• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
• /
• v.17
• /
• pp.1-44
• /
• 1974

These studies were made at Suwon in 1972 and at Suwon, Iri, and Kwangju in 1973 to investigate grain filling process and variation of grain quality of NB 68513 and Caprock as hard red winter wheat, Suke ＃169 as soft red winter wheat variety and Yungkwang as semi-hard winter variety, grown under-three different fertilizer levels and seeding dates. Other experiments were conducted to find the effects of temperature, humidity and light intensity on the grain filling process and grain quality of Yungkwang and NB 68513 wheat varieties. These, experiments were conducted at Suwon in 1973 and 1974. 1. Grain filling process of wheat cultivars: 1) The frequency distribution of a grain weight shows that wider distribution of grain weight was associated with large grain groups rather than small grain group. In the large grain groups, the frequency was mostly concentrated near mean value, while the frequency was dispersed over the values in the small grain group. 2) The grain weight was more affected by the grain thickness and width than by grain length. 3) The grain weight during the ripening period was rapidly increased from 14 days after flowering to 35 days in Yungkwang and from 14 days after flowering to 28 days in NB 68513. The large grain group, Yungkwang was rather slowly increased and took a longer period in increase of endosperm ratio of grain than the small grain group, NB 68513. 4) In general, the 1, 000 grain weight was reduced under high temperature, low humidity, while it was increased under low temperature and high humidity condition, and under high temperature and humidity condition. The effect of shading on grain weight was greater in high temperature than in low temperature condition and no definite tendency was found in high humidity condition. 5) The effects of temperature, humidity and shading on 1, 000 grain weight were greater in large-grain group, Yungkwang than in small grain group, NB 68513. Highly significant positive correlation was found between 1, 000 grain weight and days to ripening. 6) The 1, 000 grain weight and test weight were increased more or less as the fertilizer levels applied were increased. However, the rate of increasing 1, 000 grain weight was low when fertilizer levels were increased from standard to double. The 1, 000 grain weight was high when planted early. Such tendency was greater in Suwon than in Kwangju or Iri area. 2. Milling quality: 7) The milling rate in a same group of varieties was higher under the condition of low temperature, high humidity and early maturing culture which were responsible for increasing 1, 000 grain weight. No definite relations were found along with locations. 8) In the varieties tested, the higher milling rate was found in large grain variety, Yungkwang, and the lowest milling rate was obtained from Suke ＃ 169, the small grain variety. But the small grained hard wheat variety such as Caprock and NB 68513 showed higher milling rate compared with the soft wheat variety, Suke ＃ 169. 9) There were no great differences of ash content due to location, fertilizer level and seeding date while remarkable differences due to variety were found. The ash content was high in the hard wheat varieties such as NB 68513, Caprock and low in soft wheat varieties such as Yungkwang and Suke ＃ 169. 3. Protein content: 10) The protein content was increased under the condition of high temperature, low humidity and shading, which were responsible for reduction of 1, 000 grain weight. The varietal differences of protein content due to high temperature, low humidity and shading conditions were greater in Yungkwang than in NB 68513. 11) The high content of protein in grain within one to two weeks after flowering might be due to the high ratio of pericarp and embryo to endosperm. As grains ripen, the effects of embryo and pericarp on protein content were decreased, reducing protein content. However, the protein content was getting increased from three or four weeks after flowering, and maximized at seven weeks after flowering. The protein content of grain at three to four weeks after flowering increased as the increase of 1, 000 grain weight. But the protein content of matured grain appeared to be affected by daily temperature on calender rather than by duration of ripening period. 12) Highly significant positive correlation value was found between the grain protein content and flour protein content. 13) The protein content was increased under the high level of fertilizers and late seeding. The local differences of protein content were greater in Suwon than in Kwangju and Iri. 14) Protein content in the varieties tested were high in Yungkwang, NB 68513 and Caprock, and low in Suke ＃ 169. However, variation in protein content due to the cultural methods was low in Suke ＃ 169. 15) Protein yield per unit area was increased in accordance with increase of fertilizer levels and early maturing culture. However, nitrogen fertilizer was utilized rather effectively in early maturing culture and Yungkwang was the highest in protein yield per unit area. 4. Physio-chemical properties of wheat flour: 16) Sedimentation value was higher under the conditions of high temperature, low humidity and high levels of fertilizers than under the conditions of low temperature, high moisture and low levels of fertilizers. Such differences of sedimentation values were more apparent in NB 68513 and Caprock than Yungkwang and Suke ＃ 169. The local difference of sedimentation value was greater in Suwon than in Kwangju and Iri. Even though the sedimentation value was highly correlated with protein content of grain, the high humidity was considered one of the factors affecting sedimentation value. 17) Changes of Pelshenke values due to the differences of cultural practices and locations were generally coincident with sedimentation values. 18) The mixing time required for mixogram was four to six minutes in NB 68513, five to seven minutes in Cap rock. The great variation of mixing time for Yungkwang and Suke ＃ 169 due to location and planting conditions was found. The mixing height and area were high in hard wheat than in soft wheat. Variation of protein content due to cultural methods were inconsistent. However, the pattern of mixogram were very much same regardless the treatments applied. With this regard, it could be concluded that the mixogram is a kind of method expressing the specific character of the variety. 19) Even though the milling property of NB 68513 and Caprock was deteriorated under either high temperature and low humidity of high fertilizer levels and late seeding conditions, baking quality was better due to improved physio-chemical properties of flour. In contrast, early maturing culture deteriorated physio-chemical properties, milling property of grain and grain protein yield per unit area was increased. However, it might be concluded that the hard wheat production of NB 68513 and Caprock for baking purpose could be done better in Suwon than in Iri or Kwangju area. 5. Interrelationships between the physio-chemical characters of wheat flour: 20) Physio-chemical properties of flour didn't have direct relationship with milling rate and ash content. Low grain weight produced high protein content and better physio-chemical flour properties. 21) In hard wheat varieties like NB 68513 and Caprock, protein content was significantly correlated with sedimentation value, Pelshenke value and mixing height. However, gluten strength and baking quality were improved by the increased protein content. In Yungkwang and Suk ＃ 169, protein content was correlated with sedimentation value, but no correlations were found with Pelshenke value and mixing height. Consequently, increase of protein content didn't improve the gluten strength in soft wheat. 22) The highly significant relationships between protein content and gluten strength and sedimentation . value, and between Pelshenke value, mixogram and gluten strength indicated that the determination of mixogram and Pelshenke value are useful for de terming soft and hard type of varieties. Determination of sedimentation value is considered useful method for quality evaluation of wheat grain under different cultural practices.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.131-141
• /
• 2008

