We have conducted a verification test of correlation between bird community indices and bird sound recording results in order to use the equipment which deals with the automatic sound collecting system, the song meter. The study areas include four sites which are Gombaeryoung and Zochimryoung in Jeombongsan Mountain and Jookryoung and Gochiryoung in Sobaeksan National Park. We collected the bird sound data five times using a sound recorder and field survey results in the same place of the study site. As a result of the sound recording from the field survey, the species recorded by three researchers of sound analyst include common resident species or species which have a relatively conspicuous call and song. On the contrary, the species recorded by only one researcher are a relatively rare or inconspicuous species or was familiar with the personal experiences of each researcher. The number of species recorded by only one researcher totaled fourteen species (36.8 %), and that of two researchers totaled twelve species (31.6 %), and that of three researchers totaled twelve species (31.6 %). The correlations of the number of species among three researchers was not significant in some results, but the sum or maximum count of the number of species was useful to estimate a significant correlation between the result of researchers and the indices of field surveys. As a result of correlation analysis by using sound recordings, the maximum number of species among the three researchers significantly correlated with the number of species, the species diversity index and the species abundance index in the field survey at the same site, however it did not correlate with the number of individuals and species evenness index. As a result of sound analysis collected from the stationary sound recording system; song meter, the number of frequencies in bird songs and calls correlated with the number of species in the field survey at the same site. The number of calls and songs decreased as time went by. Finally, we could test the active time range and change the activity strength by using a sound recording system. In particular, that sound recording system is able to collect data in same time and site, so it is expected so that the equipment not only replenish a shortage of researchers and survey periods in field research in a short term monitoring survey, but also be able to acquire statistical objectivity.

UBV I CCD photometry is obtained for the open clusters NGC 4609 and Hogg 15 in Crux. For NGC 4609, CCD data are presented for the first time. From new photometry we derive the reddening, distance modulus and age of each cluster - NGC 4609 : E(B-V ) = 0.37 ± 0.03, V0 - MV=10.60 ± 0.08, log τ = 7.7 ± 0.1; Hogg 15 : E(B - V ) = 1.13 ± 0.11, V0 - MV = 12.50 ± 0.15, log τ ≲ 6.6. The young age of Hogg 15 strongly implies that WR 47 is a member of the cluster. We also determine the mass function of these clusters and obtain a slope Γ = -1.2 (±0.3) for NGC 4609 which is normal and a somewhat shallow slope (Γ =-0.95 ± 0.5) for Hogg 15.

The microstructure and electrical conductivity of CNTs dispersed nanocomposites depending on the powder processing and CNTs content were demonstrated. The composite powders with homogeneous dispersion of CNTs could be synthesized by a catalytic route for direct formation of CNTs on nano-sized Fe dispersed powders. The sintered nanocomposite using the composite powder with directly synthesized CNTs showed homogeneous microstructure and enhanced elelctrical conductivity. The influence of powder processing on the properties of sintered nanocomposites was discussed by the observed microstructural features.

Antimicrobial activities of methanol, ethanol, water, and CH2Cl2 extracts from Fritillaria unibracteata Hsiao et K.C. Hsia and F. ussuriensis Maxim. were investigated by disk-agar diffusion method. The result showed comparatively strong antimicrobial activity against several microorganisms. The extracts from F. unibracteata and F. ussuriensis dosedependently increased the activity. However, water and CH2Cl2 extracts showed no antimicrobial activity against 7 microorganisms. Especially, against the most sensitive microorganism Staphylococcus epidermidis, methanol extracts at highest concentration of 20 mg/mL exhibited the largest clear zone on plate by 6-12 mm and ethanol extracts on plate by 6-10 mm.

Eleutherococcus senticosus Maxim. has been successfully used as an oriental medicine for various diseases including allergic disorders. Histamine is a major factor on various allergic responses and it is reported that histamine was released from mast cells by sensitization of allergens. In this study, ethanol extracts from E. senticosus Maxim. were prepared and the composition was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. The eleutheroside B as a primary effective component of E. senticosus was contained approximately 225 mg/kg in root bark extracts. The extracts were found to significantly inhibit compound 48/80-induced histamine release form mast cells in dose dependent manner. However the extracts had low cytotoxicity on the mast cells with MTT assay. These results showed that E. senticosus Maxim. extracts may be the effective materials on inflammatory disorders.