애플사는 미국에서 선풍적인 인기를 끈 iPhone 을 판매함에 있어, 미국의 주요 이동통신사 중 하나인 AT&T와 독점계약을 맺고 AT&T 가입자들만 iPhone을 사용할 수 있도록 하였는데, 이를 위하여 애플사는 소비자들이 iPhone을 통해 다른 이동통신사에 접속하는 것을 막고, 제3의 소프트웨어를 iPhone에 설치하는 것을 금지하고자 단말기에 기술적인 보호조치를 취하였다. 애플사의 이러한 행위는 저작권법 및 공정거래법 측면에서 법률적인 문제를 야기하고 있다. 먼저 저작권법적 측면에서, 기술적 보호조치를 법적으로 보호할 것인지에 관하여는 논란이 있어 왔지만, 미국 DMCA 제1201조는 이를 법적으로 보호하되 예외를 인정하고 있고, 우리나라 저작권법 및 온라인 콘텐츠 디지털산업 발전법은 기술적 보호조치 무력화 행위 그 자체에 대해서 규제하고 있지 않으나, 정당한 권리 없이 기술적 보호조치를 무력화하는 것을 주된 목적으로 하는 기술 등을 제공∙양도∙전송하는 등의 행위를 저작권 침해로 보아 처벌하고 있다. 따라서 iPhone을 구매한 소비자가 애플사가 설정한 기술적 보호조치를 우회하여 iPhone을 다른 이동통신사에서 작동되도록 하여 사용하는 행위를 우리 저작권법에서는 처벌할 수 없을 것이나, 이를 기술적 보호조치 무력화 행위 자체를 처벌하고 있는 컴퓨터프로그램보호법의 컴퓨터 프로그램이라고 본다면 동법 제30조 제1항의 규정에 의하여 처벌 받을 가능성이 있다. 그러나 위 규정단서에서는 일정한 경우 그 예외를 인정하고 있는데, 그 예외 중의 하나인“특정한 컴퓨터 외에는 사용할 수 없는 프로그램을 다른 컴퓨터에 사용할 수있도록 하기 위하여 필요한 범위 안에서의 변경”규정을 유추적용하여 합법적인 행위로 볼 수 있을 것이다. 또한 이러한 합법적인 이용행위를 위해서 기술적 보호조치를 우회하는 기술을 배포하거나 전송하는 행위 역시 합법이라고 보아야 할 것이다. 공정거래법적 측면에서, 미국에서는 단체소송이 제기되어 있고, 우리나라의 경우 독점규제 및 공정거래에 관한 법률 제59조에 따라 외형적으로는 정당한 지적재산권의 행사 같지만 실질적으로는 부당한 경쟁행위를 목적으로 한 경우에는 독점규제법의 규정이 적용되므로 애플사의 행위가 시장지배적 지위를 남용하여‘부당하게 거래상대방에게 불이익이 되는 거래 또는 행위를 강제하는 행위로서 다른 사업자의 사업활동을 어렵게 하는 행위’ 또는 ‘부당하게 소비자의 이익을 현저히 저해할 우려가 있는 행위’에 해당할 가능성이 있겠다. 그러나 휴대폰 단말기 제조업자의 경우 이동통신사로부터 보조금을 받아 단말기를 개발∙생산하고 있고, 독점계약으로 인해 기술 개발이 이루어지고 향상된 서비스가 제공되고 있는 휴대폰 단말기 및 이동통신 시장에 있어서 이러한 시장의 특성이 충분이 고려되어야 할 것이다.

This report describes the sex differentiation of the Korean rose bitterling, Rhodeus uyekii, from hatching to 170 days post-hatch (DPH) in relation to total length (TL), body weight (BW), and integral water temperature (IWT). The growth curve of TL from just hatching to 83 DPH was 5.144e0.045t (R² = 0.961; t, time), and that of BW was 2.398e0.086t (R² = 0.725). Primordial germ cells (PGCs) were observed at 17 DPH (7.9 mm TL, 3.74 mg BW, 374°C IWT), and thereafter began to protrude into the peritoneal cavity. At 21 DPH (9.2±0.14 mm TL, 4.8±0.07 mg BW, 462°C IWT), some PGCs contained condensed chromatin and oocyte were observed in meiotic prophase. In contrast to the ovaries, which grew gradually after sexual differentiation, testes began multiplying at 25 DPH (10.1 mm TL, 5.42 mg BW, 550°C IWT), when testicular differentiation was first identified, and multiplied continuously thereafter. At 33 DPH (11.2 mm TL, 10.5 mg BW, 726°C IWT), the developing testes contained spermatogonia that exhibited mitotic activity. No spermatocyte or sperm cell was observed until 83 DPH (18.9 TL, 48.2 mg BW, 1,826°C IWT). At 170 DPH (32.5 mm TL, 270.1 mg BW, 3,740°C IWT), which was the end point of this study, the mature ovaries showed germinal vesicle breakdown, while the mature testes contained observable spermatocytes and sperm cells. These results allow us to identify the sex differentiation type of the Korean rose bitterling as differentiated gonochoristic.

