The aim of the work was to investigate the thermo-electrical properties of low cost and rapidly produced randomly oriented carbon/carbon (C/C) composite. The composite body was fabricated by combining the high-pressure hot-pressing (HP) method with the lowpressure impregnation thermosetting carbonization (ITC) method. After the ITC method step selected samples were graphitized at 3000°C. Detailed characterization of the samples’ physical properties and thermal properties, including thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity, specific heat and coefficient of thermal expansion, was carried out. Additionally, direct current (DC) electrical conductivity in both the in-plane and through-plane directions was evaluated. The results indicated that after graphitization the specimens had excellent carbon purity (99.9 %) as compared to that after carbonization (98.1). The results further showed an increasing trend in thermal conductivity with temperature for the carbonized samples and a decreasing trend in thermal conductivity with temperature for graphitized samples. The influence of the thickness of the test specimen on the thermal conductivity was found to be negligible. Further, all of the specimens after graphitization displayed an enormous increase in electrical conductivity (from 190 to 565 and 595 to 1180 S/cm in the through-plane and in-plane directions, respectively).

Monochamus alternatus (M. alternatus) and Monochamus saltuarius (M. saltuarius) are major vectors for Bursaphelenchus xylophilus in South Korea. When an adult, they are easily distinguishable by several morphological classification. However, it is difficult to identification between M. alternatus and M. saltuarius when they are larvae as they have very similar morphological characters. Thus, they are not easily distinguishable without expertise about Cerambycidae taxonomy. Furthermore, during epidemiological investigation, sometimes, adults or larvae would not be founded in death pine trees. For these reasons, in this experiment, we are able to identified between M. alternatus and M. saltuarius by mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene primers that are specific to 12S rRNA gene fragment of M. alternatus using larvae tissue and frass. Moreover, we had examined whether vectors that were already escaped from dead pine tree have Bursaphelenchus xylophilus or not by multiplex PCR using larva frass that was remained in dead pine tree.

Monochamus alternatus (M. alternatus) and Monochamus saltuarius (M. saltuarius) are major vectors for Bursaphelenchus xylophilus in South Korea. When an adult, they are easily distinguishable by several morphological classification. However, it is difficult to identification between M. alternatus and M. saltuarius when they are larvae as they have very similar morphological characters. Thus, they are not easily distinguishable without expertise about Cerambycidae taxonomy. Furthermore, during epidemiological investigation, sometimes, adults or larvae would not be founded in death pine trees. For these reasons, in this experiment, we are able to identified between M. alternatus and M. saltuarius by mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene primers that are specific to 12S rRNA gene fragment of M. alternatus using larvae tissue and frass. Moreover, we had examined whether vectors that were already escaped from dead pine tree have Bursaphelenchus xylophilus or not by multiplex PCR using larva frass that was remained in dead pine tree.

콩명나방(Maruca vitrata)은 팥과 동부를 포함하는 Vigna 속 작물을 가해하는 해충이다. 다양한 화학 살충제가 이 해충의 유충을 방제하는 데 효과적이다. 특히 Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) 미생물농약이 이 해충을 방제하는 데 가능성을 제시하였다. 그러나 화학농약에 비해서 비교적 느린 살충 효과는 현장 적용에 어려움을 주었다. 본 연구는 Bt의 살충효과를 증가시키기 위해 면역억제제를 첨가하는 방안을 강구하였다. 콩명나방의 면역반응은 혈구세포의 소낭형성으로 분석하였다. 소낭형성 반응은 아이코사노이드 생합성 억제자인 dexamethasone 처리에 의해 현격하게 낮아졌다. 아이코사노이드 생합성 억제자를 합성하여 분비하는 Xenorhabdus nematophila 세균 배양액을 Bt와 함께 처리한 결과 Bt 단독에 비해 살충효과가 크게 증가하였다. 본 연구는 비티플러스 살충제가 콩명나방 방제에 효과적이라 는 것을 제시하였다.

