The purpose of this study is to observe the effect of elasticity of taping on ankle muscles’activity and endurance after plyometric training that easily causes ankle injury, and provide baseline data for physical therapy intervention methods. The study subjects are 24 male students in their 20s who attend N University in Choongnam. They were divided into three groups; 8 subjects in the elastic taping group, 8 in the non-elastic taping group, and 8 in the non-taping group(control group). They had plyometric training for 6 weeks. After the training, this study measured their maximum voluntary isometric contraction(MVIC) and muscle endurance of the muscles around ankle joint. The experiment result is as follows. After the training, all three groups showed improvement in muscle strength and endurance. The elastic taping group showed insignificant improvement in muscle strength but significant increase in muscle endurance in plantarflexion. In dorsiflexion, both muscle strength and endurance increased significantly. The non-elastic taping group showed insignificant improvement in muscle strength but significant increase in muscle endurance in plantarflexion. Taping during plyometric training had a little or insignificant effect on muscle endurance and strength compared to the non-taping group.

Periodontitis is an inflammatory disorder of the periodontium, characterized by destruction of the tooth supporting tissues including alveolar bone and mediated by various pro-inflammatory mediators. Here, we demonstrated that HP08-0106, composed of four crude drugs-Gardenia jasminoides Grandiflora, Angelica gigas Nakai, Rehmannia glutinosa, and Schizonepeta tenuifolia in a weight ratio of 2:2:1:2, perturbs inflammatory responses, osteoclast formation in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells and alveolar bone resorption in ligature-induced periodontitis. HP08-0106 decreased the protein level of iNOS and COX2 as well as the secreted level of IL-1β, indicating that HP08-0106 has antiinflammatory effects. HP08-0106 also inhibited the expression of genes associated with osteoclastogenesis including c-Fos, MMP-9 and TRAP. Moreover, HP08-0106 exhibited a protective effect from alveolar bone loss in ligature-induced periodontitis animal models. Our results strongly suggest that HP08-0106 represent an important therapeutic tool to treat inflammatory disorders associated with bone loss such as periodontitis.

Lycorma delicatula, once mistakenly reported its occurrence in Korea, is now suddenly common in western Korea, due to its recent arrival from China and their subsequent settlement. A history of name changes in two fulgorid species, Lycorma delicatula and Limois emelianovi is reviewed. We propose to use 꽃매미 instead of its temporary name, 주홍날개꽃매미 for Lycorma delicatula, and, based on the ICZN code 32.5.1, to use Limois emelianovi instead of Limois emeljanovi for 희조꽃매미.

The stem cell research is emerging as a cutting edge topic for a new treatment for many chronic diseases. Recently, dental stem cell would be possible for regeneration of tooth itself as well as periodontal tissue. However, the study of the cell characterization is scarce. Therefore, we performed the genetic profiling and the characterization of mouse fetus/neonate derived dental tissue and cell to find the identification during dental development. We separated dental arch from mandibles of 14.5 d fetal mice and neonate 0 d under the stereoscope, and isolated dental cells primarily from the tissues. Then, we examined morphology and the gene expression profiles of the primary cells and dental tissues from fetus/neonate and adult with RT-PCR. Primary dental cells showed heterogeneous but the majority was shown as fibroblast-like morphology. The change of population doubling time levels (PDLs) showed that the primary dental cells have growth potential and could be expanded under our culture conditions without reduction of growth rate. Immunocytochemical and flow cytometric analyses were performed to characterize the primary dental cell populations from both of fetus (E14.5) and neonate. Alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), vimentin, and von Willebrand factor showed strong expression, but desmin positive cells were not detected in the primary dental cells. Most of the markers were not uniformly expressed, but found in subsets of cells, indicating that the primary dental cell population is heterogeneous, and characteristics of the populations were changed during culture period. And mesenchymal stem cell markers were highly expressed. Gene expression profile showed Wnt family and its related signaling molecules, growth factors, transcription factors and tooth specific molecules were expressed both fetal and neonatal tissue. The tooth specific genes (enamelin, amelogenin, and DSPP) only expressed in neonate and adult stage. These expression patterns appeared same as primary fetal and neonatal cells. In this study we isolated primary cells from whole mandible of fetal and neonatal mice. And we investigated the characteristics of the primary cells and the profile of gene expressions, which are involved in epithelial-mesenchymal interactions during tooth development. Taken together, the primary dental cells in early passages or fetal and neonatal mandibles could be useful stem cell resources.

The Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), a dedicated regional Japanese satellite system currently under development, was designed to complement the performance of the Global Positioning System (GPS). The high elevation angle of the QZSS satellite is expected to enhance the effectiveness of GPS in urban environments. Thus, the work described in this paper, aimed to investigate the effect of QZSS on GPS performance, by processing the GPS and QZSS measurements recorded at the Bohyunsan reference station in South Korea. We used these data, to evaluate the satellite visibility, carrier-to-noise density (C/No), performance of single point positioning, and Dilution of Precision (DOP). The QZSS satellite is currently available over South Korea for 19 hours at an elevation angle of more than 10 degrees. The results showed that the impact of the QZSS on users’ vertical positioning is greatest when the satellite is above 80 degrees of elevation. As for Precise Point Positioning (PPP) performance, the combined GPS/QZSS kinematic PPP was found to improve the positioning accuracy compared to the GPS only kinematic PPP.

A freesia (Freesia hybrida Hort.) ‘Cutie Red’ was developed for the pot flower in the National Institute of Horticultural Herbal Science in 2014. This hybrid was crossed and selected from a seedling of three-way crossing the seedling of ‘Volcano’ and ‘Sailor’ with ‘Figaro’, and ‘Suzy’ in 2006 and 2010, respectively. Morphological characteristics of the selected freesia hybrid were investigated for 3 years from 2011 to 2013, and then it was named ‘Cutie Red’ in 2014. ‘Cutie Red’ has single and red petals (RHS, R45A) with yellow-orange color of center (RHS, YO21B). The average flower width is 5.3 cm and the average yield is 4. The growth of the plant is vigorous and the average height is 70.3 cm, and it is shorter than about 15.4 cm that of control cultivar ‘Red Race’. The average number of floret per stalk and stalk length, 10.7, and the stalk was 9.6 cm length, shorter than ‘Red Lace’, 13 and 11.7 cm length, respectively. The first flowering, in avarage, of ‘Cutie Red’ takes about 141 days, and it’s average vase life and yield is 9.7 days and 5 cormlets per plant, respectively.

Recently there are increasing numbers of people participating in sports activities. Accordingly, the rate of sports injuries is increasing as well. In this light, this study was conducted to investigate the extent of acute damage and its forms by examining the current state of patients with sports injuries. This research study was conducted between January of 2008 and December of 2010 in Chosun University Hospital through retrospective review of the medical records of patients with sportsrelated injuries. The total number of patients with sports injuries who visited the emergency center was 887. The number of male patients was 726 (81.85%), far more than the number of female patients (18.15%). More than half of the patients, accounting for 419 (47.23%), had injuries on their face; second and common parts, in which injuries occurred, were upper and lower body, accounting for 146 (16.45%) and 193 (21.75%), respectively. The majority of patients did not undergo surgical treatment. Only 113 (12.73%) patients underwent surgical treatment. In addition, more than 80% of them were not hospitalized but 170 of them needed to be hospitalized. Most sports injuries occurred in young male patients. This can interrupt participation in sports activities for a long time and result in lower quality of life. Hence proper preventative measures and scientific treatment methods are needed.

