This study aimed to examine the effect of a mild elevation in serum cholesterol level in a porcine coronary overstretch restenosis model using a balloon angioplasty catheter or drug-eluting coronary stent. Pigs were divided into two groups and were fed a commercial normal diet (CND, n = 4) or a high-fat diet (HFD, n = 4) for 5 weeks. Coronary overstretch injury by balloon angioplasty or stent implantation was induced in the left anterior descending and left circumflex artery after 1 week of feeding. Histopathological analysis was performed at 4 weeks after coronary injury. During the experiment, the total cholesterol level in the HFD group increased by approximately 44.9% (from 65.9 ± 3.21 mg/dL at baseline to 95.5 ± 9.94 mg/dL at 5 weeks). The lumen area in the CND group was reduced in comparison with that in the HFD group after balloon angioplasty. After stent implantation, the injury score showed no significant difference. There were significant differences in the neointimal area (2.7 ± 0.33 mm2 in the CND group vs. 3.3 ± 0.34 mm2 in the HFD group, p<0.05), lumen area (2.6 ± 0.54 mm2 in the CND group vs. 2.0 ± 0.33 mm2 in the HFD group, p<0.05), and percent area stenosis (52.0 ± 7.96% in the CND group vs. 62.4 ± 5.15% in the HFD group, p<0.05). Body weight change was not different between the two groups. Increased serum cholesterol level activated vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation in the porcine coronary overstretch model.

The citrus flatid planthopper Metcalfa pruinosa, a invasive species causes serious damages to field crops, including sweet persimmon, soybean, maize, especially ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A meyer). We selected six chemical pesticides and one environmental friendly pesticide made from the mixture of derris extracts, citronella oils, and cinnamon extracts in laboratory. These pesticides showed over 90% of control effect in open ginseng field. This study was carried out with the support of the cooperative research program for RDA (project No. PJ0124992018), Republic of Korea.

방울토마토의 수경재배 중 붕소+칼슘+규소 및 칼슘+규소의 복합 엽면시비가 수확 후 품질과 MAP 저장 중 저장성에 미치는 영향을 알아보고자 본 연구를 실시하였다. 엽면시비한 방울 토마토(‘Unicorn’)는 반숙 과상태에서 수확하여 산소투과성 필름으로 포장한 5oC, 11oC, 그리고 24oC에서 25일, 15일, 10일간 저장하였다. 붕소+칼슘+규소 복합처리한 방울토마토가 3가지 저장온도 모두에서 호흡과 에틸렌 발생이 억제되어 MAP 저장중 가장 낮은 생체중 감소와 가장 높은 외관상 품질을 보였다. 수확 후 조사한 방울토마토의 경도, 산도, 비타민 C 함량은 붕소+칼슘+규소 복합처리에서 가장 높았으며, 3가지 온도 모두에서 MAP 저장 후에도 모두 높게 유지되었다. 그러나 과피색, 라이코펜 함량과 당도는 수확 후에는 엽면시비 처리로 차이가 없었으나, 3가지 온도 모두 붕소+칼슘+규소 복합처리에서 가장 낮은 수치를 보였다. 이상의 결과로 볼 때 붕소+칼슘+규소 복합처리는 방울토마토의 수확후 생리 작용을 억제하고 경도, 산도, 비타민 C 함량을 높여 저장성을 향상시키는 것으로 판단되었다

Present study aimed to determine the effect of ‘bitter melon’, a popularly used fruit in Bangladesh and several other Asian countries, on high-fat-diet-induced type 2 diabetes. To investigate the effect, ethanol extract from bitter melon (BME) as a dietary supplement with mouse chow was used. BME was found to significantly attenuate the high-fat diet (HFD) -induced body weight and total fat mass. BME also effectively reduced the insulin resistance induced by the HFD. Furthermore, dietary supplementation of BME was highly effective in increasing insulin sensitivity and reducing hepatic fat and obesity. These results indicate that BME could be effective in attenuating type 2 diabetes and could therefore be a preventive measure against type 2 diabetes.