It has been proved that agroinfiltration-based temporary expression of coatomer subunit alpha (COPA) gene from Tetranychus urticae hairpin RNA induces RNA interference (RNAi) and lethality to T. urticae. To establish detailed protocols for agroinfiltration, the efficiency of agroinfiltration to the soybean and kidney bean was determined with respect to different Agrobacterium delivery methods (sea sand, carborundum and syringe) and the spacial expression patterns of hairpin RNA was investigated following Agrobacterium delivery. Sea sand and syringe showed the highest expression level in soybean and kidney bean, respectively. Considering the resulting tissue damage, syringe appeared the best choice for agroinfiltration in both soybean and kidney bean. The apical region of a leaf showed more relative expression levels in both soybean and kidney bean compared to the basal region. Following agroinfiltration, adjacent untreated leaves were determined to express hairpin RNA though the expression level was low, suggesting that hairpin RNA can be translocated to other leaves. In conclusion, Agrobacterium delivery by syringe and use of whole leaf were recommended for T. urticae bioassay following agroinfiltration.

Metabolic resistance mechanisms of Laodelphax striatella to several insecticides, such as neonicotinoids, organophosphates and pyrethroids, have been investigated by evaluating the transcription levels of CYP450 genes. Nevertheless, no study on the CYP450-mediated carbamate resistance in L. striatella has been conducted to date. Here, we determined the transcription levels of six CYP450 genes and one carboxylesterase gene to screen detoxification genes associated with carbamate resistance. The CYP6CW1 exhibited the highest transcription level (18 fold) in a resistance strain. Interestingly, its transcription level increased slightly (3 fold) in a susceptible strain upon the exposure to a sublethal dose (LC30) of carbofuran. These results suggest that CYP6CW1 expression is inducible by carbofuran and its overexpression is likely responsible for carbofuran tolerance and resistance in L. striatella.

To identify genes that commonly respond to the treatment of different insecticides, 3rd instar larvae of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, were treated with sublethal doses (<LC10) of chlorantraniliprole, cypermethrin, dinotefuran, indoxacarb and spinosad via leaf dipping. Then, transcriptomic profiles of treated larvae were compared with that of untreated control. A total of 117,181 transcripts in average with a mean length of 662 bp were generated by de novo assembly, of which 35,329 transcripts were annotated. Among them, 207, 153, 336, 360, and 262 transcripts were determined to be up-regulated whereas 117, 47, 92, 115, and 81 genes were down-regulated following treatments with chlorantraniliprole, cypermethrin, dinotefuran, indoxacarb and spinosad, respectively. Finally, with the criteria of >10 X fold change (FC) and p < 0.05 or >4 X FC, p < 0.05 and q < 0.2, the genes commonly over-transcribed in all treated insects were selected and their over-transcription levels were confirmed by quantitative PCR. These commonly responding genes included three cytochrome P450 genes (Cyp303a1, Cyp6a20 and CYP9E2), three cuticle protein genes (LM-8, LM-19 and TM-A3A), lavesin-1, acyl-CoA D11 desaturase, glucose dehydrogenase, nose resistant to fluxetine protein 6, chorion peroxidase and protein yellow. As the five test insecticides have distinct structure and mode of action, the genes identified in this study were suggested to be involved in general chemical defense at the initial stage of intoxication. Their possible roles in tolerance and resistance development were further discussed.

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.

Swarming alates of termite Macrotermes sp. has been accepted as food among people of Benishangul Gumuz zone in west Ethiopia bordering with Sudan. The preference seems to be for the reproductive caste. We assessed the nutritional composition of nymph and alate of Macrotermes sp. of Ethiopia. The adult contained higher amino acids (31%) compared to nymph (21%). However, the distribution of amino acids in the protein was similar (ap. 4:6 essential to non-essential amino acids). Both stages tend to have high fat contents (50%). Fat supplement could be a possible reason behind the human consumption of termites. Beside the bio-prospection of termite as food or oil source, termite foraging would have important evolutionary biology due to their significant amount of energy-yielding nutrients which could presumably be critical resource for development of larger brained hominines.

