분화국화 ‘솔라에그(등록번호 8569)’는 2015년 경상남도농 업기술원 화훼연구소에서 분홍색 ‘포인트에그’를 감마선 처리 를 하여 육성하였다. 특성검정과 형질 안정성은 2017년에서 2018년까지 3회를 수행하였다. ‘솔라에그’는 분홍색 꽃잎(54D) 과 적자색 중심부(59B)를 가진 ‘아네모네’ 형태이다. 꽃과 잎 색깔과 모양에서는 ‘솔라에그’와 ‘포인트에그’ 간의 차이는 거 의 없었다. ‘솔라에그’의 식물체와 개화 연구에서 조명과 억제 재배를 했을 때 약 42일로 개화소요시간은 비슷했다. 그러나 초장, 꽃 크기, 꽃 중심부 크기와 착화수에서 ‘포인트에그’와 비교했을 때 차이가 있었다. 특히, 자연재배조건에서 꽃 크기 는 4cm으로 대조품종과 비교했을 때 컸다. 국화 품종에서는 꽃의 크기가 상업적으로 중요한 형질이다. ‘솔라에그’의 표현 형과 개화기 연구와 비교하여 배수성, RAPD, 세포 크기 및 수 분석을 하였다. 이들 결과에서는 표현형의 변화는 작은 유전 적 변이와 세포 분열 증가와 관련이 있을 것이라고 추정하고 있다. 중형 크기의 ‘솔라에그’는 분화국화로 이용되며 농가의 평균소득 증대를 기대할 수 있다.

Coccidiosis is caused by infection of Eimeria species and an significant parasitic disease in poultry. Various kinds of natural products have been studied to find alternative treatments for coccidiosis in chickens, but the effect of Houttuynia cordata on Eimeria infection has not been investigated. The aim of this study is to study the anticoccidial effect of H. cordata extract (HCE) in chickens after oral infection by Eimeria tenella. Anticoccidial effects of the HCE was evaluated in chickens after oral infection with E. tenella. This study was performed on threeday- old chicks (n = 30). These animals were divided into 3 groups; HCE 0.2% treated/infected (n = 10), HCE untreated/infected (n = 10) and non-infected control (n = 10). The effect of HCE on E. tenella infection was assessed by two parameters; fecal oocysts shedding and body weights gain. the chicks fed HCE significantly reduced fecal oocysts when compared to the E. tenella-infected group fed standard diets (p<0.05). Furthermore, the HCE-based diet improved weight loss due to E. tenella infection. Our data shows that HCE had significant antiprotozoal activity against E. tenella. These findings may have implications for the development of anticoccidial drugs.

Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a gastrointestinal disorder with diverse symptoms but no structural or organic manifestations. Benachio-F® (herein named ‘BF-1’) is an over-the-counter liquid digestive formulated with multiple herbal extracts, which has been reported to improve symptoms of FD. A total two experiments were conducted. First, we examined whether BF-1 can modulate the progression of FD through two experimental rat models. A total of three doses (0.3x, 1x, 3x of the human equivalent dose) were used. In the gastric emptying model, both 1x (standard) or 3x (3-fold-concentrated) BF-1 enhanced gastric emptying was compared with that of vehicle-treated animals. In a feeding inhibition model induced by acute restraint stress, treatment with 1x or 3x BF-1 led to a similar degree of restoration in food intake that was comparable to that of acotiamide-treated animals. Among the constituents of BF, fennel is known for its choleretic effect. Thus, we next investigated whether a novel BF-based formula (named ‘BF-2’) that contains an increased amount of fennel extract (3.5-fold over BF-1), has greater potency in increasing bile flow. BF-2 showed a superior choleretic effect compared to BF-1. Furthermore, the postprandial concentration of serum secretin was higher in animals pretreated with BF-2 than in those pretreated with BF-1, suggesting that the increased choleretic effect of BF-2 is related to secretin production. Our results demonstrate that BF-1 can modulate the pathophysiological mechanisms of FD by exerting prokinetic and stress-relieving effects, and that BF-2 has a better choleretic effect than BF-1.