Objective: To compare the outcomes of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) with fresh and cryopreserved-thawed testicular spermatozoa in patients with azoospermia. Methods: One hundred and nine cycles (66 couples) where ICSI was planned with fresh or cryopreserved-thawed testicular spermatozoa were included in this study; Ninety two cycles (61 couples) with fresh testicular spermatozoa (fresh group) and seventeen cycles (13 couples) with cryopreserved-thawed testicular spermatozoa (cryopreserved-thawed group). We compared ICSI outcomes such as fertilization rate, implantation rate, pregnancy rate and miscarriage rate, which were statistically analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test or Fisher's exact test, where appropriate. Results: In 9 out of the 92 cycles where ICSI was planned with fresh testicular spermatozoa, testicular spermatozoa could not be retrieved. Fertilization rate tended to be higher in the fresh group than in the cryopreserved-thawed group ($58.0{\pm}27.8%$ vs. $45.9{\pm}25.0%$, p=0.076). The number of high quality embryos was significantly higher in the fresh group ($0.9{\pm}1.2$ vs. $0.2{\pm}0.5$, p=0.002). However, there were no significant differences in clinical pregnancy rate, implantation rate and miscarriage rate between the two groups. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that although the use of cryopreserved-thawed testicular sperm for ICSI in patients with azoospermia may reduce fertilization capacity and embryo quality, it may not affect pregnancy rate, implantation rate and miscarriage rate. If testicular sperm can be obtained before ICSI procedure, the use of cryopreserved-thawed testicular sperm may also avoid unnecessary controlled ovarian hyperstimulation and cancellation of oocyte retrieval when spermatozoa cannot be retrieved as well as damage on testicular function by repeated TESE.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.239-253
• /
• 2005

