• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.155-160
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• 2020

Objective: The genes Bcl-2 and Bax play important roles in apoptosis. Many studies have shown that formalin has a strong deleterious effect on male fertility and can induce apoptosis. L-carnitine has been reported to potentially reverse the negative effects of formalin, leading to improved spermatogenesis. In this study, we examined the levels of expression of Bcl-2 and Bax in mice treated with formalin and L-carnitine. Methods: Thirty adult BALB/c mice were categorized into three groups. The mice in the control group (n = 10) were not injected with any substance. The mice in the second group (n = 10) received 10 mg/kg of formalin daily via an intraperitoneal injection, while those in the final group (n = 10) were intraperitoneally injected daily with a dose of 10 mg/kg of formalin and 100 mg/kg of L-carnitine. All mice were kept in isolated cages for 31 days. Results: The expression of Bax was significantly higher in the formalin-treated mice than in the mice of the control group, while the expression of Bcl-2 was significantly lower in the formalin-treated mice than in the control mice. Additionally, relative to control mice, Bcl-2 expression increased and Bax expression decreased in the mice administered both formalin and L-carnitine. Conclusion: In this study, L-carnitine was shown to augment Bcl-2 expression and to reduce Bax expression, indicating that this compound may inhibit apoptosis. Due to its positive effects, L-carnitine can be used as a prophylactic treatment for people who routinely come into direct contact with formalin as an occupational hazard.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.1247-1254
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• 2013

The effects of Sheng Hua Tang (SHT) on uterine involution and ovarian activity were investigated in postpartum dairy cows. SHT (70 g) was given to dairy cows (n = 10) to evaluate its effects for five days from the first postpartum day. Postpartum cows fed with a basal diet without SHT were used as the control group (n = 10). Ultrasounds and blood tests were recorded for four weeks from postpartum day seven with a 3-d interval. The results showed that the areas and diameters of endometria were significantly (p<0.01) reduced in the group that received SHT compared to the control group on the seventh postpartum day. The group that received SHT had an intrauterine fluid volume mean of $1.2{\pm}0.6cm^3$, which was significantly lower than that of the control group, $2.3{\pm}0.8cm^3$ (p<0.01) on the 13th postpartum day. In addition, the uterine tension score was a mean of $1.0{\pm}0.0$ in the group that received SHT, which was also significantly lower than that of the control group, $1.5{\pm}0.5$ (p<0.01) on the 19th postpartum day. Taken together, the Chinese herbal medicine remedy, SHT, promoted uterine involution and ovarian activity in postpartum dairy cows.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.25-31
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• 1984

The effects of progesterone releasing intravaginal device (PRID) on the fertility levels in dairy cows were studied in 2 experiments. In experiment I, 70 lactating cows at 45 days postpartum were allotted to 3 groups and the treatments imposed were either： 1: Untreated control, 2: PRID with a capsule containing long of oestradiol benzoate (ODB) attached, inserted for 12 days, 3: PRID inserted for 12 days with long of prostaglandin F$\_$2${\alpha}$/ administration 24 h before PRID removal. Treated cows were inseminated 56 h after PRID removal and at an observed oestrus during the subsequent 48-day period. The control group was inseminated at an observed oestrus during this 60-day period. In experiment II, 60 ovarian disorder cows were divided into 5 groups and PRID+ODB inserted for 12 days. 1: atrophied ovary, 2: smooth ovary, 3: persistent corpus luteum, 4: follicular cyst, 5: luteal cyst. Treated cows were inseminated 56 h after PRID removal and at an observed oestrus over a period from the first insemination to 46 days. The results obtained were as follows: 1. The device produced a vaginal discharge in some animals. In experimenet I : 2. For treatments 2 and 3, respectively, conception rates to the fixed time insemination were 45% and 52%. 3. The conception rates of cows inseminated to the fixed time insemination and at an observed oestrus during a 60-day period were 65%, 86% and 91% for control, treatment 2 and 3, respectively. 4. Mean interval from calving to conception and inseminations per conception were 133, 91 and 86 days and 2.4, 2.1 and 1.9 for control, treatments 2 and 3, respectively. In experiment II； 5. The conception rates to the fixed time insemination for each group 20, 50, 70, 20 and 50%, respectively. 6. The total conception rates for the 48 days period of each group were 60, 70, 100, 60 and 90%, respectively. 7. The inseminations per conception of each group were 2.8, 2.1, 1.4, 2.7 and 1.9, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.935-944
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• 2021

