Changes in the Outdoor Wear Market: Focused on the South Korean Market

People have become interested in wellness and health, which has led to well-being trends and increased participation in activities. Therefore, the outdoor wear market has shown growth for several years. However, the outdoor wear market of South Korea is becoming saturated. Moreover, Outdoor wear consumers are tired of same design products. The sportswear companies are trying to develop athleisure products. Therefore, it is time to develop outdoor products for emotional approach. According to results, when consumers purchase outdoor wear, they consider the functionality of the materials more than they do when purchasing ordinary clothes. Outdoor wear consumers\u27 pursued images were classified into three types: urban, minimalist, and active. Outdoor wear selection criteria were classified into two types: instrumental function and expressive function. Outdoor wear brands need to qualify their products functionally and meet their segmented consumers\u27 demands by developing products depending on their image from the planning stage

Phospholipase A2β mediates light-induced stomatal opening in Arabidopsis

Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) catalyses the hydrolysis of phospholipids into lysophospholipids and free fatty acids. Physiological studies have indicated that PLA2 is involved in stomatal movement. However, genetic evidence of a role of PLA2 in guard cell signalling has not yet been reported. To identify PLA2 gene(s) that is (are) involved in light-induced stomatal opening, stomatal movement was examined in Arabidopsis thaliana plants in which the expression of PLA2 isoforms was reduced or knocked-out. Light-induced stomatal opening in PLA2α knockout plants did not differ from wild-type plants. Plants in which PLA2β was silenced by RNA interference exhibited delayed light-induced stomatal opening, and this phenotype was reversed by exogenous lysophospholipids, which are products of PLA2. Stomatal opening in transgenic plants that over-expressed PLA2β was faster than wild-type plants. The expression of PLA2β was localized to the endoplasmic reticulum of guard cells, and increased in response to light in the mature leaf. Aristolochic acid, which inhibits light-induced stomatal opening, inhibited the activity of purified PLA2β. Collectively, these results provide evidence that PLA2β is involved in light-induced stomatal opening in Arabidopsis

Enterovirus 71-associated hand, foot and mouth diseases with neurologic symptoms, a university hospital experience in Korea, 2009

PurposeHand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) is a common viral illness in children, which is usually mild and self-limiting. However, in recent epidemics of HFMD in Asia, enterovirus 71 (EV71) has been recognized as a causative agent with severe neurological symptoms with or without cardiopulmonary involvement. HFMD was epidemic in Korea in the spring of 2009. Severe cases with complications including death have been reported. The clinical characteristics in children with neurologic manifestations of EV71 were studied in Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital.MethodsExaminations for EV71 were performed from the stools, respiratory secretion or CSF of children who presented neurologic symptoms associated with HFMD by realtime PCR. Clinical and radiologic data of the patients were collected and analyzed.ResultsEV71 was isolated from the stool of 16 patients but not from respiratory secretion or CSF. Among the 16 patients, meningitis (n=10) was the most common manifestation, followed by Guillain-Barré syndrome (n=3), meningoencephalitis (n=2), poliomyelitis-like paralytic disease (n=1), and myoclonus (n=1). Gene analysis showed that most of them were caused by EV71 subgenotype C4a, which was prevalent in China in 2008.ConclusionBecause EV71 causes severe complications and death in children, a surveillance system to predict upcoming outbreaks should be established and maintained and adequate public health measures are needed to control disease

A stochastic model of integrating occupant behaviour into energy simulation with respect to actual energy consumption in high-rise apartment buildings

Apartment buildings have evolved to be self-sufficient for occupants. Thus, energy use is individually controlled in apartment units, which can be considered as independent thermal zones within buildings. However, this has been disregarded in conventional energy modelling which is mainly applicable for reducing energy demands of buildings with standardised conditions, rather than reflecting actual consumption. This approach has been questioned due to the high levels of uncertainty formed with real buildings. In this study, a model considering occupant random behaviour consuming heating and electricity is developed to reflect variations in actual energy consumption in apartments. Moreover, the effects of various parameters of occupant behaviour in relation to the model were examined. In total 96 apartment blocks in Seoul were used as samples. Gaussian Process Classification was applied to modify occupant random behaviours corresponding to the probability of energy consumption. As a result, it has been found that occupants’ general heating controls (25% deviation) are between three and eight hours, with 17–20 °C set temperatures. Moreover, the operating hours of electric appliances and lighting are also approximated with the probabilities. This methodology could reduce uncertainties in building simulations, and provide a broader application in buildings with similar development stages

Perspectives on wild and hatchery salmon interactions at sea, potential climate effects on Japanese chum salmon, and the need for sustainable salmon fishery management reform in Japan

Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) play an important role as a keystone species and provider of ecosystem services in the North Pacific ecosystem. We review our studies on recent production trends, marine carrying capacity, climate effects and biological interactions between wild and hatchery origin populations of Pacific salmon in the open sea, with a particular focus on Japanese chum salmon (O. keta). Salmon catch data indicates that the abundance of Pacific salmon increased since the 1976/77 ocean regime shift. Chum and pink salmon (O. gorbuscha) maintained high abundances with a sharp increase in hatchery-released populations since the late 1980s. Since the 1990s, the biomass contribution of hatchery returns to the total catch amounts to 50% for chum salmon, more than 10% for pink salmon, and less than 10% for sockeye salmon (O. nerka). We show evidence of density-dependence of growth and survival at sea and how it might vary across spatial scales, and we provide some new information on foraging plasticity that may offer new insight into competitive interactions. The marine carrying capacity of these three species is synchronized with long-term patterns in climate change. At the present time, global warming has positively affected growth and survival of Hokkaido populations of chum salmon. In the future, however, global warming may decrease the marine carrying capacity and the area of suitable habitat for chum salmon in the North Pacific Ocean. We outline future challenges for salmon sustainable conservation management in Japan, and recommend fishery management reform to sustain the hatchery-supported salmon fishery while conserving natural spawning populations

アジア系シロザケ2個体群の種内相互作用と成長パターンの時空間変動

Spatiotemporal changes in growth patterns of chum salmon Oncorhynchus keta that returned to the Ishikari (Japan) and Namdae (Korea) rivers in 1984-1998 were investigated using scale analysis. Juvenile chum salmon from both populations left coastal marine areas after spring at a size of over 8 cm fork length (FL). In summer, juvenile salmon from the Namdae River entered the Okhotsk Sea at a larger FL than Ishikari River juveniles. There were no significant differences in annual growth between populations of one-, two-, and four-year-old fish. For three-year-old fish, however, Namdae River salmon had significantly higher synchronous and sympatric growth than Ishikari River salmon. Mean FL of adults was also larger in Namdae River salmon than in Ishikari River salmon. ANCOVA results showed (1) negative linear relations between FL and catch, (2) homogeneous slopes of those relations at regional and species levels, and (3) non-homogeneous slopes at the population level, indicating that density dependent effects on growth were most significant at this level. We concluded that growth of chum salmon was concurrently influenced by stronger effects of intrapopulation competition and weaker effects of inter- and intra-specific interactions in the Bering Sea.鱗分析と体サイズのバックカリキュレーション法に基づき，1984-1998 年に北海道石狩川と韓国ナンダエ川へ回帰したシロザケの成長パターンの時空間変動を明らかにした。その結果，石狩川系幼魚が沿岸から小型で直接オホーツク海へ移動するのに対して，ナンダエ川幼魚は日本海を回遊後オホーツク海へ大型で移動することが明らかとなった。シロザケ4 歳魚の体サイズはベーリング海で3 歳時に種内あるいは個体群間より個体群内で強い密度依存効果を受けることが示唆された