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Background Arginine methylation is a posttranslational modification mediated by protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs). Although previous studies have shown that PRMT1 contributes to the severity of allergic airway inflammation or asthma, the underlying mechanism is poorly understood. Objective This study aimed to explore the role of PRMT1 and its relevant mechanism in the development of allergic rhinitis (AR). Methods The expression levels of PRMTs and cytokines were determined by RT-PCR, and the localization of PRMT1 was determined by immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy. The levels of house dust mite (HDM)-specific immunoglobulins in serum and of cytokines in nasal lavage fluids were determined by ELISA. PRMT1 inhibition was achieved by siRNA and treatment with the pan PRMT inhibitor arginine N-methyltransferase inhibitor-1. Results PRMT1 expression was significantly increased in the nasal mucosa of patients and mice with AR. The degree of eosinophilic infiltration in the nasal mucosa was reduced in PRMT1+/− AR mice compared with wild-type mice. PRMT1 haploinsufficiency reduced the levels of HDM-specific immunoglobulins in serum and those of TH2 (IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13) and epithelial (thymic stromal lymphopoietin [TSLP], IL-25, and IL-33) cytokines in the nasal lavage fluids of AR mice. In nasal epithelial cells, HDM and IL-4 cooperate to enhance PRMT1 expression through a mitogen-activated protein kinase–dependent pathway. In addition, PRMT1 was essential for the production of TSLP, IL-25, and IL-33 in response to HDM and IL-4. Arginine N-methyltransferase inhibitor-1 treatment alleviated AR in the mouse model. Conclusions PRMT1 plays an important role in AR development by regulating epithelial-derived cytokine production and might be a new therapeutic target for AR.

In allergic airway diseases, intermediate progenitor cells (IPCs) increase in number in the surface epithelium. IPCs arise from basal cells, the origin of hallmark pathological changes, including goblet cell hyperplasia and mucus hypersecretion. Thus, targeting IPCs will benefit future treatment of allergic airway diseases. However, the lack of adequate cell surface markers for IPCs limits their identification and characterization. We now show that CD44 containing exon v3 (CD44v3) is a surface marker for IPCs that are capable of both proliferating and generating differentiated goblet cells in allergic human nasal epithelium. In primary human nasal epithelial cells that had differentiated at an air-liquid interface, IL-4 upregulated mRNA expression of three

A positive link between persistent cellular motion and a defective tight junction barrier allows increased antigenic penetration and contact between ligand-receptor pairs, leading to exacerbated allergic airway inflammation and remodeling. Given that collective cell migration involves cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix adhesions, and given that IL-4 induces epithelial barrier dysfunction and decreases cell-extracellular matrix adhesions, we hypothesized that IL-4 may induce collective migration in the well-differentiated primary human nasal epithelial cells (HNECs). Well-differentiated HNECs were treated with IL-4, and the effects of IL-4 on cell migration were investigated using genetic and pharmacological approaches, live-cell imaging, a vertex model, and immunostaining. IL-4 disrupted the expression and localization of the tight junction proteins zonula occludens 1 and occludin, and it induced the cleavage and asymmetric distribution of E-cadherin in the HNEC layers. It also induced collective epithelial migration and cell shape changes driven by actin cytoskeleton reorganization. In addition, the effect of IL-4 on collective HNEC migration was reversed by pharmacologic and genetic inhibition of the αv-integrin-activating enzyme furin, and function-blocking antibodies for αvβ5 or αvβ6. In IL-4-stimulated cells, both anti-αvβ5 and anti-αvβ6 inhibited the phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase. Furthermore, both β5- and β6-integrins were enriched in basal cells in the injured airway epithelium with allergic rhinitis. These findings suggest that αvβ5 and αvβ6 serve as critical mechanoreceptors in IL-4-induced collective HNEC migration through the focal adhesion kinase signaling pathway. These results have implications for targeting treatment of exacerbation of respiratory allergic diseases.