It has been suggested that bisphenol A (BPA), a known endocrine disruptor, interferes with the endocrine system, causing reproductive dysfunction. Recently, BPA has been found in waste water due to incomplete sewage purification, possibly threatening health through its ingestion via tap water. In this study, young male mice (6 - 7 weeks old) were administered water containing BPA (50 mg·kg^-1) for four weeks, while control mice consumed water without BPA. Serum, epididymal spermatozoa and testicular sections were assessed after sacrificing the mice on day 28. No significant differences were obtained between the groups in the body, testis and seminal vesicle weights. However, the epididymal sperm motility and count levels were significantly reduced in BPA-fed mice. Significantly higher hepatotoxicity levels were also observed in mice ingesting BPA as compared to the control mice. The level of serum testosterone was reduced, and testicular sections revealed incomplete and irregular spermatogenesis in BPA-ingested mice. The sperm proteasomal-proteolytic activity level has been implicated in sperm function and is measured in motile spermatozoa using fluorometric substrates. High ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase activity levels were observed in the control mice without BPA. During a mating trial, a low pregnancy rate (71.4%) was observed in females mated with males who had consumed BPA (100% in the control mice). Overall, BPA adversely affected spermatogenesis and quality, as indicated by decreased sperm motility, concentration and serum testosterone levels, resulting in reduced fertility competence.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.371-378
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• 2009

This study was carried out to investigate the improvement effect of soil fertility by incorporation of GMC(green manure crops) at rice cropping after cultivation GMC such as the barley for alternative rye in paddy field over the past two years(2006~2007). Plots, which consisted of incorporation time of GMC as rye; heading stage, barley; heading stage, heading stage of rye and 10days after heading stage were divided by amount of applied rates; standard fertilizer fertilization, diagnosis fertilization and non-fertilization. we investigated change of soil physico-chemical properties, degree of decomposition on GMC in soil, growth and yield potential. The obtained results were summarized as follows. The fresh weight of GMC at incorporation time on heading stage of rye, heading stage and 10days after heading stage of barley were $2,715,\;2,352,\;2,867kg\;10a^{-1}$ respectively. Content of total nitrogen at three incorporation times was 1.31, 1.46, 1.38% and the C/N ratio were 33.4, 28.7, and 34.6, respectively. Some soil physical properties, such as soil hardness and bulk density tended to decrease with incorporation of GMC, while surface soil depth and porosity were increased. Some soil chemical properties, such as content of exchangeable cations and cation exchangeable capasity(CEC) were increased with incorporation of GMC compared with before experiment. Rice yields was increased 3~9% in diagnosis application plots on application of barley compared with control($559kg\;10a^{-1}$) and incorporation of barley caused to improve perfect kernel ratio 73.6~78.7% in appearance characteristics of brown rice compared with cotrol(73.0%). It was found that incorporation with 10days after heading stage of barley was more effective to reduce chemical nitrogen fertilizer and to improve soil fertility.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.5-14
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• 1981

Weed is one of the problems in the crop land as well as in uncultivated land, raising the farm management costs. Therefore, the weed control is essential for effective agricultural management. The cost for weed control in Korea occupies on the average 27.6% of the total labor cost required. Agricultural policies since 1960 were transferring from yield increase due to land productivities to increase of income due to labor productivities. Therefore, the weed control by hand is also changed to weed control by chemicals. The weed control by chemicals has also brought about some side-effects and needs better, improved weed control methods. The present weed control situation and related problems were studied to present new approaches for agricultural development in the future. There were 458 species of weeds in 82 families which were growing in the crop land. The weeds to control, however, are 12 in paddy field and 9 in upland. So far weeds in paddy field are well under control, while weeds in upland are poorly controlled due to change in chemical efficiency and chemical damage in the upland. The administration, research and extension work for the efficient use of agricultural chemicals have been done by various institutions, such as Office of Rural Development, Office of Forestry, and chemical companies. The courses for agricultural chemicals were offered in the agricultural colleges. However, the efficiency of chemicals could not be maximized due to the poor relationships among related institutes. The newly established Agricultural Chemical Research Center at the Office of Rural Development and the Korean Weed Science Association are expected to contribute toward improving weed control in Korea. The Korean agriculture in the future will eventually be mechanized and the varieties resistant to high nitrogen application and to high plant density will be required for high yields. The rice will be transplanted earlier and the whole growing period will be extended. The application of organic matter will be increased for increasing soil fertility, and the use of agricultural chemicals will be continued. Under such a condition, the studies on the weed occurrence and its integrated control measures will be needed. Also weed controls in the newly exclaimed land, crop varieties, horticultural varieties, forage crops, and forests are also needed to study. Basic and practical researches for the weed control to improve the labor productivity will be also needed. In order to meet the all requirements for efficient weed control, weed control systems including all the academics, research and extension workers, administratives, farmers and companies should be established. Also securing researchers and education of personnels are pre-required and research funds for the chemical studies should be provided efficiently and timely.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.147-154
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• 2012