Background : Ginseng rain cover farming is expanding around Jinan county and Jangsu country of North Jeolla Province. Some farmers doing ginseng rain cover farming have suffered from difficulties due to hot weather damages. However, it is a situation that the study on mitigation techniques for high temperature damage do not exist with ginseng rain cover farming. Methods and Results : The test covering work was firstly done on April 28th for heat block film+90% black light blocking net, blue double sided film, and PE film+75% black light blocking net and when it comes to second treatment, 30% and 40% shading were implemented for heat block film group and blue double sided film group respectively and 75% black light blocking net was installed on PE film+75% shading group. When it comes to micro-climate measurement in rain cover facility, temperature, humidity and light intensity were measured during the growing period of ginseng. The results are as follows. Regarding the light transmittance (per PAR, 10 am in clear day) in facility with 1st covering, light block film covered group (LBF), blue double sided film group (BDF) and PE film group have 12.9±1.8%, has 11.6±1.0% and 27.1±1.1% respectively and after 2nd covering, in LBF groups, 30% blocking, 40% blcoking and no blocking have 10.6±1.3%, 8.2±0.9% and 12.9±1.8% and in BDF groups, 30% blocking, 40% blcoking and no blocking have 9.4±0.8%, 7.9±0.7% and 11.6±1.0 respectively and PE film group has 10.6±0.7%. Relative humidity also showed the same trend as temperature. The average monthly amount of light and maximum light intensity were lower in 30% and 40% light blocking groups of LBF and BDF and a little higher in no light blocking group compared to PE film group. The degree of high temperature damage was 1 in no LBF of BDF, but no LBF of LBF was so bad like 3. However, there was no high temperature damage in the test groups of blocking films or BDF with 30% and 40% light blocked light screens. Regarding root weight, all secondly treated groups of LBF group and BDF group were lighter compared to 4.36g of PE film group and especially, prism sheetof no light blocking group has 2.5g and BDF of of no light blocking group has 3.21g. 30 % and 40% light blocking groups of LBF group and BDF group were light with 3.20~4.07g. Conclusion : Regarding the analysis result on micro-climate in facility with different cover materials for 2 years old ginseng in ginseng rain cover farming of Gyeonggi Province, the covering method suitable for high temperature damage mitigation in ginseng rain cover farming was that 1st covering was done by PE film+75% black light blocking net and then 75% black light blocking net is additionally covered at a time when outside temperatures reaches 30℃.

Background : The research is designed to investigate the optimal cultivation technology and the growth of above-ground and below-ground sections as well as the photosynthetic characteristics for new ginseng variety “K-1” by differentiating the planting density under the conditions of transplanting and direct seedling. Methods and Results : The K-1 variety and hybrid variety (Jakyungjong) were selected for the research and the ginseng varieties were transplanted and directly sown in Yeoncheon area in 2013. The transplanting was made in the form of 5 lines × 9 rows (45 plants), 6 lines x 9 rows (54 plants), 7 lines × 9 rows (63 plants) and 8 lines × 9 rows (72 plants) in each lot (1.65㎡) while the direct seedling for testing was conducted three times in randomly blocked design in the form of 11 lines × 14 rows (154 plants), 12 lines × 14 rows (168 plants), 13 lines × 14 rows (182 plants). Various measures were collected from the 4-year transplanted ginseng and 3-year direct seedling ginseng in 2015 to find out the growth features and photosynthesis of above-ground section (rate of germination, leaf length, leaf width, stem length and leaf area index (LAI)) and the below-ground section (length, diameter, weight and class of roots). Conclusion : After the planting of the ginseng, the germination rate of K-1 for the transplanting was 85.1 ~ 92.0% across different plantation densities while that for the direct seedling was 67.7% ~ 77.9% across plantation densities, thus showing no significant difference between the two planting methods. LAI was higher for the higher planation density for both transplanting and direct seedling. As for the photosynthesis speed, the form of 6 lines × 9 rows showed the higher speed in transplanting while the form of 12 lines x 14 rows showed the higher speed in direct seedling. The photosynthesis of K-1 was higher than that of Jakyungjong. In the 4-year ginseng cultivated under the transplanting, diameter of roots, number of branch roots and weight of raw ginseng were the highest in the plantation density of 5 lines × 9 rows. The distribution of root weight was high with 23.3% and 20.0% for the 51~70g group and the 71g or above group, respectively, for the 4 year transplanted plants in the form of 5 lines × 9 rows. The growth for above-ground and below-ground sections for K-1 was better than that for Jakyungjong. As a result, it was found that the proper plantation density for the 4-year root in the transplanted K-1 was 5 lines × 9 rows considering the growth of the above-ground section, quantity and distribution of root weight.

Transforming growth factor (TGF) family is well known to induce the chondrogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). However, the precise signal transduction pathways and underlying factors are not well known. Thus the present study aims to evaluate the possible role of C2 domain in the chondrogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells. To this end, 145 C2 domains in the adenovirus were individually transfected to hMSC, and morphological changes were examined. Among 145 C2 domains, C2 domain of protein kinase C eta (PKCη) was selected as a possible chondrogenic differentiation factor for hMSC. To confirm this possibility, we treated TGFβ3, a well known chondrogenic differentiation factor of hMSC, and examined the increased-expression of glycosaminoglycan (GAG), collagen type II (COL II) as well as PKCη using PT-PCR, immunocytochemistry and Western blot analysis. To further evaluation of C2 domain of PKCη, we examined morphological changes, expressions of GAG and COL II after transfection of PKCη -C2 domain in hMSC. Overexpression of PKCη-C2 domain induced morphological change and increased GAG and COL II expressions. The present results demonstrate that PKCη involves in the TGF-β3-induced chondrogenic differentiation of hMSC, and C2 domain of PKCη has important role in this process.