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동물 결핵

  • Jo, Yun-Sang
    • Journal of the korean veterinary medical association
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    • v.44 no.9
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    • pp.803-818
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    • 2008
  • 동물의 결핵은 Mycobacterium bovis의 감염에 의한 만성 소모성 질병이며 인수공통전염병이다. 동물로부터 사람으로의 결핵 전염은 생유 섭취하던 시대에 상당히 많이 보고되었다. 우유의 살균처리와 소에서 피내진단에 의한 양성우 살처분 및 보상금 지급 정책을 전개하면서 M. bovis의 사람전염은 급격히 감소하였다. 소 결핵은 우리나라에서 연간 0.15% 내외의 발생을 보이고 있으며, 발생의 주원인으로는 외부입식소, 인근발생농장, 과거발생농장의 사후관리소홀 등이다. 사람 결핵의 주원인균인 M. tuberculosis와 M. bovis는 유전체가 99.9% 유사하며, M. bovis를 M. tuberculosis의 아종으로 분류하기도 한다. 두 세균은 M. tuberculosis complex에 속하며, M. tuberculosis와 M. bovis이외에도 M. africanum, M. canettii, M. microti, M. pinnipedii 등이 있다. M. bovis는 M. tuberculosis complex중에서 가장 넓은 숙주범위를 가진다. M. bovis의 대표적인 숙주는 종이름에도 나타나 있듯이 소이다. 소결핵 전파원으로서는 M. bovis에 감염된 소가 가장 중요하다. 소 이외에도 면양, 산양, 말, 돼지, 사슴, 엘크, 영양 (antelope, kudus, elands, sitatungas, oryxes, addaxes), 개, 고양이, 흰족제비 (ferrets), 낙타, 여우, 밍크, 오소리, 쥐, 영장류, 라마, 맥 (tapirs), 코끼리, 코뿔소 (rhinoceroses), 주머니쥐, 땅다람쥐 (ground squirrels), 수달 (otters), 물개, 산토끼 (hares), 두더쥐 (moles), 너구리 (raccoons), 코요테, 사자, 호랑이, 표범, 살쾡이 (lynx) 등에 감염될 수 있으나, 대부분 종결숙주 (spillover host)로 가축의 결핵방제가 유지되고 있는 국가에서는 야생동물 결핵의 가축 전염이 문제시되고 있다. M. bovis는 주로 호흡기와 소화기를 통하여 감염되며, 결핵결절이 형성되는 부위를 관찰하면 감염경로를 추정할 수 있다. 결핵에 감염되면, 초기에는 뚜렷한 임상증상을 보이지 않으나, 아침, 추운 날씨, 또는 운동 중에 심한 기침을 하며, 호흡곤란을 일으킬 수 있다. 결핵은 감염되어도 대부분 무증상이기 때문에 피내진단, 결핵결절 병리소견, 원인균 분리 등에 의해 진단하여야 한다. 감염된 결핵균은 탐식세포에 탐식되어 특징적인 육아종성 결절 병변으로 진행된다. 현재 결핵은 피내진단과 결핵결절 병리소견 등에 의해 판정하고 있다. 최신 진단법으로는 피내진단을 대체할 수 있는 인터페론 감마 검사법과 우군의 결핵 스크리닝과 말기 결핵 검사에 우수한 항체진단법이 개발되어 있다. 그러나, 소 결핵 근절을 위해서는 일관성있는 진단법과 진단기준을 적용하는 것이 중요한 성공요인중 하나이다. 소결핵 청정국인 호주와 캐나다에서는 피내진단과 도축장 결절검사를 결핵 양성우 색출방법의 근간으로 삼고 있으며, 소결핵 근절의 최종단계에 이르러서는 특이적인 검사법을 적용하였지만, 근절목적상 민감성이 높은 피내진단법을 사용하였다. 이와 더불어, 피내진단 양성우의 부검소견과 원인균 분리를 통해 결핵을 확진하여 출처농장의 역추적 검사를 통하여 결핵 양성소를 제거하였다. 한편, 결핵의 농장간 및 지역간 전파방지를 위해 결핵 청정농장과 결핵 오염농장, 결핵 청정지역과 결핵 오염지역 구분을 통하여 결핵 오염농장과 결핵 오염지역으로부터 결핵 청정농장과 결핵 청정지역으로의 이동전 결핵 검진을 통해 개체 이동에 따른 결핵 전파를 근본적으로 차단하는 시스템을 엄격히 적용한 것이 주요한 성공 요인중 하나였다. 호주 결핵 근절정책 성공요인을 요약하면, 일관성 있는 결핵진단법 적용, 양성우 출처농장의 철저한 역추적 검사, 개체 이동전 결핵 음성증명 확인, 농가단체의 경제적 및 방역상 적극적인 지원 및 협조 결핵의 지속적인 모니터 링과 현장요구에 부응하는 방제신기술의 지속적인 연구개발 등을 들 수 있다. 최근 들어 국내 동물 결핵은 소, 특히, 한우의 결핵발생이 증가하고 있으며, 사슴 결핵발생도 증가하고 있다. 농장간 및 지역간에 결핵 감수성 가축, 특히, 소와 사슴의 거래가 아주 복잡하게 이루어지고 있는 현실을 고려할 때, 결핵전파의 주원인인 결핵감염 소나 사슴의 농장내 반입을 철저히 차단해야 할 것이다. 이때, 개체 검사는 물론이고, 출처농장에 대한 결핵 음성을 확인한 후 입식하여야 할 것이며, 입식 후에도 60일정도 격리사육하면서 피내진단등 결핵검진 후 음성인 경우에만 합사하여야 할 것이다. M. bovis는 사람을 비롯한 거의 모든 온혈동물에서 결핵을 일으킬 수 있기 때문에, 결핵 감염소로 판정된 농장 종사자는 각 시도 보건소의 협조를 받아 결핵검진을 받도록 해야 한다. 농장 가축에 접촉할 수 있는 야생동물의 접촉을 차단하여야 하며, 특히, 농장 사료의 야생동물에 의한 오염을 방지할 수 있는 사료창고관리를 철저히 해야 한다. 결핵 감염소를 다룰 때는 분비물 또는 가검물에 의해 감염될 수 있기 때문에 개인방역장비 - 방역복, 마스크, 비닐장갑, 비닐장화 - 를 착용한 상태에서 다루어야 한다. 특히, 결핵 감염소를 매몰 또는 소각하는 과정에서 결핵 감염소의 배설물 및 분비물 처리를 철저히 하여야 한다. 모든 작업을 마친 후에는 개인방역장비, 매몰 또는 소각에 사용하였던 장비 등을 청소 및 소독하고 필요시 소각 또는 매몰하여야 하며, 개인감염위험과 타인 감염위험을 방지하기 위해 노출부위를 세척하여야 한다.

