2023

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a Gram-negative aerobic diplococcus bacterium that primarily causes sexually transmitted infections through direct human sexual contact. It is a major public health threat due to its impact on reproductive health, the widespread presence of antimicrobial resistance, and the lack of a vaccine. In this study, we used a bioinformatics approach and performed subtractive genomic methods to identify potential drug targets against the core proteome of N. gonorrhoeae (12 strains). In total, 12,300 protein sequences were retrieved, and paralogous proteins were removed using CD-HIT. The remaining sequences were analyzed for non-homology against the human proteome and gut microbiota, and screened for broad-spectrum analysis, druggability, and anti-target analysis. The proteins were also characterized for unique interactions between the host and pathogen through metabolic pathway analysis. Based on the subtractive genomic approach and subcellular localization, we identified one cytoplasmic protein, 2Fe-2S iron-sulfur cluster binding domain-containing protein (NGFG RS03485), as a potential drug target. This protein could be further exploited for drug development to create new medications and therapeutic agents for the treatment of N. gonorrhoeae infections.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.105-120
• /
• 2000

The objective of this paper is to show how team study can be advanced with the aid of a current computer technology, that is distributed Artificial Intelligence(DAI). Studying distributed problem solving by using groups of artificial agents, DAI can provide important ideas and techniques for the study of team behaviors like team decision making. To demonstrate the usefulness of DAI models as team research tools, a DAI model called 'Team-Soar' was built and a simulation experiment done with the model was introduced, Here, Team-Soar models a naval command and control team consisting of four members whose mission was to identify the threat level of aircraft. The simulation experiment was performed to examine the relationships of team decision scheme and member incompetence with team performance. Generally, the results of the Team-Soar simulation met expectations and confirmed previous findings in the literature. For example, the results support the existence of main and interaction effects of team decision scheme and member competence on team performance. Certain results of the Team-Soar simulation provide new insights about team decision making, which can be tested against human subjects or empirical data.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.47 no.4
• /
• pp.341-346
• /
• 2014

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), also termed prion diseases, are a threat to food safety and to human and animal health. Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans is caused by the consumption of meat contaminated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, mad cow disease). The BSE epidemic in the United Kingdom was shown to be related with the extensive use of BSE-contaminated meat-and-bone meal (MBM) and bovine offal. Many countries worldwide use MBM, as well as meat from cows, for aquaculture feed. This raises concerns about the safety of farmed fish, a major protein source for humans. The present work reviews recent studies on fish prion protein and the transmissibility of mammalian prion agents to fish, providing insights into the future direction of fish prion research.