The mature silkworms of Bombyx mori L. have recently been regarded as a potential health supplement due to gainingtheir edibility for humans by a newly-developed steaming method. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate theeffects of steamed and lyophilized mature silkworm powder (SMSP) on skin pigmentation and melanogenesis. Orally administeredSMSP significantly and dose-dependently reduced abnormal pigmentation caused by ultraviolet B (UVB) on the murinedorsal skin. SMSP also showed a potential anti-melanogenic efficacy in modulating UVB-induced melanogenesis. Takentogether, SMSP was identified as a potential candidate for a novel anti-melanogenic agent, which showed hypo-pigmentingefficacy against UVB-induced melanogenesis in vivo when administered orally.

The confused taxonomy of the east Palaearctic pear psyllids, serious pests on cultivated pear, is reviewed. Fifty-sixnominal species have been reported from Pyrus, 25 of which we consider valid and ten as not being associated withPyrus. Our taxonomic revision suggests that, in Korea, four Cacopsylla species develop on pear. Three species occuralso in Japan. New synonyms are suggested and seasonal dimorphism are critically discussed.Key words : Psyllidae, Cacopsylla, taxonomy, host plant, Pyrus, Rosaceae, Manchrian pear, Asian pear, European pear, China,Japan, South Korea, Russian Far East

The spotted wing drosophila (SWD), Drosophila suzukii, is classified exotic quarantine pest in Australia and EU, soSWD-free must be supported by evidence of surveys and phytosanitary measures in exported host agricultural commoditiesin Korea. From a quarantine control point of view, SWD is importantly considered as model insect pest for exotic fruitflies (Bactrocera dorsalis) in Korea as well because of similarity in ecological cycles. In evaluations of ethyl formate(EF) only and combined cold treatment to kill eggs and larvae of SWD, the combined EF fumigation applied at LCt50%(50% killed lethal concentration X time) and cold treatement (5℃) for > 5 days showed the promise to new conceptfor eradicating quarantine pest and these could be helpful to pre-develop exotic fruit fly management in Korea.

Bemisia tabaci is a species complex consisting of at least 40 species which are morphologically indistinguishable. Althoughgenetic diversity of B. tabaci have been studied in many countries, its information is lack in Bangladesh. The COI sequencewas determined from 91 samples collected in Bangladesh and the phylogenetic relationship was constructed. Four crypticspecies (Asia I, Asia II-1, Asia II-5 and Asia II-10) were present in different regions. While both Asia I and Asia II-1was widely distributed in all around the country, Asia II-5 was central and southern regions, and Asia II-10 was onlyin the central region. Otherwise, our results showed that Asia II-5 had the highest haplotype and nucleotide diversity.Genetic groups of B. tabaci in Bangladesh were most similar with those of Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, China, and Indiabut did not show any aggressive cryptic species such as MED and MEAM-1.

The sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci is one of the most serious pests in the greenhouse. They can infest variouscrop plants even in high warm greenhouse condition in summer. To understand the effect of heat acclimation ability ofB. tabaci, mortality was determined at various temperature conditions of the greenhouse. Adult whiteflies survived evenin 63°C in tomato greenhouse. The median lethal temperature (LT50) of the greenhouse colony was 59.9°C however LT50of the lab colony was 47.6°C. The relative expression level of heat shock proteins (hsp23, hsp70 and hsp90) were significantlylower in the greenhouse colony compare to the lab colony. This result suggests B. tabaci has very high thermal adaptability(acclimation) and its mechanism is associated with heat shock protein system.

Temperature can affect the ability of insects to tolerate prolonged period of food deprivation through altering the amountof energy storage, the speed of energy expenditure, or the threshold energy storage for survival. In this study, we examinedthe mechanistic basis of the temperature-dependence of starvation resistance in Drosophila melanogaster. Starvation resistancedecreased as the temperature experienced during starvation rose from 18 to 28 ̊C. This warming-mediated decrease instarvation resistance was due to accelerated energy expenditure. However, the threshold energy storage for survival wasnot affected by starvation temperature. Exposure to warm temperatures during feeding led D. melanogaster to accumulatemore energy reserves and thus to become more starvation resistant. This study highlights the important role played bytemperature in shaping the phenotypic responses of insects to starvation.

Oyster mushrooms are popular and physiologically beneficial to human health. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of oyster mushrooms such as Pleurotus ostreatus, P. pulmonarius, and P. citrinopileatus on high cholesterol fed rats. Five-week old female Sprague-Dawley albino rats were divided into three groups of 8 rats each. Feeding a diet containing a 5% fruiting body powder of Pleurotus species to high cholesterol fed rats reduced plasma total cholesterol (TG), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Feeding each oyster mushroom also significantly reduced body weight in high cholesterol fed rats. However, it had no adverse effects on plasma albumin, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, uric acid, glucose, total protein or enzyme profiles such as glutamate oxalate transaminase (GOT), glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) which are related to kidney function. Feeding each mushroom increased total lipid and cholesterol excretion in feces. A histological study of hepatic cells by conventional red O staining showed normal findings in mushroom-fed hyperlipidemic rats. These results suggested that diet supplementation of 5% fruiting body power of Pleurotus species provided health benefits by acting on the atherogenic lipid profile in high cholesterol fed rats.

