• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.109-121
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• 2024

Mancozeb is a manganese and zinc-containing fungicide that belongs to the ethylene bisdithiocarbamate group and produces ethylene thiourea (ETU) after biotransformation or environmental degradation, which has toxicological hazard owing to its known antithyroid properties. Although mancozeb leads to negative changes in fertility capacity, the effects of ETU are less known. Therefore, this study examined the alteration of fertilization competence in boar spermatozoa exposed to ETU. The sperm motility, motion kinematics, viability, acrosome integrity, chromatin stability, and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production of sperm subjected to various ETU concentrations (10, 50, 100, and 200 µM) were evaluated after two different incubation times (30 min and 2 hrs). In addition, the relative mRNA expression of the sperm functional proteins was analyzed after exposure to ETU. A dose-dependent motility reduction was observed in sperm exposed to ETU during both incubation periods compared to the controls. The motion kinematics were reduced significantly in sperm incubated with ETU. Higher percentages of viable sperm were observed in the controls, while such viability was decreased significantly in sperm with 10 - 200 µM ETU. The acrosome integrity was particularly damaged on sperm incubated with 10 - 200 µM ETU for 30 min. Higher intracellular ROS levels were produced in sperm exposed to 200 µM ETU. In addition, lower relative levels of AKAP3, AKAP4, ODF2, and ZPBP2 expression were observed in sperm exposed to ETU compared to the controls. Mancozeb and ETU could adversely affect the reproductive functions of mammals. Hence, the effects of ETU on the reproductive system should be examined further.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.92-96
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• 2001

Soil physical-chemical properties and phosphorous adsorption characteristics were investigated to obtain the informations of the appropriate fertilization and soil management in Baicheng region, China, where agricultural circumstances at present forces to consider the use of land for crop production. Soils were collected from one uncultivated and three cultivated lands on August 1993. Soil $_PH$ was very higher in uncultivated land than in cultivated land, their values were 10.2 and 7.4, respectively. Regardless of cultivation, soil organic matter contents were below 2%, and concentrations of available soil phosphorus expressed as Bray 1 P and Olson P were less than 10 mg P $kg^{-1}$, however, cation exchange capacity was higher than 20 cmol(+) $kg^{-1}$. For uncultivated soil, the values of exchangeable sodium percent and calcium saturation percent were higher than 100%. The major cation of soil saturation paste extracts was Na regardless of land use type. Based on electrical conductivity and sodium adsorption ratio of saturation paste extracts, uncultivated soil was classified as saline-sodic soil and cultivated soil was classified as sodic or normal soil. The maximum adsorption capacity of phosphorus calculated by Langmuir isotherm ranged from 406 to 521 mg P ,$kg^{-1}$. The constraints of soils in Baicheng regions for agricultural cops werw high salt concentration, unfavorable soil chemical composition such as low concentration of available phosphorous, and poor drainage due to soil dispersion by high Na concentration. Therefore, the soil in Baicheng region, need the application of phosphorus fertilizer to increase the soil fertility and the proper soil management to improve the soil physical property especially permeability and soil structure.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.102 no.2
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• pp.161-169
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• 2013

This study was carried out to examine characteristics of physical and chemical current status and problems of Salix spp. communities based on growth characteristics by tree age and height of the tree species in around Namgang Dam reservoir area. Tree density in 4 survey areas was 5,284 trees/ha, but all areas need to control high tree density. Tree crown area in 4 survey areas was 9,786.4 $m^2/ha$ and crown area of Salix spp. was the most dominant among tree species in watershed of the Jinyang lake. Mean soil depth in 4 survey areas was 65.5 cm higher in the sedimental deposit soil (78 cm) than in forest soil (12.5 cm) near the watershed. Soil bulk density was also higher in the sedimental deposit soil than in forest soil because of poor porosity in the sandy sediment. Soil pH was higher in sedimental deposit soil (A, B horizon:pH 6.7) than in forest soil (A horizon:pH 5.3; B horizon:pH 5.2) because of originated from non-point source polution and detergent of domestic sewage. The results suggest that growth of Salix spp. could be poor because of low fertility with low cation exchange capacity in sedimental deposit soil.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.419-432
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• 2010

