• Development and Reproduction
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.159-165
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• 2020

Previously, we reported adverse effects of low-dose nonylphenol (NP) exposure on the reproductive parameters of F1 female mice. In the present study we further investigated the pathohistological effect of NP exposure on the reproductive organs in F1 female mice. NP exposures were continuously conducted from parental pre-mating period until the postnatal day (PND) 33 of F1 offspring for vaginal examination. Mice were sacrificed on PND 30 and the reproductive tissue weights were measured. The initial (at PND 21) body weights of the NP-50 group animals were significantly lower than those of control group animals, and the weight deficit were recovered when the terminal (PND 33) body weights were measured. Early vaginal opening was found in NP group animals (p<0.05). Pathohistological studies revealed that NP-treated F1 animals showed prominent increase in the ovarian follicle numbers (p<0.01), and decrease in the diameter of uterine myometrium (p<0.01), and increase in the diameter of luminal epithelium (p<0.05). The present study demonstrated that the subchronic low-dose NP exposure induced early beginning of puberty and pathohistological abnormalities in ovary and uterus of F1 mice. Further studies are needed to achieve a better understanding on the action mechanism of NP in pubertal onset and to find a way to avoid a hazardous situation provoked by NP exposure.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2014.10a
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• pp.15-15
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• 2014

Fusarium graminearum (teleomorph Gibberella zeae) is an important plant pathogen that causes head blight of major cereal crops such as wheat, barley, and rice, as well as causing ear and stalk rot on maize worldwide. Plant diseases caused by this fungus lead to severe yield losses and accumulation of harmful mycotoxins in infected cereals [1]. Fungi utilize spore production as a mean to rapidly avoid unfavorable environmental conditions and to amplify their population. Spores are produced sexually and asexually and their production is precisely controlled. Upstream developmental activators consist of fluffy genes have been known to orchestrate early induction of condiogenesis in a model filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying conidiogenesis in F. graminearum, we characterized functions of the F. graminearum fluffy gene homologs [2]. We found that FlbD is conserved regulatory function for conidiogenesis in both A. nidulans and F. graminearum among five fluffy gene homologs. flbD deletion abolished conidia and perithecia production, suggesting that FlbD have global roles in hyphal differentiation processes in F. graminearum. We further identified and functionally characterized the ortholog of AbaA, which is involved in differentiation from vegetative hyphae to conidia and known to be absent in F. graminearum [3]. Deletion of abaA did not affect vegetative growth, sexual development, or virulence, but conidium production was completely abolished and thin hyphae grew from abnormally shaped phialides in abaA deletion mutants. Overexpression of abaA resulted in pleiotropic defects such as impaired sexual and asexual development, retarded conidium germination, and reduced trichothecene production. AbaA localized to the nuclei of phialides and terminal cells of mature conidia. Successful interspecies complementation using A. nidulans AbaA and the conserved AbaA-WetA pathway demonstrated that the molecular mechanisms responsible for AbaA activity are conserved in F. graminearum as they are in A. nidulans. F. graminearum ortholog of Aspergillus nidulans wetA has been shown to be involved in conidiogenesis and conidium maturation [4]. Deletion of F. graminearum wetA did not alter mycelial growth, sexual development, or virulence, but the wetA deletion mutants produced longer conidia with fewer septa, and the conidia were sensitive to acute stresses, such as oxidative stress and heat stress. Furthermore, the survival rate of aged conidia from the F. graminearum wetA deletion mutants was reduced. The wetA deletion resulted in vigorous generation of single-celled conidia through autophagy-dependent microcycle conidiation, indicating that WetA functions to maintain conidia dormancy by suppressing microcycle conidiation in F. graminearum. In A. nidulans, FlbB physically interacts with FlbD and FlbE, and the resulting FlbB/FlbE and FlbB/FlbD complexes induce the expression of flbD and brlA, respectively. BrlA is an activator of the AbaA-WetA pathway. AbaA and WetA are required for phialide formation and conidia maturation, respectively [5]. In F. graminearum, the AbaA-WetA pathway is similar to that of A. nidulans, except a brlA ortholog does not exist. Amongst the fluffy genes, only fgflbD has a conserved role for regulation of the AbaA-WetA pathway.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.723-735
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• 2019

