We present BV CCD photometry for the open clusters Czernik 24 and Czernik 27. These clusters have never been studied before, and we provide, for the first time, the cluster parameters; reddening, distance, metallicity and age. Czernik 24 is an old open cluster with age 1.8 ± 0.2 Gyr, metallicity [Fe/H]=-0.41 ± 0.15 dex, distance modulus (m-M)0=13.1 ± 0.3 mag (d=4.1 ± 0.5 kpc), and reddening E(B-V)=0.54 ± 0.12 mag. The parameters for Czernik 27 are estimated to be age=0.63 ± 0.07 Gyr, [Fe/H]=-0.02 ± 0.10 dex, (m-M)0=13.8 ± 0.2 mag (d=5.8 ± 0.5 kpc), and E(B-V)=0.15 ± 0.05 mag. The metallicity and distance values for Czernik 24 are consistent with the relation between the metallicity and the Galactocentric distance of other old open clusters. We find the metallicity gradient of 51 old open clusters including Czernik 24 to be Δ[Fe/H]/ΔRgc = -0.064±0.009 dex kpc-1.

Potato (Solamum tuberosum 'Dejima') plantlets were investigated on culture type and initial quantity of inoculation in bioreactor and survival rate by hydroponics for mass production. rode stems (1 to 1.5cm in length) of potato plantlets multiplied in vitro were grown for 3 weeks in liquid Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with sucrose 30 g L-1. When plantlets (80-node inoculation) were raised in 10L balloon type bubble (BB) bioreactor, the healthiest growth of plantlets was obtained from explants cultured in ebb & flow culture with medium supplied periodically 12 times per day. The suitable inoculation quantity of 20L BB bioreactor was 120 pieces of stem segments (mean 2.2g fresh weight) in ebb & flow culture. Number of nodal shoot was eight on the average. In controlled culture room, survival rate of plantlets at 7 days after stem cutting was above 70% when they were acclimatized by hydroponics grown in deep flow and solid medium culture. The highest survival rate of the stem cutting plantlets was in nutrient solution adjusted to EC 1.4dS·m-1. Stem cutting plantlets through one culture could be obtained 670~900, when plantlets were grown in ebb & flow culture during 3 weeks using a 20L bioreactor with initial 120 pieces of nodal segments. 11 is possible In do mass production of seedlings cultured in bioreactor and hydroponics.

Five species of graptolites were discovered from the Jigunsan Shale of Taebaeg area, Korea. They are herein described as Archiclimacograptus riddellensis (Harris, 1924), Pseudamplexograptus distichus(Eichwald, 1840), Hustedograptus teretiusculus(Hisinger) sensu Jaanusson, 1960, Hustedograptus vikarbyensis (Jaanusson, 1960), and Hustedograptus sp. The graptolite assemblage from the Jigunsan Shale corresponds to those of the Pseudamplexograptus distichus zone in the Baltic and German areas and the geologic age of graptolites bearing beds of the Jigunsan Shale might be late Middle Llanvirn.

High-quality and high-phytonutrient watermelon fruits have strong market opportunities besides their health related benefits. Hence, investigating quality and nutritional related traits of watermelon genetic resources could provide important baseline data in breeding for increased lycopene content thereby increasing the marketability of watermelon. To this end, we have examined some fruit morphological traits and lycopene content of 105 genetic resources. Seeds, originally obtained from 22+ countries, were obtained from the National Agrobiodiversity Center, Jeonju, South Korea, grown in an experimental field and harvested at a fully mature stage. The size of pistil scar (SPS), the width of stripes (WS), weight of fruit (WF), length of fruit (LF), width of fruit (WIF), the thickness of pericarp (TP), soluble solids content (SSC), fruit shape in longitudinal section, ground color of skin, the intensity of the green color of skin, fruit shape at the apical part, grooving distribution, conspicuousness of stripes, and main color of the flesh were recorded on the field and inside laboratory and the lycopene was measured using spectrophotometric and HPLC methods. Watermelon fruits have shown a diverse morphological characters. Red and pink fleshed fruits dominated in the entire collections. Fruits with higher thickness of rind were found to exhibit less soluble solid content (SSC). Korean origin fruits were characterized by intermediate SSC while the United States of America (USA), Russia (RUS), Tajikistan (TJK), Turkmenistan (TKM), Taiwan (TWN), and Uruguay (URY) originated fruits had the highest SSC. The lycopene content varied between 41.37 and 182.82 ㎍/g, 2.81 and 163.72 ㎍/g, and 3.54 and 255.47 ㎍/g using HPLC, UV-Vis spectrophotometer, and microplate reader spectrophotometer, respectively. Red- and pink-fleshed fruits had the highest levels of lycopene content compared to the yellow- and orange-fleshed. Lycopene content had a significant positive correlation with SSC, however, no correlations were detected between lycopene and other quantitative fruit morphological characters. Our study demonstrated high diversity exists in fruit morphological traits and lycopene content of the germplasm collections which provide beneficial baseline data for a future breeding program and utilization of watermelon germplasm collections in gene banks for the maintenance and improvement of the current levels of production, marketability, and health-related benefit of watermelon fruits.

