The content of harmful materials was investigated for coffee beans sold in Daejeon. Total 79 samples were analysed and 213 residual pesticides and 2 heavy metals were analysed simultaneously by GC-MS/MS, GC-NPD, GC-ECD, LC-MS/MS and ICP-MS. The instrumental method was validated with limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), the linearity of standard curves. LOD of the residual pesticides was between 0.0003 to 0.0021 mg/kg, LOQ of the residual pesticides was between 0.0008 to 0.0064 mg/kg. LOD of the heavy metals was between 0.0077 to 0.0079 μg/kg, LOQ of the heavy metals was between 0.0233 to 0.0239 μg/kg. The linearity correlation coefficient for the calibration curve was between 0.9929 to 0.9999 and the recovery rate was between 95.4% to 106.1%. According to the monitoring of residual pesticides and heavy metals, no pesticide was detected in all coffee bean samples. 88.6% (70 samples) of analysed total 79 coffee beans contained at least 1 heavy metal but there was no sample which exceeded the maximum residual limit. Risk assessment was also carried out based on the content of heavy metals detected in coffee beans. The carcinogenic risk assessment to heavy metals showed that all cancer-risk (CR) values were below 10–6 and it meant that the CR due to heavy metals intake was evaluated as safe. The non-carcinogenic risk assessment to heavy metals showed that all hazard index (HI) were below 1, which was considered acceptable at the current level of exposure. The %PTWI values of lead and cadmium for 55 roasted coffee bean samples were 0.09% and 0.04% respectively, compared with the reference values. This results indicate that there is almost no health risk from heavy metal intake through the consumption of coffee beans in circulation in Daejeon.

Activated carbon fibers (ACFs) were treated by electroless plating of CuO to improve their removal performance for volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The properties of these samples(CuO@ACFs) were evaluated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), BET and N2O chemisorption to determine the area and dispersion of metallic CuO. The removal efficiency for benzene was investigated by gas chromatography (GC). The breakthrough time of CuO@ACFs increased by approximately 120% compared to that of untreated ACFs at benzene of 100 ppm. CuO@ACFs removed 100% of the benzene in 20 h, indicating this material can be used as a removal technology for VOCs.

Cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) is a member of the cytochrome P450 superfamily enzymes in mammals and plays a major role in metabolizing endogenous hormones in the liver. In recent days, CYP1A2 expression has been found in not only the liver but also other tissues including the pancreas and lung. However, little information is available regarding the expression of CYP1A2 in the ovary, in spite of the facts that the ovarian follicle growth and atresia are tightly associated with controls of endocrine hormonal networks. Therefore, the expression of CYP1A2 in the ovaries of prepubertal and pubertal rats was investigated to assess its expression pattern and puberty-related alteration. It was demonstrated that the expression level of CYP1A2 was significantly (p < 0.01) higher in the pubertal ovaries than prepubertal counterparts. At the ovarian follicle level in both groups, whereas CYP1A2 expression was less detectable in the primordial, primary and secondary follicles, the strongly positive expression of CYP1A2 was localized in the granulosa cell layers in the antral and pre-ovulatory follicles. However, the ratio of CYP1A2-positive ovarian follicle was significantly (p < 0.01) higher in the ovary of pubertal group (73.1 ± 3.1%) than prepubertal one (41.0 ± 10.5%). During the Immunofluorescence, expression of CYP1A2 was mainly localized in Fas-positive follicles, indicating the atretic follicles. In conclusion, these results suggested that CYP1A2 expression was mainly localized at the atretic follicular cells and affected by the onset of puberty. Further study is still necessary but we hypothesize that CYP1A2 expresses in the atretic follicles to metabolize residue of the reproductive hormones. These findings may have important implications for the fields of reproductive biology of animals.

We aimed to predict the Italian ryegrass (IRG) productivity change of introduced and domestic varieties based on climate factors and identify suitable areas for IRG cultivation using the RCP 8.5 scenario. The minimum mean air temperature in January showed the highest correlation with productivity. The ratio of possible and low productivity areas was high in Gangwondo, and the ratio of suitable and best suitable areas was relatively high in the central and southern regions in the past 30 years. The change in the IRG cultivation area was found to be 26.9% in the best suitable area between 1981–2010 but increased significantly to 88.9% between 2090s. In the IRG suitability comparison classes between domestic and introduced cultivars, the ratio of suitable and best suitable areas was relatively high in the domestic varieties during the past 30 years. However, there is almost no difference between the IRG domestic and introduced varieties in the IRG suitability classes after the 2050s. These results can predict changes in the IRG suitability classes between domestic and introduced cultivars according to the climate change scenario, but there are limitations in accurately predicting the productivity of IRG because the results may vary depending on other environmental factors.

농촌진흥청 국립원예특작과학원에서는 2018년 분홍색계 소 형 호접란 ‘Tiny Bell’을 육성하였다. 2010년 진분홍색 다화 성 소형 품종 Phalaenopsis ‘D07PN16’와 연분홍색 소형종 P. ‘D03PN22’를 모본과 부본으로 교배하였다. 2014년 생육이 우 수하고 화색, 화형, 꽃대수 등 개화 특성이 우수한 ‘10531-53’ 개체를 선발하여 기내 화경배양을 통해 증식하였다. 2014년부 터 2018년까지 1차, 2차특성검정을 통해 품종의 안정성과 균 일성을 확인한 후 ‘Tiny Bell’로 명명하였다. 이 품종은 밝은 보라빛 분홍색(RHS, PVGN80A)을 띄며, 가장자리에 백색무늬 를 가지는 것이 특징이다. 평피기 형태의 꽃은 길이와 폭이 각각 3.89, 4.01cm이며, 총상화서로 분지가 발생한다. 1개의 꽃대에 19.7개의 소화가 착생하여 꽃 수가 많이 달리는 다화 성이며, 꽃대 길이는 28.48cm정도이다. ‘Tiny Bell’은 생육시 잎이 수평으로 자라며 길이와 폭은 각각 13.1cm, 5.3cm였다. 신품종인 ‘Tiny Bell’은 소형 분화용으로 이용 가능할 것이다.

There is a growing global interest in food choices that could affect health. Consumer food choices are dictated by numerous factors such as attitudes, beliefs, desires and preferences stemming from psychological and physiological attributes. The present study aimed to understand consumers’ internal perceptions about cream soup, cream sauce, and tomato sauce using ZMET (Zaltman’s Metaphor Elicitation Technique). The 9 step ZMET interview process was conducted for a sample of 36 consumers (12 consumers for each sauce). A content analysis of the survey results was carried out. From this, 56 concepts of cream soup were derived, and 15 constructs that met with the agreement of more than one-third of the total sample consumers were extracted. These 15 constructs included ‘Soft’, ‘Recollection’, ‘Familiar’, ‘Warm’, ‘Comfortable’, etc. Similarly, for cream sauce, 67 concepts and 20 constructs ‘Silky’, ‘Warm’, ‘Restaurant’, ‘Family’, ‘Memory’, etc. were deduced. A total of 66 concepts and 20 constructs for tomato sauce ‘Sourness’, ‘Sauce Bottle’, ‘Pleasant’, ‘Ingredient’, ‘Cooking’, etc. were derived. The analysis of consumers’ consensus maps through this study provides a deep and useful understanding of consumers and their latent needs. Also, the results of this study indicate that exploring consumers’ internal perceptions is critical to understanding their healthy food choices. This can be used as basic data for formulating marketing strategies.