Serum concentrations of Hanwoo steers and bulls as possible indicators of beef quality were analyzed to estimate their correlations with carcass traits. Blood samples were taken 2 months and right before shipping to abattoir and at the time of slaughter. And phenotypic correlation coefficients between serum concentrations and carcass traits were estimated. Beef yield index of steers was positively correlated with serum concentrations of total Protein (0.23), albumin (0.26), and calcium (0.31). But it was negatively co..elated with BUN (-0.30). Loin eye area was positively correlated with BUN (0.17) or with globulin (0.16). Back fat thickness was positively correlated with BUN (0.42) and inorganic phosphorus (0.20) being negatively correlated with total protein (-0.23), albumin (-0.33) and calcium (-0.33). Marbling score in the scale of 1 (scarcely marbled) through 9 (extremely marbled) was positively correlated with BUN (0.28) and negatively with IGF-I and calcium concentrations. Phenotype correlation coefficient of loin eye area with total protein concentration in the serum taken from steers right before shipment was estimated to be -0.16 and that with BUN was estimated to be -0.15. Serum concentrations of IGF, glucose, creatinine and on organic phosphorus from steers measured right before shipment were negatively correlated with respective correlation coefficient estimates as -0.21, -0.21, -0.19 and -0.18. Marbling score was negatively co..elated with serum creatinine (-0.16) measured at that time. Beef yield index of steers was positively correlated (0.31) with age adjusted calcium concentration in the serum taken at the time of slaughter. Correlation between body weight and BUN at slaughter was 0.17 At slaughter, loin eye area was negatively correlated with albumin (-0.19) and back fat thickness was also negatively correlated with age adjusted calcium concentration (-0.38). Marbling was negatively correlated with age adjusted calcium concentration(-0.17). Serum concentrations of testosterone, calcium and inorganic phosphorus taken in 2 months before slaughter were negatively but highly correlated with yield index(0.71, 0.67 and -0.71), respectively. Body weight at slaughter was positively was negatively correlated (0.67) with calcium level while dressing percentage was negatively (-0.69) correlated with serum glucose concentration, 2 months prior to slaughter. Correlation coefficients between back fat thickness and cortisol, between back fat thickness and inorganic phosphate were both positive (0.29 and 0.69). Marbling score was negatively correlated with creatinine (-0.81) and positively with BUN (0.87). Body weight loss during shipping was positively correlated with albumin and inorganic phosphate (0.77, 0.83). Yield index of bulls was positively correlated with serum testosterone concentration (0.66). Dressing percentage was positively and highly correlated with globulin (0.73). Back fat thickness of bulls, however, was negatively correlated with testosterone (-0.60). Loin eye area of bull carcasses was positively correlated with testosterone (0.40). Mar-blaine was negatively co..elated with creatinine (-0.55). Yield index of bulls and age adjusted HDLC concentration at slaughter was negatively correlated (-0.71). Dressing percentage of bulls was positively and highly correlated with globulin concentration (0.70). Back fat thickness was also positively correlated with HDLC (0.69) in the serum taken at slaughter. Correlation coefficients between carcass weight and triglyceride, between loin eye are and testosterone and between marbling score and creatinine or glucose were 0.51, -0.91 and -0.58, respectively.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.41-48
• /
• 2007

Objective: To determine whether the presence of Y-chromosome microdeletion affects the outcome of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) program. Methods: Fourteen couples with microdeletion in azoospermic factor (AZF)c region who attempted IVF/ICSI or cryopreserved and thawed embryo transfer cycles were enrolled. All of the men showed severe oligoasthenoteratoazoospermia (OATS) or azoospermia. As a control, 12 couples with OATS or azoospermia and having normal Y-chromosome were included. Both groups were divided into two subgroups by sperm source used in ICSI such as those who underwent testicular sperm extraction (TESE) and those used ejaculate sperm. We retrospectively analyzed our database in respect to the IVF outcomes. The outcome measures were mean number of good quality embryos, fertilization rates, implantation rates, $\beta$-hCG positive rates, early pregnancy loss and live birth rates. Results: Mean number of good quality embryos, implantation rates, $\beta$-hCG positive rates, early pregnancy loss rates and live birth rates were not significantly different between Y-chromosome microdeletion and control groups. But, fertilization rates in the Y-chromosome microdeletion group (61.1%) was significantly lower than that of control group (79.8%, p=0.003). Also, the subgroup underwent TESE and having AZFc microdeletion showed significantly lower fertilization rates (52.9%) than the subgroup underwent TESE and having normal Y-chromosome (79.5%, p=0.008). Otherwise, in the subgroups used ejaculate sperm, fertilization rates were showed tendency toward lower in couples having Y-chromosome microdeletion than couples with normal Y-chromosome. (65.5% versus 79.9%, p=0.082). But, there was no significance statistically. Conclusions: In IVF/ICSI cycles using TESE sperm, presence of V-chromosome microdeletion may adversely affect to fertilization ability of injected sperm. But, in cases of ejaculate sperm available for ICSI, IVF outcome was not affected by presence of Y-chromosome AZFc microdeletion. However, more larger scaled prospective study was needed to support our results.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.207-215
• /
• 2020

Toxic assessment of antifouling agents (diuron and irgarol) was conducted using the fertilization and the normal embryogenesis rates of the sea urchin, Mesocentrotus nudus. Bioassessment began with male and female reproductive cell induction. White or cream-colored male gametes(sperm) and yellow or orange-colored female gametes (eggs) were acquired and fully washed, separately. Then, the fertilization and normal embryogenesis rates were measured after 10 min and 48 h of exposure to the toxicants, respectively. The fertilization and embryo development rates were greater than 90% in the control, validating the suitability of both endpoints. The normal embryogenesis rates were significantly decreased with increasing concentrations of diuron and irgarol, but no changes in the fertilization rates were observed in concentrations ranging from 0 to 40 mg L^-1. The EC₅₀ values of diuron and irgarol for the normal embryogenesis rates were 20.07 mg L^-1 and 22.45 mg L^-1, respectively. The no observed effect concentrations (NOEC) were <1.25 mg L^-1 and the lowest observed effect concentrations (LOEC) were 1.25 mg L^-1 and 2.5 mg L^-1, respectively. From these results, concentrations of diuron and irgarol over 1.25 mg L^-1 and 2.5 mg L^-1, respectively, can be considered to have toxic effects on invertebrates, including M. nudus. The ecotoxicological bioassay in this study using the noted fertilization and normal embryogenesis rates of M. nudus can be used as baseline data for the continued establishment of environmental quality standards for the effects of antifouling agents(especially diuron and irgarol) in a marine environment.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.319-326
• /
• 1996

