The bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) mainly contributes to the structural integrity, survival and protection barrier against harsh environments. Therefore, the early stages in LPS or lipid A biosynthesis are attractive targets in the identification and development of inhibitors which would be effective against infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria. The bacterial outer membrane proteins (OMPs) meanwhile function as maintenance for structure, adhesion to other cells and substances, as well as development of resistance to antimicrobials. The LPS and LPS-related molecules, and OMPs are important immunogenic components of several important pathogens including Brucella, which have been extensively used in immunological studies and in the diagnosis of diseases. Here we review the importance, structure, functions and immunogenic aspects of LPS and OMPs particularly of Brucella which can be targeted for the prevention and diagnosis of brucellosis.

Malaysia, situated between East and West, is an interface in world maritime trade, playing a crucial role in the business of moving container boxes in South-eastern parts of Asia. The prominent container terminals in Malaysia such as Port Klang and Port of Tanjung Pelepas are positioned among the top twenty ports in terms of volume handled. The annual average growth of throughputs in Malaysian container ports increased more than three-fold from the year 2000 to 2010. Within this context, the development of Malaysian seaports has been significantly influenced by three forces: increased use of containerisation, significant growth in domestic economic activities and ever-changing patterns in both supply and demand chains, all of which have led to increased transshipment activities and altered shipping routes. This phenomenon has brought dynamic change to Malaysian container ports, resulting in the establishment of new terminals and adapting emerging technology to enhance the ports’ ability to accommodate larger vessels and an increased number of containers. This paper aims to present the development of Malaysian container seaports by addressing changes to acreage size and handling volumes during the last three decades. The results of the analysis suggest that major Malaysian ports are experiencing an exponential growth in container trade with the expansion of port capacity following trade growth and need effective strategies to reduce the operational pressures of Malaysian seaports. The results of this research offer directions for development strategies of seaports by utilising the existing inland freight facilities as an effective strategy for capacity enhancement and develop efficient distribution network to meet future demands.

예이츠는 마지막 시편에서 자신의 죽음과 화해한다. 그가 직면한 것 은 자신의 죽음이지만, 그는 죽음이 마지막이라는 인식으로 죽음을 접근하지 않는다. 대신, 그는 자신의 저서 환상록에서 영혼이 재탄생을 준비할 때 “의식은 껍질(Husk, 욕망 등)에서 정신(Spirit)으로 지나가는 순간”이 죽음이라 기술한다. 죽음을 망각이라 기 보다는 이상한 시작으로 구분하는 것은, 환상록에서 상술하고 있듯이, 부분적으 로 예이츠의 시간에 대한 개념과 존재의 본성에 대한 개념과 상관이 있다. 이 접근은, 예이츠의 초기의 시간의 개념과 죽음의 시간성에 관한 개념에서 유래하며, 이것은 마 지막 시편 전편에 표현되어 있다.

This study was conducted to screen the characteristics of external and cranial characters of Crocidura shantungensis collected from Korean Peninsula, Ulleung Island and Jeju Island. There were significant differences in head-body length (HBL), tail length (TL), ear length (EL), and hind foot length (HFL) in males and HBL, TL, and HFL in females among three populations (p<0.05). The HBL and TL in the Jeju Island population were larger (8.0 mm and 4.0 mm in lengths, respectively) than those of the Korean Peninsula population. Based on skull analysis, a total of thirteen traits showed significant differences among the three populations (p<0.05). The condylo-insicive length (CIL), maximum width of brain case (MWB), mandibular length (ML), and mandibular height (MH) in the Jeju Island population were significantly larger than those of Korean Peninsula population (p<0.05). Principle component analysis (PCA) showed that two principle components (PC) identified from the PCA affected on the body size and width of the skull, respectively. Discriminant analysis revealed that these populations could be discriminated through skull traits. These findings concluded that the Jeju Island population was greater in the size than the Korean Peninsula, suggesting that the Jeju Island shrews have successfully adapted to the island environments and they had morphologically differentiated during glacial period after natural immigration into that Island. Thus, this study supports the ‘Island Rule’, showing that the population is well adapted to the island environments. This may provide important information for biogeographical and ecological studies on insular animals.

