In this work, α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals are synthesized by co-precipitation method and used as adsorbent to remove Cr6+, Cd2+, and Pb2+ from wastewater at room temperature. The prepared sample is evaluated by XRD, BET surface area, and FESEM for structural and morphological characteristics. XRD patterns confirm the formation of a pure hematite structure of average particle size of ~ 40 nm, which is further supported by the FESEM images of the nanocrystals. The nanocrystals are found to have BET specific surface area of ~ 39.18 m2 g−1. Adsorption experiments are carried out for the different values of pH of the solutions, contact time, and initial concentration of metal ions. High efficiency Cr6+, Cd2+, and Pb2+ removal occur at pH 3, 7, and 5.5, respectively. Equilibrium study reveals that the heavy metal ion adsorption of the α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals followed Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The Cr6+, Cd2+, and Pb2+ adsorption equilibrium data are best fitted to the Langmuir model. The maximum adsorption capacities of α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals related to Cr6+, Cd2+, and Pb2+ are found to be 15.15, 11.63, and 20 mg g−1, respectively. These results clearly suggest that the synthesized α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals can be considered as potential nano-adsorbents for future environmental and health related applications.

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the comparison of balance and muscle strength between dominant and non-dominant legs in adults. Thirty adults in their 20s participated in this study. The dominant and non-dominant legs were selected based on the dominant hands of the target. The subject's muscle strength of legs was measured with Nicholas MMT, and the balance was measured with BIO-Rescue. We compared the dominant and non-dominant legs based on the results. The result, indicated no statistical difference on balance and muscle strength between dominant and non-dominant legs(p>.05). The results of this study will be helpful in setting the effective treatment direction and treatment level, and in controlling posture, balance and motor function.

Generally, in vivo, primary oocytes are grown and matured into secondary oocytes in the ovarian follicles. Quality of the oocytes matured in vivo is higher than that of oocytes matured in vitro, indicating the importance of materializing the microenvironment of ovarian follicles for production of high quality oocyte. Therefore, we tried to mimic the stiffness of ovarian follicles using an agarose as a biocompatible natural polymer. Unfortunately, to date, there are no many reports on whether the quality of porcine oocytes can be increased effectively under the soft matrix. Accordingly, we tried to evaluate the effects of IVM using different mechanical properties of agarose substrate on developmental competence of porcine oocytes. Agarose substrate was constructed and cumulus-oocyte-complexes (COCs) retrieved from porcine medium antral follicles were matured on non-coated (control) culture dish or dishes coated with 1% and 2% (w/v) agarose substrate. Then, cumulus expansion, embryonic development after parthenogenetic activation, and gene expression level were analyzed and compared. As the results, significant increase in blastocyst formation and cumulus expansion were detected in COCs matured on 1% (w/v) agarose substrate compared with control. Moreover, oocytes of COCs matured on 1% (w/v) agarose substrate showed significantly higher BMP15 expression level compared with control. Pro-apoptotic gene BAX expression was significantly increased in oocytes of COCs matured on 2% (w/v) agarose substrate compared with control. In the glycolytic enzyme phosphofructokinase (PFKP) gene expression, cumulus cells of COCs matured on agarose substrate showed significantly higher PFKP expression than control while they showed significantly lower BAX expression than control. These results demonstrated that quality of porcine oocytes could be increased efficiently by the IVM of immature oocytes on the soft culture matrix using agarose.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of insulin and epidermal growth factor (EGF) in a in vitro growth (IVG) medium on oocyte growth, in vitro maturation (IVM) and embryonic development of pig oocytes derived from small antral follicles (SAF) less than 3 mm in diameter. SAF oocytes were cultured for 2 days to induce IVG in alpha-minimal essential medium supplemented with 1 mM dbcAMP and 15% (v/v) fetal bovine serum. After IVG culture, oocyte maturation was induced by culturing IVG oocytes in IVM medium for 44 h. IVM oocytes that extruded the first polar body were selected and induced for parthenogenesis (PA) by applying electric stimulus. SAF oocytes cultured under the insulin treatment showed a significantly increased (P < 0.05) nuclear maturation (73.8%) compared to those cultured with insulin and EGF (59.8%). After PA, the proportions of blastocysts based on the number of metaphase II oocytes were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in oocytes that were cultured for IVG with insulin, EGF, and insulin + EGF (32.4%, 35.2%, and 34.8%, respectively) than in control (22.9%). IVG oocytes treated with insulin showed an increased oocyte diameter (116.3 μm) compared to those treated with insulin and EGF (114.0 μm) (P < 0.05). Intra-oocyte GSH content significantly increased (1.07 pixels/oocyte) by insulin treatment during IVG compared to that of oocytes treated with insulin + EGF (0.78 pixels/oocyte). These results demonstrate that IVG culture of SAF oocytes under insulin or/and EGF treatment supports oocyte maturation and improves embryonic development to the blastocyst stage after PA in pigs.

