• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.243-250
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• 2013

Pyracantha is a genus of thorny evergreen large shrubs in the family of Rosaceae, with common names Firethorn or Pyracantha. It's extract has also been used in cosmetics as a skin-whitening agent and functioning through tyrosinase inhibition. Recent studies have shown that pyracantha extract possesses antioxidant activities and may significantly improve lipoprotein metabolism in rats. Although the mode of action of Pyracantha extract is not fully understood, a strong relationship was observed between antioxidant and apoptosis in some types of cells. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluated the effect of pyracantha extract on blastocysts formation and their quality of the porcine parthenogenetic embryos. After parthenogenetic activation by chemicals, presumptive porcine parthenogenetic embryos were cultured in PZM-3 medium supplemented with extracts of pyracantha leaf, stalk and root for 6 day (1, 5 and $10{\mu}g/ml$, respectively). In our results, the frequency of blastocyst formation in pyracantha root extract ($5{\mu}g/ml$) treated group had increased that of other groups. Furthermore, blastocysts derived from pyracantha root extract ($5{\mu}g/ml$) treated group had increased the total cell numbers and reduced apoptotic index. Blastocyst development was significantly improved in the pyracantha root extract ($5{\mu}g/ml$) treated group when compared with the $H_2O_2$ treated group (p<0.05). Subsequent evaluation of the intracellular levels of ROS in pyracantha root extract ($5{\mu}g/ml$) treated groups under $H_2O_2$ induced oxidative stress were decreased (p<0.05). In conclusion, our results indicate that treatment of pyracantha root extract may improve in vitro development of porcine parthenogenetic embryos through its antioxidative and antiapoptotic effects.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.873-880
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• 1994

Progesterone catabolizing enzyme, the enzyme $20{\alpha}$-hydroxysteroid deltydrgenase($20{\alpha}$-HSD) is pivotal in the regulation of ovarian function in rodents, which catabolizes progesterone into biologically inactive $20{\alpha}$ hydroxypregn-4-en-3-one($20{\alpha}$-OHP). In this study was carried out the influence of $20{\alpha}$-HSD activity to ovarian function and regulation such as ovulation, formation of corpus luteum, maintenance of estrous cycles and pregnancy, we investigated changes in activities of the splenic macrophages and ovarian histological findings in rat. During the estrous cycles, the ratious of phagocytotic macrophage in splenic adherent cells were highest on the proestrous, but they were lowest on metestrous. During the pregnancy, the ratious of phagocytotic macrophages in splenic adhrent cells were lowest by 1 day and then significantly increased toward the pregnancy, which were highest pregnancy on day 12. On histological findings in rat ovary, the mean number of growing, antral and mature follicles were 15.9(72.9%), 3.4(15.9%), and 2.4(11.2%), respectively. Growing follicles reached to lowest number at diestrus and mature follicle reached to lowest number at metestrus. The numbers of corpus luteums per tissue section of the ovary were 14.4 and the number of normal and atretic follicles were 11.0(76.4%) and 3.4(23.6%), respectively. The number of corpus luteum with vacolated cell were 1.7(11.8%). In this study suggests splenic macrophages are as a source of the substance which maintainer progesterone secretion from luteal cells, and are recognized pass the vessels and reside in the fresh corpora lutea soon after ovulation via inflammatory reactions, and these macrophages are felt to have a stimulatory effect on the formation of cropora lutea. In view of the results include previous report, ovarian $20{\alpha}$-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase enzyme and splenic macrophages consider play central role in the control and maintenance of estrous cycles and pregnancy, and also applicable to both clinical and research in a wide variety such as control of reproductive system.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.146-154
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• 2005

We compared two kinds of red peppers, semi-dry red popper and hot air dry red pepper, and made two kinds of Kimchies with them for this study. The semi-dry red pepper is better to maintain natural color of raw red pepper, to keep hygenity and to protect its loss of the nutrition, than the hot air dry red pepper. The results are as follows: The content of vitamin C and ASTA color value in semi-dry red pepper powder were much higher than those in hot air dry red pepper The cell numbers of total bacteria in semi-dry red pepper powder were much lower than those in hot air dry red pepper. The changes in quality of the two Kimchies were evaluated by pH, acidity, total microbes, lactic acid bacteria cells count and sensory. The patterns of changes in pH, acidity, total microbes and lactic acid bacteria cells count of two kinds of samples were the same. But in case of sensory evaluation, Kimchi made with semi-dry red powder showed best sensory scores than of all in overall acceptability.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.45-54
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• 2006

