Varroa destructor is a devastating ectoparasitic mite which attacks Honeybee, Apis mellifera. V. destructor feeds on honeybee hemolymph, and often harbors small RNA viruses such as the deformed wing virus to transmit these viruses in the infested bee hive. To survey the genes of V. destructor, total RNA was subjected to high-throughput transcriptome sequencing to construct in silico cDNA library by using the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. Total of 2×107,748,792 paired-end short reads were obtained and quality filtered reads were subjected to Trinity de novo assembler followed by TransDecoder, and CD-HIT program to make a V. destructor reference cDNA library containing 28,023 of clustered contigs with protein coding capacity. These cDNA sequences will help us to understand the molecular biology of V. destructor.

Composite resins are developed as restorative materials to improve esthetics and mechanical properties. To improve the physical properties of resin material, resin filler have to be added. However, no imaging method is adopted for resin filler distribution. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a optical imaging technique to delineate microscopic structures within biological tissue. The OCT application to dental composites resin and its filler is not described yet. So, this new and advanced optical method is needed for clinical application for evaluation of dental composite resin. To analyze the spatial distribution of dental composite resin and to evaluate the resin restoration in cavity, frequency domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) was used for their analysis. Resin restored tooth was prepared. For morphological observation, serially sectioned teeth, conventional X-ray taking and micro computed-tomography (CT) images were compared with OCT images. The experiment has done to evaluate the success of the resin restoration using 3 dimensional structure OCT image. In this research, OCT is evaluated as a new technique to image resin restoration. The evaluation of resin restored tooth was performed by OCT. Inappropriate restoration such as marginal adaptation, large porosities, internal integrity and poor contour could be detected. Resin filler also could be checked by OCT. The distribution, number, regularity and size of resin filler can be differentiated from several commercial products. Considering the characteristics of the OCT, it can be used to evaluate the defects of resin restoration, resin filler distribution, and internal integrity between resin material and tooth structure. The OCT can be considered to be a new and advanced method for the evaluation of resin restorations.

