Background : Panax ginseng C.A.Meyer is a perennial herb and its growth potential keep relatively high at least for the early 3 years old. If the transplanted ginseng roots of 2 or 3 years old grow well, a period of cultivation and the disease management cost could be reduced for the production of 6 years old ginseng roots. Methods and Results : The rooting and growth of a transplanted ginseng root could be affected by the age of a transplant. Therefore, the experiments were conducted to examine the influences of the age factor on the rooting and growth of transplanted ginseng roots. The ginseng roots with different plant ages in growth years (1, 2, and 3 years old), used in this study, were obtained by raising in a seedling production field near the Punggi Ginseng Experiment Station. The transplants were continuously grown under the same conditions after transplanting. The number of lateral or branched roots at the root-growing period after transplanting was basically higher in originally older plant ages compared to younger plants: the numbers of secondary and tertiary branched roots of the 1 year-old transplants were 8, 12, respectably; 2 years old: 12, 20; 3 years old: 12, 28. Those did not show any difference in both overground and underground growing, in compared to conventional cultivations with roots of a year old. The plants grew well without anthracnose, spotting disease, and high temperature injury. Conclusion : The conventional cultivation period of above 5 or 6 years for the raw material of red ginseng might be shorten and also the cost of disease control could be decreased, by transplanting of 2 or 3 years old roots raised at a seedling nursing field.

In this study, strain properties of high strength concrete (HSC) have been evaluated at elevated temperature. To evaluate the strain behaviour of HSC at elevated temperatures, ø100 × 200 mm cylindrical specimens of HSC with compressive strengths of 80, 130 and 180 MPa concrete were heated to 700 °C at a rate of 1 °C/min. As a results, Total strain of HSC was showing shrinkage with compressive strength increasing.

Molecular targeting for the altered signaling pathways has been proven to be effective for the treatment of many types of human cancer, including colorectal cancer (CRC). The dual phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor BEZ235 has shown to exhibit potent antitumor activity against solid tumors. Autophagy is a cellular lysosomal catabolic process to maintain metabolic homeostasis, which has been known to be induced in response to many therapeutic agents in cancer cells. This process is negatively regulated by mTOR and often acts as prosurvival or prodeath mechanism following cancer therapeutics. The current study was designed to investigate the antiproliferation activity of BEZ235 and to evaluate the role of autophagy induced by BEZ235 using HCT15 CRC cells bearing ras oncogene mutation. We found that BEZ235 decreases cell viability, which was mostly dependent on G1 arrest of cell cycle via suppression of cyclin A expression. BEZ235 affects PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway by increasing the phosphorylation of AKT at Ser473 and RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK pathway by decreasing the phosphorylation of ERK at Tyr204. BEZ235 also stimulated autophagy induction as evidenced by the increased expression of LC3-II and abundant acidic vesicular organelles (AVOs) in the cytoplasm. In addition, the combination of BEZ235 with autophagy inhibitor chloroquine, a known antagonist of autophagy, counteracted the antiproliferation effect of BEZ235. Thus, our study indicates that autophagy induced in response to BEZ235 treatment appears to act as cell death mechanism in HCT15 CRC cells.

Between 2010 and 2012, former Bank of Japan Governor Shirakawa argued, in series of speeches, that Japan’s economic performance, when compared to that of other G7 nations, was stronger after 1990 than appreciated by the critics. In May 2012, Nobel prize-winning economist and Princeton University professor Paul Krugman echoed a similar sentiment in a Financial Times interview. This analysis expands on these assertions and asks to what extent they are supported by cross-section data for the G7. As reviewed below, to date, no idiosyncratic explanation has arisen to explain the Japanese slowdown—perhaps this is the correct explanation: the slowdown in Japan, once adjusted for demographics, is less severe than in other G7 countries and, as recently noted by Eichengreen, Park, and Shin (2015), TFP growth in a number of other nations followed similar patterns. Focused on labor productivity, far from a laggard, Japan’s performance ranks near the best in the G7.