Nitric oxide (NO) is an immune mediator in several insects. In addition, eicosanoids mediate various immune responses in response to microbial challenges. This study focuses on cross-talk between two immune mediators. Nitric oxide synthase (SeNOS) of Spodoptera exigua was predicted in its cDNA sequence by interrogation to the transcriptomes and validated by RT-PCR against developmental stage and larval tissues. RNA interference (RNAi) of SeNOS suppressed nodule formation of S. exigua larvae against heat-killed Xenorhabdus hominickii. RNAi of SeNOS also suppressed NO levels in fat body and hemocytes along with suppression of PLA2 activity. NOS-specific inhibitor, L-NAME, also inhibited PLA2 activity, but its enantiomer, D-NAME, did not. However, PLA2 of dexamethasone or oxindole did not suppress NO levels in the immune tissues. In addition, X hominickii did not inhibit up-regulation of NO levels. These results suggest that NO signal activates PLA2 to produce eicosanoids to mediate immune responses

Rapid resistance detection of resistance level is most important step to manage the resistant population in Tetranychus urticae in Korea. Residual contact vial bioassay (RCV) and quantitative sequencing (QS) methods were employed to determine the resistance level and applied to measure the resistance level of 46 field population collected from rose, strawberry and apple trees. Most populations exhibited multiple resistance pattern to various types of acaricides. Especially, the resistance levels in mites from rose cultivation area were higher than those from strawberry and apple cultivation areas. The resistance level detection would provide a useful parameter enabling the proactive action for a proper resistant population management for T. urticae.

Ryanodine receptors (RyRs) regulate the contractions of insect muscles by altering intracellular Ca2+ concentration and are the targets of chlorantraniliprole. Here we established two resistant strains of Drosophila melanogaster, which were treated with low or high concentrations of chlorantraniliprole, and their resistance levels were determined on the basis of contact and ingestion toxicities. Compared with the wild type, the two resistant strains did not show any significant differences in contact toxicity. However, they showed significantly increased resistance ratios in ingestion toxicity than that by the wild type. The resistant strains had altered expression levels of RyRs and more enhanced Acetylcholinesterase and Glutathione-S-transferase activities than that by the non-selected strain. These results suggested that the resistance development of chlorantraniliprole in the two strains might be mediated by the activation of detoxification pathways in D. melanogaster.

A series of conserved point mutations in acetylcholinesterase (AChE) confer resistance to organophosphorus and carbamate insecticides in most arthropod pests. However, the mutations associated with reduced sensitivity to insecticides usually results in the reduction of catalytic efficiency and leads to a fitness disadvantage. To compensate for the reduced catalytic activity, overexpression of neuronal AChE appears to be necessary, which is achieved by a relatively recent duplication of the AChE gene (ace) as observed in the two-spotted spider mite and other insects. Unlike the cases with overexpression of neuronal AChE, the extensive generation of soluble AChE is observed in some insects either from a distinct non-neuronal ace locus or from a single ace locus via alternative splicing. The production of soluble AChE in the fruit fly is induced by chemical stress. Soluble AChE acts as a potential bioscavenger and provides tolerance to xenobiotics, suggesting its role in chemical adaptation during evolution.

The telescope to be onboard SPICA (Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics) has an aperture diameter of 2.5 m and its imaging performance is to be diffraction-limited at a wavelength of 20 μm at the operating temperature of <8 K. Because manufacturing precise autocollimating at mir- rors (ACFs) with sizes comparable to the SPICA telescope is not technically feasible, we plan to use sub-aperture stitching interferometry through ACFs for optical testing of the telescope. We have verified the applicability of the sub-aperture stitching technique to the SPICA telescope by performing stitching experiments in a vacuum at a room temperature, using the 800-mm telescope and a 300-mm ACF. We have also developed a new method to reduce uncertainties possibly caused by cryogenic and gravitational deformations of ACFs.