The objective of this study was to investigate correlation between the morphology by microscopic assessments of surplus blastocysts produced in human IVF program and their cell number obtained by differential labelling method. For these experiments, 76 surplus human blastocysts were obtained from 36 patients on day 5 after IVF, the embryos were classified to early (ErB), early expanding (EEB), middle expanding (MEB), expanded blastocyst (EdB) according to their blastocoel expansion and zona thickness. When the ovum size and zona thickness of the classified blastocysts were measured using micrometer, although the embryos were produced in the same culture condition, there were significant variances in ovum size ($148.8 217.6{\mu}m$) and zona thickness ($1.2-14.4{\mu}m$). Total blastomere cell number counted after hoechst staining was increased by two to three fold during the transition period from ErB ($39.1{\pm}3.6$) to EdB ($(89.6{\pm}3.3)$) stage on day 5 after IVF. ICM ($11.9{\pm}1.8-22.2{\pm}4.3$) and TE ($24.5{\pm}3.6-70.0{\pm}7.7$) cell numbers using differential labelling were also showed the increased pattern according to the developmental level. Especially, EdB which showed poor ICM morphologically also indicated the low ICM cell number after differential labelling. This demonstrated that there is good correlation between the morphological assessment and the cell number. The count of ICM and TE nuclei using differential labelling can be used as an important criterion, if it is accompanied with morphological assessments, in selecting the better embryos for improving the pregnancy rates in human blastocyst transfer program.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.177-187
• /
• 2002

In our experiment, selected mutants were used which showed not only the phenotype of a specific unpolished rice but also phenotypes of EM 40, LO 1050, and TAL 214. Reciprocal crosses between the mutants were conducted to select strains which would have more quantity of lipids than before. The constitution of fatty acid was also tested to figure out nutritional aspects of the mutants. In the crossing between EM 40 mutants and mutants (LO 1050) having a thick aleurone layer, the expression of EM 40 mutants has no relation with the thickness of the aleurone layer. And the lipid content of new F$_2$ strains through the crossing is 4.15 ％. The lipid content is larger than those of the parents including Kinmaze and in other crossings of this experiment. This is attributed to the fact that the new F$_2$ strains are the products of the crossing between genes responsible for the size of buds, where lipid is accumulated, and genes accountable for the thickness of the aleurone layer. In the crossing between EM 40 mutants and TAL 214 mutants, lipid content of the new F$_2$ strains is 3.8 ％, higher than 2.92 ％ of TAL 214 mutants. But the degree of lipid increase is smaller than in two other crossings. This is probably because genes expressing the phenotypes of TAL 214 affect the size of EM 40, which gets smaller. The aleurone layer of the new F$_2$ strains is 12 $\mu\textrm{m}$ thicker than the layer of TAL 214 mutants, but 6 $\mu\textrm{m}$ thinner than that of parents (LO 1050) having a thick aleurone layer. This seems to be affected by the size of a microscope. The phenotype of the new F$_2$ strains appears to be similar to that of TAL 214. The lipid content of the new F$_2$ strains is 3.85 ％, larger than 2.92 ％ of TAL 214 and 3.01 % of LO 1050. The increase may be due to the aleurone layer of LO 1050. And the size of the bud of the unpolished rice, though it is not big enough like that of LO 1050, seems to be affected by the accumulation of genes in the thick aleurone layer. The accumulation may contribute to the increase in the content of lipid. When it comes to the constitution of fatty acid, there is little difference between parents like Kinmaze and the new F$_2$ strains. But oleic acid increases while linoleic acid decreases. And the decrease in the linolenic acid seems to contribute to the increase in lipid content. This fact also raises the possibility that genes accountable for specific phenotypes could change the quality of rice if the genes are accumulated. Now, experiments on strains which have large lipid content in EM 40 type 1(ge-1, 3.68 ％), EM type 2(ge-2, 2.91 ％), thick aleurone layer(4.63 ％), and starch layer(3.44 ％) are under way to figure out the effects of gene accumulation. These experiments are likely to present the ways for increasing the lipid content.