Biodegradable epoxy (B-epoxy) was prepared from diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A and epoxidized linseed oil. The mechanical properties of B-epoxy composites reinforced with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs/B-epoxy) were examined by employing dynamic mechanical analysis, critical stress intensity factor (KIC) tests, and impact strength tests. The electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI-SE) of the composites was evaluated using reflection and absorption methods. Mechanical properties of MWCNTs/B-epoxy were enhanced with an increase in the MWCNT content, whereas they deteriorated when the MWCNT content was >5 parts per hundred resin (phr). This can likely be attributed to the entanglement of MWCNTs with each other in the B-epoxy due to the presence of an excess amount of MWCNTs. The highest EMI-SE obtained was ~16 dB for the MWCNTs/B-epoxy composites with a MWCNT content of 13 phr at 1.4 GHz. The composites (13 phr) exhibited the minimum EMI-SE (90%) when used as shielding materials at 1.4 GHz. The EMI-SE of the MWCNTs/B-epoxy also increased with an increase in the MWCNT content, which is a key factor affecting the EMI-SE.

One of the dramatic changes we are faced with is ever fast growing population on the earth, which is anticipated to reach 10 billion by 2050, according to the report from UN. On the top of that, we need to address the issue of global warming, changes in consumption pattern and decrease in farmlands. These challenges ask us to achieve 60% increase in agricultural productivity to secure enough food to support the world population (Climate change and food security, FAO, 2016). The crop protection industry develops new products from various chemical families and different modes of action. The new products should have not only excellent biological activities, but also favorable toxicological profile to keep diversity in ecosystem and meet very strict regulatory requirements. Also should be active enough to control resistant pests, diseases and weeds. The crop protection products are very useful tool to secure stable food supply, if used in recommended way according to the product label.

The female azuki bean beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis L., a worldwide notorious pest of azuki beans produces sex pheromone having two isomer compounds; (2Z,6E)-7-ethyl-3,11-dimethyl-2,6,10-dodecatrienals (2Z-homofarnesal) and (2E,6E)-7-ethyl-3,11-dimethyl-2,6,10-dodecatrienals (2E-homofarnesal). We synthesized and evaluated the attractiveness of different blends of the two isomeric compounds using Y-olfactometry in laboratory and rocket traps in the field. The attractiveness pattern of the tested blends in Y-olfactometry was found as 1:9≥6:4>9:1 of 2E-:2Z-homofarnesal. Under field condition also, the 6:4 blend was more attractive than 9:1 blend. The result ascertained the enhanced pheromonal activity of homofarnesal with the increased ratio of Z-component in the blend. This provides an opportunity to synthesize Z-rich homofarnresal with less sophisticated and economically feasible Z-selective method.

Wolfiporia cocos is a well-known traditional medicine in China, Japan, Korea, and other Asian countries owing to its numerous therapeutic properties. With the aim to determine the morphology and genetic characteristics of W. cocosten strains of W. cocos were cultivated in vitro, and subsequently, rapid amplification of polymorphic DNA was performed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the morphology of fruit bodies of W. cocos in Korea. W. cocos were cultured on PDA agar at different temperatures (12, 16, 20, 24, and 28oC) under 12-hour light (600 Lux) / 12-hour dark photoperiod condition for 1 month. Appearance of fruit body was the highest at 28°C condition in all the strains investigated. Honeycomb-like structure on sclerotia was observed in Andong 01, Andong 02, Andong 03, KFRI 1104, KFRI 1105, KFRI 1106, KFRI 1107, KFRI 1108, and ASI 13007 strains of . The KFRI 1103 strain formed cosmos petal-like structure on sclerotia. The average size of basidiospores was recorded as 7.55 μm in height and 3.35 μ in width.

While designation status of state-appointed cultural properties, promotion status of scenic sites, overlap with natural parks, and relationship with both nine river bends and eight views were reviewed, application and promotion status of scenic sites were analyzed by exploring culture and tourism websites of local governments and tourist leaflets on scenic sites. The results of the analysis are as follows. There are totally 109 designated scenic sites in Korea and these are distributed in 59 local governments, which account for 26.1% of local governments. Accordingly, unequal regional distribution was found to be significant. As a result of the exploration of the status of overlapping between scenic site-designated areas and national, provincial, and county parks, altogether 53 designated scenic sites that account for 48.6%, overlapped with natural parks. Thus, there is a great need for role sharing and cooperation with natural park management entities in terms of experience programs within scenic sites and cultural commentaries. Meanwhile, there is a significant difference among the local governments regarding the efforts in highlighting cultural properties as tourist resources while universal awareness and promotion of scenic sites was found to be very low. Marking scenic sites on leaflets were prone to lag behind those on homepages. The analysis on status of scenic sites revealed that festivals and events were being held in 39.4% of scenic sites and those with longer designation- lapsed years were associated with the prevalence of festivals. Moreover, natural scenic sites located in natural parks were unwilling to be used through local government’s awareness and tourism endeavors compared to historical and cultural scenic sites. Additionally, several wrong descriptions were found on the markings of scenic sites and thus, promotion of scenic site culture and operational management requires urgent improvement.