We report our research on aluminum mirror optics for future infrared astronomical satellites. For space infrared missions, cooling the whole instrument is crucial to suppress the infrared background and detector noise. In this aspect, aluminum is appropriate for cryogenic optics, because the same material can be used for the whole structure of the instrument including optical components thanks to its excellent machinability, which helps to mitigate optical misalignment at low temperatures. We have fabricated alu- minum mirrors with ultra-precision machining and measured the wave front errors (WFEs) of the mirrors with a Fizeau interferometer. Based on the power spectral densities of the WFEs, we conrmed that the surface accuracy of all the mirrors satised the requirements for the SPICA Coronagraph Instrument. We then integrated the mirrors into an optical system, and examined the image quality of the system with an optical laser. As a result, the total WFE is estimated to be 33 nm (rms) from the Strehl ratio. This is consistent with the WFEs estimated from the measurement of the individual mirrors.

For future space IR missions, such as SPICA, it is crucial to establish an experimental method for eval- uating the performance of mid-IR detectors. In particular, the wavelength dependence of the sensitivity is important but difficult to be measured properly. We are now preparing a testing system for mid-IR Si:As/Si:Sb detectors on SPICA. We have designed a cryogenic optical system in which IR signal light from a pinhole is collimated, passed through an optical filter, and focused onto a detector. With this system, we can measure the photoresponse of the detector for various IR light using optical lters with different wavelength properties. We have fabricated aluminum mirrors which are adopted to minimize thermal distortion effects and evaluated the surface figure errors. The total wavefront error of the optical system is 1.3 μm RMS, which is small enough for the target wavelengths (20-37 μm) of SPICA. The point spread function measured at a room temperature is consistent with that predicted by the simulation. We report the optical performance of the system at cryogenic temperatures.

To realize large-format compact array detectors covering a wide far-infrared wavelength range up to 200 μm, we have been developing Blocked-Impurity-Band (BIB) type Ge detectors with the room- temperature surface-activated wafer bonding technology provided by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. We fabricated various types of p+-i junction devices which possessed a BIB-type structure, and evaluated their spectral response curves using a Fourier transform spectrometer. From the Hall effect measurement, we also obtained the physical characteristics of the p+ layers which constituted the p+-i junction devices. The overall result of our measurement shows that the p+-i junction devices have a promising applicability as a new far-infrared detector to cover a wavelength range of 100-200 μm.

We present project updates of the next-generation infrared space mission SPICA (Space Infrared Tele- scope for Cosmology and Astrophysics) as of November 2015. SPICA is optimized for mid- and far-infrared astronomy with unprecedented sensitivity, which will be achieved with a cryogenically cooled (below 8 K), large (2.5 m) telescope. SPICA is expected to address a number of key questions in various fields of astrophysics, ranging from studies of the star-formation history in the universe to the formation and evolution of planetary systems. The international collaboration framework of SPICA has been revisited. SPICA under the new framework passed the Mission Definition Review by JAXA in 2015. A proposal under the new framework to ESA is being prepared. The target launch year in the new framework is 2027/28.

We propose a cosmological survey to probe star formation and nuclear activity in galaxies at redshifts of z=2-4 by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) features using the SPICA mid-infrared instrument (SMI) with a spectral resolution of R=20. We will cover a wavelength range of 20-36 μm that corresponds to z=2-4 for the PAH features (11.3, 7.7, and 6.2 μm). The sensitivity will be 1 X 10-19 W/m2 (5 σ) in case of a reference survey that covers 4 arcmin2 field in a one-hour observation. It corresponds to LIR=2 X 1011 L⊙ at z=3 and will give us more than 10000 galaxies in a 450 hour survey.

Properties of ULIRGs (Ultra Luminous InfraRed Galaxies) are important to understand the cosmic star formation history. To investigate their properties up to z=0.3, we search for ULIRGs identified by using the AKARI/FIS Bright Source Catalogue and the WISE All-Sky catalog. By matching the AKARI 90 μm catalogue with the WISE catalog, we selected 3,452 galaxies. Additionally, combined with the SDSS DR10 spectroscopic data, we selected 952 galaxies with spec-z. We then computed total infrared luminosities using SED fitting technique, and identied 31 ULIRGs, 561 LIRGs and 344 IRGs. For these galaxies, we found an indication that ULIRGs selected by AKARI change the SED shape with redshift (z = 0.1 - 0.3).