• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Embryo Transfer Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.78-78
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• 2002

The role of heat shock proteins in shielding organism from environmental stress is illustrated by the large-scale synthesis of these protein by the organism studied to date. However, recent evidence also suggests an important role for heat shock protein in fertilization and early development of mammalian embryos. Effects of elevated in vitro temperature on in vitro produced bovine embryos were analysed in order to determine its impact on the expression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) by control and frozen-thawed after in vitro fertilization (IVF) or nuclear transfer (NT). The objective of this study was to assess the developmental potential in vitro produced embryos with using of the various containers and examined expression and localization of heat shock protein 70 after it's frozen -thawed. For the vitrification, in vitro produced embryos at 2 cell, 8 cell and blastocysts stage after IVF and NT were exposed the ethylene glycol 5.5 M freezing solution (EG 5.5) for 30 sec, loaded on each containers such EM grid, straw and cryo-loop and then immediately plunged into liquid nitrogen. Thawed embryos were serially diluted in sucrose solution, each for 1 min, and cultured in CRI-aa medium. Survival rates of the vitrification production were assessed by re-expanded, hatched blastocysts. There were no differences in the survival rates of IVF using EM grid, cryo-loop. However, survival rates by straw were relatively lower than other containers. Only, nuclear transferred embryos survived by using cryo-loop. After IVF or NT, in vitro matured bovine embryos 2 cell, 8 cell and blastocysts subjected to control and thawed conditions were analysed by semiquantitive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction methods for hsp 70 mRNA expression. Results revealed the expression of hsp 70 mRNA were higher thawed embryos than control embryos. Immunocytochemistry used to localization the hsp70 protein in embryos. Two, 8-cell embryos derived under control condition was evenly distributed in the cytoplasm but appeared as aggregates in some embryos exposed frozen-thawed. However, under control condition, blastocysts displayed aggregate signal while Hsp70 in frozen-thawed blastocysts appeared to be more uniform in distribution.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.201-205
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• 2005

The objective of this study was to investigative the effects of amino acids supplementation on maturation, fertilization and embryo development of pig oocytes. Essential amino acids (EA), non-essential amino acids (NA) or both amino acids (EA + NA) were supple-mented to North Carolina State University (NCSU) 23 medium containing porcine follicular fluid (pFF). When the amino acids were supplemented to the maturation medium, the maturation rates were higher (p<0.05) in the NA group than control ($83.3{\pm}0.04\%\;versus\;70.0{\pm}0.05\%$, but the subsequent cleavage rates and development to morula and blstocyst stage between aminoacid supplement groups and control were not different. The developmental rates to morula and blastocysts stage were not significantly different regardless of amino acid supplementation to culture medium. In addition, supplementation of amino acids did not significantly affect the rate of fertilization and polyspermy. When the amino acids were supplement to culture medium, the number of trophectodermal (TE) cells was significantly (p<0.05) higher in amino acid supplement group than that of control ($18.6{\pm}0.5\;versus\;16.1{\pm}0.6$), whereas the numbers of inner cell mass (ICM) cells were not different among the treaonent groups and control ($29.0{\pm}0.9\~31.5{\pm}1.2$). Total cell number was also significantly (p<0.05) higher in EANA group ($50.0{\pm}1.0$) than that of control group ($44.2{\pm}1.1$). These results indicate that the amino acid supplementation to maturation and culture medium may not significantly stimulate early embryo development, but may improve the TE cell number of blastocyst stage in the pig.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.57-64
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• 2018

