• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.259-267
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• 2022

Although pesticides are recognized as necessary substances to improve agricultural production, exposure to pesticides is known to have a direct or indirect adverse effect on the reproductive function of mammals. The present study examines the effects of mancozeb, a well-known fungicide, on the fertility capacity of spermatozoa. Boar spermatozoa exposed to varying concentrations of mancozeb (0.01 - 0.5 µM) were evaluated for motility, motion kinetic parameters, viability, acrosome integrity and the generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) after 30 min or 2 hrs of incubation. A significant reduction in the motility of spermatozoa was observed upon exposure to mancozeb. Similarly, there was a significant reduction of the motion kinematics of sperm treated with mancozeb as compared to untreated controls (p < 0.05). The sperm viability percentage and acrosome integrity also showed dose-dependent decreases upon exposure to mancozeb. High concentrations of mancozeb (0.2 - 0.5 µM) induced higher levels of intracellular ROS production, which resulted in the loss of the sperm membrane and decreased sperm motility due to oxidative stress. Taken together, the results here indicate that direct exposure to mancozeb affects the sperm fertility capacity. Hence, careful research that examines the interaction between reproduction and environmental toxins is crucial to prevent fertility disorders in animals.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.273-278
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• 2011

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of efonidipine on the pharmacokinetics of warfarin after oral and intravenous administration of warfarin in rats. Warfarin was administered orally (0.2 mg/kg) or intravenously (0.05 mg/kg) without or with oral administration of efonidipine (1 or 3 mg/kg) in rats. The effect of efonidipine on the cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4 activity was also evaluated. Efonidipine inhibited CYP3A4 enzyme activity with 50% inhibition concentration ($IC_{50}$) of $0.08{\mu}M$. Compared to those in the oral control group (warfarin without efonidipine), the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) of warfarin was significantly greater (1 mg/kg, P<0.05; 3 mg/kg, P<0.01) by 25.9-59.0%, and the peak plasma concentration ($C_{max}$) was significantly higher (3 mg/kg, P<0.05) by 26.2% after oral administration of warfarin with efonidipine, respectively. The total body clearance of warfarin was significantly (3 mg/kg, P<0.05) decreased by efonidifine. Consequently, the relative bioavailability of warfarin was increased by 1.26- to 1.59-fold and the absolute bioavailability of warfarin with efonidipine was significantly greater by 59.7-75.4 % compared to that in the control group (47.4%). In contrast, efonidipine had no effect on any pharmacokinetic parameters of warfarin given intravenously. Therefore, the enhanced oral bioavailability of warfarin may be due to inhibition of CYP 3A4-mediated metabolism in the intestine and/or liver and to reduction of total body celarance rather than renal elimination, resulting in reducing first-pass metabolism by efonidipine.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 2008

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of dietary fish oil supplementation on the semen characteristics of the Markhoz buck. Sixteen bucks were randomly allocated into 4 groups and received four different diets: unsupplemented control diet, supplemented with fish oil at 2.50% dry matter (DM), supplemented with fish oil (2.50% DM) and vitamin E (0.30 g/kg DM), and supplemented with vitamin E (0.30 g/kg DM). All experimental diets were formulated according to AFRC (1998). Semen was collected at 14 d intervals from June 17, 2006 to September 2, 2006. Semen characteristics were evaluated. Significant effects (p<0.05) of the week (sampling time) were observed for all parameters except semen volume. Also a significant effect (p<0.05) of dietary treatment was observed for all parameters except for percent sperm with normal morphologies and semen volume. Fish oil supplementation with excess vitamin E had a significant effect (p<0.05) on total number and sperm density, motility and progressive motility, percentage viability and dead sperm. The interaction between fish oil feeding and sampling time was significant (p<0.05) for all of the parameters. The bucks that received fish oil in association with vitamin E, effect fish oil showed the greatest improvement in semen characteristics compared with the other groups (p<0.05). This study showed that fish oil supplementation with vitamin E may have a beneficial effect on the semen quality and fertility of Markhoz bucks.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.159-165
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• 2011