43 5. Research Model Value Co-Creation Customer ParticipationㆍInformation seeking ㆍInformation sharing ㆍResponsible behavior ㆍPersonal interactionCustomer Citizenship ㆍFeedbackㆍAdvocacyㆍHelpingㆍToleranceRelationship PerformanceㆍTrust ㆍCommitment ㆍLoyaltyEntrepreneurial Value OrientationEntrepreneurial Orientation(EO)Relationship Orientation(RO)MarketOrientation(MO)H1H2H3H4H5H6H7H8 Hypotheses H1: Entrepreneurial Orientation will have a positive influence on customer participation behavior in value co-creation process H2: Market Orientation will have a positive influence on customer participation behavior in value co-creation process H3: Relationship Orientation will have a positive influence on customer participation behavior in value co-creation process H4: Entrepreneurial Orientation will have a positive influence on customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process H5: Market Orientation will have a positive influence on customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process H6: Relationship Orientation will have a positive influence on customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process H7: Customer participation behavior in value co-creation process will have a positive influence on relationship performance H8: Customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process will have a positive influence on relationship performance43 5. Research Model Value Co-Creation Customer ParticipationㆍInformation seeking ㆍInformation sharing ㆍResponsible behavior ㆍPersonal interactionCustomer Citizenship ㆍFeedbackㆍAdvocacyㆍHelpingㆍToleranceRelationship PerformanceㆍTrust ㆍCommitment ㆍLoyaltyEntrepreneurial Value OrientationEntrepreneurial Orientation(EO)Relationship Orientation(RO)MarketOrientation(MO)H1H2H3H4H5H6H7H8 Hypotheses H1: Entrepreneurial Orientation will have a positive influence on customer participation behavior in value co-creation process H2: Market Orientation will have a positive influence on customer participation behavior in value co-creation process H3: Relationship Orientation will have a positive influence on customer participation behavior in value co-creation process H4: Entrepreneurial Orientation will have a positive influence on customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process H5: Market Orientation will have a positive influence on customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process H6: Relationship Orientation will have a positive influence on customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process H7: Customer participation behavior in value co-creation process will have a positive influence on relationship performance H8: Customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process will have a positive influence on relationship performance43 5. Research Model Value Co-Creation Customer ParticipationㆍInformation seeking ㆍInformation sharing ㆍResponsible behavior ㆍPersonal interactionCustomer Citizenship ㆍFeedbackㆍAdvocacyㆍHelpingㆍToleranceRelationship PerformanceㆍTrust ㆍCommitment ㆍLoyaltyEntrepreneurial Value OrientationEntrepreneurial Orientation(EO)Relationship Orientation(RO)MarketOrientation(MO)H1H2H3H4H5H6H7H8 Hypotheses H1: Entrepreneurial Orientation will have a positive influence on customer participation behavior in value co-creation process H2: Market Orientation will have a positive influence on customer participation behavior in value co-creation process H3: Relationship Orientation will have a positive influence on customer participation behavior in value co-creation process H4: Entrepreneurial Orientation will have a positive influence on customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process H5: Market Orientation will have a positive influence on customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process H6: Relationship Orientation will have a positive influence on customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process H7: Customer participation behavior in value co-creation process will have a positive influence on relationship performance H8: Customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process will have a positive influence on relationship performance43 5. Research Model Value Co-Creation Customer ParticipationㆍInformation seeking ㆍInformation sharing ㆍResponsible behavior ㆍPersonal interactionCustomer Citizenship ㆍFeedbackㆍAdvocacyㆍHelpingㆍToleranceRelationship PerformanceㆍTrust ㆍCommitment ㆍLoyaltyEntrepreneurial Value OrientationEntrepreneurial Orientation(EO)Relationship Orientation(RO)MarketOrientation(MO)H1H2H3H4H5H6H7H8 Hypotheses H1: Entrepreneurial Orientation will have a positive influence on customer participation behavior in value co-creation process H2: Market Orientation will have a positive influence on customer participation behavior in value co-creation process H3: Relationship Orientation will have a positive influence on customer participation behavior in value co-creation process H4: Entrepreneurial Orientation will have a positive influence on customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process H5: Market Orientation will have a positive influence on customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process H6: Relationship Orientation will have a positive influence on customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process H7: Customer participation behavior in value co-creation process will have a positive influence on relationship performance H8: Customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process will have a positive influence on relationship performanceand relationship performance. 2. Conceptual framework 2.1 Entrepreneurial Value Orientation Entrepreneurial Orientation Entrepreneurial-oriented firms with risk-taking, proactivness, and innovativeness focus on finding new market opportunities and reshaping current operating areas (Hult and Ketchen 2001). Entrepreneurial orientation provides firms with first-mover advantages and has a positive effect on performance. Entrepreneurs create value through innovation with exploiting new opportunity and creating new product-market areas. Market Orientation Market-oriented firms create superior value through the understanding of customers’ needs and the capabilities to fulfill those identified needs (Jaworski & Kohli, 1993). The value creation of market-oriented firms is based on strong commitment to developing product innovation capabilities (Atuahen-Gima, 1996). Market orientation provides firms with market-linking capabilities that help create and deliver value to customers (O’Cass and Ngo, 2012). Relationship Orientation Interaction orientation An interaction orientation is regarded as a sustainable competitive advantage and a value rare and as a value creation driver. Interaction oriented firms with specific and actionable nature are characterized by analyzing individual customer, not a market, performing marketing activities with customers, not for customers, by emphasizing the importance of the relationship to firms (Ramini and Kumar, 2008). The relational performance of interaction orientation is measured by customer satisfaction, customer ownership, and positive word of mouth (Ramini and Kumar, 2008). Long-term orientation Long-term orientation also creates a sustainable competitive advantage through information on best-selling product, best allowable price, cooperative advertizing, etc (Ganesan 1994). Firms with short-term orientation focus on market exchange for profit in a transaction, but firms with long-term orientation focus on relational exchange for profit from joint synergies over a series of transactions, not the length of the relationships (Ganesan 1994). Relational elements like long-term orientation increases mutual commitment to enhance mutual profitability in buyer-seller relationships (Noordewier et al 1990). 2.2 Value co-creation The customers co-create value based on their roles as participants or co-creators in various value-creating processes (Vargo and Lusch 2008a). Joint value is created among customer, suppliers, competitors, and other stakeholders involved in the relationship (Gummesson 1999). The various approaches to value co-creation have discussed. A unified value co-creation concept is explained by three types of processes such as customer value-creating processes, supplier value-creating process, and encounter processes (Payne et al., 2008). Value co-creation behaviors consist of customer participation behavior and customer citizenship behavior. Customer participation behavior that they conceptualizedand relationship performance. 