A freesia (Freesia hybrida Hort.) ‘Song of Angel’ was developed for the cut flower in the National Institute of Horticultural Herbal Science in 2013. This hybrid was crossed and selected from a seedling of three-way crossing ‘Golden Flame’ and the seedling of ‘Athene’ and ‘Yvonne’ in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Morphological characteristics of the selected freesia hybrid were investigated for 5 years from 2008 to 2012, and then it was named ‘Song of Angel’ in 2013. ‘Song of Angel’ has single flower and yellow petals (RHS, YG13B) with yellow center color (RHS, YG13A). The average flower width is 5.8 cm and the average yield is 4.3. The growth of the plant shows vigorous and the average height is 95.3cm, and it is higher than about 30cm that of control cultivar ‘Yvonne’. The average number of floret per stalk and stalk length, 14.3, and stalk was 11.1 cm length is higher than the ‘Yvonne’, 9.7 and 8.3cm length, respectively. The average days to first flowering of ‘Song of Angel’, 141 days, was approximately 10 days earlier than the control cultivar. It’s average vase life and yield is 10.7 days and 6.2 cormlets per plant, respectively.

UDP-glucose 4-epimerase (UGE) catalyzes the reversible conversion of UDP-glucose to UDP-galactose. To understand the biological function of UGE from Brassica rapa, the gene hereinafter referred to as was cloned and overexpressed into Japonica rice cv. Gopum. Transcriptional profiling showed that the is specific to stem of rice plant. Morphological evaluation of the overexpression lines revealed altered phenotype characters particularly in panicle length, number of productive tillers and filled spikelets which account for an increase in yield. This remarkable agronomic performance was ascribed to higher photosynthetic rate complemented with higher CO2 assimilation. Interestingly, BrUGE1 did not only improve plant fitness under optimal condition but also under water deficit stress. The enhanced drought tolerance may be due to the induction of soluble sugar which may act as osmolyte to compensate dehydration during drought stress.

Glutamine synthetase (GS) is an enzyme that plays an essential role in the metabolism of nitrogen by catalyzing the condensation of glutamate and ammonia to form glutamine. Exposure of plants to cadmium (Cd) has been reported to decrease GS activity in maize, pea, bean, and rice. To better understand the function of the GS gene under Cd stress in rice, we constructed a recombinant pART vector carrying the GS gene under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter and OCS terminator and transformed using Agrobacterium tumefaciens. We then investigated GS overexpressing rice lines at the physiological and molecular levels under Cd toxicity. The GS activity along with mRNA expression were found higher in transgenic than in wild type plants. And this is validated by the low malondialdehyde contents observed 10 days after treatment. GS overexpression in rice resulted in the modulation of expression of enzymes responsible for membrane peroxidation, which may result in the sudden death of plants. Our results thus describe the features of a transgenic rice plants with enhanced tolerance to Cd toxicity.

Agastache rugosa, a member of the mint family (Labiatae), is a perennial herb widely distributed in East Asian countries. It is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of cholera, vomiting, and miasma. This study assessed the genetic diversity and population structures on 65 accessions of Korean mint A. rugosa germplasm based on inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. The selected nine ISSR primers produced reproducible polymorphic banding patterns. In total, 126 bands were scored; 119 (94.4%) were polymorphic. The number of bands generated per primer varied from 7 to 18. A minimum of seven bands was generated by primer 874, while a maximum of 18 bands was generated by the primer 844. Six primers (815, 826, 835, 844, 868, and 874) generated 100% polymorphic bands. This was supported by other parameters such as total gene diversity (HT) values, which ranged from 0.112 to 0.330 with a mean of 0.218. The effective number of alleles (NE) ranged from 1.174 to 1.486 with a mean value of 1.351. Nei's genetic diversity (H) mean value was 0.218, and Shannon's information index (I) mean value was 0.343. The high values for total gene diversity, effective number of alleles, Nei's genetic diversity, and Shannon's information index indicated substantial variations within the population. Cluster analysis showed characteristic grouping, which is not in accordance with their geographical affiliation. The implications of the results of this study in developing a strategy for the conservation and breeding of A. rugosa and other medicinal plant germplasm are discussed.