The Korean Institute of Technology Satellite (KITSAT-1) is the first satellite developed by the Satellite Technology Research Center and the University of Surrey. KITSAT-1 is orbiting the Earth’s orbit as space debris with a 1,320 km altitude after the planned mission. Due to its relatively small size and altitude, tracking the KITSAT-1 was a difficult task. In this research, we analyzed the tracking results of KITSAT-1 for one year using the Midland Space Radar (MSR) in Texas and the Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) in Alaska operated by LeoLabs, Inc. The tracking results were analyzed on a weekly basis for MSR and PFISR. The observation was conducted by using both stations at an average frequency of 10 times per week. The overall corrected range measurements for MSR and PFISR by LeoLabs were under 50 m and 25 m, respectively. The ionospheric delay, the dominant error source, was confirmed with the International Reference of Ionosphere-16 model and Global Navigation Satellite System data. The weekly basis orbit determination results were compared with two-line element data. The comparison results were used to confirm the orbital consistency of the estimated orbits.

Fagopyrum esculentum (Buckwheat) is a globally used alternative crop that contains several useful substances with various effects; however, many of these substances (rutin, quercetin, etc.) are water insoluble. To extract these substances, alcohols is required, which is inconvenient because these solvents cause diverse problems. Many studies are underway to achieve effective extraction of these substances with water. Among of these studies, microwave assisted water extraction (MAE) has been performed extensively. In this study, we performed the extraction in various solvents and/or microwave from Fagopyrum esculentum. The analysis of the content of useful substances and the bioactivity were performed and shown to increase in MAE. Liquid chromatography-mass was performed in order to identify of the useful water-insoluble substances. Catechin, quercetin, and rutin, which are all insoluble in water, were hardly extracted with water even on heating (4.4 ppb, 3.9 ppb and 60.3 ppb, respectively). However, MAE was found to extract much more of these substances than water (1204 ppb, 110.8 ppb and 2946 ppb, respectively). Although less efficient than alcohols, MAE showed much higher efficiency than simple water extraction. These results indicate that water extraction using microwave technology is effective in cases where it is difficult to extract useful substances using water.

The Optical Wide-field patroL-Network (OWL-Net) is a global optical network for Space Situational Awareness in Korea. The primary operational goal of the OWL-Net is to track Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites operated by Korea and to monitor the Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) region near the Korean peninsula. To obtain dense measurements on LEO tracking, the chopper system was adopted in the OWL-Net’s back-end system. Dozens of angle-only measurements can be obtained for a single shot with the observation mode for LEO tracking. In previous work, the reduction process of the LEO tracking data was presented, along with the mechanical specification of the back-end system of the OWL-Net. In this research, we describe an integrity assessment method of time-position matching and verification of results from real observations of LEO satellites. The change rate of the angle of each streak in the shot was checked to assess the results of the matching process. The time error due to the chopper rotation motion was corrected after re-matching of time and position. The corrected measurements were compared with the simulated observation data, which were taken from the Consolidated Prediction File from the International Laser Ranging Service. The comparison results are presented in the In-track and Cross-track frame.

Aralia cordata (A. cordata), which belongs to Araliaceae, is a perennial herb widely distributed in East Asia. We evaluated the anti-inflammatory effect of stems (AC-S), roots (AC-R) and leaves (AC-L) extracted with 100% methanol of A. cordata and elucidated the potential signaling pathway in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. The AC-L showed a strong anti-inflammatory activity through inhibition of NO production. AC-L dose-dependently inhibited NO production by suppressing iNOS, COX-2 and IL-β expression in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. AC-L inhibited the degradation and phosphorylation of IκB-α, which donated to the inhibition of p65 nuclear accumulation and NF-κB activation. Furthermore, AC-L suppressed the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and p38. These results suggested that AC-L may utilize anti-inflammatory activity by blocking NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathway and indicated that the AC-L can be used as a natural anti-inflammatory drugs.