This study was carried out to investigate the bat (Chiroptera) fauna in Jeju Island. Bat distribution was monitored in lava tubes, sea caves, cave encampments and eco-corridors from July, 2006 to June, 2015. Bat specimens were also confirmed at the museums in Jeju Island. From the present study, we found 8 species of 6 genera belong to 3 families, which was different from the records had previously described in Jeju Island since 1928. Five species (Rhinolophus ferrumequium, Myotis bombinus, M. formosus, M. macrodactylus and Miniopterus schreibersi) were commonly found to live in lava tubes and cave enforcements. But only R. ferrumequium was found in a sea cave and five species including Murina leucogaster and Pipistrellus abramus were found in eco-corridors. We have also found seven species including Tadarida insignis in the specimens stored in local museums. From the results of this study, we actually could not found the remaining seven species (Hypsugo savii, Miniopterus fuscus, Myotis mystacinus, Myotis ikonnikovi, Myotis branditii, Myotis petax and Pipistrellus endoi). Interestingly, Myotis formosus which is known as one of endangered species and Myotis bombinus which is very rare in Korean Peninsula were currently found in Jeju Island. In addition, Tube-nosed bat (Murina leucogaster) that was discovered for the first time through this study. A variety of habitats for Chiroptera were identified, but the information is still not sufficient to understand. These results will be useful to provide a fundamental data in preserving the diversity of bats and in ecological study in Jeju Island.

The objectives of the present study were to select an effective basic medium including its hormone and protein supplementation for IVM of oocytes of indigenous zebu cows. The ovaries of cows were collected from slaughter house and the follicular fluid was aspirated from 2 to 8 mm diameter follicles. The COCs with more than 3 cumulus cell layers and homogenous cytoplasm were selected for maturation. The oocytes were matured in media for 24 hrs at 39℃ with 5% CO2 in humidified air. The maturation of oocytes was evaluated by examining the presence of first polar body under microscope. An efficient basic medium was determined after culturing COCs in either TCM 199 or SOF medium in Experiment 1. An efficient hormone supplementation was determined after culturing COCs in either FSH or gonadotrophin supplemented TCM 199 in Experiment 2. An efficient protein supplementation was determined after culturing COCs in either FBS or Oestrous cow serum (OCS) supplemented TCM 199 in Experiment 3. The oocyte recovery rate per ovary was 3.35. The overall rate of IVM was 74.6%. The maturation rate was 75.5±3.9 and 62.2±20.2% in TCM and SOF medium, respectively (P>0.05). The maturation rate of oocytes was significantly higher (76.6±13.2%) in FSH supplemented medium than gonadotrphin supplemented counterpart (69.7±10.8%) (P<0.05). The maturation rates of oocytes were 81.7±12.9 and 85.7±12.7% in medium supplemented with FBS and OCS, respectively (P>0.05). In conclusions, both TCM 199 and SOF supplemented with either FBS or OCS, and FSH may be used as medium for IVM of indigenous zebu oocytes in Bangladesh.

Gangliosides exist in glycosphingolipid-enriched domains on the cell membrane and regulate various functions such as adhesion, differentiation, and receptor signaling. Ganglioside GM3 by ST3GAL5 enzyme provides an essential function in the biosynthesis of more complex ganglio-series gangliosides. However, the role of gangliosides GM3 in porcine oocytes during in vitro maturation and early embryo development stage has not yet understood clear. Therefore, we examined ganglioside GM3 expression patterns under apoptosis stress during maturation and preimplantation development of porcine oocytes and embryos. First, porcine oocytes cultured in the NCSU-23 medium for 44 h after H2O2 treated groups (0.01, 0.1, 1 mM). After completion of meiotic maturation, the proportion MII (44 h) was significantly different among control and the H2O2 treated groups (76.8±0.3 vs 69.1±0.4; 0.01 mM, 55.7±1.0; 0.1 mM, 38.2±1.6%; 1 mM, P<0.05). The expressions of ST3GAL5 in H2O2 treated groups were gradually decreased compared with control group. Next, changes of ST3GAL5 expression patterns were detected by using immunofluorescene (IF) staining during preimplantation development until blastocyst. As a result, we confirmed that the expressions of ST3GAL5 in cleaving embryos were gradually decreased (P<0.05) according to the early embryo development progress. Based on these results, we suggest that the ganglioside GM3 was used to the marker as pro-apoptotic factor in porcine oocyte of maturation and early embryo production in vitro, respectively. Furthermore, our findings will be helpful for better understanding the basic mechanism of gangliosides GM3 regulating in oocyte maturation and early embryonic development of porcine in vitro.

