Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging tick-borne zoonosis and SFTS virus is transmitted to humans by tick bites. The aim of this study was to monitor tick population and its SFTS virus infection. During March 2014 to October 2015, ticks were monthly sampled using dry-ice bait trap and flag method from 4 collecting points in Boeun-gun. A total of 16,500 ticks, including 14,646 Haemaphysalis longicornis (88.7%), 1,825 H. flava (11.1%), and 29 Ixodes nipponensis (0.2%), were collected. Ticks were pooled (5,156 ticks in 456 pools) and tested by RT-PCR and nested PCR and the minimum infection rate of ticks was 0.27% (14 pools) consisting of 0.13% H. longicornis (6 pools), 1.19% H. flava (8 pools). This annual surveillance study will be needed for long-term monitoring of ixodid ticks in Korea.

Trombiculid mites are known to be the vector of scrub typhus by transmitting rickettsial pathogen, Orientia tsutsugamushi, to human. In this study, we tried to establish a monitoring system for trombiculid mites using chigger mite collecting traps instead of the conventional rodent-capture method. For selection of collecting points, 10 environmental points were chosen from three regions (Taean, Jinan and Chungju) and two field collections were performed in spring (March-May) and autumn (October-November) seasons from 2013 to 2014. Among 10 environmental points, waterway (37.9%), grass field (28.0%), rice field and field near mountain side (11.4%) and reservoir/wet field (7.3%) showed high collecting rates and they should be included for the representative collecting points for surveillance using chigger mite collecting trap. In order to test the possibility that the dried chigger mites from collecting trap can be used for detection of O. tsutsugamushi, we pooled 30, 10 and 5 chigger mites separately and performed the nested PCR. The infection of O. tsutsugamushi was successfully detected from 5 chigger mites pooling sample. This study shows that chigger mite collecting trap could be an alternative method for monitoring system of scrub typhus vectors.

This paper aims to examine theoretical foundations of and empirical evidence for collaborative ESL writing pedagogy and suggest it as an alternative model to traditional approaches in writing instruction. The history of research on collaborative tasks in teaching writing is relatively short and it received explicit attention in the mid 1980s (Doheny-Farina, 1986; Odell, 1985). The need for research in collaborative writing in ESL/EFL classroom is justifiable from philosophical, psycholinguistic, pedagogic, and psychological points of view. A brief history, types, and essential elements of collaborative ESL writing instruction are presented. In an attempt to investigate how these rationales and elements are realized in actual pedagogic processes, a case study was conducted based on an observation of a collaborative task-based ESL writing class at a US university. Classes for a full thematic unit, consisting of eight hours, were observed. A variety of carefully designed collaborative activities implemented in the ESL writing class illustrated clear benefits of collaborative writing pedagogy. Pedagogical implications for writing classes in EFL contexts are also discussed.

A new oat (Avena sativa L.) cultivar 'Darkhorse' was developed by Honam Agricultural Research Institute (HARI) m2005. It was released because ofits earlmess, high forage yield potential and adaptability for late summer sowing. It was devel-oped from the a

A new oat (Avena sativa L.) cultivar, "Highspeed" was developed by Honam Agricultural Research Institute (HARI) in2005. It was released because of its earliness, high forage yield potential, and good adaptability for late summer sowing. "High-speed" was s