The power-train is the most important component of an agricultural tractor. In this study, the strength of the driving gear transmission of an 82 kW-class tractor was analyzed using equivalent torque during plow tillage. The load measurement system consisted of an engine revolution speed sensor, torque-meters, revolution speed sensors for four axles, and pressure sensors for two hydraulic pumps. The load data were measured during plow tillage for four speed stages: F2 (2.78 km/h), F5 (5.35 km/h), F7 (7.98 km/h), and F8 (9.75 km/h). Aspects of the gear-strength such as bending stress, contact stress, and safety factors were analyzed under two torque conditions: the equivalent torque at the highest plow load for the F8 speed stage and the maximum engine torque. The simulation results using KISSsoft showed that the maximum engine torque conditions had a lower safety factor than did the highest equivalent torque condition. The bending safety factors were > 1 at all gear stages, indicating that gear breakage did not occur under actual measured operating conditions, nor under the maximum torque conditions. However, the equivalent torque condition in the contact stress safety factor was > 1, and the maximum torque condition was < 1 at the first gear pair. The method of analysis using the equivalent torque showed lower stress and higher safety factor than did the method using maximum torque. Therefore, when designing a tractor by applying actual working torque, equivalent torque method would support more reliable product development.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.2A
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• pp.165-170
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• 2008

New high strength bolts are required due to the development of the high strength steel, the ultra-thick steel plates, and the long-span bridge, though high strength bolts with tensile strength of 1,000 MPa are mainly used in construction site of every country. The high strength bolts are often subjected to a repeated tension-type of loading in which the fatigue failure is a major mode of failure. However, the theoretical and experimental study for the fatigue failure of tension bolt has not been well established in Korea. In this study, we performed a tensile fatigue test of F8T, F10T and F13T, F13T-N high strength bolts under tension. We proposed three fatigue strength specifications by performing 95% survival probability analysis for F8T, F10T, F13T, and F13T-N bolt under the $2{\times}10^6$ cycles of repeated loading. And the fatigue strength for the advanced screw thread shape bolt developed in this study are compared with the previous KS screw thread shape bolt.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.49-56
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• 2019

Pueraria thomsonii Benth. as a medicinal ingredient, has been traditionally used in Chinese medicine to treat fever, acute dysentery, diarrhea, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The effects of P. thomsonii flower on skin have not been reported yet. In this study, the whitening effect of P. thomsonii flower was verified using B16F1 melanoma cells and HS68 fibroblasts. P. thomsonii flower extract reduced melanin contents of B16F1 cells in a dose-dependent manner. To identify its active components, we analyzed P. thomsonii flower extract using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). As a result, we identified three major isoflavones of tectorigenin, tectoridin, and tectorigenin 7-O-xylosylglucoside. At a non-cytotoxic concentration, the three components also reduced melanin contents of B16F1 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The depigmentation effects were attributed to the reduced gene expression of tyrosinase and microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF). In order to elucidate another depigmentation mechanism, their effects on DKK-1, a fibroblast-derived depigmentation factor, was determined in HS68 cells. As a result, P. thomsonii flower extracts, tectoridin and tectorigenin 7-O-xylosylglucoside, reduced DKK-1 gene expression, while tectorigenin increased DKK-1 gene expression in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that tectorigenin can be used as an effective whitening agent that inhibit melanin synthesis in melanocytes and promote the secretion of depigmentation factor from fibroblasts.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.121-130
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• 2017

4-Nonylphenol (NP) is a surfactant that is a well-known and widespread estrogenic endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC). Although it has been known that the affinity of NP to ERs is low, it has been suggested that low-dose NP has toxicity. In the present study, the endocrine disrupting effects on reproduction, and the weight of gonads, epididymis, and uterus were evaluated with the chronic lower-dose NP exposing. This study was designed by following the OECD test guideline 443 and subjected to a complete necropsy. In male, NP had an effect on the weight of the testis and epididymis in both $F_0$ and $F_1$. In females, NP decreased the weight of ovary and uterus in $F_0$ but not in pre-pubertal $F_1$ pubs. Fertility of male and female in $F_0$ or $F_1$ was no related with NP administration. The number of caudal-epididymal sperm by body weight (BW) was not different between groups in both $F_0$ and $F_1$. Besides, the difference of the sperm number between generations was not detected. The number of ovulated oocytes was similar between groups in $F_0$, but significantly decreased in NP 50 group of $F_1$. The litter size and sex ratios of offspring in $F_1$ and $F_2$ were not different. The accumulated mating rate and gestation period were not affected by the NP administration. Those results shows that chronic lower-dose NP administration has an effect of endocrine disruptor on the weight of gonads and epididymis of $F_0$ and $F_1$ but not in reproduction. Based on the results, it is suggested that chronic lower-dose NP exposing causes endocrine disruption in the weight of gonad and epididymis but not in the reproductive ability of next generations.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.190-204
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• 2001