The THO/TREX complex mediates the transport of nascent mRNAs from the nucleus towards the cytoplasm in animals, and it has a role in small RNA-dependent processes in plants. Here we describe five mutant alleles of Arabidopsis thaliana THO2, whichencodes a core subunit of the plant THO/TREX complex. tho2 mutants present strong developmental defects resembling those in plants compromised in microRNA (miRNA) activity. In agreement, not only the levels of siRNAs, but also of mature miRNAs were reduced in tho2 mutants. As a consequence miRNA target mRNAs accumulated to higher levels than in wild type. Yeast two hybrid experiments showed that THO2 does not seem to interact with any of the known miRNA biogenesis components, implying a more indirect role of THOs in small RNA biogenesis. We also detected alterations in the splicing pattern of genes encoding Serine/Arginine-rich proteins in tho2 mutants, suggesting a previously unappreciated role of the THO/TREX complex in alternative splicing.

Discovery, identification, and informatics of low molecular weight peptide are extensively rising in the field of proteomics research. In this study, we analyzed protein profiles to discover peptide based biomarker for twelve different soybean seeds with three different agronomic types using surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS). For optimization of SELDI-TOF MS in soybean seed proteome analysis, four different extraction buffers were tested with urea solubilization buffer, thiourea/urea solubilization buffer, phenol extraction buffer, and modified trichloroacetic acid (TCA)/acetone precipitation/urea solubilization extraction buffer. Two different type of ProteinChip arrays, cation exchange (CM10) and anion exchange (Q10), applied to profile peptides. Among the four different extraction buffers, phenol extraction was selected to protein extraction methodology. Numbers of detected peak cluster in twelve soybean seeds were 125 at CM10 and 90 at Q10 array in the mass range from 2 to 40 kDa. Among them, 82 peak clusters at CM10 and 33 peak clusters at Q10 array showed significantly different peak clusters at p<0.00004 (CM10) and p<0.00005 (Q10) among twelve different soybean cultivars. Moreover, 29 peak clusters at CM10 and 17 peak clusters at Q10 array were detected in all cultivars as an ‘universally existed peptide’. In comparison with three different agronomic types, total of 55 peak clusters (CM10) and 23 peak clusters (Q10) were significantly different peak clusters at p<0.00004 and p<0.0001, respectively. In these probability levels, soybean seeds were well discriminated into different cultivar and different type with each other. Also we could find several specific peptide biomarkers for agronomic type.

We study on the dynamic interaction with a simulated physical-biological coupled model response to nutrient reduction scenario in Jinhae Bay. According to the low relative errors, high regression coefficients of COD and DIN, and realistic distribution in comparison to the observation, our coupled model could be applicable for assessing the marine ecosystem response to nutrient input reduction in Jinhae Bay. Due to the new construction and expansion of sewage treatment plant from our government, we reduce 50% nutrient inputs near Masan Bay and sewage treatment plant. COD achieves Level Ⅱ in Korea standard of the water quality from the middle of the Masan Bay to all around Jinhae Bay except the inner Masan Bay remaining at Level Ⅲ. When our experiment reduces 50% nutrient inputs near Masan Bay and Dukdong sewage treatment plant simultaneously, COD decreases to about 0.1-1.2 mg/L (128°30’~128°40’ E , 35°05’~35°11’ N). The COD from the middle of the Masan Bay to Jinhae Bay achieves Level Ⅱ.

Nitrifier consortium immobilized in polyvinyl alcohol was used for the removal of ammonia nitrogen from synthetic aquaculture water in the airlift bioreactor. At the aeration rate of 0.15 vvm and bead packing volume fraction of 20%, airlift bioreactor was operated effectively for a removal of ammonia nitrogen and for a stability of operation. Ammonia nitrogen removal rate by airlift bioreactor was continuously increased with decreasing hydraulic residence time. At the HRT(hydraulic residence time) of 0.3 hour, ammonia nitrogen removal rate was 84.3 g/㎥·d and the highest ammonia nitrogen removal rate was 130.8 g/㎥·d when HRT was 0.1 hour.