• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.47-58
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• 2007

The tiny dragonfly, Nannophya pygmaea(Odonata: Libellulidae) is one the smallest dragonflies in the world and listed as a second-degree endangered wild animal and plant in Korea. For the long-term conservation of such endangered species, an investigation on nation-wide genetic magnitude and nature of genetic diversity is required as a part of conservation strategy. We, thus, sequenced a portion of mitochondrial COI gene, corresponding to "DNA Barcode" region(658 bp) from 68 N. pygmaea individuals collected over six habitats in Korea. The sequence data were used to investigate genetic diversity within populations and species, geographic variation within species, phylogeographic relationship among populations, and phylogenetic relationship among haplotypes. Phylogenetic analysis and uncorrected pairwise distance estimate showed overall low genetic diversity within species. Regionally, populations in southern localities such as Gangjin and Gokseong in Jeollanamdo Province showed somewhat higher genetic diversity estimates than those of remaining regions in Korean peninsula. Although geographic populations of N. pygmaea were subdivided into two groups, distance- or region-based geographic partition was not observed.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.5052-5059
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• 2012

This study was carried out to find consumers' attributes and willingness to pay(WTP) of agricultural products cultivated from plants factory system. The agricultural products were sorted into lettuce, strawberry, Ligularia fischeri(wild edible greens), and ginseng. We made the questionaires to survey consumers' purchasing attributes and preference of agricultural products. Finally, 200 valid replies were selected to analyze consumers' attributes and to estimate marginal willingness to pay. We used conjoint analysis and multinomial logit model for empirical analysis. MWTPs of commodities are estimated as follows; Lettuce is 1,016KW(100g), Strawberry is 6,014KW(2kg), Ligularia fischeri is 3,652KW(100g), and Ginseng is 5,905KW(100g). Several attributes of consumers' purchasing behavior were identified from this study. We suggested several implications to formulate more appropriate policy of plants factory system.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.181-191
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• 2009

This study was conducted to examine the distribution status, the physicochemical composition, and the physiological activity of Spergularia marina grown in the western region in Jeon-Ra-Nam-Do, looking for its potential as a local specialty goods. The amount sold of Spergularia marina to different areas from a rural market place was examined during April, 2008. The proportions of Spergularia marina are as follows; Yeongam(30.5%), Muan(24.3%), Naju(20.3%), Hampyeong(18.0%), and Haenam(7.0%), which were shown higher than those of Pimpinella brachycarpa. Total vitamin C and total chlorophyll contents in Spergularia marina were 68.61mg/100g DW and 58.11mg/g DW, respectively. Total amino acid contents were 331.94mg/100g DW and 20 kinds of amino acids were separated and classified. The contents of inorganic matters in Spergularia marina were as follows; Na(64.23mg/L), Mg(15.88mg/L) K(9.99mg/L), Ca(3.83mg/L). The total phenol and the total flavonoid contents of methanol extracts from Spergularia marina were 41.7mg/L and 18.9mg/L, respectively, with an extracting concentration of 2,000mg/L. The nitrite scavenging activity was highest (83.4%) in hot water extract. These results may be useful as basic data for using Spergularia marina as a local specialty goods.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.10-19
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• 2019

Background: Frequent overdose of paracetamol (APAP) has become the major cause of acute liver injury. The present study was designed to evaluate the potential protective effects of ginsenoside Rk1 on APAP-induced hepatotoxicity and investigate the underlying mechanisms for the first time. Methods: Mice were treated with Rk1 (10 mg/kg or 20 mg/kg) by oral gavage once per d for 7 d. On the 7th d, allmice treated with 250mg/kg APAP exhibited severeliverinjury after 24 h, and hepatotoxicitywas assessed. Results: Our results showed that pretreatment with Rk1 significantly decreased the levels of serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, tumor necrosis factor, and interleukin-$1{\beta}$ compared with the APAP group. Meanwhile, hepatic antioxidants, including superoxide dismutase and glutathione, were elevated compared with the APAP group. In contrast, a significant decrease in levels of the lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde was observed in the ginsenoside Rk1-treated group compared with the APAP group. These effects were associated with a significant increase of cytochrome P450 E1 and 4-hydroxynonenal levels in liver tissues. Moreover, ginsenoside Rk1 supplementation suppressed activation of apoptotic pathways by increasing Bcl-2 and decreasing Bax protein expression levels, which was shown using western blotting analysis. Histopathological observation also revealed that ginsenoside Rk1 pretreatment significantly reversed APAP-induced necrosis and inflammatory infiltration in liver tissues. Biological indicators of nitrative stress, such as 3-nitrotyrosine, were also inhibited after pretreatment with Rk1 compared with the APAP group. Conclusion: The results clearly suggest that the underlying molecular mechanisms in the hepatoprotection of ginsenoside Rk1 in APAP-induced hepatotoxicity may be due to its antioxidation, antiapoptosis, anti-inflammation, and antinitrative effects.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.36.1-36.14
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• 2022

