A light-emitting diode (LED) is most efficient in terms of economic benefits. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of LED lighting intensity on milk production, milk composition, and the immune response of Holstein cows. Thirty-eight lactating cows were assigned to four experimental groups: control group (exposed natural daylight without LED light) and three LED treatment group (50 lux; natural daylight and 6 h LED light of 50 lux intensity, 100 lux; natural daylight and 6 h LED light of 100 lux intensity, 200 lux; natural daylight and 6 h LED light of 200 lux intensity). There was a significant effect on the decrease ratio in milk production in 200 lux group. Lactose was significantly increased in 100 lux than the other LED treated groups. In addition to the hemolytic biochemical analysis, AST and β-HB were significantly increased in the 50 lux than the other groups. Prolactin and IGF-1 levels were significantly increased in 200 lux compared to other groups. Besides, cortisol was significantly higher in 50 lux and lowered in the 200 lux than the control, while IgA and IgG were not significant among the groups. Therefore, it was concluded that LED lighting intensity had some impact on blood parameters and immune responses in dairy cows with increased milk production.

많은 선행 연구에서는 무연 차폐재를 제작하기 위하여 몬테카를로 시뮬레이션을 통해 방사선 차폐 능력과 경량화에 대한 가능성을 제시하고 있다. 하지만, 이는 바인더 및 미세 기공에 대한 구현이 어렵기에 제품화 공정에 필요한 정보를 충분히 제공하지 못하는 실정이다. 이에 본 연구에서는 제품화 공정에 요구되는 겔 페이스트에 대한 정보를 사전에 제공하기 위하여 스크린 프린팅 공법을 활용하여 충전율에 따른 방사선 차폐 능력에 대한 결과를 제시하였다. 본 연구에서는 방사선 차폐 능력을 평가하기 위해 IEC 61331-1: 2014와 KS A 4025에 부합하도록 실험 환경을 설계하였으며, 방사선 조사 조건은 KS A 4021 규격을 준용하여 총 여과 2.0 mmAl로 여과된 100 kVp를 이용하였다. 본 연구 결과, TVL를 기준으로 Pb 1270 μm, BaSO4 3035 μm, Bi2O3 1849 μm, WO3 2631 μm에서 근사한 값으로 분석되었다. 또한, 충전율은 BaSO4 38.6%, Bi2O3 27.1%, WO3 30.15%로 분석되었다. 하지만, 차후 저온고압 성형을 적용한다면 충전율을 높이면서도 기공률을 낮춤으로서 방사선 차폐 능력의 개선이 충분히 가능할 것으로 기대된다.

This study was conducted to investigate needs and operational status for care farming of education or experience farms in South Korea. A questionnaire made up of 38 questions was developed for this study. The survey was conducted online among owners in education and experience farms (total 264 sites) in Seoul and nine provinces in September 2017. A total of 78 questionnaires were collected and the response rate was 44.6%. As the results, the purposes of farm operation reported as experience (85.9%), education (79.5%), production of agricultural products (67.9%), and healing (47.4%). Main visitors in education and experience farm were children and adolescents (89.7%), adults (51.3%), and families (46.2%). A farm activity program was mainly provided by a one-time experience using crops (69.2%), animals (16.7%), and food processing activity (10.3%). Fifty percent of the responding farmers received support from the government and the local government such as public relations (32.5%), operational funding (32.5%), and management consulting (15.0%). The lack factor of operating in farms was lower profit system (24.4%), poor farm infrastructure (21.8%), and lack of promotion and marketing ways (16.7%). 97.5% of the respondents reported ‘very necessary’ and ‘necessary’ of care farming. Specifically, the care farming service reported that priority should be given to children and adolescents (55.1%) and people with emotional and behavior disorder (15.4%). The present study is anticipated to offer the efficient management of care farm and provides reference data of the policy suggestion for care farming setting in South Korea.