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Physico-Chemical Factors on the Growth of Cochlodinium polykrikoides and Nutrient Utilization (Cochlodinium polykrikoides의 성장에 미치는 물리$\cdot$화학적 요인과 영양염 이용)

  • KIM Hyung Chul;LEE Chang Ku;LEE Sam Geun;KIM Hak Gyoon;PARK Chung Kil
    • Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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    • v.34 no.5
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    • pp.445-456
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    • 2001
  • In the 1990s, Cochlodinium polykikoides red tide has been annually occurred in the southern coast of Korea and caused the mass damage to the fisheries with a huge amount of economic loss. The present study was done to establish the biological foundation for the elucidation of the mechanism of C. polykikoiaes red tide. The growth response of C. polykikoides to physico-chemical factors such as temperature, salinity, pH, and light intensity were examined using axenic cultures to evaluate the relative importance of these factors on the dynamics of natural populations, It was found that the highest growth conditions were $25^{\circ}C,\;40\%_{\circ}$, pH 7.5, and 7,500 lux, respectively. The tolerable salinity range of growth was relatively wide at an optimum temperature and was reduced to a much narrower range at a sub-optimum temperature. These findings indicate that C. polykikoides is an eurythermal and euryhaline organism. The organism demanded higher light intensity and oceanic pH narrow in its growth. C. polykikoides utilize inorganic nutrients, such as nitrate and ammonium as N, and phosphate as P. The nutritional requirements of C. polykikoides were $40{\mu}M$ for nitrate, $50{\mu}M$ for ammonium, and $5{\mu}M$ for phosphate. The half saturation constant (Ks) for growth was $2.10{\mu}M$ for nitrate, $1.03{\mu}M$ for ammonium, and $0.57{\mu}M$ for phosphate. These values were comparatively smaller than those of other dinoflagellates reported previously. We confirmed that the organism is characterized as an eutrophic species. However, ammonium Ks value is smaller than that of other eutrophic species, This result indicates that C. polykikoides red tide may outbreak in the waters which eutrophication is in progress rather than eutrophicated waters. C. polykikoides preferred ammonium better than nitrate as a nitrogen source when in a growth stage, Therefore, our results indicate that ammonium is more important nutrient on the growth of the organism in comparison with other inorganic nutrients and C. polykikoides red tide is related with the increased ammonium concentration in the coastal waters.