U0126 is a highly selective inhibitor of both MEK1 and MEK2, a type of MAPK/ERK kinase. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of U0126 treatment during in vitro maturation (IVM) on nuclear maturation, intra-oocyte glutathione content, and embryonic development after parthenogenesis (PA). U0126 (5 μM) was supplemented to IVM medium during the first 0 (control), 2, and 4 h. The basic medium used for IVM was medium-199 supplemented with 10% (v/v) porcine follicular fluid (standard), 0.6 mM cysteine, 0.91 mM pyruvate, 75 μg/ml kanamycin, and 1 μg/ml insulin. Immature pig oocytes were matured for 44 h and then oocytes reached metaphase II stage were electrically activated to induce PA. The in vitro culture medium for embryonic development was porcine zygote medium-3 containing 0.3% (w/v) fatty acid-free BSA. When immature oocytes were treated with U0126 during the first 0, 2, 4 h of IVM culture, nuclear maturation was significantly (P < 0.05) increased by the U0126 treatment for 4 h (96.2 ± 1.3%) compared to standard IVM (90.6 ± 2.1%). Cleavage of PA embryos was significantly increased by 4 h- treatment (90.6 ± 2.2%) compared to standard medium (83.9 ± 1.8%). In addition, blastocyst formation of PA embryos was significantly (P < 0.05) increased by the treatment for 4 h (55.8 ± 5.7%) compared to 2 h (38.1 ± 6.1%). The glutathione contents in IVM oocytes were not altered by the U0126 treatments for 0, 2, and 4 h (1.28 ± 0.10, 1.16 ± 0.09, and 1.10 ± 0.09, respectively). Our results demonstrated that 5 μM U0126 treatment during the first 4 h of IVM showed positive effects on nuclear maturation, cleavage, and embryonic development in pigs.

Poor embryo quality and low blastocyst formation have been major limitations in establishment of cloned embryonic stem cells and production of cloned animals through somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Aggregation of embryos is a promising method for improving developmental competence of blastocysts. The aim of this study was to improve the blastocyst formation and the quality of parthenogenetic (PA) pig embryos by the aggregation of blastomeres at the 4-cell stage that were cultured in various type of culture dishes with or without phytohemagglutinin (PHA). The PA embryos were produced by the general method of our laboratory. On Day 2 after PA, the zona pellucida of 4 cell-stage embryos were removed by treatment with 0.5% (wt/vol) pronase solution. The 3x zona-free blastomere (ZFB) were randomly distributed in each of the following treatments for aggregation. ZFB were cultured for 5 days at 39℃ in an atmosphere 5% CO2, 5% O2, and 90% N2. In Experiment 1, effect of culture dishes on the aggregation efficiency and developmental competence of PA embryos were investigated. ZFB were cultured on non-coated (control) culture dish or dishes coated with 1% (wt/vol) agarose substrate (AS) or Well of the Well in dishes coated with 1% (wt/vol) agarose substrate (WAS). The ZFB cultured in WAS showed significantly higher (P<0.05) aggregation (81.2%) than AS and control (21.6-45.5%). The mean cell number in blastocysts derived from AS and WAS (81.4-89.3 cells/blastocyst) was significantly higher (P<0.05) than that of control (63.8 cells/blastocyst). In Experiment 2, effects of 150 ug/ml PHA treatment on the aggregation efficiency and developmental competence of embryos were investigated. The ZFB cultured in AS with PHA showed a higher (P<0.05) aggregation rate (90.0%) than that in AS without PHA, control with PHA, and control (39.2%, 57.9% and 17.5%, respectively). In conclusion, aggregation of porcine ZFB treated with PHA and agarose substrate could be a useful technique for producing improving blastocyst development with increased mean cell number of blastocysts in pigs.

