Variance of conceptus interferon tau (IFNT), produced by the embryonic trophectoderm, is known as a major conceptus protein that signals the process of maternal recognition of pregnancy in ruminants, essential for the maintenance of early pregnancy. Similar to other IFN genes such as IFNA and IFNB, multiple IFNT genes are present. However, some kinds of IFNT genes actively transcribed and regulated in bovine conceptuses have not been well characterized. In this study, during the course of bovine IFNT gene transcription through the use of next generation sequencer SOLiD3, revealed that among 38 IFN genes registered, only two transcripts, IFNT1 and IFNTc1, were found in conceptuses during early pregnancy. Also, to identify a transcription factor(s) involved in the regulation of IFNT genes, mRNAs for various known transcription factors were investigated by real-time PCR in conceptus tissues, respectively. Furthermore, compared to the IFNT genes, IFNT1 and IFNTc1 had same active levels, which were previously shown to correlate with the appearance of effective antiviral activity. However, the expression levels of these Luc activities differed. Bovine ear fibroblast (EF) cells were cotransfected with luciferase reporter constructs carrying upstream (–631 to -51) promoter regions of IFNT1 or IFNTc1 and various transcription factor expression plasmids, CDX2, AP1(JUN), ETS2 and/or cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB)-binding protein (CREBBP). CDX2, either alone with the other 2 transcription factors, was found to increase luciferase activity approximately 14- and 11-folds, respectively. The degree of transcriptional activation of the IFNTc1 gene was not similar to that IFNT1 gene by AP1, ETS2 or/and CREBBP, expression plasmid. These results suggest that two isoforms of bovine conceptus IFNT genes are regulated differently in conceptuses during early pregnancy.

Rotor disc (로터 디스크)는 중대형 유조선에서 유류를 하역하는 장치인 COPT (Cargo Oil Pump Turbine)의 터빈을 고속으로 회전시키는 핵심 부품이다. 이 rotor disc는 중심 shaft에 여러 개의 turbine을 원주상으로 배열하고 체결하여 제작한다. 현재의 제작 방법으로는 turbine blade를 배열하고 shroud 덮개로 연결하여 riveting 방식으로 체결한다. 이런 고전적인 방법은 blade pitch의 불균일은 물론 작업 시 오류로 인해 blade에 손상이 가는 경우가 있다. 이러한 단점을 해결하기 위해서는 조립식의 rotor disc를 설계하여 제작방식을 변경해야 한다. 설계뿐만 아니라 조립식의 disc가 구조적으로 안정한지를 평가해야 한다. 본 논문은 blade의 설계와 이를 조립하였을 때에 구조안전성을 평가하기 위해 구조 해석하여 그 안전성을 검증 한다.

To control an external parasitic mite, a honey bee line possessing high hygienic behavior (HHB) against an external parasitic mite, Varroa destructor, has been bred in South Korea and an assessment method has been necessitated to diagnose HHB line from the low hygienic behavior (LHB) line. Thus, in this study, we developed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers from whole genome sequencing of each 20 worker bees from HHB and LHB lines of A. mellifera ligustica (Hymenoptera: Apidae). An average of 319,445,977 sequence reads was mapped to the known A. mellifera reference genome (an average of 87.46%). In 2,316,128 and 3,266,756 SNPs from each HHB and LHB line, an average of 93.6% and was located in the intergenic spacers and introns, whereas, the remaining 6.4% was located in the genic region, respectively. Among them 20 SNPs that were fixed at each line possessing within-individual homozygosity were selected and each four SNPs were used to diagnose the two honey bee lines either by typical PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism method or allele-specific PCR. The remaining six SNPs had the size difference, enabling relatively easy differentiation between the two honey bee lines on typical agarose gel and another remaining six SNPs only has sequence difference including SNP sites. Thus, these SNP markers can be used to diagnose the honey bee line with HHB from LHB line against V. destructor.