2. Conceptual framework 2.1 Entrepreneurial Value Orientation Entrepreneurial Orientation Entrepreneurial-oriented firms with risk-taking, proactivness, and innovativeness focus on finding new market opportunities and reshaping current operating areas (Hult and Ketchen 2001). Entrepreneurial orientation provides firms with first-mover advantages and has a positive effect on performance. Entrepreneurs create value through innovation with exploiting new opportunity and creating new product-market areas. Market Orientation Market-oriented firms create superior value through the understanding of customers’ needs and the capabilities to fulfill those identified needs (Jaworski & Kohli, 1993). The value creation of market-oriented firms is based on strong commitment to developing product innovation capabilities (Atuahen-Gima, 1996). Market orientation provides firms with market-linking capabilities that help create and deliver value to customers (O’Cass and Ngo, 2012). Relationship Orientation Interaction orientation An interaction orientation is regarded as a sustainable competitive advantage and a value rare and as a value creation driver. Interaction oriented firms with specific and actionable nature are characterized by analyzing individual customer, not a market, performing marketing activities with customers, not for customers, by emphasizing the importance of the relationship to firms (Ramini and Kumar, 2008). The relational performance of interaction orientation is measured by customer satisfaction, customer ownership, and positive word of mouth (Ramini and Kumar, 2008). Long-term orientation Long-term orientation also creates a sustainable competitive advantage through information on best-selling product, best allowable price, cooperative advertizing, etc (Ganesan 1994). Firms with short-term orientation focus on market exchange for profit in a transaction, but firms with long-term orientation focus on relational exchange for profit from joint synergies over a series of transactions, not the length of the relationships (Ganesan 1994). Relational elements like long-term orientation increases mutual commitment to enhance mutual profitability in buyer-seller relationships (Noordewier et al 1990). 2.2 Value co-creation The customers co-create value based on their roles as participants or co-creators in various value-creating processes (Vargo and Lusch 2008a). Joint value is created among customer, suppliers, competitors, and other stakeholders involved in the relationship (Gummesson 1999). The various approaches to value co-creation have discussed. A unified value co-creation concept is explained by three types of processes such as customer value-creating processes, supplier value-creating process, and encounter processes (Payne et al., 2008). Value co-creation behaviors consist of customer participation behavior and customer citizenship behavior. Customer participation behavior that they conceptualizedcomprises four dimensions including information seeking, information sharing, responsible behavior, and personal interaction. Customer citizenship behaviors include feedback, advocacy, helping, and tolerance (Yi, and Gong 2013). 2.3 Relationship performance Ulaga(2003) proposed to identify the linkage between relationship value and relationship variables including commitment, trust, satisfaction, and loyalty. The authors consider trust, commitment, and loyalty as measurement items of relationship performance. Trust is measured as a dependent variable in channel relationships. Commitment is a good indicator of long-term relationships (Morgan and Hunt, 1994) and has been used as the dependent variable in several relationship marketing models including buyer-seller relationship (kumar et al., 1995). Consumer loyalty is related to a motivation to maintain a relationship with a firm, including more resources, positive word of mouth (WOM), and repeat purchasing (Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman 1996). Value drives loyalty and trust affects loyalty through its influence in creating value (Sirdeshmukh, Singh and Sabol 2002) 3. Plan for Data Collection and analysis The instrument used to test the hypotheses a mail survey. A draft questionnaire based on existing measurement scales for the research model will be drafted. This draft questionnaire will be pretested with academics and practitioners to check its content validity and terminology and modified accordingly. The modified questionnaire will be pilot tested to check its suitability and appropriateness for the target population before mailing. The sample population for this study will be business-to-business manufacturing firms in South Korea. The authors will undertake both confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to test our hypotheses using the SPSS 20 and AMOS 20. 4. Expected outcomes and contribution 4.1 Expected outcomes The analysis will identify whether or not the positive influence of entrepreneurial value orientation has on value co-creation including customer participation behavior and customer citizenship behavior. The relationship between the value co-creation and relationship performances will be identified. The more actively customers engage in the value co-creation process, the greater trust, commitment, and loyalty could be positively influenced. Value co-creation plays an important role in increasing relationship performance and could be regarded as a source of sustainable competitive advantage. 4.2 Contribution This study will be the first effort to identify between the relationship between value co-creation and relationship performance. This research will be the first empirical study to apply the concept of value co-creation to business-to-business firms. In terms of marketing academics, this study will contribute to broaden marketing research areas. Managers of business-to-business firms from the results of this study will recognize valuable information on how the extent of an individual’s orientations such as entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation, and relationship orientation affects value co-creation.comprises four dimensions including information seeking, information sharing, responsible behavior, and personal interaction. Customer citizenship behaviors include feedback, advocacy, helping, and tolerance (Yi, and Gong 2013). 2.3 Relationship performance Ulaga(2003) proposed to identify the linkage between relationship value and relationship variables including commitment, trust, satisfaction, and loyalty. The authors consider trust, commitment, and loyalty as measurement items of relationship performance. Trust is measured as a dependent variable in channel relationships. Commitment is a good indicator of long-term relationships (Morgan and Hunt, 1994) and has been used as the dependent variable in several relationship marketing models including buyer-seller relationship (kumar et al., 1995). Consumer loyalty is related to a motivation to maintain a relationship with a firm, including more resources, positive word of mouth (WOM), and repeat purchasing (Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman 1996). Value drives loyalty and trust affects loyalty through its influence in creating value (Sirdeshmukh, Singh and Sabol 2002) 3. Plan for Data Collection and analysis The instrument used to test the hypotheses a mail survey. A draft questionnaire based on existing measurement scales for the research model will be drafted. This draft questionnaire will be pretested with academics and practitioners to check its content validity and terminology and modified accordingly. The modified questionnaire will be pilot tested to check its suitability and appropriateness for the target population before mailing. The sample population for this study will be business-to-business manufacturing firms in South Korea. The authors will undertake both confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to test our hypotheses using the SPSS 20 and AMOS 20. 4. Expected outcomes and contribution 4.1 Expected outcomes The analysis will identify whether or not the positive influence of entrepreneurial value orientation has on value co-creation including customer participation behavior and customer citizenship behavior. The relationship between the value co-creation and relationship performances will be identified. The more actively customers engage in the value co-creation process, the greater trust, commitment, and loyalty could be positively influenced. Value co-creation plays an important role in increasing relationship performance and could be regarded as a source of sustainable competitive advantage. 4.2 Contribution This study will be the first effort to identify between the relationship between value co-creation and relationship performance. This research will be the first empirical study to apply the concept of value co-creation to business-to-business firms. In terms of marketing academics, this study will contribute to broaden marketing research areas. Managers of business-to-business firms from the results of this study will recognize valuable information on how the extent of an individual’s orientations such as entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation, and relationship orientation affects value co-creation.43 5. Research Model Value Co-Creation Customer ParticipationㆍInformation seeking ㆍInformation sharing ㆍResponsible behavior ㆍPersonal interactionCustomer Citizenship ㆍFeedbackㆍAdvocacyㆍHelpingㆍToleranceRelationship PerformanceㆍTrust ㆍCommitment ㆍLoyaltyEntrepreneurial Value OrientationEntrepreneurial Orientation(EO)Relationship Orientation(RO)MarketOrientation(MO)H1H2H3H4H5H6H7H8 Hypotheses H1: Entrepreneurial Orientation will have a positive influence on customer participation behavior in value co-creation process H2: Market Orientation will have a positive influence on customer participation behavior in value co-creation process H3: Relationship Orientation will have a positive influence on customer participation behavior in value co-creation process H4: Entrepreneurial Orientation will have a positive influence on customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process H5: Market Orientation will have a positive influence on customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process H6: Relationship Orientation will have a positive influence on customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process H7: Customer participation behavior in value co-creation process will have a positive influence on relationship performance H8: Customer citizenship behavior in value co-creation process will have a positive influence on relationship performance