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Analysis of Interactions in Multiple Genes using IFSA(Independent Feature Subspace Analysis) (IFSA 알고리즘을 이용한 유전자 상호 관계 분석)

  • Kim, Hye-Jin;Choi, Seung-Jin;Bang, Sung-Yang
    • Journal of KIISE:Computer Systems and Theory
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    • v.33 no.3
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    • pp.157-165
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    • 2006
  • The change of external/internal factors of the cell rquires specific biological functions to maintain life. Such functions encourage particular genes to jnteract/regulate each other in multiple ways. Accordingly, we applied a linear decomposition model IFSA, which derives hidden variables, called the 'expression mode' that corresponds to the functions. To interpret gene interaction/regulation, we used a cross-correlation method given an expression mode. Linear decomposition models such as principal component analysis (PCA) and independent component analysis (ICA) were shown to be useful in analyzing high dimensional DNA microarray data, compared to clustering methods. These methods assume that gene expression is controlled by a linear combination of uncorrelated/indepdendent latent variables. However these methods have some difficulty in grouping similar patterns which are slightly time-delayed or asymmetric since only exactly matched Patterns are considered. In order to overcome this, we employ the (IFSA) method of [1] to locate phase- and shut-invariant features. Membership scoring functions play an important role to classify genes since linear decomposition models basically aim at data reduction not but at grouping data. We address a new function essential to the IFSA method. In this paper we stress that IFSA is useful in grouping functionally-related genes in the presence of time-shift and expression phase variance. Ultimately, we propose a new approach to investigate the multiple interaction information of genes.

Hybrid Scheme of Data Cache Design for Reducing Energy Consumption in High Performance Embedded Processor (고성능 내장형 프로세서의 에너지 소비 감소를 위한 데이타 캐쉬 통합 설계 방법)

  • Shim, Sung-Hoon;Kim, Cheol-Hong;Jhang, Seong-Tae;Jhon, Chu-Shik
    • Journal of KIISE:Computer Systems and Theory
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    • v.33 no.3
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    • pp.166-177
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    • 2006
  • The cache size tends to grow in the embedded processor as technology scales to smaller transistors and lower supply voltages. However, larger cache size demands more energy. Accordingly, the ratio of the cache energy consumption to the total processor energy is growing. Many cache energy schemes have been proposed for reducing the cache energy consumption. However, these previous schemes are concerned with one side for reducing the cache energy consumption, dynamic cache energy only, or static cache energy only. In this paper, we propose a hybrid scheme for reducing dynamic and static cache energy, simultaneously. for this hybrid scheme, we adopt two existing techniques to reduce static cache energy consumption, drowsy cache technique, and to reduce dynamic cache energy consumption, way-prediction technique. Additionally, we propose a early wake-up technique based on program counter to reduce penalty caused by applying drowsy cache technique. We focus on level 1 data cache. The hybrid scheme can reduce static and dynamic cache energy consumption simultaneously, furthermore our early wake-up scheme can reduce extra program execution cycles caused by applying the hybrid scheme.