The immunogenicity of Edwardsiella tarda was surveyed under two different culture conditions. In SDS-PAGE patterns of the outer membrane proteins (OMPs) extracts of E. tarda, grown under Trypic soy broth (TSB) and TSB supplemented iron chelate 2,2‘-dipyridyl iron-restricted condition, were examined. The results showed that the iron-regulated outer membrane protein (IROMPs) with molecular masses of 68 and 73 kDa were expressed by bacteria grown in iron-chelate TSB.The pathogenicity was examined by intraperitoneal injection with live E. tarda grown under TSB, iron-chelate TSB and iron-supplemented TSB. The result of pathogenicity test showed significantly high mortality in the group of live E. tarda grown under iron-chelate TSB.The effect of formalin killed cell (FKC) of TSB cultured bacteria and 2,2'-dipyridyl FKC (DP-FKC) of cultured bacteria on the iron-chelate TSB on the development of protective immunity in olive flounder was studied. The level of immune response was evaluated with immunized fish at 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks after immunization. The numbers of specific antibody secreting cells (SASCs) showed significantly increased level at 2 week after immunization in each group. The agglutination titre of immunized fish was significantly high level at 3 weeks after immunization.The level of protection in olive flounder at 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks after vaccination was examined by intraperitoneal challenge test with live E. tarda.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.48 no.10
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• pp.72-81
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• 2011

In this paper, we proposed and designed a novel floating point converter which supports single and double precisions of IEEE754 standard. The proposed convertor supports conversions between floating point number single/double precision and signed fixed point number(32bits/64bits) as well as conversions between signed integer(32bits/64bits) and floating point number single/double precision and conversions between floating point number single and double precisions. We defined a new internal format to convert various input types into one type so that overflow checking could be conducted easily according to range of output types. The internal format is similar to the extended format of floating point double precision defined in IEEE754 2008 standard. This standard specifies that minimum exponent bit-width of the extended format of floating point double precision is 15bits, but 11bits are enough to implement the proposed converting unit. Also, we optimized rounding stage of the convertor unit so that we could make it possible to operate rounding and represent correct negative numbers using an incrementer instead an adder. We designed single cycle data path and 5 cycles data path. After describing the HDL model for two data paths of the convertor, we synthesized them with TSMC 180nm technology library using Synopsys design compiler. Cell area of synthesis result occupies 12,886 gates(2 input NAND gate), and maximum operating frequency is 411MHz.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.1566-1577
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• 2010

Nandrolone, 19-nortestosterone, is a synthetic androgenic-anabolic steroid promoting muscle growth. Nandrolone is also present in pig meat and sera at non-negligible levels. A number of scientific reports have suggested a positive relationship between incidence of infertility and increased meat consumption in humans. The present study was designed to determine out the effect of feeding nandrolone on the testis of the male reproductive tract. Mixtures of food and nandrolone at different concentrations (0.005 ppm and 0.5 ppm) were supplied to pubertal male rats for 6 weeks. Body weight was recorded every week during the entire experimental period. At the end of the treatment, the testis, epididymis, and epididymal fat were collected and weighted. Sperm numbers in the caudal epididymis were counted. Differential gene or protein expression of steroidogenic enzymes in the testes among experimental groups was determined by semi-quantitative real-time PCR or western blotting analysis, respectively. Histological changes of the testis induced by nandrolone treatment were examined by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Immunohistochemical analysis was employed to detect changes in the localization of steroidogenic enzymes in the testes among experimental animals. There were no significant changes on body, testis, epididymis, and epididymal fat weights among experimental groups. A significant increase of caudal sperm number was found in the 0.5 ppm nandrolone-treated group. Histological examination of the testes noted a high frequency of germ cell sloughing in seminiferous tubules of 0.5 ppm nandrolone-treated rats. Even though transcript levels of $3{\beta}$-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD) I, $17{\beta}$-HSD4, and $17{\alpha}$-hydroxylase were influenced by nandrolone treatments, protein levels of all molecules examined in the present study were not significantly affected. Immunohistochemical analysis showed no visible changes in the localization of steroidogenic enzymes in the testes among experimental groups. The current study showed that oral intake of nandrolone in male rats for 6 weeks did not cause significant damage to the testis. It is considered that a feeding effect of nandrolone on male fertility would not be remarkable.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.924-929
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• 2004

The objective of this study were to investigate the effect of ejaculation frequency on semen characteristics and to establish a method for quick assessment of sperm concentration in TCC using packed cell volume (PCV) as the parameter (Trial 1). Eighty senior roosters, averaging 61 wk-old, were used and the sperm concentrations were determined using a hemacytometer. The PCV value was measured in a capillary (0.75 mm in inner diameter) by centrifugation. A simple linear regression analysis suggested that the sperm concentrations were significantly correlated with PCV values (r=0.62, p<0.001). Trial 2 was conducted to determine the optimal ejaculation frequency of TCC roosters in a weekly semen collection program. The male birds were subjected to 1, 2, 3 or 6 ejaculations per week for four consecutive weeks and semen characteristics including ejaculation volume (EV, mL), sperm motility (%), PCV (%), sperm concentration (ESC, $\times$10$^{9}$/mL), weekly sperm production (WSP, $\times$10$^{9}$/wk) and average motile sperm numbers (AMSN, $\times$10$^{9}$/ejac) were determined. Average EV was greater in the group with 3 ejac/wk than with only 1 ejac/wk in weeks 1 and 3 of the collection period. WSP increased with ejaculation frequency during the first 3 weeks of collection (p<0.05). Sperm motility was better in the birds with 6 ejac/wk than in single ejaculation group for the first 2 wk and no significant differences were found for the last 2 wk of study. In contrast, the PCV value showed a trend of reduction for the first 2 wks in the 6 ejac/wk group. Surprisingly, no significant differences were detected in the AMSN among treatment groups. The weekly motile sperm production (WMSP) increased with ejaculation frequency. Based on our observation, PCV values could be used for a quick estimation of sperm concentration and an intensive semen collection program enhanced weekly sperm production in TCC roosters.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1773-1777
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• 2016

