• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.56 no.6
• /
• pp.589-596
• /
• 2018

Ticks are the vectors of various pathogens, threatening human health and animal production across the globe. Here, for the first time we detected Ricketssia spp., Borrelia spp. and protozoan in ticks from Poyang Lake region in Jiangxi Province of eastern China. In 3 habitat categories and on 12 host species, 311 ticks from 11 species were collected. Haemaphysalis longicornis was the predominant species, accounting for 55.63%, followed by Rhipicephalus microplus, Haemaphysalis flava and Ixodes granulatus. Of the collected ticks, 7.07% were positive for tick-borne pathogens, and H. longicornis and H. flava were found to be co-infected with Ricketssia spp. and protozoan. H. flava was the most detected positive for tick-borne pathogens, whereas H. longicornis had the lowest infection rate, and the difference in infection rates between tick species was significant (${\chi}^2=61.24$, P<0.001). Furthermore, adult ticks demonstrated remarkably greater infection rate than immature ticks (${\chi}^2=10.12$, P=0.018), meanwhile ticks on Erinaceidae showed significantly higher positivity than ticks collected on other host species (${\chi}^2=108.44$, P<0.001). Genetic fragment sequencing and analyses showed at least 4 pathogen species presence in ticks, namely Borrelia yangtzensis, Rickettsia slovaca or Rickettsia raoultii related genospecies, Babesia vogeli and Hepatozoon canis or Hepatozoon felis related genospecies. The finding indicates that the abundant ticks can carry diverse pathogens in Poyang Lake region, and pathogen infection is highly related to species, vertebrate hosts and life stages of ticks.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
• /
• v.49 no.1
• /
• pp.46-60
• /
• 2022

The genetic variability and population structure of apple mosaic virus (ApMV) have been studied; however, synonymous codon usage patterns influencing the survival rates and fitness of ApMV have not been reported. Based on phylogenetic analyses of 52 ApMV coat protein (CP) sequences obtained from apple, pear, and hazelnut, ApMV isolates were clustered into two groups. High molecular diversity in GII may indicate their recent expansion. A constant and conserved genomic composition of the CP sequences was inferred from the low codon usage bias. Nucleotide composition and relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) analysis indicated that the ApMV CP gene is AU-rich, but G- and U-ending codons are favored while coding amino acids. This unequal use of nucleotides together with parity rule 2 and the effective number of codon (ENC) plots indicate that mutation pressure together with natural selection drives codon usage patterns in the CP gene. However, in this combination, selection pressure plays a more crucial role. Based on principal component analysis plots, ApMV seems to have originated from apple trees in Europe. However, according to the relative codon deoptimization index and codon adaptation index (CAI) analyses, ApMV exhibited the greatest fitness to hazelnut. As inferred from the results of the similarity index analysis, hazelnut has a major role in shaping ApMV RSCU patterns, which is consistent with the CAI analysis results. This study contributes to the understanding of plant virus evolution, reveals novel information about ApMV evolutionary fitness, and helps find better ApMV management strategies.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
• /
• v.27 no.11
• /
• pp.295-304
• /
• 2022

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influencing factors and mechanism of the characteristics of the live broadcast e-commerce platform and the characteristics of the host on the impulse purchase intention of live broadcast viewers. Based on the ELM model, this study complements existing research content. This study adopts the form of questionnaire survey and conducts empirical analysis using SPSS, AMOS, Mplus and other analysis software for online live broadcast users. The results show that the characteristics of live broadcast platforms have a positive impact on consumers' flow experience and satisfaction; the personal characteristics of anchors have a positive impact on consumers' flow experience and satisfaction; consumers' flow experience and satisfaction have a positive impact on impulse Purchase intention has a positive impact, and flow experience and satisfaction have a mediating effect on the characteristics of the live broadcast platform and the personal characteristics of the host.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.73-82
• /
• 2022

Driver acceptance of autonomous driving is very important. The autonomous driving longitudinal controller, which is one of the factors affecting acceptability, consists of a high-level controller and a low-level controller. The host controller decides the cruise control and the space control according to the situation and creates the required target speed. The sub-controller performs control by creating an acceleration signal to follow the target speed. In this paper, we propose an algorithm to improve the inter-vehicle distance fluctuations that occur in the cruise control and space control switching problems in the host controller. The proposed method is to add an approach algorithm to the cruise control at the time of switching from cruise control to space control so that it is switched to space control at the correct switching distance. Through this, the error was improved from 12m error to 4m, and actual vehicle verification was performed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.329-338
• /
• 2023