A Study on the Efficient Measurement of Airborne Asbestos Concentrations at Demolition Sites of Asbestos Containing Buildings, etc. in Seoul (서울시내 석면함유 건축물 철거 현장 등에서의 효과적인 공기 중 석면농도 측정을 위한 연구)

  • Lee, Jinhyo;Lee, Suhyun;Kim, Jeongyeun;Kim, Jihui;Chung, Sooknye;Kim, Jina;Oh, Seokryul;Kim, Iksoo;Shin, Jinho;Eo, Soomi;Jung, Kweon;Lee, Jinsook
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.113-121
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    • 2014
  • Objectives: This study is intended to seek credible and efficient measurements on airborne asbestos concentrations that allow immediate action by establishing complementary data through comparative analysis with existing PCM and KF-100 method real-time monitoring equipment in working areas in Seoul where asbestos-containing buildings are being demolished, including living environment surroundings. Materials: We measured airborne asbestos concentrations using PCM and KF-100 at research institutes, monitoring networks, subway stations and demolition sites of asbestos-containing buildings. Through this measurement data and KF-100 performance testing, we drew a conversion factor and applied it via KF-100. Finally we verified the relationship between PCM and KF-100 with statistical methods. Results: The airborne asbestos concentrations by PCM for the objects of study were less than the detection limit(7 fiber/$mm^2$) in three (20%) out of 15 samples. The highest concentration was 0.009 f/cc. The airborne asbestos concentrations by PCM in laboratories, monitoring networks, subway stations and demolition sites of asbestos-containing buildings were respectively $0.002{\pm}0.000$ f/cc, $0.004{\pm}0.001$ f/cc, $0.009{\pm}0.001$ f/cc, and $0.002{\pm}0.000$ f/cc. As a result of KF-100 performance testson rooftops, the conversion factor was 0.1958. Applying the conversion factor to KF-100 for laboratories, the airborne asbestos concentrations ratio of the two ways was nearly 1:1.5($R^2$=0.8852). Also,the airborne asbestos concentration ratio of the two ways was nearly 1:1($R^2$=0.9071) for monitoring networks, subway stations, and demolition sites of asbestos-containing buildings. As a result of independent sample t-tests, there was no distinction between airborne asbestos concentrations monitored in the two ways. Conclusions: In working areas where asbestos-containing buildings are being demolished, including living environment surroundings, quickly and accurately monitoring airborne asbestos scattered in the air around the working area is highly important. For this, we believea mutual interface of existing PCM and a real-time monitoring equipment method is possible.

Functional Analysis of Bacillus subtilis Isolates and Biological Control of Red Pepper Powdery Mildew Using Bacillus subtilis R2-1 (Bacillus subtilis 균주의 기능성 분석 및 이를 활용한 고추 흰가루병 방제)

  • Kim, Yong-Ki;Hong, Sung-Jun;Shim, Chang-Ki;Kim, Min-Jeong;Choi, Eun-Jung;Lee, Min-Ho;Park, Jong-Ho;Han, Eun-Jung;An, Nan-Hee;Jee, Hyeong-Jin
    • Research in Plant Disease
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    • v.18 no.3
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    • pp.201-209
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    • 2012
  • The multi-function of 18 Bacillus subtilis isolates collected from agricultural extension centers of local government and National Academy of Agricultural Science was investigated by measuring their antifungal activities against five plant pathogens, such as Rhizoctonia solani, Colletotrichum acutatum, Fusarium oxysporum, Magnaporthe oryzae and Phytophthora capsici, phosphorus solubilization ability, production of indole acetic acid (IAA) and siderophore, and nitrogen fixation. The B. subtilis isolates showed antifungal activity against several plant pathogens and nitrogen fixation activity, and produced siderophore and IAA. They could control pepper powdery mildew (Leveillula taurica), but there was no difference in control efficacy among the B. subtilis isolates. In fields, the control efficacy of B. subtilis R2-1 ($10^8$ cells/ml) was compared with two microbial fungicides, Q-pect and Topsid. In 2009, the control efficacy of B. subtilis R2-1 (37.7%) was lower than that of Topsid (47.6%), but higher than that of Q-pect (25.7%). In 2010, the control efficacy of B. subtilis R2-1 (83.3%) was higher than that of Topsid (67.9%). In order to elucidate mode of action of B. subtilis R2-1 for controlling pepper powdery mildew, spore germination rates of pepper powdery mildew pathogen collected on treated leaves was investigated when suspensions of B. subtilis R2-1 and two microbial fungicides (Q-pect and Topsid) were foliar-sprayed. They highly suppressed spore germination of the pathogen with inhibition values of 84.2% for B. subtilis R2-1, 97.9% for Q-pect and 94.7% for Topsid. Further study on the mass-culturing method and formulation is needed for development of a microbial fungicide.