The fungus gnat, Bradysia difformis, has been recognized as an important pest of greenhouse crops. There is a need for research on the control of the fungus gnat. However, it is difficult to obtain many generations of the fungus gnat for several kinds of research. Indoor propagation is a very useful method for obtaining enough individuals in cases where the need is for larvae in soil. This study was conducted to determine the optimum growing media and temperature conditions for rearing the fungus gnat in the laboratory. Under experimental temperature conditions, hatching, pupation, and eclosion rates were the highest at $20^{\circ}C$. The developmental period of the fungus gnat was shortened with higher temperatures. The greatest number of eggs was an average of 144 at $20^{\circ}C$. Using different types of larvae growth media, the highest hatching rates were 84.7 and 84.4% in water agar and potato disks, respectively. The larval period was the shortest, at 14.7 days, when grown on potato disks. The highest pupation and eclosion rates were 85.2 and 82.6% on potato disks, respectively. The highest number of eggs was an average of 125.6 on potato disks. Regarding the effects of different growth media on the eclosion rate of B. difformis, the highest eclosion rate was 88.4% on the soil mix, and was 50% on oatmeal, 25% on shredded potato. The results of four different inoculation levels of larvae on eclosion rate of B. difformis showed that the highest eclosion rate was 84.7% for 1,000 larvae. The eclosion rate was shortened with a higher number of larvae inoculated/cage. In the growth medium used, 3,000 eggs were better for the initial level of inoculation, showing a relatively high emergence rate and short developmental period. Mass rearing procedures were explained in detail.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.355-362
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• 2019

Cotesia glomerata L., an internal parasitoid wasp, attacks the larvae of both the cabbage white butterfly (Artogeia rapae L.) and the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella L.). It can be utilized as a natural biological enemy to control these two insect pests in the summer cabbage fields of the Korean highland areas. The developmental response and sex ratio of C. glomerata to various temperatures and its longevity were examined in the laboratory. The egg-to-larva and pupa stages of C. glomerata were 12.1 ± 2.1 and 6.4 ± 1.8 days, respectively, at 20℃, The developmental threshold for egg-to-larva and pupa stages were 7.7 and 8.5℃, respectively. The sex ratios of C. glomerata when reared under various temperatures were 61.0 ± 4.5% at 15℃, 44.2 ± 1.0% at 20℃, and 39.0 ± 2.3% at 25℃, and the incidence of females increased as the temperature decreased. The longevity of C. glomerata when fed a 10% sugar solution was 20.4 ± 0.2 days, while in adults without any feed, the longevity was 3.6 ± 0.1 days. Indoor reared C. glomerata adults were released into cabbage fields from 2007 to 2018, in early August of each year, and the outdoor parasitism rates were surveyed. The parasitism rates were found to increase gradually as the year passed (Y = 0.2696X + 2.8633, R² = 0.3994). The highest parasitism rate was observed in 2013 at 7.6%, and the lowest was in 2018 at 6.5 %. These results could be used as basic information for biological control of kimchi cabbage pests at highland fields.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.379-384
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• 1996

This study was undertaken to investigate the sister chromatid exchange (SCE) frequency and embryonic development after exposure to cryoprotectants and vitrification of mouse zygotes. Mouse IVF zygotes were cryopreserved by vitrification using vitrification solution, EFS40 (40% ethylene glycol, 30% Ficoll and 0.3 M sucrose in phosphate buffer saline containing 10% FBS). After mouse zygotes were exposed to EFS40 at $25^{\circ}C$ for 30 sec., they were immediately plunged into $LN_2$ or cultured for cryoprotectant toxicity test without freezing. The results obtained in these experiments were summarized as follows: After thawing, survival rates to the 2-cell stage of zygotes exposed to or vitrified in EFS 40 (98.5%, 95.2%) were not significantly difference compared with that of control (100%). However, the developmental rates upto blastocyst and hatching blastocyst in vitrified groups (66.7, 50.0%) were lower than those of control (93.9, 81.8%) or exposed group (94.0, 78.8%) (p<0.05). When the influence of vitrification and exposure to cryoprotectant on the in vitro development of mouse zygotes was assessed by the SCE frequency, the SCE frequency in exposed ($20.2{\pm}2.1$) to or vitrified embryos ($21.4{\pm}3.2$) was higher than that in control embryos ($16.8{\pm}1.5$). These results suggest that the frequency of SCE was increased after cryoprotectant exposure or Vitrification although developmental rates of zygotes upto blastocysts and /or hatching blastocysts were not afected by cryoprotectant.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.57-64
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• 2010

