We determined the complete mitogenome of the oriental mayfly, Ephemera orientalis (Ephemeroptera: Ephemeridae) and the dragonfly Davidius lunatus (Odonata: Gomphidae). The 16,463-bp long E. orientalis and the 15,912 bp long D. lunatus mitogenome contains gene arrangement and content identical to the most common type found in a diverse insect order. Most individual E. orientalis and D. lunatus mt genes were well within the size found in the respective genes of other insects. The initiation codon for the D. lunatus COI gene was typical as ATA, whereas no typical start codon was found in the start region of E. orientalis COI gene. The A+T-rich regions of both mitogenomes have a few unusual feature. The A+T-rich region of E. orientalis contains a tandem repeat composed of two identical copies of 55 bp long, whereas that of D. lunatus contains a tandem repeat composed of duplicated identical 261-bp copies and one partial copy of the repeat. Also, the A+T-rich region of E. orientalis contains a single sequence and that of D. lunatus contains nine sequences, along with the tandem triplicate sequences, that has the potential to form stem-and-loop structures, flanked by the conserved sequences, “TA(A)TA” at the 5’ end and “G(A)nT’ at the 3’ end. Furthermore, the A+T-rich region of D. lunatus contains two tRNA-like structures, tRNALeu(UUR)-like sequence and tRNATyr-like sequence that have proper anticodon TAA and clover-leaf structure that were previously found in the hymenopteran insects.

A new species, Hatchiana n. sp., is confirmed by morphological and molecular data. The genus Hatchiana Fender, 1966 belonging to Podabrini LeConte, 1881 is distinguished by the shape of tarsal claws: all tarsal claws with blunt tooth in both sexes. The genus was recognized as a subgenus of Podabrus Westwood, 1838. Recently, however, Hatchiana was suggested as separated genus. The genus Hatchiana was known as 12 species in Palaeartic region including three species from Korea. In this study, we found Hatchiana n. sp. from several areas of Taean-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, Korea. This new species is different from closely relative species, Hatchiana jirisanensis (Kang & Kim, 2000) by following morphological characters: size of compound eye, length of antennae, shape of pronotum, shape of scutellum, and shape of aedeagus. Also, we compare the DNA barcoding region (the former region of CO1 gene) between these two species as molecular characters. In result, Hatchiana n. sp. is distinct from Hatchiana jirisanensis Kang & Kim by discrepancy of three percents in CO1 sequence. Therefore, the Korean Hatchiana is confirmed as four species, adding Hatchiana n. sp.

Insulin, transferrin and selenium (ITS) complex is reported to improve in vitro development of oocytes and embryos. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of ITS during in vitro culture (IVC) of porcine parthenogenetic and nuclear transfer (NT) embryos on subsequent developmental capacity in vitro. The electrically activated oocytes were cultured in Porcine Zygote Medium (PZM-3) with various concentrations (0, 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0%) of ITS for 7 days. Also, the electrically activated reconstructed embryos were cultured in PZM-3 with various concentrations (0, 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0%) of ITS for 6 days. Addition of ITS to culture medium did not affect development of porcine parthenogenetic embryos in vitro. To test the effect of ITS on the in vitro development of porcine NT embryos, factorial experiments were also performed for in vitro maturation (IVM) medium (TCM-199) with or without 1% ITS and culture medium (PZM-3) with or without 0.5% ITS. Addition of 0.5% ITS to culture medium increased (p<0.05) the proportion of NT blastocysts compared with non-treated group. In contrast, addition of 1% ITS to culture medium was ineffective or had a detrimental effect. Also, addition of ITS only to maturation medium increased (p<0.05) the percentage of NT blastocysts formation compared with the control group. In conclusion, addition of ITS to IVM or IVC medium could improve subsequent blastocyst development of porcine NT embryos.

Construction of the Virtual Observatory (VO) is a great concern to the astronomical community in the 21st century. We present an outline of the concept and necessity of the va and the current status of various VO projects including the 15 national ones and the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA). We summarize the possible science cases that could be solved by using the VO data/tools, real science cases which are the results of using current VO tools, and our own work of using AstroGrid, the United Kingdom national VO, for a research on star formation history of galaxies.

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)이 폴리술폰 한외여과 막, 술폰화된 폴리에테르술폰, 폴리아미드 나노 막 위에 코팅된 나노 복합막을 가압법에 의해서 제조되었다. PVA는 글루터알데하이드 수용액으로 가교되었다. 모든 지지층위에 PVA 희박용액이 성공적으로 코팅되어 나노복합막이 제조되었다. 지지막 위의 친수화도가 높아짐에 따라 수투과 유량이 증가하였다. 특히 음하전을 띠는 폴리아미드 나노 복합막의 제타전위는 PVA로 코팅함으로서 감소되었다. 막 오염 실험은 양이온을 띠는 계면활성제, 휴민산, 휴민산과 칼슘이온 복합체 및 bovine serum albumin을 사용하여 실행하였다. PVA로 코팅되지 않은 폴리아미드 나노복합막은 각각의 오염물질에 의해서 심하게 오염되었다. 휴민산과 단백질에 의한 오염은 오염물질의 등전점에서 가장 심하게 발생하였다. 휴민산에 이가 양이온을 첨가함으로서 오염이 심각하게 일어났다. PVA 수용액으로 폴리아미드 나노 복합막을 코팅함으로서 막 오염이 감소되었다. PVA로 코팅된 폴리아미드 나노 복합막은 산, 염기용액에 대해 저항성을 보였다.

비대칭 폴리비닐리덴플루오라이드(PVDF) 막을 상전환법으로 제조하였다. 도포용액은 PVDF를 용매인 N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP)와 비용매인 1,4-dioxane, diethyleneglycol dimethyl ether (DGDE), acetone, (equation omitted)-butyrolactone(GBL)의 혼합용매에 녹여서 제조한다. 여러 첨가제가 도포용액 특성, 투과특성과 막 구조에 미치는 영향을 조사하였다. 응고제인 물과 1,4-dioxane, DGDE, acetone과의 상용성이 NMP보다 낮아서 기공크기가 작아진다. 첨가제의 양을 조절하여 기공크기를 변화시켰다. 혼합용매(수계 및 비수계)가 막의 투과성능에 미치는 영향을 살펴보았다. 용액점도뿐만 아니라 표면장력도 용매 투과특성에 영향을 끼침을 알 수 있었다.

통합형 비대칭 폴리아크릴로니트릴(PAN) 한외여과막의 기공크기를 줄이기 위하여 아닐링을 하였다. 두 종류 PAN 고분자(단일중합체와 공중합체)의 화학적 구조가 아닐링에 미치는 영향을 조사하였다. PAN 고분자의 아닐링은 고분자의 화학적 구조에 큰 영향을 받는다. 공중합체가 단일중합체에 비해서 덜 강직한 구조를 지니므로 아닐링에 훨씬 큰 영향을 받는다. 아닐링을 실시하기 전에 고분자 내에 잔존하는 용매의 완벽한 제거를 위하여 분리막을 물 속에서 예열 처리하였다. 예열처리를 하지 않은 경우가 아닐링 효과가 더 컸다. 높은 온도에서 아닐링 하기 전에 예열을 하면 기공크기의 증가를 가져 왔다. 막의 표면은 약간 음전하를 띠었고 PAN 나노막의 염배제율은 다음과 같은 순서로 측정되었다: R(Na₂SO₄) > R(NaCl) > R(MgSO₄) > R(CaCl₂). Donnan 평형과 전기중성도에 의해서 염제거 거동을 설명하였다.