• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.71-79
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• 1992

In vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF & ET) is widely used for the males with subnormal or abnormal semen quality, as this was recommended in view of the relatively small numbers of spermatozoa required for fertilization and subsequent pregnancies could be obtained. The aim of this study is to know how the various functional parameters of spermatozoa in semen analysis affect the outcome IVF. This study was carried out between 1988-1989, with male factor patients selected on the basis of the semen quality. The selection criteria was based upon the mean values of concentration,% motility and % normal morphology from at least two semen analysis. There is a significant decrease in the fertilization and embryo transfer rates in the study group compared with control group (35.9% vs. 68% and 48.6% vs. 85.5% respectively), however, there was no significant difference in the pregnancy or delivery rates (19.6% vs. 21.4% and 60.0% vs. 62.5% respectively) per embryo transfer cycles. Fertilization rate is variously affected by the type and degree of sperm defect. No pregnancy was occurred in triple defect group and asthenoteratospermia group. There is no significant increase in the abortion rate in the male factor group. Improvement have to be made with the fertilization rate, as the pregnancy rate per OPU cycle in male factor group is still lower than that of normal group (9.5% vs. 18.3%). In conclusion, IVF can be used as a treatment for male factor infertility and the preparation of the semen sample can be modified to improve sperm recovery and obtain fertilization from abnormal semen samples.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2002

In oocyte retrieval, a vein anesthetic drug is commonly used for induction and maintenance of general anesthesia. Propofol and Thiopental sodium are frequently used for ultrasound-guided transvaginal oocyte retrieval. The present study aimed to assess the effects of Propofol and Thiopental on in vitro fertilization(IVF). Immature porcine oocytes were exposed to various concentrations ot Propofo1 and Thiopental sodium. The rates of oocyte maturation, fertilization and development were observed. The parthenogenetic effects of the anesthetics were also evaluated. The rate of oocyte maturation after exposure to high concentrations of the anesthetics for long time was significantly higher than that of the control. But the rate of fertilization after long-time exposure to the high concentration of the anesthetic drugs was significantly lower than that of the control. The results support that Propofo1 serves like other anesthetics described, as a parthenogenetic activator. Oocytes exposed to Thiopental sodium showed decreased rates of maturation and fertilization. These results suggest that usage of optimum concentration of anesthetic drug is important in increasing the rates of oocyte maturation, fertilization and development in IVF.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.408-419
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• 2006

A pot experiment was conducted for two years to evaluate the effects of purified Si fertilization combined with $^{15}N$ on the nutrient uptake, plant growth characteristics, and photosynthetic characteristics of rice in water melon cultivated soil. In 2002, plant height was positively affected at 25 DAT (Day After Transplanting) by Si fertilization in 100%N treatment. However, in 2003, plant height at 25 DAT was negatively affected by Si fertilization in low N level but it was reversed in high N level with initial increase of plant height. Tiller number per pot was positively affected by N and Si fertilization level, especially for high N fertilized treatment. Leaf color was positively affected by Si fertilizatlon in no N fertilized pots, however, Si was not effected in 50%N and 100%N fertilized treatments. N harvest index (NHI) increased with increased Si fertilization in no N plots, however it decreased with increasing of N fertilization level. Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) decreased with increasing of fertilized N but Si fertilization increased NUE in 50%N plots, however, it was not different by the Si fertilization level in 100%N plots. In 50%N+200%Si plots, NUE was greatest with 130 and shoot N content was $16.2g-N/m^{2}$. N content ($g/m^{2}$) in rice plant increased with increasing Si fertilization in no N plots at panicle initiation stage, 50 and 100%N plots at heading stage and all N treatment at harvesting time. This was mostly more efficient in late growth stage than early growth stage. The concentration (%) of P and K increased with increasing N fertilization level at heading and harvesting but it was not significantly different by the Si fertilization treatment except a little decreasing with increasing Si fertilization level at heading. Potassium content was also not significantly related with N fertilization level except increasing with Si fertilization level at panicle initiation stage. Plant Ca content (%) decreased with increasing of Si fertilization at heading stage and Si fertilization increased Ca content at panicle initiation stage and heading stage and it increased with increasing of Si fertilization level. Photosynthetic activity was not directly related with Si fertilization amount, however, Fluorescent factors, Fv'/Fm' and PsII, were positively affected by Si fertilization level. In conclusion, N fertilization in Si 200% fertilized condition should be reduced by about 50% level of recommended N fertilization for rice cropping in green-house water-melon cultivated paddy field. However, improvement of Ps by Si fertilization could not be attributed to Ps activity in the same leaf area but because of increased total leaf area per pot improved fluorescent characteristics.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.153-157
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• 1995

