• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 1976

In recent years, explosive increase in population has been damaging mankind in terms of deprivation of natural resources and more of economical demands. Therefore, we have thought about problems as to counter-balance the increasing population, and reached a resolution of artificial methods of controlling birth. In the past, though now used in some of contraceptive methods, extravaginal ejaculation, condom were commonly used. But recently, pills, IUD and several kinds of operative procedures are quite popular. Though the recent methods are known to be effective compared with the traditional methods, a certain unwanted side effects as well as limited value of usages now must be discussed. On this aspect, we are trying to research for a ideal methods such as symptom free, more of natural way of family planning and try to zero the failure rate. And also it has been suggested that only if those scientific methods of controlling birth can be base on religious concepts of moral being, it will be enlightened. At the Happy Family Planning Clinic of St. Mary's Hospital, we apply Billing's ovulation method to out-patients who want contraception and usually advise them to use it on a self-care basis. For a retrospective study of the presurvey data analysis and use-effectiveness of the ovulation method from April 1, 1975 to Nov., 30, 1975, we have dealt with a total of 1,383 women (urban areas 465, rural areas 918). The results of preliminary survey were as follows; 1) Among 465 women in Seoul areas, the failure rate was 10.3, which signified unplanned pregnancies of 32 women. 27 of the 32 women were pregnant due to the users own failure and the remaing 5 due to the failure of the method. Therefore, the failure of the method accounted for 1.6. 2) Among 918 women in rural areas, the failure rate was 15.2 signifing unplanned pregnancies in 93 women. The cause of the failure in 81 of the 93 women was attributable to the user's own mistake and that in the remaing 12 to the default of the method. Therefore, the failure attributable to the method accounted for 2.0.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.233-239
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• 1997

Embryos of most mammalian species grown in vitro would undergo developmental arrest at the approximate time of genomic activation. Stage-specific cell block and the resulting rapid loss of embryo viability in conventional culture media have limited the duration for which embryos may be cultured prior to transfer. As a result, embryos are usually transferred to the uterus at the 4-to 8-cell stage to avoid the loss of viability associated with long-term in vitro culture. Early transfer has led to asynchrony of the endometrium-trophectoderm interaction at the time of implantation and a resultant reduction in the rate of implantation. To overcome these problems, a variety of co-culture systems has been devised in which embryos can develop for a longer period prior to embryo transfer. Vero cells, derived from African green monkey kidney, share a common embryologic origin with cells from the genital tract. In addition, they are potentially safe to use, since they are highly controlled for viruses and other contaminants. Therefore, co-culture using Vero cells has been widely utilized to enhance embryo viability and development, although not without controversies. We thus designed a series of experiments to demonstrate whether Vero cells do indeed enhance mouse embryo development as well as to compare the efficacy of co-culturing mouse 1-cell embryos on Vero cell monolayer in both Ham's F-10 and human tubal fluid (HTF) culture media. 1-cell stage ICR mouse embryos were cultured either in the presence of Vero cells (Group A) or in conventional culture medium alone (Group B). In Ham's F-10 significantly more 3-to-8cell embryos developed in group A than group B (59.8 versus 10.0%; p<0.01). In contrast, there was no significant difference in embryonic development both group A and group B in HTF. However, significant differences were noted only in later embryonic stage (13 and 0%; p<0.05 of group A and B respectively, hatching or hatched). In Ham's F-10, we also could observe the beneficial effect of Vero cell on hatching process (70.7 and 42.1%; p<0.05 of group A and group B respectively).

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.89-101
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• 2019

In recent times, the number of men with late-onset hypogonadism has increased, and interest on this topic has also increased. This study was conducted to investigate effects of the mixture extract of Fructus amomi Amari, Eucommiae cortex, Bombyx batryticatus on improve late-onset hypogonadism. The experimental subjects consisted of three groups: a control group consisting of 8-week-old male ICR mice that had undergone no treatment, an aging-elicited group (AE group) consisting of 50-week-old ICR male mice that had undergone no treatment, and a Mixed herbal extract treatment group (MT group) consisting of 50-week-old ICR male mice that had undergone the mixture extract of Fructus amomi Amari, Eucommiae cortex, Bombyx batryticatus treatment (0.1 g/kg/day) for 6 months. After the experiment, the mice from all the experimental groups were dissected, and they were analyzed through histochemical and immunohistochemical methods. The mixture extract of Fructus amomi Amari, Eucommiae cortex, Bombyx batryticatus reduces aging-induced cell damage and oxidative stress and increases the secretion of serotonin and B-endorphin in aged mice, and promotes spermatogenesis in seminiferous tubules and reduces apoptosis and oxidative stress, and increases androgen receptor, $17{\beta}-HSD$ and GnRH, increases the ratio of smooth muscle to collagen fibers in the corpus cavernosum, increases eNOS, decreases PDE-5 and oxidative stress in aged mice, so it improves depression, reproductive, sexual problems caused by Late-onset hypogonadism. the mixture extract of Fructus amomi Amari, Eucommiae cortex, Bombyx batryticatus inhibits the induction of osteoporosis by increasing decreased bone matrix distribution due to aging, increasing the activities of OPC and OPN, which are produced in osteoblasts, and decreasing RANKL, MMP-3 activity, increasing OPG activity. It also reduces muscle damage, oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis of muscle tissue, and increases Myo-D in the sartorius muscle of aged mice for improving muscle atrophy caused by by Late-onset hypogonadism.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.1214-1218
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• 2004