Japanese pine sawyer beetle, Monochamus alternatus Hope (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is considered as a serious pest in pine trees. To develop an eco-friendly strategy to manage this forest insect, we collected entomopathogenic fungi from Korean soil and assessed their virulence against the adults of the insect in laboratory conditions. As a result, two isolates with conidial suspension (1.0×107conidia/ml), showed 87% and 90% mortality 12 days after fungal treatment, respectively. We assessed the potential of the fungi-derived destruxin and protease as additives to the fungal isolates, and they showed insecticidal activity via feeding and spraying treatments. Finally, we produced fungal conidia in massive solid cultures and formulated wettable powders, and now studying optimal conditions of oil-based formulation with two isolates. Based on these results, we are evaluating the control efficacy of the fungal agents against M. alternatus in field conditions.

Modern manufacturing industries is to produce both precise and robust mechanical parts without failure while they are in service. In order to prevent a part failure for its lifetime, a mechanical design for a part should be examined on a basis of mechanical simulation. A nozzle plate, being a key part in steam engines, changes flow directions of steam in a turbine used in power plant. This paper is to the design and test for part safety and durability. Currently, nozzle plates are fabricated by welding nozzles to their plates. Welding causes some defects on the used materials while they are being manufactured. Another major defect is un-even pitches between welded nozzles. Welding causes phase changes because of high melting temperature of metal. This leads to decay on the welding spots, which weakens their structural strength and then, may lead to early damages on mechanical structures. This research proposes assembly-typed nozzle plate without welding. From the beginning, nozzle and plate are designed for insertion-typed assembly. Nozzle head and foot are designed in accordance with the grooves on outer ring and inner ring of a plate to make mating surfaces. Then the nozzle plate should be proved for structural and fatigue safety before they are put in manufacturing. This research adopts commercial softwares for modeling and mechanical simulation. The test result shows that the design with smaller mating area and deeper insertion produces higher safety in terms of structure and durability. From the conclusion, this paper proposes the assembly-typed nozzle plate to replace the welding typed.

Pavement performance usually depends on the pavement’s material property, traffic and environmental conditions. Current pavement design programs such as the Mechanistic Empirical Pavement Design Guide use these factors in assessing the pavement life and performance in terms of different distresses like rutting and fatigue cracking. Theoretically, the cracking and rutting behaviour of pavements are based on accumulated strains experienced by the pavement which is brought by the weight and loading speed of vehicles. A steady state loading device was used in the field to evaluate pavement deflection’s behaviour in varying loading frequencies. It was observed that the pavement deflection increases as the loading frequency also increases until it approaches a certain frequency wherein the deflection decreases thereafter. In this study, a three-dimensional finite element pavement model was established using ABAQUS wherein the effect of the vehicle’s loading frequencies was analysed. The calculated static deflection and stress from the finite element (FE) model were found to have good correlation with the KENPAVE measured deflection and stress. The deflections of different pavement conditions were further studied and analysed by generating several pavement geometries and strength from the FE model using a frequency sweep response analysis. It was found that the geometric condition and the current modulus of the pavement can amplify the pavement deflection by a factor, β, depending on the loading frequency. The peak deflection was found to be occurring when the loading frequency approaches one of the pavement’s natural frequencies. Based on the finding from this study, the natural frequency is an important factor to be considered in designing pavements. Further study is recommended to understand more on how to minimize the effect of natural frequency to pavement life.

In this study, several approaches in evaluating moisture sensitivity of asphalt mixtures were investigated and compared. To evaluate the moisture damage resistance, twenty types of asphalt mixtures with and without anti stripping additives were tested in the laboratory. Uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and indirect tensile (IDT) testing were performed to determine the Tensile Strength Ratio (TSR) and Cohesion Strength Ratio (CSR). Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA) mixtures were found to provide good moisture damage resistance compared to other mixtures. It also does not require anti stripping additives to improve its moisture resistance. Moreover, the correlation coefficient between the TSR test and CSR tests is 0.99 with an average error of 1.5%, which indicates that the TSR test following AASHTO T-283 is still the most reasonable criteria in evaluating the moisture damage of AC mixtures. Marshall Stability Ratio (MSR) and Marshall Stability to Flow Ratio (MSFR) were conducted and were compared to TSR test results. It was found that MSFR value may be used to evaluate the moisture damage resistance of AC mixtures instead of TSR test. Finally, Dynamic Immersion (DI) test was performed to evaluate moisture resistance for loose asphalt mixtures. The DI results showed good correlation also when evaluating moisture resistance compared to TSR. When using DI testing in evaluating moisture resistance, it is recommended to test after 48 hours since it showed higher correlation with the TSR values. Further study is recommended to improve current testing evaluating moisture susceptibility of asphalt mixtures to properly associate it with TSR values.

