• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.55-65
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• 1999

There have been many reports to date regarding the role of GnRH as a local regulatory factor of ovarian function as studies of human and rat ovaries revealed GnRH and its receptor. In recent studies it has been shown that GnRH directly causes apoptosis in the granulosa cells of the rat ovary, and such results leads to the suggestion that the use of GnRH agonist for more stable long term ovarian hyperstimulation in human IVF-ET programs causes granulosa cell apoptosis which may lead to follicular atresia. Therefore this study attempts to determine if granulosa-luteal cell apoptosis occurs in patients during IVF-ET programs in which GnRH agonist is employed for ovarian hyperstimulation. The quality of oocyte-cumulus complexes obtained during ovum pickup procedures were assessed morphologically and then the fertilization rate and developmental rate was determined. Apoptotic cells among the granulosa-luteal cells obtained during the same procedure were observed after staining with Hematoxylin-eosin. The fragmentation degree of DNA extracted from granulosa-luteal cells was determined and comparatively analyzed. There was no difference in the average age of the patients, the number of oocytes retrieved, and fertilization and developmental rates between the FSH/hMG group and GnRH-long group. There was also no difference in the apoptosis rate and pyknosis rate in the granulosa-luteal cells between the two groups. However, when the oocyte-cumulus complexes were morphoogically divided into the healthy group and atretic group without regard for the method of hyperstimulation, the results showed that the number of oocytes obtained averaged $11.09{\pm}8.75\;and\;10.33{\pm}4.53$ per cycle, respectively, showing no significant difference, but the fertilization rate (77.05%, 56.99%, respectively, p<0.01) and developmental rate (65.96%, 41.51%, respectively, p<0.01) was significantly increased in the healthy group when compared to the atretic group. The degree of apoptosis in the granulosa-luteal cells showed that in the healthy group it was 2.25% which was not significantly different from the atretic group (2.77%), but the pyknosis rate in the atretic group (27.81%) was significantly higher compared to the healthy group (11.35%, p<0.01). The quantity of DNA fragmentation in the FSH/hMG group was 32.22%, while in the GnRH-long group it was 34.27%, showing no significant difference. On the other hand the degree of DNA fragmentation was 39.05% and 11.83% in the healthy group and atretic group, respectively, showing significantly higher increase in the atretic group (p<0.01). The above results suggest that death of granulosa-luteal cells according to the state of the oocyte-cumulus complex is more related to pyknosis rather than apoptosis. Also, the GnRH agonist used in ovarian hyperstimulation does not seem to directly affect the apoptosis of retrieved oocytes and granulosa-luteal cells, and which is thought to be due to the suppression of the apoptogenic effect of GnRH agonist as a result of the high doses of FSH administered.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.470-478
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• 1997

Background : Phagocytosis is probably the first step for mycobacteria to be virulent in host because virulent strains are more readily phagocytosed by macrophage than attenuated strains. According to the traditional concept, multi-drug resistant strains have been regarded as less virulent. However, this concept has been challenged, since recent studies(reported) showed that the degree of virulence and drug-resistance is not related. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the phagocytic activity of M.tuberculosis by peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMC) is different according to drug-resistance or host factor. To evaluate this, we estimated the difference of phagocytic activity of drug-resistant and drug-sensitive M.tuberculosis and also estimated the phagocytic activity of PBMC from intractable tuberculosis patients and healthy controls. Methods : PBMC from ten intractable tuberculosis patients and twelve healthy control, and three different strains of heat-killed M.tuberculosis, ie, ADS(all drug sensitive), MDR(multi-drug resistant), and ADR(all drug resistant) were used. After incubation of various strains of M.tuberculosis with PBMC, the phagocytic activity was evaluated by estimating proportion of PBMC which have phagocytosed M.tuberculosis. Results : Drug-resistant strains of M.tuberculosis were phagocytosed easily than drug sensitive strains(Percentage of PBMC phagocytosed M.tuberculosis in healthy control : ADS : $32.3{\pm}2.9%$, ADR : $49.6{\pm}3.4%$, p = 0.0022, Percentage of PBMC phagocytosed M.tuberculosis in intractable tuberculosis patients : ADS : $34.9{\pm}3.6%$, ADR : $50.7{\pm}4.5%$, p = 0.0069). However, there was no difference in phagocytic activity of PBMC from healthy control and intractable tuberculosis patients. Conclusion : Drug-resistant strains of M.tuberculosis were phagocytosed easily than drug sensitive strains and host factors does not seems to influence the phagocytosis of M.tuberculosis.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.55-61
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• 2003

