In this study, we have determined mitochondrial genome of Matsucoccus thunbergianae isolated in Korea. The circular mitogenome of M. thunbergianae is 15,406 bp including 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, and 22 transfer RNAs. AT ratio is 78.2%. Maximum-likelihood and Bayesian inference phylogenetic trees show that M. thunbergianae is clustered with M. matsumurae, and family Margarodidae is clustered with family Pseudococcidae with enough supportive values.

본 연구는 관상적 가치가 뛰어난 한반도 자생식물 너도개미 자리[Minuartia laricina (L.) Mattf.]의 산업화를 위한 대량 번 식 기술을 개발하기 위해 수행되었다. 종자 번식 실험에서는 2023년 8월 16일 형태적으로 완전히 성숙한 종자를 채종하여 사용하였으며, 종자의 내부 형태를 관찰한 결과 배가 완전히 발달하여 미숙배로 인한 형태적 휴면(MD)은 없음을 확인하였 다. 또한, 종자를 증류수에 침지시켜 수분 흡수율을 조사한 결과 수분흡수 24시간 후 약 66%의 수분 흡수율을 보여 불투수성 종피에 의한 물리적 휴면(PY)도 없음을 확인하였다. 실온 (22±2℃)에서 후숙처리(Dry after-ripening)를 0, 4, 21주 실 시 후 각각 4, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30℃로 설정된 기내 발아 실험을 진행하였다. 실험의 결과, 후숙 4주 처리 후 20℃에 치상한 종자 의 발아율이 약 76%로 가장 높았다. 후숙 처리를 하지 않은 종자는 12주 내 어떠한 온도 조건에서도 발아하지 않아 생리 적 휴면(PD)으로 판단되었다. 삽목 번식 실험에서는 줄기삽목 (Stem-cutting) 방식으로 진행하였고, 루톤 분제 처리가 발근 에 미치는 영향을 조사하였다. 루톤 분제를 처리하지 않은 처리 구는 발근율과 생존율이 100%로 나타났으며, 루톤 분제가 처리 된 삽수는 이들보다 발근율과 생존율이 통계적으로 유의하게 낮았다. 따라서 너도개미자리 종자는 생리적 휴면 종자로 분류 되며, 4주간의 후숙 처리가 휴면 타파에 효과적인 것으로 확인 되었다. 또한, 너도개미자리 삽목 번식 시 별도의 발근 촉진제 처리가 필요하지 않음을 확인하였다.

A new variety of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), named 'Alfaking' was developed between 2015 and 2023 at the Grassland and Forages Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Cheonan, Republic of Korea. The variety was produced through artificial hybridization, with ‘Paravivo’ serving as the maternal line and ‘WL514’ as the paternal line. ‘Alfaking’ underwent field tests across four regions (Cheonan, Pyeongchang, Jeongeup, and Jinju) to evaluate its agronomic characteristics and forage production over two years (2022-2023). The dry matter yield of ‘Alfaking’ reached 22,516 kg/ha, which is 11% higher than the control variety, ‘Vernal.’ ‘Alfaking’ exhibited 2.1% higher crude protein content than ‘Vernal’ in forage nutritive value. The development of this new alfalfa variety, which exhibits excellent adaptability to challenging environmental conditions, is expected to enhance forage cultivation and productivity in Korea.

