A 56 year-old women with a history of breast cancer underwent Tc-99m Hydroxymethylene Diphosphonate (HDP) bone scintigraphy at an annual follow-up, and abnormal focal uptake was observed in the right upper abdomen. However, subsequent single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) successfully delineated the uptake in a normal gallbladder. It was concluded that the abnormality had been caused by unusual Tc-99m HDP excretion and not by a metastatic lesion. Follow-up studies confirmed this diagnosis. This case demonstrates the usefulness of SPECT/CT in patients with unusual gallbladder uptake by bone scintigraphy.

Manganese () is a trace element that is essential for normal physiology, and is predominantly obtained from food. Several lines of evidence, however, demonstrated that overexposure to exerts serious neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity and developmental toxicity, particularly in male. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of 0, 1.0, 3.3, and 10 mg/kg/day doses of on the reproductive organs in the immature female rats. Rats (PND 22; S.D. strain) were exposed to () dissolved in drinking water for 2 weeks. The animals were sacrificed on PND 35, then the tissues were immediately removed and weighed. Histological studies were performed using the uteri tissue samples. Serum LH and FSH levels were measured with the specific ELISA kits. Body weights of the experimental group animals were not significantly different from those of control group animals. However, ovarian tissue weights in 1 mg and 3.3 mg dose groups were significantly lower than those of control animals (p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively). Uterine tissue weights of 3.3 mg dose groups were significantly lower than those of control animals (p<0.01), while the 1 mg dose and 10 mg dose failed to induce any change in uterine weight. Similarly, only 3.3 mg dose could induce the significant decrease in the oviduct weight compared to the control group (p<0.05). Non-reproductive tissues such as adrenal and kidney failed to respond to all doses of exposure. The uterine histology revealed that the exposure could affect the myometrial cell proliferation particularly in 3.3 mg dose and 10mg dose group. Serum FSH levels were significantly decreased in 1mg dose and 10 mg groups (p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively). In contrast, treatment with 1 mg dose induced a significant increment of serum LH level (p<0.05). The present study demonstrated that exposure is capable of inducing abnormal development of reproductive tissues, at least to some extent, and altered gonadotropin secretions in immature female rats. Combined with the well-defined actions of this metal on GnRH and prolactin secretion, one can suggest the might be a potential environmental mediator which is involved in the female pubertal process.

Soybean (Glycine max, 2n = 2x = 40) is broadly distributed throughout East and South East Asia, and important crop as a source of protein, oil, food and animal feed. In order to better understand the morphological differentiation of soybean germplasm collected from China, Japan, Korea, Philippines, America, we analyzed the morphological variabilities among 629 soybeans with 11 morphological traits, such as growth type, leaflet, flower color, trichome, seed coat color, color inside seed etc. and measured the fatty acid composition. The result of the principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) based on the 11 morphological traits revealed diversity among all accessions. The PCoA separated the accessions into two main groups, each group with distinctive features. Among tested germplasm, the contents of five fatty acids were as follows: linolenic acid (2.8%－16.23%), linoleic acid (27.4%－56.6%), oleic acid (9.2%－35.0%), stearic acid (2.9%－8.8%), and palmitic acid (8.7%－17.1%). The fatty acid composition has not shown significant variation among all accessions. IT 22268 was the highest linolenic acid composition (16.2%), while IT 154687 was the lowest (2.8%). Forty three of 629 accessions showed the arachidic acid (0.5%-3.6%), which is the saturated fatty acid with a 20 carbon chain and is as a minor constituent of peanut oil (1.1%-1.7%). This result of this characterization served as reliable resources for detailed description and new functional plant breeding of soybean varieties.

