Ethyl formate has been used for the control of insect pests by fumigation. However, there were not many reports toshow its target site of fumigant toxicity on insect pests since its first use in the agricultural industry. In the present study,we showed the presumable target sites of ethyl formate fumigation in insect pests using Myzus persicae nymphs. Afterethyl formate fumigation, the nymphs of this species were collected and the changes at the biochemical and molecularlevel were determined. The activity of cytochrome c oxidase (COX) was approximately two-fold higher after ethyl formatefumigation. In addition, the expression levels of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) decreased gradually with increasing ethylformate concentration. These two findings suggested that COX and AChE might be the major target sites of ethyl formatefumigation. In addition to these results, the analysis of lipid content using MALDI-TOF MS/MS identified 9 phospholipidsdifferently generated 2-fold higher in the ethyl formate-treated nymphs than that in the control nymphs, thereby leadingto changes in cell membrane composition in M. persicae nymphs. Therefore, the ethyl formate fumigation caused lethaleffects on M. persicae nymphs by changing COX activity, AChE gene expression, and phospholipid production.

Recently, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) has been widely used in the areas of diagnosis, monitoring treatment efficiency, and prognosis for various heart diseases, especially heart failure (HF). In this paper, we try to estimate the prognostic significance of NT-proBNP as a risk evaluation marker in Non-ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (NSTEMI) patients. We selected NSTEMI patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) primarily using a drug-eluting stent within 24 h after the onset of chest pain. We compared incidences of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) including death, myocardial infarction (MI), stent thrombosis (ST), and target vessel revascularization (TVR) in two patient groups according to a high or low serum concentration of NT-proBNP, which was measured in the emergency room (ER). We intend to minimize selection bias selecting comparing groups, considering covariate of observed variables together using propensity score matching (PSM) and propensity score weighting (PSW) based on propensity score (PS) to control the difference in baseline characteristics between high- and low NT-proBNP groups. We found that as the log NT-proBNP value increases by 1 through a hazard function of COX’s analysis, the risk of MACE increases by 1.312 times. This result indicated that the NT-proBNP level on ER admission can be used as a significant prognostic indicator to estimate 1 year of MACE in NSTEMI patients who were treated with PCI within 24 h after the onset of chest pain.

A recent study reported that Pleurotus ostreatus has the potential to be used as a β-glucan-based cream for supportive complementary therapy of atopic dermatitis. KH054 is a new herbal prescription consisting of P. ostreatus and Panax ginseng. The effects of atopic dermatitis-induced materials on the expression of cytokine genes in human monocytes (THP-1, EoL- 1) have been examined. Some reports demonstrated that P. ginseng augments the activity of natural killer cells, which plays an important role in innate immunity against infection and tumor development. Monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1), interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-8 have important roles in mediating the infiltration of various cells into the skin of atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. The present study investigated whether KH054 on induced IL-6, IL-8, and MCP-1 secretion by house dust mite (Dermatophagoides pteronissinus) in THP-1 (human acute monocytic leukemia) and EoL-1(Human eosinophilic leukemia) cell. D. pteronissinus functions in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases, including atopic dermatitis and asthma. The inhibitory effect of KH054 on the induction of IL-6, IL-8, and MCP-1 secretion by D. pteronissinus extract in THP-1 and EoL-1 cells was examined. KH054 potently suppressed the elevated production of IL-6 and IL-8 induced by D. pteronissinus treatment in THP-1 and EoL-1 cells. Based on the present results, KH054 may be useful for developing functional foods to treat atopic dermatitis.

The present study prepared molybdenum trioxide (MoO3), the most important intermediate of molybdenum metal, by using a fluidized bed reactor for the thermal decomposition of ammonium molybdate (AM) in the presence of an air flow. During the process of fluidizing the sample inside the reactor, the reaction time and temperature were optimized with a close analysis of the X-ray diffraction (XRD) data and with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). In particular, the temperature level, at which the AM decomposition is completed, is very important as a primary operating parameter. The analysis of the XRD and TGA data showed that the AM decomposition is almost completed at ~350 oC with a reaction time of 30 min. A shorter reaction time of 10 min. required a higher reaction temperature of ~500 oC with the same air flow rate to complete the AM decomposition. A sharp rise in the decomposition efficiency at a temperature ranging between 320 and 350 oC indicated a threshold for the AM decomposition. The operating conditions determined in this study can be used for future scale-ups of the process.

To compensate for the critical shortage of human organs for allotransplantation, xenotransplantation studies using genetically modified pigs are being performed in Korea. Two types of pigs that are used are α1,3-galactosyltransferase gene knockout (GalT KO) pigs and GalT KO+hCD46 (human complement regulatory protein) pigs. The present study measured the gestation time, birth weight, daily growth rate, and heart weight of both kinds of transgenic minipigs. The gestation period for both types of pigs was 117∼119 days. There was no difference in the body weight of GalT KO (—/+) and GalT KO (—/—) piglets, but GalT KO+hCD46 (—hCD46+/+) pigs were significantly heavier at birth than were GalT KO+hCD46 (—hCD46+/—hCD46+) pigs. During the first 10 weeks of life, the daily weight gain of GalT KO+hCD46 (—hCD46+/—CD46+) piglets, which are considered the optimal type for xenotransplantation, was 0.19 kg. The weight of hearts from GalT KO piglets up to two months of age was affected more by body weight than by age. Transgenic pigs showed no differences in gestation period or reproductive ability compared with normal pigs. These results comprise basic data that may be used in xenotransplantation studies and transgenic animal production in Korea.