목적 : 본 연구는 입체시 검사법들의 재현성과 교환가능성에 대해 알아보고자 하였다. 방법 : 안과적 질환과 관련된 진단을 받은 적이 없으며 교정시력이 20/20 이상인 30명을 대상으로 하였다. 굴 절이상을 확인한 후 입체시 검사(티트무스, 랑 Ⅱ, 티엔오, 프리즈비 검사)를 각각 하루 이상의 간격을 두고 두 번 검사하였다. 검사 간의 신뢰도 분석은 급내상관계수를 이용하여 분석하였다. 결과 : 반복 검사를 통한 입체시 검사의 신뢰도 확인에서 프리즈비 검사(p=0.103, ICC=0.99) 에서만 높은 재 현성을 보였다. 입체시 검사 간의 비교에서는 프리즈비와 티엔오 검사(p=0.358, ICC=0.89)에서 좋은 호환성을 확 인할 수 있었다. 20초미만의 작은 차이를 나타내는 경우 또한 42%로 모든 검사법들의 비교 중 가장 큰 비중을 차 지하는 것으로 나타났다. 결론 : 입체시 검사의 진행은 방문 간에 일정하게 유지되는 것이 좋으나 검사 방법들의 특성에 따라 신뢰도와 호환성이 좋은 입체시 검사와 함께 평가되는 것이 필요하다. 본 연구의 결과 프리즈비 검사가 신뢰도와 호환성에서 좋은 것으로 나타나 다른 검사와 함께 평가하는 것이 유용할 것으로 사료된다.

Due to climate change and the expansion of cultivation areas through the use of reclaimed land, changes in the selection of Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum L.) varieties are anticipated. This study was conducted to compare the growth characteristics before overwintering, productivity, and feed value of eight Italian ryegrass varieties with different maturing stages under the same cultivation conditions. The variety ‘Lm4ho’, a medium-maturing type, showed superior growth characteristics before overwintering, including plant height, leaf length, and leaf width. The heading date was advanced in all varieties, with a greater degree of advancement observed in varieties with earlier heading dates. When harvested at the heading stage of the early-maturing types, the dry matter yield of the medium-maturing types was not significantly different from that of the early-maturing types. However, when harvested at the heading stage of the medium-maturing types, the dry matter yield was higher than that of the early-maturing types. Specifically, ‘Lm4ho’ produced 2,518 kg/ha more than ‘Kowinearly’. The late-maturing variety IR901 and the medium-maturing varieties ‘Lm4ho’ and ‘Kowinmaster’ showed statistically superior dry matter yields. In terms of forage value, including crude protein (CP), total digestible nutrients (TDN), and relative feed value (RFV), the medium- and late-maturing types outperformed the early-maturing types. Notably, ‘Lm4ho’, ‘IR 901’, and ‘Hwasan 104’ were evaluated as suitable varieties for high-quality forage production. These results suggest that medium-maturing varieties may be suitable for double cropping in the central regions due to climate change. We propose that future breeding of Italian ryegrass should expand from focusing on cold tolerance and early-maturing varieties to include mediumand late-maturing varieties that consider both productivity and quality.

The aim of this study is to investigate the fashion industry’s response to climate change and how these discussions unfolded at the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Climate change response projects by B Corp-certified fashion companies are examined, focusing on stakeholder efforts and reviewing online media reports. Text data were collected from web documents, interviews, and op-eds relating to COP28 from December 2018 to April 2024 and analyzed using text mining and semantic network analysis to identify critical keywords and contexts. The analysis revealed that the fashion industry is fulfilling its environmental responsibilities through various strategies, prompting changes in consumer behavior by advocating sustainable consumption, including carbon removal, energy transition, and recycling promotion. Stakeholders in online media and those present at COP28 discussed issues relating to climate change in the fashion industry, focusing on environmental protection, energy, greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable material usage, and social responsibility. Key issues at COP28 included policy and regulation, climate change response, energy transition, carbon emissions management, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. Additionally, by examining the main collections exhibited at the fashion show during COP28, the study analyzed how messages about climate change were conveyed. Fashion companies communicated the industry’s response through exhibitions and fashion shows, suggesting a move toward balancing environmental protection and economic growth through the development of sustainable materials, the expansion of recycling and reuse practices, and the modern reinterpretation of cultural heritage.

One of the key challenges for the commercialization of carbon nanotube fibers (CNTFs) is their large-scale economic production. Among CNTF spinning methods, surfactant-based wet spinning is one of the promising techniques for mass producing CNTFs. Here, we investigated how the coagulation bath composition affects the spinnability and the properties of CNTFs in surfactant-based wet spinning. We used acetone, DMAc, ethanol, and IPA as coagulants and analyzed the relationship between coagulation bath composition and the properties of CNTFs in terms of kinetic and thermodynamic coagulation parameters. From a kinetic perspective, we found that a low mass transfer rate difference (MTRD) is favorable for wet spinning. Based on this finding, we mixed the coagulant bath with solvent in a proper ratio to reduce the MTRD, which generally improved the wet spinning. We also showed that the coagulation strength, a thermodynamic parameter, should be considered. We believe that our research can contribute to establishment of surfactant-based wet spinning of CNTFs.

Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and hydrogen isocyanide (HNC) are isomers with similar chemical properties. However, HNC can be converted into other molecules by reactions with atomic hydrogen (H) and atomic oxygen (O), resulting in a variation of the HCN/HNC abundance ratio. These reaction rates are sensitive to gas temperature, resulting in different abundance ratios in different temperature environments. The emission of HCN and HNC was found to distribute along ring structures in the protoplanetary disk of V883 Ori. HCN exhibits a multi-ring structure consisting of inner and outer rings. The outer ring represents a genuine chemical structure, whereas the inner ring appears to display such characteristics due to the high dust continuum optical depth at the center. However, HNC is entirely depleted in the warmer inner ring, while its line intensity is similar to that of HCN in the colder outer ring. In this study, we present a chemical calculation that reproduces the observed HCN/HNC abundance ratio in the inner and outer rings. This calculation suggests that the distinct emission distribution between HCN and HNC results from a currently ongoing outburst in V883 Ori. The sublimation of HCN and HNC from grain surfaces and the conversion of HNC to HCN determine their chemical distribution in the heated, warm inner disk.

This study investigates the negative perceptions (veganphobia) held by consumers toward vegan diets and fashion and aims to foster a genuine acceptance of ethical veganism in consumption. The textual data web-crawled Korean online posts, including news articles, blogs, forums, and tweets, containing keywords such as “contradiction,” “dilemma,” “conflict,” “issues,” “vegan food” and “vegan fashion” from 2013 to 2021. Data analysis was conducted through text mining, network analysis, and clustering analysis using Python and NodeXL programs. The analysis revealed distinct negative perceptions regarding vegan food. Key issues included the perception of hypocrisy among vegetarians, associations with specific political leanings, conflicts between environmental and animal rights, and contradictions between views on companion animals and livestock. Regarding the vegan fashion industry, the eco-friendliness of material selection and design processes were seen as the pivotal factors shaping negative attitudes. Furthermore, the study identified a shared negative perception regarding vegan food and vegan fashion. This negativity was characterized by confusion and conflicts between animal and environmental rights, biased perceptions linked to specific political affiliations, perceived self-righteousness among vegetarians, and general discomfort toward them. These factors collectively contributed to a broader negative perception of vegan consumption. In conclusion, this study is significant in understanding the complex perceptions and attitudes that consumers hold toward vegan food and fashion. The insights gained from this research can aid in the design of more effective campaign strategies aimed at promoting vegan consumerism, ultimately contributing to a more widespread acceptance of ethical veganism in society.

The growing significance of sustainable energy technologies underscores the need for safe and efficient management of spent nuclear fuels (SNFs), particularly via deep geological disposal (DGD). DGD involves the long-term isolation of SNFs from the biosphere to ensure public safety and environmental protection, necessitating materials with high corrosion resistance for DGD canisters. This study investigated the feasibility of a Cu–Ni film, fabricated via additive manufacturing (AM), as a corrosion-resistant layer for DGD canister applications. A wire-fed AM technique was used to deposit a millimeter-scale Cu–Ni film onto a carbon steel (CS) substrate. Electrochemical analyses were conducted using aerated groundwater from the KAERI underground research tunnel (KURT) as an electrolyte with an NaCl additive to characterize the oxic corrosion behavior of the Cu–Ni film. The results demonstrated that the AM-fabricated Cu–Ni film exhibited enhanced corrosion resistance (manifested as lower corrosion current density and formation of a dense passive layer) in an NaCl-supplemented groundwater solution. Extensive investigations are necessary to elucidate microstructural performance, mechanical properties, and corrosion resistance in the presence of various corroding agents to simplify the implementation of this technology for DGD canisters.

