A seasonal chigger-borne disease surveillance program was established at Geoje in March, April, October, and November, 2023. Three species of 45 wild rodents were collected by using Sherman traps, including Apodemus agrarius (Species Ratio; SR 88.9%), Crocidura spp. (SR 8.9%), Micromys minutus (SR 2.2%) in Geoje, 2023. A total of 2,597 chiggers were collected from three species of the rodents in Geoje. The chigger mites were collected from A. agrarius (Chigger Index; CI 64.9) and C. spp. (CI 0.3) for Geoje. In the collection environments, a total number of 734, 659, 172, 520, and 512 chiggers were collected from a reservoir, a ditch, a rice paddy, a field, and a hill, respectively. In the results of the isolation of Orientia tsutsugamushi from the chigger mites, no pathogens were detected from the DNA of the 62 pools of the mites using a Polymerase Chain Reaction method in 2023.

The vector mosquito surveillance is important when recommending prevention and control measures. The surveillance of the vectors were conducted at a total of 7 locations with light emitting diode (LED traps) and BG-Sentinel traps from March to November, 2023 in Gyeongnam province. In the surveillance, a total of 13 species belonging to seven genera were collected in a total of 6,537 females and 51.9/trap/night (Trap Index; TI) in 2023. Among the collection sites, Gangseo-gu at the pigsty in Busan with a LED trap recorded the highest TI 60.6 (Species Ratio; SR 65.6%) for Culex tritaeniorhynchus females in 2023. Each one of Cx. tritaeniorhynchus female was firstly collected for 2023 at Eulsukdo in Busan at 22th March. In the results of isolation of viral RNA, Flavivirus were positive in one pool (Chaoyang virus; 30 individuals) of Aedes vexans and negative in 341 pools (4,152 individuals) of 12 mosquito species including Cx. tritaeniorhynchus, Cx. pipiens, Aedes vexans, Ae. albopictus, and Ochlerotatus togoi in 2023.

A tick survey was conducted to monitor ticks using tick traps attached dry ice method at each four sites in Ulju and Gimhae counties, Gyeongsangnam-do from April to November, 2023. Two species belonging to one genera were collected with tick traps. A total of 1,064 ticks were collected as Haemaphysalis longicornis (Trap Index; TI 11.0), Haemaphysalis flava (TI <0.1) in Ulju and A total of 843 ticks were collected as Haemaphysalis longicornis (Trap Index; TI 8.7), Haemaphysalis flava (TI 0.1) in Gimhae 2023. Haemaphysalis longicornis was the most frequently collected, representing 99.2% in Ulju, 98.9% in Gimhae. In the collection environments, a total number of 685, 268, 64, and 47 ticks were collected from a glassland, a copse, a mountain path, and a grave of Ulju a total number of 469, 216, 83, and 75 ticks were collected from a glassland, a copse, a Grave, and a mountain path of Gimhae respectively. In the results of the isolation of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) from the ticks, no pathogens were detected from RNA of 101 pools (Ulju), 98 pools (Gimhae) of the ticks using a Polymerase Chain Reaction method in 2023.

목적 : 항산화 기능을 가지는 하이드로겔 콘택트렌즈(Hy)를 제조하기 위해 갈릭산(Gallic acid: GA)을 Hy에 상 분리 없이 도입시키는 방법에 관해 연구하고, 갈릭산이 첨가된 렌즈의 물리적 특성 및 항산화 효과를 살펴보고 자 한다. 방법 : 하이드로겔 콘택트렌즈는 실험실에서 열중합방법으로 제조하였다. 갈릭산과의 결합을 위해 사용된 Chitosan(Cs) 은 100~300 kDa(CL), 600~800 kDa(CH) 분자량을 가진 두 종류를 사용하였으며, Hy에 IPN(Interpenetrating polymer network) 방법으로 첨가하였다. 광 투과율은 300~800 nm 파장 범위에서 측정하였으며, 함수율은 중량 법으로 측정하였다. 키토산과 갈릭산 간의 amide bonding은 FT-IR을 이용하여 확인하였으며, 첨가된 갈릭산의 양 은 298 nm에서 측정한 UV 흡광도 값으로 정량하였다. 렌즈의 항산화 효과는 DPPH radical 소거능 분석 방법을 사용하였다. 결과 : 광 투과율은 Hy에서 95%, Hy-CL-GA와 Hy-CH-GA에서 91%를 보였다. 함수율은 Hy에서 50.5±1.2%, Hy-CL-GA에서 52.4±0.7%, Hy-CH-GA에서 55.6±0.6%로 나타났다. 렌즈에 결합된 갈릭산의 양은 Hy-CLGA와 Hy-CH-GA에서 0.30, 0.37 mmol/cm2로 각각 나타났으며, 항산화 효과는 Hy-CL-GA에서 48.23%, Hy- CH-GA에서는 58.32%로 나타나 갈릭산을 첨가한 두 렌즈에서 매우 높은 항산화 기능을 확인할 수 있었다. 결론 : 키토산과 갈릭산을 활용하여 광 투과율과 함수율이 높고 항산화 효과를 가진 기능성 하이드로겔 콘택트 렌즈를 제조하였다. 렌즈에 결합된 갈릭산의 양이 증가함에 따라 함수율과 항산화 효과가 증가하였다. 콘택트렌즈 에 다당류와 폴리페놀류의 화합물을 첨가하는 방법을 제시함으로써 단백질 억제, 습윤성 향상, 항산화 기능 등을 함유한 다 기능성 렌즈 제조에 기여할 것으로 본다.

Platycodon grandiflorum is a perennial flowering plant, known as Chinese bell flower, widespread in northeast Asia. The roots of this species are used for centuries to treat diseases, and have extensive pharmacological effects such as reducing adiposity, hyperlipidemia as well as anti-atherosclerotic disorder. In this study, systematical and targeting proteome analysis were executed from the 3, 4 and 5 months aged diploid and tetraploid roots of Platycodon grandiflorum and the proteins were separated by 2-DE and stained by CBB. In diploid roots, a total of 30 protein spots (≥ 2-fold) were analyzed using MASCOT search engine according to the similarity of sequences with previously characterized proteins along with the UniProt database. Among the 30 differentially expressed proteins, 21 proteins sopts were identified as up-regulated and 9 proteins were identified as down-regulated. In contrary, a total of 40 differentially expressed proteins were confirmed from tetraploid roots whereas 28 protein spots were confirmed as up-regulated and 12 proteins were identified as down-regulated. However, the differentially expressed proteins from diploid and tetraploid roots were classified into 12 and 14 possible functional categories respectively using Protein Information Resources. The results revealed that the identified proteins from diploid and tetraploid roots were mainly involved in oxidoreductase activity, nucleotide binding, transferase activity and catalytic activity in bellflower roots. In conclusion, the exclusive proteins from diploid and tetraploid roots may provide insight clues for better understanding the characteristics and functions of proteins and metabolic activity of Platycodon grandiflorum.