PURPOSES : This study aimed to develop a quantitative structure property relationships (QSPR) model to predict the density from the molecular structure information of the asphalt binder AAA1, a non-full connected structure mixed with a total of 12 molecules. METHODS : The partial least squares regression (PLSR) model, which models the relationship between predictions and responses and the structure of these variables, was applied to predict the density of a binder with molecule descriptors. The PLSR model could also analyze data with collinear, noisy, and multiple dimensional independent variables. The density and additive-free AAA1 binder’s molecule systems generated by an asphalt binder’s molecules-related study were used to fit the PLSR model with the molecular descriptors produced using alvaDesc software. In addition to developing the relationship, a systematic feature selection framework (i.e., the V-WSP- and PLSR-modelbased genetic algorithm (GA)) was applied to explore sets of predictors which contributed to predicting the physical property. RESULTS : The PLSR model accurately predicted the density for the AAA1 binder’s molecules using the condition of the temperature and aging level (R2 was 0.9537, RMSE was 0.00424, and MAP was 0.00323 for the test data) and provided a set of features which correlated well to the property. CONCLUSIONS : Through the establishment of the physical property prediction model, it was possible to evaluate the physical properties of construction materials without limited experiments or simulations, and it could be used to comprehensively design the modified material composition.

The genus Acronicta Ochsenheimer, 1816 is known as a forest pest. The acronictine species is widely distributed across the Afrotropical, Oriental, Australian, and Neartic regions. This study presents a new record of an acronictine species from Korea, including descriptions, illustrations, and diagnostic characteristics. Additionally, the CO1 barcode data of the newly recorded species is compared with the global barcode reference at the species level. New data on the recently recorded species has been obtained from this study. This information will aid in the prompt identification and preparation for potential pest outbreaks.

Laurencia is a red algal genus that was described by J.V. Lamouroux in 1813. The main characteristics of this genus have been known as the presence of four pericentral cells in an axial segment, secondary pit connections between adjacent epidermal cells, and the presence of corps en cerise in both epidermal and trichoblast cells. Additionally, the tetrasporangia are arranged in a parallel manner, and male branches feature terminal cup-shaped spermatangial pits. Currently, sixteen Korean Laurencia species have been reported based on their morphological characteristics. In this study, Laurencia decussata and L. pacifica have been added as new records to the Korean algal flora based on a combination of morphological observations and molecular analyses of rbcL sequences. Laurencia decussata has expanded from Australia and New Zealand to Korea, while the distribution of L. pacifica has expanded from USA and Mexico to Korea.

The root-lesion nematode Pratylenchus spp. is the most important plantparasitic nematode due to its worldwide distribution, wide host ranges, and migratory endoparasitic characteristics. One population of Pratylenchus collected from the giant pussy willow (Salix chaenomeloides Kimura) in the Andong area as part of a nematode survey in Korea was characterized morphologically and by molecular methods. The analysis of morphological measurements and morphometric characteristics, as well as DNA sequencing of the rRNA large subunit (LSU) D2/D3 expansion segments and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene sequence, confirmed the identity of this population as P. hippeastri. This study is the first report of P. hippeastri associated with Salix chaenomeloides in Korea and worldwide. Further studies on distribution and pathogenicity in different P. hippeastri host crops, such as grapevines, strawberries, and apples, are necessary. The taxonomic keys to 16 Pratylenchus species in Korea are provided.

The morphological features of germling cells were examined to identify an unspecified resting cyst (described as Cochlodinium cf. polykrikoides-like resting cyst) in the Korean coastal area. LSU rRNA gene sequences were also obtained from a strain established from the germling cells. The resting cysts isolated from Korean coastal sediment were characterized as being brown in color, having a large dark-red body, and fibrous lobed ornaments. The germling cells were ellipsoidal with an irregular outline and had an open comma-shaped ASC (apical structure complex), a wide and deep cingulum, and a deep sulcus. These morphological features were consistent with those of previously described harmful dinoflagellate Pseudocochlodinium profundisulcus. The molecular phylogeny revealed that the germling cells and P. profundisulcus were conspecific. Based on these morphological and phylogenetic data, this study documents the occurrence of P. profundisulcus in a Korean coastal area for the first time.

Rotylenchus pini Mamiya, 1968 was reported from rhizospheric soils of Zoysia japonica in Korea. Females and males of the characterized population conform to the original species description from Japan and also to other subsequent species descriptions with variations in a few details in morphometrics including the existence of pharyngeal gland overlap in some specimen. Bayesian analysis of all the three DNA markers consistently grouped R. pini together with Rotylenchus species including R. zhongshanensis, a morphologically close species. Additionally, the newly obtained sequences of R. pini were found to be almost identical to the sequences assigned to Rotylenchus aff. devonensis in GenBank. These Rotylenchus aff. devonensis isolates might be representatives of R. pini populations. The current and previous phylogenetic studies supported by the recorded morphological plasticity within populations of the genus validate the proposed synonymy of Pararotylenchus with Rotylenchus.

V. parahaemolyticus causes waterborne and foodborne disease such as acute diarrhea. In this study, V. parahaemolyticus isolates from seawater, fish tanks, and distributed fishery products in Jeju were investigated for potential toxin or species-specific genes (tdh, trh, tlh, and toxR) using RT-PCR and their genetic characteristics were analyzed using Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Overall, V. parahaemolyticus of 90 strains (36.7%), including 33 strains from seawater, 8 strains from fish tanks, and 50 strains from fishery products, were isolated from 245 samples. All V. parahaemolyticus strains did not detect the tdh gene, whereas all strains detected tlh or toxR genes. In addition, trh genes were detected in 3 strains from seawater and 1 strain from fishery products. Monthly quantitative testing of seawater revealed that V. parahaemolyticus was positively correlated with water temperature. The 90 strains of V. parahemolyticus obtained in this study showed by gene homology between types, ranging from 64.0–97.3%. Among these, thirteen types showed 100% homology between genes. These results indicate that continuous monitoring is needed to facilitate food poisoning epidemiological investigations because some isolated V. parahaemolyticus strains harbored toxin genes and V. parahaemolyticus strains isolated from seawater, fish tanks, and distributed fishery products showed genetic similarity.