Gibberellic acid did not affect ethylene production, whereas gibberellin biosynthesis inhibitors triggered ethylene production in dormant tubers. Gibberellic acid did not induce sprouting of dormant tubers, however, treatment of gibberellin biosynthesis retardants enhanced sprouting rates. Sprouting rate in ancymidol-treated tubers was highest among gibberellin biosynthesis retardants. Sprouting rate of tubers treated with ancymidol increased to 91.4~% . Batatasin-III content in GA3 treated tuber was increased in the highest concentration (30~mug~;I-1) . Tubers treated with mepiquat chloride, Batatasin-I was increased steadily, but contents of Batatasin-III and V showed dramatic decrease at the 1,000~mug~;I-1) concentration. This infers that gibberellin biosynthesis retardants play key roles in promoting breaking dormancy on dormant tubers of Chinese yam.

Many higher fungi were collected at Mt.Sunun, Mt.Kangchon and Mt.Moak from June, 1991 to April, 2003. They were identified and surveyed with references. According to the result, Cordyceps clavata, C. cocciniocapite, C. ryougamimontanna, C. tuberculate J. moelleri and C. yakushimensis are unrecorded species to Korea. They were designed Korean common names by authors. Common names: Cordyceps clavata, C. cocciniocapite, C. ryougamimontanna, C. tuberculate f moelleri, C. yakushimensis, unrecorded species, common names.

The appearances of growth and yield according to the cultivation types were investigated in chalok 1. The days to harvest under double vinyl house, open mulching and open cultivation were 87.7, 95.8, and 101.8 days, respectively and significantly different in each cultivation types. The branched ears of open mulching, double vinyl house and open cultivation were started at 7,8, and 13 days after silking, respectively. The frequency of branched ear per total plants to double vinyl house, open cultivation and open mulching were 10%, 13%, and 19%, respectively. The ear weight of open mulching and open cultivation was superior to branched ear weight. The yields (kg/10a) of double vinyl house, open mulching and open cultivation were 755.7kg, 740.7kg, and 530.0kg, respectively. The yields(kg/10a) of double vinyl house and open mulching were significantly different to that of open cultivation and LSD(5%) was 133.42. Thus, early cultivations in double vinyl house were more beneficial than other cultivation types because of the highest yield and the lowest branched ear.

This study was conducted to determine the ability of nuclear development of canine oocytes depend on the kind of maturation media and addition of serum sources. Ovaries were collected from a bitches at various stages of estrus cycle by an ovariohysterectomy. Oocytes were collected of cumulus oocytes complexes after slicing of ovaries with blade. The maturation medium was containing 0.6 mM/ml cysteine, 0.2 mM pyruvic acid, 20 ng/ml and 1 rbST Exp. 1, the oocytes were matured in four different maturation medium as follows: 1) TCM-199, 2) DMEM, 3) NCSU37 and 4) modified-NCSU37 with 10% FBS. Exp. 2: the oocytes were matured in mNCSU37 supplemented with different protein sources (10% FBS, 10% EDS, 0.3% BSA and 0.1% PVA) to select the optimal one. Oocytes were matured in a humidified atmosphere containing 5% at for 72 hrs. The maturation rate were analyzed by Duncan's multiple range test using General Linear Models procedure in SAS. The rates of meiotic resumption to MI-MII depend on different culture media were achieved with TCM-199 (5.2%), DMEM (5.0%), NCSU37 (7.2%) and m-NCSU37 (5.9%), respectively. The rates of meiotic resumption to MI-MII according to addition of protein source were 10% FBS (13.3%), 10% EDS (25.0%), 0.3% BSA (25.0%) and 0.1% PVA (15.4%), respectively. In conclusion, the results obtained showed that in vitro maturation media and protein supplement to m-NCSU37 culture medium tested did not promote the final steps of IVM in canine oocytes.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate an efficacy of in vitro differentiated human embryonic stem (hES, MB03) cells expressing Nurr1 in relief of symptomatic motor behavior of Parkinson's disease (PD) animal models MB03 was genetically modified to express Nurr1 protein and was induced to differentiate according to 2-/4+ protocol using retinoic acid and ascorbic acid. The differentiation-induced cells were selected for 10 to 20 days thereafter in N2 medium. Upon selection, cells expressing GFAP, TH, or NF200 were 38.8%, 11%, and 20.5%, respectively. in order to examine therapeutic effects of the differentiated cells in PD animal model, rats were unilaterally lesioned by administration of 6-kydroxydopamine HCI (6-OHDA) into medial forebrain region (MFB, AP -4.4 mm, ML 1.2 mm, DV 78 mm with incision bar set at -2.4 mm), as a reference to bregma and the surface of the skull. Confirmation of successful lesion by apomorphine-induced rotational behavior, differentiated cells were transplanted into the striatum (AP 1.0, ML 3.5, DV -5.0; AP 0.6, ML 2.5, DV -4.5). Improvements of asymmetric motor behavior by the transplantation were examined every two weeks after the surgery. In two weeks, numbers of rotation by the experimental rats were (P<0.05) of the number before transplantation, however, the ratio increased slightly to in six weeks. In contrast, the ratio of sham-grafted animals ranged from 112.3+8.5% to 139.2+28.9% during the examination. Immunohistochemical studies further confirmed the presence, survival, migration, and expression of TH of the transplanted human cells.