Data on 958 Karan Fries (KF) and 780 Karan Swiss (KS) cows, born during 1974 to 1992 at National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal were evaluated for causes of culling and their impact on milk performance and herd strength. Causes of culling were classified as voluntary culling (low milk yield) and involuntary culling (other than milk yield). The milk yield of cows was evaluated inretrospectively by estimating expected breeding value (EBV) on the basis of first lactation yield (FLY) and all available lactation yield (ALY). The culling rate of KF cows over the years varied from 10.89 (1988) to 33.92% (1991) with an overall average of 20.96% and in KS from 19.91 (1984) to 33.74% (1989) with an overall average of 25.01%. Reproductive disorders, teat and udder problems, low milk production, health and locomotive disorders were the major reasons of culling accounted respectively for 5.56, 4.97, 4.61, 3.18 and 2.24% of herd strength in KF cows. The corresponding causes of culling were 6.20, 6.26, 7.69, 1.49 and 2.67% of herd strength in KS cows. The involuntary culling of cows accounted for 82.4% in K F and 76.1% in KS cows of total culling. The average annual disposal rate in KF and KS was 26 and 30% whereas annual replacement rate was 24 and 26% respectively. The EBV of involuntary culled cows on the basis of FLY and ALY was 3,111 and 3,515 kg in KF; and 2,669 and 2,940 kg in KS cows respectively. The EBV of selected cows on the basis of FLY and ALY was 3,242 and 3,549 kg in KF and 2,893 and 3,245 kg in KS cows respectively. The average breeding value of involuntary culled cows was not significantly different from selected cows in both the herds. The high rate of involuntary culling of potential cows might be major factor responsible for declined performance and size in these herds. The results indicated that higher genetic gain (2.14% of herd average in KF and 3.49% of herd average in KS) could be obtained by restricting the involuntary culling (50% of total culling) through improved management practices and increasing replacement rate.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2013

Acacia mangium is an evergreen fast-growing tropical tree, which can grow up to 30 m tall and 50 cm thick, under favorable conditions. It is a low-elevation species associated with rain forest margins and disturbed, well-drained acid soils. It is native to Papua, Western Irian Jaya and the Maluku islands in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and north-eastern Queensland in Australia. Due to its rapid growth and tolerance of very poor soils, A. mangium was introduced into some Asian, African and western hemisphere countries where it is used as a plantation tree. A. mangium has good quality wood traits, such as a comparatively low proportion of parenchymatous cells and vessels, white and hard wood, and high calorific value. Therefore, it is useful for a variety of purposes, such as furniture, cabinets, turnery, floors, particleboard, plywood, veneer, fence posts, firewood, and charcoal. It is also being used in pulp and paper making because it has good pulp traits, with high yields of pulp, quality of kraft, and produces paper with good optical, physical and surface properties. Because there are significant provenance differences in growth rate, stem straightness, heartwood formation and frequency of multiple leaders, the productivity and quality also varies depending upon environmental conditions, so genetic improvement programmes have been undertaken in countries like Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand. The programme includes provenance identifications and testing, plus tree selection and clonal multiplication, establishment of seed orchards and hybridization. The phenology, reproductive biology, fruit characteristics, silvicultural practices for cultivation, pest and diseases problems, production of improved planting stock, harvesting, wood properties and utilization have been discussed in this paper.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.129-148
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• 2016

Plant species on oceanic islands comprise nearly 25% of described vascular plants on only 5% of the Earth's land surface yet are among the most rare and endangered plants. Conservation of plant biodiversity on islands poses particular challenges because many species occur in a few and/or small populations, and their habitats on islands are often disturbed by the activity of humans or by natural processes such as landslides and volcanoes. In addition to described species, evidence is accumulating that there are likely significant numbers of "cryptic" species in oceanic archipelagos. Plant systematists, in collaboration with others in the botanical disciplines, are critical to the discovery of the subtle diversity in oceanic island floras. Molecular data will play an ever increasing role in revealing variation in island lineages. However, the input from plant systematists and other organismal biologists will continue to be important in calling attention to morphological and ecological variation in natural populations and in the discovery of "new" populations that can inform sampling for molecular analyses. Conversely, organismal biologists can provide basic information necessary for understanding the biology of the molecular variants, including diagnostic morphological characters, reproductive biology, habitat, etc. Such basic information is important when describing new species and arguing for their protection. Hybridization presents one of the most challenging problems in the conservation of insular plant diversity, with the process having the potential to decrease diversity in several ways including the merging of species into hybrid swarms or conversely hybridization may generate stable novel recombinants that merit recognition as new species. These processes are often operative in recent radiations in which intrinsic barriers to gene flow have not evolved. The knowledge and continued monitoring of plant populations in the dynamic landscapes on oceanic islands are critical to the preservation of their plant diversity.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.49-55
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• 2005