Vegetable seed oils (VSOs) have been extracted and used not only as ingredients in food and as sources of dietary lipids, but also as sources of nutraceuticals used to overcome the various oxidative stresses that contribute to the development of diseases, including cancer and other chronic conditions. The chemical compositions and oxidative stabilities of various VSOs were therefore investigated; samples were stored for 35 d, with each oil having been tested under O2 exposure, sealed from O2 exposure and sealed from O2 exposure while containing O2 scavengers. Oxidative stability was evaluated by peroxide value (POV), p-anisidine value (p-AnV), iodine value (IV), and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) value. Perilla seed and flaxseed oil were mostly composed of linolenic acid (45.5% and 59.7%, respectively), whereas pine seed oil was mostly composed of linoleic acid (48.3%). Meanwhile, camellia seed and olive oils contained 80% oleic acid, which correlated strongly with oxidative stability. The POV, p-AnV, and TBA values were the highest under O2 exposure, and the lowest in the presence of O2 scavengers. These results indicate that VOS oxidative stability depends not only on storage conditions, but on unsaturated fatty acid profiles as well.

In our previous study, active-single compound (ASC), inhibitor of melanogenesis in B16F10 melanoma cell, was identified from Ganoderma lucidum. Thus, the aim of this study is to analyze the change of the ASC contents in G. lucidum when lacquer tree (LT) was added in cultivation of G. lucidum. In HPLC analysis, significantly increased ASC peak was observed in G. lucidum extract supplemented with 15% (v/v) of LT. In addition, melanogenesis inhibitory effect of G. lucidum extract supplemented with 15% of LT significantly increased when compared to G. lucidum extract without LT supplementation. Furthermore, LT supplementation increased mycelial growth of G. lucidum in both solid and liquid cultivation. These results suggest that is useful as natural ingredient for increasing bioactivity including skin-whitening effect and mycelial growth of G. lucidum.

We present photometric results of the  Sct star V1162 Ori, which is extensively monitored for a total of 49 nights from mid-December 2014 to early-March 2015. The observations are made with three KMTNet (Korea Microlensing Telescope Network) 1.6 m telescopes installed in Chile, South Africa, and Australia. Multiple frequency analysis is applied to the data and resulted in clear detection of seven frequencies without an alias problem: five known frequencies and two new ones with small amplitudes of 1.2-1.7 mmag. The amplitudes of all but one frequency are significantly different from previous results, confirming the existence of long-term amplitude changes. We examine the variations in pulsation timings of V1162 Ori for about 30 years by using the times of maximum light obtained from our data and collected from the literatures. The O − C (Observed minus Calculated) timing diagram shows a combination of a downward parabolic variation with a period decreasing rate of (1/P)dP/dt = −4.22 × 10−6 year−1 and a cyclic change with a period of about 2780 days. The most probable explanation for this cyclic variation is the light-travel-time effect caused by an unknown binary companion, which has a minimum mass of 0.69 M⊙. V1162 Ori is the first  Sct-type pulsating star of which the observed fast period decrease can be interpreted as an evolutionary effect of a pre-main sequence star, considering its membership of the Orion OB 1c association.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) has caused by expression of amyloid precursor protein (APP), Tau and presenilin (PS) as known as plaques and tangle accumulation. AD transgenic porcine model is necessary for preclinical testing of therapeutic agent because of similar metabolic system between porcine and human. The objective of study was to generate AD transgenic pig by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) with multi-cistronic vector system. AD multi-cistronic vector was 6 well-known mutation on 3 AD related genes, hAPP (K670N/M671L, I716V, V717I), hTau (P301L) and hPS1 (M146V, L286P). Establishment of AD transgenic cell lines was used from Jeju black pig ear fibroblast cells (JB-PEFAD) with the AD multi-cistronic vector. The JB-PEFAD cell was confirmed on mRNA expression, protein synthesis of hAPP, hTau and hPS1 and identification of integration and karyotype. Although fusion rate was no difference in SCNT with JB-PEF AD (SCNTAD) embryos, cleavage and blastocyst formation rates were slightly lower than in SCNT with non-transgenic JB-PEF (SCNTnon-TG). Individual SCNTAD blastocysts were detected hAPP, hTau and hPS1 genomic integration which showed 93.2% (n=30) efficiency in genomic DNA (gDNA) level. It will give us a possibility to develop porcine animal model for AD study in the future.