To explore the role of histone deactylase (HDAC) activation in an in vivo model of hypertrophy, we studied the effects of Trichostatin A (TSA). TSA subjected to thoracic aortic banding (TAB)-induced pressure stress in mice. In histological observations, TAB in treated mice showed a significant hypertrophic response, whereas the sham operation remained nearly normal structure with partially blunted hypertrophy. TSA treatment had no effect (measured as HW/BW) on sham-operated animals. TAB animals treated with vehicle manifested a robust ~50% hypertrophic response (p<0.05 vs sham). TAB mice treated with 2 mg/kg/day TSA manifested a blunted growth responses, which was significantly diminished (p<0.05) compared with vehicle-treated TAB mice. TAB mice treated with a lower dose of TSA (0.5 mg/kg/day) manifested a similar blunting of hypertrophic growth (~25% increase in heart mass). Furthermore, to determine activity duration of TSA in vitro, 1 nM TSA was added to H9c2 cells. Histone acetylation was initiated at 4 hr after treatment, and it was peak up to 18 hr, then followed by significantly reduced to 30 hr. We also analyzed the expression of p53 following TSA treatment, wherein p53 expression was elevated at 4 hr, and it was maintained to 24 hr after treatment. ERK was activated at 8 hr, and maintained till 30 hr after treatment suggesting an intracellular signaling interaction between TSA and p53 expression Taken together, it is suggested that HDAC activation is required for pressure-overload growth of the heart. Eventually, these data suggest that histone acetylation may be a novel target for therapeutic intervention in pressure-overloaded cardiac hypertrophy.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.25-29
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of atorvastatin on the pharmacokinetics of nifedipine (6 mg/kg) after oral administration of nifedipine with or without atorvastatin (0.5 and 2.0 mg/kg) in rats, and also was to evaluate to the effect of atorvastatin on the CYP3A4 activity. The 50% inhibiting concentration ($IC_{50}$) values of atorvastatin on CYP3A4 activity is 46.1 ${\mu}M$. Atorvastatin inhibited CYP3A4 enzyme activity in a concentration-dependent manner. Coadministration of atorvastatin increased significantly (p<0.05, 2.0 mg/kg) the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) and the peak concentration ($C_{max}$) of nifedipine compared to the control group. The relative bioavailability (RB%) of nifedipine was increased from 1.15- to 1.37-fold. Coadministration of atorvastatin did not significantly change the terminal half-life ($T_{1/2}$) and the time to reach the peak concentration ($T_{max}$) of nifedipine. Based on these results, we can make a conclusion that the significant changes of these pharmacokinetic parameters might be due to atorvastatin, which possesses the potency to inhibit the metabolizing enzyme (CYP3A4) in the liver and intestinal mucosa, and also inhibit the P-glycoprotein (P-gp) efflux pump in the intestinal mucosa. It might be suggested that atorvastatin altered disposition of nifedipine by inhibition of both the first-pass metabolism and P-glycoprotein efflux pump in the small intestine of rats. In conclusion, the presence of atorvastatin significantly enhanced the oral bioavailability of nifedipine, suggesting that concurrent use of atorvastatin with nifedipine should require close monitoring for potential drug interation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.930-938
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• 2012

High levels of xylanase activity (143.98 IU/ml) produced by the newly isolated Paenibacillus campinasensis G1-1 were detected when it was cultivated in a synthetic medium. A thermostable xylanase, designated XynG1-1, from P. campinasensis G1-1 was purified to homogeneity by Octyl-Sepharose hydrophobic-interaction chromatography, Sephadex G75 gel-filter chromatography, and Q-Sepharose ion-exchange chromatography, consecutively. By multistep purification, the specific activity of XynG1-1 was up to 1,865.5 IU/mg with a 9.1-fold purification. The molecular mass of purified XynG1-1 was about 41.3 kDa as estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Sequence analysis revealed that XynG1-1 containing 377 amino acids encoded by 1,134 bp genomic sequences of P. campinasensis G1-1 shared 96% homology with XylX from Paenibacillus campinasensis BL11 and 77%~78% homology with xylanases from Bacillus sp. YA-335 and Bacillus sp. 41M-1, respectively. The activity of XynG1-1 was stimulated by $Ca^{2+}$, $Ba^{2+}$, DTT, and ${\beta}$-mercaptoethanol, but was inhibited by $Ni^{2+}$, $Fe^{2+}$, $Fe^{3+}$, $Zn^{2+}$, SDS, and EDTA. The purified XynG1-1 displayed a greater affinity for birchwood xylan, with an optimal temperature of $60^{\circ}C$ and an optimal pH of 7.5. The fact that XynG1-1 is cellulose-free, thermostable (stability at high temperature of $70^{\circ}C{\sim}80^{\circ}C$), and active over a wide pH range (pH 5.0~9.0) suggests that the enzyme is potentially valuable for various industrial applications, especially for pulp bleaching pretreatment.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.151-157
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• 2005

