The majority of strokes are caused by ischemia and result in brain tissue damage, leading to problems of the central nervous system including hemiparesis, dysfunction of language and consciousness, and dysfunction of perception. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase(PARP) on necrosis in neuronal cells that have undergone needle electrode electrical stimulation(NEES) prior to induction of ischemia. Ischemia was induced in male SD rats(body weight 300g) by occlusion of the common carotid artery for 5 min, after which the blood was reperfused. After induction of brain ischemia, NEES was applied to Zusanli(ST 36), at 12, 24 and 48 hours. Protein expression was investigated using immuno-reactive cells, which react to PARP antibodies in cerebral nerve cells, and Western blotting. The results were as follows: In the cerebral cortex, the number of PARP reactive cells after 24 hours significantly decreased(p<.05) in the NEES group compared to the GI group. PARP expression after 24 hours significantly decreased(p<.05) in the NEES group compared to the GI group. As a result, NEES showed the greatest effect on necrosis- related PARP immuno-reactive cells 24 hours after ischemia, indicating necrosis inhibition, blocking of neural cell death, and protection of neural cells. Based on the results of this study, NEES can be an effective method of treating dysfunction and improving function of neuronal cells in brain damage caused by ischemia.

The Mental Image is designed and proposed for making a comfort and amenity in built environments using digital color analysis in the regional urban artificial environment. For a long time, it is crucial to relate visual environment with thermal environments. Especially, color makes an important role to making thermal comfort. In order to making this information, this paper describes how we can analyze the color information of the regional urban artificial environment using the color syntax program and transfer the data to form maker and create the mental image. Because of the rapid urbanization and the acceptance of mixed function, modern urban landscape is disordered and is not controlled. The Mental Image prepares our environmental color system corresponding to our mental image with perceiving regional urban environment color. This research aims to systematize the process making the Mental Image in the regional urban landscape’s color and suggest a theoretical basis to extract, embody and use the information of the regional main color from urban landscape color. Through these concepts, this research will suggest how to systematize, develop the Mental Image with emotional environmental color system. Finally, it is expected to offer a theoretical basis to embody the Mental Image and build up the emotional environments.

본 연구는 완주에서 재배된 세계 주요 11개 적포도 품종으로 제조된 적포도주의 향기 성분을 headspace-solid phase microextraction 분석법으로 확인하였다. 향기성분은 총 75종이 확인되었다. 아로마화합물은 그들의 OAV 값에 의해 5 그룹으로 나뉘었다. 알콜, 알데하이드, 에스테르, C6 화합물이 11개 적포도주의 주요한 향기성분이었다. Isoamy alcohol 알콜과 phenylethyl 알콜은 11개 포도주에서 공통적으로 꽃향기, 달콤한 향을 나타내는데 중요한 물질이었다. Octanoic acid, ethyl ester, hexanoic acid ethylester은 모든 레드와인에서 과실향과 꽃향, 달콤한 향을 내는 중요한 성분이었다. 1-Hexanol은 모든 포도주에서 분석되었으나 풀향을 나타내는 향으로 나타났다. Chanceller, Malbec, marchel, Nsrsha, Pinot Meunier, Sangiovetto 포도주의 주요 향기성분은 과실 향인 것으로 나타났으며 Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Vert 포도주의 주요 향기성분은 풀향인 것으로 조사되었다. 또한, MBA와 Narsha 포도주의 경우 꽃향이 주요 향인 것으로 조사되었다. 본 연구 결과를 바탕으로 적포도주용 품종을 육성할 때 선발기준으로 향기성분 분석을 활용할 수 있을 것으로 판단되었다.

The study compared the juice and wine odorants of the Cheongsoo grape cultivar with those of Chardonnay and Reisling wines. The volatile compounds of the three grape varieties were analyzed using headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The most common volatile compounds in the juices from the three cultivars were terpenes, C13-norisoprenoids, etones, alcohols, and aldehydes. Terpenes were established as the most abundant group of volatiles in Cheongsoo grape juice, where as aldehydes predominated in Chardonnay and Riesling juices. Forty-two volatile compounds (acids, alcohols, esters, and others) were detected in the three white wines. The concentration of esters was about four times higher in Cheongsoo wine than in Chardonnay and Riesling wines. Five esters found in the Cheongsoo wine, namely, isoamyl acetate, ethyl butanoate, ethyl hexanoate, ethyl octanoate, and ethyl decanoate, exhibited high odor activity values (OAV) of >1. Furthermore, only Cheongsoo wine had a high OAV for isoamyl acetate odorant, which is associated with banana and sweet aromas. Therefore, the abundant and varied esters are believed to be key volatile fruity/sweet odorants in Cheongsoo wine.