Japanese pine sawyer, Monochamus alternatus Hope (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in forest is considered as a serious forest pest in pine trees. In this study, we collected entomopathogenic fungi from soil and assessed their virulence against the adults of the inset using a spray method in laboratory condition. Two entomopathogeinc fungi isolates showed high virulence against the adults. In the concentration of 1.0 × 107conidia/ml, the mortality rate of the adults were 53% and 60%. In semi-field condition, one isolate showed a virulence of 60% against the adult. Consequently, we confirmed the possibility of the fungal isolates in controlling the beetles. In near the future, we will investigate several factors which is possibly related to the control of the forest insect pest using entomopathogenic fungi in field conditions, given the importance of fungal formulation and practical application methods.

원전사고 및 시설보수 과정에서 방출되는 방사성물질 중 137Cs은 토양의 주 오염원 중 하나이다. 세슘으로 인한 토양오염은 주민의 거주 및 공업용지로의 재사용을 위해 제염이 불가피하다. 본 연구에서는 다양한 토양복원 기술 중 국내·외에서 실 제 방사성물질로 오염된 토양에 적용한 사례가 있는 토양세척 기술을 선정하였다. 토양세척 공정은 세척제를 사용하여 토양 과 세슘의 표면장력을 약화시켜 토양과 세슘을 분리하는 원리이다. 이러한 토양세척 공정의 세척수 재사용을 통해 공정효율 을 높이고자 세척수에 응집제를 적용하여 미세토양 및 세슘의 제거 성능 실험을 수행하였다. ICP-OES를 통해 세슘 수용액 에 토양을 첨가하여 세슘을 흡착시킨 후 응집제를 첨가하여 세슘의 농도를 측정하였으며 응집제 적용시 최대 세슘 제거율은 약 88%, 최소는 67%였다. Visual MINTEQ Code를 통한 세슘과 토양과의 종결합을 예측하였으며 탁도 측정을 통해 응집제 투여 후 탁도를 측정하여 세척수의 재사용 여부 및 미세토양 제거율을 분석하였다.

커피와 다류에 대한 소비는 전 세계적으로 해마다 증가 하는 추세이며, 한국을 포함하여 아시아권에도 물 다음으로 가장 많은 소비가 이루어지는 음료는 커피와 차(녹차, 케모마일차, 페퍼민트차, 둥글레차, 보이차, 홍차, 대추차) 이다. 본 연구는 국내에서 시판되는 커피전문점의 브랜드 커피 5종과 침출차 20종(녹차 4종, 홍차 3종, 보이차 3종, 케모마일차 3종, 페퍼민트차 3종, 둥글레차 3종, 대추차 1 종), 고형차 2종(대추차 2종)에 대하여 각 음료 1잔에 함유되어 있는 비타민C, 카페인, 총폴리페놀, 플라보노이드 를 분석하였고, 이들의 항산화활성을 측정하여 서로의 상관관계를 살펴보았다. 추가적으로 항산화활성이 높은 커 피와 다류 총 4종을 대상으로 과산화수소(H2O2)로 유도된 산화적 스트레스로부터 세포 보호효과를 평가하여 시판 커피와 다류의 항산화 연구를 위한 기초자료를 확보하고자 하였다. 녹차와 홍차 각각 1잔당 비타민 C 함량은 0.04~ 1.58 mg 이었고 커피와 나머지 차는 비타민 C가 검출되지 않았다. 카페인 함량은 브랜드 커피가 1잔당 150.17~ 202.75 mg으로 다른 종류의 음료보다 높았다. 음료에 함 유된 총 폴리페놀 함량은 gallic acid의 등량값(GAE)으로 표시할 때 브랜드 커피 A(BCA)가 265.54 mg / serving size 으로 가장 높았고, 플라보노이드 함량은 quercetin 등량값 (QE)으로 브랜드 커피 B(BCB)가 12.14 mg / serving size 으로 가장 높았다. 음료 4종(브랜드 커피 A, C 그리고 녹 차 D, 홍차 A) 시료의 농도가 높아질수록 HeLa 세포 내 활성산소종(reactive oxygen species, ROS) 생성 억제효과 및 H2O2의 소거활성이 증가하였다. 본 연구결과 브랜드 커피 및 홍차, 녹차는 각각 1잔당 비타민 C의 등량값으로 590, 330, 300 mg의 항산화능을 가지며, HeLa 세포 내에 서도 활성산소 감소효과가 확인되는 우수한 항산화 음료로 평가되었다.