Purpose – The study aims to examine the students’ perspective (stream wise) of parameters affecting the undergraduate engineering education system present in a private technical institution in NCR, Haryana, India. Research design, data, and methodology – It is a descriptive type of research in nature. Questionnaire Based Survey has been used to collect the data. The sample size for the study is 500 comprising of the students respondents. The sample has been taken randomly and the questionnaire was filled by the students (pursuing B. Tech) chosen on the random basis from a private technical educational institution in NCR, Haryana, India. For data analysis and conclusion of the results of the survey, statistical tool like F test was performed with the help of high quality software; SPSS. Conclusion – Analysis of variance revealed statistically no difference between the mean number of the groups (stream wise) for the parameters "Selection", "Academic Excellence", "Infrastructure", "Personality Development and Industry Exposure" and "Management and Administration". While Analysis of variance revealed statistically difference between the mean numbers of the groups for the parameter "Placements".

The influence of different roasting temperatures, times and extraction methods on the quality characteristics of Omija (Schizandra chinensis) seed oils was investigated. Roasted Omija seeds were divided into five groups based on roasting temperature-time conditions: no roasting (Raw) and roasting [R11: 150℃, 10 min, R12: 150℃, 20 min, R21: 250℃, 10 min, R22: 250℃, 20 min (R22)]. Oils from each of the raw and roasted Omija seeds were obtained by solvent (n-hexane) and press (machine) extraction. The L* values decreased, but the a* and b* values increased with increasing the roasting temperature and time. The L* values were lower in the press-extracted oils than in the solvent-extracted oils. The peroxide value (POV) of Omija seed oils decreased with increasing the roasting temperature-time values. The POV value was higher in the press-extracted oils than in the solvent-extracted oils. ABTS (2, 2＇-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) radical inhibition of Omija seed oils was higher in the solvent-extracted oils than in the press-extracted oils, but there were no significant differences between the two oils. The four major kinds of fatty acid methyl esters detected in Omija seed oils were methyl butyrate, methyl hexanoate, methyl arachidate, and methyl eicosanoate. In conclusion, Omija seed oils obtained by solvent extraction and at higher roasting temperature-time values were more effective antioxidants.

This study presents a precise relative navigation algorithm using both laser and Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements in real time. The measurement model of the navigation algorithm between two spacecraft is comprised of relative distances measured by laser instruments and single differences of GPS pseudo-range measurements in spherical coordinates. Based on the measurement model, the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is applied to smooth the pseudo-range measurements and to obtain the relative navigation solution. While the navigation algorithm using only laser measurements might become inaccurate because of the limited accuracy of spacecraft attitude estimation when the distance between spacecraft is rather large, the proposed approach is able to provide an accurate solution even in such cases by employing the smoothed GPS pseudo-range measurements. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the errors of the proposed algorithm are reduced by more than about 12% compared to those of an algorithm using only laser measurements, as the accuracy of angular measurements is greater than 0.001° at relative distances greater than 30 km.

This work presents fuel-optimal altitude maintenance of Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) spacecrafts experiencing non-negligible air drag and J2 perturbation. A pseudospectral (direct) method is first applied to roughly estimate an optimal fuel consumption strategy, which is employed as an initial guess to precisely determine itself. Based on the physical specifications of KOrea Multi-Purpose SATellite-2 (KOMPSAT-2), a Korean artificial satellite, numerical simulations show that a satellite ascends with full thrust at the early stage of the maneuver period and then descends with null thrust. While the thrust profile is presumably bang-off, it is difficult to precisely determine the switching time by using a pseudospectral method only. This is expected, since the optimal switching epoch does not coincide with one of the collocation points prescribed by the pseudospectral method, in general. As an attempt to precisely determine the switching time and the associated optimal thrust history, a shooting (indirect) method is then employed with the initial guess being obtained through the pseudospectral method. This hybrid process allows the determination of the optimal fuel consumption for LEO spacecrafts and their thrust profiles efficiently and precisely.