This study was conducted to evaluate distribution and behavior characteristics of heavy metals for tidal flat sediments in the Saemankeum area. The value of heavy metal contents in the tidal flat sediments were higher than that surveyed in 1994, but showing that it's lower when compared with the value of Shiwha lake. Enrichment factors in the tidal flat sediments showed below 1 except for Pb and Zn. Metal excesses was appeared that Cu, Cr, Fe, Mn lacked and Pb, Zn were high. The correlation analysis between heavy metals and organic matters was found high positive relationship (r=0.424$\~$0.839), especially correlation coefficient between ignition loss and oxide Al, Fe, Mn showed high positive relationship above 0.7. The correlation analysis between Brain size and hear metals was found that as grain size was small, heavy metals contents were increased. Correlation coefficient between silt and heavy metals except for Cu, Pb showed high positive relationship as 0.552$\~$0.732.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.381-388
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• 1991

Trichomonas vaginalis is a parasitic nagellate in the urogenital tract of human. Innate cytotonicity of macrophages against T. vaginalis has been recognized, but any report on the cytotoxicity of Iymphokine-activated macrophages to T vaginalis is not yet available. The present study aimed to elucidate the Iymphokine-activated cell mediated cytotoxic effect against T. vaginalis by mouse peritoneal macrophages. Cytotoxicity was measured by counting the release of $^3H-thymidine$ from prelabeled protozoa, and tested in U-bottom microtiter plates. Nitrite concentration in culture supernatants was measured by standard Griess reaction. The results obtained are as follows: 1, The cytotoxicity of macrophages was increased by addition of rIL-2 or $rIFN-{\gamma}$$. 2, Cytotoxicity of macrophages was reduced by addition of rIL-4 to rOM-CSV, rIL-2 or $rIFN-{\gamma}$. 3. Crude Iymphokine mixed with anti-lL-2 decreased the cytotoxity of macrophages. 4. In case of macrophages cultured with $rIFN-{\gamma}$ or rIL-4, the concentration of nitrite was related with cytotokity of macrophages against T. vaginalis, but the cytotoxicity of macrophages cultured with rIL-2 and $rIFN-{\gamma}$ was decreased in spite of its high production of llitrite. From the results obtained, it is assumed that rIL-2 and $rIFN-{\gamma}$ enhance the cytotoxicity of macrophages while rIL-4 inhibits the cytotoxicity against T. vaginalis, and that the production of nitrite does not relate with the cytotoxicity of macrophages, but nitric oxide may play a role as an inhibitory factor on the proliferation of T. vaginalis.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.63-70
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• 2012

This study was conducted to investigated the distribution, ecological character and life cycle of Black Soldier Fly(BSF), Hermetia illucens, to determine effects of BSF on composing ability to the livestock feces. The distribution of BSF was defined in all parts of the country in Korea. Its main habitat was found to be areas near cattle sheds, feces sheds, living waste dump grounds, and food waste dump grounds. Excellent species of the bio-conversion using the livestock feces were selected out of two kinds of solider flies(Hermetia illucens and Ptecticus tenebrifer). And effects of BSF on composing ability to the livestock feces were pig feces 0.5 g, cattle feces 0.43 g and chicken feces 0.3 g per a larvae of BSF. In the examination of the ability of BSF to decompose food waste, volume of the livestock feces decreased by weight pig feces 77, cattle feces 83.62 and chicken feces 80%. Observed characteristics of BSF larvae and pupae stage were by developmental stage may be summarized as follows: size and length of larvae and pupae of BSF were higher than in pig feces and mixed sawdust treatments. In order to develop artificial indoor rearing techniques, The pupation and emergence rate were not visible the difference but important factor of the mating and egg-laying was a sun light. And it was visible the difference in mating ratio. Mating rate of H. illucens by seasonal change was the highest from May to July. Mating mostly occurred between 10 : 00 and 12 : 00 during which light intensity is high. As the egg-laying medium for artificial egg collection, calf feed and food waste were most effective. The ratio of egg-laying medium is waste food : sawdust(1 : 1) in volume. For egg-laying materials, flower foam and wood with holes were used; holes sized 3 ~ 5 mm in diameter, 7 ~ 10 mm in depth were most preferred for egg-laying.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.210-218
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• 2018

