• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1573-1582
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• 2015

This study was to investigate the effect of soyabean isoflavones (SIF) on onset of puberty, serum hormone concentration, and gene expression in hypothalamus, pituitary and ovary of female Bama miniature pigs. Fifty five, 35-days old pigs were randomly assigned into 5 treatment groups consisting of 11 pigs per treatment. Results showed that dietary supplementation of varying dosage (0, 250, 500, and 1,250 mg/kg) of SIF induced puberty delay of the pigs with the age of puberty of pigs fed basal diet supplemented with 1,250 mg/kg SIF was significantly higher (p<0.05) compared to control. Supplementation of SIF or estradiol valerate (EV) reduced (p<0.05) serum gonadotrophin releasing hormone and luteinizing hormone concentration, but increased follicle-stimulating hormone concentration in pigs at 4 months of age. The expression of KiSS-1 metastasis-suppressor (KISS1), steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) and 3-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/delta-5-delta-4 isomerase ($3{\beta}-HSD$) was reduced (p<0.01) in SIF-supplemented groups. Expression of gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor in the pituitary of miniature pigs was reduced (p<0.05) compared to the control when exposed to 250, 1,250 mg/kg SIF and EV. Pigs on 250 mg/kg SIF and EV also showed reduced (p<0.05) expression of cytochrome P450 19A1 compared to the control. Our results indicated that dietary supplementation of SIF induced puberty delay, which may be due to down-regulation of key genes that play vital roles in the synthesis of steroid hormones.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.121-130
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• 2012

In analyzing pesticide residue, LLE (liquid liquid extraction) is generally applied as one of the existing methods, but needed quite a lot of organic solvents and analytical apparatuses for the sample pre-treatment. In addition to its long analysis time and complex analytical processes, it is required to develop a more rapid and efficient method at present. In order to establish an economic and simple pesticide residue analytical method, this study carried out a comparative experiment on the existing analytical method with a new sample pre-treatment method named QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe), which extracts and refines pesticide components by directly adding solid powder into the sample. Both the two analytical methods showed favorable values of correlation coefficient ($R^2$ > 0.99) of calibration curves. In terms of the detection limit (identification limit), imidacloprid showed 0.02 mg/kg, while the rest of pesticides showed a level around 0.05 mg/kg. The results of this experiment revealed that the recovery of LLE was 92.8-100.9% and the RSD was below 2.5%. On the other hand, the recovery of QuEChERS was 92.2-101.6% and RSD was below 1.9%. As a result of comparing the amount of pesticide residue by the time between the two analytical methods by using Paired t-Test, there was no significant difference between the two analytical methods as the p-value ranged from 0.3148-0.9890. Considering the results of the two methods, the QuEChERS method had similar recovery, compared to the analytical method using the existing LLE, and the analytical time was shortened by about one fourth of that of the existing method. Moreover, since it excludes the use of harmful organic solvents like dichloromethane during the process of extraction, thus leading to protecting experimenters health and remarkably reducing the amount of disused solvents, it is judged as an echo-friendly and economic analytical method.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.42 no.spc
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• pp.20-28
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• 2009

The sustainability of conventional agriculture which is characterized by input dependent and ecologically simplified food production system is vague. Chemicals and present practices used in agriculture are not only costly but also have widespread implications on human and animal health, food quality and safety and environmental quality. Thus there is a need for alternative farming practices to sustain food production for the escalating population and conserve environment for future generations. The present research scenario in the area of plant microbe interactions for maintaining sustainable agriculture suggests that the level of internal regulation in agro-ecosystems is largely dependent on the level of plant and microbial diversity present in the soil. In agro-ecosystems, biodiversity performs a variety of ecological services beyond the production of food, including recycling of nutrients, regulation of microclimate and local hydrological processes, suppression of undesirable organisms and detoxification of noxious chemicals. Controlling the soil microflora to enhance the predominance of beneficial and effective microorganisms can help improve and maintain soil chemical and physical properties. The role of beneficial soil microorganisms in sustainable productivity has been well construed. Some plant bacteria referred to as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) can contribute to improve plant growth, nutrient uptake and microbial diversity when inoculated to plants. Term PGPR was initially used to describe strains of naturally occurring non-symbiotic soil bacteria have the ability to colonize plant roots and stimulate plant growth PGPR activity has been reported in strains belonging to several other genera, such as Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Arthrobacter Bacillus, Burkhokderia, Methylobacterium, and Pseudomonas etc. PGPR stimulate plant growth directly either by synthesizing hormones such as indole acetic acid or by promoting nutrition, for example, by phosphate solubilization or more generally by accelerating mineralization processes. They can also stimulate growth indirectly, acting as biocontrol agents by protecting the plant against soil borne fungal pathogens or deleterious bacteria. Present review focuses on some recent developments to evolve strategies for better biotechnological exploitation of PGPR's.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.350-358
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• 2015