Two mini neutron monitors are installed at Concordia research station (Dome C, Central Antarctica, 75°06'S, 123°23'E, 3,233 m.a.s.l.). The site has unique properties ideal for cosmic ray measurements, especially for the detection of solar energetic particles: very low cutoff rigidity < 0.01 GV, high elevation and poleward asymptotic acceptance cones pointing to geographical latitudes > 75°S. The instruments consist of a standard neutron monitor and a "bare" (lead-free) neutron monitor. The instrument operation started in mid-January 2015. The barometric correction coefficients were computed for the period from 1 February to 31 July 2015. Several interesting events, including two notable Forbush decreases on 17 March 2015 and 22 June 2015, and a solar particle event of 29 October 2015 were registered. The data sets are available at cosmicrays.oulu.fi and nmdb.eu.

석유화학원료의 공급 불안정 및 기후환경변화 대처가 절실한 상황으로 최근 신재생에너지 분야에 관한 관심이 증대 되고 있다. 더불어 2012년부터 발효된 RPS(Renewable Portfolio Standard) 규제에 따라 국내 발전사들의 신재생에너지원으로 부터의 전기 생산 의무가 본격화되고 있다. 특히 폐자원 및 폐바이오매스를 이용한 에너지 생산 분야는 원료의 안정적인 공급 가능성과 기존 처리 방법의 제한적 이용으로 열화학적 전환 기술을 이용한 에너지 생산기술이 각광받고 있다. 대표적인 열화학적 전환 기술들 중 열분해 기술은 폐바이오매스에 적용을 통하여 기존 석탄 에너지 전환 시설의 대체 자원으로의 이용이 가능하며, 원료의 수급성 측면 및 다양한 원료 특성에 대응하기 위해 반탄화(Torrefaction) 기술이 제시되고 있다. 반탄화 기술은 폐바이오매스를 에너지원으로 적극 활용하기 위한 전처리 공정으로, 무산소 조건에서 낮은 온도영역인 200~300℃에서 가열하여 원료 내 함유된 휘발분 및 수분 제거를 통해 연료로 전환된다. 생성된 반탄화물은 소수성 및 낮은 함수율에 따라 운송성이 확대되며, 고정탄소 성분의 증가로 인한 높은 에너지밀도로, 석탄과 유사한 특성을 지니게 된다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 국내에서 발생되는 폐바이오매스의 에너지원으로의 적용성 평가를 위해 농산물에서 주로 발생되는 왕겨 및 볏짚을 이용한 반탄화 반응 특성을 분석하였다. 반탄화물은 특정 반응시간에서의 반응 온도에 따라 생성하였으며, 에너지수율 및 질량 수율을 고려한 최적의 반탄화 조건을 모색하였다. 본 실험 결과 왕겨 및 볏짚을 이용한 최적의 탄화물 생산조건은 반응 온도 250~300℃ 및 반응 시간 20~30분 경우로 나타났으나, 각각의 탄화물 수율 및 발열량의 차이가 확연하게 나타났다. 왕겨의 경우 약 73.5%의 탄화물 수율 및 약 4,320.0 kcal/kg의 탄화물 발열량이 분석되었으나, 볏짚의 경우의 탄화물의 수율 및 발열량은 각각 68.2% 및 약 4,547.7 kcal/kg으로 나타났다. 이러한 탄화물 생산 특성의 차이는 바이오매스 원료의 Lignocellulose 특성과 주로 관련된 것으로 예상되고 있으며, 이러한 연구 결과를 통해 폐바이오매스의 석탄발전 설비에서의 혼합 연소 방식으로 적용될 것으로 기대 된다.