An importance of food allergen detection has been growing in food industry. Here, we developed a rapid and easy-to-use detection system for Ara h1, a major allergen in peanut, using gold nanoparticles and switchable linkers. The detection system was performed by two steps. In the first step, Ara h1 was mixed with various concentrations (0.2 - 1.0μg/mL) of biotinylated anti-Ara h1 antibody (i.e., switchable linker, SLs) solutions for 20 min. After mixing, streptavidin coated gold nanoparticle (Abs. 4.0) was added to the mixture solutions with agitation for10 min. Without Ara h1(control), the region of aggregation caused by quantitative relationship between SLs and gold nanoparticle was observed at more than 0.4 μg/mL of SLs. However, under presence of Ara h1, SLs covered with Ara h1 had less ability to react with gold nanoparticles than naked SLs. This resulted in a change of the quantitative relationship mentioned above, which led to shift of the aggregation region. When 10 nM and 40 nM of Ara h1 were added, the aggregation region was appeared from 0.5and 0.8 μg/mLof switchable linkers, respectively. Ara h1 in peanut sample was also detected with this system. 0.4 μg/mL of switchable linkers are mixed with serially diluted peanut extract solutions. As a result, the shift of the aggregation region was observed from undiluted extract to 10 -2 diluted solution. This system could be adapted to detect other harmful/useful bio materials in food.