We report the structural, morphological and magnetic properties of the Ni70Mn30 alloy prepared by Planetary Ball Mill method. Keeping the milling time constant for 30 h, the effect of different ball milling speeds on the synthesis and magnetic properties of the samples was thoroughly investigated. A remarkable variation in the morphology and average particle size was observed with the increase in milling speed. For the samples ball milled at 200 and 300 rpm, the average particle size and hence magnetization were decreased due to the increased lattice strain, distortion and surface effects which became prominent due to the increase in the thickness of the outer magnetically dead layer. For the samples ball milled at 400, 500 and 600 rpm however, the average particle size and hence magnetization were increased. This increased magnetization was attributed to the reduced surface area to volume ratio that ultimately led to the enhanced ferromagnetic interactions. The maximum saturation magnetization (75 emu/g at 1 T applied field) observed for the sample ball milled at 600 rpm and the low value of coercivity makes this material useful as soft magnetic material.

Incursions of red imported fire ant (RIFA), Solenopsis invicta into Korea have been increasing. After a first interception of a colony of S. invicta on Gamman pier, Pusan port while intensive surveillance by Animal & Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA) in September 2017, three more RIFA colonies have been found in sea port piers of Pyeongtek, Incheon and Pusan cities. The social forms and mitochondrial DNA haplotypes of the intercepted RIFA colonies were analysed by allelic discrimination assay (peptide nucleic acid probe based RT-PCR) of Gp-9 gene and mt-DNA fragment of 768 bp, which is part of the Cytochrome oxidaseⅠ gene. The colony on Gamman pier, intercepted in Sep. 2017 was previously reported as a haplotype 5 (H5) of mitochondrial DNA and a social form of polygyne. The colony on Hutchison pier of Pusan port, intercepted in June 2018 were confirmed as a H22 haplotype and a monogyne. Those different social forms show different origins of each colonies. Those on piers of Pyeongtek and Incheon ports, also found in 2018 were confirmed samely as H22 and monogyne. However, it could be putatively assumed that those two colonies were differently introduced via different container cargoes, considering those colonies were found in container yards of distantly located different sea ports. More genetic variation analyses using diverse sets of molecular markers such as microsatellites, genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms, etc. in nuclear gens are being proceeded for more exact introduction routes (origins).

