The two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae is being steadily problematic on strawberry. To effective control of this pest, one combination application using predatory mite Phytoseiulus persimilis plus a pesticide Acequinocyl suggests. Prepared six beds (1.5 × 3 m; 20 strawberry plants) on glass house, 100 T. urticae was inoculated on per 20 plants. Four plots prepared - Acequinocyl treatment, P. persimilis application, Acequinocyl+P. persimilis double application, and the control. The change of T. urticae density was investigated in the seven-day intervals. In an Acequinocyl treated plot, T. urticae density was decreased after Acequinocyl sprayed, but began to increase steadily one month later. In a P. persimilis applied plot, T. urticae density began to decrease at 20 days after P. persimilis inoculation. In an Acequinocyl + P. persimilis double applied plot, T. urticae density was dramatically decreased after application and then no found the T. urticae. To practical use in farmhouse, it will be possible to control by inoculation of P. persimilis only when low density of T. urticae; however, double application with spray pesticide Acequinocyl plus apply the natural enemy P. persimilis will be good when high density of T. urticae.

This study was performed to apply and to utilize the digital forecasting information for Integrated Pest Management at pepper field in Chungbuk province. Chemical spray according to the forecasting prediction using FarmIPM and NCPMS were compare to the that of no control and conventional control. Pests such as Oriental tobacco budworm, Western flower thrips, and Cotton aphids were investigated the control effect by the forecasting modeling information at three pepper plots. Damaged fruit ratio (%) of Oriental tobacco budworm was ordered into no treatment (30) > forecasting (20) > conventional (12), but damages by other pest was insignificant. The frequency of forecasting control was ordered into NCPMS (31) > conventional control (17) > FarmIPM (8). Damaged fruit ratio (%) of Oriental tobacco budworm was ordered into no treatment (35.5) > NCPMS (26.1) > FarmIPM (24.6) > conventional (13.9). Density of western flower thrips was higher but had no problematic by the chemical control when it is hard to analyze the damage by cotton aphid occurrence. Damage by cotton aphids has no prediction of forecasting but done with 6th chemical spray, and their damage ratio (%) was ordered into no treatment (67.7) > FarmIPM (16.2) > NCPMS (11.3) > conventional treatment (4.8). At an analysis of economic value, gross profit was highest in FarmIPM and next to NCPMS > conventional control.

In order to understand evolutionary characteristics of gene rearrangement in Lepidoptera, we collected all available complete mitogenome (mitogenome) sequences registered in GenBank (274 mitogenomes from 44 families in 23 superfamilies as of August 6, 2015). It turned up six rearrangements that differ from the arrangement of ancestral insects, including that of the gelechioid Mesophleps albilinella that we sequenced in this study. The M. albilinella mitogenome has a unique gene arrangement among the Gelechioidea: ARNESF (the underline signifies an inverted gene) at the ND3 and ND5 junction, as opposed to the ARNSEF that is found in ancestral insects. Most of the rearrangements can be explained by the tandem duplication-random loss model, but inversion, which requires recombination, is also found in two cases, including M. albilinella. Excluding the MIQ rearrangement at the A+T-rich region and ND2 junction, which is found in nearly all Ditrysia, most of the remaining rearrangements found in Lepidoptera appear to be independently derived in that they are automorphic at several taxonomic scales. Current mitogenomic data are limited, particularly for congeneric data. Thus, future research focused on congenerics could clarify evolutionary independency at the generic level also.

The Gelechioidea is the second most species-rich group of Lepidoptera, but only limited number of mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) sequences is available. Thus, we sequenced the complete mitogenome of a gelechioid Hieromantis kurokoi (Lepidoptera: Stathmopodidae) to use the data for future study for the higher phylogeny of Ditrysia in Lepidoptera. The arrangement of the genome was identical to typical one found in Ditrysia (trnM-trnI-trnQ) (underline for inverted gene). The COI began with CGA, which has been designated as the start codon for majority of lepidopteran species, whereas other protein-coding genes (PCGs) began with the typical ATN codon. The 360-bp long A+T-rich region harbored the conserved sequence blocks Phylogenetic analysis using the 13 PCGs both by Bayesian inference (BI) and Maximum-likelihood (ML) methods indicated that H. kurokoi belonging to the family Stathmopodidae grouped together with within-familial species Atrijuglans hetaohei with the highest nodal support (BI, 1.0; ML, 100%).