Edaravone (Eda) is a potent scavenger of inhibiting free radicals including hydroxyl radicals (H2O2). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as H2O2 can alter most kinds of cellular molecules such as lipids, proteins and nucleic acids, cellular apoptosis. In addition, oxidative stress from over-production of ROS is involved in the defective embryo development of porcine. Previous study reported that Eda has protective effects against oxidative stress-like cellular damage. However, the effect of Eda on the preimplantation porcine embryos development under oxidative stress is unclear. Therefore, in this study, the effects of Eda on blastocyst development, expression levels of ROS, and apoptotic index were first investigated in preimplantation porcine embryos. After in vitro fertilization, porcine embryos were cultured for 6 days in PZM medium with Eda (10 μM), H2O2 (200 μM), and Eda+H2O2 treated group, respectively. Rate of blastocyst development was significantly increased (P<0.05) in the Eda treated group compared with only H2O2 treated group. And, we measured intracellular levels of ROS by DCF-DA staining methods and investigated numbers of apoptotic nuclei by TUNEL assay analysis is in porcine blastocyst, respectively. Both intracellular ROS levels and the numbers of apoptotic nucleic were significantly decreased (P<0.05) in porcine blastocysts cultured with Eda (10 μM). More over, the total cell number of blastocysts were significantly increased (P<0.05) in the Eda-treated group compared with untreated group and the only H2O2 treated group. Based on the results, Eda was related to regulate as antioxidant-like function according to the reducing ROS levels during preimplantation periods. Also, Eda is beneficial for developmental competence and preimplantation quality of porcine embryos. Therefore, we concluded that Eda has protective effect to ROS derived apoptotic stress in preimplantation porcine embryos.

6-Gingerol exerts anti-tumor effects in various cancer cell models. We evaluated the effect of 6-gingerol on the growth of MCF-7 breast cancer cells and MCF-10A breast epithelial cells to determine whether any growth-inhibitory effects found were attributable to apoptosis, and to elucidate the underlying mechanism of action. 6-Gingerol inhibited the viability of both cell lines in a dose- and time-dependent manner; however, the degree of inhibition was greater in MCF-7 than MCF-10A cells. By flow cytometry, induction of dose- and time-dependent apoptosis was found, and the magnitude of apoptosis was also markedly greater in MCF-7 than MCF-10A cells. Expression of caspase-3 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) was observed in MCF-7 cells treated with 6-gingerol, and further cleavage of PARP occurred in these cells. We suggest that 6-gingerol induces apoptosis in human breast cancer cells mainly by promoting caspase-3 expression and subsequent degradation of PARP.

Expression type for mixed-use of Dongba characters can be divided into dominant type and parallel type. Causes for mixed-use includes three points: 1. similar or compatible patterns are the precondition for mixed-use; 2. certain relation exists among semantics of words represented by characters, or characters belong to the same classification in terms of meaning or have correlative meanings; 3. outcome is obtained during self-adjustment transitional stage of internal character of writing system. There are three solutions to solve the problem of similar characters: 1. re-distribution of characters’ functions; 2. integration of characters; 3. reconstruction of expression which is embodied in two aspects, including ideographical and phonetic expression transited from ideographical expression to additional phonetic complement, and transition from ideographical expression to pure phonetic expression.

A full-scale process has been developed to immobilize fission products that accumulate within the Mark IV electrorefiner (ER) electrolyte at Idaho National Laboratory. ER salt was blended with treatment additives, followed by pressureless consolidation (PC) in a furnace to produce a durable ceramic waste form (CWF). The goal is the development of a process to consolidate actual radioactive ER salt into a form suitable for transportation and disposal.Four batches (300 to 400 kg per batch) of full-scale pre-qualification material preparation runs have been prepared. From these four batches of nonradioactive salt-loaded surrogate material, three full-scale PC trials have been conducted. The first PC test run, established equipment parameters with a basic CWF container design. The second trial included a modified CWF container design, real-time measurement of CWF consolidation, and an audio recording to identify cracking during the CWF cool-down. During the third trial, salt was doped (from the fourth material preparation batch) to create a nonradioactive salt material and to more closely represent actual ER salt. The second and third trials were also used to validate a model developed for the CWF. The CWF model is beneficial for understanding and predicting the physical processes that occur during the heat cycle. This would be particularly useful when the CWF is located in a hot cell, which makes accessing and examining a CWF difficult.

Voltammetry has shown promise as a method to estimate the concentrations of actinides in the molten LiCl-KCl used as an electrolyte in spent nuclear fuel electrorefiners. This salt typically contains several actinides in addition to many active metal fission products (rare earths, Group I & II metals). However, most of the voltammetry studies to date have focused on a single actinide or lanthanide in eutectic LiCl-KCl. This paper examines experimental and analytical techniques that can be used to estimate the concentration of a molten salt mixture containing both lanthanum (III)- and gadolinium(III)-chloride in eutectic LiCl-KCl. The aspects of the experimental procedures and setup that are unique to a multi-lanthanide mixture are briefly discussed. Experimental results from qualitative and quantitative analyses of cyclic voltammetry and open-circuit potentiometry are presented. Due to the close proximity of their standard potentials, extensive analytical work is required to estimate the concentrations. Two approaches are used in this work: peak separation and multivariate analysis. The merits of these two methods will be analyzed and discussed.