총채벌레목 관총채벌레과의 미기록속인 Pachyliothrips속에 속하는 단일종 Pachyliothrips zelkovae Okajima, 2006 (느티나무관총채벌레, 신 칭)을 한국에서 처음으로 보고한다. 성충의 형태적 특징과 형태 사진을 수록하였다.

본 연구에서 Pemphigus populitransversus 미루나무면충(신칭)을 국내에서 처음으로 보고한다. 이 종의 형태학적 정보, 분포지역, 기주식물, 한국에 분포하는 Pemphigus 속 종들에 대한 분류키를 제공한다.

Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) is a newly emerging tick-borne disease caused by the SFTS virus (SFTSV), which belongs to the phlebovirus in the Bunyaviridae family. SFTSV is enveloped with a tripartite ambisense RNA genome. The L segment encodes the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, the M segment encodes the two glycoproteins, Gc and Gn, and the S segment encodes the nucleoprotein (NP) and the nonstructural protein (NSs). NP participates in ribonucleoprotein (RNP) packaging and commonly detected early after infection, suggesting that the N protein is possible to be used as a target antigen for early diagnosis of SFTSV infection. In this study, we analyzed a highly immunogenic multi-epitope using GnGc and NP genes from a consensus sequence of SFTSV strain isolated from infected patients in Korea. The selected genes are constructed to the expression vector plasmid pJHL65 and the recombinant plasmid vector was transformed into the Δasd Δlon ΔcpxR Salmonella Typhimurium attenuated strain JOL912 and the expression of these antigens was verified by immunoblotting assay. We observed the significant levels of systemic IgG and mucosal IgM responses against the JOL912-derived antigen in the immunized BALB/c mice. The level of CD3+CD4+, CD3+CD8+ T lymphocyte subpopulation and TNF-α were also highly regulated in splenic T cells re-stimulated in vitro with NP and Gn/Gc multi-epitope selected antigens. Therefore, immunized mice with NP and Gn/GC multi-epitope recombinant proteins of attenuated Salmonella delivery system elicited T cell-related immune response, inducing an effective immune response. In conclusion, the attenuated Salmonella expressing NP-GnGc multi-epitopes could be a novel vaccine candidate against the SFTS virus.

Mathematically modeling photosynthesis helps to interpret gas exchange in a plant and estimate the photosynthetic rate as affected by environmental factors. Notably, the photosynthetic rate varies among leaf vertical positions within a single plant. The objective of this study was to measure the distinct photosynthetic rate of lily (Lilium Oriental Hybrid ‘Casa Blanca’) at the upper, medium, and basal leaf positions. Subsequently, the FvCB (Farquhar-von Caemmerer-Berry) photosynthesis model was employed to determine the parameters of the model and compared it with a rectangular hyperbola photosynthesis model. The photosynthetic rates were measured at different intracellular CO2 concentrations () and photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) levels. SPAD values significantly decreased with lowered leaf position. The photosynthetic rates at the medium and basal leaves were lower compared with the upper leaves. FvCB model parameters,  and   , showed no significant difference between the medium and basal leaves. Estimated photosynthetic rates from derived parameters by the FvCB model demonstrated over 0.86 of R2 compared with measured data. The rectangular hyperbola model tended to overestimate or underestimate photosynthetic rates at high  with high PPFD levels or low  with high PPFD levels, respectively, at each leaf position. These results indicated that the parameters of the FvCB model with different leaf positions can be used to estimate the photosynthetic rate of lily.