Spatiotemporal expressions of microRNAs (miRNAs) are altered by the physiological states of cells which could be influenced by microenvironment. Function of miRNAs has been focused as a new regulator of gene expressions and cell differentiation in human health and diseases. We found and identified the several miRNAs, which were related to developmental competence of preimplantation and implantation process of mouse blastocysts and outgrowth embryos by microarray-based bioinformatical studies. In this study, we evaluated three miRNAs expressions related to third cleavage event in conditioned media (CM) and blastocysts. Mouse 2-cell stage embryos were collected and monitored for 9 hours. The embryos were divided two groups as early third cleavage before 9 hours of collection and late third cleavage after 9 hours of collection. They were cultured to blastocyst stage up to day-5 after hCG injection. The total number of cells and the number of cells with fragmented DNA were assessed in blastocysts by terminal dUTP nick-end labelling (TUNEL) staining and DAPI staining. Mean cell number of early third cleavage group was significantly higher than that of late third cleavage group (105.3±8.0 vs 81.8±7.0, p<0.05), but apoptotic index was not different. The miRNAs of CM and blastocysts from early and late group were prepared, and quantified by qRT-PCR with TaqMan probes. The expression levels of three miRNAs (mmu-let-7b, mmu-miR-183, and mmu-miR-429) in CM and blastocysts were slightly upregulated in late third cleavage group. Our study suggested that the expression level of miRNAs could be altered with embryo quality, and miRNAs in CM may be used to predict miRNAs expression of embryos and developmental competence.

Background : This study was conducted to determine the optimal ginseng greenhouse shading material for minimizing heat injury and maximizing the yield of ginseng plants in an effort to develop a stable ginseng cultivation technology and contribute to popularizing ginseng greenhouse farming. Methods and Results : Three different types of greenhouse shading material were used: polyethylene (PE) film + black screen (95%), light scattering film + black screen (75%), and blue-white vinyl. Important experimental details were implemented in accordance with the Analysis Standard of Agricultural Test and Research set out by the Rural Development Administration. The average greenhouse temperature for the period of May through October was 20.0℃ under the PE film + black screen, 20.2℃under the light scattering film + black screen, and 19.7℃ under the blue/white vinyl. High average photosynthesis rates of ginseng plants were demonstrated by light scattering film+black screen (2.35 μmole CO2/㎡/s) and blue-white vinyl (2.38 μmole CO2/㎡/s), with the PE film + black screen showing a considerably lower photosynthesis rate (1.55 μmole CO2/㎡/s). Heat injury occurred in 0.3%, 10%, and 0.1% of the plants grown under the PE film + black screen, light scattering film + black screen, and blue-white vinyl, respectively. As for the roots, the blue-white vinyl outperformed the other shading materials in root length (25.7 ㎝), taproot length (5.9 ㎝), and the number of fine roots (23.2). The blue-hite vinyl also yielded the greatest root fresh weight (30.2 g), followed by the light scattering film + black screen (29.1 g), with the PE + black screen yielding by far inferior average weight (22.0 g). The highest crude saponin content was yielded by the light scattering film+black screen (16.61 ㎎/g), followed by blue-white vinyl (11.36 ㎎/g) and PE + black screen (11.0 ㎎/g). Conclusion : Comparing the effects of three different shading materials on greenhouse-cultivated 3-year-old ginseng plants, the blue/white vinyl outperformed two other shading materials in most of the growth characteristics, whereas the and the light scattering film + black screen yielded the highest ginsenoside content.

Background : Korean Indigenous Hylotelephium erythrostictum is widely distributed in South Korea and is used in Korean traditional medicine. In this study, the phylogenetic analysis of Korean native Hylotelephium erythrostictum and related plants on Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) sequences were investigated to distinguish its origin. Methods and Results : The phylogenetic analysis of 6 species of Hylotelephium were investigated by ITS. The dendrogram was constructed by UPGMA(Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean) clustering algorithm based on genetic similarity of ITS. In the ITS sequence analysis, the size of total was varied from 676 to 779 bp. The size of ITS 1 was rated at 287bp, while ITS 2 was rated at 123bp. The G+C content of ITS region was ranged from 60 to 66%. In the ITS tree, six species of Hylotelephium were monophyletic, and H. viviparum was the first branching within the clade. Conclusion : H. spectabile formed a clade with H. erythrostictum, while H. verticillatum formed with H. viviparum.