Background: Soil respiration (Rs) is a major factor of the absorption and accumulation of carbon through photosynthesis in the ecosystem carbon cycle. This directly affects the amount of net ecosystem productivity, which affects the stability and sustainability of the ecosystem. Understanding the characteristics of Rs is indispensable to scientifically understand the carbon cycle of ecosystems. It is very important to study Rs characteristics through analysis of environmental factors closely related to Rs. Rs is affected by various environmental factors, such as temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, litter supply, organic matter content, dominant plant species, and soil disturbance. This study was conducted to analyze the effects of micro-topographical differences on Rs in forest vegetation by measuring the Rs on the ridge and southern slope sites of the broadly established Quercus mongolica forest in the central Korean area. Method: Rs, Ts, and soil moisture data were collected at the southern slope and ridge of the Q. mongolica forest in the Mt. Jeombong area in order to investigate the effects of topographical differences on Rs. Rs was collected by the closed chamber method, and data collection was performed from May 2011 to October 2013, except Winter seasons from November to April or May. For collecting the raw data of Rs in the field, acrylic collars were placed at the ridge and southern slope of the forest. The accumulated surface litter and the soil organic matter content (SOMC) were measured to a 5 cm depth. Based on these data, the Rs characteristics of the slope and ridge were analyzed. Results: Rs showed a distinct seasonal variation pattern in both the ridge and southern slope sites. In addition, Rs showed a distinct seasonal variation with high and low Ts changes. The average Rs measurements for the two sites, except for the Winter periods that were not measured, were $550.1\;mg\;CO_2m^{-2}h^{-1}$ at the ridge site and $289.4\;mg\;CO_2m^{-2}h^{-1}$ at the southern slope, a difference of 52.6%. There was no significant difference in the Rs difference between slopes except for the first half of 2013, and both sites showed a tendency to increase exponentially as Ts increased. In addition, although the correlation is low, the difference in Rs between sites tended to increase as Ts increased. SMC showed a large fluctuation at the southern slope site relative to the ridge site, as while it was very low in 2013, it was high in 2011 and 2012. The accumulated litter of the soil surface and the SOMC at the depth range of 0~5 cm were $874g\;m^{-2}$ and 23.3% at the ridge site, and $396g\;m^{-2}$ and 19.9% at the southern slope site. Conclusions: In this study, Rs was measured for the ridge and southern slope sites, which have two different results where the surface litter layer is disturbed by strong winds. The southern slope site shows that the litter layer formed in autumn due to strong winds almost disappeared, and while in the ridge site, it became thick due to the transfer of litter from the southern slope site. The mean Rs was about two times higher in the ridge site compared to that in the southern slope site. The Rs difference seems to be due to the difference in the amount of litter accumulated on the soil surface. As a result, the litter layer supplied to the soil surface is disturbed due to the micro-topographical difference, as the slope and the change of the community structure due to the plant season cause heterogeneity of the litter layer development, which in turn affects SMC and Rs. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce and understand these micro-topographical features and mechanisms when quantifying and analyzing the Rs of an ecosystem.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.424-431
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• 2018

Stormwater runoff containing considerable amounts of pollutants such as particulates, organics, nutrients, and heavy metals contaminate natural bodies of water. At present, best management practices (BMP) intended to reduce the volume and treat pollutants from stormwater runoff were devised to serve as cost-effective measures of stormwater management. However, improper design and lack of proper maintenance can lead to degradation of the facility, making it unable to perform its intended function. This study evaluated an infiltration trench (IT) that went through a series of maintenance operations. 41 monitored rainfall events from 2009 to 2016 were used to evaluate the pollutant removal capabilities of the IT. Assessment of the water quality and hydrological data revealed that the inflow volume was the most relative factor affecting the unit pollutant loads (UPL) entering the facility. Seasonal variations also affected the pollutant removal capabilities of the IT. During the summer season, the increased rainfall depths and runoff volumes diminished the pollutant removal efficiency (RE) of the facility due to increased volumes that washed off larger pollutant loads and caused the IT to overflow. Moreover, the system also exhibited reduced pollutant RE for the winter season due to frozen media layers and chemical-related mechanisms impacted by the low winter temperature. Maintenance operations also posed considerable effects of the performance of the IT. During the first two years of operation, the IT exhibited a decrease in pollutant RE due to aging and lack of proper maintenance. However, some events also showed reduced pollutant RE succeeding the maintenance as a result of disturbed sediments that were not removed from the geotextile. Ultimately, the presented effects of maintenance operations in relation to the pollutant RE of the system may lead to the optimization of maintenance schedules and procedures for BMP of same structure.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.210-220
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• 2019