This experiment was carried out to find suitable sample type for a more accurate prediction and non-destructive way in the application of NIRS technique for estimation amino acid composition of soybean by comparing three different sample types, single seed, whole seeds, and milled seeds’ powder. The coefficient of determination in calibration and 1-VR of cross-validation for 17 amino acids analyzed by NIR using milled powder were highest, followed by single seed, and then whole seeds were the lowest. The R2 coefficients of determination in calibration for single bean perimeters were higher than those of whole beans and showed higher R2 coefficient than 0.8 with the exception of seven amino acids. On the other hand, calibration equation development for only glutamic acid analyzed NIRS data scanned with whole seeds showed higher R2 coefficient than 0.8. Eleven different amino acids, such as aspartic acid, threonine, serine, glutamine, glycine, alanine, valine, isoleucine, leucine, arginine and proline, of soybean seeds in the powder had higher R2 coefficient of determination in calibration than 0.8 and could be estimated for the most accurate prediction. However, judging from the results of single bean samples, in consideration on NIR application for more nondestructive and faster prediction, these amino acids using single bean sample could be estimated without grinding the seeds.

“Neulbora” is a new leaf vegetable perilla (Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton) variety developed from a cross between Ipdeulkkae1/YCPL173 and YCPL199 at the Yeongnam Agricultural Research Institute, NICS, RDA, in 2005. Wrinkled leaf shape and purple color o

Foehn damage on rice plant is one of the important abiotic stresses in eastern costal area of Korea. To know the relationship between foehn impact and morphological traits of rice, wind tunnel method was used with 106 rice cultivars. Less influencing traits on foehn were short panicle, large panicle number per hill, thin panicle neck, and the flag leaf of narrow, short and thick. Leaf pubescence reduced the impact on foehn. 'Naepungbyeo' belong-ed to foehn tolerant varietal group, while 'Ansanbyeo' belonged to the opposite group. Three levels of root cutting treatment with two rice cultivars were conducted to evaluate the foehn impact using wind tunnel. The severity of wind damages was followed the sigmoidal curve duration of wind tunnel treatment were prolonged. Different responses of root cutting to wind tunnel treatment could be used to evaluate the severity of the foehn impact. 'Naepungbyeo' was one of the less implausible cultivars on foehn. 'Nae-pungbyeo' showed tolerant response to wind under 21% root removing treat-ment (20㎝ root cutting), however 'Ansanbyeo' was wilted under the same treatment. In case of 35 % root removing treatment(10㎝ root cutting), both rice cultivars failed to alive against foehn wind.

AFLP markers were successfully employed to detect genetic relationship and genetic variation within and between Oryza species. Analysis of 59 accessions of Oryza species with six AFLP prim er combinations detected a total num ber of 715 polym orphic bands

We compared the long-term metabolic effects of equal amounts of carbohydrate from potato, rice and buckwheat on glycemic indices and blood lipids in healthy subjects. Nine healthy volunteers-2 men and 7 women were studied. All subjects ate diets based on the same-7-day rotating menu differing only in that the major source of carbohydrate (about 50% of daily total calories) came either from buckwheat, rice or potato. The study was conducted with a triple crossover design over three 7 day periods. On the morning of the 8th day, fasting blood was drawn from each subject to determine serum glucose, insulin, triglycerides, total and HDL-cholesterol. Subjects were then asked to eat breakfast with their respective carbohydrate within a 20 min period. Blood samples were drawn at 30, 60, 120 and 180 min after the start of breakfast to determine glucose and insulin levels. At 30 min the glucose response to the rice meal(7.15mmol/L) and potato meal(6.71mmol/L) were greater than the response to the buckwheat meal(5.855mmol/L) (P < 0.05). The mean area under the glucose response to the curve following the rice meal was greater than that following the buckwheat meal(P < 0.05). The insulin responses to the potato and rice meals at 30 and 60 min were greater than those to the buckwheat meal (P < 0.05). The mean area under the serum insulin response curve after the rice meal was greater than of buckwheat. Blood lipids, uric acid and glycosylated hemoglobin were not affected by the three meals. The study shows that the buckwheat meal has more beneficial effects on glycemic indices than either the rice meal or potato meal in healthy subjects.