During the operation of a nuclear power plant (NPP), the generation of radioactive waste, including dry active waste (DAW), concentrates, spent resin, and filters, mandates the implementation of appropriate disposal methods to adhere to Korea’s waste acceptance criteria (WAC). In this context, this study investigates the potential use of polymer concrete (PC) as a high-integrity container (HIC) material for solidifying and packaging these waste materials. PC is a versatile composite material comprising binding polymers, aggregates, and additives, known for its exceptional strength and chemical stability. A comprehensive analysis of PC’s long-term integrity was conducted in this study. First, its compressive strength, which is crucial for ensuring the structural stability of HICs over extended periods, was evaluated. Subsequently, the resilience of PC was tested under various stress conditions, including biological, radiological, thermal, and chemical stressors. The findings of this study indicate that PC exhibits remarkable long-term properties, demonstrating exceptional stability even when subjected to diverse stressors. The results therefore underscore the potential viability of PC as a reliable material for constructing high-integrity containers, thus contributing to the safe and sustainable management of radioactive waste in NPPs.

South Korea has over 0.38 million of managed honey bee (Apis cerana) colonies before 2009 years ago, which produce the highest quantity of honey in the Korea; however, almost colony (90%) were collapsed by Korean Sacbrood Virus (KSBV) in South Korea. Korean Sacbrood Virus (KSBV) is the pathogen of A. cerana Sacbrood disease, which poses a serious threat to honeybee A. cerana, and tends to cause bee colony and even the whole apiary collapse. Colony collapse of A. cerana was first reported on the Pyeong-Chang of the South Korea in 2009. Several scientists and governments has been tried research for cure the sacbrood disease in A. cerana colony by medicines and management techniques. Unfortunately, The sacbrood disease dosen`t improve. So, we were developed a better breed of A. cerana for resistance of sacbrood virus by selection and then artificial insemination. A. cerana breeding technique was first successful applied with A. cerana in Korean. Queens was grafted from sacbrood resistance line and then it was growing in sacbrood disease colony that was survived 100%. Altogether selected 18 queens were artificially inseminated and 2,000 drones of A. cerana in Korea was used to evaluate amount of semen collection. We are select two scabrood resistance A. cerana line (R and H). R line be used for rearing the Queen. Drone was reared in H line colony. The RH hybrid were not infected sacbrood virus even spread sacbrood virus (2×106). RH colonies have very excellent hygienic behavior, brood, and sacbrood disease resistance activity.

The Korea Mushroom Resource Bank (KMRB) was launched as a national research resource bank in 2015 by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning. The main goal of the KMRB is to secure important biological resources, mushroom-forming basidiomycota, significant sources of fundamental and novel substances and materials, as dried specimen, cultures, and genomic DNA. For wider application of fungal resources in education, medicinal and industrial uses, the KMRB will undertake following tasks: 1) Survey natural environments across Korea to catalogue mushroom diversity, 2) Establish resource management system based on accurate identification of mushroom, 3) Evaluate the usefulness of the discovered mushroom, 4) Create a secure preservation and loan system. With a global focus on utilizing natural resources, mushroom resources provide excellent opportunities for academic research, and discovering novel substances for use as medicine and energy.

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.

The Korea Mushroom Resource Bank (KMRB) was launched as a national research resource bank in 2015 by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning. The main goal of the KMRB is to secure important biological resources, mushroom-forming basidiomycota, significant sources of fundamental and novel substances and materials, as dried specimen, cultures, and genomic DNA. For wider application of fungal resources in education, medicinal and industrial uses, the KMRB will undertake following tasks: 1) Survey natural environments across Korea to catalogue mushroom diversity, 2) Establish resource management system based on accurate identification of mushroom, 3) Evaluate the usefulness of the discovered mushroom, 4) Create a secure preservation and loan system. With a global focus on utilizing natural resources, mushroom resources provide excellent opportunities for academic research, and discovering novel substances for use as medicine and energy.

Most known species in the Strophariaceae are decomposers and grow on various kind of organic matter. Approximately 18 genera and 1,316 species in the Strophariaceae have been reported worldwide. Through an ongoing survey of indigenous fungi in Korea, 29 specimens belonging to the Strophariaceae were collected from 2012 to 2016. These specimens were identified based on morphological characteristics and molecular analysis of internal transcribed spacer sequences. Fifteen taxa were confirmed, with eight species matching those previously recorded. Seven species in five genera were shown to be new records in Korea: Galerina marginata, Gymnopilus crociphyllus, Gymnopilus picreus, Hebeloma birrus, Hebeloma cavipes, Pholiota multicingulata, and Psilocybe thaizapoteca. In this study, we provide detailed morphological descriptions of these species and investigate their evolutionary relationships by constructing phylogenetic trees.