Background: Since 2003, the H5 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) subtype has caused massive economic losses in the poultry industry in South Korea. The role of inland water bodies in avian influenza (AI) outbreaks has not been investigated. Identifying water bodies that facilitate risk pathways leading to the incursion of the HPAI virus (HPAIV) into poultry farms is essential for implementing specific precautionary measures to prevent viral transmission. Objectives: This matched case-control study (1:4) examined whether inland waters were associated with a higher risk of AI outbreaks in the neighboring poultry farms. Methods: Rivers, irrigation canals, lakes, and ponds were considered inland water bodies. The cases and controls were chosen based on the matching criteria. The nearest possible farms located within a radius of 3 km of the case farms were chosen as the control farms. The poultry farms were selected randomly, and two HPAI epidemics (H5N8 [2014-2016] and H5N6 [2016-2017]) were studied. Conditional logistic regression analysis was applied. Results: Statistical analysis revealed that inland waters near poultry farms were significant risk factors for AI outbreaks. The study speculated that freely wandering wild waterfowl and small animals contaminate areas surrounding poultry farms. Conclusions: Pet birds and animals raised alongside poultry birds on farm premises may wander easily to nearby waters, potentially increasing the risk of AI infection in poultry farms. Mechanical transmission of the AI virus occurs when poultry farm workers or visitors come into contact with infected water bodies or their surroundings. To prevent AI outbreaks in the future, poultry farms should adopt strict precautions to avoid contact with nearby water bodies and their surroundings.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.65-71
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• 2022

The wild silkmoth Antheraea yamamai Guérin-Méneville, 1861 (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) is an important producer of silk that is superior to the silk produced by traditional domesticated silkworm. In this study, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of An. yamamai collected from Jeju Island, which is the southernmost island approximately 100 km offshore southward from the Korean Peninsula. Determining this sequence will be necessary for tracing the biogeographic history of the species and developing molecular markers for identifying the origin of commercial products. Comparison of the sequence divergence among two available and the current mitogenomes revealed a low but substantial number of substitutions, totaling 23 nucleotides in the whole genome. CytB and ND5 showed the highest variability with five and four variations, respectively, suggesting that these regions will be prior regions to target for subsequent biogeographic and diagnosis study. Phylogenetic reconstruction based on all available sequences of Saturniidae showed that An. yamamai is a sister to the congeneric species An. pernyi, corroborating that Antheraea is a highly supported monophyletic group. The tribe Saturniini was clearly non-monophyletic and interrupted by Attacini and Bunaeini.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.285-290
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• 2020

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), a member of the genus Aphthovirus in the Picornaviridae family, affects wild and domesticated ruminants and pigs. FMDV causes various clinical symptoms, including severe inflammation in infected tissue. Genome RNA of FMDV shows a positive single-strand chain approximately 8.3 kb long and encodes a single long open reading frame (ORF). The ORF is translated into structural and non-structural proteins by viral proteases. The FMDV 2C protein is one of the non-structural proteins encoded by FMDV and plays a critical role in FMD pathogenesis, including inflammation, apoptosis, and viral replication. In this study, we examined whether FMDV 2C induces intracellular expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα). FMDV 2C expression in pig IBRS-2 cells increased mRNA and protein expression of TNFα at the transcriptional level via activation of TNFα promoter. Treatment with 4-phenylbutyric acid, an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress reducer, decreased TNFα expression induced by FMDV 2C. Activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), a transcription factor mediating ER stress response, induced transactivation of TNFα promoter and expression of mRNA and protein of TNFα. However, the dominant negative mutant of ATF4 did not induce FMDV 2C-mediated TNFα expression. The results indicate that FMDV 2C protein increases clinical inflammation via ATF4-mediated TNFα expression and is associated with ER stress induction.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2012