Diagnostic and therapeutic radiation fields are planned so as to reduce side-effects while maximising the dose to site but effects on healthy tissues are inevitable. Radiation causes strand breaks in DNA of exposed cells which can lead to chromosomal aberrations and cause malfunction and cell death. Several researchers have highlighted the damaging effects of high dose radiation but still there is a lacuna in identifying damage due to low dose radiation used for diagnostic purposes. Blood is an easy resource to study genotoxicity and to estimate the effects of radiation. The micronucleus assay and chromosomal aberration can indicate genetic damage and our present aim was to establish these with lymphocytes in an in vitro model to predict the immediate effects low dose radiation. Blood was collected from healthy individuals and divided into 6 groups with increasing radiation dose i.e., 0Gy, 0.10Gy, 0.25Gy, 0.50Gy, 1Gy and 2Gy. The samples were irradiated in duplicates using a LINAC in the radiation oncology department. Standard protocols were applied for chromosomal aberration and micronucleus assays. Metaphases were stained in Giemsa and 200 were scored per sample for the detection of dicentric or acentric forms. For micronuclei detection, 200 metaphases. Giemsa stained binucleate cells per sample were analysed for any abnormality. The micronuclei (MN) frequency was increased in cells exposed to the entire range of doses (0.1-2Gy) delivered. Controls showed minimal MN formation ($2.0%{\pm}0.05$) with triple MN ($5.6%{\pm}2.0$) frequency at the lowest dose. MN formation increased exponentially with the radiation dose thereafter with a maximum at 2Gy. Significantly elevated numbers of dicentric chromosomes were also observed, even at doses of 0.1-0.5Gy, compared to controls, and acentric chromosomes were apparent at 2Gy. In conclusion we can state that lymphocytes can be effectively used to study direct effect of low dose radiation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.969-976
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• 2009

Use of oocytes from prepubertal animals for in vitro embryo production holds potential application for reducing generation intervals and increasing genetic progress through embryo transfer. The objective of these studies was to compare the effect of three sperm pretreatments (prior to in vitro fertilization) and seven embryo culture protocols on fertilization rate and (or) subsequent development of in vitro fertilized embryos derived from oocytes harvested from ovaries of 1-6 month old prepubertal Boer goats in China. Cleavage rates were highest for embryos fertilized with heparin-treated versus calcium ionophore- or caffeine-treated sperm. Similar rates of blastocyst development were observed using heparin- and ionophore-treated sperm, which were higher than obtained with caffeine-treated sperm. No differences in cleavage or blastocyst rates were observed following embryo culture in basal medias (synthetic oviductal fluid (SOF), Charles Rosenkrans 1 (CR1) or tissue culture medium-199 (TCM-199)) containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). Cumulus or oviductal cell co-culture did not enhance cleavage or blastocyst rates relative to culture in SOF+10% FBS. Replacement of FBS in SOF medium with 0.3% BSA increased cleavage rates, but did not increase rates of blastocyst development. Sequential culture in SOF+0.3% BSA followed by SOF+10% FBS increased blastocyst yield versus continuous culture in SOF+10% FBS and tended to increase blastocyst yield versus continuous culture in SOF+0.3% BSA. These results demonstrate a pronounced effects of sperm pretreatments and in vitro embryo culture systems on rates of blastocyst development and provide a potential protocol (sperm pretreatment with heparin and sequential embryo culture in SOF+0.3% BSA followed by SOF+10% FBS) for generation of the significant numbers of in vitro produced blastocysts from oocytes of prepubertal Boer goats necessary for application of embryo transfer in rural regions of China for distribution of Boer goat genetics.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.213-220
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• 2011

In this paper, the channel preprocessor with an area-efficient architecture is proposed for the MIMO symbol detector which can support four transmit and receive antennas. The proposed channel preprocessor can shrink the channel dimension to reduce the hardware complexity of the MIMO symbol detector. Also, the proposed channel preprocessor is implemented with very low complexity by using QR decomposition (QRD) and log-number system (LNS). By applying QRD and LNS to the nulling matrix calculation block, the numbers of matrix-multiplications and matrix-divisions are decreased and thus the complexity of the proposed channel preprocessor is significantly reduced. The proposed channel preprocessor was designed in a hardware description language (HDL) and synthesized to gate-level circuits using 0.13um CMOS standard cell library. With the proposed channel preprocessor, the number of logic gates for channel preprocessor is reduced by 20.2% compared with the conventional architecture.