Pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PBAN) produced in the subesophageal ganglion is known to stimulate pheromone production in the pheromone gland. A cDNA isolated from female adult heads of Maruca vitrata encodes 197 amino acids including PBAN, designated as Mvi-PBAN, and four other neuropeptides (NPs): diapause hormone (DH) homologue, α-NP, β-NP and γ-NP. All of the peptides are amidated in their C-termini and shared a conserved motif, FXPR(or K)L-NH2 structure. Mvi-PBAN consists of 35 amino acids as previously reported (Chang and Ramasamy, 2014). RT-PCR analysis revealed that Mvi-PBAN cDNA was expressed in all examined body parts. Nucleotide sequence analysis of RT-PCR products indicated the Mvi-PBAN sequence was identical in all examined body parts of both sexes. These results suggest that Mvi-PBAN expression is maintained in examined stages or tissues.

In this study, we tested the effect of a range of insect orders including Trichoptera as outgroups for lepidopteran phylogeny. Phylogenetic analyses performed with four different partitioning schemes using the maximum-likelihood method provided four different topologies (T1-T4) and topological test most supported T1 topology. When the means of first principle component for nucleotide frequency between A/T and G/C of PCGs was considered Trichoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera, and Orthoptera tended to result in T1 topology more frequently in the given ingroup taxa and outgroups tested. This result contradicts to the general view that the sister taxon might be the best outgroup. The T1 topology was largely consistent with a recent large molecular dataset-based lepidopteran phylogeney, presenting the relationships ((((((((((Noctuoidea + Geometroidea) + (Bombycoidea + Lasiocampoidea)) + Drepanoidea) + Mimallonoidea) + Pyraloidea) + Gelechioidea) + Papilionoidea) + Tortricoidea) + (Gracillaroidea + Yponomeutoidea)) + Hepialoidea).

Dental caries, the most common oral disease, is a multifactorial disease caused by interactions among bacteria within the dental plaque, food, and saliva, resulting in tooth destruction. Streptococcus mutans has been strongly implicated as the causative organism in dental caries and is frequently isolated from human dental plaque. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a technique that involves the activation of photosensitizer by light in the presence of tissue oxygen, resulting in the production of reactive radicals capable of inducing cell death. Postantibiotic effect (PAE) is defined as the duration of suppressed bacterial growth following brief exposure to an antibiotic. In this study, the in vitro PAE of PDT using erythrosine and light emitting diode on S. mutans ATCC 25175 was investigated. The PAE of PDT for 1 s irradiation and 3 s irradiation were 1.65 h and 2.1 h, respectively. The present study thus confirmed PAE of PDT using erythrosine on S. mutans.

Growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) and bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15) are oocyte-specific growth factors that regulate many critical processes involved in early folliculogenesis and oocyte maturation. In this study, effects of GDF9 and BMP15 treatment during in vitro maturation of porcine oocytes upon development after parthenogenetic activation were investigated. Neither GDF, BMP15 alone nor in combination affects the number and viability of cumulus cells or the rates of oocyte maturation and blastocyst development. However, the treatment of GDF9 on porcine oocytes increased the number of trophectodermal (TE) cells of blastocysts derived from activated oocytes (P<0.05). The treatment of BMP15 increased the cell numbers of both inner cell mass (ICM) and TE cells (P<0.05). The treatment with the combination of GDF9 and BMP15 further increased the numbers of ICM and TE cells, compared with GDF9 or BMP15 treatment alone (P<0.05). In conclusion, the treatment of GDF9 or BMP15 (or both) enhanced the quality of blastocysts via the increased number of ICM and/or TE cells.

This review presents current progress in the preparation methods of liquid crystalline nanocarbon materials and the liquid crystalline spinning method for producing nano-carbon fibers. In particular, we focus on the fabrication of liquid crystalline carbon nanotubes by spinning from superacids, and the continuous production of macroscopic fiber from liquid crystalline graphene oxide.

This study investigated the effects of rare-earth fertilizer on the shoot cuttings’ rooting of Vitex rotundifolia L. and Tamarix chinensis Lour. The shoot cutting test was carried in 2008 and the main results are summarized as follows. The rate of rooting and the average roots increased in both number and length when rare-earth fertilizer is treated in V. rotundifolia and T. chinensis in comparison to those of the untreated control plot. In particular, when rare-earth fertilizer is diluted with water 1/2500, the rooting outstandingly increases. This result is almost similar to the effect of the rooting stimulant, IAA. Although there is no differentiation in its rooting rate according to the density, the rooting of T. chinensis shows a 100 percent effect on in the entire treated plot but not in the untreated control plot, so it is usable as a rooting stimulant. As for shoot cuttings' rooting, depending on the time immersed in diluted solution of rare-earth fertilizer, both V. rotundifolia and T. chinensis showed relatively higher percentages in all treatment plot immersed for 60 minutes than for 10 minutes. In conclusion, considering the results of the rooting percentage and the average number and length of roots of V. rotundifolia and T. chinensis, the shoot cuttings' rooting appeared higher in percentage when they were immersed in the rooting stimulant for sixty minutes with a lower density than 1/2500. This result shows that rare-earth fertilizer can be utilized as an alterative for IAA rooting stimulants currently available in the market.

