Two dimensional finite element method with quadrilateral basis functions was applied to the spherical high order filter on the spherical surface limited area domain. The basis function consists of four shape functions which are defined on separate four grid boxes sharing the same gridpoint. With the basis functions, the first order derivative was expressed as an algebraic equation associated with nine point stencil. As the theory depicts, the convergence rate of the error for the spherical Laplacian operator was found to be fourth order, while it was the second order for the spherical Laplacian operator. The accuracy of the new high order filter was shown to be almost the same as those of Fourier finite element high order filter. The two-dimension finite element high order filter was incorporated in the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model as a hyper viscosity. The effect of the high order filter was compared with the built-in viscosity scheme of the WRF model. It was revealed that the high order filter performed better than the built in viscosity scheme did in providing a sharper cutoff of small scale disturbances without affecting the large scale field. Simulation of the tropical cyclone track and intensity with the high order filter showed a forecast performance comparable to the built in viscosity scheme. However, the predicted amount and spatial distribution of the rainfall for the simulation with the high order filter was closer to the observed values than the case of built in viscosity scheme.

Frankliniella intonsa (Trybom) (Thysanoptera: Thripididae) is an important pest of field and greenhouse crops such as pepper and strawberry. Chemical attractants are commonly used for monitoring thrips, but few are available for F. intonsa. Thus, we evaluated three attractants of Frankliniella occidentalis known from literatures for their attraction of F. intonsa in Y-tube olfactometer. Fed unmated adult females of F. intonsa showed higher initial response to (S)-(−)-verbenone than other attractants, i.e. aggregation pheromone of F. occidentalis and methyl isonicotinate. Unfed mated adult females of F. intonsa showed similar initial response. These results suggest that (S)-(−)-verbenone also can be used for monitoring and further in behavioral control tactics of F. intonsa.

Filixungulia, a small genus within the subfamily Allantinae (Symphyta: Tenthredinidae), consists of three species distributed only in Northern China: F. alboclypea Wei, 1997; F. crassitarsata Wei, 1997; F. cylindrica Wei, 2003. It is close to Asiemphytus Malaise and Macremphytus MacGillivray but is separated by the following characteristics: claws simple and very slender; basal lobe and inner tooth absent. Up to date, Filixungulia has not yet been recorded out of China. As a result of the present study, the genus Filixungulia is newly recognized from South Korea with two species, F. alboclypea and F. cylindrica. This discovery extends the range of the genus Filixungulia, which was previously known as a Chinese endemic genus. Also, a key, diagnosis and photographs of each species are provided.

Aphidiinae in Braconidae includes more than 400 species within approximately 60 genera worldwide. Species of Aphidiinae are mostly known as solitary koinobiont endoparasitoids specifically associated with aphid hosts, and some of them are used for biological control. In the present study, two aphiniine species are newly recognized from South Korea based on morphological and molecular study: Aphidius rhopalosiphi de Stefani-Perez 1902 and A. uzbekistanicus Luzhetzki 1960. Although It was very difficult to discriminate two species morphologically, we cleary identified them by using COI (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I) DNA Barcode sequences. Here we present their morphological descriptions, illustrations and barcoding results.

One species of the genus Coleopius (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: opiinae) are reported in this study. The genus Coleopius is a small braconid group distributed in the Palaearctic and Oriental regions, which has three species in the korea in current. In this study, Coleopioides postpectalis Li and van Achterberg is recognized for the first time in South Korea, which had been recently recorded from China. Descriptions, diagnosis distribution and illustration are provided

Morphology of antennal sensilla and their distribution were investigated in male and female adults of Ooencyrtus nezarae, an egg parasitoid of Riptortus pedestris, using scanning electron microscopy. Antennae of O. nezarae was composed of scape, pedicel and seven flagella in both sexes. Six types of sensilla (s. trichodea, s. basiconica, s. chaetica, s. campaniformia, s. sickle-shaped and unknown s.) were identified from both sexes. Among them, s. trichodea and s. sickle-shaped were multiporous, others are not. They distributed in varying numbers. Sexual dimorphism was clearly observed in the distribution of s. trichodea (only on male antennae) and unknown sensilla (only on female antennae). These findings would be helpful for further studies on detailed sex specific-receptive functions of each antennal sensilla.

We discuss a new IRAS Faint Source Catalog galaxy redshift catalogue (RIFSCz) which incorporates data from Galex, SDSS, 2MASS, WISE, AKARI and Planck. AKARI uxes are consistent with photometry from other far infrared and submillimetre missions provided an aperture correction is applied. Results from the Hermes-SWIRE survey in Lockman are also discussed brie y, and the strong contrast between the galaxy populations selected at 60 and 500 μm is summarized.

