Even in an era where 8-meter class telescopes are common, small telescopes are considered very valuable research facilities since they are available for rapid follow-up or long term monitoring observations. To maximize the usefulness of small telescopes in Korea, we established the SomangNet, a network of 0.4{1.0 m class optical telescopes operated by Korean institutions, in 2020. Here, we give an overview of the project, describing the current participating telescopes, its scientic scope and operation mode, and the prospects for future activities. SomangNet currently includes 10 telescopes that are located in Australia, USA, and Chile as well as in Korea. The operation of many of these telescopes currently relies on operators, and we plan to upgrade them for remote or robotic operation. The latest SomangNet science projects include monitoring and follow-up observational studies of galaxies, supernovae, active galactic nuclei, symbiotic stars, solar system objects, neutrino/gravitational-wave sources, and exoplanets.

This research developed ultra-pressure pump main body by using ductile cast iron FCD500, conducted quantitative analysis on following phenomenon of flow or solidification processing in cast processing for improvement of cast device, after extracting model from cast concluded as follows by brinel hardness test. after selecting the ideal condition of cast and it applied to cast of real product shape, discovered the ideal filling processing under the condition that temperature of molten metal was between 1300℃ and 1280℃. and after finishing filling, solidification was commenced rapidly when percentage of solidification completion was between 40%~50%, at that moment, the termperature was measured 1100℃. moreover under the condition of temperature below 900℃, keeping temperature on the center of parts for a certain period of time brings stability of stabilization of heat in parts and organizational stabilization of ductile cast iron. As the results of the casting method design, it was that the ductile cast parts of pump main body was obtained as the maximum HB of 220 was recorded and good test results were achieved

In ruminants, Interferon-τ (IFN-τ) has the role of recognizing pregnancy signals produced by the embryo and it may have an important role during the luteolysis. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of IFN-τ on prostaglandin synthesis, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) gene expression in vitro and secretion of progesterone (P4) in vivo. The epithelial and stromal cells isolated from bovine endometrium were cultured with different doses of IFN-τ (0, 0.02, 0.2 and 2 μg/ml). Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG, 1.5 IU/ml) was used as a positive control. Prostaglandin E2 and F2α levels in the culture media were analyzed by enzyme immunoassays, and total RNA was extracted from the cells for RT-PCR. P4 concentrations in blood samples were assayed by chemiluminescent immunoassay system. In epithelial cells, COX-2 gene expression was increased in the presence of IFN-τ (p<0.05), but it was not significantly different in all groups of stromal cells except 2 μg/ml IFN-τ group (p<0.05). Although IFN-τ did not affect PGE2 and PGF2α production in epithelial cells, it decreased PGE2 and PGF2α production significantly in stromal cells (p<0.05). In vivo experiment, the P4 concentrations in blood sample was significantly increased after injection of 1 μg/ml IFN-τ. These results indicate that PG production was mediated by COX-2 expression in the stromal cells but it did not affect in the epithelial cells, and suggest that treatment of IFN-τ was to improve the implantation environment of uterine by maintenance of high P4 concentration. * This work was carried out with the support of “Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science & Technology Development (Project No. PJ907008)” Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

  Most organizations have recently put more emphasis on the improvement in service quality. This phenomenon could come from the recognition that service quality plays an essential role in enhancing organization"s business performance. Hence this paper pre

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of washing medium, breed and washing temperature of fresh and frozen-thawed boar sperm on mitochondrial activity and membrane integrity by flow cytometry. More than 80% of fresh sperm washed with mTLP-PVA medium at 20℃ exhibited an intact membrane and a functional mitochondrion. With frozen-thawed samples, a large number of sperm showed both damaged membrane (36.4~46.9%) and nonfunctional mitochondrion (55.1~71.1%) in the mTLP-PVA and BTS washing media at 20℃. There were no breed effects of fresh and frozen-thawed sperm on mitochondrial activity and membrane integrity. The percentages of damaged membrane of fresh and frozen sperm, respectively, were higher at 4℃ washing temperature than at 20℃ washing temperature in the mTLP-PVA medium. We found that washing medium and washing temperature of fresh and frozen-thawed boar sperm were important for the analyses of mitochondrial activity and membrane integrity by flow cytometry.

The purpose of this study was to assess sperm quality during in vitro storage of miniature-pig semen in order to determine which extender should be used and how extender can be diluted for in vitro storage of miniature-pig semen. Freshly ejaculated miniature-pig's semen was diluted with same volumes of Beltsville Thawing Solution (BTS), Androhep, Modena, Mulberry III and modified-Modena extenders. Sperm quality was evaluated by examining viability, motility, abnormality, acrosome intactness, intensity and capacitation status by chlorotetracycline (CTC) staining. Sperm motility decreased with storage period prolonged and differences among BTS, Androhep, Modena and Mulberry III were apparent On Day 1, approximately 80% of the sperm were motile, but motility decreased to 40% at Day 7. During the 7 days of storage, sperm survival in modified-Modena B extender was higher than another extenders. However, it was not differ significantly among other extenders. The percentage of F and B patterns were not differ significantly among the extenders. However, F pattern in modified-Modena B extender was slightly higher until 3 days of storage than that of Modena extender, modified-Modena A extender and modified-Modena C extender. The percentage of AR patterns in modified-Modena B extender was slightly lower, but did not differ significantly among other extenders. The results of present study suggest that modified-Modena B was effective as new extender for in vitro storage of miniature-pig semen.

In the present study, we investigated the effects of genotypes on in vitro maturation and fertilization in porcine fresh/frozen-thawed oocytes. The porcine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were divided into four groups according to whether they were: (1) in vitro matured; (2) cryopreserved and in vitro matured; (3) in vitro fertilized and (4) cryopreserved, and in vitro fertilized. Maturation of porcine COCs was accomplished by incubation in NCSU23 medium. Immature oocytes were cryopreserved by Open Pulled Straws (OPS) method according to Vajta et al., (1998). Oocytes stained by Acetic-Orcein method were observed under the microscope. DNA extracted from the ovaries was analyzed by RAPD (random amplified polymorphic DNA) and SSCP (single strand conformational polymorphisrrt) method. The rates of oocytes maturation and fertilization were significantly high in AA genotype. The results indicated that in vitro maturation and fertilization in porcine fresh/frozen-thawed oocytes may be affected by genotypes in pigs.