The development of thermoelectric (TE) materials to replace Bi2Te3 alloys is emerging as a hot issue with the potential for wider practical applications. In particular, layered Zintl-phase materials, which can appropriately control carrier and phonon transport behaviors, are being considered as promising candidates. However, limited data have been reported on the thermoelectric properties of metal-Sb materials that can be transformed into layered materials through the insertion of cations. In this study, we synthesized FeSb and MnSb, which are used as base materials for advanced thermoelectric materials. They were confirmed as single-phase materials by analyzing X-ray diffraction patterns. Based on electrical conductivity, the Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity of both materials characterized as a function of temperature, the zT values of MnSb and FeSb were calculated to be 0.00119 and 0.00026, respectively. These properties provide a fundamental data for developing layered Zintl-phase materials with alkali/alkaline earth metal insertions.

Background/Aim: The aim of this study was to compare clinical features of hypertriglyceridemia-induced acute pancreatitis (HTGAP) with those of biliary acute pancreatitis (BAP) and alcoholic acute pancreatitis (AAP), respectively. Methods: Medical records of patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) who were admitted to our institution from January 2014 to December 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Disease severity and local complications were evaluated according to the 2012 Revised Atlanta Classification. Systemic complications were evaluated according to the Modified Marshall Scoring System. Results: Of the total 610 patients with AP, those with BAP, AAP, and HTGAP were 310 (50.8%), 144 (23.6%), and 17 (2.8%), respectively. Compared with BAP, HTGAP showed higher proportion of moderately severe acute pancreatitis (MSAP) (64.7% vs. 28.1%, p<0.001) and severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) (17.6% vs. 5.5%, p <0.001). And HTGAP showed more local complications (76.5% vs. 26.8%, p<0.001) and higher recurrence rate (52.9% vs. 6.5%, p <0.001), but there was no significant difference in systemic complications (23.5% vs. 11.6%, p =0.140). Contrarily, there was no significant difference between HTGAP and AAP with respect to disease severity (64.7% vs. 63.9% in MSAP and 17.6% vs. 6.9% in SAP, p =0.181), local complications (76.5% vs. 67.4%, p =0.445), recurrence rate (52.9% vs. 32.6%, p =0.096), and systemic complications (23.5% vs. 11.5%, p =0.233). Conclusions: HTGAP showed higher disease severity, more local complications, and higher recurrence rate than BAP. However, there was no significant difference in clinical features between HTGAP and BAP.

DNA 바코드를 기반으로 하여 외국발 국내 입항 선박에서 검출되는 편승자 해충(hitchhiker insect pests)에 대한 모니터링을 수행하였다. 국내 입항 선박 조사는 2018년 6월 1일부터 2018년 9월 17일까지 약 109일간 111개 선박에 대해 실시하였다. 모니터링 대상 해충은 ‘보고잡기법(simply collecting method by hands)’으로 확보하였으며, 총 336개체 에 대해 종동정을 실시하였다. 그 결과, 확보 해충 중 농림축산검역본부에 ‘관리해충(Regulated insect pest)’으로 등재되어 있는 Noctua pronuba를 포함하여 총 13종 21개체(Amata formosae (Erebidae, Lepidoptera, 1개체), Arippara disticha (Pyralidae, Lepidoptera, 1개체), Chondracris rosea (Acrididae, Orthoptera, 4개체), Cyrtacanthacris tatarica (Acrididae, Orthoptera, 1개체), Euhampsonia serratifera (Notodontidae, Lepidoptera, 3개체), Lemyra rhodophilodes (Erebidae, Lepidoptera, 2개체), Lymantria xylina (Erebidae, Lepidoptera, 1개체), Malacosoma dentata (Lasiocampidae, Lepidoptera, 3개체), Neochauliodes meridionalis (Corydalidae, Megaloptera, 1개체), Noctua pronuba (Noctuidae, Lepidoptera, 1개체), Parasa pastoralis (Limacodidae, Lepidoptera, 1개체), Psilogramma lukhtanovi (Sphingidae, Lepidoptera, 1개체), Syntypistis viridipicta (Notodontidae, Lepidoptera, 1개체))의 국내 미서식종이 채집되었으며, 확보된 21개체 중 15개체는 살아있는 상태로 검출되었다. 특히, 관리해충인 N. pronuba의 경우, 싱가포르에서 광양을 거쳐 포항항으로 입항한 선박에서 검출되었는데, 이 종은 유럽을 비롯하여 중동 및 중앙아시아까지 서식하는 종으로 1990년대 북미 대륙에 침입한 것으로 확인된 바 있다. 이에 따라, N. pronuba를 비롯하여 현 조사에 확인된 국내 미서식 편승자 해충의 편승 유무에 대한 정밀 모니터링 뿐만 아니라 위 종들에 대한 체계적인 위험성 평가 역시 필요할 것으로 사료된다.