A new facility, known as Pyrel III, has been installed at ENEA laboratories for pyrochemical process studies under inactive conditions. It is a pilot plant which allows electrorefining and electroreduction experiments to be conducted on simulated fuel. The main component of the plant is a zirconia crucible. The crucible is heated by a furnace which is supported in an externally water-cooled well under the floor of a steel glove-box, where an argon atmosphere is maintained by a continual purge of about 10 L·min-1. The vessel is loaded with LiCl-KCl eutectic salt (59-41 mol%) and is currently operated at 460 °C. Several improvements on Pyrel II (the previous operating plant) have been introduced into Pyrel III. They are described in detail, together with the results from the first experimental campaign which used lanthanum metal.Moreover, studies about the treatment of chloride salt wastes from pyroprocesses have been conducted in parallel. They follow two main routes: on one hand, a matrix termed sodalite, a naturally occurring mineral containing chlorine, has been synthesized from a mix of nepheline, simulated exhausted salts and glass frit; on the other hand, a novel method proposed by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) is under assessment. The final waste forms have been fully characterized with the support of the Politechnique of Milan, by means of density measurements, thermal analysis, and stereomicroscopy observations, FTIR, XRD, and RAMAN spectra, as well as leach tests under static conditions.

Electrochemical reduction has previously been reported for uranium oxide and mixed oxide nuclear fuel (uranium oxide, plutonium oxide). The laboratory scale electrochemical reduction of plutonium oxide powder is demonstrated in CaCl2- 1wt%CaO. The plutonium oxide contained within a permeable steel basket cathode is sacrificed during the process. A graphite anode is also employed during the reduction, leading to a significant contamination of the product.

There have been many studies on superwetting surfaces, ranging from superhydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity, owing to the variety of their potential applications. There are some drawbacks to developing these films for certain applications, such as the fragility of the microscopic roughness feature that is vital to ensure superwettability. At the first part of in this presentation, we fabricated intrinsically stable superwetting films using the organosilicate based layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly method in order to control hierarchical roughness and adjusted the surface chemistry of the multilayer structures. At the second part, hydrophilic branched poly(ethylenimine) and nanoparticle were assembled into LbL multilayers in the presence of UV-curable poly(urethane acrylate).

동절기에 제주도 지역에서 도래하는 떼까마귀의 유전적 특성과 집단 간 유연관계를 구명하기 위해, 미토콘드리아 COI 유전자 서열의 다형성에 기반한 모계 계통 구조와 계통 유연관계를 분석하였다. 떼까마귀 DNA는 우도와 제주도 내에서 발견된 깃털과 사체 시료에서 분리하였다. 결정된 COI 서열들(n=41)은 떼까마귀(Corvus frugilegus)에서 기존 에 보고된 서열들과 97.0% 이상 일치하였다. 제주도 떼까마귀 COI 서열들은 3가지 haplotype(J01-J03)으로 구분되었으 나 지역-특이적인 양상을 보이지 않아, 이들이 하나의 모계 기원에서 유래한 집단임을 알 수 있었다. 떼까마귀 전체 COI 서열에서 8개의 COI haplotype들이 발견되었다. 이 중 3가지 haplotype들은 러시아 동부, 몽골, 한국 등 동북아시 아의 COI 서열들을 포함하였고, 나머지 5가지는 중앙아시아, 중동아시아, 러시아 서부, 유럽국가의 떼까마귀에서 발견 되었다. 계통수 상에서 떼까마귀의 COI 서열들은 측소적 종분화 단계인 2아종, C. f. frugilegus와 C. f. pastinator인 2개의 모계 계통으로 뚜렷하게 구분되었다. DNA barcoding 분석을 통한 연구결과는 모계 계통의 구조, 계통 유연관계 및 분자생태를 이해하는 데 중요한 정보를 제공할 것이다.

We present our efforts for extending the simultaneous multi-frequency receiver system of the Korean Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) Network (KVN) to global baselines in order to measure the frequency-dependent position shifts in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) jets, the so called core shift effect, with an unprecedented accuracy (a few micro-arcseconds). Millimeter VLBI observations with simultaneous multi-frequency receiver systems, like those of the KVN, enable us to explore the innermost regions of AGN and high precision astrometry. Such a system is capable of locating the frequency dependent opacity changes accurately. We have conducted the feasibility test-observations with the interested partners by implementing the KVN-compatible systems. Here we describe the science case for measuring the core shift effect in the AGN jet and report progress and future plans on extending the simultaneous multi-frequency system to global baselines.