폐바이오매스를 이용하여 Bio-SRF로 활용을 위해 제시되고 있는 반탄화(Torrefaction) 기술은 대표적인 신재생에너지 활용 방안으로, 원료의 공급 안정성 및 제한적 처리 방법으로 인해 각광받고 있다. 일찍부터 해외에서는 반탄화 기술을 통해 생성된 탄화물의 높은 적용성을 인지하여 상용규모의 기술 개발이 활성화 되어 있으며, 주로 활용 가능한 폐바이오매스가 많이 발생되는 유럽 및 북미 지역에서 활발하게 수행되고 있다. 반면 국내에서는 기존 폐바이오매스는 매립 위주로 처리되어오고 있으며, 최근에서야 폐바이오매스의 자원 인식 전환을 통해 적극적으로 기술개발사업에 노력을 기울이고 있는 추세이다. 이러한 생산된 반탄화물은 소수성 및 낮은 함수율로 인해 운송 용이성 확대와 더불어 고정탄소 성분의 증가에 따른 높은 에너지 밀도로 석탄발전 설비에서의 혼합 연소를 통한 활용이 기대되고 있다. 반탄화물은 무산소 조건 상에서 200~300℃의 반응 온도 영역에서 열분해 과정 중 폐바이오매스 내 함유된 수분 및 휘발분 제거를 통해 얻을 수 있다. 반면에 국내에서 시행되고 있는 Bio-SRF 기준은 탄화물을 에너지원으로 활용하는 측면에서 엄격하게 다뤄져 적용 가능한 폐바이오매스 종류가 한정적이다. 이러한 배경은 원료로 사용되고 있는 폐바이오매스 종류별 함유하고 있는 염소, 황분 및 회분 함량이 다양하며, 이러한 성분들은 향후 반탄화물이 적용 될 소각 및 가스화 시스템 내부 부식 등에 따른 연속운전 저해 요소로 작용이 가능하기 때문이다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 적용범위가 제한적인 폐바이오매스를 활용하여 Bio-SRF 규격을 충족시키는 반탄화물을 생산하기 위해 다수의 폐바이오매스의 혼합비율에 따른 반탄화물 특성을 검토하였다. 대상 원료로, 폐목재와 고품질 하수슬러지 및 저품질 하수슬러지별 반응 온도 및 반응 시간에 따라 생산된 반탄화물 특성 실험결과를 이용하여 Bio-SRF 기준을 충족시키는 원료의 최적 혼합비율을 도출하였다. 저품질 하수슬러지와 폐목재를 활용할 경우 습윤 기준 하수슬러지 60% 및 폐목재 40% 의 혼합비율이, 고품질 하수슬러지의 경우 습윤기준 하수슬러지 80% 및 폐목재 20%가 최적조건으로 도출되었다. 본 연구를 통해 처리 방법이 제한적인 폐바이오매스를 이용한 반탄화물 생산이 가능할 것으로 기대되며, 향후 폐바이오매스의 대상 범위를 확대를 통해 혼합 폐바이오매스를 이용한 반탄화물 기술 개발에 중요한 가이드라인으로 제시될 것으로 사료된다.

Autophagy is a self-degradative process which accompanies the formation of double-membraned vesicles inside the cell. In the mouse uterus, autophagy is enhanced during steroid hormone deprivation and associated with acute inflammation. There are 17 major Autophagy related genes (Atg). Herein we investigated the role for Atg7 by using uterine cell-specific deletion model of this gene. We crossed Atg7flox/flox (Atg7f/f) mouse and Anti-Mullerian hormone type 2 receptor (Amhr2)-Cre mice (Amhr2-Cre; Atg7f/f). Amhr2 is mainly expressed in stroma and myometrium in the uterus, ovary, and oviduct, during 30 to 60 days. To confirm the region of Cre expression and to monitor whether conditional deletion of Atg7 was by Cre recombinase, we isolated uterine epithelial and stromal cells from 8 and 16 weeks mice by enzymatic digestion and performed RT-PCR. We confirmed that Amhr2-Cre is expressed in stoma and myomotrium, but not in epithelium. Then we examined the uterine histology and embryonic development of day 3 pregnant Amhr2-Cre; Atg7f/f mice. However, there was no specific difference between Atg7f/f (control) and Amhr2-Cre; Atg7f/f mice. To examine the effect of hormone deprivation, we performed western blotting and immunofluorescence staining of p62 (SQSTM1), an indicator of autophagic flux, and LC3B, a marker of autophagic activation, in Amhr2-Cre; Atg7f/f mice ovariectomized (OVX) for 2 weeks. p62 increased dramatically in OVX Amhr2-Cre; Atg7f/f uteri but not in control mice, suggesting that autophagic activation did not occur in the absence of Atg7 in the uterine stroma and that this led to massive accumulation of p62 in this cell type. p62 marks to-be-degraded proteins and target them for autophagic-lysosomal degradation. Thus it is predictable that Atg7-driven uterine autophagy is responsible for degradation of macromolecules during hormone deprivation.

