Insecticide resistance and activation of the metabolic detoxification enzymes of female Culex pipiens pallens by the blood meal were assessed using a micro-application bioassay and micro-plate enzyme activity assays. Four group of Cx. pipiens pallens were used, a susceptible non-engorging group at seven days after emerging, SNE7 Cp; a resistant non-engorging group at seven days after emerging, RNE7 Cp; a resistant engorged group at one day after blood feeding and a resistant engorged group at seven days after blood feeding, REG7 Cp. Insecticide resistance of Cx. pipiens pallans was increased by the blood feeding. Based on LC50 values, SNE7 Cp demonstrated >50 fold of higher susceptibility to all tested insecticides when compared with RNE7 Cp. RNE7 Cp showed higher susceptibility to all tested insecticides than REG1 Cp and REG7 Cp with a relative susceptibility LC50 (SRLC50) of 25.8 to 50.0 and 25.0 to 48.8. In micro-plate enzyme assays, the metabolic detoxification enzyme activity of Cx. pipiens pallans adult females was increased by the blood feeding. Activation of non-specific esterases (EST), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and mixed function oxidase (MFO) in RNE7 were higher than in SNE7 and the all tested enzymes in REG1 and REG7 demonstrated significantly higher enzyme activation than RNE7, except for activation of GST in REG1. Activation of MFO in REG1 and REG7 were 209.4- and 74.6- fold higher than in REG7, respectively. Non-specific esterases (EST) and glutathione-S-transferase exhibited < 10 fold of higher Rr values. These results may be significant in terms of the criteria that are used to evaluate resistance, because blood fed female mosquitoes may show enhanced expression of the resistance phenotype, possibly allowing for earlier detection of insecticide resistance.

Wolbachia is one of the most common endosymbionts best known to induce several reproductive alterations in its insect hosts. In some cases, the insect hosts harbor more than two strains of the bacterium. The Vollenhovia emeryi ant lives in dead trees and is morphologically subdivided into the long-winged and the short-winged. Interestingly the short-winged morph is free of Wolbachia, but only the long-winged morph is multiple- infected with the Wolbachia bacterium. We sampled four populations of the long-winged morph in Korea and performed pyrosequencing in Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST), to determine the bacterial strain diversity. Six different gene regions (coxA, fbpA, ftsZ, gatB, hcpA and wsp gene) were targeted and amplified. However, the result shows that diversity of haplotypes is very high. The pyrosequencing approach in MLST, a new method of discriminating Wolbachia strains, is promising to effectively detect multiple infections and rare haplotypes.

The hologenome theory of evolution proposes that an organism is simply not an individual but the totality of numerous microbial symbionts to the host. In fact, the evidence of biochemical and physiological associations between the symbionts and the host has been growing fast in all major taxa. The Vollenhovia emeryi ant is tiny and found nationwide in Korea. The ant can be further categorized by its wing morphology, eg. long-winged and short-winged. Our initial screening process showed that the microbial reproductive manipulator, the Wolbachia bacterium, only infected the long-winged morph. This gave us a good opportunity to investigate the effect of the Wolbachia infection on the bacterial community diversity using the next generation sequencing technique. We find that there are about 180 bacterial symbionts in the short-winged morph. On the other hand, the long-winged morph has only about 20 bacterial symbionts. This implies that the bacterial community diversity may be subject to the existence of Wolbachia. Furthermore, the Wolbachia strain diversity is unexpectedly high. In addition, the bacterial structure difference among castes indicates that there may be labour division even between queens. The results and future research direction will be discussed from the hologenome theory perspective.

