Childhood obesity causes a higher risk of obesity, premature death and disability in adulthood. In addition, obese children experience an increased risk of respiratory problems, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance and psychological effects. This study aimed to investigate how an exercise intervention affects health-related physical fitness and inflammatory-related blood factors in obese children after. We hypothesized that there would be positive effects on serum levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), connecting peptide(C-peptide) and resistin, as well as in muscle and cardiovascular-related physical capacities, after an exercise intervention in obese children. Thirty-seven obese children haveperformed health-related fitness tests and provided blood samples for the analysis of changes in circulating biomarkers, both before and after an 8-week exercise intervention, which includes stretching, aerobic exercise, resistance exercise and sports games. The results indicate that exercise training beneficially affects body compositions, especially percentage body fat and muscle mass, without influencing to body weight and height. The results of the physical fitness tests show that muscle and cardiovascular capacity were increased in obese children in response to exercise training. Simultaneously, the exercise training decreased circulating levels of C-peptide, which equated to a “large” effect size. Although there were no significant effects on the levels of IGF-1 and resistin, they show a “small” effect size. Therefore, our findings suggest that the exercise intervention have beneficial effects on body composition and physical fitness levels in obese children, whichmight be associated with the decline in circulating C-peptide.

Due to their environmental and economical consequences, invasive species have become a major concern worldwide. Among them, the yellow-legged hornet, Vespa velutina, is a keen hunter of domestic honeybees. They use olfactory cues from the prey to assess food information. In this study, we investigated the attraction behavior of V. velutina to honeybee pheromone under outdoor conditions. Nine honeybee pheromones were tested and compared in order to find the best attractant. When testing specific compounds, the honeybee queen pheromone, homovanillyl alcohol, proved highly attractive.

Viral respiratory infections are common in horses, notably equine herpesvirus infection and equine influenza, which primarily initiate secondary bacterial respiratory infections such as strangles caused by Streptococcus equi equi. A decline in the production of stallions has been associated with these respiratory diseases leading to adverse financial implications. This study investigated the antibody responses against respiratory diseases in horses from Jeju Island a year after vaccination. A low level of equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) (11.36%) antibodies was detected from stallions, however a high level of EHV-4 (95.84%) antibodies was detected from horses without vaccination against this infection suggesting that EHV-4 is ubiquitous in this horse population. In case of equine influenza, ranch stallions showed low positive rate (12.06%) whereas stallions from Subtropical Livestock Research Institute displayed higher positive rate (81.32%). Antibody responses against equine influenza and strangles revealed positive rates of 26.32% and 55.12%, respectively. These findings may draw attention towards the importance of developing an improved disease prevention and/or immunization program that will effectively control respiratory diseases in horses.

Entomopathogenic fungi formulated as wettable powders and suspension concentrates have been sprayed to crop pests for pest management. However, the use of fungal granules to control paddy field pests has not been fully explored. Herein, several Beauveria bassiana isolates (ERL 1170, 1578 and 836) were produced as granules using a millet-based solid culture. The granules were applied to the rice nursery 3 days before transplanting and their control efficacy against rice water weevils was determined in paddy fields. The solid cultures produced ~1×108conidiag-1ofmilletgrains10daysaftertheinoculation. The granules were applied to the soil in the rice nursery 3 days before the rice seedlings were transplanted in the paddy fields. Rice in plots with granules of ERL1578 had 17.3% leaf damage (74% control efficacy) 14 days post application, whereas rice plants in the non-treated control had 66.5% damage. Rice plants treated in the nursery with ERL1170 and ERL836 had 52~54% damage. In the rice plots previously treated with ERL1578 the smallest numbers of larvae and adults were observed 38 days post application. In laboratory conditions, ERL1578-treated larvae were tuned pink and covered with mycelial mass. Applications of millet-based B. bassiana granules on rice nursery soil can be an effective and efficient biological control strategy for the management of rice water weevils. This method is relatively inexpensive and requires less labor compared to practices involving the spraying of fungi directly on rice in paddy fields.

호박꽃과실파리(Bactrocera scutellata Hendel)의 성충 수명과 산란수를 7개 온도(15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33 ± 1.0℃, RH 65 ± 5%, 14L: 10D)에서 조사하여 생명표를 작성하였다. 온도별 성충수명은 21℃에서 수컷이 138.0일 암컷이 131.2일로 가장 오래 살았으며, 21℃를 기준으로 저온부와 고온부로 갈수록 수명이 급격히 감소하였다. 온도별 암컷은 18℃이하의 온도에서 산란을 하지 않았으며, 33℃에서는 짝짓기가 가능한 시기까지 살지 못하고 모두 사망하였다. 짝짓기한 암컷의 총 산란수는 111.4개, 일일 산란수는 1.0개로 24℃에서 가장 많은 산란수를 보였고 순증가율(Ro)은 21℃에서 52.27로 가장 높은 수치를 나타냈다. 내적자연증가율(rm)은 27℃에서 0.07을 보였으며, 배수기간(λ)은 27℃에서 10.02로 가장 짧았다. 기간증가율(Dt)은 27℃에서 1.07로 가장 큰 값을 보였고, 평균세대기간(T)은 27℃에서 50.39였다.

True hermaphrodites are animals of equivocal sex in which both male and female gonads develop simultaneously. The frequency of true hermaphroditism is higher in pigs than in other domestic animals. Two Korean pigs were diagnosed with true hermaphroditism showing ovotestes, epididymes, penes, and uteri. Histomorphologically, the testicular tissues consisted of Sertoli cells that were devoid of spermatogenic germ cells and showed proliferation of interstitial cells. However, the uteri were of normal architecture and had well-developed uterine endometrial glands. The samples were 38, XX female karyotype without the sex-determining region Y (SRY) gene. The findings of this study could contribute to the understanding of true hermaphroditism in the Korean pig industry. * This work was supported by a grant (Code# PJ008148) from BioGreen21 Program, Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

The objective of the current study was to describe in vitro embryo production in Hanwoo, analyzing oocytes yield and embryo production. The effects of oocytes production and the number of OPU procedures per animal on embryo production were also evaluated. OPU was done every 3～4 days during experimental period and collected oocytes were fertilized in vitro in both OPU and needle puncture groups. First, we compared the recovery rate of oocytes based on OPU session (Experiment 1). The average of collected oocytes was calculated from every 10 session. The average number of total oocytes recovered per animalonsessionwas 5.16 (mean). Second, we compared the recovery rate base on collection period of OPU (Experiment 2). The following results show the difference of the number of recovered oocytes in every month during the procedure between the months of session. Every animal shows the constant number of recovered oocytes for the first 5 months. However, the recovery rate of oocytes was decreased from month 6 to 8. Third, we compared the developmental rate to blastocyst in two groups (Experiment 3). Oocytes by needle puncture were fertilized with frozen-thawing semen; the cleavage rate 24～48 h after in vitro fertilization (IVF) was 75.8% and blastocyst development rate was 18.8% in needle puncture group. Even though there is lower cleavage rate after IVF in OPU group (61.1%), blastocyst development rate was higher compared with needle puncture group (28.4%). In conclusion, Blastocyst developmental rate could be increased by OPU than classical method of needle puncture. Improvement of bio- technique in collecting oocytes could be applied to understand the reproductive physiology in cattle, expecially Hanwoo. Therefore, further investigation should be done to clarify the efficiency and advantage of OPU involved in reproduction in animals and human being.