Salinity stress is a major threat to plant growth and development, affecting crop yield and quality. This study investigated the effects of different salinity levels on photosynthetic responses and bulb growth of Lilium LA hybrid “‘Serrada’.” Plants were irrigated with 1 L of 0, 200, and 400 mM NaCl solutions every two weeks for 14 weeks in a greenhouse. At the end of the cultivation period, the substrate pH decreased, and electrical conductivity increased with increasing salinity. Regardless of salinity levels, the days to flowering and number of flowers were similar among treatments. In contrast, the flower width, plant height, number of leaves, and leaf area decreased with increasing NaCl concentrations. Although there were no differences in the photosystem II (PSII) operating efficiency and maximum quantum yield of PSII, net CO2 assimilation rates (An) and stomatal conductance (gs) were significantly reduced at 200 and 400 mM NaCl solutions compared to the control. At 400 mM NaCl solution, bulb diameter and weight significantly decreased at the end of the experiment. These results suggest that bulb growth inhibition could be attributed to limiting photosynthetic rate and stem growth. This finding suggests that salinity mitigation is necessary to maintain plant growth and photosynthetic capacity in lily cultivation on salt-affected soils.

We examine a single machine scheduling problem with step-improving jobs in which job processing times decrease step-wisely over time according to their starting times. The objective is to minimize total completion time which is defined as the sum of completion times of jobs. The total completion time is frequently considered as an objective because it is highly related to the total time spent by jobs in the system as well as work-in-progress. Many applications of this problem can be observed in the real world such as data gathering networks, system upgrades or technological shock, and production lines operated with part-time workers in each shift. Our goal is to develop a scheduling algorithm that can provide an optimal solution. For this, we present an efficient branch and bound algorithm with an assignment-based node design and tight lower bounds that can prune branch and bound nodes at early stages and accordingly reduce the computation time. In numerical experiments well designed to consider various scenarios, it is shown that the proposed algorithm outperforms the existing method and can solve practical problems within reasonable computation time.

Caprine cryptosporidiosis mainly occurs in young goats, with morbidity rates of 80%–100% and mortality over 50% in goat kids. However, limited research has been conducted on the impact of Cryptosporidium parvum, a diarrhea-causing pathogen, on the intestinal microbiota of goat kids. In this study, 16S rRNA-based metataxonomic analysis was performed to compare the microbial diversity and abundance of the gut microbiota between C. parvum-infected and uninfected goat kids. In total, 12 goat fecal samples were collected, including seven naturally C. parvum-infected and five uninfected goats from Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea. After amplification of the V3–V4 hypervariable region of the bacterial 16S rRNA, high-throughput sequencing was performed. The results showed differences in the microbial composition between C. parvum-infected and uninfected groups based on beta diversity. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the most dominant phyla in both groups. However, no significant difference was observed in the Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes ratio between the two groups. Compared with the uninfected group, the C. parvum-infected group showed significantly higher abundances of Tyzzerella nexillis, Lactobacillus johnsonii, Butyricicoccus pullicaecorum, Enterococcus raffinosus, Enterococcus faecalis, and Negativicoccus massiliensis, and significantly reduced abundances of Aerococcus vaginalis, Faecalicoccus pleomorphus, Oribacterium parvum, and Coprococcus comes. These findings indicate that C. parvum infection, which is associated with diarrhea in neonatal goats, induces alterations in the caprine gut microbiota.

Fluorescent bacteria were isolated from sporocarps that browned into various mushrooms during survey at places of the production in Korea. We examined the pathogenicity, biodiversity, and genetic characteristics of the 19 strains identified as Pseudomonas tolaasii by sequence analysis of 16S rRNA and White Line Assay. The results emphasize the importance of rpoB gene system, fatty acid profiles, specific and sensitive PCR assays, and lipopeptide detection for the identification of P. tolaasii. As a result of these various analyses, 17 strains (CHM03~CHM19) were identified as P. tolaasii. The phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene showed that all strains were clustered closest to P. tolaasii lineage, two strains (CHM01, CHM02) were not identified as P. tolaasii and have completely different genetic characteristics as a result of fatty acids profile, specific and sensitive PCR, lipopetide detection, rpoB sequence and REP-PCR analysis. Pathogenicity tests showed 17 strains produce severe brown discolouration symptoms to button mushrooms and watersoaking of sporophore tissue within three days after inoculation. But two strains did not produce discolouration symptoms. Therefore, these two strains will be further investigated for correct species identification by different biological and molecular characteristics.