We investigated the pharmacokinetics of ferulic acid, a potential antioxidant agent, after intravenous (i.v.) bolus administration in rats. To analyze ferulic acid levels in the plasma, bile, urine and tissue samples, we developed an HPLC-based method which was validated for a pharmacokinetic study by suitable criteria. After i.v. bolus administration of ferulic acid, it rapidly disappeared from blood circulation within 15 min. The mean plasma half-lives at α phase (t1/2α) when administered at doses of 2 and 10 mg/ kg were 1.10 and 1.39 min, respectively. The values of t1/2β at the corresponding doses increased 40% (from 5.02 to 7.01 min) with increasing doses. The total body clearance (CLt) values significantly decreased as the ferulic acid dose increased. On the other hand, steady-state volume of distribution (Vdss) values did not show the significant difference with the increase in dose. Of the various tissues, ferulic acid mainly distributed to the liver and kidney after i.v. bolus administration. The ferulic acid concentrations in various tissues at 2 hr after i.v. bolus administration were below 1.0 μg/g tissue. Ferulic acid was excreted in the bile and urine after i.v. bolus administration at the dose of 10 mg/kg. The cumulative amount of ferulic acid in the bile 2 hr after dosage was comparable with the amount excreted in the urine after 72 hr, indicating that i.v. administered ferulic acid was mainly excreted in the both bile and urine. In conclusion, ferulic acid was rapidly cleared from the circulating blood and transferred to tissues such as the liver and kidney after i.v. bolus administration. Moreover, the majority of ferulic acid appears to be excreted in the bile and urine after i.v. bolus administration.

Crop production in rice paddy fields is of great importance because of declining rice consumption and the low self-sufficiency ratio for field crops in Korea. A controlled drainage system (CDS) is recognized as an effective means to adjust water table (WT) levels as needed and control soil water content to improve the soil environment for optimum crop growth. The present study evaluated the effects of a CDS on soil characteristics, including soil water distribution and soybean development in paddy fields. The CDS was installed with two drain spacing (3 m and 6 m) at the experimental paddy field at the National Institute of Crop Science, Miryang, Korea. It was managed with two WT levels (0.3 m and 0.6 m) during the growing season. Soil water content, electrical conductivity and plant available nitrogen content in the soil were significantly greater in the 0.3 m WT management plots than in the 0.6 m plot and the control. At the vegetative stage, chlorophyll content was significantly lower with higher WT control because of excess soil moisture, but it recovered after the flowering stage. Soybean yield increased with WT management and the 0.6 m WT treatment produced the greatest grain yield, 3.38 ton ha-1, which was 50% greater than that of the control. The CDS directly influenced outflow through the drains, which significantly delayed nutrient loss. The results of this study indicated that WT management by CDS can influence soil characteristics and it is an important practice for high yielding soybean production in paddy fields, which should be considered the crop growth stages for stable crop production.

According to the PF merge hypothesis on the formation of inflected verbs in Korean (J. H.-S. Yoon 1993, 1994, 1997, Park 1994, J.-M. Yoon 1996, among others), so-called pre-final and final verbal endings independently project at syntax, and merge with the head of the preceding phrase at PF. One consequence of this hypothesis is that a predicate, i.e., a verb stem aug- mented with inflectional endings, is not a constituent at syntax. Chung (2009a, 2011) attributes some syntactic behaviors (immobility and undelet- ability) of embedded predicates to the very non-constituent status of predicates. This paper discusses two types of apparent challenges for the PF merge hypothesis: (I) Predicates in certain constructions appear to be syntactically active; and (II) a string of elements that is defined as a constituent ? la the PF merge hypothesis appears to be syntactically inert. It will be demonstrated, however, that neither type of challenges necessarily disproves the PF-merge hypothesis: As for the type (I) challenges, there are alternative derivations available; and as for the type (II) challenges, the syntactic inertness comes from independently motivated morphological requirements.

Korean HOW, i.e. ettehkey, unlike its English counterpart, i.e. how, does not show island effects. There have been several approaches entertained in the literature to account for the island insensitivity:T. Chung`s (1991) VP adjunct analysis and an ECP account; D. Chung`s (1996) nominal analysis and a binding account; Yang`s (1997) d-linking analysis and an ECP account; and D. Chung`s (2000a) predicate analysis and an ECP account. As reviewed in Chung (2000a), the first two analyses bear some critical empirical and/or theoretical problems. Pointing out that the third and fourth approaches also face some empirical and/or theoretical problems, this paper proposes an alternative analysis, a revised nominal analysis, in which ettehkey is decomposed into four sub-parts: e-tte-ha-key,`Det-N-do-adverbializer`. The second element, i.e. -tte, is diagnosed as a nominal element because the first element, i.e. e-, as a determiner, requires a nominal complement and the third element, i.e. -ha, as a transitive verb, requires a nominal complement. The proposed analysis gains support from the morphological paradigms that Korean WH-elements display. Given this revised nominal analysis, the scope of HOW in Korean can be licensed via binding, accounting for the lack of island effects.