We cloned cDNA of the PGH(porcine growth hormone) gene and constructed retrovirus vector designed to express PGH gene under the regulation of CMV (cytomegalovirus) promoter. To maximize the expression, WPRE(woodchuck hepatitis virus posttranscriptional regulatory element) sequence was placed at the downstream of the PGH gene. After infection with recombinant viruses, approximately 1×10/sup 6/ PFF(porcine fetal fibroblast) cells released PGH protein into the media as much as 1,400 ng. In a subsequent experiment, a modifications of the retrovirus vector was made to express the PGH gene in a teracycline-inducible manner. In PFF cells carrying these viral vector sequences, addition of doxycycline to the media resulted in 2∼6 fold increase in PGH synthesis. In the modified retrovirus vectors, the WPRE sequence also played a role in boosting the effect of the tetracycline induction. This result indicates that our tetracycline-inducible expression system might be a promising candidate in alleviating the complicate physiological problems caused by constitutive expression of the exogenous genes in the transgenic animals.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.21-27
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• 2010

The increase in the total number of cows on farms, which breed Korean Native Cattle (KNC), is associated with many problems. In particular, the services per conception and calving interval have increased. In this study, we examined the effect of dietary supplementation with vitamin and mineral complex on the estrus rate, pregnancy rate, gestation length, and birth weight of KNC calves. Multiparous or primiparous KNC were divided into 3 groups with 40 heads per group. Experimental group 1 was administered a consisting of 35,000 IU vitamin A, 100 IU vitamin E, 200 mg $\beta$-carotene, 200 mg Zn methionine, and 1.5 mg Se. Experimental group 2 was administered a vitamin complex (100 g/day) consisting of 100 IU vitamin E and 200 mg $\beta$-carotene. In the case of multiparous KNC, the estrus detection rate in the control group was 90.0% and those in the experimental groups were 75.0% to 95.0%. However, the first-service pregnancy rate after parturition in the control group was 41.2%, which was significantly lower than that in the experimental groups (71.0% to 76.7%; p<0.05). The average duration of pregnancy in the group supplemented with the vitamin complex was days, which was similar to that in the case of the control group. The birth weight of calves from cows fed with vitamin complex was 25.3 to 27.0 kg, which was similar to that in the case of the control group (25.2 to 26.0 kg). In the case of primiparous KNC, no differences in the estrus rate, pregnancy rate, gestation length, or the birth weight of calves were noted between the groups. Thus, dietary supplementation vitamin and mineral complex have no effect on the reproductive efficiency in primiparous cows, but the pregnancy rate was observed to have increased in multiparous KNC with these supplements.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.76-100
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• 2000

A brief general discussion of the nature and function of biosensors is presented. While the primary motivator for biosensor development has been the health-care industries, recent research efforts have spread to problems in agriculture and biological production systems. To illustrate some of the research from our laboratory, three example biosensors and their corresponding applications are presented. The first of these is an immunosensor for measurement of the hormone progesterone during milking as a method to improve reproductive management of dairy herds. The second example is an enzyme sensor for measurement of urea in milk as a menas to determine the efficiency of conversion of input protein to milk protein and, thus, improve nutritional management of dairy herds. The third example is a DNA sensor using polymerase chain reaction to detect pathogenic bacteria in the wash water of fresh and minimally processed fruits and vegetables. The potential for application of biosensors in agriculture, agrobiotechnology, food processing, and environmental monitoring has barely been realized.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.487-491
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• 2014

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan that is distributed worldwide. Recently, several tests for avidity of Toxoplasma IgG antibodies have been introduced to help discriminate between recently acquired and distant infections. The study was conducted in Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital, India from February 2011 to September 2012. Serum specimens were subjected to Toxoplasma IgM ELISA and IgG avidity ELISA test. Out of 48 patients with abortions, 17 (35.4%) were positive for IgM ELISA, and 8 (16.6%) had low IgG avidity antibodies. Out of 48 patients with other obstetric problems, 23 (47.9%) were positive for IgM ELISA, and 17 (35.4%) had low IgG avidity antibodies. Combining both groups on avidity test, only 25 of 40 (62.5 %) IgM-positive women had low-avidity IgG antibodies suggesting a recent T. gondii infection in these women. More importantly, 15 (37.5%) of the IgM-positive women had high-avidity antibodies suggesting that the infection was acquired before gestation The relation of IgM seropositivity with the following risk factors was not found to be statistically significant; contact with cats (0.13), non-vegetarian food habits (0.05), and low socio-economic status (0.49). While, for IgG avidity ELISA, only contact with cats (0.01) was significantly associated with seropositivity. All other risk factors have P-values of >0.05 (not significant). IgG avidity test when used in combination with IgM test was a valuable assay for diagnosis of ongoing or recently acquired T. gondii infection in India.