A Finite-Element (FE) model updating method is widely used for identifying structural integrities such as support conditions and material properties. However, it is still difficult to properly estimate support conditions using limited number of data. This study proposed a novel FE model updating method, which can identify support conditions by adding artificial springs at the supports, and by measuring the rotational angles of the supports.

This paper is to study the tendency of the development of the urban comprehensive park in the modern history of China, and take the urban comprehensive park of Wuhan as an example to study the local research through the literature.. In 1928, Wuhan Urban Comprehensive Park starting stage characteristics to the ideological education of the government as the center, in 1977 the policy of reform and opening to the outside world to entertainment center, ecology design point of view, the introduction of open space and urban plaza, to human centered design, application of science and technology. 2015 in Wuhan Urban Garden Expo theme can be seen in green life as the goal, through the design of urban comprehensive park ecology and human centered design, the application of science and technology development.

Cytokinesis is the final event in the cell division. After cytokinesis, one parent cell divided into two symmetric daughter cells. Unlike somatic cell which is symmetrically divided, oocyte meiotic maturation is highly asymmetric division, producing mature ovum and polar body. Class III phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) has been known as a key molecular component that regulates cell cycle progression, autophagy and endosomal trafficking. However, emerging evidences suggest that class III PI3K and its interactors are involved in midbody abscission during cytokinesis. Here we showed that beclin-1, a key component of PI3K is required to regulate midbody abscission during oocyte asymmetric division. Beclin-1 was widely distributed during meiotic maturation forming small vesicles. However, these vesicles were not colocalized with autophagosomal marker LC3. Instead, beclin-1 was detectable at the midbody ring during cytokinesis. Depletion of beclin-1 showed various defects including the failure of cytokinetic abscission, spindle separation and chromosome decondensation. Similar phenotype was observed when class III PI3K activity was inhibited. Therefore, our results demonstrate that PI3K is essential for cytokinesis but not autophagy during oocyte meiosis.

Estrogen plays an important role both in male and female reproduction. Two estrogen receptor isoforms, Esr1 and Esr2, are expressed in male gonad. In the mouse, Esr1 is expressed in Leydig cells of testis and pituitary. Esr1-/- male mice show enhanced androgen synthesis, spermatogenic defect, and infertility. To evaluate the specific function of Esr1 in Leydig cells, we examined spermatogenesis and steroidogenesis in Esr1f/fCyp17iCre male mice in which Esr1 is deleted specifically in Leydig cells. These mice showed normal spermatogenesis and fertility when compared to wild type from young adulthood to old age. Testosterone synthesis in Esr1f/fCyp17iCre mice at 3-12 months old of age was not different from age-matched wild type mice, while, at 18 months old of age, circulating testosterone concentrations were significantly higher than wild type together with increased levels of Star, Cyp17a1, and Hsd17b3 mRNA and with a hypertropy of Leydig cells. In Esr1f/fCyp17iCre mouse pituitaries, Fshb and Lhb mRNA levels were not different from wild type from young adulthood to old age. Taken together, Esr1 in Leydig cells may be not essential for spermatogenesis and fertility under control of endogenous estrogens and may have a role in aged Leydig cell function.

The four transcription factors Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc have been used for making induced pluripotent stem cells. Many efforts have focused on reducing the number of transcription factors, especially c-Myc and Klf4 known as oncogene, for making induced pluripotent stem cells. Recently it have been demonstrated that Oct4 and Sox2 are able to reprogram human fibroblasts or cord blood cells to induced pluripotent stem cells and Oct4 has the ability to reprogram mouse and human neural stem cell to induced pluripotent stem cells. These researches imply cell types for reprogramming experiments have great influence on selection of reprogramming factors. Here we report that pig kidney cortex fibroblasts need only c-Myc factor when they are used for making induced pluripotent stem cells. We used two vector system including drug-inducible vector system and constitutive expression vector system. The two systems generate induced pluripotent stem cells from pig kidney fibroblasts successfully. These one-factor induced pluripotent stem cells are not only similar but also different to pig embryonic stem-like cells. These two one-factor induced pluripotent stem cell lines can express pluripotency related genes and be differentiated into all three germ layers in vitro. However, these two cell lines can be sub-cultured as a single cell by trypsin. Our results support that single factor, c-Myc, is sufficient to converting pig kidney cortex fibroblasts into induced pluripotent stem cells.

