The toxicity of red pine needle hydrodistillate, its constituents, and 12 structurally related compounds to third instar larvae of insecticide-susceptible Aedes aegypti and wild Aedes albopictus was examined using a direct-contact bioassay. Results were compared with those of the currently used larvicides fenthion and temephos. The red pine needle hydrodistillate constituents were identified by GC-MS and co-elution of authenticated samples following co-injection. Based on 24 h LC50 values, 3-carene (8.60–9.33 mg/L), limonene (10.34–10.77 mg/L), and thymol (10.65–11.45 mg/L) were the most toxic constituents. The moderate toxicity was produced by (1S)-(–)-α-pinene, p-cymene, geranyl acetate, myrcene, and β -caryophyllene (LC50, 27.62–38.01 and 28.61–39.52 mg/L). Overall, these compounds were less effective than either fenthion (LC50, 0.012–0.022 mg/L) or temephos (LC50, 0.010–0.015 mg/L). In the light of global efforts to reduce the level of highly toxic synthetic insecticides in the agricultural environment, red pine needle hydrodistillate and the compounds described merit further study as potential larvicides for the control of mosquito populations.
In apple orchards under different farming practices (organic and conventional), arthropod community structure was investigated. Arthropods were collected with pitfall traps, band traps, yellow sticky traps and pheromone traps from May to December, 2012 in Danyang-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea. Biodiversity was analyzed with species richness and Shannon diversity index (H΄). Sampled arthropods were identified 37 families in 14 orders from 21,618 individuals in organic orchard-1 and 33 families in 10 orders from 11,318 individuals in organic orchard-2 and 35 families in 13 orders from 27,711 individuals in conventional orchard. Species richness was relatively highest in organic orchard-1, intermediate in conventional orchard and lowest in organic orchard-2. In ecologically functional group, abundance of pests was higher in conventional orchard than in organic orchards due to the high occurrence of Phyllonorycte ringoniella (Gracillariidae) and Lyonetia prunifoliella (Lyonetiidae). Organic orchards showed higher abundance, species richness and species diversity of epigeic predators and those of parasitoids above ground than conventional orchard. Abundance of detritivores, mainly collembola, were higher in organic orchard than in conventional orchard.
This study was conducted in order to examine the effects of alcohol-free cetylpyridinium chloride drinking water additive and oral gel on clinical parameters related to periodontal disease in beagle dogs. This study was conducted with healthy 15 beagle dogs. Following a professional teeth cleaning procedure, dogs were divided into three groups. Dogs in the control group received nothing, those in the drinking water additive (DWA) group received 800 ml water with 15 ml of alcohol-free cetylpyridinium chloride drinking water additive daily, and those in the Oral gel (OG) group were treated with oral gel containing alcohol-free cetylpyridinium chloride and 0.05% chlorhexidine gluconate daily. Clinical parameters, including plaque index (PI), calculus index (CI), and gingivitis index (GI) were evaluated at two and four weeks. Dogs in the DWA and OG groups had significantly less plaque than dogs in the control group at two and four weeks (P<0.01, P<0.05). And, at four weeks, CI was significantly lower in the OG group compared to the control group (P<0.05). On GI, similar scores were recorded for all groups during the experimental period. No significant difference was observed between the DWA group and the OG group. The effect of alcohol-free cetylpyridinium chloride drinking water additive was similar to the result for alcohol containing cetylpyridinium chloride mouthwash reported in a previous study. The effect in control of periodontal disease was better in the OG group because of additional chlorhexidine gluconate. However, use of drinking water additive will be more convenient for owners; thus, it will be more effective for achievement of long-term results.
In this study, we observed anti-diabetic effects of acid hydrolyzed silk peptides, where the amount of peptides in the total amino acid mixture was strictly regulated. Using in vitro diabetes models, silk peptide-containing amino acid mixtures of 5.60% (G5), 11.30% (G10), 14.50% (G15), and 20.50% (G20) were examined separately in order to determine whether they have biological activities. According to our results, a cytoprotective effect was observed following treatment of interleukin-1β in RINm5f pancreas β-cells. As a consequence, Bax, a pro-apoptotic gene, was down-regulated, while Bcl-2, a pro-survival gene, was retained at normal level. Results of the 4’,6-diamidino-2-phentylindole (DAPI) staining assay confirmed that G20 has a better cytoprotective effect. Insulin release from RINm5f cells showed a significant increase following treatment with G5-G20, suggesting that silk peptide effectively regulated and induced insulin production. Single treatment with G5-G20 resulted in enhanced glucose uptake in L6 skeletal muscle cells. In addition, a higher amount of each group inhibited the activity of α-glucosidase. In summary, these data suggest that silk peptide may have an anti-diabetic effect through protection of pancreas β-cells and enhancement of insulin release, which showed a close association with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM), and can improve glucose uptake, which was the major target for therapy of Type 2 diabetes. Taken together, we concluded that acid hydrolyzed silk peptides can be used effectively for control of blood sugar metabolism via improvement of the problematic indices of Type 1 and Type 2 DM.