벼메뚜기는 분류학적으로 메뚜기목(Orthoptera), 메뚜기과(Acrididae)에 속하는 곤충으로 작물에 피해를 주는 해충으로 인식하고 있지만 예로부터 단백질 보충을 위하여 채집하여 튀기거나 볶음요리 로 이용해 왔다. 벼메뚜기는 갈색거저리, 쌍별귀뚜라미 등과 함께 식품공전에 등록되어 있으나 1년 1세대로 가을철에 채집하여 이용하는 실정으로 공급확대에 한계가 있다. 최근 우리나라에서 벼메뚜기를 사육하고자 하는 농가와 다양한 용도로 가공을 통해 이용하려는 수요가 점차 증가하고 있으나 연중사육기술이 개발되지 않아 대량사육하는 농가가 거의 없는 실정이다. 이에 벼메뚜기의 연중대량사육기술 뿐만 아니라 인공사료 및 자동화 사육시설 개발에 따른 생산비 절감 기술 개발이 필요한 실정이다. 벼메뚜기의 먹이로는 여름작물로 옥수수, 수단그래스, 겨울작물로 밀, 보리 등의 볏과작물이 있으며 많은 양의 생엽과 발육에 적합한 작물의 선발 및 볏과작물의 통곡실 가루를 이용한 인공사료의 개발로 먹이공급 부족 시 15~20일 급여 가능하며, 벼메뚜기 사육시설로 단독형, 연결형, 절충형 등의 사육시설을 개발하여 연결형 사육시설의 수확량과 생존율이 가장 높았으며, 예취 급이 노동력이 단독형의 16% 소요되었다.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of heel off stairway walking exercise on the increase of muscle activity and balance activity of the ankle joint muscles in university students with functional ankle instability. The conservative treatment for the control group consisted of stairway walking (n=10) and the experimental group consisted of heel off stairway walking (n=11). The therapeutic intervention of the control and experimental groups was performed a total of 12 exercise sessions, 3 times per week for 4 weeks. To compare the two groups, the level of ankle disability was assessed by using the EMG, BT4 and Pedoscan in pre-treatment and post-treatment. Muscle activity increased in both the experimental groups and control groups in each group, however there was no significant difference between the groups. Balance ability did not show any significant difference. This study demonstrates that heel-off stairway walking is effective in significantly increasing muscle activity, however did not significantly improve balance ability.

이 연구는 CHO-CO와 PO필름이 시설 내 기온과 참 외의 특성, 수량에 미치는 영향을 구명하고자 수행되었 다. 2017년 1월 8일 기온의 일변화 조사에서 조광필름 처리구의 최고, 최저 및 평균 기온은 각각 38.9oC, 13.4oC, 20.1oC 이었고, PO필름 처리구에서 각각 40.0oC, 14.9oC, 20.3oC로 처리 간 차이가 거의 없었고, 2월부터 5월까지 과실특성, 품질 및 수량 조사에서도 처 리 간 차이가 없었다. 그러나 고온기인 8월 7일부터 1일 간 기온의 일변화에서 조광필름 처리구의 최고, 최저 및 평균 기온은 각각 47.2oC, 23.1oC, 32.4oC 이었고, PO필 름 처리구에서도 각각 50.3oC, 23.6oC, 34.0oC로 조광필름 처리구에서 최고 및 평균기온이 각각 3.1oC, 1.6oC 더 낮았다. 특히 주간의 기온만 비교해 보면 저온기에는 차이가 거의 없지만 고온기에는 PO필름에 비해 조광필 름 처리구에서 3.0oC까지 기온이 낮아지는 것을 알 수 있었다. 2017년 5월 26일부터 8월 15일까지의 고온기의 품질 및 수량 조사에서도 PO필름 처리구에 비해 조광필 름 처리구에서 과중이 371.6g으로 22.2g 더 가볍고, 태좌부의 당도는 14.5o brix로 1.4o brix 더 높고, 과피의 색도(a값)도 12.3으로 1.5 더 높고, 상품과율도 89.4%로 8.0%P 증가하였고 10a당 상품수량도 2,694kg으로 26% 증가하였다. 결론적으로 고온기에 조광필름은 참외 생산에 효과적으로 이용될 수 있을 것이다.