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) is a foodborne pathogen that produces attaching and effacing lesions on the large intestine and causes hemorrhagic colitis. It is primarily transmitted through the consumption of contaminated meat or fresh produce. Similar to other bacterial pathogens, antibiotic resistance is of concern for EHEC. Furthermore, since the production of Shiga toxin by this pathogen is enhanced after antibiotic treatment, alternative agents that control EHEC are necessary. This study aimed to discover alternative treatments that target virulence factors and reduce EHEC toxicity. The locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE) is essential for EHEC attachment to host cells and virulence, and most of the LEE genes are positively regulated by the transcriptional regulator, Ler. GrlA protein, a transcriptional activator of ler, is thus a potential target for virulence inhibitors of EHEC. To identify the GrlA inhibitors, an in vivo high-throughput screening (HTS) system consisting of a GrlA-expressing plasmid and a reporter plasmid was constructed. Since the reporter luminescence gene was fused to the ler promoter, the bioluminescence would decrease if inhibitors affected the GrlA. By screening 8,201 compounds from the Korea Chemical Bank, we identified a novel GrlA inhibitor named Grlactin [3-[(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)methyl]-4-(3-methylbut-2-en-1-yl)-4,5-dihydro-1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-one], which suppresses the expression of LEE genes. Grlactin significantly diminished the adhesion of EHEC strain EDL933 to human epithelial cells without inhibiting bacterial growth. These findings suggest that the developed screening system was effective at identifying GrlA inhibitors, and Grlactin has potential for use as a novel anti-adhesion agent for EHEC while reducing the incidence of resistance.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.7 no.5
• /
• pp.352-355
• /
• 1997

The promoter region of the pupA gene of Pseudomonas putida WCS358 was fused with the structural genes for bioluminescence (luxCDABE) from Vibrio fischeri, and the resulting fusion plasmid harbored by the WCS358 host. The pup-lux fusion gene was then used for quantitative analysis of the iron-dependence of pupA promoter activity. Factors affecting bioluminescence produced by the pup-lux bioreporter were found to be cell activity, iron-chelator concentrations, Fe(III) concentrations, and nutrient components. Light production rates of the pup-lux bioreporter were inversely dependent upon iron molecules when $FeCl_3$ concentrations were between $10^{-2}$ and 1 ${\mu}M$ in nutrient-poor minimal media, and between 0.1 and 10 mM in nutrient-rich complex media.

• Child Studies in Asia-Pacific Contexts
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.17-29
• /
• 2016

To help define future research direction and enhance educational service for children from Asian and Latino immigrant backgrounds, this review examines research investigating social competence with reference to host and heritage language skills. A targeted search obtained 14 peer-reviewed studies published from 1994 to 2014 focusing on children aged from birth to 12 years. Social competence is mainly measured by four dimensions: externalizing behaviours, internalizing behaviours, social skills and relationships with others. The evidence suggests that English proficiency levels are positively associated with social skills and parent-child relationships are of higher quality when parent-child heritage language difference is minimal. However the findings are mixed regarding how English levels are associated with externalizing, internalizing behaviours and relationships with others and how heritage language levels are associated with social competence. This review makes a set of recommendations for future research including assessment of participants' language proficiency with language tests and examination of emotional factors in the relationship between English and social competence. The implications of the findings are also discussed for educators.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
• /
• 2003.10a
• /
• pp.125.1-125
• /
• 2003

Pepper anthracnose is one of the major limiting factors in pepper production. Boring last over 10 years, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides has been known as the most prevalent species among five Colletotrichum spp. involved as anthracnose causing agents. Recently, however, the change of major species with pepper anthracnose has been proposed. Identification study was peformed on 12 test isolates collected from anthracnose disease symptoms on pepper during 2001-2002 and 25 reference isolates obtained from several other host plants. The identification of the isolates with morphological observation and IfS region sequence comparison resulted that 11 ones from 12 test isolates colleted from pepper anthracnose during 2001-2002 were identified as C. acutatum. PCR using species-specific primers designed from ITS region sequence suggested a rapid diagnosis method in identifying C. acutatum from C. gloeosporioides.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.79 no.4
• /
• pp.201-206
• /
• 2016

Active tuberculosis (TB) has a greater burden of TB bacilli than latent TB and acts as an infection source for contacts. Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is the state in which humans are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis without any clinical symptoms, radiological abnormality, or microbiological evidence. TB is transmissible by respiratory droplet nucleus of $1-5{\mu}m$ in diameter, containing 1-10 TB bacilli. TB transmission is affected by the strength of the infectious source, infectiousness of TB bacilli, immunoresistance of the host, environmental stresses, and biosocial factors. Infection controls to reduce TB transmission consist of managerial activities, administrative control, engineering control, environmental control, and personal protective equipment provision. However, diagnosis and treatment for LTBI as a national TB control program is an important strategy on the precondition that active TB is not missed. Therefore, more concrete evidences for LTBI management based on clinical and public perspectives are needed.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.398-403
• /
• 2007

The effectiveness of phage biocontrol depends on the activity of bacteriophage in a given environment. In order to investigate the infectivity and the stability of bacteriophages in representative environments, three virulent phages, Listeria phage A511, Salmonella phage Felix O1, and Escherichia coli phage T7, were subjected to different temperatures, pHs and salt concentrations (NaCl). Phage infectivity was also determined in the presence of divalent cations ($Mg^{2+}$ or $Ca^{2+}$). As a result, three phages exhibited a wide range of survival rates under various environments. Phage infectivity was directly correlated with bacterial growth under the applied conditions. One exception was Felix O1 that did not kill Salmonella grown in low pH (4.5). The failure was attributed to defective adsorption of Felix O1. This finding is significant as it provides an explanation for the inefficient phage biocontrol. Therefore, such information is crucial to improve phage biocontrol of pathogens.