This study was conducted to investigate for its effects on reproductive and developmental toxicity of recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rhEGF) in Sprague-Dawley rats. Male rats were administered rhEGF at doses of 1, 10, 100, and 1000$\mu$g/kg/day, respective1y, by subcutaneous injection from 63 days before and throughout to mating period until the day before sacrifice. Female rats were administered rhEGF at the same doses from 14 days before mating to day 20 of gestation or to day 21 of lactation. We examined the male and female fertility indices and maternal toxicity of F0 parental animals. Also, we examined the external, visceral, or skeletal malformation of fetuses, growth and development, behavior, and/or reproductive performance of F1 animals. At the highest dose (1,000 $\mu$g/kg), the mean body weights of F0 animals were significantly increased in males and females at 3 or 2 weeks after treatment, respective1y. No clinical signs and food intakes were observed at any time during the experimental period by rhEGF treatment. In autopsy examination, the relative and absolute liver weights significantly increased in both sexes of 1,000 $\mu$g/kg. At the highest dose (1,000 $\mu$g/kg), there was a statistically significant increase of pregnancy period and the number of dead fetuses. Moreover, significant increase of mean fetal body weight and decrease of number of live fetuses, which related to the difficult dilivery were observed in highest dose group. In Fl examination, no adverse effects on external, visceral, and skeletal malformation, physical and functional development, behavior or reproductive ability of Fl animals were observed in any group. Also, there was no significant difference between control and treated groups in copulation or fertility indices of Fl animals. These results indicate that rhEGF had no adverse effect on fertility and reproductive ability of Sprague-Dawley rats.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.87-97
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• 2000

Signal optimization model is divided bandwidth-maximizing model and delay-minimizing model. Bandwidth-maximizing model express model formulation as MILP(Mixed Integer Linear Programming) and delay-minimizing model like TRANSYT-7F use "hill climbing" a1gorithm to optimize signal times. This study Proposed optimization model using genetic algorithm one of evolution algorithm breaking from existing optimization model This Proposed model were tested by several scenarios and evaluated through NETSIM with TRANSYT-7F\`s outputs. The result showed capability that can obtain superior solution.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.258-268
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• 1994

Nitrogenous new production and regenerated production were measured in the southern part of the Yellow Sea (Hwanghae) using a stable isotope /SUP 15/N nitrate and ammonia between April 25∼30, 1993. Nitrogen production varied between 155 and 688 mg N m/SUP -2/ d/SUP -1/, which belongs to meso to eutrophic area values. This is equivalent to 881∼3909 mg C m/SUP -2/ d/SUP -1/, assuming the Redfield ratio for C:N of 5.7:1 (by weight). the f0ratio which is the fraction of new production from primary production, varied between 0.12 and 0.26, indicating that 74 to 88% of primary production was supported by the regeneration of nutrients within the euphoric zone. This low f0ratio is the characteristics of the oligo- to mesotrophic area. Contrary to the expected, the ambient nutrient concentration was not an important factor for controlling productivity in this area during the study period. The difference in productivity among stations was mainly due to the variations in phytoplankton biomass in different water masses.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.13-23
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• 1984

The fluorescence intensity rations (F2.F1) of excimer (F2) to monomer (F1) of pyrene were measured as a function of the concentration of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). It was found that there were not gross changes in size and shape of sphere-shape micelles in the first micelle concentration, while at concentrations above the second critical micelle concentration (CMC) the micelles grew in size with increasing concentration. Fluorescence intensities of 8-anilinonaphthalene 1-sulfonate (ANS) were also monitored as a micellar probe with varying concentrations of SDS. Results suggested that a phase transition from sphere-shaped micelles to hemicapped rod-like micelles occurred at the second CMC (17). A general formula for the axial ratio of ellip-soil-shaped micelle in the first micelle concentration was suggested. According to this general formula, the axial ratio of SDS, sodium lauryl ether sulfate and sodium laurate were 1:1, 5:2, and 5:3, respectively. The electrolyte-induced phase transition from spherical to hemicapped rod-like micelles occurred and the size of hemicapped rod-like micelles grew with increasing electrolyte concentrations. The maximum concentrations of solubilzed benzene in sphere-shaped micelles and hemicapped rod-like micelles were measured by differential spectrohpotometry. The hemicapped rod-like micelles in the presence of electrolytes grew in size with increasing amount of benzene solubilized.