Gene arrangement in the mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) has been regarded as an important evolutionary event that is useful as a phylogenetic signal. The mountainous duskywing, Erynnis montanus, belongs to a lepidopteran family Hesperiidae. We sequenced 15,530-bp long complete mitogenome of the species. The genome has the typical gene content of animals (13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and one major non-coding A+T-rich region). Further, E. montanus mitogenome also contained a high A/T content in the whole genome (81.7%) and the CGA (arginine) as the start codon for the COI gene, as typical in lepidopteran mitogenome. However, unlike other lepidopteran species, including two sequenced skippers, the E. montanus mitogenome has a unique arrangement tRNASer-tRNAAsn, instead of the tRNAAsn-tRNASer found unanimously in other lepidopteran species, providing a new gene arrangement in Lepidoptera. Such rearrangement probably was likely caused by duplication of gene block tRNASer-tRNAAsn and subsequent random loss of tRNAAsn in the first copy and tRNASer in the second copy, resulting in the arrangement tRNASer-tRNAAsn. Considering current phylogenetic relationships among available lepidopteran groups in connection with lepidopteran gene arrangement the new gene arrangement found in E. montanus seems to be apomorphy, requiring cautious interpretation as a phylogenetic signal.

The yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, is a vector for transmitting dengue fever and yellow fever. An assessment was made of the histopathological and molecular effects of pellitorine, an isobutylamide alkaloid, on third instar Ae. aegypti larvae. At 5 mg/L concentration of pellitorine, whole body of the treated larvae became dark in color, particularly damaged thorax and abdominal regions. Pellitorine targeted mainly on midgut epithelium and anal gills, indicating variably dramatic degenerative responses of the midgut through a sequential epithelial disorganization. The anterior and posterior midgut was entirely necrosed, bearing only gut lumen residues inside the peritrophic membranes. Pellitorine caused comprehensive damage of anal gill cells and branches of tracheole and the debris was found in hemolymph of anal gills. RT-PCR analysis indicates that the compound inhibited gene expression encoding V-type H+-ATPase and aquaporine 4 after treatment with 2.21 mg/L pellitorine. The results provide a fact that pellitorine merits further study as a potential larvicide with a specific target site or a lead molecule for the control of mosquito populations.

Pine-wilt disease (PWD) is one of the most devastating forest diseases in Eurasia. PWD is known to be caused by pine wood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus which is indigenous in North America. Ever since PWD was found in Japan, PWD has been continuously spreading to Korea, Taiwan, China, Portugal and Spain. Because B. xylophilus infected trees died within 2 ~ 3 months, the most effective way to control PWD is preventing the translocation of infected trees to other regions. Thus, developing on-site diagnostic methods for identifying B. xylophilus infected tree is utmost important. Even though various cellular and molecular biological techniques were developed to identify B. xylophilus at the laboratory, they had certain limitations to be applied for on-site diagnostic methods. In this presentation, I will overview the recent advances in B. xylophilus detection methods. And then, I will present recent progression for developing on-site diagnostic methods for B. xylophilus made from my laboratory collaboration with Korea Forest Research Institute. The development of on-site diagnosis tool for PWD is one of the most arduous mission to accomplish. Thus, the accomplishment of our mission requires continued interest and support to PWD researches.

Recently, a rapid movement of agricultural products with an extensive international trading and climate change have led to an increased attention to nematodes as having regulatory significance. With the increase of global dispersal of pests, new diagnosis methods are required for a rapid and reliable species and/or biotype identification to restrict introduction of the pests. Recently, novel molecular diagnostic techniques provide clues to solve taxonomic problems associated with conventional species identification. In this articles, we proposed various molecular diagnostic techniques to complement the limitation of morphological taxonomy.