As ubiquitous organisms entomopathogenic fungi may natually occur within environment including phylloplanes and soil or deposite and survive for a while after spraying a fungal suspension to control insect pest. The existence of pathogenic fungi is a threat to arthropods foraging for food and oviposition sites. The detection and avoidance of pathogens is important for host survival, longevity and ultimate fitness. Although entomopathogenic fungi are ubiquitous worldwide and act as common natural enemies of many invertebrate species, very few studies have conducted abiut the detection and avoidance of pathogenic fungi by insect pest. We have studied that an insect pest can recognize a high virulence fungi on crop surface, avoid oviposition and don’t enter the field treated their pathogen.

KO mice provide an excellent tool to determine roles of specific genes in biomedical filed. Traditionally, knockout mice were generated by homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells. Recently, engineered nucleases, such as zinc finger nuclease, transcription activator-like effector nuclease and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), were used to produce knockout mice. This new technology is useful because of high efficiency and ability to generate biallelic mutation in founder mice. Until now, most of knockout mice produced using engineered nucleases were C57BL/6 strain. In the present study we used CRISPR-Cas9 system to generate knockout mice in FVB strain. We designed and synthesized single guide RNA (sgRNA) of CRISPR system for targeting gene, Abtb2. Mouse zygote were obtained from superovulated FVB female mice at 8-10 weeks of age. The sgRNA was injected into pronuclear of the mouse zygote with recombinant Cas9 protein. The microinjected zygotes were cultured for an additional day and only cleaved embryos were selected. The selected embryos were surgically transferred to oviduct of surrogate mother and offsprings were obtained. Genomic DNA were isolated from the offsprings and the target sequence was amplified using PCR. In T7E1 assay, 46.7% among the offsprings were founded as mutants. The PCR products were purified and sequences were analyzed. Most of the mutations were founded as deletion of few sequences at the target site, however, not identical among the each offspring. In conclusion, we found that CRISPR system is very efficient to generate knockout mice in FVB strain.

