Hedgehog (Hh) pathway plays a key role in development from invertebrate to vertebrate. It is known to be involved in cell differentiation, polarity, proliferation, including the development of vertebrate limb and the establishment of flies’ body plan. To investigate how the regulation of Hh pathway affects the development of parthenogenetic murine embryos, the parthenogenetically activated murine embryos were treated with either cyclopamine (Cyc), an antagonist of Hh pathway, or purmorphamine, an agonist of Hh pathway. While Cyc did not affect the blastocyst formation and its total cell number, the chemical reduced the hatching rate of embryos and the expression levels of Fn1 mRNA. The results of the present study show the possibility that Cyc may affect the development of embryos at blastocyst stage by blocking Hh pathway and this may cause detrimental effect to the embryos at peri-, and post-implantation stages.

Streptomyces has been reported to produce various secondary metabolites which have the potential to become environmentally safe insecticides. In this study, 1,274 streptomyces culture filtrates were screened for their JHAN activity in order to identify novel insecticidal compounds. 34 isolates with high levels of JHAN activity were selected, and their insecticidal activities were tested against Plutella xylostella larvae. Among them, IMBL-263 which was revealed to be Streptomyces anulatus by 16s rRNA sequencing showed the highest insecticidal activity. Also, systemic activities of secondary metabolites extracted from the S. anulatus on plant, Brassica napus, were investigated. These results suggested that secondary metabolites from the S. anulatus might be useful for development of novel environmentally benign insecticides.

Plant essential oils have been reported to show repellent, insecticidal and growth-reducing effect on many insect herbivores. Recently, it has been reported that plants synthesize secondary metabolites regulating insect juvenile hormone (JH) receptor complex as a part of their defense mechanisms. We tested 180 plant essential oil compounds using a yeast two-hybrid system transformed with the Aedes aegypti JH receptor as a reporter system. Among them, we identified 17 compounds that showing high JH agonist (JHA) or antagonist (JHAN) activities. They were grouped into 4 groups by their structural similarity and their insecticidal activity was tested against larvae of Aedes albopictus, Plutella xylostella, Plodia interpunctella and Laodelphax striatellus. These results could provide insights on the plant-insect coevolution and may be useful for the development of insect specific and safe pesticides.

This study aims to reveal the impact of continuous antagonist strengthening( CAS) and Evjenth-Hamberg stretching(EHS) on the cervical mobility in the university students with abnormal transformation of forward head posture( FHP). Our experiment was conducted 3 times a week for 6 weeks in a total of 20 individuals : continuous antagonist strengthening(CAS) group(n=10) & Evjenth-Hamberg stretching(EHS) group(n=10). In a pre and post comparison, both CAS group and EHS group appeared significantly in mSBI and SBA(p<.05) and the two-group comparison showed a significant difference(p<.05) : CAS group showed better effects. Thus, it is considered that the combined use with continuous antagonist strengthening(CAS) had better effects for cervical mobility than Evjenth-Hamberg stretching(EHS) alone.

Despite continuous efforts to redraw the boundaries between art and culture, the conventional concept of originality has persisted in approaches to the practice of contemporary art. In the discourse of originality, various forms of lesser arts that employ the method of replication have been referred to as kitsch, or “rear-guard,” the opposite of avant-garde. This categorization points to the contested issue regarding the oppositional relation between modernism and mass culture. With its easily accessible content and financial affordability, mass culture has become both an irresistible attraction and a most powerful threat to modernism. This threat has instigated a discursive system that has situated mass culture as a cultural other of modernism. Taking the marginalized category of kitsch as the area of contention, this paper examines a discursive repression of kitsch. It analyzes the conceptual framework that defends originality and autonomy in art and, conversely, degrades kitsch as an inferior and dangerous cultural category. Greenberg's concept of kitsch as a by-product of industrialization evolved into the criticism that advocates the autonomy of art. The Frankfurt School scholars, particularly Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, practiced comparable cultural critiques. Focusing on mass culture such as film, radio, and television, instead of art works, they critically analyzed the system of mass culture and theorized the negative implications of the ubiquitous presence of kitsch. Some critics, on the other hand, perceived the growth of mass culture as opening possibilities in cultural development. Walter Benjamin and Harold Rosenberg asserted the socio-cultural dynamics of mass culture underlining the potential for continual transformation in reality and in the subject. They acknowledged that technological advances changed the condition of creation and enabled unmediated interactions between media. By scrutinizing conflicting views on kitsch, this paper intends to reassess arts that draw “the forces of the outside.”

멜라노사이트에서 생성된 멜라노좀은 수상돌기를 따라 케라티노사이트로 이동한다. 세포막을 통한 정보 전달계에 관여하는 protease activated receptor-2 (PAR-2)는 SLIGKV와 같은 펩타이드에 의해 활성화되어 멜라노좀 전달을 증가하는 역할을 한다고 보고되어 있다. 본 연구에서는 새로운 PAR-2의 저해제를 찾고 본 저해제가 멜라노좀의 이동과 색소침착을 저해함을 확인하고자 하였다. PAR-2가 활성화되면 G 단백질이 방출되고, 이때 증가하는 세포 내 칼슘 이온 농도가 lobaric acid에 의하여 감소하는 것을 확인하여 lobaric acid가 PAR-2의 길항제로 작용할 수 있음을 발견하였다. 각질형성세포에서 SLIGKV에 의해 증가된 형광 비드 uptake가 lobaric acid에 의해 억제 되는 것을 확인하였고 또한, 분리된 멜라노좀을 이용한 시험에서도 동일한 경향을 나타내었다. 멜라노사이트와 케라티노사이트를 공동 배양하여 멜라노좀의 이동을 공초점 현미경으로 관찰한 결과, lobaric acid에 의해 멜라노좀의 전달이 억제되었다. 인공피부조직에 lobaric acid를 처리하였을 때 색소 침착이 억제됨을 확인하였고, 또한 Fontana-Masson 염색을 통해 멜라닌의 양이 감소함을 확인하였다. 이상의 결과를 통해 lobaric acid가 PAR-2 길항제로 작용함으로써 케라티노사이트로 멜라노좀 전달을 억제하고 이를 통해 피부 색소 침착을 저해함을 확인할 수 있었다.