Population growth and the increase of energy consumption due to civilization caused global warming. Temperature on the Earth rose about $0.7^{\circ}C$ for the last 100 years, the rate is accelerated since 2000. Temperature is a factor, which determines physiological action, growth and development, survival, etc. of the plant together with light intensity and precipitation. Therefore, it is expected that global warming would affect broadly geographic distribution of the plant as well as structure and function ecosystem. In order to understand the effect of global warming on the ecosystem, a study about the effect of temperature rise on germination and growth in the plant is required necessarily. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of experimental warming on the germination and growth of two oak species(Quercus mongolica and Q. serrata) in temperature gradient chamber(TGC). This study was conducted in control, medium warming treatment($+1.7^{\circ}C$; Tm), and high warming treatment ($+3.2^{\circ}C$; Th) conditions. The final germination percentage, mean germination time and germination rate of two oak species increased by the warming treatment, and the increase in Q. serrata was higher than that in Q. mongolica. Root collar diameter, seedling height, leaf dry weight, stem dry weight, root dry weight, and total biomass were the highest in Tm treatment. Butthey were not significantly different in the Th treatment. In the Th treatment, Q. serrata had significantly higher H/D ratio, S/R ratio, and low root mass ratio (RMR) compared with control plot. Q. mongolica had lower RMR and higher S/R ratio in the Tm and Th treatments compared with control plot. Therefore, growth of Q. mongolica are expected to be more vulnerable to warming than that of Q. serrata. The main findings of this study, species-specific responses to experimental warming, could be applied to predict ecosystem changes from global warming. From the result of this study, we could deduce that temperature rise would increase germination of Q. serrata and Q. mongolica and consequently contribute to increase establishment rate in the early growth stage of the plants. But we have to consider diverse variables to understand properly the effects that global warming influences germination in natural condition. Treatment of global warming in the medium level increased the growth and the biomass of both Q. serrata and Q. mongolica. But the result of treatment in the high level showed different aspects. In particular, Q. mongolica, which grows in cooler zones of higher elevation on mountains or northward in latitude, responded more sensitively. Synthesized the results mentioned above, continuous global warming would function in stable establishment of both plants unfavorably. Compared the responses of both sample plants on temperature rise, Q. serrata increased germination rate more than Q. mongolica and Q. mongolica responded more sensitively than Q. serrata in biomass allocation with the increase of temperature. It was estimated that these results would due to a difference of microclimate originated from the spatial distribution of both plants.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.596-606
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• 2019

The study investigated the physiochemical properties and the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of the sea tangle (Saccharina japonica) in a water extract before (STWE) and after (STFL) fermentation with Lactobacillus brevis. The pH values of STWE and STFL were 6.18 and 4.16, and the sugar contents were $8.50^{\circ}Brix$ and $7.40^{\circ}Brix$, respectively. The main free amino acids of STWE and STFL were glutamic acid, aspartic acid, and alanine, and the ${\gamma}$-amino butyric acid (GABA) content was increased by fermentation. The total polyphenol contents of STWE and STFL were 498.29 and 615.77 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/ml, respectively. The 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activities of STWE and STFL were markedly increased in a dose-dependent manner, and revealed about 89.89% and 96.94% activities, respectively, at 10% concentration (p<0.05). The superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities of STWE and STFL were also markedly increased in a dose-dependent manner, and the activity of STFL was significantly increased when compared with STWE (p<0.05). The anti-inflammatory activity was examined in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. STWE and STFL decreased the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which had levels of about 189.90% and 174.69% at 1% concentration, respectively (p<0.05). The contents of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha ($TNF-{\alpha}$) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), were decreased more by addition of STFL than by addition of STWE. The STWE and STFL showed high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, and these activities were increased by fermentation. Therefore, sea tangle extracts can be used as functional food materials.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.354-361
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• 2021

Understanding the phytotoxic mechanism of methyl bromide (MB), an essential fumigant during the quarantine and pre-shipment process, is urgently needed to ensure its proper use and reduce international economic losses. In a previous study, two main MB-induced toxic mechanisms such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and auxin distribution were selected by analyzing transcriptomic analysis. In the study, a 3-week-old A. thaliana was supplied with 1 mM ROS scavengers [N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) or L-glutathione (GSH)] and 1µM indole-3-acetic acid(IAA) three times every 12 h, and visual and gene expression assessments were performed to evaluate the reduction in phytotoxicity by supplements. Phytotoxic effects on the MB-4h exposed group were decreased with GSH application compared to the other single supplements and a combination of supplements at 7 days post fumigation. Among these supplements, GSH at a concentration of 1, 2, and 5mM was suppled to A. thaliana with MB-fumigation. During a long-term observation of 2 weeks after the fumigation, 5 mM GSH application was the most effective in minimizing MB-induced phytotoxic effects with up-regulation of HSP70 expression and increase in main stem length. These results indicated that ROS was a main key factor of MB-induced phytotoxicity and that GSH can be used as a supplement to reduce the phytotoxicity of MB.