Freezing is one of the main processes to extend the shelf life of foods. Before freezing, a thermal treatment is normally required to control the food quality. In this study, shiitake mushrooms were heated with boiling water and with superheated steam. After the thermal treatments, the samples were continuously frozen by an individual quick freezing (IQF) process, and put them into air-containing or vacuum packaging. Samples were stored at -12, -18 and $-24^{\circ}C$ for 24 weeks, and their physicochemical properties were determined. The lightness of the samples treated with boiling water and superheated steam was decreased by 12 and 15%, respectively, than that of the control. The hardness of all the samples rapidly increased after heat treatment. The contents of organic acids in the superheated steam treated samples were higher than those in the boiling water treated samples. Therefore, superheated steam treatment of samples may be a candidate thermal treatment to preserve frozen shiitake mushrooms.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.955-961
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• 2014

This study was carried out to investigate the amounts of vitamin C in 22 sweet potato cultivars cultivated in Korea as well as evaluate the effects of cooking methods on vitamin C contents. Methods for determining vitamin C was validated by determining linearity, specificity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), precision, and accuracy using HPLC. Results showed high linearity in the calibration curve with a coefficient of correlation ($R^2$) of 0.9999. The LOD and LOQ values for ascorbic acid (AA) were 0.03 and $0.10{\mu}g/mL$, respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for intra- and inter-day precision of AA were less than 5%. The recovery rates of AA and dehydroascorbic acid (DHA) were in the range from 98.21~98.64 and 98.28~100.68%, respectively. Depending on cultivar, contents of AA, DHA, and total ascorbic acid (TA) in sweet potatoes varied in the range from 37.76 (Sinyulmi)~89.25 (Juhwangmin), 23.37 (Sinjami)~63.94 (Sinyulmi), and 68.52 (Sinjami)~115.95 (Juhwangmin) mg/100 g, respectively, and their average levels were $56.98{\pm}12.53$, $36.46{\pm}9.03$, and $93.44{\pm}12.00mg/100g$, respectively. The average TA levels were also dependent on flesh color, whish was significantly higher in general sweet potato and orange sweet potato than in purple sweet potato. Steaming, baking, and frying processes significantly reduced AA (10.61~58.41%), DHA (2.57~52.81%), and TA (14.54~49.92%) contents in sweet potatoes. The highest reduction of AA, DHA, and TA contents was observed after baking, followed by steaming and frying. We expect that the basic information provided by this study will be useful to plant breeders and food scientists.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 1996.06c
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• pp.142-159
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• 1996

Engineering of automated tools for the agro-food industries and the rural world activities have to pick up two challenges : to answer the immediate important problems related to the situation of these industries, and to imaging the tools that their professional will need next century. Creating or modifying automated tools in the next few will be made taking into account parameters either technical (environmental protection, health and safety), or social and economical (investment , employment). There will be a strong interaction with disciplines like ecology, medicine, ergonomy, psycho-sociology , etc. , The partners for such a research, tools manufactures and users, should have an early involvement in its content, in order to find rapidly the solution to the drastic problems they are meeting. On a longer term , during the next 20 years , there will be an important evolution of the rural space management and of the food processes. This will imply the emergence of new types of activities and know-how's , with lines of automated tools to be invented and developed , like : micro-system for organic localized tasks -mobile and adaptive equipments highly autonomous for natural space actions - device for perception , decision and control reproducing automatically the expert behaviors of human operators. Design of such automated tools need to overcome technological difficulties like the automation of the expert-decision process, or the management of complex design.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.390-396
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• 2018