The Korea Mushroom Resource Bank (KMRB) was launched as a national research resource bank in 2015 by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning. The main goal of the KMRB is to secure important biological resources, mushroom-forming basidiomycota, significant sources of fundamental and novel substances and materials, as dried specimen, cultures, and genomic DNA. For wider application of fungal resources in education, medicinal and industrial uses, the KMRB will undertake following tasks: 1) Survey natural environments across Korea to catalogue mushroom diversity, 2) Establish resource management system based on accurate identification of mushroom, 3) Evaluate the usefulness of the discovered mushroom, 4) Create a secure preservation and loan system. With a global focus on utilizing natural resources, mushroom resources provide excellent opportunities for academic research, and discovering novel substances for use as medicine and energy.

The Korea Mushroom Resource Bank (KMRB) was launched as a national research resource bank in 2015 by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning. The main goal of the KMRB is to secure important biological resources, mushroom-forming basidiomycota, significant sources of fundamental and novel substances and materials, as dried specimen, cultures, and genomic DNA. For wider application of fungal resources in education, medicinal and industrial uses, the KMRB will undertake following tasks: 1) Survey natural environments across Korea to catalogue mushroom diversity, 2) Establish resource management system based on accurate identification of mushroom, 3) Evaluate the usefulness of the discovered mushroom, 4) Create a secure preservation and loan system. With a global focus on utilizing natural resources, mushroom resources provide excellent opportunities for academic research, and discovering novel substances for use as medicine and energy. PⅣ-2

Calla lily is a mainstream floricultural crop but itscommercial success is limited by severe susceptibility to softrot. This disease can be controlled to some extent by imple-menting appropriate cultural practices but developing resis-tant cultivars against this pathogen is the most promisinglong-term strategy. The purpose of this work was to developnew cultivars resistant to this bacterial disease by initiatingan appropriate breeding programme. Field observations of120 resistant lines selected by a leaf-disk susceptibility testwere carried out and survival rates were measured. Twolines were selected after further evaluation of resistancelevel, flowering characteristics and following guidelines forconduct of tests for distinctness, homogeneity, and stability.Further preference testing of the selected lines by growers,consumers, researchers and agricultural advisors was car-ried out with excellent results. The selected new lines are‘Silky White’ and ‘Mont Blanc’ which emerge as the first,soft-rot resistant calla lily cultivars from our breeding program.

Background and Purpose: The Ankle-Brachial Index (ABI) is the ratio of blood pressure in the lower legs to that in the arms. The intima-media thickness (IMT) of extracranial carotid arteries determined by B-mode ultrasound is a measurable index of the presence of atherosclerosis. A low ABI and a high carotid IMT are independently related to increased risk of cardiovascular events. This study examined the association between carotid IMT and ABI in patients with ischemic stroke. Materials and Methods: Retrospectively, 116 hospitalized patients with ischemic stroke were recruited. Using a pulse wave velocity ABI device along with carotid duplex sonography, we measured carotid IMT and ABI and investigated the correlation between average values. Results: There was a significant difference in carotid IMT between the normal and abnormal ABI groups (P=0.0262). The group with an abnormal ABI was more than five times as likely to have increased carotid IMT as the group with a normal ABI (age, sex-adjusted OR 5.67 (95% CI 1.85~17.38)). The ABI and carotid IMT showed a weak inverse linear correlation in patients with ischemic stroke (correlation coefficient −0.378 after adjusting for age and sex). Conclusion: Our study suggests that an abnormal ABI is associated with a high carotid IMT in patients with ischemic stroke.

Bacterial soft rot is one of the major disease of Zantedeschia species (Calla lily) caused by Erwinia carotovora. The objectives of this study were i) to screen the most efficient method to determine resistance level against E. carotovora and ii) to evaluate the genetic variability in Zantedeschia genotypes by inoculation of Ecc NHRI-3 and PD 1784 isolates. Four screening tests i.e. leaf disk, petiole, tuber and tuber slice tests were used to determine the resistance level in calla lily. Eleven genotypes from section Zantedeschia were used for variation studies against E. carotovora by using the leaf disk test. It was observed that all genotypes showed variation in resistance level and could be categorized in 3 groups on the basis of their resistance level. Four of the genotypes were resistant against this pathogen whereas, 6 genotypes were moderately resistant and only one genotype was found susceptible. Within section Aestivae, ‘Galaxy’, ‘Florex Gold’, ‘Treasure’ and ‘Mango’ were found very susceptible cultivars, whereas ‘Coral Sunset’, ‘Hazel Marie’ and ‘Neroli’ were less susceptible genotypes. Most of the cultivars from section Aestivae were susceptible to bacterial soft rot and the cultivar ‘Florex Gold’ was identified as susceptible control. It is suggested to perform pre-screening through leaf disk method which proved to a non-destructive test. The pre-screening evaluation can discriminate susceptible cultivar and resistant cultivar. Tuber slice test is more useful in screening subsequent genotypes at a later growth stage in any breeding program.