Chemical pesticides have been used for persimmon pest control, however the overuse caused insect resistance andenvironmental toxicity. Herein this work, we investigated the biological potential of eco-friendly organic pesticides (biologicals)and entomopathogenic fungi in controlling persimmon pests, Stathmopoda masinisaa and Riptortus pedetris. A botanicalmixture of Chinese scholar tree, goosefoot and subtripinnata extract, Bacillus thuringesis NT0423 and one isolate of Beauveriabassiana showed high insecticidal activity against the pests in laboratory conditions. The selected botanical extract andmicroorganism were combined with a chemical pesticide (buprofezin+dinotefuran WP) and were assessed their controlefficacy in persimmon fields. Compared to the three times of chemical spray, the combination of more than one timeof chemical spray and the selected biologicals controlled the persimmon pests with an acceptable levels. Consequentlyone time of biological spray can be integrated to the spray program where only chemicals are strongly considered.

This study was carried out to investigate insect community structure from different habitats in Baengnyeong island.We performed day and night collection at two different habitats (mountain, rural area) of Baengnyeong island from Mayto September in 2015. A total of 2,879 individuals of 404 species, 81 families belonging to 10 orders were collectedand identified. A dominant species was Idisia ornata Pascoe (Tenebrionidae) despite a very low percentage (6.04%) ofthe species among the catches. Results of independent t-test showed a significant high (p<0.001) of species richness onmountain. Also, seasonal results of ANOVA (Analysis of variance) were significantly influential with species abundanceand species richness. The result of NMDS analysis showed that the community structure of the insects from the mountainis different with rural area.