A commercial NiO (green nickel oxide, 86 wt% Ni) powder was reduced using a batch-type fluidized-bed reactor in a temperature range of 500 to 600 oC and in a residence time range of 5 to 90 min. The reduction rate increased with increases in temperature; however, agglomeration and sintering (sticking) of Ni particles noticeably took place at high temperatures above 600 oC. An increasing tendency toward sticking was also observed at long residence times. In order to reduce the oxygen content in the powder to a level below 1 % without any sticking problems, which can lead to defluidization, proper temperature and residence time for a stable fluidized-bed operation should be established. In this study, these values were found to be 550 oC and 60 min, respectively. Another important condition is the specific gas consumption rate, i.e. the volume amount (Nm3) of hydrogen gas used to reduce 1 ton of Green NiO ore. The optimum gas consumption rate was found to be 5,000 Nm3/ton-NiO for the complete reduction. The Avrami model was applied to this study; experimental data are most closely fitted with an exponent (m) of 0.6 ± 0.01 and with an overall rate constant (k) in the range of 0.35~0.45, depending on the temperature.

The properties of zinc oxynitride semiconductors and their associated thin film transistors are studied. Reactively sputtered zinc oxynitride films exhibit n-type conduction, and nitrogen-rich compositions result in relatively high electron mobility. Nitrogen vacancies are anticipated to act as shallow electron donors, as their calculated formation energy is lowest among the possible types of point defects. The carrier density can be reduced by substituting zinc with metals such as gallium or aluminum, which form stronger bonds with nitrogen than zinc does. The electrical properties of gallium-doped zinc oxynitride thin films and their respective devices demonstrate the carrier suppression effect accordingly.

Viral respiratory infections are common in horses, notably equine herpesvirus infection and equine influenza, which primarily initiate secondary bacterial respiratory infections such as strangles caused by Streptococcus equi equi. A decline in the production of stallions has been associated with these respiratory diseases leading to adverse financial implications. This study investigated the antibody responses against respiratory diseases in horses from Jeju Island a year after vaccination. A low level of equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) (11.36%) antibodies was detected from stallions, however a high level of EHV-4 (95.84%) antibodies was detected from horses without vaccination against this infection suggesting that EHV-4 is ubiquitous in this horse population. In case of equine influenza, ranch stallions showed low positive rate (12.06%) whereas stallions from Subtropical Livestock Research Institute displayed higher positive rate (81.32%). Antibody responses against equine influenza and strangles revealed positive rates of 26.32% and 55.12%, respectively. These findings may draw attention towards the importance of developing an improved disease prevention and/or immunization program that will effectively control respiratory diseases in horses.

Respiratory diseases among horses cause economic losses in foals and productivity decreases in horses being raised and in adult horses. In South Korea, fundamental studies of horses’ respiratory diseases and those related to disease occurrence are insufficient. Therefore, the aim if the current study was to use diverse hematological indicators, obtained through hematological tests and measurment of blood antibody level in horses suffering form respiratory diseases, to monitor disease occurrence and prognosis evaluation. Investigations of infection states by horses’ bacterial respiratory diseases, susceptible drugs, and resisted drugs according to pathogens showed differences between farms. Among the β-lactam-based antibiotics, cephalosporin-based antibiotics showed some efficacy against Streptococcus spp. To review age-based changes in erythrocytometer hemograms in hematological tests of riding horses, red blood cell (RBC) tended to gradually decrease with increasing age this tendency was statistically significant. In addition, leukocytometer hemograms analyzed by age showed that total white blood cell counts tended to decrease with increasing age. These results of drug susceptibility tests and hematological tests, which have not been presented thus far, will be useful as standardized data in future breeding management and disease tests of Jeju riding horses.