A species of Beauveria bassiana is widely used for biological pest management in many countries. Many efforts have been given to figure out the clear fungal mode of action to enhance the insecticidal activity. Homologous recombination (knock-out) or hairpin RNA (knock-down) is popularly used in fungal gene function study, but gene cloning and generation of knock-out or -down mutants takes long time or temporarily knock-downed. Here in this work, we used previously generated egfp-expressing B. bassiana strain (Bb-egfp #3) and integrated dsegfp to the Bb-egfp #3 using a protoplast integration method. This work suggests that protoplast integration with dsRNA possibly generate significantly reduced gene expression in B. bassiana and the reduction is quite stable over generations which provide easy of functional study for fungal mode of action.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of treating dairy cattle with exogenous human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), five (5) days post artificial insemination (AI) on serum progesterone (P4) concentration and pregnancy rate. In this experiment, five days after AI, cows were assigned randomly to two groups namely: a) treated group (67) which were administrered with 1500 IU hCG (Chorulon) and b) control group (61), which received no treatment. On day 5, 10, 15 and 20 after the artificial insemination, blood samples from a total of 8 cows (4 from each group) were collected and were analyzed for serum P4 concentration. Cows were detected for estrus according to standing heat by visual observation. Cows that were detected still in estrus after days 18-24 were re-inseminated and recorded as not pregnant (open). Pregnancy diagnosis was conducted by ultrasonographic examination and transrectal palpation of the uterus on approximately 60 days in cows that observed to be not in estrus. The conception rate in hCG treated and control groups were 52.5 and 36.1%, respectively. The results proved that there were no significant differences in conception rate between two groups (p=0.0568). However, pregnancy rates were reduced by hCG treatment. Average serum P4 concentrations did not differ between Hcg-treated and control groups on day 5 (0.377 versus 0.375 ng/ml). On day 20 serum P4 concentrations were greater in the treated group compared with the control group (3.085 versus 2.010 ng/ml). The treatment with hCG seemed to increase P4 level compared with the control. In conclusion, the results of this study showed that 1500 IU of hCG administered on 5 day post AI increased conception rate in dairy cows. This was supported by the results on serum P4 concentration which was greater in hCG treated group.

Entomopathogenic fungi play an important natural role in regulating their insect host populations, and their ecology was also associated with plant and soil. These microorganisms have been living by reacting to insect, plant and environmental factor. The advanced bioinformatics technology such as next-generation sequencing and RNA sequencing has revolutionized in understanding of entomopathogenic fungi. Recently studies provided a lot of information on evolutionary relationships and virulence-related characteristics. We are starting to know where these microorganisms from is, and how they live in nature. The bioinformatics technology will give us further our understanding of the natural roles of these fungi in nature.

The entomopathogneic fungal colonization has become an interesting issue in ecological pest management. Plant-orientedfungi induce plant growth promotion and act as natural control agents against insect pest. Herein this work, we evaluatedthe ability of fungal colonization on bark, branches and leaves of pine tree (Pinus densiflora) to select optimal candidatesfor controlling Japanese pine sawyer (Monochamus alternatus), which is the pine wilt disease vector in Korea. As a result,some Beauveria and Metarhizium isolates could colonize on the substrates of P. densiflora and showed pathogenicity againstM. alternatus. This result suggests that the selected entomopathogenic fungi are possibly candidates for long-term managementof M. alternatus in pine tree forest.

This study was aimed to evaluate the dose-response the effects of nano-encapsulated conjugated linoleic acids(CLAs) on in vitro ruminal fermentation profiles. A fistulated Holstein cow was used as a donor of rumen fluid. Nano-encapsulated CLAs(LF, 5% of nano-encapsulated CLA-FFA; HF, 10% of nano-encapsulated CLA-FFA; LT, 5% of nano-encapsulated CLA-TG; HT, 10% of nano-encapsulated CLA-TG) were added to the in vitro ruminal fermentation experiment. In the in vitro ruminal incubation test, the total gas production on incubation with nano-encapsulated CLAs was increased significantly according to the incubation time, compared with the control(p<0.05). The tVFA concentrations on addition of LF and HT were significantly higher than that of the control(p<0.05). Thus, nano-encapsulated CLAs might improve the ruminal fermentation characteristics without adverse effects on the incubation process. In addition, the population of Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens which is closely related to ruminal biohydrogenation was increased by adding HT, while decreased by adding LF at 12 h incubation. These results showed that nano-encapsulated CLA-FFA could be applied to enhance CLA levels in ruminants by maintaining the stability of CLA without causing adverse effects on ruminal fermentation profiles considering the optimal dosage.