Toxoplasmosis, caused by Toxoplasma gondii (Tg), is one of the most prevalent zoonotic diseases worldwide. Currently, safe and efficient therapeutic options for this disease are still being developed, and are urgently needed. Agrimonia pilosa (A. pilosa) is a rosaceous plant, and widely distributed in Asia. The bioactive compounds in A. pilosa Ledeb include flavonoid, triterpenoids, and isocoumarin, and have been reported to show many pharmacological effects including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial activities.The aim of this study was to determine Anti-protozoal efficacy of Agrimonia pilosa ethanol extract (APE) against Toxoplasma gondii (Tg). In this study, APE was examined and screened for anti-Tg activity. Seventy percent ethanol was used for herbal extraction. For anti-Tg activity screening, in vitro study with APE using tachyzoit of Tg RH strain infected HeLa cells were performed. Also, in vivo anti- Tg study using the mouse infection model was conducted. As the results, the selectivity of APE was 3.35, which was higher than Sulfadiazine selectivity (2.08). Also, we performed in vivo animal study to evaluate the anti-Tg activity of APE with mouse model. As the results, Anti-toxoplasma activity of the APE was as high as sulfadiazine. These results demonstrate that it can be successfully cured against Tg infection with APE. It could be a promising native herb treatment for the prevention of Tg infection.

Humulus japonicus (HJ) is a widely used herbal medicine for pulmonary tuberculosis, hypertension, leprosy, and venomous wounds in Asia, particularly in China. Although HJ has certain physiological activities, such as longitudinal bone growth, antioxidation and alleviation of rheumatism, its anticancer activities, other than in colorectal and ovarian cancer, are yet to be studied. In this study, we investigated the anti-cancer activity and mechanism of methanol extracts of HJ (MeHJ) against human FaDu hypopharyngeal squamous carcinoma cells. MeHJ suppressed FaDu cell viability without affecting normal cells (L929), which was demonstrated using the MTT and Live & Dead assays. Furthermore, MeHJ effectively inhibited colony formation of FaDu cells, even at non-cytotoxic concentrations, and significantly induced apoptosis through the proteolytic cleavage of caspase-9, -3, -7, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase and through the downregulation of BCL-2 and upregulation of BAX in FaDu cells, as determined by DAPI staining, flow cytometry, and western blot analyses. Collectively, these findings suggest that the inhibitory effects of MeHJ on the growth and colony formation of oral cancer cells may be mediated by caspase- and mitochondrial-dependent apoptotic pathways in human FaDu hypopharyngeal squamous carcinoma cells. Therefore, MeHJ has the potential to be used as a natural chemotherapeutic drug against human oral cancer.

We investigated the effect of a synthetic complement peptide C3a on the outcome of Brucella abortus 544 infection in a murine macrophage cell line RAW264.7 cell. First, we determined the highest non-cytotoxic concentration of the peptide in the cell line. We also found that the peptide significantly increased the growth of the bacteria at 8 and 24 h. Although the number of bacterial CFU was also elevated at 48 and 72 h, the increases were not significant as compared to controls. We further investigated the effect of C3a peptide on the growth of Brucella by pre-incubating the peptide at various temperatures and found that the effect was reversed at 24 h post-incubation suggesting that incubation of peptide at high temperatures including 65°C or 95°C could inactivate its action. This also could indicate the beneficial effect of high temperature during infection. Although several studies reported the inhibitory effect of different antimicrobial peptides including C3a, the present study preliminarily revealed that it had no positive contribution on the control of B. abortus 544 infection in vitro and indirectly to its receptor, CD88, which belongs to GPCR. Moreover, the encouraged further exploration of the effect of other similar peptides would be performed for the purpose of finding Brucella-host cell interaction for the control of disease progression.

This study aims to investigate the effects of exogenous succinic acid (SCA) on Brucella (B.) abortus infection in macrophage RAW 264.7 cells and ICR mice. Firstly, the in vitro experiment was conducted by MTT cytotoxicity and bacterial internalization assay to evaluate the uptake of B. abortus into macrophage cells. Two non-cytotoxic concentrations of SCA demonstrated attenuated invasion of Brucella into macrophages at 30 and 45 min post- infection (pi). Secondly, ICR mice were treated with SCA and infected with B. abortus. On day-14 pi, spleen and blood serum were collected to evaluate the bacterial burden and total spleen weight as well as the production of cytokine/chemokine, respectively. The results showed that SCA treatment promoted bacterial growth and reduced the total spleen weight in mice. Furthermore, SCA treatment increased the level of IL-10 cytokine in the sera, while dampening the production of MCP-1 chemokine compared to the control. The results of bacterial load in spleen and spleen weight together with cytokine/chemokine production profile in the sera indicated that SCA induced the host anti-inflammatory response which is beneficial for the survival of Brucella. Therefore, these findings suggest that SCA contributed to host immunity against Brucella infection and the emerging potential topic-immunometabolism should be invested for further investigations.