Jeju Black Cattle (JBC) is an indigenous species of Korea and their mass production and industrialization are required for this high quality indigenous species. For production of elite JBC zygotes, selection of high quality sperm is necessary for in vitro fertilizatioin. In this study, we compared the sperm fertility and developmental capacity of IVF embryos using various JBC sperm (Bull A, B and C). The frozen semen was thawed and confirmed sperm viability and motility. In addition, frozen-thawed sperm was used for a chlorotetracycline(CTC) staining assay and in vitro fertilization. Sperm were classified into three staining patterns. The F pattern is indicative of uncapacitated sperm, the B pattern is indicative of capacitating and capacitated sperm and the AR pattern is indicative of acrosome-reacting sperm or acrosome-reacted sperm, respectively. Several kinds of JBC sperm was inseminated in 44 ㎕ IVF drop contained 10 oocytes with sperm concentration of 1 × 106 cells/ml, and then 2 ㎕ heparin and 2 ㎕ PHE (20 μM penicillamine, 10 μM hypotaurine, 2 μM epinephrine) were added. The sperm viability and motility were higher in sperm 3 species (n=8). When we confirmed sperm capacitation, F pattern and B pattern rate were higher than AR pattern in sperm A group. After IVF, the rates of cleavage and blastocyst development were higher in sperm C group compared to other sperm group. However, the cell number of blastocyst was higher in sperm E group. These results demonstrate that the use of sperm C was effective in production of elite JBC IVF embryos. Additional experimental data are required for more accurate analysis.

Allicin (AL) regulates the cellular redox, proliferation, viability, and cell cycle of different cells against extracellular-derived stress. This study was to investigate the effect of allicin treatment during in vitro maturation (IVM) on porcine oocyte maturation and developmental competence. Porcine follicular oocytes were cultured in 0 (control), 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, and 100 μM AL added IVM media. The rate of polar body emission was higher in the 0.1 μM AL-treated group (74.5% ± 2.3%) than in the control (68.0% ± 2.6%). After parthenogenetic activation, the rates of cleavage and blastocyst formation were significantly higher in the 0.1 μM AL-treated group than in the control (p < 0.05). The reactive oxygen species level at metaphase II was not significantly different among all groups. In matured oocytes, the relative mRNA expression of both BAK and CASP3, and BIRC5 were significantly lower and higher, respectively, in the 0.1 AL-treated group than in the control. Also, the mRNA expression of BMP15 and cyclin B, and the activity of phospho-p44/42 MAPK, was significantly increased. These results indicate that supplementation of oocyte maturation medium with allicin during IVM improves the maturation of oocytes and the subsequent developmental competence of porcine oocytes.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a member of the phospholipid autacoid family and has growth factor and hormone-like activities on various animal cells. In this study, we investigated the effect of LPA on porcine embryo development. Porcine parthenogenetic embryos were treated into various concentrations of 0 (control), 0.1, 1 and 10 μM LPA (0 LPA, 0.1 LPA, 1 LPA and 10 LPA) during in vitro culture for 7 days or cultured in basic culture medium until day 4 and treated LPA from day 4 to day 7. In the LPA treatment for culturing from day 0 to day 7, there was no significant difference on cleavage and blastocyst formation rate. In addition, the blastocyst development proportion which was classified as expanded, hatching, or hatched blastocystshas was no significant difference among all groups. In the LPA treatment for culturing from day 4 to day 7, 0.1 and 1 LPA groups were presented increased blastocyst formation compared to other groups, but cleavage rate and over-expanded blastocyst formation rate were not significantly different among all LPA treated groups. The total cell number was not different but apoptosis was reduced when 1 LPA treated from day 4 to day 7. The relative mRNA expression level of anti-apoptosis gene, BCL2L1 was higher and pro-apoptosis gene, BAK was lower in the 1 LPA treated group than the control. In comparison with the control and the 1 LPA treated group using time-lapse monitoring system, 1 LPA treated embryo was accelerated developmental speed via morula compaction and expanded blastocyst. The 1 LPA treated group significantly increased the relative expression levels of gap junction and tight junction related genes, GJD1, CDH1 and ZO-1 compared to the control. These results indicated that 1 μM LPA supplementation for culturing from day 4 to day 7 post activation is efficient in blastocyst formation and LPA may be helpful for embryo developmental capacity.