Study of Solidification by Using Portland and MSG(micro silica grouting) Cements for Metal Mine Tailing Treatment (금속 광미 처리를 위한 포틀랜드 시멘트와 MSG(micro silica grouting) 시멘트 고형화 실증 실험 연구)

  • Jeon, Ji-Hye;Kim, In-Su;Lee, Min-Hee;Jang, Yun-Young
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.39 no.6 s.181
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    • pp.699-710
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    • 2006
  • Batch scale experiments to investigate the efficiency of the solidification process for metal mine tailing treatment were performed. Portland and MSG (micro silica pouting) cements were used as solidifier and three kinds of mine tailings (located at Gishi, Daeryang, and Aujeon mine) were mixed with cements to paste solidified matrices. Single axis com-pressible strengths of solidified matrices were measured and their heavy metal extraction ratios were calculated to investigate the solidification efficiency of solidified matrices created in experiments. Solidified matrices ($5cm{\times}5cm{\times}5cm$) were molded from the paste of tailing and cements at various conditions such as different tailing/cement ratio, cement/water ratio, and different cement or tailing types. Compressible strengths of solidified matrices after 7, 14, and 28 day cementation were measured and their strengths ranged from 1 to $2kgf/mm^2$, which were higher than Korean limit of compressible strength for the inside wall of the isolated landfill facility ($0.21kgf/mm^2$). Heavy metal extractions from intact tailings and powdered matrices by using the weak acidic solution were performed. As concentration of extraction solution for the powdered solidified matrix (Portland cement + Gishi tailing at 1:1 w.t. ratio) decreased down to 9.7 mg/L, which was one fifth of As extraction concentration for intact Gishi tailings. Pb extraction concentration of the solidified matrix also decreased to lower than one fourth of intact tailing extraction concentration. Heavy metal extraction batch experiments by using various pH conditions of solution were also performed to investigate the solidification efficiency reducing heavy metal extraction rate from the solidified matrix. With pH 1 and 13 of solution, Zn and Pb concentration of solution were over the groundwater tolerance limit, but at pH $1{\sim}13$ of solution, heavy metal concentrations dramatically decreased and were lower than the groundwater tolerance limit. While the solidified matrix was immerged Into very acidic or basic solution (pH 1 and 13), pH of solution changed to $9{\sim}10$ because of the buffering effect of the matrix. It was suggested that the continuous extraction of heavy metals from the solidified matrix is limited even in the extremely high or low pH of contact water. Results of experiments suggested that the solidification process by using Portland and MSG cements has a great possibility to treat heavy metal contaminated mine tailing.

Influences of Bulking Materials on Sustainable Livestock Mortality Composting (부자재 종류가 친환경적 사축퇴비화에 미치는 영향)

  • Won, Seung Gun;Park, Ji Young;Cho, Won Sil;Kwag, Jung Hoon;Choi, Dong Yoon;Ahn, Hee Kwon;Ra, Chang Six
    • Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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    • v.55 no.5
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    • pp.483-488
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    • 2013
  • To develop a sustainable composting method for livestock mortality, a natural aeration-composting process was designed and the influences of bulking materials on the mortality composting process were studied. Bulking materials (e.g., compost, swine manure, sawdust, and rice husks), easily supplied at the scene of an animal mortality outbreak, were tested in this research. A lab-scale composting system (W34 ${\times}$ L60 ${\times}$ H26 cm) was made using 100 mm styrofoam, and natural aeration was achieved through pipes installed on the bottom of the system. Four treatments were designed (compost, compost + swine feces, sawdust, and rice husks treatment groups) and all experiments were done in triplicates. During composting for 40 days, no leachate was observed in compost and sawdust treatment groups, whereas 18 and 8.2 ml leachate/kg-mortality was emitted from the compost + feces and rice husks treatment groups, respectively. Dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) emission during the composting was very low in all treatment groups, possibly due to the bio-filtering function of the compost cover layer on the pile. The mortality degradability in compost, compost + feces, sawdust, and rice husks groups was 25.3, 25.8, 13.5, and 14.5%, respectively, showing significantly higher levels in compost and compost + feces groups (p<0.05). Also, only the compost + feces group produced enough heat (over $55^{\circ}C$) and lasted for 7 days, indicating that bio-security cannot be guaranteed without feces supplementation.