In this study we were to explore the seasonal variation of water temperature distributions before and after weir construction at Gumi, Chilgok, Gangjung(Goryung), Dalsung in the Nakdong River using Landsat satellite images. Relationship between in-situ water temperature and radiance values of Landsat-5, 7, 8 satellite images showed high correlation. Seasonal variation of water temperature in Nakdong River showed that the fluctuation ranges of water temperature before weir construction were larger than those after weir construction. This indicated that the variation of water temperature is due to the difference of heat storage volume by weir construction and dredging work. In particular, the water temperature after weirs construction in autumn was 4-8 times lower than that before weirs construction. Water temperature after weir construction decreased in spring and summer at the downstream of Gumi weir and Gangjung(Goryung) weir, and the upstream of Dalsung weir. In autumn and winter, the water temperature after weir construction increased in the upstream and downstream of the whole weirs except upstream of Gumi weir. Relationship between water temperature and meteorological elements (air temperature, wind speed, sunshine, radiation) showed high correlation of above 94% in air temperature, and then radiation was high correlation before and after 65%.

In this study, we investigated the seasonal variation of SST(Sea Surface Temperature) and thermal effluents estimated by using Landsat-7 ETM+ around the Kori Nuclear Power Plant for 10 years(2000~2010). Also, we analyzed the direction and range of thermal effluents dispersion by the tidal current and tide. The results are as follows, First, we figured out the algorithm to estimate SST through the linear regression analysis of Landsat DN(Digital Number) and NOAA SST. And then, the SST was verified by compared with the in situ measurement and NOAA SST. The determination coefficient is 0.97 and root mean square error is . Second, the SST distribution of Landsat-7 estimated by linear regression equation showed in winter, in spring, and and in summer and fall. The difference of between SST and thermal effluents temperature is except for the summer season. The difference of SST is up to in August. There is hardly any dispersion of thermal effluents in August. When it comes to the spread range of thermal effluents, the rise range of more than in the sea surface temperature showed up to 7.56km from east to west and 8.43km from north to south. The maximum spread area was . It is expected that the findings of this study will be used as the foundational data for marine environment monitoring on the area around the nuclear power plant.

In this study, we estimate the interannual spatial and temporal distributions of fishing grounds at night in the East Sea based on satellite and in-situ data. We observe that the thermal front moves in the north-south direction according to the movement of the warm water (above ) in the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) area, forcing the cold water area (below ) to either expand or shrink. The interannual variations of sea surface temperature (SST) in winter represented by the indicator SST of are consistent with the east-west zonal areas in the central East Sea which represented over standard deviation of SST in February during 1990-2000. Annual SST in the fishing grounds of common squid fishing vessels, observed both by fishing vessels and satellites range from 9-, with the satellite-observed data having a larger range than the fishing vessel-based ones. The interannual distributions of the common squid fishing grounds in the East Sea are mostly concentrated in the TWC area in the southwestern part of the East Sea and in the coast of southern Honshu and Hokkaido in Japan. The interannual distributions of the nighttime fishing vessels are consistent with the catches investigated from the fishing vessel.

This study examined urbanization effects and the causes of urbanization, urban population growth, increase of the city scale, land cover change, and human cultures and economic activities, using the daily minimum temperatures of the past 50 years (1961-2010) with the subject of Busan and analyzed correlations between urbanization effects and the causes of urbanization. Thereby, this paper drew a conclusion as below: 1) Due to the urbanization effects, the average annual daily minimum temperature increased as about ; however, except for the factor of urbanization, the increase was shown as about . The occupancy of urbanization effects in the total temperature increase was quite high as about 83%. 2) Just like other cities experiencing urbanization, Busan, too, sees population growth and the expansion of city area as well as increased urbanization effects. First of all, correlation between population growth and urbanization effect was high as 0.96 before 1985 while it was lowered as 0.19 after 1985. Also, correlation between the increase of city area and urbanization effect was high as 0.64 and 0.79 before and after 1985. 3) Regarding the correlation between long-term land use change and urbanization effect, urbanization effect was affected greatly by the increase of city area (0.97) and reduction of green area (0.92). 4) Concerning human activities possible to affect the climatic factors of a city, this paper found the following factors: road length, car increase, power use, and the consumer price index, etc. And regarding the correlation between the three factors and urbanization effect, the correlation was higher in the consumer price index (0.97), the number of registered cars (0.89), power use (0.75), and road length (0.58) in order.