Embryonic stem (ES) cells proliferate extensively in the undifferentiated state and have the potential to differentiate into a variety of cell types in response to various environmental cues. The generation of functional dopaminergic neurons from ES cells is promising for cell replacement therapy to treat Parkinson's disease. We compared the in vitro differentiation potential of pluripotent human embryonic stem (hES, MB03) cells induced with basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) or retinoic acid (RA). Both types of treatment resulted in similar neural cell differentiation patterns at the terminal differentiation stage, specifically, 75% neurons and 11% glial cells. Additionally, treatment of hES cells with brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) or transforming growth factor (TGF)- during the terminal differentiation stage led to significantly increased tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expression, compared to control (P<0.05). In contrast, no effect was observed on the rate of mature or glutamic acid decarboxylase-positive neurons. Immunostaining and HPLC analyses revealed the higher levels of TH (20.3%) and dopamine in bFGF and TGF- treated hES cells than in RA or BDNF treated hES cells. The results indicate that TGF- may be successfully used in the bFGF induction protocol to yield higher numbers of functional dopaminergic neurons from hES cells.

Embryonic stem (ES) cells, derived from preimplantation embryos, are able to differentiate into various types of cells consisting the whole body, or pluripotency. In addition to the plasticity, ES cells are expected to be different from terminally differentiated cells in very many ways, such as patterns of gene expressions, ability and response of the cells in confronting environmental stimulations, metabolism, and growth rate. As a model system to differentiate these two types of cells, human ES (hES, MB03) cells and terminally differentiated cells (HeLa), we examined the ability of these two types of cells in confronting a severe oxidative insult, that is . Ratio of dying cells as determined by the relative amount of dye neutral red entrapped within the cells after the exposures. Cell death rates were not significantly different when either MB03 or HeLa were exposed up to 0.4 mM . However, relative amount of dye entrapped within the cells sharply decreased down to 0.12% in HeLa cells when the cells were exposed to 0.8 mM , while it was approximately 54% in MB03. Pretreatment of cells with BSO (GSH chelator) and measurement of GSH content results suggest that cellular GSH is the major defensive mechanism of hES cells. Induction of apoptosis in hES cell was confirmed by DNA laddering, induction of Bax, and chromatin condensation. In summary, hES cells 1) are extremely resistant to oxidative stress, 2) utilize GSH as a major defensive mechanism. and 3) experience apoptosis upon exposure to oxidative stress.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is the document of intent signed between the Port States Control(PSC) to undertake a uniform as agreed. Though the MOU is not a legally binding, in case where the agreed items are violated without a just cause, the denunciation will follow. International Maritime Organization (IMO) and regional MOUs have been making amendments and reinforcing the relevant requirements, so that port State Authorities can effectively eradicate the substandard vessels. However, the various problems have arisen due to the existence of different requirements of each MOU, the lack of information exchange between each MOU, the lack of uniform PSC implementation within the same MOU and the lack of adequate system due to the short history of MOUs. In this paper, the MOU records for three years (1999∼2001) were analyzed according to each MOU, type of ship, deficiency code, classification society, the number of inspected ships and the number of detained ships to assess the problems (Statistics during 2002 will be published after August 2003). The purpose of this study is to help better understand the PSC activities within each MOU and to establish effective countermeasures by grasping the problems that exist in the PSC at present.