Light characteristics are very specific in the aquatic environment. Fish vision and different light spectra perception are related to each species’ natural habit. Light is one of the main environmental conditions and can be easily manipulated in artificial rearing settings. Mucus-secreting goblet cells are the main regulators of digestion. In this study, we established whether the light spectrum (natural condition, full spectrum: green, 520 nm; red, 590 nm, and blue, 480 nm) influences growth performance and digestive activity related to mucus-secreting goblet cell activity in order to develop a good management protocol and optimal rearing system for nursery stage of Epinephelus akaara. For each light spectrum, fish (11.5 ± 0.2 g in mean initial body weight, 9.0 ± 0.1 cm mean initial total length) were reared 16 weeks under a flow-through system and fed commercial pellet diets twice daily. At the end of the experiment, the final body weights differed among the fish reared under different light spectra. The highest growth performance value and feed efficiency were observed in fish reared under the green light condition. Mucus-secreting goblet cell activity was significantly higher in the fish under green light condition than in the fish under the natural, red, and blue light conditions. Rearing of E. akaara under the green light condition had positive effects on fish growth performance and digestion. We recommend that the appropriate light spectrum for nursery stage of E. akaara is the green light condition from the perspective of growth performance and the synergistic effects of mucus-secreting goblet cells. However, longer light treatment periods are needed in future investigations to clarify the effects of light spectrum on each growing stage of E. akaara.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) involving two simultaneous vascular territories of acute transmural ischemia is known as a double or combined myocardial infarction. This well described but extremely rare phenomenon may be related to the fact that AMI with multiple vessel obstruction often causes extensive myocardial injury and death before hospitalization. We reported the first case of 45-year-old man with AMI occluded left anterior descending artery and right coronary artery simultaneously in Korea.

The aim of this study was to enhance the proliferation efficiency of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs). In order to improve the proliferation efficiency, we investigated new factors that promote the proliferation of SSCs using in vitro culture method with natural plant extracts. Germ cell populations containing SSCs were collected 6- to 8-days-old from C57BL/6-TG-EGFP (C57GFP) mice and SSCs were isolated from the collected cells via magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS). Since then, SSCs were cultured for a week with culture medium containing natural plant extracts at concentration of 0.1, 1, and 10 μg/mL. After a week of culture, we looked for an increase, especially a dose-dependent increase, in the number of cells compared to that of the control group. A dose-dependent increase, in the number of cells was observed in the Petasides japonicus-treated groups. Furthermore, we carried out repeated experiment that is process consisting of selection and additional segmentation to explore new factors for activating SSCs at the molecular level. As a results, Petasides japonicus butanol fraction significantly increased the proliferation rate of SSCs in a dose-dependent manner among Petasides japonicus fraction samples. We identified normal expression level of PLZF in SSCs cultured with plant extracts using immunocytochemistry method. Furthermore, we also carried out qRT-PCR and identified normal expression level of Lhx1 and GFRα1. The finding of this study could contribute to improvement of proliferation and activation for SSCs, using culture method with natural plant extracts.