The honeybee inhibitor cysteine knot (ICK) peptide acts as an antifungal peptide and insecticidal venom toxin. However, the ICK peptide from bumblebees has not been characterized. Here, we report the molecular cloning and antifungal activity of a bumblebee (Bombus ignitus) ICK peptide (BiICK). We identified a BiICK that contains an ICK fold. The BiICK was expressed in the epidermis, fat body, and venom gland of B. ignitus worker bees. A 6.7-kDa recombinant BiICK peptide was expressed in baculovirus-infected insect cells. Recombinant BiICK peptides directly bound to Beauveria bassiana, Ascosphaera apis, and Fusarium graminearum, but they did not bind to Escherichia coli, Paenibacillus larvae, or Bacillus thuringiensis. Consistent with this finding, BiICK exhibited antifungal activity against fungi. These results demonstrate that BiICK acts as an antifungal peptide.

To investigate the in vivo cognitive effects of syringic acid(SA), Y-maze and passive avoidance tests were performed in amyloid-β(Aβ)-induced cytotoxicity. Learning and memory impairment by Aβ neurotoxicity was partially recovered in Institute of Cancer Research(ICR) mice orally administered SA(10mg/kg of body weight). The SA treated group showed an inhibitory effect on acetylcholinesterase(AChE) that was extracted from mice brain tissue after in vivo tests. Aβ-induced oxidative stress was also examined by malondialdehyde(MDA) and 2',7,-dichlorofluorescein diacetate(DCF-DA) assays, and lipid peroxidation of brain homogenates and cellular oxidative stress were reduced by SA. In cell viability assays using 3-[4,5-dimethythiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide(MTT), lactate dehydrogenase(LDH) leakage, and caspase 3/7 activity, the SA treated group showed relatively effective protection against Aβ-induced neurotoxicity compared to the others. Consequently, these results suggest that SA in black soybean seed coat extract might improve cognitive function because of its neuronal cell protective effects against oxidative stress and the inhibitory effect of AChE as a cholinergic enzyme.

The purpose of this study is to develop a growth prediction model that can predict growth and development information influencing the production of citrus fruits: the growth model algorithm that can predict floral leaf ratio, number of fruit sets, fruit width, and overweight depending on the main period of growth and development with consideration of the applied weather factors. Every year, large scale of manpower was mobilized to investigate the production of outdoor-grown citrus fruits, but it was limited to recycling the data without an observation supporting system to systemize the database. This study intends to create a systematical database based on the basic data obtained through the observation supporting system in application of an algorithm according to the accumulated long term data and prepare a base for its continuous improvement and development. The importance of the observed data is increasingly recognized every year, and the citrus fruit observation supporting system is important for utilizing an effective policy and decision making according to various applications and analysis results through an interconnection and an integration of the investigated statistical data. The citrus fruit is a representative crop having a great ripple effect in Jeju agriculture. An early prediction of the growth and development information influencing the production of citrus fruits may be helpful for decision making in supply and demand control of agricultural products.