성범죄에 대한 불안이 확산되면서 정부는 「성범죄자 알림e」등 특단의 조치를 마련하였다. 그러나 현재로서는 성범죄자 검색을 하기 위해 공인인증서, 주민등록번호 기입 등 추가적인 절차를 거쳐야하고, 접속이 되더라도 주어지는 정보는 매우 제한적이라 그 실효성에는 다소 의문이 든다. 「성범죄자 알림e」제도의 근거가 되는 <성폭력범죄의 처벌 등에 관한 특례법>이 개인정보침해방지를 비롯하여 인권보호를 중시한 결과라고 할 수 있다. 미국도 수년 전부터 성범죄자 신상공개와 알림이 서비스가 포함된 SORNA 정책을 시행하고 있다. SORNA 제도는 관련법률 위반시 최고 10년의 징역형이 부과되는 강력한 정책이며, 연방정부를 비롯하여 지방 50개주에서도 모두 시행할 정도로 보편화 되어 있다. 물론, 개인의 사생활 침해의 위헌문제, 예산의 부족, 사법전자시스템의 지역별 편차, 정책효율성에 대한 연구부족 등 개선할 점도 많이 지적받지만 SORNA 제도는 현재 미국 국민들에게 광범위한 지지를 받으며 운영되고 있는 정책 가운데 하나로 평가받는다. 개인정보보호와 성범죄자에 대한 테러 가능성 등 아직 해결해야 할 문제들이 많은 우리나라의 성범죄자 신상공개에 대해서 미국을 비롯한 다른 나라들의 사례는 좋은 선례(先例)가 될 것이며, 그 잘된 점은 받아들여서 더욱 개선하고 잘못한 점은 반면교사(反面敎師)로 삼아 일보해 나아가야 할 것이다. 다른 나라와의 비교를 통해서 우리의 현재 모습을 객관적으로 평가해보고 더 나은 방향을 모색해 보아, 한국의 「성범죄자 알림e」제도가 참신한 성공사례로 자리잡아 국제사회에 모범이 될 것을 기대해 본다.

Nanosphere lithography is an inexpensive, simple, high-throughput nanofabrication process. NSL can be done in different ways, such as drop coating, spin coating or by means of tilted evaporation. Nitride-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are applied in different places, such as liquid crystal displays and traffic signals. The characteristics of gallium nitride (GaN)-based LEDs can be enhanced by fabricating nanopatterns on the top surface of the LEDs. In this work, we created differently sized (420, 320 and 140 nm) nanopatterns on the upper surfaces of GaN-based LEDs using a modified nanosphere lithography technique. This technique is quite different from conventional NSL. The characterization of the patterned GaN-based LEDs revealed a dependence on the size of the holes in the pattern created on the LED surface. The depths of the patterns were 80 nm as confirmed by AFM. Both the photoluminescence and electroluminescence intensities of the patterned LEDs were found to increase with an increase in the size of holes in the pattern. The light output power of the 420-nm hole-patterned LED was 1.16 times higher than that of a conventional LED. Moreover, the current-voltage characteristics were improved with the fabrication of differently sized patterns over the LED surface using the proposed nanosphere lithography method.

Various voltage-gated K+ currents were recently described in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. However, the characterization and diversity of voltage-gated K+ currents have not been well studied in trigeminal root ganglion (TRG) neurons, which are similar to the DRG neurons in terms of physiological roles and anatomy. This study was aimed to investigate the characteristics and diversity of voltage-gated K+ currents in acutely isolated TRG neurons of rat using whole cell patch clamp techniques. The first type (type I) had a rapid, transient outward current (IA) with the largest current size having a slow inactivation rate and a sustained delayed rectifier outward current (IK) that was small in size having a fast inactivation rate. The IA currents of this type were mostly blocked by TEA and 4-AP, K channel blockers whereas the IK current was inhibited by TEA but not by 4-AP. The second type had a large IA current with a slow inactivation rate and a medium size-sustained delayed IK current with a slow inactivation rate. In this second type (type II), the sensitivities of the IA or IK current by TEA and 4-AP were similar to those of the type I. The third type (type III) had a medium sized IA current with a fast inactivation rate and a large sustained IK current with the slow inactivation rate. In type III current, TEA decreased both IA and IK but 4-AP only blocked IA current. The fourth type (type IV) had a smallest IA with a fast inactivation rate and a large IK current with a slow inactivation rate. TEA or 4-AP similarly decreased the IA but the IK was only blocked by 4-AP. These findings suggest that at least four different voltage-gated K+ currents in biophysical and pharmacological properties exist in the TRG neurons of rats.