Sexual dimorphism is the most conspicuous difference between the sexes. This study examines possible sexual dimorphism and the relative growth patterns of morphometric characteristics in the marine medaka, Oryzias dancena for their potential to help differentiate between males and females of this species. The von Bertalanffy growth parameters estimated by a non-linear regression method were L∞=30.2 mm, K=3.22/year, and τ0=-0.05. All 18 characteristics measured showed a difference between males and females from 70 days after hatching. Each of these characteristics were significantly different between sexes (ANCOVA, P<0.05), and the ratio of standard length between sexes showed that males were larger than females for all five morphometric measurements. Fin length measurements were taken for 21 distances of anal fin and 7 distances of dorsal fin between landmarks. There were all differences for all dorsal fin rays between the males and the females and there is significant difference in 70 days after their hatch when the sexual dimorphism is presented. The significant difference (P<0.05) in fin ray for male and female was more greatly seen as they grow. Male marine medaka showed more rapid growth than females, with longer length, dorsal fins and anal fins. Differences in these characteristics will be useful during experiments when it is necessary to differentiate between sexes of marine medaka.

Background : Ginseng, an important traditional medicinal plant still used in rats with bone fractures or dislocation to promote connective tissue repair and to reduce inflammantion. We investigated the effect of ginseng on the proliferation rate of rat bone. Methods and Results : We investigated the effect of ginseng extracts on blood biochemical parameters, bone density and bone inorganic components etc. and data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA. In the results of our study, the level of albumin and HDL, Ca, P, Mg, and estradiol in blood, and the content of Ca, P, ash in femur were significantly increased in ginseng treated group than in OVX group, and the level of ALP, AST, ALT, blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL, creatinine, osteocalcin, and N-terminal telopeptide were significantly decreased in red ginseng treated group than in OVX group (p < 0.01). Conclusion : From these results, we knew that within the normal level, ginseng extracts improved liver and kidney function, component of glucose and lipid in blood, bone densith, bone ash and inorganic components in femur, and index related with bone metabolism.

Background : Reactive oxygen species (ROS), whether produced endogenously as a consequence of normal cell functions or derived from external sources, pose a constant threat to cells living in an aerobic environment as they can result in severe damage to DNA, protein, and lipids. The effects of Valeriana fauriei extract and fractions on hydrogen peroxide-induced neuronal cell damage are studied. Methods and Results : Oxidative stress plays an important role in the pathological process of neurodegenerative diseases. Valeriana fauriei extract (VFE) and EA fractions (VFEA) was investigated total phenolic contents using method. VFE of total phenolic contents had 2.54 ± 0.01 mg/g, also, VFEA had a 18.78 ± 0.03 mg/g. High phenolic content of the VFEA is expected to better the inhibition of oxidative stress. VFE and VFEA were experimented to inhibit ROS induced 200 μM 3-morpholinosydnonimine (SIN-1). VFE of inhibit SIN-1 induced-ROS dose dependently and signficantly. In addition, VFEA inhibition was also dose dependant and significant. Moreover, Treatment of SH-SY5Y and SK-N-SH cells with VFEA significantly reduced hydrogen peroxide-induced generation of intercellular ROS. Conclusion : From the above results, we may suggest that VFEA might have useful as a material for functional food and pharmaceutics for the pathological process of neurodegenerative diseases.

Most of the commercial devices for vitrification are directly immersed into the warming solution (WS) for increasing of warming rate. However, the previous modified cut standard straw (MCS) which has reported is difficult to immerse into the WS. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the long cut straw (LCS) could be useful as a stable tool for vitrified-warmed human blastocysts. A total of 138 vitrified-warmed cycles were performed between November 2013 and November 2014 (exclusion criteria: women ≥38 years old, poor responder, surgical retrieval sperm, and severe male factor). The artificial shrinkage was conducted using 29-gauge needles. Ethylene glycol and dimethyl sulfoxide (7.5% and 15% (v/v)) were used as cryoprotectants. Freezing and warming were conducted using the LCS tool. The cap of LCS was removed using the forceps in the liquid nitrogen (LN2) and then directly immersed into the first WS for 1 min at 37℃ (1 M sucrose). Only re-expanded blastocysts were transferred after it was cultured in sequential media for 18-20 h. A total of 294 blastocysts were warmed, and all were recovered (100%). Two hundred eighty-five embryos were survived (96.9%). The vitrifiedwarmed blastocysts of all patients were transferred without any cancellation. We were able to achieve a reasonable implantation (24.2%), following by clinical pregnancy (36.2%), which then continued to ongoing pregnancy (36.2%), and live birth (31.2%). Using LCS is achieved the acceptable rates of survival, pregnancy and live birth. Therefore, the LCS could be considered as a stable and simple tool for human embryo vitrificaton.