Endocrine disruptors are exogenous chemicals that their endocrine disrupting effects mediated by androgenic signaling plays crucial roles in the control of development and several androgen-related diseases. However, there are no authorized in vitro screening and testing methods to evaluation of (anti-)androgenic activity. To find out a better in vitro cell line model, we have previously reported that 22Rv1 cells, a human prostate cancer cells contained functional Androgen Receptor (AR), might be an appropriate model for the evaluation of (anti-)androgenic endocrine disruptors. Based on this result, we developed a stable 22Rv1/mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) cell line to test AR-mediated transcriptional activation (TA). Using 22Rv1/MMTV cells, we established the test protocol and optimized the testing condition for AR-TA assay. In this study, we performed the inter-validation assay by four different laboratories to evaluate the 20 coded chemicals which were selected from the ICCVAM list (ICCVAM, 2003) or academic articles that exhibited exact (anti-) androgenic activity. The statistical analysis of the results of the inter-laboratory validation study revealed that there was reproducibility between the four participating laboratories. In conclusion, 22Rv1/MMTV AR-TA assay might be a quick and relatively inexpensive method, which can be used to screen large numbers of chemicals for their potential to activate or inhibit AR-mediated gene transcription. Furthermore, it will provide mechanistic data relevant to understanding adverse reactions observed in intact organisms.

Harmonized actions of ovarian estrogen (E2) and progesterone (P4) regulate cell proliferation and differentiation in the uterus with a spatiotemporal manner. Imbalance between the actions and levels of two major regulators often lead to infertility and gynecological diseases, such as endometriosis and endometrial cancer. While numerous works have shown that reduced expression and/or deletion of uterine factors associated with P4 signaling could disturb uterine physiology, local factor(s) to mediate E2 actions has not been extensively studied yet. Here we demonstrate that early growth response 1 (Egr1), a transcription factor which is rapidly induced in the uterus by E2, is required to maintain coordinated actions of E2 and P4 for uterine receptivity for embryo implantation. Given exogenous gonadotrophins to overcome LHβ deficiency in the pituitary of Egr1(－/－) mice, ovulation, fertilization and embryo development normally occurred in these mice. However, they showed complete failure of embryo implantation with reduced uterine responses to artificial decidualization stimuli. While serum levels of E2 and P4 in Egr1(－/－) mice were comparable, genes regulated by E2 and/or P4 in uterine epithelial cells (ECs) were aberrantly expressed on day 4 of pregnancy. Impaired P4 signaling along with absence of PR in ECs caused hypersensitive E2 responses shown as enhanced expression of E2-responsive genes such Muc1 and Ltf as well as reduced levels of P4-dependent genes, such as Ihh and Areg, in ECs of Egr1(－/－) mice. This is consistent with persistent proliferation in ECs and severely impaired proliferation in stromal cells (SCs) in Egr1(－/－) mice treated with E2+P4. Furthermore, primary co-culture of Egr1(－/－) ECs with Egr1(+/+) SCs and vice versa supported a notion that Egr1 itself is required for proper responses to two major regulators, E2 and P4, in both uterine cell compartments. Collectively, our results show that E2-induced Egr1 participates in P4-dependent modulation on E2 activities in the uterus by regulating a spectrum of genes essential for uterine receptivity and embryo implantation.

Left ventricular (LV) thrombi may be caused by various conditions, particularly myocardial infarction. In most cases, LV thrombus occurs in patients with a significantly reduced ejection fraction. A LV thrombus is extremely rare in patients with normal LV function. We report a case of LV thrombus initially detected on transthoracic echocardiography and confirmed using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in a patient with normal LV wall motion. We highlight the rarity of this condition and the usefulness of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of LV thrombus.

Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, and electrical cardioversion for atrial fibrillation contributes to the formation of systemic thromboembolism. In particular, the increase in the occurrence of thromboembolic events is associated with postcardioversion atrial and atrial appendage "stunning". Most thromboembolic events after cardioversion were found in the cerebral artery. In this case, the patient had a thromboembolism in the brachial artery region, which has not been reported in literature reviews. We describe the first case of brachial arterial thromboembolism which occurred 3 days after cardioversion of atrial fibrillation, and was completely resolved by thrombolytic therapy.

