Seroprevalence of low pathogenic avian influenza (H9N2) and associated risk factors in the Gyeonggi-do of Korea during 2005-2006

Between November 2005 and March 2006, a total of 253 poultry flocks in the Gyeonggi-do of Korea were examined for seroprevalence against avian influenza (AI) using a hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test and an agar gel precipitation test. No low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) virus was isolated from 47 seropositive flocks that lacked clinical signs during sampling. The unadjusted percentage of seroprevalence rates of layer and broiler flocks were not significantly different, i.e., 26% (25/96) and 23% (22/97), respectively. The HI titer of the layers (mean = 89) was higher than the broilers (mean = 36; p < 0.001). A cross-sectional study was conducted for the seroprevalence of LPAI in the layers. Of 7 risk factors, farms employing one or more workers had a higher seropositive prevalence as compared to farms without hired employees (adjusted prevalence OR = 11.5, p = 0.031). Layer flocks older than 400 d had higher seropositivity than flocks younger than 300 d (OR = 4.9, p = 0.017). The farmers recognized at least one of the clinical signs in seropositive flocks, such as decreased egg production, respiratory syndromes, and increased mortality (OR = 2.3, p = 0.082). In a matched case-control study, 20 pairs of case and control flocks matched for type of flock, hired employees, age, and flock size were compared. Frequent cleansing with disinfectants was associated with a decreased risk of seropositivity (OR = 0.2, p = 0.022). Although there was a low statistical association, using a foot disinfectant when entering the building led to a decreased rate of seropositivity (OR = 0.3, p = 0.105)

A Multiple Mobility Support Approach (MMSA) Based on PEAS for NCW in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) can be implemented as one of sensor systems in Network Centric Warfare (NCW). Mobility support and energy efficiency are key concerns for this application, due to multiple mobile users and stimuli in real combat field. However, mobility support approaches that can be adopted in this circumstance are rare. This paper proposes Multiple Mobility Support Approach (MMSA) based on Probing Environment and Adaptive Sleeping (PEAS) to support the simultaneous mobility of both multiple users and stimuli by sharing the information of stimuli in WSNs. Simulations using Qualnet are conducted, showing that MMSA can support multiple mobile users and stimuli with good energy efficiency. It is expected that the proposed MMSA can be applied to real combat field

Insect Fauna of Island Gangwha-do with its nearby Islands, Incheon Metropolitan city, Korea

AbstractThis study was conducted to clarify the current status of insects of Is. Gangwha-do (Mt. Goryeo-san, 436 m) as well as some nearby islands (Is. Gyodong-do, Is. Boleum-do, Is. Jumun-do and Is. Seokmo-do (Mt. Haemyeong-san, 327 m)) through June and September, 2009. A total of 206 insects of 104 species of 38 families and 6 orders was investigated by this survey

Insect Fauna of Mt. Jang-san, Yeongwol-gun, Gangwon-do, Korea

AbstractAn entomofauna study of Jangsan Mountain (1,408.8 m) in Yeongwol-gun, Gangwon-do was carried out from April to September, 2010. The distribution of 384 species, 91 families and 12 orders was confirmed from the study area

PAGaN I: Multi-Frequency Polarimetry of AGN Jets with KVN

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) with bright radio jets offer the opportunity to study the structure of and physical conditions in relativistic outflows. For such studies, multi-frequency polarimetric very long baseline interferometric (VLBI) observations are important as they directly probe particle densities, magnetic field geometries, and several other parameters. We present results from first-epoch data obtained by the Korean VLBI Network (KVN) within the frame of the Plasma Physics of Active Galactic Nuclei (PAGaN) project. We observed seven radio-bright nearby AGN at frequencies of 22, 43, 86, and 129 GHz in dual polarization mode. Our observations constrain apparent brightness temperatures of jet components and radio cores in our sample to $>10^{8.01}$ K and $>10^{9.86}$ K, respectively. Degrees of linear polarization $m_{L}$ are relatively low overall: less than 10%. This indicates suppression of polarization by strong turbulence in the jets. We found an exceptionally high degree of polarization in a jet component of BL Lac at 43 GHz, with $m_{L} \sim$ 40%. Assuming a transverse shock front propagating downstream along the jet, the shock front being almost parallel to the line of sight can explain the high degree of polarization.Comment: 14 pages, 17 figures, 4 tables. To appear in JKAS (received 2015 July 27; accepted 2015 October 25). Note the PAGaN II companion paper by J. Oh et a

PAGaN II: The Evolution of AGN Jets on Sub-Parsec Scales

We report first results from KVN and VERA Array (KaVA) VLBI observations obtained in the frame of our Plasma-physics of Active Galactic Nuclei (PAGaN) project. We observed eight selected AGN at 22 and 43 GHz in single polarization (LCP) between March 2014 and April 2015. Each source was observed for 6 to 8 hours per observing run to maximize the $uv$ coverage. We obtained a total of 15 deep high-resolution images permitting the identification of individual circular Gaussian jet components and three spectral index maps of BL Lac, 3C 111 and 3C 345 from simultaneous dual-frequency observations. The spectral index maps show trends in agreement with general expectations -- flat core and steep jets -- while the actual value of the spectral index for jets shows indications for a dependence on AGN type. We analyzed the kinematics of jet components of BL Lac and 3C 111, detecting superluminal proper motions with maximum apparent speeds of about $5c$. This constrains the lower limits of the intrinsic component velocities to $\sim0.98c$ and the upper limits of the angle between jet and line of sight to $\sim$20$\deg$. In agreement with global jet expansion, jet components show systematically larger diameters $d$ at larger core distances $r$, following the global relation $d\approx0.2r$, albeit within substantial scatter.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figures, 4 tables. To appear in JKAS (received 2015 August 31; accepted 2015 October 15). Note the PAGaN I companion paper by J.-Y. Kim et a

Poly(A) RNA and Paip2 act as allosteric regulators of poly(A)-binding protein

When bound to the 30 poly(A) tail of mRNA, poly(A)binding protein (PABP) modulates mRNA translation and stability through its association with various proteins. By visualizing individual PABP molecules in real time, we found that PABP, containing four RNA recognition motifs (RRMs), adopts a conformation on poly(A) binding in which RRM1 is in proximity to RRM4. This conformational change is due to the bending of the region between RRM2 and RRM3. PABP-interacting protein 2 actively disrupts the bent structure of PABP to the extended structure, resulting in the inhibition of PABP-poly(A) binding. These results suggest that the changes in the configuration of PABP induced by interactions with various effector molecules, such as poly(A) and PABP-interacting protein 2, play pivotal roles in its function.X1143sciescopu

ZnO nanoparticle growth on single-walled carbon nanotubes by atomic laye r deposition and a consequent lifetime elongation of nanotube field emission emission

ZnO nanoparticles were grown on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) by atomic layer deposition using diethylzinc (DEZ) and water. The athors discuss that, because of chemical inertness of nanotubes to DEZ and water molecules, such nanoparticles are not likely to grow on the wall of clean and perfect nanotubes. Rather, the growth of ZnO nanoparticles should be attributed to imperfection of nanotubes, such as defects and carbonaceous impurities. Lifetime of field emission from SWNTs with the ZnO nanoparticles is 2.5 times longer than that from the as-grown nanotubes. It is thought that the protection of the defects or impurities by ZnO nanoparticles mainly contributed to the improvement of the field emission lifetime from SWNTs.open262