Removal of phosphate from environmental water has become more important to prevent eutrophication. In the present study, sorption behavior of phosphate onto magnesite was investigated under different conditions. The optimum pH of phosphate adsorption was determined to be 6.0. The adsorption capacity was found to decrease with increasing temperature, which indicates that a low temperature was beneficial for phosphate adsorption. The sorption capacity for phosphate was found to be 10.2 mg/g at an initial concentration of 100 mg/L and a dose of 2 g/L. The first order kinetic equation and Freundlich isotherm model fit the data well. Phosphate adsorption on magnesite was explained by electrostatic attraction and weak physical interactions.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of activation method on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress induction, apoptosis and in vitro development of porcine parthenogenetic embryos. Porcine in vitro matured oocytes were activated by four activation methods; 1) electric stimulus (ES) (E), 2) ES+10 μM Ca-ionophore (A23187) treatment (EC), 3) ES+2 mM 6-dimethylaminopurine (6-DMAP) treatment (ED), or 4) ES+A23187 and 6-DMAP treatments (ECD). Parthenogenetic embryos were sampled to analyze x-box binding protein 1 (Xbp1) mRNA, ER stress-associated genes and apoptosis genes at 3 h after ES and the 1-cell and blastocyst stages. In the EC group, the band intensity of spliced Xbp1 (Xbp1s) mRNA was higher than those of the other groups at the 3 h and 1-cell stage, and higher than that of the E group at the blastocyst stage. Four ER stress-associated genes were expressed at the highest level in the EC group and weakly expressed in the ED group at 3 h after activation. However, most of the genes were highly expressed at the 1-cell and blastocyst stages with some variation in the EC and ECD groups. Expression of Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) and caspase-3 mRNA was significantly higher in the EC group than in the other groups at all development stages. The developmental rates to the blastocyst stage were higher in the ED and ECD groups than in the E and EC groups. These results suggest that the intracellular ER stress of parthenogenetic porcine embryos is affected by the activation method and subsequently lead to the apoptosis of embryos.

Microglia have multiple functions in regulating homeostasis of the central nervous system. Microglia cells have been implicated as active contributors to neuron damage in neurodegenerative disorders. In this study, medicinal plant extracts (MPEs) were used to evaluate the cell-death induction effect in microglia BV-2 cells. Among 35 MPEs tested in this study, 4 MPEs showed less than a 30% cell survival after 24 hours of incubation. These were Foeniculi Fructus, Forsythiae Fructus, Zingiberis Rhizoma and Hedera Rhombea. The concentration showed that 50% cell death (IC50) occurred with 33, 83, 67 Ed highlight: Please confirm wording, and 81 μ /ml, respectively. For further study, we chose Zingiberis Rhizoma (ZR) which showed a reasonably low IC50 value and an induction of cell death in a relatively narrow range. Western blot analysis showed that ZR-treated cells showed activation of caspase-3 and cleavage of PARP Ed highlight: When an acronym is first presented it needs to be spelled out in both dose- and time-dependent manners. However, the level of Bcl-2 and Bax were not changed by ZR-treatment in BV-2 cells. These results suggest that ZR-induced apoptosis in BV-2 cells occured through caspase-3 activation. The results also suggested that ZR may be useful in developing treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.

The seaweed Ecklonia cava, a brown algae abundant in JeJu Island, South Korea, has large amounts of the polyphenol compound phloroglucinol (PG, 1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene), which has been proposed to exert interesting biological properties including antioxidant and radioprotective effects against ionizing radiation-induced damages in various cells and tissues. To identify antioxidant and radioprotective effects of PG in skin tissues, we exposed mice to 8.5 Gy whole body irradiation (WBI) at day 6 after depilation with and without PG treatment. In PG treated cases, PG was applied twice, once at 17.8 hours before and then at the time of WBI. At 8 hours after WBI, a reduction in the formation of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substrates (TBARS) was observed in the PG treated group. Upon western blot analysis, PG treatment overexpressed the MnSOD, catalase, and GPx-1, although the difference was not significant. In parallel with the results of western blot analysis, the percentage of MnSOD-and catalase-positive cells was significantly increased at 8 and 24 hours after WBI, while no significant difference was observed over 48 hours in PG treated skins. Moreover, PG treatment increased the percentage of Ki-67 positive cells compared with that of irradiated only mice at 8 hours after WBI. Our results suggest that PG is effective at attenuating oxidative stress, and that the promotion of antioxidant enzymes such as MnSOD and catalase may be an important aspect for its radioprotection in skin.

Some after-dinner thoughts on the giants of infrared space astronomy. I here describe important events in infrared astronomy starting from 1964 when I started working on my PhD. Here I describe how I became involved in IRAS, Infrared Space Observatrory (ISO), Herschel , Spitzer and AKARI, together with important events that led to these great missions.

The objective of this study is the removal of chromium from tannery wastewater by electrosorption on carbon prepared from lignocellulosic natural residue "peach stones' thermally treated. The followed steps for obtaining coal in chronological order were: cleaning, drying, crushing and finally its carbonization at 900°C. The characterization of the carbon material resulted in properties comparable to those of many coals industrially manufactured. The study of the dynamic adsorption of chromium on the obtained material resulted in a low removal rate (33.7%) without applied potential. The application of negative potentials of -0.7 V and -1.4 increases the adsorption of chromium up to 90% and 96% respectively. Whereas a positive potential of +1.4V allows desorption of the contaminant of 138%.

We report the use of carrot, a new and inexpensive biomaterial source, for preparing high quality carbon dots (CDs) instead of semi-conductive quantum dots for bioimaging application. The as-derived CDs possessing down and up-conversion photoluminescence features were obtained from carrot juice by commonly used hydrothermal treatment. The corresponding physiochemical and optical properties were investigated by electron microscopy, fluorescent spectrometry, and other spectroscopic methods. The surfaces of obtained CDs were highly covered with hydroxyl groups and nitrogen groups without further modification. The quantum yield of as-obtained CDs was as high as 5.16%. The cell viability of HaCaT cells against a purified CD aqueous solution was higher than 85% even at higher concentration (700 μg mL−1) after 24 h incubation. Finally, CD cultured cells exhibited distinguished blue, green, and red colors, respectively, during in vitro imaging when excited by three wavelength lasers under a confocal microscope. Offering excellent optical properties, biocompatibility, low cytotoxicity, and good cellular imaging capability, the carrot juice derived CDs are a promising candidate for biomedical applications.