We identified two soil stichotrichs, Eschaneustyla lugeri Foissner, Agatha & Berger, 2002 and Oxytricha auripunctata Blatterer & Foissner, 1988, which were collected from Sarabong, Jeju and Ajoong-ri, Jeonju in Korea, respectively. Eschaneustyla lugeri had the following characteristics: size in vivo 170-230 μm×40-60 μm; body elongate elliptical and often very narrow in the posterior region, highly flexible; cortical granules present; 48-67 macronuclear nodules; 27-47 frontal cirri; 3-5 buccal cirri; frontoterminal row and rightmost midventral row; transverse cirri absent; 4 dorsal kineties; 4-9 caudal cirri. Oxytricha auripunctata had the following characteristics: size in vivo 75-95 μm×25-35 μm; body elliptical, both ends moderately narrowly rounded; orange-yellow cortical granules and yellowish crystals; 3-4 transverse cirri; 5 dorsal kineties; 3 caudal cirri. These two ciliates are first reported in Korea. We describe these ciliates based on live observations and protargol-impregnated specimens.

We discovered three soil ciliates of the class Colpodea-Colpoda henneguyi Fabre- Domergue, 1889; C. lucida Greeff, 1888; and Bursaria truncatella Müller, 1773 from Obong-ri, Ayajin-ri and Elwang-ri (Korea), respectively. Colpoda henneguyi had the following features: often wider preorally than postorally, size in vivo 60-80 μm×50-70 μm; extrusomes indistinct in vivo, cylindroid approximately 1 μm long; notches caused by deep diagonal groove; yellowish globules on the cortex of the cell; 10-12 postoral kineties; silverline system aspera-type. Colpoda lucida exhibited the following features: broadly reniform, size in vivo 70-90 μm×50-70 μm; conspicuous extrusomes, 3.5-5 μm long in vivo, cylindroid to fusiform; 13-16 postoral kineties; silverline system cucullus-type. Bursaria truncatella had the following features: bursiform, size in vivo 300-470 μm×120-260 μm; macronucleus coiled with highly variable shapes, 600-1100 μm×30-40 μm long in vivo; micronuclei 16-25 in number, approximately 4 μm in diameter; extrusomes cylindroid, 3-4 μm long in vivo. This is the first report of colpodean ciliates from Korea, and we describe these species based on observations of live and impregnated (protargol and silver nitrate impregnation) specimens.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the antibacterial effect of the low temperature atmospheric plasma device with needle tip designed for easy approach to the oral cavity and root canal against Streptococcus mutans, Enterococcus faecalis and Candida albicans. The antibacterial activities evaluated by measuring clear zone of agar plate smeared with each bacteria after plasma treatment. To quantify antibacterial effects, dilution plate method was used. In addition, scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used for observation of changes in bacterial morphology. As treatment time of plasma increased, the clear zone was enlarged. The death rate was more than 99%. The SEM results showed that the globular shape of bacteria was distorted. These results suggest that needle tip plasma could be an innovative device for prevention of dental caries, and treatment of apical infection and soft tissue diseases.

This study explored the effects of creativity-based L2 poem writing (CBLPW) for EFL college students. A total of 40 college students participated, who were assigned to two conditions-non-creativity and creativity groups. The present study employed pre-, post-, and delayed-tests for creativity using the Torrance Test of Creativity, pre-, post-, and delayed-evaluations of L2 poem writing quality, and pre- and post-questionnaires for participants' affective domain. The results showed immediate and sustained effects of CBLPW on creativity, and writing quality. In addition, an overall positive effect of CBLPW was observed in the affective domain such as interests, confidence, and motivation for the two groups. These findings suggest that teachers could offer students a wide range of creativity techniques in order to enhance their levels of creativity, L2 poem writing quality, and the affective domain of learners.

Medical mushroom, Phellinus linteus and Phellinus baumii called as “Sanghwang” have cultivated in Korea. PL has been studied extensively for its extraordinary capacity of suppressing cancer or enhancing body immunity. The mycelial materials of PL have mainly been used as research samples worldwide because fruiting bodies was difficult to be artificially cultivated. Alternatively, P. baumii (variety, ‘Jangsu’) have been cultivated in Korea. However, fruiting body morphology of P. baumii is clearly different to that of PL. Generally, Phellinus spp. including P. linteus slowly grow on artificial medium such as Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA). In contrast, P. baumii strains were rapidly grown on the artificial media when compared to other Phellinus spp. and thus it was considerable that its mycelial growing ability can be acted as a factor for producing fruiting bodies. This study aimed to find Phellinus isolates having high mycelial growth rate. Five Phellinus isolates that show rapid growth rate on YGM medium were selected from 36 Phellinus isolates collected in Korea. They were identified on nucleotide sequences of rDNA-ITS region. Phellinus linteus strain and Phellinus spp. showing mycelial growth rate comparing to P. baumii were characterized on cultural and bioactive characteristics (antioxidant activity and immune activation).