Non-stoichiometric ceramics of were prepared by self-propagating high temperature synthesis reaction with various processing conditions and their stoichometric numbers were determined by neutron diffraction. The neutron diffraction patterns were measured at room temperature using monochromatic neutrons with a wave length of 0.18339 nm from a Ge(331) mocochromator at a 90 degree take off angle. The Rietveld refinement of each pattern converged to good agreement (x2=1.88-2.24). The neutron diffraction analysis revealed the final stoichiometries of the ferrites were and respectively. This supports that final stoichiometric number of the self-propagating high temperature synthesis product can be controlled by the processing parameters during the combustion reaction.

Analytical method using capillary GC/ECD was developed to determine trace residues of chlorfluazuron, 1-[3, 5-dichloro-5-trifluoromethyl-2-pyridyloxy)phenyl)-3-(2, 6-difluorobenwyl), in meat, and applied to analyze the residues in domestic and imported meats. The analytical scheme developed does not require column chromatographic cleanup; chlorfluazuron was extracted with diethyl ether and petroleum ether (50: 50), partitioned against acetonitrile, cleaned up with silica Sep-Pak cartridge, identified GC/ECD, and comfirmed by GC/MS. The mean recoveries of the pesticide in meat fortified with standard solution 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 mg/kg were ranged from 82 to 95%. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation were 0.001 and 0.005 mg/kg, respectively. Chlorfluazuron residues were not found in domestic samples, but found in imported Australian beef ranging from 0.02 to 0.17 mg/kg, detected by 18% among the samples.

In the present work we introduce a new flare activity indicator, MAD and examine its characteristics by analyzing a set of successive three days' observations of a typical active region, AR2372. The computed MAD is compared with conventional activity indicator such as separator. It is found that. (1) MAD traces very well the separator, (2) it. singles out. local discontinuity of magnetic field lines and (3) it. is a good measure of describing the evolutionary status of active region.

In Korea the most important plant industry is the rice-growing but she has not yet attained self-sufficiency with regard to rice which is the basic food of Korean. In the past, various measures of increasing rice production have been tried with some success but the increasing rate of did not show the sufficient result. Judging from experiences, disease control may be the most important factor which has influence on increasing of rice production in Korea. During the past 60 years three periods divided by the transition of rice diseases were noted, and especially the recent transition attracted much attention . That is, sheath blight and stripe which were minor diseases in the past have promptly spread all over the country and caused heavy losses to rice plant, and also local outbreak of bacterial leaf blight and dwarf were noticed. Various environmental factors are related to such transition of rice disease. Above all, cultivated varieties susceptible to these diseases, increase of application of nitrogenous fertilizer, earlier transplanting and density of transplanting are considered to be lucre closely related to the development of these diseases and successive development of blast. On the other hand. application of forage fungicides such as organic mercury compounds specific to blast contributed to reduce prevalent area if blast in spite of wide spread of susceptible varieties and increase of application of nitrogenous fertilizer. These facts were confirmed by Korean investigators At the present which various diseases to control coexist in the same region, no one variety resistant to all of these diseases is provided and cultural practices for the control of these diseases often do not produce sufficient yield of rice. it is emphasized that a role of pesticides is very great

We investigated whether sound could alter gene expression in plants. Using a sound-treated subtractive library, a set of sound-responsive genes in plants was demonstrated through mRNA expression analyses. Of them, the rbcS and ald genes, which are light responsive, up-regulated their expression with sound treatment in both light and in dark conditions. This suggested that sound could be used as a gene regulator instead of light. When we analyzed ald gene expression using various single wavelengths, a significant increase in mRNA levels was found at 125 or 250 Hz but decreased at 50 Hz, indicating that the gene responded to sound in a wavelength-specific manner. To determine whether the ald promoter respond to sound, we generated transgenic rice plants harboring the chimeric gene consisting of a 1,506-bp promoter fragment of the ald gene fused to Escherichia coli GUS reporter gene. Analyses of mRNA expressison level of three independent transgenic lines sound-treated with 50 or 250 Hz for 4 h showed that the Gus gene expression in all three transgenic lines was up regulated by 250 Hz, but down regulated by 50 Hz. These results correlated with sound responsive mRNA expression pattern observed for the ald gene in rice plants, indicating that the 1,506-bp ald promoter confers sound-responsiveness on a reporter gene in transgenic rice plants. We also investigated whether sound waves could improve salt tolerance in rice seedling. The rice seedlings were sound treated with 800 Hz for 1hr, and then treated with 0, 75, 150, and 225mM NaCl for 3 days to observe changes in physiological and morphological aspects. Sound treatment seedlings resulted in enhanced salt stress tolerance, mainly demonstrated by the sound treated seedlings exhibiting of increased root relative water contents (RWC), root length and weight, photochemical efficiency (ratio of variable to maximum fluorescence, Fv/Fm), and germination rate under salt stress condition. This demonstrates that a specific sound wave might be used, not only to alter gene expression in plant, but also to improve salt stress tolerance.

