• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.87-94
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• 1996

For evaluating the suitability of human follicular fluid(HFF) as protein supplement in ART, this preliminary study was performed to examine the maturation promoting activity of HFF on mouse follicular oocytes in vitro. Mouse follicular oocytes were collected from ovaries of 21-28 day old ICR mice by puncturing the antral follicles with fine needle at 48 hours after PMSG injection. The oocytes were rinsed and cultured in modified Whittingham's $T_6$ medium containing purines or dbcAMP to maintain meiotic arrest, and different concentrations of HFF were added into the culture medium to examine the effect of HFF on releasing the oocytes from the suppressive influence of the meiotic inhibitors. As a control for HFF, the maturation promoting activity of human fetal cord serum(HFCS) was investigated and compared with the activity of HFF. While HFF was separated, by molecular weight(M.W), into high M.W. fraction(M.W>30,000) and low M.W. fraction(M.W<30,000) and the effects of the fractions on meiotic resumption were investigated in the presence of the meiotic inhibitors. Also hormone analysis was performed to compare the content of hormones in HFF with that in HFCS. Same concentrations of HFF and HFCS induced similar germinal vesicle break down(GVBD) rates of the oocytes meiotic arrested by purines(4mM hypoxanthine+0.75mM adenosine), but the extrusion rate of 1st polar body(PB) of the oocytes cultured in HFF(65.0%, P<0.05) was significantly higher than that(51.6%) in HFCS. While, in the presence of 200 M dbcAMP, the maturation promoting activity of HFF (GVBD: 70.5%, $p<10^{-6}$; 1st PB extrusion: 67.1%, $p<10^{-3}$) was significantly greater than that of HFCS(GVBD: 35.2%; 1st PB extrusion: 41.1%). The oocytes cultured in the fraction of HFF containing high M.W. components showed higher meiotic maturation rates than the oocytes cultured in the low M.W. fraction of HFF. Gonadotropins and $E_2$ were known to improve the completion of maturation changes, and the levels of these hormones were higher in HFF than in HFCS. Therefore, HFF was more effective than HFCS to use for promoting meiotic resumption of mouse oocytes in vitro.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.171-184
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• 2016

In order to assess the level of contamination and identify the priority contaminants in the Busan coast, intensive sediment sampling was conducted and persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals were analyzed. The Sediment Quality Index (SQI) was derived based on the contaminant data by comparing with Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs) established in Korea, Canada, and Australia/New Zealand. Toxic contaminants were found to be widely distributed across the coast. Among organic contaminants, PAHs showed the highest concentration, followed by butyltins, nonylphenols, PBDEs, DDTs, PCBs, HCHs and CHLs. Heavy metals were also abundantly detected with the highest concentration of Zn followed by Cu > Cr > Pb > Ni > As > Cd > Hg. Compared to organic contaminants, most heavy metals, except for Cu and Hg, were homogeneously distributed along the coast in a good relationship with total organic carbon of sediment particles. In general, the concentrations of organic compounds and heavy metals were highest at the inner part of harbor areas with a tendency to decline from inside areas to the outside, indicating the high loading of pollutants from harbors. A high exceedance for low-SQGs and high-SQGs was found for TBT, p'-DDT, p,p'-DDD, Cu and Zn. The SQI scores calculated from low-SQGs and high-SQGs were in the range of 18-100 and 54-100, respectively. The inner part of Busan Harbor, Dadaepo Harbor, and Gamcheon Harbor were observed as being regions of concern. Overall, TBT, Cu, and p,p'-DDT were the chemicals most frequently exceeding SQGs and influencing SQI scores.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.157-170
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• 2013

We investigated the seasonal succession of phytoplankton assemblages in the eastern part of the South Sea of Korea in relation to surface water masses. The study areas are under the direct influence of the Tsushima Warm Current (TCW) throughout the whole year, with its strength known to be seasonally variable. The region is also influenced by coastal waters (CW) driven from the South Sea of Korea and East China Sea, particularly in summer, as indicated by low salinity in the surface water. Nutrient property of the TCW can reveals whether the origin of the TCW is the nutrient-rich Kuroshio Current or the oligotropic Taiwan Warm Current. Surface chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentrations displayed a large seasonal variation for all stations, with high values found in spring and autumn and low values in summer and winter. At station M (offshore) and P (intermediate location between M and R), Chl-a concentrations in October were higher than those in March, when spring bloom normally occurs. This may be related to deeper mixed layer depths in October. Diatoms dominated under conditions of high nutrient supply in which Chaetoceros spp. and Skeletonema costatum-like spp. were abundant. S. costatum-like spp. dominated at stations R (onshore station) and P in December when there was greater nutrient supply, especially of phosphate. Flagellates and dinoflagellates dominated at all three stations after diatoms blooms. Dominant species were Scrippsiella trochoid in April and Ceratium furca in October at station R, and Gyrodinium spp. and Gymnodinium spp. at station M during summer, when the effect of the oligotropic Taiwan Warm Current and the oligotropic coastal water from East China Sea were strong. Redundancy analysis showed clear seasonal successions in the phytoplankton community and environmental conditions, in which both principal components 1 and 2 accounted for 69.6% of total variance. Our results suggested that environmental conditions seemed to be determined by the origin of the TCW and the relative seasonal strength of the water masses of the TCW and CW, which may affect phytoplankton growth and compositions in the study area.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.535-541
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• 2017

