Bilobalide isolated from the leaves of Ginkgo biloba has several pharmacological activities such as neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, and anticonvulsant. However, the effect of bilobalide on cancer has not been clearly established. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of bilobalide on cell growth and apoptosis induction in FaDu human pharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. This was examined by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, nuclear 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride staining, DNA fragmentation analysis, and immunoblotting. Bilobalide inhibited the growth of FaDu cells in dose- and time-dependent manners. Treatment with bilobalide resulted in nuclear condensation and DNA fragmentation in FaDu cells. Furthermore, it promoted the proteolytic cleavage of procaspase-3/-7/-8/-9 with increase in the amount of cleaved caspase-3/-7/-8/-9. Bilobalide-induced apoptosis in FaDu cells was mediated by the expression of Fas and the activation of caspase-8, caspase-3, and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase. Immunoblotting revealed that the antiapoptotic mitochondrial protein Bcl-2 was downregulated, but the proapoptotic protein Bax was upregulated by bilobalide in FaDu cells. Bilobalide significantly increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. These results suggest that bilobalide inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in FaDu human pharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma via both the death receptor-mediated extrinsic apoptotic pathway and the mitochondrial-mediated intrinsic apoptotic pathway.

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.

These days, costumes of Korean creative dancing performances have been changed to be modernized and to be out of traditional regulation, as the representation of the Korean styles were replaced by other props and art devices. In this article, we have applied the emotions expressed in Jin-Yi Hwang’s sijos (Korean traditional poems), to Korean creative dancing costumes in modern style. chose three typical sijos from her six pieces, titled “Green mountain is like what I’ve meant”, “To Byeokgyesoo in Cheongsan-ri” and “Dongjibam ginaginbam”. In brief, Jin-Yi Hwang expressed her “everlasting love and emptiness”, “temptative conciliation” and “eager waiting” these three sijos, respectively. The character of Jin-Yi Hwang was shown in many TV soap operas and films, and the costumes were either much modernized, and not accurately based on the sijos she had written. Thus, we designed, made flat sketched, and fabricated three Korean creative dancing costumes from the three sijos, listed. We tried to highlight the aesthetic impression and the activeness of the dancing costumes, using both traditional and modern Korean fabrics. Since Korean dance costumes had not yet been inspired from Jin-Yi Hwang’s sijos, we discussed the importance of the fabric items, as well as the visual, auditory, and tactile characteristics of the costumes and dancers to emphasize Jin-Yi Hwang’s expressed emotions.

Whitefly (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) pests, including the sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, and the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum, are economically important in agriculture. With the annual growth of the domestic fresh fruit export market, various quarantine treatment methods are being used to export strawberries of better quality. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of ionizing radiations (electron beam, X-ray, gamma-ray) on the development and reproduction of two species of whitefly and to determine the optimal dose of three ionizing radiations for the construction of quarantine technology applicable to strawberry export.

The cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, is an economically important pest, which harms various kinds of important agricultural crops, such as tomato. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of ionizing radiations (electron beam, X-ray, gamma-ray) on the development and reproduction of H. armigera and to determine the optimal dose of three ionizing radiations for the construction of quarantine technology applicable to tomato export.

The fumigation toxicity of carbonyl sulfide to T. castaneum as a storage grain pest was evaluated. Carbonyl sulfide (COS) is registered in Australia for microorganism present in soil, root and fertilizer. the fumigation activity of carbonyl sulfide was investigated in 12 L desiccator for 24 h exposure to eggs, larvae, pupae, adults of T. castaneum. Eggs and pupae were showed 87.3% and 95.6% mortality for 25 mg/L of COS, respectively. Larvae and adults were investigated with 80.0% and 100.0% mortality at 15 mg/L treatment, respectively. Therefore, the eggs of T. castaneum showed the highest tolerance to COS.

The fumigation activity of phosphine (PH3) to T. castaneum as a storage grain pest was evaluated. The lethal concentration time (LCT) value of each developmental stage (egg, early larva, late larva, pupa and adult) of T. castaneum was analyzed in 12 L desiccator. At the T. castaneum larva stages, exposure for 4 h showed low LCT value, especially in early stage larvae (LCT99 = 0.32 mg·h/L) which is very high susceptibility to PH3. However, T. castaneum eggs were observed very high tolerance to PH3 at LCT99 77.47 mg·h/L. Therefore, the fumigant activity of PH3 against T. castaneum can be found to be significantly different depending on developmental stage.

The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae), is one of the most important pest species, because it devastates many horticultural and ornamental crops and fruit trees. The resistance ratios calculated for the LC50 value in acequinocyl- and pyridaben-resistant strain was 4,237- and 5,555-fold higher than that of the susceptible strain, respectively. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cross-resistance to several acaricides and to identify the mechanisms associated with acequinocyl- and pyridaben-resistant strain of T. urticae.

Mosquitoes are the most important medical species by transmitting some of deadly infectious diseases to human. Established vector control methods involving the elimination of larval habitats, the use of physical barriers, or those involving insecticides are not sufficient to maintain the populations of these species below the epidemic risk threshold. The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a species-specific, non-polluting and environmentally benevolent method of insect control. This technique involves the release of massive numbers of artificially-reared sterile male insects that, due to their abundance, outcompete fertile wild males for mating opportunities with wild female insects. In this study we discuss optimization of the sterilization process and present a simple model and procedure for determining the optimum dose.