Objectives: Likewise fresh cycle, it is also important to select right blastocysts for transfer in purpose of improving the pregnancy and implantation rates in frozen-thawed embryo transfer (ET) cycles. To investigate the relationship between the developmental velocity at the time of cryopreservation and pregnancy rates, we compared pregnancy rates between the day 5 cryopreservation group and the day 6 cryopreservation group. Methods: Transfers of frozen-thawed blastocysts which had been cryopreserved by vitrification on day 5 or day 6 were performed between January 2006 and June 2007. Ethylene glycol, DMSO, and pull and cut straws were used for vitrification and artificial shrinkage was done in expanded blastocysts. Thawing was performed on the day before transfer and thawed blastocysts were cultured in for 15~18 hrs in Quinn's blastocyct media. Blastocyst survival was assessed before transfer and post-thaw survival was defined as >50% of cells remaining intact and blastocoele re-expansion by the time of transfer. Results: Transfers of thawed blastocyst had been cryopreserved on day 5 were 52 cycles and 41 transfer cycles were cryopreserved on day 6. Patient characteristics, the number of transferred embryos and the survival rate of thawed blastocysts were not different in each cryopreservation day. But the biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, ongoing pregnancy, and implantation rate were significantly high in transfer of frozen-thawed blastocyst which were cryopreserved on day 5. Conclusions: The clinical pregnancy and implantation rate of day-5 blastocyst showed significantly higher than those of day-6 blastocyst in frozen-ET cycles. This result indicated that developmental rate of blastocyst at cryopreservation time in frozen-thawed cycle is discriminative marker of pregnancy outcome as like in fresh cycle.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.107-115
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• 2001

Development of effective activation protocols is of great importance for improving the success of cloning and subsequent transgenic. Three methods for oocyte activation, including 5$\mu$M ionomycin (5 min) alone, ionomycin + 1.9 mM 6-dimetylaminopurine (DMAP, 3 hrs) and ionomycin + 10 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml cycloheximide (CHX, 3 hrs) were compared for their effects of pronuclei (PN) formation, development, developmental velocity and ploidy of parthenotes to IVF control in bovine. In group of ionomycin + DMAP, the oocytes having more 3PN were significantly (P<0.05) higher than in groups of ionomycin alone and of ionomycin + CHX (45.5% vs. 0 and 0%, respectively). Activation with the ionomycin alone, ionomycin + DMAP and ionomycin + CHX resulted in cleavage rates of 30, 85.5 and 57.9%, respectively. The blastocysts rate of parthenotes activated by ionomycin + DMAP treatment was significantly higher (12.3%. p<0.05) than those of other treated groups. Chromosome analysis shows that ionomycin + DMAP treatment greatly enhances the incidence of chromosomal abnormality of the parthenotes. From the results, we may conclude that DMAP treatment to the oocytes accelerates developmental velocity resulting in both the higher incidence of chromosome abnormality and of PN formation, and strongly suggest that CHX combined with ionomycin is better than DMAP for the purpose of successful nuclear transplantation. Developmental velocity of parthenotes activated by ionomycin + DMAP treatment was significantly (P<0.05) faster than others.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.125-132
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• 2002