Background : For increasing saponin content of ginseng cultivated in shaded plastic house, this research was performed to investigate growth characteristics and saponin content of ginseng according to foliar spray of chitosan and water-soluble silicates processing. Methods and Results : The ginseng cultivars to be used this research were Cheonpung, Yeonpung and 1-year-old seedlings of Cheonpung, Yeonpung was transplanted on March 24, 2015. Planting density was 72 plant/3.3㎡and Shading material of plastic house used blue-white shading vinyl. The processing method of organic matter is as follows, we were applied chitosan (40 kg / 10a), silicate (3kg / 10a) to soil scheduled for ginseng cultivation with basal application. Then, we were diluted with chitosan and silicates to 1000-fold and investigated growth characteristics, saponin content of ginseng after foliar spray twice a month from May to September. Conclusion : Photosynthetic rate of ginseng according to treatment of organic matter was higher in the chitosan experimental group compared to the control group and photosynthetic rate of ginseng cultivars was the highest in Cheonpung’s silicate group(3.70 μmole CO2/㎡/s). The growth characteristics in above-ground part of 2-year-old ginseng was a good in the organic matter treatments compared to the control group. Above-ground part’s growth characteristics of ginseng according to treatment of organic matter showed a good trend in plant height, stem length, stem diameter of chitosan experimental group. The growth characteristics in under-ground part of 2-year-old ginseng was a good in the organic experimental groups. In Yeonpung of the chitosan experimental group, fresh root weight per plant was 9.2 g/plant that increased by 46 % compared to the control group. In Cheonpung of the silicate experimental group, fresh root weight per plant was 8.3 g/plant that increased by 56 % compared to the control group. In the chitosan experimental group, crude saponin content of under-ground part was Cheonpung(10.38 ㎎/g), Yeonpung(12.29 ㎎/g), control(11.53 ㎎/g), respectively. In the silicate experimental group, crude saponin content of under-ground part was Cheonpung(11.73 ㎎/g), Yeonpung(14.21 ㎎/g), respectively. Crude saponin content of ginseng according to treatment of organic matter was. generally higher in Yeonpung than Cheonpung.

Background : Despite the presence of various bioactive compounds in ginseng, there is lack of study about the phenolic metabolites in ginseng especially depending on the cultivation soil and the fertilizer types. Therefore, this study aims to develop an (-)ESI-LC-MS/MS analytical method for the measurement of selected phenolic compounds in the ginseng root. Methods and Results : Total phenol content in ginseng root was measured with the Folin-Ciocalteau method using UV/Vis spectrophotometer. Then, the 56 selected phenolic metabolites in ginseng root were measured with the (-)ESI-LC-MS/MS. The brief LC-MS/MS analytical conditions were as follows; Thermo Scientific Syncronis C18 HPLC Column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) was used. Optimized instrument settings were as follows: Curtain gas 20 psi, collision gas 2 psi, ion spray voltage –4500 V, nebulizer gas 40 psi, heating gas 70 psi, and its temperature 350℃. Total phenol content was higher in the ginseng cultivated in the paddy-converted field than that in upland. In particular, the total phenol content was about 6% decreased in the ginseng root cultivated with the food waste fertilizer compared to the control (p < 0.05). Six phenolic constituents including caffeic, chlorogenic, p-coumaric, ferulic, gentisic, and salicylic acids were found in the ginseng root by using the LC-MS/MS in MRM (multiple reaction monitoring) Mode. These six phenolic compounds occupied approximately 20% of the total phenol content measured in the corresponding ginseng root. The chlorogenic acid was the most abundant phenolic metabolite found in the ginseng root, accounting for ≥ 95% of the sum of six phenolic compounds, in this study. Conclusion : This preliminary study can be useful for the study on content and composition of phenolic metabolites in ginseng root with the aspect of metabolomics. We plan to further optimize the LC-MS/MS analytical method and then provide the extended understanding on the phenolic metabolism in the ginseng root with respect to the ginseng cultivation conditions.