Vital pulpotomy is a very useful method for disarming of canine tooth, tooth fracture, periodontitis, and malocclusion in veterinary dentistry. Calcium hydroxide is the material commonly used as a liner during vital pulpotomy. This creates a mineralized barrier by stimulating osteoblastic hard tissue repair, arrests the inflammatory response, and soothes dentin. However, the powder or mix type calcium hydroxide materials have many disadvantages due to complicated procedures for use and are hard to handle when vital pulpotomy is followed under general anesthesia in animals. This study was conducted in order to compare the effect of mix and premixed paste type calcium hydroxide as a liner in vital pulpotomy. Six beagle dogs underwent hemisection on the mesial root of the mandibular first molar and vital pulpotomy on the distal root of the first molar. On the distal root of the left and right mandibular first molar, mix type (DYCAL®, Dentsply, USA) and premixed paste type calcium hydroxide (VITAPEX®, Morita, Japan) were used as liners, respectively. Radiological evaluation was performed at immediate, 4, 12, and 20 weeks after vital pulpotomy. According to the results, all teeth had well-formed dentinal bridges, and there were no periradicular lucency, lamina dura loss, or anomalies of the pulp cavity. According to these results, on vital pulpotomy in animals, premixed paste type calcium hydroxide was easy to handle and decreased the anesthesia period due to a more convenient application procedure. A further study of many clinical cases is needed for evaluation of side effects and other problems.
Lepidopteran pests monitoring in adult stage was generally performed using delta or corn typed trap including rubber septa impregnated sex pheromone (lure). Sometimes, unfortunately trapped samples were severly damaged because of biotic and/or abiotic environments such as micro-organism, predator and rain, sticky material, respectively. In our case, we monitored potato tuber moth, PTM, Phthorimaea operculella distribution during 2009~2012 in Korea. However, we encountered unexpected problem, another species can be trapped in species specific sex pheromone trap. Therefore, species confirmation was needed in trapped samples. Here we developed confirmation method by direct PCR (without DNA extraction) or sequencing methods which trapped samples that cannot identified by morphologically. We designed multi-plex PCR universal primers and species specific primers in rRNA region because to check the success of PCR and species identification. This direct PCR method can be applied in other species confirmation which monitored using pheromone trap.
Probiotics, enzymes, organic acids, oligosaccharides, antioxidants, and other functional materials are actively being explored as alternatives to antibiotics. Probiotics include live beneficial microorganisms that colonize the intestinal tract and competitively inhibit attachment and growth of harmful microbes. Probiotics also increase feed efficiency by assisting in nutrient absorption and digestion. The current study was conducted in order to evaluate the effect of a new probiotic, CS-A, as a dietary supplement of a fermented product on growth performance, feed intake, and feed conversion efficiency in broiler chickens, and to evaluate its value as an alternative for antibiotics used as a feed additive. Antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects of CS-A were investigated in vitro and the in vivo effects of a constant concentration of supplemented CS-A on growth rate and feed efficiency were evaluated. In addition, the safety of CS-A was assessed by examination of common symptoms and mortality. Determination of minimal inhibitory concentration revealed an excellent antibacterial effect of CS-A. Cytotoxicity was low and anti-inflammatory effects were achieved at the effective concentration of CS-A. Supplementation with 0.1% CS-A resulted in a feed efficiency score of 1.84 in broilers, compared to 2.00 in the control group. There were no adverse clinical findings, necropsy findings, hematology, and altered serum biochemistry parameters, and no mortality. Thus, it is concluded that CS-A is safe and effective as a feed additive.
