Royal jelly (RJ) is a gelatinous substance that bees produce to feed bees and queen bees. It’s frequently sold as a dietary supplement to treat a variety of physical ailments and chronic diseases. While it has long been used in traditional medicine, its applications in Western medicine remain controversial. The inhibitory effect of royal jelly on osteoarthritis was investigated in primary cultured rat cartilage cells and monosodium-iodoacetate (MIA)-induced arthritis rat model 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HAD) is the main fatty acid present in RJ. Among the criteria for RJ quality analysis, 10-HAD content has been proposed as a freshness parameter. We investigated the effect of RJ on the improvement of osteoarthritis on SD rats and they were divided into five groups. In this study, we examined the effect of enzymatic royal jelly (ERJ) administration on osteoarthritis. To determine the antiinflammatory effects of RJ, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) expression were measured after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activation in RAW 264.7 cells. In in vivo animal study, osteoarthritis was induced by intra-articular injection of MIA into knee joints of rats. As a results, ERJ showed that TNF-α and IL-6 levels were decreased by ERJ treatment in a dosedependent manner. In conclusion, ERJ extract was able to inhibit articular cartilage degeneration by preventing extracellular matrix degradation and cartilage cell damage. It was considered that ERJ extract may be a potential therapeutic treatment for degenerative osteoarthritis.

The occurrence of allergic disease has increased harmfully in the last few decades. Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an allergic inflammation disorder characterized by itchy, red, swollen, cracked skin. Although the pathogenesis of AD is not fully understood, it is assumed that deregulation of T-helper 1 (Th1) and T-helper 2 (Th2) immune responses, a predominance of allergen-specific IgE, and interrupted epidermal barrier function are keys to the pathogenic mechanism. Activated T helper 2 (Th2) immune function is hallmark of various allergic diseases. Oxidative stress implicated in cutaneous damage in various inflammatory skin diseases. We investigated the effect of fermented soybean (SCGB1) on the improvement of AD. Soybean fermentation was carried out using B. amyloliquefaciense SCGB1 (KCCM11964P), which is known to produce of natural antibiotics. And then, we experiment of SCGB1 and soybean powder (NC) in DNCB-induced AD model. Mice were respectively oral administration of variety dose for 14 days. As a results, it was confirmed that serum Immunoglobulin E (IgE) expression was dose-dependently decreased in SCGB1 and NC compared to negative control, and it was reduced the skin pruritus inducing factor that Interleukin-31 (IL-31) mRNA level. In addition, the inflammatory cells were infiltration in skin for histological analysis. As a result, it reduced that epidermal hyperplasia, cancellation and aveolarization compared to negative control. These results suggest that SCGB1 may be effective for prevention and treatment of AD.

To improve survival rates of vitrified pig oocytes, the treatment of cytoskeletal stabilizer on an appropriate time is one of the possible approaches. However, the exact treatment timing and effect of cytoskeletal stabilizer such as cytochalasin B (CB) is not well known during oocyte vitrification procedures. Thus, the present study was conducted to determine optimal treatment timing of CB during vitrification and warming procedures. In experiment 1, the survival rates of the post-warming pig oocytes were analyzed by fluorescein diacetate (FDA) assay with 4 classifications. In results, post-warming oocytes showed significantly (p<0.05) decreased number of alive oocytes (31.8% vs. 86.4%) compared to fresh control. In detail, the significant difference (p<0.05) was found only in strong fluorescence (18.2% vs. 70.5%) not in intermediate fluorescence groups (13.6% vs. 15.9%). In experiment 2, CB was treated before (CB-Vitri) and after (Vitri-CB) vitrification. In results, group of Vitri-CB showed significantly (p<0.05) higher (91.6%) survival rates compared to group of CB-Vitri (83.7%), significantly (p<0.05) and comparable with group of Vitri Control (88.7%) by morphological inspection. In FDA assay results, group of Vitri-CB showed significantly (p<0.05) higher (44.2%) survival rates compared to groups of CB-Vitri (36.7%) and Vitri Control (35.1%). In conclusion, the increased survival rates of post-warming pig oocyte treated with Vitri-CB method are firstly described here. The main finding of present study is that the CB treatment during recovery could be helpful to refresh the post-warming pig oocyte resulting its improved survival rates.

This study investigated the fumigant activity of phosphine (PH3) on 2 kinds of mealybug (Pseudococcus longispinus and P. orchidicola (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)) adults and nymphs. All of the two mealybugs adults showed higher LCT99 values than nymphs, and P. longispinus showed higher tolerance than P. orchidicola in a 12 L desiccator. The absorption of phosphine on 13 nursery plants showed 12.2~41.5% difference depending on the plant. All of the mealybugs treated with phosphine 2 mg/L in 0.5 m3 fumigation chamber for 4 h showed 100% fumigant activity, except P. longispinus adult (approximately 90% at bottom part). However, when the exposure time was increased to 24 h, all of them showed 100% mortality. In the treatment of 10 m3 container, the 24 h treatment of phosphine showed 100% mortality to P. longispinus and P. orchidicola adults and nymphs. In all the experiments, no phytotoxicity of phosphine observed on 13 plants until 1 month after treatment.