Development of simple tools for algal bloom diagnosis in agricultural lakes (농업용 호소의 조류 발생 진단을 위한 간편 도구의 개발)

  • Nam, Gui-Sook;Lee, Seung-Heon;Jo, Hyun-Jung;Park, Joo-Hyun;Cho, Young-Cheol
    • Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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    • v.37 no.3
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    • pp.433-445
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    • 2019
  • This study was designed to develop simple tools to easily and efficiently predict the occurrence of algal bloom in agricultural lakes. Physicochemical water quality parameters were examined to reflect the phytoplankton productivity in 182 samples collected from 15 agricultural lakes from April to October 2018. Total phytoplankton abundance was significantly correlated with chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) (r=0.666) and Secchi depth (SD) (r= -0.351). The abundances of cyanobacteria and harmful cyanobacteria were also correlated with Chl-a (r=0.664, r=0.353) and SD (r= -0.340, r= -0.338), respectively, but not with total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP). The Chl-a concentration was correlated with SD (r= -0.434), showing a higher similarity than phytoplankton abundance. Therefore, Chl-a and SD were selected as diagnostic factors for algal bloom prediction, instead of analyzing the standing crop of harmful cyanobacteria used in algae alarm systems. Specifically, accurate diagnoses were made using realtime SD measurements. The algal bloom diagnostic tool is an inverse cone-shaped container with an algal bloom diagnosis chart that modified SD and turbidity measurement methods. Lake water was collected to observe the number of rings visible in the container or the number indicated in each ring, depending on the degree of algal bloom,and to determine the final stage of algal blooming by comparison to the colorimetric level on the diagnosis chart. For an accurate diagnosis, we presented 4-step diagnostic criteria based on the concentration of Chl-a and the number of rings and a fan-shaped algal bloom diagnosis chart with Hexa code names. This tool eliminated the variables and errors of previous methods and the results were easily interpreted. This study is expected to facilitate the diagnosis of algal bloom in agricultural lakes and the establishment of an efficient algal bloom management plan.

Effects of the In Vitro Produced Hanwoo Blastocyst Stage, In Vitro Culture Day and Blastocyst Grade on the Production of Claves (한우 체외 수정란의 배반포 단계, 체외 배양 일령 및 등급이 산자의 생산에 미치는 영향)

  • Park, Y.S.;Kim, S.S.;Kim, D.H.;Park, H.D.
    • Journal of Embryo Transfer
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    • v.21 no.4
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    • pp.299-306
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    • 2006
  • This study examined the effects of the in vitro produced (IVP) Hanwoo blastocyst stage (blastocyst, expanded blastocyst and hatched blastocyst), in vitro culture day (7, 8, and 9) and blastocyst grade (1, 2 and 3) on the pregnancy rate, gestation length, birth weight, the incidence of dystocia and twining rate after embryo transfer (ET). The pregnancy and abortion rates were significantly higher in the blastocyst (B) stage (64.4%) and in the hatched blastocyst (HB) stage (21.4%), respectively, than in those of the other developmental stages (p<0.05). The pregnancy rate of Day 7 embryos (49.0%) was significantly higher than those of Days 8 and 9 embryos (36.4 and 15.4%), but the abortion rates were similar (0 to 10.7%). There were no significant differences in the pregnancy (41.4 to 42.5%) and abortion (9.3 to 16.5%) rates among the three grades of embryos. There were no significant differences in gestation length, birth weight and the incidence of dystocia among the three development stages, but the twinning rate was significantly higher in the HB stage (p<0.05). The pregnancy rate, the incidence rate of dystocia and twinning rate were similar among the three different culture days, however birth weight was significantly heavier in calves from Day 9 embryos than in those from Days 7 and 8 embryos. The mean gestation length of grades 1 and 2 embryos (278.5 and 276.1 days) were significantly longer than that of grade 3 (p<0.05), but birth weight, the incidence of dystocia and twinning rate did not significantly differ. The mean gestation length in single calves was significantly longer than that in twin calves (278.5 vs. 272.5 days, p<0.05). In addition, the mean birth weight in single calves was significantly greater than that in twin calves (29.6 vs. 22.3 kg, p<0.05). Finally, the sex ratios and mean mortality rates between single and twin calves were similar.