The blastocyst should initiate the dynamic changes in morphology and gene expression during hatching and implantation. Blastocyst morphogenesis includes two major events as the formation of blastocoel cavity for lineage differentiation into trophectoderm and inner cell mass, and the blastocyst hatching for implantation. However, there is little known about the relation of dynamic morphogenesis in blastocyst with hatching and implantation potential. In this study, we investigated effects of the dynamic morphogenesis in blastocyst on hatching and implantation potential by outgrowth assay. The cumulative time between each stages was calculated and analyzed. The feature of contraction was evaluated as follows: the number of contractions and the period of circumference was measured. The percentage of reduction during contraction was classified as weak when it was less than 20% and as strong when 20% or more. Compared to embryos of hatching group, embryos of non-hatching group were significantly delayed time at the compacted morula stage by 375.3 min (p<0.05) and at the early blastocyst stage by 650.1 min (p<0.01), respectively. Compared to blastocysts of outgrowth group, blastocysts of non-outgrowth group were significantly delayed at the compacted morula by 404.0 min (p<0.01) and at the early blastocyst stage by 535.4 min (p<0.01), respectively. There is no significant difference in the feature of contraction between hatching and non-hatching groups. However, blastocyst of outgrowth group showed more number of weak contraction and less number of strong contractions, compared with blastocysts of non-outgrowth group (p<0.01). Period of circumference was not significantly different in hatching and outgrowth process. These results suggested that time of blastocoel formation and number of weak contraction in blastocysts were closely related to hatching and outgrowth potential. Dynamic changes of blastocyst formation and contraction could be useful markers to select embryos for predicting the success implantation and pregnancy in human ART program.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are promising cell source because of their unique self-renewal and pluripotency. Although hESC-derived cardiac cells are currently generated worldwide, cryopreservation of these cells is still limited due to low rate of post-thaw survival. Cryopreservation of hESC-derived cardiac cells is critical in that their long-term storage can accelerate their use in regenerative medicine. However, to date, there are few reports on efficient cryopreservation and post-thaw survival of hESC-derived cardiac cells. In this study, we evaluated the effects of ginsenoside, which is known to improve survival of rat embryonic cardiomyocytes against myocardial ischemia injury in diabetic rats (Wu et al., 2011), on the survival of hESC-derived cardiac cells after thawing. We induced differentiation into cardiac cells using our previously reported method (Kim et al., 2011). Differentiated, pre-beating stage cardiac cells were cryopreserved using either mass cryopreservation or vitrification. To evaluate the effects of ginsenoside (Re, Rb), we compared three sets: pre- and post-thaw treatment, pre- or post-thaw treatment only. The survival of post-thaw cardiac cells were evaluated using Trypan-blue and Annexin V staining. In addition, the three groups were treated with ROCK inhibitor Y-27632, and compared with non-treatment groups. The effect of ginsenoside was significant in post-thaw treatment group, i.e, thawed cells expressed cardiac specific genes and showed specific functionality such as spontaneous beating. Taken together, we demonstrated favorable effects of ginsenoside on the survival of hESC-derived cardiac cells after cryopreservation and thawing. These results suggest a possible application of well-known cardioprotectant ginsenoside in cell-based tissue engineering using hESC-derived cardiac cells.

In order to adapt to various environmental stresses, plants have employed diverse regulatory mechanisms of gene expression. Epigenetic changes, such as DNA methylation and histone modifications play an important role in gene expression regulation under stress condition. It has been known that some of epigenetic modifications are stably inherited after mitotic and meiotic cell divisions, which is known as stress memory. To understand molecular mechanisms underlying stress memory mediated by epigenetic modifications, we developed Arabidopsis suspension-cultured cell lines adapted to high salt by stepwise increases in the NaCl concentration up to 120 mM. Adapted cell line to 120 mM NaCl, named A120, exhibited enhanced salt tolerance compared to unadapted control cells (A0). Moreover, the salt tolerance of A120 cell line was stably maintained even in the absence of added NaCl, indicating that the salt tolerance of A120 cell line was memorized even after the stress is relieved. By using salt adapted and stress memorized cell lines, we intend to analyze the changes of DNA methylation, histone modification, transcriptome, and proteome to understand molecular mechanisms underlying stress adaptation as well as stress memory in plants.