This research was conducted in order to understand the hybridization between Quercus aliena Blume and Q. serrata Murray in Korea which show wide range of morphological variations within species and interspecific variations of diverse overlapping characteristics caused by hybridization. Morphological analysis (principal components analysis; PCA) of 116 individuals representing two species and their intermediates were performed. As a result, two species were clearly distinguished in terms of morphology, and intermediate morpho-types assumed to be hybrids between the two species were mostly located in the middle of each parent species in the plot of the principal components analysis. There was a clear distinction between two species in trichome distribution pattern which is an important diagnostic character in taxonomy of genus Quercus, whereas intermediate morpho-types showed intermediate state between two species’ trichome distributions. Forty-two individuals representing two species and their intermediates were examined for leaf flavonoid constituents. Twenty-three flavonoid compounds were isolated and identified: They were glycosylated derivatives of flavonols, kaempferol, quercetin, isorhamnetin and myricetin. The flavonoid constituents of Q. aliena were five glycosylated derivatives: kaempferol 3-O-galactoside, kaempferol 3-O-glucoside, quercetin 3-O-galactoside, quercetin 3-O-glucoside, and Isorhamnetin 3-O-glucoside. The flavonoid constituents of Q. serrata had 20 diverse flavonol compounds including five flavonoid compounds found in Q. aliena. It was found that there is a clear difference in flavonoid constituents of Q. aliena and Q. serrata. Flavonoid chemistry is very useful in recognizing each species and putative hybrids. The flavonoid constituents of intermediates were a mixture of the two species’ constituents and they generally showed similar characteristics to morpho-types. The hybrids between Q. aliena and Q. serrata showed morphologically and chemically diverse characteristics and it is assumed that there are frequent interspecific hybridization and introgression.

Extracts from Aloe vera leaves, Aloe arborescens leaves, Aloe vera callus, Portulaca oleracea and cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) bean husk (CBH) were prepared using acetone, chloroform, ethanol, hexane, and water. Solvent extracts of Aloe vera leaf had very high antioxidant activities showing IC50 values in the ranges of 0.02-0.17 mg/ mL, and had the highest total phenolic and flavonoid content among the tested samples. We hypothesized that Aloe vera leaf and CBH extracts might possess considerable in vitro anti-glycation activities. Indeed, these extracts strongly inhibited the formation of advanced glycation end-products from RNase in the presence of ribose. The chloroform extract of Aloe vera leaf showed the strongest inhibition of AGE formation (99.9%), followed by the 95% acetone extract (92.8%) at a concentration of 1 mg/mL, exhibiting higher anti-glycation activities than those of AG and rutin (73.4% and 96.1% at 1 mg/mL, respectively). The anti-glycation activity of all extracts was correlated positively with their total contents of phenolics and flavonoids. We conclude that Aloe vera leaf extracts and their constituents may be used as anti-glycation agents.

This study was conducted in order to examine relationship between stroke patients' degree of satisfaction with leisure and quality of life according to their leisure activity types and whether they conducted leisure activities. A direct survey was performed from April 8 to May 3, 2013 on 92 inpatients and outpatients who received occupational therapy at hospitals located in Jeonju and Gunsan. A frequency analysis was carried out in order to look at the general characteristics of the subjects, their degree of participation in leisure activities, and their degree of satisfaction with leisure activities. A Pearson's coefficient was used to examine relationship between their degree of satisfaction and quality of life according to participation in leisure activities. Their degree of satisfaction according to participation in leisure activities was significantly higher when they took part in leisure activities such as handicraft activities, sports activities, or travel or tourism activities than when they did not perform any leisure activities. Their quality of life according to participation in leisure activities was higher when they conducted sports activities, outing activities, or tourism activities than when they did not. There was significant correlation between their degree of satisfaction with leisure and quality of life according to leisure activities.

Inhibitor cysteine knot (ICK) peptides exhibit ion channel blocking, insecticidal, and antimicrobial activities, but currently, no functional roles for bee-derived ICK peptides have been identified. In this study, a bee (Apis cerana) ICK peptide (AcICK) that acts as an antifungal peptide and as an insecticidal venom toxin was identified. AcICK contains an ICK fold that is expressed in the epidermis, fat body, or venom gland and is present as a 6.6-kDa peptide in bee venom. Recombinant AcICK peptide (expressed in baculovirus-infected insect cells) bound directly to Beauveria bassiana and Fusarium graminearum, but not to Escherichia coli or Bacillus thuringiensis. Consistent with these findings, AcICK showed antifungal activity, indicating that AcICK acts as an antifungal peptide. Furthermore, AcICK expression is induced in the fat body and epidermis after injection with B. bassiana. These results provide insight into the role of AcICK during the innate immune response following fungal infection. Additionally, we show that AcICK has insecticidal activity. Our results demonstrate a functional role for AcICK in bees: AcICK acts as an antifungal peptide in innate immune reactions in the body and as an insecticidal toxin in venom. The finding that the AcICK peptide functions with different mechanisms of action in the body and in venom highlights the two-pronged strategy that is possible with the bee ICK peptide.

