The present study aimed to investigate rapid weight loss (RWL) and consequent physical and psychological challenges among judo athletes at the national athlete training center in 2017. The following results were obtained. Judo athletes used weight loss methods such as “gradually reduce meal portion,” “skip meals,” “limit water intake,” “wear sweat suit for training,” and “use sauna,” and had physical and mental distress from such unhealthy weight management practices. Information about weight loss was obtained from “colleagues or senior athletes,” “Internet,” and “head coach or coach,” and not experts such as nutritionists or physicians. Thus, athletes are recommended to employ healthy weight control methods based on advice from experts, such as nutritionists and physicians

Weir is installed across a river with the general purpose of controlling water level and water intake. Most weirs installed on rivers are fixed weirs and hinder water flow to bring about sedimentation of earth and sand and deterioration of water quality causing destruction of the river environment. Due to such reason, movable weir which can control reservoir capacity has been developed recently and increasingly installed instead of existing fixed weir and various studies have been carried out to develop methods for self-purification effect and reducing sedimentation of earth and sand.<br>From movable weir, rubber dams have been used in many construction sites due to ease of maintenance administration but if the rubber sheet is damaged artificially or by natural disaster, harm is done to the river and high maintenance and repair costs are incurred if neglected for a long time. Also, the life expectancy of a rubber dam is over 30 years so appropriate management and maintenance administration are required to secure safety of the river and proper water procurement.<br>This study developed rubber sheet for improvement of maintenance and repair for rubber dam which is repaired most often for purpose of irrigation and water intake in rivers and such results are as follows.<br>As a result of investigating repair cases when operating rubber dams, repair cases for poor assembly of rubber panel was only about 3.5% of all cases while there were no reported cases of self-defect of rubber dams. From a total of 19 cases of rubber dam repairs, 12 cases (63.2%) were due to external conditions so it is determined that rubber sheet development is needed for improving the durability and safety of rubber dams. Regarding such finding, this study developed a rubber dam enabling bullet resistance/cut resistance by adding aramid sheet when producing rubber sheet and enabled abrasion check by coating the outer layer with colored synthetic rubber.<br>As a result of developing rubber sheet for improving maintenance and repair of rubber dams, durability and safety were found to be better than existing rubber dam while there were effects of ease of maintenance administration and greater economic efficiency as well. For continuous and permanent use of rubber dams, it is determined that systematic research and continuous development are necessary.

Nitrogen (N) fertilization is essential for alleviating nutrient deficiencies of the world’s population by increasing rice production, one of the most important food crops of our time. Here we established an in vivo hydroponics rice seedling culture system to investigate the physio-biochemical and molecular responses of various rice genotypes to low nitrogen application. Yoshida’s nutrient solution (YS) was used to grow rice seedlings, and at three-week-old the seedlings manifested highly stable and reproducible symptoms, such as reduced shoot growth and length. Out of 12 genetically selected or tested genotypes, almost all (11 genotypes) showed varied degrees of growth reduction response to applied nitrogen (4 and 40 ppm N for treatment and control, respectively), but SR19663-B-B-34-3-3-3-1 showed similar growth as the control though its leaf width was smaller than the control. The leaves of a 11 representative low nitrogen-responsive genotype as BG90-2 were sampled for revealing the protein profiles between low and normal (control) nitrogen application by using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DGE) followed by staining of separated proteins with silver. Fifty differentially expressed silver stained protein spots were excised from 2-D gels and 41 proteins identified using high-throughput mass spectrometry (MS) using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-MS and nano electrospray ionization liquid chromatography tandem MS. These proteins could be assigned as major (energy metabolism, photosynthesis and oxidative stress) and minor functional categories, revealing many novel low N-responsive proteins, including those having energy/photosynthesis, and defense/stress, and iron homeostasis-related functions.