This study was conducted to determine effects of applying cattle slurry and mixed sowing with legumes such as hairy vetch or forage pea on productivity, feed values and organic stock carrying capacity of whole crop barley and rye as winter forage crops, and to obtain organic forages together with higher soil fertility. Experimental plots consisted of 7 treatments, which were non-fertilizer, chemical fertilizer (containing phosphate and potassium: P+K), chemical fertilizer (containing nitrogen, phosphate and potassium: N+P+K), organic fertilizer, cattle slurry, cattle slurry application (mixture with hairy vetch), and cattle slurry application (mixture with forage pea) plots. Each treatment was triplicates, and seven treatments were allocated in a completely randomized block design. For whole crop barley or its mixture crops, annual dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), and total digestible nutrients (TDN) yields of N+P+K plots were significantly (P<0.05) higher than other plots except for cattle slurry plots. The CP content of barley or its mixture crops was significantly higher tor N+P+K plot (9.8%) and mixture plots with legumes (8.6~9.7%) than those of other treatments. As 450 kg Hanwoo heifers were fed diets included 70% whole crop barley or 70% mixture crops with legumes, mixture plots are capable of raising average 1.7 to 1.8 heads/ha a year. For rye or its mixture crops, annual DM, CP, and TDN yields represented 6.9~7.1, 0.5~0.6 and 4.3~4.4 ton/ha, respectively. The N+P+K plot contained 10.8% CP, which was higher (P<0.05) than all other treatments. In case of 450 kg Hanwoo heifers fed diets included 70% rye or 70% mixture crops with legumes, mixture plots can rear average 1.9 heads/ha a year. When it was considered based on crop yields and organic stock carrying capacity, applying cattle slurry to whole crop barley or rye had the comparable yields and feed values to chemical fertilizer application. Moreover, whole crop barley and rye within cattle slurry plots had a greater combination with hairy vetch and forage pea, respectively, and their mixture crops with legumes had higher crude protein and TDN yields within cattle slurry plots. In conclusion, it would be expected that mixed sowing with legumes in the application of cattle slurry to grass crops could be substituted for imported organic grains as dietary protein sources in feeding organic livestock.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.317-325
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• 2001

This study investigated the effect of ferrous sulfate (Fe$^{2+}$) and/or ascorbic acid (Asc) on fertilizing ability in vitro of frozen-thawed boar spermatozoa. Using chlortetracycline (CTC) fluorescence, the spermatozoa was treated in preincubation medium with control, Fe$^{2+}$(1 mM), Asc (0.5 mM) and Fe$^{2+}$Asc to assessed for acrosome reaction, and the oocyte penetration test to determine whether the Fe$^{2+}$ and/or Asc can promote the penetration ability in vitro. When frozen-thawed spermatozoa was washed with preincubation medium, there were significantly (P ＜ 0.05) more acrosome-reacted in medium with Fe$^{2+}$Asc (38%) than control (27%). The penetration rates were also significantly (P ＜ 0.05) higher in medium with Fe$^{2+}$Asc (76%) than control (55%). Next, the lipid peroxidation of sperm was evaluated on the basis of malondialdehyde production following same treatments. The addition of Fe$^{2+}$Asc to sperm suspension increases the formation of malondialdehyde. However, there were not significantly different under the all conditions. The sperm suspension were also treated with control, Fe$^{2+}$, Asc and Fe$^{2+}$/Asc and assayed for sulfhydry1(-SH) group content. In the Fe$^{2+}$/Asc group, sperm-SH group were higher than another groups. In spermatozoa treated with Fe$^{2+}$ and/or Asc, however, no changes in sperm -SH-groups were detected when compared to controls. In another experiment, the activity of sperm binding to zona pellucida was evaluated through binding to salt-stored porcine oocytes. In control and Asc treatment groups, sperm binding to zona pellucida were significantly (P ＜ 0.05) higher than in medium with Fe$^{2+}$. On the other hand, there is not a significant increase in binding to zona pellucida with spermatozoa treated by Fe$^{2+}$/Asc. In summary, the present study suggests that Fe$^{2+}$/Asc causes an enhancement in fertilizing ability that is associated with penetration rate increased without change of spermatozoa binding capacity to homologous zona pellucida.o homologous zona pellucida.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.35-42
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• 1974

From the results of countrywide two year N. P. K simple trial with newly bred IR 667-Suwon 214 and leading local varieties for comparison soil productivity (yield without fertilizer) and fertilization productivity (yield increase with fertilizer) were investigated. 1. IR667 showed higher yield than leading local by 19% in 1971 and by 12% in the year of low temperature stress, 1972. High yielding capacity of IR667 was attributed to greater number of spikelet per panicle. The coefficient of variation in yield was smaller in IR667 but the leading locals showed higher yield in 23(1971) and 30% (1972) of the fields. 2. IR667 required more nitrogen, especially phosphorus and potassium. Fertilization efficiency (yield increment per unit fertilizer) in IR667 was-about 4kg higher in nitrogen but smaller in phosphorus and almost the same in potassium. 3. Soil productivity was higher in IR667 but percent contribution of soil productivity to total productivity (field productivity) was lower. 4. Percent contribution of fertilization productivity to field productivity was 19 to 33, of which 5 was due to phosphorus and potassium. 5. The greater the soil productivity, the greater the field productivity becomes, but the much greater the percentage contribution of soil productivity becomes. 6. Fertility saturation point at which fertilization efficiency is nil, was propoesd as a soil productivity (or field productivity) limit.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.224-229
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• 2006