Although in vitro production (IVP) techniques of porcine follicular oocytes have progressed and are well studied, the developmental potential of porcine oocytes matured in vitro remains low compared with those matured in vivo. It is well known that one of the reason occurred impair in vitro maturation (IVM) of porcine oocytes is the oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is mainly caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation formed during cellular metabolism. β-cryptoxanthin (BCX) is one of the carotenoid pigment and possesses strong anti-oxidative and free radical scavenging activities and suppresses lipid peroxidation and nitrogen oxide production. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of BCX treatment on porcine oocyte during IVM and their in vitro developmental potential. The follicular oocytes were cultured in IVM medium supplemented with 0, 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 μM BCX (control, 0.1 B, 1 B, 10 B and 100 B). In analysis of intracellular ROS expression level after IVM, 1 B group was the lowest among all groups (p<0.05), while other BCX treated groups are similar to control group. Also, 1 B group was significantly decreased during the classified oocyte maturation stage (GVBD, MⅠ and MⅡ) than control (p<0.05). In addition, the relative mRNA expression level of antioxidant gene (superoxide dismutase-2 and peroxiredoxin-5) was significantly higher in 1 B group than control (p<0.05). After parthenogenetic activation, there was no different in the cleavage rate between two groups, however, the blastocyst formation rate was significantly higher in 1 B group than in control (p<0.05). In embryo quality, the total cell number and DNA fragmentation of blastocysts were no different between two groups. These results demonstrate that BCX is helpful for decreasing ROS level of porcine follicular oocytes and improves their developmental potential.

Allicin (AL) is one of the biologically active substance in garlic. Many researchers found that AL exhibits strong antioxidant activity and considered to represent anti-aging effect in vitro. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of allicin treatment during porcine oocyte aging and their in vitro development. The oocyte was maturated in vitro for 44 h (control) without AL or 44+24 h IVM (24 h aging) with 0, 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 μM allicin (0 AL, 0.1 AL, 1 AL, 10 AL and 100 AL). The 1 AL treated group was significantly increased on maturation rate compared to the 0 AL treated groups, but the other treated groups were not different compared to the 0 AL treated group (p < 0.05). The 1 AL treated group was significantly increased on normal spindle formation and chromosome alignment compared to 0 AL treated group. We checked the effect of AL on parthenogenetic activation (PA) and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryo development using aged oocytes. PA embryos in 1 AL treated group significantly increased the cleavage and blastocyst formation rate compared to control (p < 0.05). However, SCNT embryos of 1 AL treated group were no significant differences in embryo development. In PA embryo quality, the total cell number was significantly higher in 0.1 AL, 1 AL and 10 AL treated groups than control and DNA fragmentation rate in 1 AL was the lowest among all groups. SCNT embryo in 1 AL significantly increased total cell number and decreased DNA fragmentation. The AL treatment on aged oocyte enhanced PA and SCNT embryo developmental capacity. Therefore, AL may be helpful for assisted reproductive technology applying aged oocytes.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) technique is a key point of producing transgenic animal disease models. During in vitro production of SCNT embryo, the quality of matured oocytes are one of the important factors that regulate embryo developmental capacity. In preliminary test, we confirmed the effect of fibroblast growth factor 10 (FGF10) on porcine oocyte maturation. In this study, we investigated the developmental potential of SCNT embryos treated with the 10 ng/ml FGF10 (10 F) during in vitro maturation of recipient oocytes. The polar body emission rate was significantly higher in the 10 F treated group than control group. After SCNT, although the rate of fusion was no significant difference, the rate of cleavage and blastocyst formation was significantly increased in the 10 F treated group (p<0.05). In 10 F treated group, the total cell number was increased and the percentage of apoptotic cell was decreased in the blastocyst stage at day 7 (p<0.1). The transcription level of apoptosis relative gene, Casp3 was significantly decreased, while anti-apoptosis gene BCL2l1 was increased in the 10 F treated group compared to control group. The 10 F treated group was highly expressed the reprogramming related genes, Sox2 and POU5f1. Also, the first cleaving time was more faster and the percentage of cell block was significantly lower in 10 F treated group than in control group. In this study, we confirmed that 10 ng/ml FGF10 has effect on enhance the oocyte maturation and developmental capacity. These results demonstrate that FGF10 treatment can be used for in vitro development of porcine SCNT embryos and subsequent production of transgenic animal model.