This study examines the climatological variability of urban area and the increase of temperature by urbanization using the observed data of Busan and Mokpo during the last 100 years (1910 ∼ 2010). The results are as follows. First, the maximum temperature in Busan during the last 100 years has increased by 1.5 ℃ while average temperature and the minimum temperature have increased by 1.6 ℃ and 2 ℃ . In Mokpo, the maximum temperature and average temperature have increased by 1 ℃ and the minimum temperature has increased by 0.8 ℃ . The increase of urban temperature appeared to be higher in Busan than in Mokpo by 0.5 ℃∼ 1.2 ℃ . Second, as for the change in temperature before and after urbanization, the maximum temperature, average temperature and the minimum temperature during last 50 years compared to the previous 50 years have increased about 1.5 ℃ , 1.6 ℃ and 2.1 ℃ , however, the predicted temperature after removing urbanization effect was estimated to be increased by 1 ℃ . The proportion that urbanization takes on the overall increase of temperature appeared to be 33% at the maximum temperature, 37.5% at average temperature and 52.3% at the minimum temperature, thus the proportion of urbanization appeared to be maximized at the minimum temperature.

In order to clarify the impact of variation of albedo on the atmospheric boundary layer caused by the density of building in urban areas, both satellite data analysis and numerical experiments were carried out. Utilized satellite data were multi-spectral visible data detected by the Korea Multi- Purpose Satellite -2 (KOMSAT-2), and the numerical models for the estimation of surface heat budget are Albedo Calculation Model (ACM) and Oregon State University Planetary Boundary Layer model (OSUPBL). In satellite data analysis, the estimated albedo in densely populated building area is lower than other regions by 17% at the maximum due to the shadow effect of skyscraper buildings. The surface temperature reached in the highly dense and tall building area and in the coarse density area of low buildings, respectively. However, the low albedo in densely integrated building area is not directly related to the increase of surface air temperature since the mechanical turbulence induced by the roughness of buildings is more critical in its impact than the decrease of albedo.

The present study explores time and spatial thermal environment for Daegu, which is a city built on a basin area, according to varying land cover conditions of the earth's surface by analyzing data derived from meteorological observation and satellite images. The study has classified land use by utilizing MODIS satellite images and analyzed land surface temperature. Also, by using data acquired from automatic weather system, the study has evaluated the effects of atmospheric heating caused by city pavements by analyzing the sensible heat flux between the city's land surface and the atmosphere. The results are as follows. 1) Classification of land use in the Daegu area shows 46.64% of urban and built-up area, 1.39% of watersides, 35.19% of forest, 11.43% of crops, and 5.37% grasslands. 2) During the weekdays throughout the year, the land surface temperature was high for Dalseogu, Bukgu, and Seogu regions where industrial complexes could be found. Comparatively, lower temperature could be observed in the woodlands. 3) While the land surface temperature displayed the effects of pushing air upwards during the weekdays in urban areas, the reverse was true for forest regions. During the night, the temperature did not exert any significant influence on air movement.

This study investigated the effect of parked cars in the sunshine on the increase of air temperature on a sunny day. Air temperatures were determined both from inside of the parked cars and the top surface of the vehicle at which one car was parked under the sunshine and the other in the shade for the duration of 27 hours. The surface temperatures of asphalt and bare soil were simultaneously measured in both locations, sunshine and shade areas, along with a couple of meteorological factors. The sensible heat fluxes from the surfaces of asphalt, bare soil and two vehicles were estimated by utilizing those observed data. The results are as follows; 1) The surface temperatures of bare soil, asphalt and two vehicles increased with respectively during the day. 2) The sensible heat fluxes were noticeably higher from the top surface of the parked vehicle in the sunshine than from the asphalt or bare soil. The differences of sensible heat fluxes between the vehicle`s roof and the other two surfaces of asphalt and bare soil were 60 (asphalt) and 85 (bare soil) during the daytime.

This study aims to estimate a urban heat island potential distribution based on the land-use types using Landsat TM(1100 LST August 2004) and AWS data in Daegu. The heat island potential is defined as a difference between surface temperature and air-temperature at each place. The study area was selected as about square including Daegu metropolitan area. Land-use data obtained by dividing all of Daegu metropolitan area in- to 1-km-square three types of maps were prepared in the 1960s, 1970s and 2000s respectively. Land-use types were classified into 5 categories. Forest and farm lands have been reduced at a wide range during 40 years. Most of those changed into urban area. The heat island potential distribution presented a striking contrasts according to land-use types. For example, the heat island potential of urban area was higher than in comparison to those of water or paddy rice areas.