Utilization of organic by-product fertilizers has many beneficial effects on agricultural activities and in aspects of the disposal of enormous amounts of livestock manure. Most of these beneficial effects are related to the improvement of soil condition, such as fertility status and physicochemical quality of soil. But, appropriate indexes are needed to effectively manage the quality of organic by-product fertilizers amended on soil. To find chemical and physical standard to control the compost quality, the changes in chemical and physical characteristics of organic by-product fertilizers during composting were investigated, and also an appropriate physical method for this end. The results showed chemical properties, such as humic acid content, OM/N ratio, cation exchange capacity and salt content, had significant relationships during the composting. The water content, particle and bulk densities, particle size and color indices, as physical properties, were also applicable factors for the quality control of compost.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.53-59
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• 2004

The environmental impact of nutrient waste from agriculture has become an area of concern as ways to produce more food and of offspring. In dairy cattle, as the genetic capacity for milk production has increased, decreased fertility has become a severe problem by feeding high dietary protein, resulting in high concentration of blood urea nitrogen (BUN). There are numerous reports on BUN which is associated with reduced conception rates and closely related to body condition score (BCS) in lactating cattle, but not in Korean native cattle. This study was therefore performed to investigate the relation of BUN to both BCS and conception rates in Korean cattle. A total of 400 female Korean cattle (2∼5 years) in Daewanryong were used for this experiment. Feeding condition divided into two groups depending on grazing and darn feeding period. In grazing period, the mixture of Timothy, Orchard grass and Tall fescue, and concentrates (2.5 kg/day) was fed whereas hay (6.5 kg/day) and corn silage (20 kg/day) were fed while barn feeding period. Average BUN concentration at grazing and barn feeding were 7.39$\pm$2.65 mg/㎗ and 12.36$\pm$2.92 mg/㎗, respectively. During grazing period, high rates of pregnancy showed at 4∼8 mg/㎗ BUN concentration. In barn feeding period, 66%, of cattle were in pregnant at 8∼l4 mg/㎗ BUN concentration. The BCS for obtaining high rate of pregnancy raged at 2.5∼3.5. However, BUN did not directly relate to BCS in Korean cattle.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.292-297
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• 2007

Global warming and climate changes have been major issues for decades andvarious researches have reported their impact on our environment. According to recent researches, increased carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) concentration in the atmosphere is considered as a dominant contributor to global climate changes and thus numerous researches were conducted to control $CO_2$ concentration in the atmosphere. Soil management practices, such as reducing tillage intensity, returning plant residues, and enhancing cropping system have recommended for restoring organic carbon into the soils effectively. However, few studies on soil carbon sequestration have reported for Korean paddy soils. Therefore, evaluation of soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics in the long-term single rice cropping system is essential in order to find out potential capacity of paddy field as a carbon sink source. The objective of this research was to evaluate SOC dynamics on the long-term single rice cropping system. Research was conducted in the research farm at National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Rural Development Administration, Suwon. Long-term phosphorus and potassium fertilization and lime application didn't significantly affect on SOC compared to controls. We found that SOC contents were increased continually at the long-term composting plots with enhanced rate of carbon storage. In conclusion, continuous incorporation of plant residues (i.e., composting) is recommended to effectively sequester soil carbon for Korean paddy soils. This result implies that continuous composting in a paddy field may contributenot only for increasing SOC in the soils but also for mitigating global warming through reducing carbon dioxide emission into atmosphere. Therefore, we recommend that a strategy or policy measures to encourage farmers to return plant residues continuously for mitigation of global warming as well as soil fertility is being developed.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.193-198
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• 2013

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of L-cysteine on sperm characteristics and oocyte cleavage in vitro in Korean native cattle. For this study, the freezing of diluted semen were added with Triladyl containing 20% egg-yolk and/or 0, 5, 10 and 20 mM L-cysteine before cryopreservation. The viability in frozen-thawed sperm were estimated by SYBR14/PI double stain, acrosome damage with FITC-PNA, mitochondria intact with Rhodamin123 and hydrogen peroxide($H_2O_2$) level with carboxy-DCFDA by flow-cytometry. The developmental capacity was also assessed with cleavage rates in oocytes fertilized in vitro by frozen-thawed sperm. In results, the sperm viability was significantly increased in 10 mM and 20 mM concentrations of L-cysteine than other groups (p<0.05). In addition, acrosome damage was significantly decreased in 10 mM and 20 mM concentrations of L-cysteine than other groups (p<0.05). The mitochondria intact was also significantly increased in 10 mM and 20 mM concentrations of L-cysteine than other groups (p<0.05). On the other hand, the cleavage rates were significantly increased in 0 mM, 5 mM and 10 mM groups than 20 mM concentration of L-cysteine (p<0.05). The oocyte degeneration of oocytes were significantly decreased in 0 mM, 5 mM and 10 mM groups than in 20 mM L-cysteine group (P<0.05). However, there are no significantly differences among the L-cysteine treatment groups. We suggest that concentration of 10 mM L-cysteine have beneficial impact for sperm cryopreserved in Korean native cattle. This result also could be recommended for artificial insemination program if supported by an improvement in the fertility results and required further study.