Recently, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) has been widely used in the areas of diagnosis, monitoring treatment efficiency, and prognosis for various heart diseases, especially heart failure (HF). In this paper, we try to estimate the prognostic significance of NT-proBNP as a risk evaluation marker in Non-ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (NSTEMI) patients. We selected NSTEMI patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) primarily using a drug-eluting stent within 24 h after the onset of chest pain. We compared incidences of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) including death, myocardial infarction (MI), stent thrombosis (ST), and target vessel revascularization (TVR) in two patient groups according to a high or low serum concentration of NT-proBNP, which was measured in the emergency room (ER). We intend to minimize selection bias selecting comparing groups, considering covariate of observed variables together using propensity score matching (PSM) and propensity score weighting (PSW) based on propensity score (PS) to control the difference in baseline characteristics between high- and low NT-proBNP groups. We found that as the log NT-proBNP value increases by 1 through a hazard function of COX’s analysis, the risk of MACE increases by 1.312 times. This result indicated that the NT-proBNP level on ER admission can be used as a significant prognostic indicator to estimate 1 year of MACE in NSTEMI patients who were treated with PCI within 24 h after the onset of chest pain.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the complex ankle exercises on balance. 22 participants (male: 14, female: 8) with functional ankle instability were participated. Functional ankle instability was selected to be less than 24 points using the Cumberland ankle instability tool (CAIT) with people who had severe ankle sprain and then experiencing ankle giving way. A total of 20 minutes performed three times a week for four weeks with muscle strength and balance exercises. Muscle strengthening exercise was performed with Theraband, and balance exercise was performed with unstable support plates. Biodex balance systemⓇ was used to measure static and dynamic balance. The dynamic balance was selected in grade 2, 4, and 8. The static and dynamic balance (grade: 2, 4,and 8) balance was significantly decreased in anterior-posterior, and medial-lateral directions (p<.05). The instability was significantly increased after exercise (p<.05). These results suggest that complex exercises are beneficial to decreasing the functional ankle instability.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of respiratory exercise on cardiopulmonary function and muscle activity of rectus abdominis in smokers and non-smokers with elderly people. All the participants were older than 65 years, and twenty non-smokers, and twenty smokers participated. Non-smokers and smokers were randomly divined into 10 feedback breathing exercises (FBE) and a balloonblowing exercise (BBE) group. The FBE and the BBE were performed three times a week for four weeks. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV1), forced expiratory volume at one second/forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC), peak expiratory flow (PEF), and vital capacity (VC) were measured as pulmonary function. EMG was used to measure the activity of the rectus abdominis. In the FBE and BBE groups, FEV1 was significantly lower in non-smokers compared to smokers at two and four weeks (p<.05), FEV1/FVC, PEF and VC were significantly lower in non-smokers compared to smokers to pre-test, two weeks, four weeks and six weeks (p<.05). Muscle activity of rectus abdominis was significantly difference in the BBE group at pre-test, two weeks, four weeks, and six weeks (p<.05). These results suggest that respiratory exercise was effective in improving pulmonary function and rectus muscle activity.

We developed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and are establishing diagnostic systems to distinguish disease resistance- and susceptible-strains of honey bees using the SNPs. For development of SNP markers, whole genome was sequenced each from 20 individuals of “disease resistance-strain” and “susceptible-strain” of Apis mellifera ligustica using the Illumina HiSeq 2000 sequencer. Approximately, 344 and 294 million sequence reads were mapped to the honeybee reference assembly (Amel_4.5) for each strain, respectively. Among the total 2,246,428 SNPs yielded, 33 were found to be fixed between the two strains with all homozygosity. Sixteen of them were casually amplified and sequenced from randomly selected each 10 individual of honey bees from each strain and presented strain specific SNPs. These ten SNPs were used to diagnose the two strains either by original size difference, caused by indel-accompanying SNP, typical PCR-RFLP, or AS PCR.

We sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Vespa velutina nigrithorax and V. ducalis (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). The genomes were 16,475-bp and 15,779-bp long and contained typical sets of genes. The V. velutina and V. ducalis A+T-rich region was 132-bp long and 166-bp long and was the shortest of all sequenced Vespoidea genomes. Start and stop codons in several Vespa species—including V. velutina and V. ducalis—were diversified, despite these species belonging to the same genus. In comparison with the ancestral mitogenomes, Vespa mitogenomes showed substantial gene rearrangement; however, we detected no gene rearrangement among Vespa species. We conducted phylogenetic reconstruction based on concatenated sequences of 13 PCGs and two rRNAs in available species of Vespoidea—22 species in six subfamilies in two families (Vespidae and Formicidae). The Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood (ML) methods revealed that each family formed strong monophyletic groups.

Entomopathogenic fungi are expected to play a role as great biological control agents in the global bio-pesticide market in the future. The first step is the collection of fungal isolates and it should be a platform for the development of highly effective biopesticides. In this work, we constructed a fungal library using a mealworm pathogenecity-based fungal collection method and further characterized some isolates with high virulence. A phylogenetic tree was generated, and of the isolates 17 isolates’ biological features were characterized, such as morphology, virulence against several insect, stability of conidia for heat, production of biologically active materials, such as enzymes. This work reports an attractive entomopathogenic fungal library including the information of effective isolates in pest management.