Staphylococcus species are one of prevalent pathogens found in hospitals. Microbes that are a primary cause of nosocomial infection were isolated from a dental and medical environment it may assist the reader to explain what this is and how it differs from the ‘dental health care providers and ward health care providers’. To investigate the distribution of staphylococcus species in this environment, we used vitek II to measure drug sensitivity, and further performed biochemical testing. The isolation rate of staphylococcus species from the dental and medical environment was 100% but from dental health care providers and ward health care providers were 44.4% and 33.3%, respectively. In the analyses, staphylococcus species showed resistance to diffusion of cefoxitin and oxacillin discs. These staphylococci may be sufficiently positive for the mecA gene. Our results suggest that staphylococci might be an important cause of nosocomial infection in the dental clinic.

The development of hollow carbon balls by CO2 oxidation of two types of carbon blacks was studied. Super P (SP) and Denka Black (DB) were used for this study. Specificsurface area (SSA), structural parameters, and microstructures were examined using Brunauer, Emmett and Teller apparatus, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscope (TEM), respectively. The SSAs of both oxidized carbon blacks increased after oxidation. The SSAs of raw DB and SP were 73 m2/g and 60 m2/g, respectively. Maximum SSAs of oxidized DB and SP were 152 m2/g and 253 m2/g, respectively. The d002 of DB and SP showed almost no change after oxidation. The Lc of raw DB (38Å) and SP (19Å) increased with increasing weight loss. The Lc of SP increased up to 254 at 96% weight loss. The SSA increased about twice in DB (148 m2/g) and about four times in SP (254 m2/g) after 3 h oxidation compared with the original carbon blacks. Through TEM observation the outer parts of the oxidized carbon blacks showed a rigid shell structure and the inner parts looked empty. Generally it looked like an angular soccer ball, so we named it ‘hollow carbon ball.’ It is expected that the hollow carbon ball can be used as catalyst supports.

The anti-diabetes mechanism of silkworm Bombyx mori L. powder and extracts was found to inhibit the activity of α-glycosidase. The major functional component of silkworm powder was 1-deoxynojirimycin (1-DNJ), which exerts a blood glucose-lowering effect. In this study, we aimed to compare the effects of the supplements, including red ginseng extract on the functional components of silkworm. Fifty silkworm larvae were divided into the control group (Con, N=50), group A (A, artificial diet 95% and mulberry leaf powder 5%), group B (B, artificial diet 95% and mulberry powder 5%), group C (C, artificial diet 95% and Rubus coreanus remainders 5%), group D (D, artificial diet 95% and red ginseng extract 5%), and group E (E, artificial diet 95% and yeast powder (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Body weights and length of silkworm larvae showed significant improvement in group A, D. In particular, the growth rate in group D (artificial diet 95% and red ginseng extract 5%) was larger than that of Con. In addition, the results showed that 1-DNJ concentration was significantly largest in group D. From these results, it is concluded that the addition of red ginseng extract may be effective for larval growth and 1-DNJ accumulation in silkworm rearing with an artificial diet.