Sheep production is affected by genetic and non-genetic factors. A knowledge of these factors is essential for efficient management and for the accurate estimation of breeding values. The objective of this study was to establish the non-genetic factors which affect birth weight and weaning weight in Dorper, Mutton Merino and indigenous Sabi sheep breeds. A total of 2,625 birth and weaning weight records from Grasslands Research Station collected from 1991 through 1993, were used. The records were collected from indigenous Sabi (939), Dorper (807) and Mutton Merino (898) sheep. A mixed classification model containing the fixed effects of year, birth status and sex was used for identification of non-genetic factors. Sire within breed was included as a random effect. Two factor interactions and three factor interactions were important in indigenous Sabi, Mutton Merino and Dorper sheep. The mean birth weights were 4.37${\pm}$0.04 kg, 4.62${\pm}$0.04 kg and 3.29${\pm}$0.04 kg for Mutton Merino, Dorper and Sabi sheep, respectively. Sire had significant effects (p<0.05) on birth weight in Mutton Merino and indigenous Sabi sheep. Year of lambing had significant effects (p<0.05) on birth weight in indigenous Sabi, Mutton Merino and Dorper sheep. The effect of birth status was non significant in Dorper and Mutton Merino sheep while effect of birth status was significant on birth weight in indigenous Sabi sheep. In Indigenous Sabi sheep lambs born as singles (3.30${\pm}$0.05 kg) were 0.23 kg heavier than twins (3.07${\pm}$0.05 kg), in Mutton Merino lambs born as singles (3.99${\pm}$0.08 kg) were 0.07 kg heavier than twins (3.92${\pm}$0.08 kg) and in Dorper lambs born as singles (4.41${\pm}$0.04 kg) were 0.02 kg heavier than twins (4.39${\pm}$0.04 kg). On average males were heavier than females (p<0.05) weighing (3.32${\pm}$0.04 kg vs. 3.05${\pm}$0.07 kg) in indigenous Sabi, 4.73${\pm}$0.03 kg vs. 4.08${\pm}$0.05 in Dorper and 4.26${\pm}$0.07 kg vs. 3.66${\pm}$0.09 kg in Mutton Merino sheep. Two way factor interactions of sire*year, year*sex and sex*birth status had significant effects (p<0.05) on birth weight in indigenous Sabi, Mutton Merino and Dorper sheep while the effect of year*birth status was non significant on birth weight in Indigenous Sabi sheep. The three way factor interaction of year*sex*birth status had a significant effect (p<0.01) on birth weight in indigenous Sabi and Mutton Merino. Tupping weight fitted as a covariate had significant effects (p<0.001) on birth weight in indigenous Sabi, Mutton Merino and Dorper sheep. The mean weaning weights were 17.94${\pm}$0.31 kg, 18.19${\pm}$0.28 kg and 14.39${\pm}$0.28 kg for Mutton Merino, Dorper and Indigenous Sabi sheep, respectively. Effects of sire and sire*year were non significant on weaning weight in Dorper and Mutton Merino while year, sex and sex*year interaction had significant effects (p<0.001) on weaning weight. On average males were heavier than females (p<0.001) at weaning. The respective weaning weights were 18.05${\pm}$0.46 kg, 18.68${\pm}$0.19 kg, 14.14${\pm}$0.15 kg for males and 16.64${\pm}$0.60 kg, 16.41${\pm}$0.31 kg, 12.64${\pm}$0.32 kg for females in Mutton Merino, Dorper and Indigenous Sabi sheep. Lambs born as singles were significantly heavier at weaning than twins, 0.05 kg, 0.06 kg and 0.78 kg for Mutton Merino, Dorper and Indigenous Sabi sheep, respectively. Effect of tupping weight was highly significant on weaning weight. The three way factor interaction year*sex*birth status had a significant effect (p<0.01) on weaning weight. Correction for environmental effects is necessary to increase accuracy of direct selection for birth weight and weaning weight.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.91-98
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• 2012