A combination using phosphine (PH3) and ethyl formate (EF) was performed to compensate for the disadventages (long exposure time and phytotoxicity) of a single substance. P. longisipinus was more susceptible to mixed phosphine and ethyl formate than P. orchidicola in 12 L dessicator. Mortality of mixed treatment was higher than aggregated mortalities that treated individually, so it indicated to have a synergic effect on each other. Ethyl formate was showed higher adsorption rate than phosphine on imported nursery plants and showed differences depending on the plant. P. longispinus and P. orchidicola was showed 100% mortality when phosphine and ethyl formate was treated as 1 g/m3 and 30 g/m3 for 4 hour in 0.5 m3 fumigation chamber and in 10 m3 container. Phytotoxicity was evaluated to mixture of phosphine and ethyl formate at 1 month after treatment.

Most of the expressway concrete pavements in Korea have been constructed with jointed plain concrete pavements. However, the premature failure of joints occurred on some routes and it is considered to be related to the durability of concrete. Korea Expressway Corporation has been continuously devoting efforts to increase the durability of concrete, and recent research has shown that premature failure of jointed plain concrete pavement constructed recently has decreased. The durability of pavement concrete is determined by internal and external factors. Currently, the durability of pavements concrete is controlled by controlling the quantity and the spacing factor of internal air. In this study, the feasibility of evaluating concrete durability through absorption performance tests was examined. The absorption performance was evaluated by applying ASTM C 1585 and modified NBN B 15-215 in Belgium and applied to the pavement concrete mixed in the laboratory or collected on site. Each test is a method to evaluate water absorption performance, but ASTM evaluates the absorption performance through the upper surface and NBN evaluates the absorption performance through the entire surface of specimens. In this study, the absorption performance of the pavement concrete measured according to the test method was compared and the advantages and disadvantages of the performance evaluation method were examined through comparison of test results and procedures. As a result of the absorption performance test on the cores collected at the site, the amount of water absorption in the region where the few premature failure was occurred was relatively small. Also, the specimen of lower water cement ratio absorbed the smaller amount of water. And the small amount of aggregate at the surface showed tendency of the large absorption of the water. The amount of absorption due to the increment of air content showed a moderate increment but it was relatively small. This study has confirmed the possibility of estimating the durability through the evaluation of the absorption performance of concrete. However, further study is needed to extend the results obtained from the test method to the evaluation criteria of pavement concrete.

Roller Compacted Concrete Pavement (RCCP) is placed by roller compaction of a mixture of less cement and unit water content and more aggregates and provides excellent early strength development with the help of interlocking of aggregates and hydration. The unit cement content of RCC pavements accounts for 85% of conventional pavements, with low drying shrinkage. As low drying shrinkage leads to smaller crack widths than ordinary concrete, RCC pavements can help elevate reflecting crack resistance if applied to a base layer of a composite pavement system. In a composite pavement with an asphalt surface laid over a concrete base, pavement temperature change is important in predicting pavement performance. As movement of the lower concrete layer is determined by temperature depending on pavement depth, temperature data of the pavement structure serves as an important parameter to prevent and control reflecting crack. Among the causes of reflecting crack, horizontal behavior of the lower concrete layer and curling-caused vertical behavior of joints/cracks are considered closely related to temperature change characteristics of the lower concrete course (Baek, 2010). Previous studies at home and abroad about reflecting crack have focused on pavement behavior depending on daily and yearly in-service temperature changes of a composite pavement (Manuel, 2005). Until now, however, studies have not been conducted on initial temperature characteristics of concrete in composite pavements where asphalt surface is placed over an RCC base. Annual temperature changes of in-service concrete pavements go up to 60 ℃, and those of asphalt overlays become around the twice at 110 ℃. This study evaluated initial crack behavior of composite pavement by investigating pavement temperature by depth of an RCC base and analyzing joint movement depending on change to temperatures of continuously jointed pavements. Findings from the study suggest that in composite pavements and asphalt overlays, time of laying asphalt has an important impact on crack behavior and reflecting crack.

The present study evaluated the susceptibility of field populations of Plutella xylostella and Spodoptera exigua larvae to four diamide insecticides—chlorantraniliprole, cyantraniliprole, cyclaniliprole, and flubendiamide. All the four diamide insecticides induced 100% mortality in the populations from Seongju (SJ) and Geochang (GC) when treated at a concentration recommended for P. xylostella. However, a very low insecticidal activity was observed in the population from Pyeongchang (PC) with 42.3% 3 d after treatment with chlorantraniliprole. Further, the populations of S. exigua from Cheongju (CJ), Jindo (JD), and Yeonggwang (YG) were not completely controlled by the 4 diamide insecticides. A comparison of susceptibility of S. exigua larvae to chlorantraniliprole between 2014 and 2017 showed that chlorantraniliprole induced 100% mortality in all populations in 2014, whereas a very low insecticidal activity was observed among the populations in 2017. This study can serve as a basis to control pests effectively using diamide insecticides.