We present a photometric catalog of infrared (IR) sources based on the North Ecliptic Pole Wide field (NEP-Wide) survey of AKARI, which covered a 5.4 deg 2 circular area centered on NEP. The catalog contains about 115,000 sources detected at the 9 IRC filter bands, comprehensively covering a wavelength range from 2 to 24 μm . This is a band-merged catalog including all of the photometry results from the supplementary optical data as well as the IRC bands. To validate a source at a given IRC band, we searched for counterparts in the other bands. The band-merging was done based on this cross-matching of the sources among the filter bands. The NIR sources without any counterpart in any other bands are finally excluded to avoid false objects.
The purpose of this study was to examine the degree of knowledge of care workers working at long term care hospitals and nursing homes on pressure ulcer. A total of 81 care workers including 34 at long term care hospitals and 47 at nursing homes were surveyed. 24 questions were used to evaluate their degree of knowledge on pressure ulcer. Their knowledge on pressure ulcer scored 12.84 out of the total score of 24 points(SD=3.40), which was equal to 53.50 (SD=24.23) out of 100 points. Their knowledge on the prevention of pressure ulcer was highest among the subareas of evaluation. Their knowledge on pressure ulcer statistically significantly differed according to education on pressure ulcer(P<.05). A pressure ulcer is a skin disorder that may be prevented and cured. At this point when long term care facilities are rapidly increasing, care workers highlevel knowledge on and good management of pressure ulcer is very important. Practically educating them on pressure ulcer including the provision of recent, updated relevant knowledge will be necessary.
The current investigation was undertaken to evaluate the antioxidant activities, tyrosinase inhibitory effects on the fruiting bodies of P. ostreatus extracted with acetone, methanol and hot water. The antioxidant activities were performed on β-carotene-linoleic acid, reducing power, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging, and ferrous chelating abilities. In addition to this, phenolic acid and flavonoids contents were also analyzed. Methanolic extract of P. ostreatus showed the strongest β-carotene-linoleic acid inhibition as compare to others exracts. At 8 mg/ml, acetonic extract showed a high reducing power of 1.54. The scavenging effects on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals, acetonic extract was effective than other extracts. The strongest chelating effect (85.66%) was obtained from the acetonic extract at 1.0 mg/ml concentration. Antioxidant activities of the extracts from the fruiting bodies of P. ostreatus were increased with the increasing concentration. After application of reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography, coupled to a diode array detector and electrospray ionisation mass spectra, six phenolic compounds namely, gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, naringenin, hesperetin, formononetin and biochanin were identified from acetonic extract. Tyrosinase inhibition of acetonic, methanolic, and hot water extracts of P. ostreatus were increased with the increasing of concentration. Results revealed that methanolic extract showed good, while acetonic and hot water extracts showed moderate activities of the tyrosinase inhibition at the concentration tested. This study suggests that fruiting bodies of P. ostreatus can potentially be used as a readily accessible source of natural antioxidants.
Pleurotus eryngii, known as king oyster mushroom, has been widely used in nutritional and medicinal purposes. This study was initiated to screen the antioxidant activities, tyrosinase inhibitory effects on the fruiting bodies of P. eryngii extracted with acetone, methanol and hot water. The antioxidant activities were performed on β-carotene-linoleic acid, reducing power, 1,1-diphenyl- 2-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging, and ferrous chelating abilities. In addition to this, phenolic acid and flavonoids contents were also analyzed. Methanolic and acetonic extracts of P. eryngii showed the strongest β-carotene-linoleic acid inhibition as compare to hot water extract. At 8 mg/ml, acetonic extract showed a high reducing power of 1.203. The scavenging effects on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals, acetonic extract was effective than other extracts. The strongest chelating effect (88.10%) was obtained from the methanolic extract at 1.0 mg/ml concentration. Antioxidant activities of the extracts from the fruiting bodies of P. eryngii were increased with the increasing concentration. After application of reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography, coupled to a diode array detector and electrospray ionisation mass spectra, ten phenolic compounds namely, gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, chlorogenic acid, vanillin, ferulic acid, naringin, naringenin, hesperetin, formononetin and biochanin were identified from acetonic extract. Tyrosinase inhibition of acetonic, methanolic, and hot water extracts of P. eryngii were increased with the increasing of concentration. Results revealed that acetonic and methanolic extracts showed good, while hot water showed moderate activities of the tyrosinase inhibition at the concentration tested. This study suggests that fruiting bodies of P. eryngii can potentially be used as a readily accessible source of natural antioxidants.