These studies were conducted to investigate the microbe control effect of antibiotics treatment in all media used for in vitro fertilization(IVF) embryo production. The bovine oocytes were recovered from follicles(2~5mm) and were cultrued for 22hrs at 38.5$^{\circ}C$ with 5% CO2 incubator. The contamination and development rate in vitro fertilized oocyte was evaluated everyday. The results were summerized as follow ; 1. Control, antibiotic-antimycotic solution(AAS, Gibco) 1%＋gentamycin, and AAS 1%＋kanamycin(Sigma, USA) treatment was contaminated with 72hrs. However Baytril and Kanamycin(Korea) added was not contaminated. 2. The blastocyst formation rate in Baytril supplementated 1, 2 and 3${mu}ell$/ml was 3.73, 1.28 and 0.00%, respectively. 3. The blastocyst formation in kanamycin added concentration of 50, 75 and 100$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml was 13.0, 9.4 and 3.49%, respectively.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.237-243
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• 2008

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of caffeine and sodium bicarbonate in a fertilization medium on the fertilizability of boar spermatozoa that were frozen in straws. Boar spermatozoa were extended with Beltsville F5 extender and frozen in 0.25-ml straws. In vitro matured porcine oocytes were fertilized in vitro (IVF) with frozen-thawed boar spermatozoa for 6h in a modified tris-buffered medium (mTBM) or in its modified medium by substituting the tris with 25mM sodium bicarbonate (modified bicarbonate-buffered medium; mBBM). Some of inseminated oocytes were fixed and stained for examination of sperm penetration. IVF embryos were cultured in a North Carolina State University-23 medium for embryo development. The percentage of live sperm was $47{\pm}4%$ and morphological abnormality of acrosome was found in $14{\pm}3%$ of spermatozoa. Optimal sperm concentration for IVF was $0.75{\sim}1.0{\times}1.0{\times}10^6$ sperms/ml when mTBM containing 5mM caffeine was used as the fertilization medium. Sperm penetration was significantly (p<0.05) stimulated by increasing caffeine concentration in the IVF medium. In addition, mBBM significantly (p<0.05) increased sperm penetration (92%) compared to mTBM (65%). More (p<0.05) blastocysts (22% vs. 32%) developed from the oocytes that were fertilized in mBBM containing 1mM caffeine than from those fertilized in mTBM with 5mM caffeine. Our results indicate that boar spermatozoa can be frozen successfully in straws with holding their normal fertilizability and that caffeine and sodium bicarbonate stimulates sperm penetration in vitro.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.358-363
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• 2011

To investigate the effect of nitrogen fertilization on the quality of tropical grass silage, guinea grass grown with 3 types of nitrogen fertilizers, namely, urea, ammonium sulfate, and compound fertilizer 804, at 2 fertilization levels, 0.5 and 2.5 kg $Na^{-1}$ (0.5 N and 2.5 N, respectively), was subjected to silage fermentation. Silage fertilized with 0.5 N showed butyrate-dominant fermentation, irrespective of the type of fertilizer used. On the other hand, fermentation of silage fertilized with 2.5 N was significantly affected by the type of fertilizer used; fertilization with ammonium sulfate and compound fertilizer 804 resulted in silage that contained a large amount of butyrate and no lactate; this silage was considered to be of a significantly low quality as compared with silage fertilized with 0.5 N. Among silage fertilized with 2.5 N, the desirable butyrate-free fermentation was found only in urea-fertilized silage, which had the best quality. Grass material fertilized with a high level of urea accumulated a relatively high concentration of nitrate nitrogen (0.22% dry matter). Our results presented here suggest that nitrogen fertilizer management could affect the quality of tropical grass silage and that a relatively high concentration of nitrate in silage may promote butyrate-free fermentation even in tropical grass silage.