Two Gram-staining-negative, red-pinkish, coccus-shaped, non-motile, and aerobic bacterial strains, designated $Ant21^T$ and Ant22, were isolated from the Antarctic coastal sea water. Strains $Ant21^T$ and Ant22 showed UVC and gamma radiation resistance. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences determined that these strains belong to the genus Deinococcus. Through the analyses of the 16S rRNA gene sequences, strains $Ant21^T$ and Ant22 were found to have 97.7% and 97.8% similarity to Deinococcus marmoris DSM $12784^T$ and 97.0% and 97.2% similarity to Deinococcus saxicola AA-$1444^T$, respectively. The sequence similarity with the type strains of other Deinococcus species was less than 96.9% for both strains. Strains $Ant21^T$ and Ant22 shared relatively high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (99.3%) and had a closely related DNA reassociation value of $84{\pm}0.5%$. Meanwhile, they showed a low level of DNA-DNA hybridization (<30%) with other closely related species of the genus Deinococcus. The two strains also showed typical chemotaxonomic features for the genus Deinococcus, in terms of the major polar lipid (phosphoglycolipid) and the major fatty acids ($C_{16:0}$, $C_{16:1}$ ${\omega}6c/{\omega}7c$, $iso-C_{17:0}$, and $iso-C_{15:0}$). They grew at temperatures between $4^{\circ}C$ and $30^{\circ}C$ and at pH values of 6.0-8.0. Based on the physiological characteristics, the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis results, and the low DNA-DNA reassociation level with Deionococcus marmoris, strains $Ant21^T$ ($=KEMB\;9004-167^T$ $=JCM\;31436^T$) and Ant22 (KEMB 9004-168 =JCM 31437) represent novel species belonging to the genus Deinococcus, for which the name Deinococcus rubrus is proposed.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.67-79
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• 1996

Clay soils typically have low hydraulic conductivities in the presence of high polarity pore fluid, such as water. Low polarity fluids, such as hydrocarbon fuels and halogenated organic solvents, typically cannot migrate into clay pores because they cannot displace the pore water. Oxygenated additives in gasoline, such as alcohols and methyl-tert-butyl ether, are increasingly used to control air pollution emissions. These relatively polar and highly water-soluble compounds may facilitate displacement of pore water and enhance migration of fuels and solvents through clay-rich soil strata. In the reported research, the migration of gasoline-alcohol fuel mixtures (gasohol) through consolidated clay was examined. Prepared kaolinite clay samples were consolidated from slurry, and various combinations of gasoline, alcohol, and water were applied to the clays under 152 Pa gauge pressure. Movement of the fluids into the clay samples was monitored by measur ing displaced pore fluid and by magnetic resonance imaging of the samples. The structures of selected samples were examined using environmental scanning electron microscopy. Results of the research suggest that alcohol added to hydrocarbon fuels can enhance migration through some clays significantly. Gasoline did not migrate appreciably into water saturated clay, even after 14 days under pressure. The gasohol mixture migrated readily into the clay in only 20 minutes. Increased hydraulic conductivity of the clay in the presence of gasohol is hypothesized to be due to the collapse of the clays pore structure when ethanol is present, creating larger pores. Increasing pore diameter decreases the capillary pressure needed for the gasohol to replace water and allows gasohol to migrate through the clay.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.135-153
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• 2007

Temporal (seasonal) and spatial distributions and variations of various physico-chemical factors (salinity, temperature, pH, DO, COD, SPM, POC, silicate, DIP, DIN) in surface and bottom waters were studied in the coastal environment with typical macro-tidal range and monsoonal weather condition, Gyeonggi Bay, west coast of Korea. Spacial distribution patterns of these factors were generally similar to each other, and appeared to be inversely related to the distribution pattern of salinity, suggesting that water quality of the study area was primarily controlled by the physical mixing process of Han-River freshwater with nearby coastal seawater. During flooding season, silicate- and nitrogen-rich Han River water directly flowed into offshore as far as $20\sim30\;km$ from the river mouth, probably causing serious environmental problems such as eutrophication and unusual and/or noxious algal bloom, etc. Except the surface water during summer flooding season, high concentrations of nutrients appeared generally in dry season, whereas low values in spring, possibly because of the occurrence of spring phytoplankton bloom. On the other hand, nutrient flux through the estuary seems to be primarily depending on river discharge, sewage discharge and agricultural activities, especially during the rainy season. Also, nutrients in this coastal waters are considered to be supplied from the sediments of tidal-flats, which developed extensively around the Han-River mouth, especially during fall and winter of dry and low discharge seasons, possibly due to the stirring of tidal flat sediments with highly enriched pore-water nutrients by storm. And also, COD and DIN concentrations in the study area consistently increased during the last 20 years, probably because of agricultural activities and increasing discharge of industrial and domestic wastes.