Telomeres at the end of the eukaryotic chromosomes consist of tandem repeats of (TTAGGG)n DNA sequence and shelter in protein complex. Telomeres have the essential functions in chromosome stability and genome integrity and are hence related to cell senescence and cancer. Stripped, Black and White Cattle (Endangered Korean Native Cattle) characterized by their coat color, live in the Korean peninsula. However, they are endangered, with very small populations remaining. To investigate the karyotypic pattern of chromosome and also to quantify the amount of telomeric DNA was carried out from the traditional Korean beef cattle species, HanWoo and endangered cattle bull. We quantified the amount of telomeric DNA by the Quantitative-Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (Q-FISH) technique using the telomeric DNA probe and chromosome analysis of lymphocytes was carried out using GTG-banding in 9 bull at age of 18 months. In results, we found that the normal (60, XY) male karyotype were detected in metaphase chromosomes from korean native cattle including Hanwoo, Stripped, Black and White cattle, respectively. In addition, there were no significant differences in the relative amount of telomeric DNA among the korean cattle bull. However, the relative amount of telomeric DNA of Hanwoo was slightly higher than that of White cattle. In conclusion, this study reported karytype and the amount of telomeric DNA which could serve as baseline information for comparison in conditions of physiological and health status of endangered Korean native cattle. Although we have no definitive explanations as to why this occurs, further investigations are needed to continue investigation of these animals throughout their life spans.

During implantation period uterus undergoes functional and histological changes including cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis. This delicate condition is regulated by various factors such as steroid hormones, cytokines, and growth factors. From previous our studies, we showed the spatio-temporal expression of Müllerian inhibiting substance (MIS) and MIS receptor Ⅱ (MISR II) in mouse uteri during pregnancy. In present study investigated the role of MISRⅡ in proliferation and differentiation in the uterus. The decidualization markers were dramatically decreased during treated rhMIS and MISRⅡ viral particles in in vitro decidualization model. The intensity of PAS staining and Oil-Red-O staining were dramatically decreased by treatment of rhMIS and overexpression of MISRⅡ. MIS/MISRⅡ also suppressed stromal proliferation regulate the differentiation of stroma cell during decidualization. MIS suppress the stromal proliferation and decidual differentiation along with its receptor. Put together it is suggested that MIS works as paracrine and autocrine factors for cell proliferation regulator and differentiation regulator during implantation.

Accurate chromosome segregation is critical to ensure genomic integrity during cell division. This process is facilitated by the kinetochore, a multiprotein structure that is assembled on centromeric regions of chromosomes. The kinetochore establishes a mechanical link between the chromosomes and spindle microtubules and modulates cell cycle progression by regulating spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC). Defects in this process result in an aneuploidy, leading to miscarriages, infertility and various genetic disorder such as Down’s syndrome. Although the numerous kinetochore proteins have been identified and studied, the mechanisms that engaged in kinetochore assembly and chromosome segregation are poorly understood. Here we investigated the function of kinetochore protein Zwint-1 on homologous chromosome segregation during oocyte meiotic maturation. We found that Zwint-1 was localized at the kinetochore during meiotic maturation. Knockdown of Zwint-1 caused premature polar body extrusion, indicating acceleration of meiosis I. Interestingly, Zwint-1 knockdown impaired the recruitment of Mad2 at the kinetochores. However, BubR1 localization at the kinetochores was not affected by Zwint-1 knockdown, suggesting that Zwint-1 selectively regulates the recruitment of SAC components into the kinetochores. We also found that Zwint-1 knockdown abrogated chromosome alignment and segregation, thereby resulting in a high incidence of aneuploidy. These chromosomal defects were mostly due to the abnormal kinetochore-microtubule (kMT) attachments. Intriguingly, chromosome misalignment mediated by SAC inactivation was repaired, when anaphase onset was delayed by treating oocytes with proteasome inhibitor MG132. However, surprisingly, chromosomal defects following Zwint-1 knockdown were not restored by delaying anaphase onset. This result suggests that chromosomal defects induced by Zwint-1 knockdown are less likely associated with the failure of SAC activation. In addition, we observed that Aurora B/C kinase activity was not affected by Zwint-1 knockdown. Nevertheless, the meiotic defects induced by Zwint-1 knockdown were similar to those observed in Aurora B/C inhibition, suggesting that Zwint-1 is a downstream effector of Aurora B/C kinase during meiosis. Consistent with this, in Zwint-1 knockdown oocytes chromosomal defects following Aurora B/C inhibition were not restored when Aurora B/C inhibitor was removed, whereas the defects were well rescued in control oocytes after removing Aurora B/C inhibitor. This result suggests that the role of Aurora B/C kinases that correct erroneous kMT attachment is primarily regulated by Zwint-1. Collectively, our results demonstrated for the first time that Zwint-1 is an essential downstream effector of Aurora B/C kinase that corrects erroneous kMT attachment and regulates SAC activity, which ensures accurate homologous chromosome segregation during oocyte meiosis.