This study was conducted to estimate the growth parameters of Holstein cows and to compare their growth characteristics based on weight-age data of Holstein cows of 293 heads from National Institute of Animal Science in Korea. Three models(Gompertz, von Bertalanffy and Logistic model) were considered for analyses. The estimated growth functions for Gompertz, von Bertalanffy and Logistic models were Wt=781.0e−2900e−0.09521t,Wt=943.3(1−0.650e−0.06231t)3 and Wt=665.7(1+13.475e−0.18260t)−1 , respectively. The estimated average infection points(ti) showing maximum growth rate were 352.034, 338.181 and 430.987 day of age, respectively, using on Gompertz, von Bertalanffy and Logistic model. Average gain at inflection for Gompertz, von Bertalanffy and Logistic model were estimated 0.878, 0.833 and 0.986 kg/day, respectively. The estimated weight at inflection for Gompertz, von Bertalanffy and Logistic model were 301.5, 279.5 and 332.9 kg, respectively. In the study, the von Bertalanffy model having a variable point of inflection fitted the best for data of Holstein cows.

The objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of two different feeding systems on blood metabolites in Holstein heifers and analyze the economic impacts of the feeding systems. The following two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of feeding system on blood metabolite changes in Holstein heifers and analyze the economic impacts of the two systems. In experiment 1, the effects of two different feeding systems on cortisol, progesterone, and estradiol in Holstein heifers were examined. In experiment 2, the effects of two different feeding systems on the body weights of Holstein heifers and profitability of the two feeding systems were studied. Results showed that the pasture-raised heifers showed significantly decrease in the levels of blood cortisol (p<0.05) and increases in the levels of progesterone and estradiol (p>0.05) when compared with heifers raised in indoor feeding system. The average daily gain was significantly higher (p<0.05) in indoor-raised heifers (0.73 kg/day) as compared to pasture-raised heifers (0.58 kg/day). Also, 25.2% more profits were obtained from the pasture feeding system as compared to the indoor feeding system. These results together would be useful in the investigation of feeding system and growth performance in dairy cattle.

This study investigated the antidiabetic effect of amaranth grain ethanol extract (AEE) in a diabetic animal model, db/db mouse. The mice were divided into 4 groups: normal control mice (C57BL/6J), diabetic mice (C57BL/6J db/db), diabetic mice fed a lower concentration of AEE (0.3 mg/kg), and diabetic mice fed a higher concentration of AEE (0.5 mg/kg). After 10 weeks of treatment, body weights, blood insulin levels and blood glucose levels of each group were compared. At the end of treatment, the results showed that both AEE supplemented groups had lower body weights than those in the diabetic groups although higher than those in the normal groups. Moreover, in both AEE supplemented groups, serum insulin levels were higher and blood glucose levels were lower than those in the diabetic groups although both values were higher than those in the normal groups. The results of this study suggest that AEE can alleviate many of the common symptoms of diabetes in diabetic mice and, therefore, has potential as a therapeutic supplement for normalization of blood glucose and insulin levels in humans.

In order to provide basic data to predict changes of milk components in milk yield, this study was conducted to compare nutritive values of diets collected from organic dairy farms (ODF) and conventional dairy farms (CDF) of Chungnam and Jeonbuk in Korea. The contents of crude fat, crude fiver, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber in diets of ODF were significantly (p<0.05) higher compared to those of CDF. The contents of crude protein and crude ash in ODF were also higher (p<0.05) than those of CDF. The contents of calcium, ferrum, and phosphorus in diets of ODF were similar to those of CDF. The contents of potassium, magnesium, and iodine in diets of ODF were higher (p<0.05) than those of CDF. The contents of total saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in diets of ODF were higher (p<0.05) compared to those of CDF. The contents of oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid in diets of ODF were higher (p<0.05) compared to those of CDF. However, the contents of myristic acid, palmitic acid, and stearic acid in diets of ODF were lower (p<0.05) compared to those of CDF.