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) seeds have long been clinically used in Korea to promote bone formation and prevent osteoporosis. In addition, the safflower buds (SB) were found to have more useful functional ingredients than safflower seed. Thus, we investigated the preventive effects of SB diet in ovariectomized (OVX) rats. The rats were divided into five groups; sham operated group, OVX alone group, OVX plus 17β-estradiol (E2 10 ㎍/㎏, i.p.) and OVX plus SB diet feeding group (0.3% or 1%). Feeding of SB diet (0.3% or 3%) to OVX rats markedly increased trabecular formation in femur compared to OVX rats. Feeding of SB diet (0.3% or 3%) to OVX rats also decreased TRAP activity compared to OVX rats. These results suggest that SB diets have bone sparing effects by the decrease of osteoclast activity. We also observed that OVX rats fed with SB diet (0.3% or 3%) exhibited the decrease of calcium and phosphorus in serum compared to OVX-induced rats. Therefore, SB may be beneficial for the patients of osteoporosis, especially in postmenopausal women.

In order to breakthrough upcoming challenges for the food production, the efficient use of rice germplasm would be a indispensible. These rice germplasm, adapted from diverse eco-systems, are undiscovered treasures for rice breeders/researchers, potentially providing a broad array of useful alleles that enrich gene pools of current cultivated rice varieties. Although growing ex-situ conservation efforts are an important for preserving diverse rice genetic resources, the activity on finding the novel and favorable genetic variants from the vast genebank collection is greatly challenging, requiring extensive screening processes. Therefore, rice core collection is a powerful solution to accelerate utilizations of the exotic germplasm of the entire population. In addition, The application of whole genome re-sequencing technology would establish a potent platform for fast forward genetic study, such as genome wide association study (GWAS). The GWAS has been implemented to efficiently identify candidate genes related to various useful agricultural traits in many crop species including rice. Given the significant associations between genetic variations and phenotypic diversity does not require prior knowledge, GWAS using high genome coverage of SNP markers provides a genomics platform to dissect previously unknown adaptive or other useful genetic variation accumulated in plant germplasm resources over the times. Once pinpointing candidate genes, GWAS allows informed choice of parents for QTL analysis based on the haplotype information, along with suggesting targets for following mutagenesis and transgenics. Here, we are to report our current achievements and perspectives from GWAS and post-GWAS undertaken to dissect and exploit useful alleles underlying many agricultural traits from Rice core set, including PHS (Pre-Harvest Sprouting), salt tolerance and disease resistance and so forth. Also, we will introduce the integrated Omics based GWAS case study using transcriptomes, proteomes, metabolomes and ionomes of our rice core set.

In the cement industry, a large amount of CO2 is emitted from the first production step, and moreover the most of secondary products go through a variety of curing processes in which fossil fuels are used, causing additional CO2 emissions. Thus there is need for developing technology so that the secondary cement products are to be processed with no or less frequent curing in the manufacturing stage, helping not only reduce CO2 emissions but also improve the economical efficiency. Thus, this study seeks to make a comparative analysis of the engineering characteristics of extruded panels which are manufactured using CSA, calcined kaolins and CAMC inorganic binder, and those of traditional extruded cement panels, and then to use the results as basic data for developing LEC extruded panels. The experiment results showed that unit weight and density of extruded panels were similar to those of the traditional mix of ordinary Portland cement, and that the ratios of the former’s water content and water absorption were 2~3% higher than those of the latter. On a material age basis of 28 days, the compressive strength was shown to be about 4.5 N/mm² more with 64.6 N/mm² for the 35 mm thickness, and 24.9 N/mm² more with 84.2 N/mm² for thr 50mm thickness, while the flexural strength was shown to be 2.4 N/mm² less with 14.1 N/mm² for the 35 mm thickness and 1 N/mm² less with 13.9 N/mm² for the 50 mm thickness compared to the traditional mix. These conflicting results in the cases of the compressive and flexural strength are though to have been due to the fact that the LEC binder had caused the greater volume expansion of the hydration products resulting from the hydration of the binder under the closely-knit structures thanks to the vacuum extrusion, necessitating future observation of the length changes and the fine structure. In addition, there were some cases where the 35 mm thickness had 1.0 N/mm² more than the 50mm thickness depending on the thickness of the panel. This is thought to be due to the difference in the hydration ratios incurred by the different caloric values per unit area depending on the thickness of the panel when going through a short period of curing process.