Porcine spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) prefer three-dimensional (3D) culture systems to 2D ones for the maintenance of self-renewal. Of the many 3D culture systems, agar-based hydrogels are candidates for supporting porcine SSC self-renewal, and there are various types of agar powder that can be used. In this study, we sought to identify an agar-based 3D hydrogel system that exhibited strong efficacy in the maintenance of porcine SSC self-renewal. First, 3D hydrogels with different mechanics were prepared with various concentrations of Bacto agar, lysogeny broth (LB) agar, and agarose powder, and the 3D hydrogel with the strongest alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity and greatest increase in colony size was identified for the different types of agar powder. Second, among the porcine SSCs cultured in the different 3D hydrogels, we analyzed the colony formation, morphology, and size; AP activity; and transcription and translation of porcine SSC-related genes, and these were compared to determine the optimal 3D hydrogel system for the maintenance of porcine SSC self-renewal. We found that 0.6% (w/v) Bacto agar-, 1% (w/v) LB agar-, and 0.2% (w/v) agarose-based 3D hydrogels showed the strongest maintenance of AP activity and the most pronounced increase in colony size in the culture of porcine SSCs. Moreover, among these hydrogels, the strongest transcription and translation of porcine SSC-related genes and largest colony size were detected in porcine SSCs cultured in the 0.2% (w/v) agarose-based 3D hydrogel, whereas there were no significant differences in colony formation and morphology. These results demonstrate that the 0.2% (w/v) agarose-based 3D hydrogel can be effectively used for the maintenance of porcine SSC self-renewal.

Si3N4 is a ceramic material attracting attention in many fields because of its excellent abrasion resistance. In addition, Ti and TiAl alloys are metals used in a variety of high temperature environments, and have attracted much attention because of their high strength and high melting points. Therefore, study of the interface reaction between Si3N4 / Ti and Si3N4 / TiAl can be a useful practice to identify phase selection and diffusion control. In this study, Si3N4 / Ti5Si3 + TiN / TiN / Ti diffusing pairs were formed in the Si3N4 / Ti interfacial reaction and Si3N4 / TiN(Al) / Ti3Al / TiAl diffusion pathway was identified in the Si3N4 / TiAl interfacial reaction. The diffusion layers of the interface reactions were identified and, to investigate the kinetics of the diffusion layer, the integrated diffusion coefficients were estimated.

The relationship of in vitro starch digestibility and gel strength was investigated at various concentrations (10-30%) of rice cultivars with different amylose contents (27.9, 17.9, and 5.2%). As the rice flour concentration increased, predicted glycemic index decreased, but gel strength increased regardless of amylose contents. Gel strength correlated strongly with amylose content, whereas in vitro starch digestibility was more highly affected by rice flour concentration than by amylose contents. Moreover, the impact of degree of gelatinization on in vitro starch digestibility of high amylose rice was also examined in terms of structural features and rheological properties. The digestion rate of fully gelatinized flour was 1.7 times higher than that of native flour, while the disrupted structure with a different gelatinization degree during starch digestion was visually demonstrated through the X-ray diffraction and molecular distribution analysis. The rice flour changed from an A-type to a V-type pattern and showed difference in crystalline melting. The low molecular weight distribution increased with increasing degree of gelatinization during starch digestion. The apparent viscosity also increased with degree of gelatinization. These results demonstrated that the starch digestibility of rice was more affected by concentration than by amylose content, as well as by the degree of gelatinization due to structural difference.

The members of the genus Flavivirus are noteworthy, as they cause infectious diseases in humans, such as Zika, denguefever, yellow fever, West Nile, and Japanese encephalitis. Due to the increased awareness of the public health risk posedby flavivirus-infected mosquitoes, mosquito collections were performed in six urban parks of South Korea, as the parksare designated for human recreation but also provide suitable habitats for mosquitoes. We examined the diversity andabundance of mosquito species and conducted molecular diagnostics for the detection of flavivirus infections. Monthlycollections were carried out in each park from March to August in 2017. A total of 4,851 mosquitoes (5 genera and13 species) were collected using BG-sentinel traps and then investigated for flavivirus infections. Pathogenic flavivirusinfections causing human diseases were not observed in the field-collected mosquitoes. However, insect-specific flavivirus(ISF) infections were detected in several mosquito pools. ISF has been previously known to enhance or suppress the replicationof medically important flaviviruses in co-infected mosquito cells. In this study, partial sequences of ISF were analyzed.However, further studies are needed in order to determine its genetic characterization and biological function in vivo.