DGCR8 is a RNA-binding protein working with DROSHA to produce pre-microRNA in the nucleus, while DICER does not only mature microRNA but also endogenous siRNAs in the cytoplasm. Here, we have produced Dgcr8 conditional knock-out mice using progesterone receptor (PR)-Cre (Dgcr8flox/flox; PRcre/+ mice, Dgcr8d/d) and demonstrated that canonical microRNAs dependent of DROSHA-DGCR8 complex are required for uterine development as well as female fertility in mice. Adult Dgcr8d/d females did not undergo regular reproductive cycle and produce any pups when housed with fertile males, whereas administration of exogenous gonadotropins induced normal ovulation with corpus luteal formation in these mice. Ovulated oocytes from Dgcr8d/d mice had comparable fertilization potentials and were normally developed to the blastocyst after fertilization as compared to those in control Dgcr8f/f mice. Interestingly, PR-Cre-dependent Dgcr8 deletion showed aberrant infiltration of acute inflammatory immune cells to female reproductive organs only when Dgcr8d/d mice were mated with male mice. With respect to uterine development, gross morphology, histology, and weight of Dgcr8d/d uterus were similar to those of control at 3-week-old age. However, multiple uterine abnormalities were noticeable at 4-week-old age when PR expression is significantly increased, and these deformities became severe onwards. Gland formation and myometrial layers were significantly reduced, and stromal cell compartment did not expand and became atrophic during uterine development in these mice. These results were consistent with aberrantly reduced cell proliferation in stromal cell compartments of Dgcr8d/d mice. Collectively, our results suggest that DGCR8 dependent-canonical microRNAs are essential for development and physiology of the uterus with respect to morphogenesis, proper immune modulation, reproductive cycle, and steroid hormone responsiveness in mice.

Autophagy means “self-eating” and it is a major catabolic pathway within cells. A basal level of autophagy is required for survival of cells or organisms, but prolonged activation of autophagy may have an adverse effect. In mammalian systems, autophagy is stimulated by nutrient starvation or deprivation of growth factors. Ovariectomy on day 4 of pregnancy in mice to deprive blastocysts of estrogen induces “dormancy” in blastocysts and delay the process of implantation until estrogen is given. Dormant blastocysts maintain a state of low metabolism in utero and survive for many days without initiating implantation under the unfavorable condition of estrogen deficiency. We tested the hypothesis if an autophagic response is operative in dormant blastocysts for prolonged survival in utero during the delayed implantation. We observed that autophagy is highly activated in dormant blastocysts. Interestingly, autophagic activation is more prominent in trophectoderm than in inner cell mass. Activation of blastocysts by estrogen supplementation induces formation of multivesicular bodies and exosomes in the trophectoderm. Dormant blastocysts with longer period of autophagic activation show compromised development after implantation. Thus, autophagy may be a critical cellular mechanism to provide energy source during extended survival of dormant blastocysts. However, prolonged activation of autophagy may compromise developmental outcome of blastocysts with irreparable cellular damage.