In this paper, the behavior of offshore wind turbine(OWT) foundation which is modeled by using existing design method and FEM is compared. When the same type of foundation is designed under the same sea and ground condition, the behavior characteristics with each model are compared. As a result, the member forces between apparent fixity and distributed spring type foundation which consider the ground stiffness are not different markedly, while fixed-base type foundation shows relatively lower member forces, which results in smaller safety margin. In other words, considering ground stiffness is reasonable because soil-pile interaction affects significantly on the analysis result. A case study with a monopile shows significant errors between p-y and FEM model at the head and tip of the pile. Also, it shows that the errors at the tip with diameter increase of the pile is larger. Thus, considering ground characteristics and engineering judgment are necessary in practice. A comparison of reliability analysis between tripod and monopile type foundation on the same condition shows larger probability of failure in monopile type and it indicates that the safety margin of monopile type can be lower.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.343-354
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• 2014

Rice blast disease caused by Magnaporthe oryzae is one of the most serious diseases of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) in most rice-growing regions of the world. In order to investigate early response genes in rice, we utilized the transcriptome analysis approach using a 300 K tilling microarray to rice leaves infected with compatible and incompatible M. oryzae strains. Prior to the microarray experiment, total RNA was validated by measuring the differential expression of rice defense-related marker genes (chitinase 2, barwin, PBZ1, and PR-10) by RT-PCR, and phytoalexins (sakuranetin and momilactone A) with HPLC. Microarray analysis revealed that 231 genes were up-regulated (>2 fold change, p < 0.05) in the incompatible interaction compared to the compatible one. Highly expressed genes were functionally characterized into metabolic processes and oxidation-reduction categories. The oxidative stress response was induced in both early and later infection stages. Biotic stress overview from MapMan analysis revealed that the phytohormone ethylene as well as signaling molecules jasmonic acid and salicylic acid is important for defense gene regulation. WRKY and Myb transcription factors were also involved in signal transduction processes. Additionally, receptor-like kinases were more likely associated with the defense response, and their expression patterns were validated by RT-PCR. Our results suggest that candidate genes, including receptor-like protein kinases, may play a key role in disease resistance against M. oryzae attack.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.3
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• pp.545-562
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• 2021

A 3 yr experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of diet and feeding location on animal performance, carcass characteristics, whole blood counts, and internal parasite burden of lambs assigned to 1 of 4 treatments: 1) confinement fed 71% alfalfa, 18% barley pellet, 5% molasses, 0.013% Bovatec, 6.1% vitamin/mineral package diet (CALF), 2) confinement fed 60% barley, 26% alfalfa pellet, 4% molasses, 2.5% soybean-hi pro, 0.016% Bovatec, 7.4% vitamin/mineral package diet (CBAR), 3) field fed 71% alfalfa, 18% barley pellet, 5% molasses, 0.013% Bovatec, 6.1% vitamin/mineral package diet (FALF), and 4) field fed 60% barley, 26% alfalfa pellet, 4% molasses, 2.5% soybean-hi pro, 0.016% Bovatec, 7.4% vitamin/mineral package diet (FBAR). A year × location interaction was detected for ending body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), and dry matter intake (DMI); therefore results are presented by year. In all years, cost of gain and DMI were greater for CALF and FALF than for CBAR and FBAR feed treatments (p ≤ 0.03). In yr 2 and 3 field treatments had greater ending BW and ADG than confinement treatments. For all years, diet did not affect ending BW or ADG. In yr 1 dressing percent and rib eye area were greater for field finished lambs than confinement finished (p ≤ 0.02) and Warner-Bratzler shear force was greater for CALF and FALF (p = 0.03). In yr 2 lambs in FALF and FBAR treatments had greater leg scores and conformation than CALF and CBAR (p = 0.09). In yr 1, FALF had a greater small intestine total worm count than all other treatments. In yr 1, ending Trichostrongyle type egg counts were greater for FALF (p = 0.05). In yr 2, ending Nematodirus spp. egg counts were greater for FALF and lowest for CBAR (p < 0.01). Abomasum Teladorsagia circumcinta worm burden was greater in CALF than all other treatments (p = 0.07) in yr 2. While field finishing lambs with a grain- or forage-based diet we conclude that it is possible to produce a quality lamb product without adverse effects to animal performance, carcass quality or increasing parasite burdens.