MicroRNA (miRNA, miR) is essential in regulating cell differentiation either by inhibiting mRNA translation or by inducing its degradation. However, the role of miRNA in odontoblastic cell differentiation is still unclear. In this study, we examined the molecular mechanism of miR-27-mediated regulation of odontoblast differentiation in MDPC-23 mouse odontoblastic cells derived from mouse dental papilla cells. The results of the present study demonstrated that the miR-27 expression increases significantly during MDPC-23 odontoblastic cell differentiation. Furthermore, miR-27 up-regulation promotes the differentiation of MDPC-23 cells and accelerates mineralization without cell proliferation. The over-expression of miR-27 significantly increased the expression levels of Wnt1 mRNA and protein. In addition, the results of target gene prediction revealed that Wnt1 mRNA has an miR-27 binding site in its 3’UTR, and is increased by miR-27. These results suggested that miR-27 promotes MDPC-23 odontoblastic cell differentiation by targeting Wnt1 signaling. Therefore, miR-27 is a critical odontoblastic differentiation molecular target for the development of miRNA based therapeutic agents in dental medicine.

Obesity is a risk factor for various diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, renal disease, hypertension, cancer, and neural disease. Adipose tissue in animals is important for the mobilization of lipids, milk production, deposition of fat in different depots, and muscle and meat production. Understanding the genetic and physiological causes of metabolic disease is a priority in biomedical genome research. In this study, we examined several variables in mice fed a high-fat diet, including serum composition, body weight, total calorie intake, and differentially expressed genes. Body weight and blood glucose levels were not significantly different between animals fed high-fat and normal diets. However, high-fat diet groups showed reduced calorie and food intakes. Levels of sodium, ionized calcium, glucose, hematocrit, hemoglobin, pH, PCO2, PO2, TCO2+, HCO3+, base excess, and SO2 in the blood were not significantly different between mice fed high-fat and normal diets. Serum potassium concentration, however, was lower in mice a high-fat diet. Differentially expressed genes were also compared between the two groups. The purpose of this study was to discover new genes as a result of annealing control primer (ACP) PCR using 20 random primers. Five down regulated genes were identified and three of others were up-regulated by high-fat diet. Known genes were excluded from this result. In addition, the relationships among candidate genes and high-fat diet should be investigated according to potassium concentration in the blood. In conclusion, mice fed normal and high-fat diets showed no significant difference in body weight, whereas high-fat diet led to changesin blood composition and differential expression of several genes. These findings may provide a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the association between obesity and metabolic diseases.

Recently, several companies have released H. pylori stool antigen (HpSA) test kits. However, there is little information about the usefulness of HpSA testing for Helicobacter felis, which is the major Helicobacter species in cats. The aim of the present study was to compare diagnostic methods for diagnosis of H. felis with HpSA tests and PCR assay using cat stools or gastric mucosa. Male cats (n=6) were infected with H. felis ATCC 49179 (1.0 × 109 CFU /cat) by intragastric inoculation two times at 3-day intervals, and stool specimens of cats were collected 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, and 21 days after infection for HpSA testing and H. felis-specific PCR. For the results, sensitivities of the HpSA test and PCR analysis were 50.0% and 83.3% respectively. Cats were sacrificed 21 days after H. felis inoculation, and gastric tissues were homogenized. All gastric biopsy specimens were positive based on a rapid urease test (RUT) (6/6, 100%) and PCR (6/6, 100%). Based on these results, the HpSA kit is useful and effective for monitoring H. felis infection using stool specimens. If an HpSA test could be made with H. felis antibodies in the future, its sensitivity could be increased further. Further, PCR assay could be successfully used to detect H. felis in stools. Application of this HpSA kit and PCR assay can be utilized as a non-invasive strategy to identify H. felis in cats.

