Animal bones excavated from historic sites provide valuable data for identifying the lifestyles of people and the distribution of animals at that time. In this study, we investigated the morphological structure, size, and measurements of Cervidae bones excavated from a well at the Gasan-ri archaeological site in Jinju, which are believed to be relics from the Three Kingdoms period. The total number of excavated animal bones was 447, of which 102 (22.82%) were classified as Cervidae bones. The weight of Cervidae bones was 453.79 g, accounting for 46.53% of the total weight of the identified bones (975.30 g). The Cervidae bones were identified as those of two animals with an estimated age of 5–6 months. The Cervidae bones are divided into skull bones, vertebrae, ribs, sternum, hip bones, forelimb bones, and hindlimb bones. The 102 Cervidae bones consisted of 19 skull bones (18.63%), 14 vertebral axial skeletons (13.72%), 28 ribs and sternum (28.43%), 16 forelimb bones (15.69%), and 19 hindlimb bones (18.63%). The remaining six were difficult to distinguish. A fracture of the parietal bone located near the bregma of a skull was observed and was presumed to have been caused by an artificial blow. This study can be used as basic data to estimate the types of animals and human culture at the time through Cervidae bones believed to be relics from the Three Kingdoms period.

The natural relics excavated from the archeological site reveal the life, hunting, fishing, and gathering of mankind at the time, and the animal bones excavated from the remains become valuable data for the study of geography and bone diseases at the time. This study investigated the morphological structure, size, and osteometry of Sus scrofa bones excavated from the well area of the Gasan-Ri archaeological site in Jinju, presumed to be a relic of the Three Kingdoms period. The total weight of identified animal bones was 975.30 g and the number of bone fragments was 447. Among these 447 animal bones identified, the bone weight of Sus scrofa was 468.00 g (47.99%) and the number of bone fragments was 204 (45.64%). These 204 bone fragments of Sus scrofa consisted of 35 skulls (17.16%), 94 vertebrate axial skeletons (46.08%), 28 forelimb bones (13.73%), and 47 hindlimb bones (23.04%). The bones of Sus scrofa have been identified as those of two animals. The estimated age of these bones of Sus scrofa was 5-7 weeks. There was a fracture presumably caused by an artificial blow to the parietal bone located near the bregma in the skull.

The morphology of the lingual papillae in a female Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The tongue was 22.3 cm in length and 7.1 cm in width. Numerous filiform papillae were distributed over the entire dorsal surface of the tongue. SEM examination of the tongue revealed two types of mechanical papillae, i.e. filiform and conical papilla, and two types of gustatory papillae, i.e. fungiform and vallate papilla, on the dorsal surface of the tongue. Each filiform papilla consisted of one primary papilla and several secondary papillae. The filiform papillae on the anterior part of the tongue were divided into one primary and 6~14 secondary papillae. Unlike other mammalians, however, secondary papillae in the mid-part of the tongue showed pineal-like papillae. In the posterior part of the tongue, secondary papillae were rare or absent. Fungiform papillae were surrounded by filiform papillae and densely distributed on the lingual surface. There were two vallate papillae on the borderline between the lingual body and root of the tongue. A vallate papilla contained two secondary papillae inside the grooves. Conical papillae were located in the area of the vallate papillae and covered the posterior part of the tongue root. No foliate papillae were seen on both margins of the posterior part of the tongue. Our results indicate that the structure on the lingual papillae of the Bengal tiger is somewhat different from that of other mammals.

Cytokeratin (CK) comprises the intermediate filament cytoskeleton of epithelial cells. Patterns of CK expression can be regarded as a specific marker for epithelial differentiation status. The aim of this study was to identify CK expression on tongues of Korean native goats ranging from 60-day-old fetuses to newborns during prenatal development using immunohistochemistry. The tongues of fetuses were removed from 2- to 4-year-old female Korean native goats by caesarean section performed under general anesthesia. Immunohistochemistry was performed to assess CK expression patterns on developing goat tongues using serial paraffin-embedded sections. Light zones signifying CK immunoreactivity in dorsal lingual epithelia were weakly positive in 60-day-old fetuses. In 90-day-old fetuses, deep areas in dorsal lingual epithelia were strongly positive for CK expression and superficial areas were moderately positive. In 120-day-old fetuses, light zones of lingual epithelia in the vallate papilla were strongly positive for CK expression, whereas ducts of von Ebner’s glands were moderately positive. In neonates, taste buds were positive for CK expression, whereas non-taste epithelial cells and von Ebner’s glands were negative. These findings indicate that goat tongues have different patterns of CK expression during development and provide a morphological basis for studies on the biological mechanism of epithelial differentiation.

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is an essential nutrient of most living tissues. We established a strain of Gulo-/- mice with known deficiency, in which vitamin C intake can be controlled by diet, like humans, and investigated the differen- tially expressed proteins following treatments with Helicobacter pylori and diethylnitrosamine (DENA) in the liver of Gulo-/- mice using a proteomic approach. Expression of p53, 14-3-3ε and 14-3-3δ in Gulo-/- mice liver tissue was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. 2-DE maps constructed from Gulo-/- mice liver and differentially expressed proteins in liver tissue were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF/MS). In Gulo- /- mice after H. Pylori infection, followed by treatment with DENA, no differences in p53, 14-3-3ε and 14-3-3δ were observed by immunohistochemistry. Proteome analyses us- ing MALDI-TOF/MS resulted in successful identification of 12 proteins (nine proteins were up-regulated and three were down-regulated). Specifically, peroxiredoxin-6 and Alpha-1-antitrypsin 1-4 were up-regulated in liver after H. Pylori infection followed by treatment with DENA. These results indicated that oral supplementation with vitamin C led to rescue of Gulo-/- mice from vitamin deficiency, and protected the liver from H.pylori infection and/or DENA ef- fect, and vitamin C also protected the liver against oxidative stress.

This study was conducted to examine the effect of 3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB 126) on morphological changes in the developing rat testis. PCB 126 (0.2㎎/㎏/week) in corn oil was weekly i.p. injected into rats from 1 to 11 weeks old. The total body weights and testicular weights were measured at 3, 6, 9 and 12 weeks, respectively. The morphological changes in the rat testes were then analyzed by light microscopy (LM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results demonstrated that PCB 126 treatment caused significant change in the ratio of testicular weight/body weight at 9 week. The treatment of PCB increased the number of pregonium cells at 3 week and it decreased spermatogenesis of the seminiferous tubules at 6 week. The results of this study suggest that PCB 126 can damage the male reproductive organ of the growing rat and that it might be associated with retardation of development of the testis.