Patient-controlled sedation systems, in which the patient has control of sedative administration, have been shown to be effective and safe for patients undergoing minor procedures. Safety depends on the adequacy of the step-wise increase in dose of the sedative, the lockout time and patient’s ability to adjust the effective activation of the handset. While there is no patient-controlled sedation (PCS) system available domestically, we have developed a new purpose-built PCS pump, and determined its degree of precision using a microweight measuring scale. The PCS system was designed to be applied to most intravenous sedatives and work through a newly developed operating software algorithm that titrates the doses and lockout times. Our system titrates the doses through software modification, and for experimental purposes, the number of steps for handset activation by the patient was set to four, and the lockout time was set to 30 s. The degree of precision of the PCS system was tested using an electronic weighing scale. The comparison of the amount infused via the PCS system with weight on the scale showed nearly same patterns at the four infusion stages, and the difference was minimal (3% on average at each infusion step). We designed and manufactured a pilot button-type PCS pump capable of use by the patient for optimal sedation, and confirmed the precise working mechanism of the pump, thereby reducing the margin of error for infusion accuracy to 3% or less on average

종래의 게임에서, 널리 사용되고 있는 난수는 게임 서비스 제공자에 의하여 일방적으로 제공되기 때문에, 게 임 이용자가 제공받은 난수가 어떠한 개입이나 조작이 있었는지를 검증하는 것은 어렵다. 본 논문은 상호 참 여형 난수 발생기인 TogetheRand를 제안한다. 제안된 방법은 이더리움 블록체인 시스템 위에서 작동되는 스 마트 컨트랙트이다. 제안된 방법의 난수성을 Dieharder tests를 이용하여 테스트하였다. 제안된 방법은 많은 사람들이 난수 생성에 참여할 수 있고, 모든 입력값을 확인할 수 있으며, 블록체인 시스템으로 인하여 정상 작동 여부가 보장되기 때문에 게임 이용자와 제공자 모두가 신뢰할 수 있는 방법이다. 제안된 방법은 게임 등의 신뢰성 있는 난수가 필요한 응용 분야에서 두루 적용될 수 있을 것이다. 본 논문에서 사용된 코드는 ht tps://github.com/TyeolRik/TogetheRand 에 공개되어 있다.

Unarmored and thin-walled dinoflagellates were collected from brackish and coastal waters of Korea from August 2019 to August 2021. A total of 10 species belonging to orders Sussiales and Gymnodiniales were isolated and established as clonal cultures. Of them, five species (Biecheleria brevisulcata, Lepidodinium chlorophorum, Karlodinium decipiens, Kirithra asteri, and Wangodinium sinense) are newly recorded in Korea and examined using a light microscope (LM) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Their molecular phylogeny was inferred from LSU rDNA sequences. Here, we present taxonomic information, morphological features, and molecular phylogenetic positions of these unrecorded dinoflagellate species.

목적: 본 연구는 연령증가에 따른 안경굴절검안에 있어서 조절반응과 조절지체 간의 변화량의 영향 관계를 검정하는데 있다. 방법 : 연령증가에 따른 원점과 근점의 자극에 대응하는 조절 반응점 (ARf, ARn)을 연구하기 위해서, 선조 검영기를 사용하여 정시 74개 (남: 37, 여: 37)의 단안을 대상으로 굴절검사를 진행하였다. MEM 0.4 시력카드의 스넬린 (Snellen chart) E 단일문자를 검영기헤드 (No 18235, WelchAllyn, USA) 전면에 부착한 선조 검영기를 사용하여 조절 반응을 확인하였다. 결과 : 연령증가에 따른 원점 조절반응의 경우Ⅰ>Ⅱ, Ⅲ, Ⅳ의 유의한 결과를 보였고, 나머지 근점 조절반응과 조절지체는 Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ<Ⅳ의 결과를 보여주었다. 연령증가에 따른 원점 조절반응과 조절지체 간의 통계적 조절효 과는 Ⅰ·Ⅱ〉Ⅰ·Ⅲ〉Ⅰ·Ⅳ의 유의한 결과를 보였다. 결론 : 40대 이후 연령의 증가에 따른 시축상의 원점 조절반응의 절댓값과 조절지체는 각각 감소하고 증가함에 따라 원거리 안경굴절검사를 위한 안와 내 조절반응의 기준점을 달리 적용하여야 한다.