• Atmosphere
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.31-46
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• 2020

The aircraft observation campaign was performed to investigate thermodynamic conditions of snowfall cloud over the East Sea of Korean peninsula from 2 February to 16 March 2018. During this period, four snowfall events occurred in the Yeongdong region and three cases were analyzed using dropsonde data. Snowfall cases were associated with the passage of southern low-pressure (maritime warm air mass) and expansion of northern high-pressure (continental polar air mass). Case 1 and Case 2a were related to low-pressure systems, and Case 2b and Case 3 were connected with high-pressure systems, respectively. And their thermodynamic properties and horizontal distribution of snowfall cloud were differed according to the influence of the synoptic condition. In Case 1 and Case 2a, atmospheric layers between sea surface and 350 hPa contained moisture more than 15 mm of TPW with multiple inversion layers detected by dropsonde data, while the vertical atmosphere of Case 2b and Case 3 were dry as TPW 5 mm or less with a single inversion inversion layer around 750~850 hPa. However, the vertical distributions of equivalent potential temperature (θ_e) were similar as moist-adiabatically neutral condition regardless of the case. But, their values below 900 hPa were about 10 K higher in Case 1 and Case 2a (285~290 K) than in Case 2b and Case 3 (275~280 K). The difference in these values is related to the characteristics of the incoming air mass and the location of the snowfall cloud.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.8-15
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• 2012

To estimate the S-wave velocity structure beneath the KS31 broad-band station in Wonju, Korea, we used $H-{\kappa}$ stacking and joint inversion of receiver functions and surface-wave dispersion curves derived from 297 teleseismic events (Mw > 5.5) recorded during the period between 2002 and 2009. We thereby determined that the average depth to a nearly flat Moho is $32.4{\pm}0.5\;km$ within tens of kilometer radius of the seismic station. For the crust at this location, we estimate an average shear-wave velocity of 3.69 km/s and a ratio of P- to S-wave velocities, $V_p/V_s$, of $1.72{\pm}0.04$, as is typical for continental crust. A negative phase in the receiver functions at 1 s indicates the presence of a shearwave low velocity layer in a depth interval of 10 to 18 km in the upper crust beneath the KS31 station.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.234-238
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• 2016

Solid ash-free coal (AFC) samples recovered from solvent-extracted solution by vacuum drying, dilution precipitation and spray drying methods were compared in terms of physical properties and chemical structure. AFC was prepared by using Kideco coal (Indonesian sub-bituminous coal) and polar N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent as raw materials. The physical properties of the AFCs were characterized with proximate, ultimate, and calorific value analysis. In analyzing the chemical structure, FTIR and NMR were used. the proximate analysis showed much reduced ash in the AFCs compared to parent raw coal. The FTIR result showed that the extraction solvent was not fully removed from the AFC prepared by vacuum drying. However, the solvent was not detected in the AFC recovered by using dilution precipitation. Dilution precipitation has advantages over the other two methods, since it can be done at relatively low temperature and separate ash-free coal from extraction solvent more effectively.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.279-293
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• 2021

To investigate the effect of seasonal marine environment conditions on the cyanobacteria abundance and diversity in the South Sea, four-seasonal surveys were conducted along the 127.5°E survey transect line in the central South Sea using flow cytometry and 16S-23S ITS on the Miseq platform from August 2016 to May 2017. The average abundance of Synechococcus varied from 3.3 × 10³ to 7.4 × 10⁴ cells ml^-1. The abundance was the highest in the summer and the lowest in the winter, and the abundance fluctuated according to water temperature. The abundance was high in the outer sea affected by TWC. However, in summer, the Coastal areas affected by the Yangtze River were more populated than the outer sea. Prochlorococcus was rare and could not penetrate into coastal areas due to the fronts, but showed its dominance in the waters influenced by the TWC. Synechococcus clades II, VII, IX, CRD1, and CRD2 were predominant in the outer sea area affected by the TWC. In the coastal area, clades I and IV showed higher dominance whereas clades V, VI, WPC1, and 5.3-MS3 with euryhaline characteristics, showed a high dominance rate in the water masses affected by the low-salinity water of the Yangtze River in the summer. Clade XVI, XVII, CB1, CB5, and 5.3-I/II showed high dominance in nutrient-rich waters in the summer with increased water temperature. The abundance and community composition of cyanobacteria changed in the South Sea due to the influence of the TWC and stratification. In the summer, the abundance and the community composition differed, and were mainly affected by the general influence of the TWC in addition to the influence of the Yangtze River low-salinity water.