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.

Purpose - This article’s aim is to examine how the utilization of existing and future decision-support systems will lead to a change in the auditing process. Research design, data, and methodology - An information system is a special decision-support system that combines information obtained from various sources and communicates among them to help in assessing appropriate complex financial decisions. This paper analyzes techniques such as data and text mining as components of decision-support systems to be used in the auditing process. Results - We present views about how existing decision-support systems will lead to a change in audits. Auditors, who currently collect significant data manually, will in the future move towards management through complex decision-support systems. Conclusions - Although some internal audit functions are integrated into systems of continuous monitoring, the use of such systems remains limited. Thus, instead of multiple decision-support systems, a unified decision-support system can be deployed for this that includes sensors integrated within a company in different contexts (e.g., production, sales, and accounting) that continually monitors violations of controls, unusual patterns, and unusual transactions.

A strategy is needed for a regional survey of geosynchronous orbits (GSOs) to monitor known space objects and detect uncataloged space objects. On the basis of the Inter-Agency Debris Committee’s recommendation regarding the protected region of geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO), target satellites with perigee and apogee of GEO ± 200 km and various inclinations are selected for analysis. The status of the GSO region was analyzed using the satellite distribution based on the orbital characteristics in publicly available two-line element data. Natural perturbation effects cause inactive satellites to drift to two stable longitudinal points. Active satellites usually maintain the designed positions as a result of regular or irregular maneuver operations against their natural drift. To analyze the detection rate of a single optical telescope, 152 out of 412 active satellites and 135 out of 288 inactive satellites in the GSO region were selected on the basis of their visibility at the observation site in Daejeon, Korea. By using various vertical view ranges and various numbers of observations of the GSO region, the detection efficiencies were analyzed for a single night, and the numbers of follow-up observations were determined. The orbital estimation accuracies were also checked using the arc length and number of observed data points to maintain the GSO satellite catalog.

We estimated the orbit of the Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite (COMS), a Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite, through data from actual optical observations using telescopes at the Sobaeksan Optical Astronomy Observatory (SOAO) of the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), Optical Wide field Patrol (OWL) at KASI, and the Chungbuk National University Observatory (CNUO) from August 1, 2014, to January 13, 2015. The astrometric data of the satellite were extracted from the World Coordinate System (WCS) in the obtained images, and geometrically distorted errors were corrected. To handle the optically observed data, corrections were made for the observation time, light-travel time delay, shutter speed delay, and aberration. For final product, the sequential filter within the Orbit Determination Tool Kit (ODTK) was used for orbit estimation based on the results of optical observation. In addition, a comparative analysis was conducted between the precise orbit from the ephemeris of the COMS maintained by the satellite operator and the results of orbit estimation using optical observation. The orbits estimated in simulation agree with those estimated with actual optical observation data. The error in the results using optical observation data decreased with increasing number of observatories. Our results are useful for optimizing observation data for orbit estimation.