• FLOWER RESEARCH JOURNAL
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2009

The study was conducted to examine effective concentration and fertilization time of $CO_2$ for the growth of potted Phalaenopsis in growth chambers. Enrichment level of $CO_2$ was 1,000 or $2,000{\mu}mol{\cdot}mol^{-1}$ and fertilization time was 06:00~12:00, 00:00~06:00, or 18:00~24:00. Two, seven, or twelve month-old clonal micropropagules of Phalaenopsis cultivars were cultured for 99 days. Leaf number, leaf length, leaf width, root length and fresh weight of all Phalaenopsis cultivars in $2,000{\mu}mol{\cdot}mol^{-1}$ $CO_2$ were significantly greater than that of $1,000{\mu}mol{\cdot}mol^{-1}\;CO_2$. $CO_2$ fertilization time was the greatest growth in 0:00~06:00.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.19-25
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• 2002

The objectives of this study were to understand the possible mechanism of duck sperm toxicity induced by arsenic exposure in vivo, and to investigate the roles of the antioxidant L-ascorbic acid in ameliorating the arsenic-induced sperm impairment. To test the acute toxicity, the percentages of mortality of mature drakes treated with different concentrations of trivalent sodium arsenite, As (III), and pentavalent sodium arsenate, As (V) were measured. The LD50 value of As (III) for mature drakes was $4.89{\pm}1.49$ ppm. Although As (V) didn't cause any deaths even at a concentration of 40 ppm, the chronic toxicity of As (V) on sperm quality was shown by a decreased fertilization rate. When the concentrations of As (V) were above 0.4 ppm, fertilization rates were lower than those of 0.04 ppm and control. Drakes treated with 40 ppm of As (V) had the highest malondialdehyde (MDA) level in the testis tissue, $3.100{\pm}0.218{\mu}mole/g$ testis. This showed that 40 ppm of As (V) significantly induced lipid peroxidation in testis tissue. For the 1.2 ppm As (III) treatment, several significant effects were observed: (1) sperm motility was decreased most dramatically by $52.0{\pm}9.1$% after three days of incubation; (2) fertilization rate of artificially inseminated semen was the lowest, $26.4{\pm}15.4$; (3) the MDA concentration in testis tissue, $7.846{\pm}0.246{\mu}mole/g$ testis, was significantly higher than the others (p<0.05); (4) the sperm number, $1.17{\pm}0.40({\times}10^9)$, was significantly lower than with the 60 ppb and control treatments (p<0.05); (5) a black appearance and soft texture was observed in the testis tissue. The antioxidant L-ascorbic acid administered along with 1.2 ppm As (III) decreased the toxicity of arsenic. The ameliorating effects included: improved sperm motility, increased sperm number and fertilization rate, and decreased MDA concentration in the testis tissue. This study suggests that the toxicity of the trivalent arsenic on sperm quality is partly from free radicals generated by its metabolic pathway, and the antioxidant ascorbic acid ameliorates arsenic-caused sperm impairment.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.333-339
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• 1996

Cumulus cells have possibly influence on fertilization of mouse oocytes and their subsequent development in vitro, because they readily produce lactate and pyruvate and can modify the concentration of substrates in the medium. In vitro fertilization of mouse oocytes with cumulus mass and their developments in five media which were differently composed in concentrations of glucose, lactate and pyruvate were observed. In the absence of glucose (CZ2 medium) decreased (p<0.01) the percentage of fertilization and embryos reaching the blastocyst stage. But, in the same concentration of glucose, lactate and pyruvate as mouse oviductal fluid with (MT1 medium) and without (MT2 medium) cumulus mass and modified CZB medium containing glucose (CZ1 medium) had no effects (p>0.05). These studies indicate that the adjustments of energy substrates concentration to the physiological level did not improve the fertilization of mouse oocytes with cumulus mass and their development in vitro, and the deletion of glucose showed adverse effects.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 1988

Insufficient herbage during the fall in the temperate areas of the world has been a serious limitation in animal production, but leafy brassicae are potentially very useful for extending the grazing season when the growth and quality of grass is poor. This study was conducted to determine the effects of cutting stage and N fertilization on dry matter (DM) yield, forage quality and chemical composition of forage rape (Brassica napus Subsp. oleifera). The experiment was conducted in the Experimental Livestock Farm of Seoul Nat'l Univ., at Suweon, during 1985- 1986. The results obtained are summarized as follows: 1. DM percentage and yield significantly increased as the growth period was prolonged and decreased as the N fertilization increased, but in-vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) was unaffected by the treatments. 2. Plant height, DM yield and $NO_3$-N content significantly increased as the rate of N fertilization increased and DM percentage decreased, but the IVDMD was unaffected. 3. The forage rape had high percentage of crude protein and ash. Glutamic acid, pro!ine and aspartic acid were the major amino acids. Concentration of P, Ca and Mg were high.