DNA methylation is the most common and well-characterized epigenetic change in human cancer. Recently, the association between GATA-binding protein 5 (GATA5) methylation and carcinogenesis of various types of tumors was investigated. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of GATA5 methylation status on clinicopathological features and prognosis in primary non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients with a long-term follow-up period. The GATA5 methylation status was determined for 171 human bladder specimens (eight normal controls [NCs] and 163 primary NMIBC patients) using quantitative pyrosequencing analysis. The primary NMIBC tissues were obtained from patients who underwent transurethral resection (TUR) for histologically diagnosed transitional cell carcinomas between 1995 and 2012 at Chungbuk National University Hospital. GATA5 methylation was significantly higher in NMIBC patients than in NCs and was significantly associated with higher grade and more advanced stage of cancer. Kaplan-Meier estimates showed significant differences in tumor recurrence and progression according to GATA5 methylation status (each p<0.05). Our results show that increased methylation of GATA5 was significantly associated with not only aggressive characteristics but also poor prognosis in primary NMIBC patients. Alteration of GATA5 methylation might be used as a biomarker for prognosis of NMIBC patients. However, prospective and functional investigations are necessary to clarify the role of GATA5 methylation in future clinical management of patients with NMIBC.

Osteonecrosis is defined as non-vital bone tissue as a result of abnormal process of osseous healing, and is caused by several reasons such as infection, radiation, and medication. Osteomyelitis, osteoradionecrosis, and medication related osteonecrosis of the jaws (MRONJ) which have necrotic bone in common are confused clinically due to similar symptoms and radiographic findings, and are difficult to diagnose definitively. Because each disease represents a separate clinical progress and requires a different treatment approach, it is very important to distinguish each disease. The aim of this study was to analyze the histopathologic features of osteomyelitis, osteoradionecrosis, MRONJ and to understand their different pathogenesis.

This study was performed to evaluate antimicrobial resistance of food-borne pathogens isolated from retail meat in Korea. A total of 157 samples of beef, pork, and chicken were collected and analyzed for E. coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter. Resistances to tetracycline were declined in accord with reduced usage of tetracycline in live stock production. E. coli stains from chicken meat had higher multi-drug resistance ratio than strains from other meat. One extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL) producing E. coli and two ESBL producing Salmonella were identified in this study. ESBL producing Salmonella strains were confirmed to carry CTX-M-1 type genes.

This study was performed to evaluate antimicrobial resistance of food-borne pathogens isolated from retail meat in Korea. A total of 157 samples of beef, pork, and chicken were collected and analyzed for E. coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter. Resistances to tetracycline were declined in accord with reduced usage of tetracycline in live stock production. E. coli stains from chicken meat had higher multi-drug resistance ratio than strains from other meat. One extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL) producing E. coli and two ESBL producing Salmonella were identified in this study. ESBL producing Salmonella strains were confirmed to carry CTX-M-1 type genes.

본 연구는 농산부산물을 이용한 발효사료의 급여효과를 알아보기 위해 비육 흑염소의 생산성 및 영양소 이용률을 조사하였다. 증체조사를 위한 사양시험은 거세흑염소 24두를 이용하여 처리구당 6두씩 30일 수행하였고, 소화율시험은 거세흑염소 12두를 공시하여 처리구당3두씩 라틴방각법으로 실시하여, 처리구는 대조구(배합사료 및 볏짚 급여구)와 3개의 시험구(발효사료와 볏짚 급여구)로 각각 배치하였다. 일당증체량은 대조구가 가장 높았고, T3구가 가장 낮았다(p<0.05). 1일 두당 건물섭취량 과 유기물섭취량은 시판사료를 급여한 대조구가 각각 718.8과 680.9 g, 농산부산물 첨가구가각각 634.2~699.2와 602.8~660.4 g으로 나타나농산부산물 중 미강 첨가구가 높을수록 섭취량이 낮아지는 경향으로 나타났다. 건물과 유기물 소화율은 대조구가 농산부산물 첨가구보다유의하게 높았고(p<0.05). 시험구간에는 미강을30% 첨가한 T3구가 가장 낮았다(p<0.05). 질소축적률은 대조구와 T1구가 유의하게 높았다.따라서, 본 연구의 결과 농산부산물을 이용한발효사료(T1과 T2구)는 시판사료를 급여한 대조구와 비교 시 증체는 86~90%, 건물소화율은91.7~93.1%의 수준을 보였으며, 질소이용성은대등한 수준을 보였다. 그러나 미강의 첨가 비율이 높아질수록 사료효율 저하가 우려되므로조지방 함량을 5.0% 이하로 배합하는 것이 필요하다 판단된다.