This study was conducted to examine the effects of electric stimulation conditions on in vitro developmental ability of procine embryos after somatic cell nuclear transfer, The porcine ear cell was cultured in vifro for confluency in serum-starvation condition (TCM-199＋0.5% FBS) for cell confluency. The zona pellucida of IVM oocytes were partially drilled using laser system. Single somatic cell was individually transferred into the enucleated oocyte. The reconstructed embryos were electrically fused with 0.3M mannitol. After electric fusion, the embryos were activated and cultured in NCSU-23 medium containing 10% FBS at 39$^{\circ}C$, 5% $CO_2$ in air for 6 to 8 days. Nuclear transferred(NT) oocytes which fused at a field strength of 1.90kv/cm showed a higher (P<0.05) fusion rate(49.5%, 50/101) compared to 2.10 kv/cm(25.8%, 24/93) or 2.50kv/cm(30.3%, 27/89). After electric activation, the cleavage rate of NT embryos was 48.0(24/50), 66.6(16/24) and 70.3% (19/27), respectively and these were not different. There was no significant difference in fusion rate by duration and pulse of electric stimulation. In cleavage rate, however, more NT embryos(76.3%, 45/59) cleaved at 60 $\mu$sec twice than other embryos(49.1 to 56.5%) with different conditions of electric stimulation(P<0.05). NT embryos activated at a field strength of 1.50kv/cm showed a higher developmental rate(9.8%, 5/51) than those embryos activated at 1.25kv/cm(0%) or parthenotes(6.4%, 7/109). These results suggest that some factors such as field strength, duration and pulse of electric stimulation could be affected to in vitro developmental ability of nuclear transplanted porcine embryos.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.5206-5210
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• 2012

We studied the effect of food concentration on grazing, growth and fecundity of cyclopoid copepod Paracyclopina nana. Marine phytoplankton Tetraselmis suecica was used as a livefood for the copepod. Six stage compositions were used and food concentrations for the experiment were 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 40, 60 and $80{\times}10^4$ cells/mL. Range of food concentrations with 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 3 and $4{\times}10^4$ cells/mL were used for nauplii production experiment. Grazing rates of P. nana in all developmental stages on the different concentrations were increased with increasing diet concentration. While the growth of nauplius was not affected by increase of food concentration, food concentration outside of $1{\times}10^4$ to $5{\times}10^4$ cells/mL range negatively affected that of copepodite. Daily nauplii production was increased with increasing food concentration but $3{\times}10^4$ and $4{\times}10^4$ cells/mL treatments were not significantly different with $2{\times}10^4$ cells/mL treatment. As a result, optimum concentration of T. suecica for mass culture of P. nana was considered to be 5,000 cells/mL for nauplius stage, 10,000 cells/mL for copepodite stage and adult male, 20,000 cells/mL for adult female, respectively.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1681-1690
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• 2012

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of a reported p53 inhibitor, pifithrin-${\alpha}$ (PFT-${\alpha}$), on preimplantation porcine in vitro fertilized (IVF) embryo development in culture. Treatment of PFT-${\alpha}$ was administered at both early (0 to 48 hpi), and later stages (48 to 168 hpi) of preimplantation development, and its impact upon the expression of five genes related to apoptosis (p53, bak, bcl-xL, p66Shc and caspase3), was assessed in resulting d 7 blastocysts, using real-time quantitative PCR. Total cell numbers, along with the number of apoptotic nuclei, as detected by the in situ cell death detection assay, were also calculated on d 7 in treated and non-treated control embryos. The results indicate that PFT-${\alpha}$, when administered at both early and later stages of porcine IVF embryo development, increases the incidence of apoptosis in resulting blastocysts. When administered at early cleavage stages, PFT-${\alpha}$ treatment was shown to reduce the developmental competence of porcine IVF embryos, as well as reducing the quality of resulting blastocysts in terms of overall cell numbers. In contrast, at later stages, PFT-${\alpha}$ administration resulted in marginally increased blastocyst development rates amongst treated embryos, but did not affect cell numbers. However, PFT-${\alpha}$ treatment induced apoptosis and apoptotic related gene expression, in all treated embryos, irrespective of the timing of treatment. Our results indicate that PFT-${\alpha}$ may severely compromise the developmental potential of porcine IVF embryos, and is a potent apoptotic agent when placed into porcine embryo culture media. Thus, caution should be exercised when using PFT-${\alpha}$ as a specific inhibitor of p53 mediated apoptosis, in the context of porcine IVF embryo culture systems.