Ampelopsis brevipedunculata, a porcelain berry that is a kind of Korean domestic wild berry (Viticeae), has been known to be resistant to diseases and insects. A total of 2,622 unigenes containing 912 contigs and 1,710 singletons were obtained by sequencing 5,839 expressed sequence tag (EST) clones derived from the cDNA library of wild grape, A. brevipedunculata. In the gene ontology analysis, 1,175 genes related to biological process, 1,516 genes related to molecular function, and 1,413 ones related to cell components were annotated. Among the genes showing molecular function, 17 clones were classified into defense-related genes, and 102 were known to be related with responses to stress in plants. Domains, such as leucine-rich repeat, Serine/threonine protein kinase-related, WD40 repeat, EF-hand calcium-binding, pentatricopeptide repeat, and pathogenesis-related transcriptional factor were highly expressed. Genes encoding defense related proteins, such as chitinase, catalase, protein-serine/threonine kinases, were also clustered into an abundant group in cDNAs from A. brevipedunculata. Approximately, 80 simple sequence repeats with 2~5 nucleotides were detected in the cDNAs of A. brevipedunculata. These data could provide useful information for the genetic analysis of wild grapevines and in programs for breeding grape cultivars.

The purpose of this study is to examine the changes on lumbar muscle strength in relation to 12-week pilates mat exercise of elderly women. The participants are chosen for 17 people who is an experimental group and 14 people who is an comparison group who except wastage and pilates mat exercise program was gradually intensify applied three times a week, during 12 weeks. The peak torque of flexion was increased(p<.01) and the difference of ratio of agonist to antagonist was decreased(p<.001). The total work of flexion and extension had significant increased(p<.001) at 120°/sec. As a result of all these, it was judged as positive effect for body composition, basal physical fitness and lumbar muscle strength after pilates mat exercise in 12 weeks. These positive effects showed that pilates mat exercise could got conclusions that mitigated the musculoskelctal disorders, slow down the progress of disorders, helped as a functions of physical.

14-3-3 proteins are known to play a pivotal role in a diverse array of cellular events such as cell survival, apoptosis, and signal transduction. Numerous 14-3-3 ζ have been cloned and characterized from a host of eukaryotic organisms including human, plants, yeast, fruit fly and silkworm. However, no study on Spodoptera exigua 14-3-3ζ in conjunction with virus infection has so far been reported in insects. It appears that expression of Se14-3-3ζ was decreased starting 24 h post-SeNPV infection as SeNPV titers seemed to increase as evidenced by intense bands of SeNPV IAP3. Interestingly, confocal microscopic analysis revealed that Se14-3-3ζ is expressed at the apical side of the NPV-uninfected gut cells, whereas it was detected mainly in the nucleus of the NPV-infected cells. Thus, despite the biological significance of Se14-3-3ζ in S. exigua in conjunction with molecular interactions between SeNPV and S. exigua is unclear now, our data suggest that Se14-3-3 ζ protein plays a role to protect S. exigua from the infection or inhibit replication of SeNPV.

Purpose - The main purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of children’s age on maternal labor supply in Korea using survival analysis. Specifically, we focus on the career re-interruption of women having children under age 12, which has rarely been studied in the existing literature. Research design, data, and methodology - We use micro data from the Korea Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) surveyed from 1998 to 2016. Instead of using a pre-school child dummy or the number of young children as an explanatory variable, 9 children’s age dummies are included to capture the effect of nurturing 0 to 9 years old children. This study estimates the hazard of a woman’s exiting the labor market after her first experience of the career interruption, rather than the hazard of the first career interruption itself. A Cox proportional hazard model is applied to numerically capture the impact of children’s age on behavioral changes in maternal labor supply. The sample used in this analysis is women between 15 and 54 years old. Most of all, we restrict the sample to women who had at least a child between 0 and 12 years old at the time of quitting their jobs. Results - The Cox proportional hazard model estimates show a strong negative effect of a 0-year-old child on maternal labor supply. Mothers with newborns have a high hazard ratio of labor force exit after the re-entry. The hazard of women with infants is three times higher than those with children aged 10 to 18. Additionally, the results show that not only newborns, but also children in the age of school-entry have a negative impact on their mother’s labor supply. Conclusions - The findings reveal that children’s ages need to be properly expanded and included when analyzing the effect of children and their ages on married women’s labor supply, especially on women’s career re-interruption. A large negative effect of 7-year-old children on maternal labor supply found here indicates that supporting mothers with school age children as well as pre-school children is necessary to prevent mothers from leaving the labor market.

Based on the theory of the chemical reaction and the Tixier Model, we established a time-varying function of the porosity of concrete. The function, which has taken the filling effect of the ettringite to the capillary porosity into consideration, can obtain the change of the porosity at different stages of the corrosion subjected to external sulfate attack. Numerical simulation is utilized to analyze the distribution of porosity and sulfate ion concentration inside the concrete at different moment of the corrosion.