To product the blue fluorescent protein (AmCyan) expressed cocoon, we were fused AmCyan cDNA to the heavy chain gene and injected the gene into a silkworm. AmCyan was one of the existing violet fluorochromes and originally derived from the fluorescent protein amFP486. AmFP486 was cloned from the sea anemone Anemonia majano (GenBank accession number AF168421), and belongs to the family of fluorescent proteins (FPs) isolated from coral reef organisms. The AmCyan fusion protein, each with N- and C- terminal sequences or the fibroin H-chain, were designed to be secreted into the lumen of the posterior silk glands. The expression of the AmCyan/H-chain fusion gene was regulated by the fibroin H-chain promoter. The use of the 3xP3 EGFP as a marker allowed us to rapidly distinguish transgenic silkworm. Mixtures of the donor and helper vectors were micro-injected into 300 eggs of bivoltine silkworms (Baegokjam). EGFP fluorescence was observed in 3 broods of transgenic silkworms under a florescence stereomicroscope. The cocoon was displayed strong blue fluorescence, proving that the fusion protein was present in the cocoon. Accordingly, we suggest that the AmCyan gene expressed cocoon will be enable the production of the novel biomaterials based on the transgenic silk.

BmCecB1 are antimicrobial peptides from Bombyx mori and belongs to cecropin family. Antimicrobial peptides are important components of the innate immune systems in all living organism. This peptide has antibacterial activity against several Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. To produce the BmCecB1 antimicrobial peptide, we constructed transgenic silkworm that expressed BmCecB1 gene under the control BmA3 promoter using piggyBac vector. The use of the 3xP3-driven EGFP cDNA as a marker allowed us to rapidly distinguish transgenic silkworm. Mixtures of the donor vector and helper vector were micro-injected into 600 eggs of bivoltin silkworms, Baegokjam. In total, 49 larvae (G0) were hatched and allowed to develop into moths. The resulting G1 generation consisted of 22 broods, and we selected 2 broods containing at least 1 EGFP-positive embryo. The rate of successful transgenesis for the G1 broods was 11%. We identified 9 EGFP-positive G1 moths and these were backcrossed with wild-type moths. With the aim of identifying a BmCecB1 as antimicrobial peptide, we investigated the Radical diffusion Assay (RDA) and then demonstrated that BmCecB1 possesses high antibacterial activities against Gram-negative bacteria.

Immune-inducible antimicrobial peptides were produced using transgenic silkworms that expressed Rel family transcription factor, truncated BmRelish1 (BmRelish1t) genes under the control of the BmA3 promoter using the piggyBac vector. BmRelish1t gene contains all domains of Bmrelish: a Rel homolog domain (RHD), nuclear localization signal (NLS), acidic and hydrophobic amino acids (AHAA) rich region except the Ankyrin repeat domain (ANK) and the death domain (DD). (1:1) Mixtures of the donor vector (pG-3xP3EGFP-BmA3BmRelish1t) and helper vector were micro-injected into 1,800 eggs of bivoltin silkworms, Baegokjam and EGFP-induced fluorescence was observed for 25 broods of transgenic silkworms under a florescence stereomicroscope. Analysis by real-time PCR indicated that transgenic silkworms expressing BmRelish1t recombinant proteins displayed higher mRNA expression levels of the Bombyx mori antimicrobial peptides such as lebocin, moricin, and nuecin than the normal silkworms. Moreover, transgenic silkworms expressing BmRelish1t showed antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli. We suggest that transgenic expression of BmRelish1t may find useful applications for the production of various antimicrobial peptides at the same time in transgenic silkworms.

Silkworm transgenesis is now a routine method leading to a satisfactory yield of transformed animals and the reliable expression of transgenes during multiple successive generations. However, the screening of G1 transgenic individuals from numerous progeny has proved to be difficult and time-consuming work. Previously, we characterized the promoter of heat shock protein 70 from Bombyx mori (bHsp70), which is ubiquitously expressed in all tissues and developmental stages. To investigate the utilization of the bHsp70 promoter to screen transgenic individuals, the EGFP marker gene was inserted into the piggyBac vector under the control of the bHsp70 promoter. Mixtures of the donor and helper vectors were micro-injected into 3,060 eggs of bivoltine silkworms (Keomokjam). EGFP fluorescence was observed in 17 broods of transgenic silkworms under a florescence stereomicroscope. Interestingly, this fluorescent marker protein was detected not only in parts of the embryo segments on the seventh day of the G1 embryonic developmental stage but it was also detected in a part of the body of G1 hatched larvae, in the middle silk gland of G1 fifth instar larvae, and in the wings of seven-day-old G1 pupae and G1 moths. Therefore, we suggest that the bHsp70 promoter can be used for the rapid and simple screening of transgenic silkworms.