Drought is one of the detrimental factors that impair plant growth and productivity. In this study, we applied annealing control primer (ACP)-based reverse transcriptase PCR (polymerase chain reaction) technique to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in maize leaves in response to drought stress. Two-week-old maize seedlings were exposed to drought (DT) by suspending water supply. DEGs were screened after 3 days of DT-treated samples using the ACP-based technique. Several DEGs encoding 16.9 protein, antimicrobial protein, hypothetical protein NCLIV_068840, thioredoxin M-type were identified in maize leaves under drought stress. These genes have putative functions in plant defense response, growth and development. These identified genes would be useful for predictive markers of plant defense, and growth responses under drought stress in plants.

Arabidopsis nucleoside diphosphate kinase 2 (AtNDPK2) is an upstream signaling molecule that has been shown to induce stress tolerance in plants. In this study, the AtNDPK2 gene, under the control of a stress-inducible SWPA2 promoter, was introduced into the genome of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) plants. The induction of the transgene expression mediated by methyl viologen (MV) and NaCl treatments were confirmed by RT-PCR and northern blot analysis, respectively. Under salt stress treatment, the transgenic tall fescue plants (SN) exhibited lower level of H2O2 and lipid peroxidation accumulations than the non-transgenic (NT) plants. The transgenic tall fescue plants also showed higher level of NDPK enzyme activity compared to NT plants. The SN plants were survived at 300 mM NaCl treatment, whereas the NT plants were severely affected. These results indicate that stress-inducible overexpression of AtNDPK2 might efficiently confer the salt stress tolerance in tall fescue plants.

In this work, the effects of hydrogen reduction on the microstructure and thermoelectric properties of (GeTe)0.85(AgSbTe2)0.15 (TAGS-85) were studied by a combination of gas atomization and spark plasma sintering. The crystal structure and microstructure of TAGS-85 were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The oxygen content of both powders and bulk samples were found to decrease with increasing reduction temperature. The grain size gradually increased with increasing reduction temperature due to adhesion of fine grains in a temperature range of 350 to 450 °C. The electrical resistivity was found to increase with reduction temperature due to a decrease in carrier concentration. The Seebeck coefficient decreased with increasing reduction temperature and was in good agreement with the carrier concentration and carrier mobility. The maximum power factor, 3.3 × 10−3 W/mK2, was measured for the non-reduction bulk TAGS-85 at 450 °C.

Selecting an appropriate antigen with optimal immunogenicity and physicochemical properties is a pivotal factor to develop a protein based subunit vaccine. Despite rapid progress in modern molecular cloning and recombinant protein technology, there remains a huge challenge for purifying and using protein antigens rich in hydrophobic domains, such as membrane associated proteins. To overcome current limitations using hydrophobic proteins as vaccine antigens, we adopted in silico analyses which included bioinformatic prediction and sequence-based protein 3D structure modeling, to develop a novel periodontitis subunit vaccine against the outer membrane protein FomA of Fusobacterium nucleatum. To generate an optimal antigen candidate, we predicted hydrophilicity and B cell epitope parameter by querying to web-based databases, and designed a truncated FomA (tFomA) candidate with better solubility and preserved B cell epitopes. The truncated recombinant protein was engineered to expose epitopes on the surface through simulating amino acid sequence-based 3D folding in aqueous environment. The recombinant tFomA was further expressed and purified, and its immunological properties were evaluated. In the mice intranasal vaccination study, tFomA significantly induced antigen-specific IgG and sIgA responses in both systemic and oral-mucosal compartments, respectively. Our results testify that intelligent in silico designing of antigens provide amenable vaccine epitopes from hard-to-manufacture hydrophobic domain rich microbial antigens.

This study examines the construction and management of physical facilities in natural recreational forests that have been created after gaining an understanding of how visitors will use them. It also studies operations tailored for the use of visitors to natural recreation forests. The study presents basic data pertaining to management of natural recreation forests, analyzes the impact of current facilities on visitor satisfaction, and reveals the potential for new programs to be implemented. The independent variables in this study are facilities and program establishment/management and program utilization pertaining to the operation of natural recreation forests. The considered variables include facilities management and facilities requirements categorized by state programs. Program needs were analyzed using correlation. The state of facilities management in natural recreation forests, utilization program implementation, and demand for utilization programs were found to have a positive (+) influence on visitor satisfaction. The results of the rank regression analysis of the influence of the independent variables on visitor satisfaction decreases in the following order: state of facilities management, utilization program implementation, and demand for utilization programs. Visitors to natural recreation forests prefer recreational activities that provide a break from their normal routine, rather than the use of other aggressive utilization programs. Therefore, a higher priority should be given to ensuring appropriate provision of facilities that generate higher visitor satisfaction, as well as their stable management, compared to other utilization programs. Therefore, there are some indications that natural recreation forests of the future will benefit from the development and implementation of an essential set of utilization programs that will have a positive (+) impact on visitor satisfaction.

We conduct BVRI and R band photometric observations of asteroid (5247) Krylov from January 2016 to April 2016 for 51 nights using the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet). The color indices of (5247) Krylov at the light curve maxima are determined as B - V = 0:841  0:035, V -R = 0:4180:031, and V -I = 0:8710:031 where the phase angle is 14.1◦. They are acquired after the standardization of BVRI instrumental measurements using the ensemble normalization technique. Based on the color indices, (5247) Krylov is classied as a S-type asteroid. Double periods, that is, a primary period P1 = 82:188  0:013 h and a secondary period P2 = 67:13  0:20 h are identied from period searches of its R band light curve. The light curve phases with P1 and this indicate that it is a typical Non-Principal Axis (NPA) asteroid. We discuss the possible causes of its NPA rotation.