Crystals of proteinaceous insecticidal proteins, Cry proteins, produced by Bacill us thuringiensis (Bt) have been generally used used to control insect pests. In this st udy, through the 3D structure prediction and accompanying mutagenesis study for the Mod-Cry1Ac, 7 and 16 amino acid residues from domain I and II, respectively, responsible for its insecticidal activity against larvae of Plutella xylostella, Spodopt era exigua and Ostrinia furnacalis were identified. To construct novel cry genes wi th enhanced insecticidal activity, we randomly mutated these 24 amino acid sequen ces by in vitro muti site-directed mutagenesis, resulting in totally 34 mutant cry gen es. For further characterization, these mutant cry genes were expressed as a fusion protein with polyhedrin using baculovirus expression system. SDS-PAGE analysis of the recombinant polyhedra revealed that expressed Cry proteins was occluded in to polyhedra and activated stably to 65 kDa by trypsin. When the insecticidal activit ies of these mutant Cry proteins against to larvae of P. xylostella, S. exigua, and O. furnacalis were assayed, they showed higher or similar insecticidal activity compar ed to those of Cry1Ac and Cry1C. Especially, among them Mutant-N16 showed th e highest insecticidal activity against to both of P. xylostella, S. exigua and Ostrinia furnacalis. Therefore, Mutant-N16 is estimated to have the potential for the efficac ious bioagent.

We investigated the insect community along altitudinal gradient to gather basic data for distributional monitoring of insect species in the forest ecosystem. The investigation area was Seon-gaksan (Mt.) in Jinan-gun, Jeollabuk-do province, where the bucket-light trap and pit-fall trap for quantification were installed in Quercus vegetation at altitude of 300m, 600m and 900m. The field collecting was performed on May, July and September 2013 respectively. ANOVA analysis was conducted to analyze the significance between insect species along altitude using the collected insect community data. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results showed statistically significant differences among ground-beetles and ants abundance with altitude as a response variable. Although we expected a distinct cluster with the difference of altitude at each study site, nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMS) showed distinct clusters with the moth, ground-beetles, and ant assemblage at altitudinal increase and sampling month. In the result, a total of 309 species in 18 families of nocturnal moths were collected by bucket-light trap. The insects collected in pit-fall trap were ground-beetles with 196 individuals of 26 species and ants with 11,276 individuals of 14 species respectively.

Xylitol is a five-carbon sugar alcohol that inhibits the growth of oral streptococci, including Streptococcus mutans. In this study, we tested xylitol sensitivity among the oral streptococci. We also compared nucleotide homology of putative fructose phosphotransferase system (PTS) and xylitol sensitivity, since xylitol is transported via the fructose PTS. Among the tested Streptococci, S. pneumonia showed the highest resistance to xylitol while S. gordonii and S. sanguinis showed the most sensitive growth inhibition. These streptococci could be grouped according to their xylitol sensitivity. S. mutans and S. salivarius showed similar bacterial growth inhibition by xylitol. S. mitis, S. oralis, S. pneumonia, S. intermedius and S. anginosus showed relatively low sensitivity to xylitol. When the genetic homologies of five fructose PTSs were compared among the tested streptococci, closely related streptococci showed similar sensitivity to xylitol. Taken together, fructose PTSs may mediate the sensitivity to xylitol in oral streptococci.