Environment friendly agricultural material products (EFAMs) in current market were evaluated for their insecticidal or acaricidal activities. EFAMs were evaluated against Tetranychus urticae, Plutella xylostella, Myzus persicae and Nilaparvata lugens in spray method. Several EFAMs indicated high control value in spray method. Hatchability of T. urticae was relatively high after EFAM treatment. some materials show high insecticidal activities against P. xylostella larvae but not against eggs. Few meterials showed more than 80% insecticidal activities against M. persicae and N. lugen. The control value of more than half the materials for pest control was lower than 60%. EFAMs containing S. flavescens, neem oil and Rape showed higher control value

The high incidence of polyspermic fertilization is one of the major causes lowering the overall efficiency of porcine IVF. The common procedure for IVF involves the co-culture of both gametes in the medium drop, which increases sperm concentration and incidence of polyspermy. Therefore, the present study was carried out to increase the efficiency of porcine IVF by reducing polyspermy using a modified swim-up method. This method modifies conventional swim-up washing by placing oocytes directly at the time of washing. Sperm pellet was prepared in the tube and mature oocytes were placed on cell strainer with pore size (Falcon 2350) at the top of the tube. After insemination, the oocytes were stained for examination. Also, the developmental potential of fertilized embryos was measured to evaluate for the feasibility of this method. While having similar penetration rates in both methods (), there was a significant reduction of polyspermy in modified swim-up method () compare to the control ( (p<0.05). Subsequent culture showed higher rate of blastocyst formation in modified swim-up method (20.440.99%) than the control () (P<0.05), even though there was no significant difference. These results suggest that, by controlling the number of spermatozoa reaching the oocytes, porcine oocytes might be protected from polyspermy in vitro. Also, the developmental potential of the fertilized embryos using this method could be improved by increasing the pool of spermatozoa with better quality. Further optimization of the procedure required to implicate this method in routine porcine IVF.

The lutropin/choriogonadotropin receptor (LHR) is a member of the rhodopsin-like subfamily of G protein coupled receptor (GPCRs), that has been shown to mediate the internalization of its two naturally occurring agonist, lutropin and choriogonadotropin (CG). The clustered agonist-receptor complex is internalized by a dynamin-dependent pathway and traverses the endosomal compartment without agonist dissociation Dissociation of the agonist-receptor complex occurs in the lysosomes, where both the agonist and receptor are degrade. Recently, constitutively activating mutations of the receptor have been identified that are associated with familial male-precocious puberty (FMPP). A FMPP is a form of sexual precocious puberty in boys in which testosterone levels are elevated independent of changes in luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone and serum luteinizing hormone levels, We have now analyzed two naturally occurring, constitutively active mutants of the human LHR. These mutations were introduced into the rat LHR (rLHR) and are designated L435R and D556Y. Cells expressing rLHR-D556Y bind human choriogonadotropin (hCG) with normal affinity, exhibit a 25-fold increase in basal cAMP and respond to hCG with a normal increase in cAMP accumulation. Cells expressing rLHR-L435R also bind hCG with normal affinity, exhibit a 47-fold increase in basal cAMP, and do not respond to hCG with a further increase in cAMP accumulation. This mutation enhances the internalization of the free and agonist-occupied receptors ~2- and ~17- fold, respectively We conclude that the state of activation of the rLHR can modulate its basal and/or agonist-stimulated internalization. Since the internalization of hCG is involved in the termination of hCG actions, we suggest that the lack of responsiveness detected in cells expressing rLHR-L435R is due to the fast rate of internalization of the bound hCG. The finding that membranes expressing rLHR-L435R respond to hCG with an increase in adenylyl cyclase activity supports this suggestion. Autonomous Leydig cell activity in FMPP is caused by a constitutively activating LH/CGR.