DNA methylation is the most common and well-characterized epigenetic change in human cancer. Recently, the association between GATA-binding protein 5 (GATA5) methylation and carcinogenesis of various types of tumors was investigated. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of GATA5 methylation status on clinicopathological features and prognosis in primary non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients with a long-term follow-up period. The GATA5 methylation status was determined for 171 human bladder specimens (eight normal controls [NCs] and 163 primary NMIBC patients) using quantitative pyrosequencing analysis. The primary NMIBC tissues were obtained from patients who underwent transurethral resection (TUR) for histologically diagnosed transitional cell carcinomas between 1995 and 2012 at Chungbuk National University Hospital. GATA5 methylation was significantly higher in NMIBC patients than in NCs and was significantly associated with higher grade and more advanced stage of cancer. Kaplan-Meier estimates showed significant differences in tumor recurrence and progression according to GATA5 methylation status (each p<0.05). Our results show that increased methylation of GATA5 was significantly associated with not only aggressive characteristics but also poor prognosis in primary NMIBC patients. Alteration of GATA5 methylation might be used as a biomarker for prognosis of NMIBC patients. However, prospective and functional investigations are necessary to clarify the role of GATA5 methylation in future clinical management of patients with NMIBC.

This neurological damage accelerates the infection reaction of cells and apoptosis at the time of reperfusion after ischemia occurs. BCL-2/BCL-2 allogeneic begeminum has a function of suppressing the apoptosis of cells, and thus it is inferred that the susceptibility of cells to apoptosis is determined by the amount of allogeneic begeminum present which is determined based on the amount of BAX. Ischemia was induced in SD mice by occluding the common carotid artery for 5 minutes, after which blood was re-perfused. NEES was applied to acupuncture points, at 12, 24, and 48 hours post-ischemia on the joksamri, Hapgok. Protein expression was investigated through BAX antibody immuno-reactive cells in the cerebral nerve cells and Western blotting. The results were as follows: In the present study as well, as a result of observation of the change in the number of the BAX reaction cells after the inducement of GI, there was the aspect of most of the BAX reaction cells being observed in the corpus striatum area of the GI group 24 hours after the inducement of ischemia. This revealed the same results as those of previous studies in which the change in the number of BAX reaction cells occurred in all areas while ischemia was in progress. The change in the expression of BAX protein after 24 hours showed that there was a very significant reduction in the NEES group compared to the GI group (p<.01). As a result, a greatest amount of change in the number of BAX immunoreactive cells related to apoptosis 24 hours after ischemia appeared in the NEES group. This study that ischemia increases the expression of BAX that induces apoptosis. Thus, it is determined that ischemia is the main cause of the apoptosis of neurons, and this study reveals that low frequency needle electrode electrical stimulation has the effect of blocking the apoptosis of neurons by reducing protein related to the apoptosis of cells that has increased after ischemia has occurred.

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) with bright radio jets oer the opportunity to study the structure of and physical conditions in relativistic out ows. For such studies, multi-frequency polarimetric very long baseline interferometric (VLBI) observations are important as they directly probe particle densities, magnetic eld geometries, and several other parameters. We present results from rst-epoch data obtained by the Korean VLBI Network (KVN) within the frame of the Plasma Physics of Active Galactic Nuclei (PAGaN) project. We observed seven radio-bright nearby AGN at frequencies of 22, 43, 86, and 129 GHz in dual polarization mode. Our observations constrain apparent brightness temperatures of jet components and radio cores in our sample to > 108:01 K and > 109:86 K, respectively. Degrees of linear polarization mL are relatively low overall: less than 10%. This indicates suppression of polarization by strong turbulence in the jets. We found an exceptionally high degree of polarization in a jet component of BL Lac at 43 GHz, with mL  40%. Assuming a transverse shock front propagating downstream along the jet, the shock front being almost parallel to the line of sight can explain the high degree of polarization.