Purpose – This paper aims to identify and rank factors that influence impulse buying behavior among shoppers in Dubai. Research design, data, and methodology – Questionnaires were collected from 168 Dubai shoppers using non-probability quota sampling. Factor Analysis was completed to identify factors triggering impulse buying traits. Results – Six antecedent factors were identified: hedonism, in-store influences, product related influences, socialization, promotional activities, and convenience. Surprisingly, product related influences were the most significant in stimulating impulse buying behavior. Conclusions – This research suggests that a multitude of factors affect shopper propensity for impulse buying, with non-economic factors like product and in-store related influences having a significant impact. Hence, retail managers should concentrate on these in merchandising and promotional efforts. Against the backdrop of Dubai, one of the biggest retail destinations, this study contributes to present knowledge on impulse buying behavior. In terms of shopper inclinations and likeliness to purchase products, it highlights how shoppers respond to special in-store displays and discount offerings. For marketers, the findings regarding relative significance of various factors may help in strategies to attract consumers.

Enhancing yield has been a major challenge of agriculture. In rice, tiller number is one of the important biomass and yield components. A maize mutant grassy tillers1 (gt1) increases lateral branches in maize. The GT1 gene encodes a class I homeodomain leucine zipper (HD-Zip) protein. In maize, the gt1 expression is induced by shading and is dependent on the activity of teosinte branched1 (tb1), a major domestication locus controlling tillering and lateral branching. To estimate the biological role and agricultural utility of gt1 in rice, rice homologue (OsGT1) has been isolated and its overexpressors and RNAi lines were generated. Field data showed that OsGT1 overexpressors reduced tillers and panicles while RNAi lines increased them, compared to wild type. Shade signal is an important factor in determining lateral branching. To understand the relationship between OsGT1 and shade avoidance, plants have been grown under 50% shading in the field. Also, double genetic combinations with phytochrome mutants (phyA, B, and C) are being examining for tillering phenotype. These ongoing researches will provide insights in determining the action of OsGT1 on branching and shade avoidance in rice.

The wild relatives of soybean [Glycine soja Sieb. and Zucc.] have curly/wavy nature whereas cultivated varieties are upright. Such morphological characteristics have agronomic importance too. To investigate the molecular mechanism of development contributing to coiled morphology, screening was carried out to look for Arabidopsis mutants in activation tagging lines obtained by activation T-DNA treatment that have curly/wavy morphology. A mutant named Coiled Branch 1 (cbr1), is found to have a wavy and curly morphology with coiling branches. Plasmid rescue and genomic southern blot analysis revealed the site of T-DNA insertion in the genome. RT-PCR was performed to monitor expression levels of the genes adjacent to the T-DNA integration sites, and showed the activation of an E3 ubiquitin ligase gene. Database search showed that the gene with the RING domain belongs to a family of E3 ubiquitin ligases. Complementation test by overexpression and RNA interference of the gene was also carried out. The complementation test results showed that the novel gene activation tagging affected the cbr1 mutant phenotypes. Ubiquitylation has been linked virtually to every cellular process including plant development. E3 ubiquitin ligase has been reported to recognize target proteins that are to be ubiquinated for further degradation by the proteasome complex. Further, more detailed studies are needed to identify the specific substrate(s) of the novel E3 ubiquitin ligase gene.

Nitrogen in rice paddy soils and utilized as the major source for N-assimilation in rice crops. In roots, transcriptional activities of ammonium uptake and assimilation genes are highly sensitive to the availability of exogenous ammonium. However, little is known about the transcription factor genes that regulated by ammonium supply and its role to roots and plant developments. To study the transcription factor genes that involved in Ammonium response, two weeks old rice seedlings treated using Ammonium from 0 to 3 hours. Total RNA collected from each sample and samples were prepared for Agilent 8x60K microarray system. Based on the microarray data, we select transcription factor genes that highly affected by ammonium and selected knock out mutant candidates that used for phenotype screening.