This study was carried out in 2010 to investigate the utilization and forage quality of native grasses, such as $Phragmites$ $communis$ which might reduce the cost of feeding domestic cattle. The regions surveyed were the Haenam ranch in Haenam, Pyeongchang, Wonju, and Yeonggwang. In Haenam, yearly silage production harvested from 300 ha was 2,000 MT (7 MT/ha). All of those round bale silages were self-consumed in that region, and marketing price was 50,000~55,000 won per roll (110 won/kg). $Phragmites$ $communis$ of 150 cm in length contained 8.4% crude protein (CP) with relative feed value (RFV) 71.9 and 60.1% in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), which was somewhat more favorable than forage quality of rice straw. The silage quality of $Phragmites$ $communis$ varied greatly by the time of harvest (CP 4.7~6.4%, RFV 62.2~78.9, and IVDMD 41.9~53.9%), even with the same district and of the same original forage materials. Generally, the quality of $Phragmites$ $communis$ silage of was poorer than that of sorghum ${\times}$ sudangrass hybrid. In Pyeongchang, forage quality of $Phragmites$ $communis$ was decreased from 13.9% to 7.6% in CP, 90.7 to 76.1 in RFV, and 72.9% to 54.7% in IVDMD, as plant was getting mature, from 79 cm to 117 cm, 121 cm or to 142 cm in length. In Wonju, the quality values of $Phragmites$ $communis$ of 130 cm in length were 8.5% CP, 82.3 RFV and 70.2% IVDMD, while those of matured grasses of 220 cm in length were lower (10.2% CP, 65.1 RFV and 48.9% IVDMD), but this was a little more favorable than quality of rice straw. In Yeonggwang, feeding $Phragmites$ $communis$ was tried in a Hanwoo feed, but stopped due to low profitability. In conclusion, the overall quality of most native grasses including $Phragmites$ $communis$ in this survey was poor. Therefore, we recommend that $Phragmites$ $communis$ and native grasses should be harvested on June or July to obtain richer forage quality in forage values than rice straw.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.1023-1031
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• 2017

The conformational change of cellular prion protein ($PrP^C$) to its misfolded counterpart, termed $PrP^{Sc}$, is mediated by a hypothesized cellular cofactor. This cofactor is believed to interact directly with certain amino acid residues of $PrP^C$. When these are mutated into cationic amino acid residues, $PrP^{Sc}$ formation and prion replication halt in a dominant negative (DN) manner, presumably due to strong binding of the cofactor to mutated $PrP^C$, designated as DN PrP mutants. Previous studies demonstrated that plasminogen and its kringle domains bind to PrP and accelerate $PrP^{Sc}$ generation. In this study, in vitro binding analysis of kringle domains of plasminogen to Q167R DN mutant PrP (PrPQ167R) was performed in parallel with the wild type (WT) and Q218K DN mutant PrP (PrPQ218K). The binding affinity of PrPQ167R was higher than that of WT PrP, but lower than that of PrPQ218K. Scatchard analysis further indicated that, like PrPQ218K and WT PrP, PrPQ167R interaction with plasminogen occurred at multiple sites, suggesting cooperativity in this interaction. Competitive binding analysis using $\small{L}$-lysine or $\small{L}$-arginine confirmed the increase of the specificity and binding affinity of the interaction as PrP acquired DN mutations. Circular dichroism spectroscopy demonstrated that the recombinant PrPs used in this study retained the ${\alpha}$-helix-rich structure. The ${\alpha}$-helix unfolding study revealed similar conformational stability for WT and DN-mutated PrPs. This study provides an additional piece of biochemical evidence concerning the interaction of plasminogen with DN mutant PrPs.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.699-710
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• 1996

The sacrificial foods using at 88 villages in Andong area where the village sacrificial rituals are performed, were investigated in 1994. The finding are as follows; 1. Since the village sacrificial rituals keep ancientry, white Baeksulki without any ingredients is used as Ddock (a steamed rice cake) in 74 villages, and in 5 villages the Baeksulki was served just in Siru (a tool used to prepare Ddock). The type of meat serving in rituals has been changing from large animal to small animal and the type of light from bowl-light to candle. 2. Though the ritual observes Confucianism style, memorial address was offered in 34 villages and only in 8 villages, liquor was served 3 times and the address was offered. In 60 villages, liquor was served only once, and calling village god, bowing twice, and burning memorial address paper were performed in order. Burning paper has been meaningful in rituals. 3. Tang (a stew) was served in 21 villages, and in 18 villages even Gook (a soup) was not used. The numbers of village which do not use cooked rice and Ddock are 14, respectively. 4. Fruits are essential in rituals foods. In 63 villages, 3 kinds of fruits are served and this is contrasted with even number of fruits in Bul-Chun-Wi Rituals. 5. In 25 villages, fish and meat are not served. As meat, chicken in 19 village are served. Meat Sikhae (a fermented rice beverage) prepared with meats or fish are served in 5 villages. Slice of dried meat is served in 73 villages commonly. 6. In gender of god for village shrine, woman in 43 villages, couple in 17 villages, man in 9 villages, mountain god in 2 villages, villages tree, etc were enshrined. In 52 villages liquor is served in rituals (liquor is used in 58 villages including serving god), in 28 villages sweet liquor (Gamju) is served for god (sweet liquor is used in 46 villages), and liquor, water, or sweet liquor is just displayed on table but not served in 8 villages. Incensing is found to be not common in village ritual, only in two villages it is performed. The most appropriate rituals food is thought to be pig for mountain god. Home dishes can not be used in village ritual and spoon is not used and chopstick is prepared from wild plant. Meat and fish are used in the raw.