This study was designed to determine whether low-density lipoproteins (LDL) from egg yolk and taurine, hypotaurine and trehalose as antioxidant in extender improve the freezability and fertility of Korean Jeju Black Bull semen. The semen was cryopreserved with tris egg yolk extenders containing 7% glycerol and treated 4% LDL, 20 mM taurine, hypotaurine and trehalose. Frozen-thawed sperm were evaluated motility, viability, membrane, and acrosome integrity and sperm penetration ability. The results were compared to semen cryopreserved in tris egg yolk extender only as control. Frozen-thawed semen evaluation cleary indicated that the addition of LDL and LDL-antioxidants (taurine, hypotaurine and trehalose) combination were significantly improved (p<0.05) the viability (%; with staining test using eosin-Y) compared to control spermatozoa. Also, in membrane integrity (%; with supravital hypo-osmotic swelling test), not only LDL-antioxiants combination but also LDL were significantly increased (p<0.05) the swelled sperm using HOST compared to control. Sperm acrosome integrity state was classified by CTC (chlortetracycline) staining test. F pattern was significantly increased in LDL-antioxidant combination than control (p<0.05) and B pattern was not significantly differences among all treatments and control. However, AR pattern was significantly decreased in LDL-antioxidants combination than control (p<0.05). Pronucleus formation and sperm penetration index (SFI) were significantly increased in LDL and LDL-antioxidants combination than control (p<0.05). Especially, LDL-taurine significantly improved pronucleus fomation and SFI than LDL (p<0.05). It was concluded that LDL and LDL-antioxidants in extender improved the freezability and fertility of Korean Jeju Black bull spermatozoa.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.318-325
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• 2010

Two experiments were designed to evaluate the effects of the amino acids glycine and cysteine on cryopreservation of ram spermatozoa. After primary evaluation of collected ejaculates, the semen samples were pooled and diluted 1:4 before cooling (experiment 1) and freezing (experiment 2) with Tris-Citrate-Fructose-Yolk (TCFY) extender supplemented with different concentrations of glycine and cysteine (5, 10, 15 and 20 mM). As the control, semen was diluted and frozen in the extender without amino acids. Motility, viability and membrane integrity were assessed as the parameters for semen quality in the first experiment. In the second experiment, motility, progressive motility, viability, membranes and acrosome integrity were evaluated after the freezing-thawing process. The results of the first experiment indicated that the addition of 10 and 15 mM cysteine compared to the control (basic) extender significantly increased (p<0.01) the motility, viability and membrane integrity of spermatozoa after cooling. However, further increasing these amino acids up to 20 mM had a significant negative effect (p<0.05). Our results showed no significant differences (p>0.05) between 5 mM glycine compared to 5 mM cysteine and between 20 mM glycine and 20 mM cysteine. The results of experiment 2 showed that the amino acids significantly improved post-thaw motility, progressive motility, viability, membranes and acrosome integrity of ram spermatozoa. These positive effects were observed at concentrations between 5 to 15 mM of glycine and cysteine, with the best results at 15 mM. Further increasing of amino acid concentrations significantly decreased the post-thaw characteristics of spermatozoa, but the results showed that cysteine was better than glycine and control extenders. The data indicated that addition of glycine or cysteine to the freezing extender can be recommended for cryopreservation of ram spermatozoa. However, further studies are still needed to determine the effect of such addition on fertility in farm animals.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.15-24
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• 2020

Iron has a crucial role in growth as part of metalo-proteins like haemoglobin or myoglobin, enzymes; they are also involved in energetic reactions. Iron plays a vital role in fertility. At high doses, Iron has a harmful consequence on the reproductive system, which can be strongly reflected the final stage of spermatogenesis. Nutritional products are claiming to use nanotechnology and it is important to recognize the potential toxicity of nano-sized nutrients. Recently iron nanoparticles were proposed as a food additive for poultry. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of L-cystein coated iron oxide nanoparticles on reproductive performance in male quails. The results of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer, Alternating Gradient Force Magnetometer and Scaning Electron Microscopy showed that iron oxide nanoparticles was produced and have been coated with L-cycstein (Fe₃O₄-Cys NPs). A total of 100 one-week-old quail chicks were randomly placed to five groups of five replicates. Four quails (two male and two females) were raised in an individual cage for each replicate. The five experimental treatment diets consisted; negative control diet, with no Iron supplementation; positive control diet supplemented with 60 mg/kg of Fe₃O₄; treatment diets supplemented with 0.6, 6 and 60 mg/kg of L-cystein coated iron oxide nanoparticles. The hemoglobin, Red blood cell, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, gonadal somatic index, daily sperm production, total testicular sperm and sperm viability of the male quails that were fed with diet supplemented by 0.6 mg/kg of Fe₃O₄-Cys NPs were improved as compare with negative control. This study showed that not only the use of the Fe₃O₄-Cys nanoparticles had no side effects but also it can be used as a feed additive to improve the reproductive performance in male quails.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.582-590
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• 2019

As Korea's low fertility and aging progress, Korea is facing a social change such as an increase of one generation by entering an aging society that has raised 14% of the population. An effective way to prevent a gas fire accident caused by an increase in one generation in an aging society is to install a control valve to forcibly shut off the gas after a set time. In this study, we developed a valve that can be opened and closed by rotating the valve left and right by transmitting power to the worm gear and the helical gear by using a motor by pressing the switch. It is easy to assemble and inspect by developing a dedicated valve that is easy to attach and detach. It was developed to enhance competitiveness by reducing cost by reducing the number of parts and product size. In addition, through endurance test, it was developed to be used for more than 9 years by repeating ON / OFF once every 12 seconds so that it can operate stably for 10,000 times for 34 hours. The instrument and PCB were designed using solid works and Altium Designer tools. Firmware development was developed in IAR Embedded Workbench environment.