In Korea, wide spread use of whole cottonseed, which is primarily a GMO plant imported from foreign countries and being fed to animals as raw state, has aroused concern that it may disturb the existing ecology of the country unless dispersion of the seed is under proper control. The objective of this study was to elucidate the changes in various nutritive parameters due to heat treatment and to determine the effective condition for removing germination ability of whole cottonseed (WCS). Of the various temperatures applied (76, 78, 80, 85, 100°C/30 min) 85°C for 30 min was confirmed to be the lowest temperature treatment which resulted in a complete removal of the germination ability of WCS. Therefore, based on the determined temperature condition (85°C 30 min) we tried to examine the changes of various nutritional parameters, including nutrient composition, in vitro digestibilities and ruminal protein degradabilities, comparing raw whole cotton seed (RWCS) and heated whole cotton seed (HWCS). Some changes in amino acid composition were observed with heat treatment of WCS, but these were regarded to originate from the variation in plant quality and seed morphology, which are usually affected by different environmental factors during the vegetation period. As for fatty acid composition, no significant differences were observed to occur during heat treatment. However, WCS heated at 85°C for 30 min in a circulating oven showed a significant decrease (p<0.05) of in situ rumen degradability in both dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP), as compared to raw WCS. Overall results obtained in the study indicate that the heating condition used in this study, which was proven to be the most appropriate and economic to remove germination ability of WCS, may also improve the nutritional value of the ruminant with regard to reducing its protein degradability within the rumen.

As a specialty oil, furan fatty acids have gained special attentions since they are known to play important roles in biological systems including human. Although several studies reported chemical synthesis of furan fatty acids, their synthesis consisted of complicated chemical multistep with chemical catalysts. Recently, a simple one-step heat treatment method was developed to produce a novel furan fatty acid, 7,10-epoxy-octadeca-7,9-dienoic acid (7,10-EODA) from a dihydroxyl fatty acid 7,10-dihydroxy-8(E)-octadecenoic acid (DOD). In this report we studied about optimization of environmental conditions for the maximum production of 7,10-EODA from DOD by heat treatment. Production of 7,10-EODA was maximized at over 85℃ for at least over 48 hour in hexane. Solvent volume for maximum production should be over 300 mL per 10 mg DOD.

The aim of this study was to estimate of ovulation time and parturition day at the same time as breeding in small dog by vaginal cytology and to confirm the accuracy by comparing the expected parturition day and the real one. Characteristic features of vaginal cytology during the estrous cycle were the high proportion of large intermediate cell, superficial cell, anuclear cell and erythrocyte in proestrus, superficial cell and anuclear cell in estrus, parabasal cell, small intermediate cell, large intermediate cell and leukocyte in diestrus, parabasal cell and small intermediate in anestrus, respectively. When day 0 was the parturition day, the period of pregnancy is 67.45(64～75) days when the cornification index (CI) is over 90%. Also, on the basis of ovulation day, 63.65(59～66) days was confirmed, and 57.0(52～60) days was confirmed based on the first day of diestrus. There are the gap of 4 days between the day being over 90% in CI and ovulation day. On the basis of this, when expecting parturition day based on the day being over 90% in CI by vaginal cytology, 18.1% was produced in the same of the expected parturition day and the real one, 30.3% and 33.3% were produced in the gap of one day and two days, respectively so, the accuracy within two days was 81.7%. In addition, based on the first day of diestrus, it also was identified to 81.7% as the difference between the expected parturition day and the real one within 2 days. It demonstrated there are any difference between any expected parturition day by vaginal cytology. Thus on the basis of the day of being over 90% CI, it is fully thought to using clinically due to the possibility of prediction the parturition day at the same time as the determination of the proper time of the optimal mating time.

The aim of this study was to evaluate immunopotentiating activities of β-glucan derived from Saccharomyces (S.) cerevisiae and to select new strains having possibility as an immune-enhancing substance. We examined SB20 strains derived from commercial product as a control, and extracted β-glucans from the four strains of S. cerevisiae. RAW264.7 macrophages were treated with heat-killed yeasts, β-glucans, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The production of nitric oxide (NO) and cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-1β were then quantified. When macrophages were induced directly by in vitro addition of β-glucan, little production of NO and IL-1β was observed. When pretreated with strong stimulants, i.e., LPS, most yeasts showed down-modulation of NO and IL-1β production. However, TNF-α secretion was triggered by β-glucans and even more increased by the mixture effect of LPS and β-glucans. In particular, S6 strain induced TNF-α secretion more than other strains. Therefore, we can conclude that the S6 strain has possibility as an immune-enhancing substance.