This study investigated the transformation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in a free-water surface flow constructed wetland. Pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) coupled with preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (prep-HPLC) was used to analyze the compositions of biopolymers (polysaccharides, amino sugars, proteins, polyhydroxy aromatics, lipids and lignin) in DOM according to the molecular size at three sampling points of the water flow: inflow, midflow, and outflow. The prep-HPLC results verified the decomposition of DOM through the decrease in the number of peaks from three to one in the chromatograms of the sampling points. The Py-GC/MS results for the degradable peaks indicated that biopolymers relating to polysaccharides and proteins gradually biodegraded with the water flow. On the other hand, the recalcitrant organic fraction (the remaining peak) in the outflow showed a relatively high concentration of aromatic compounds. Therefore, the ecological processes in the constructed wetland caused DOM to become more aromatic and homogeneous. This indicated that the constructed wetland can be an effective buffer area for releasing biochemically stable DOM, which has less influence on biological water quality indicators, e.g., biochemical oxygen demand, into an aquatic ecosystem.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.222-233
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• 2012

The nocturnal low-level jet makes a significant impact on carbon and water exchanges and turbulent mixing processes in the atmospheric boundary layer. This study reports a case study of nocturnal surface fluxes such as $CO_2$ and water vapor in the surface layer observed at a flat and homogeneous site in the presence of low-level jets (LLJs). In particular, it documents the temporal evolution of the overlying jets and the coincident response of surface fluxes. The present study highlights several factors linking the evolution of low-level jets to surface fluxes: 1) wavelet analysis shows that turbulent fluxes have similar time scales with temporal scale of LLJ evolution; 2) turbulent mixing is enhanced during the transition period of low-level jets; and 3) $CO_2$, water vapor and heat show dissimilarity from momentum during the period. We also found that LLJ activity is related not only to turbulent motions but also to the divergence of mean flow. An examination of scalar profiles and turbulence data reveal that LLJs transport $CO_2$ and water vapor by advection in the stable boundary layer, suggesting that surface fluxes obtained from the micrometeorological method such as nocturnal boundary layer budget technique should carefully interpreted in the presence of LLJs.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2021

BACKGROUND: G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are widely distributed in various organisms. Insect GPCRs shown as in vertebrate GPCRs are membrane receptors that coordinate or involve in various physiological processes such as learning/memory, development, locomotion, circadian rhythm, reproduction, etc. This study aimed to identify GPCRs expressed in fat body and compare the expression pattern of GPCRs in different temperature conditions. METHODS AND RESULTS: To identify GPCRs genes and compare their expression in different temperature conditions, total RNAs of fat body in Plutella xylostella larva were extracted and the transcriptomes have been analyzed via next generation sequencing method. From the fat body transcriptomes, genes that belong to GPCR Family A, B, and F were identified such as opsin, gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor, neuropeptide F (NPF) receptor, muthuselah (Mth), diuretic hormone receptor, frizzled, etc. Under low temperature, expressions of GPCRs such as C-C chemokine receptor (CCR), opsin, prolactin-releasing peptide receptor, substance K receptor, Mth-like receptor, diuretic hormone receptor, frizzled and stan were higher than those at 25℃. They are involved in immunity, feeding, movement, odorant recognition, diuresis, and development. In contrast to the control (25℃), at high temperature GPCRs including CCR, gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor, moody, NPF receptor, neuropeptide B1 receptor, frizzled and stan revealed higher expression whose biological functions are related to immunity, blood-brain barrier formation, feeding, learning, and reproduction. CONCLUSION: Transcriptome of fat body can provide understanding the pools of GPCRs. Identifications of fat body GPCRs may contribute to develop new targets for the control of insect pests.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.23-30
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• 2020

Driving on irregular and inclined roads using agricultural machinery such as spraying machines or trucks in orchards causes farmer casualties associated with the overturning of agricultural machinery. In addition, the harm to agricultural workers caused by the excessive inhalation of the scattered pesticide frequently occurs during pest control processes. To address these problems, we introduced precision agricultural technology that could selectively spray pesticides only where the fruit is present by recognizing the presence or shape of the fruit in the orchard. In this paper, a 16-channel LIDAR (VLP-16) made of Velodyne was used to identify the shape of fruit trees. Solenoid valves were attached to the end parts of 12 nozzles of the orchard spraying machine for on/off control. The smart spraying machine implemented in this way was mounted on a vehicle capable of autonomous travel and performed selective control depending upon the shape of the fruit trees while traveling in the orchards. This is expected to significantly reduce the amounts of pesticides used in orchards and production costs.