Estimating water footprint of paddy rice in Korea

The purpose of this article is to examine the issues of low grain self-sufficiency and the high portion of agricultural water use in South Korea, and to trace the water footprint (WF) of rice products. In this study, different types of water use were described as green, blue, and gray WFs and were analysed using suitable estimation methods to determine irrigation water requirements in South Korea. Virtual water (VW) import and export of rice product were calculated based on international trade statistics during 2004–2009, and the WF of the national consumption was estimated. The WF of rice was 844.5 m³/ton, and green, blue, and gray water accounted for 294.5, 501.6, and 48.4 m³/ton, respectively. The VW import and export were 404.17 and 2.03 Mm³/year, respectively, against an import 199.5 times that of the export. Three countries (China, USA, and Thailand) accounted for over 95 % of the total VW imports of rice products into South Korea. The total WF was 5,712.08 Mm³/year, thus the WF per capita for rice was estimated at 118.1 m³/year. The internal WF of rice consumption was 5,308.05 Mm³/year, and the external WF was 404.03 Mm³/year. The WF of total agricultural water use should be analyzed for sustainable agricultural production and water management, and these results should be applied in establishing long-term policies for agricultural water resources.     

Placotylene A,an Inhibitor of the Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor-κB Ligand-Induced Osteoclast Differentiation,from a Korean Sponge Placospongia sp.

A new inhibitor, placotylene A (1), of the receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL)-induced osteoclast differentiation, and a regioisomer of placotylene A, placotylene B (2), were isolated from a Korean marine sponge Placospongia sp. The chemical structures of placotylenes A and B were elucidated on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR, along with MS spectral analysis and revealed as an iodinated polyacetylene class of natural products. Placotylene A (1) displayed inhibitory activity against RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation at 10 μM while placotylene B (2) did not show any significant activity up to 100 μM, respectively.     

最小二乘法在水泵试验曲线拟合中的应用

根据目前国内外水泵测试软件中需要曲线拟合的要求,充分考虑了目前水泵试验软件曲线拟合的基础,我们将最小二乘法应用到水泵试验软件中.从软件中实现了流量-扬程曲线的拟合,流量一效率曲线的拟合,流量-功率曲线的拟合,以及流量-汽蚀余量曲线的拟合,并且拟合曲线的多项式方程的次方数和拟合精度可以手动或自动选择,有效避免了目前曲线拟合精度不高的问题.实际试验结果表明将最小二乘法应用在VB开发的水泵测试软件中,绘图准确,曲线美观大方,使用方便,符合国家相关标准的要求,保证了试验的测试精度.     

Long-term evaluation of extruded diets compared with raw fish moist diet for growing Korean rockfish, Sebastes schlegeli (Hilgendorf)

A long‐term experiment was conducted in sea cages to compare three experimental extruded pellet (EP) diets with a raw fish moist pellet (MP) diet for Korean rockfish, Sebastes schlegeli (Hilgendorf). White fishmeal (WFM), soybean meal (SM) and fishmeal analogue (BAIFA‐M?)‐based experimental EP diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous and isocaloric with 50% crude protein (CP) with available energy of 16.7 kJ g^?1 diet. An MP diet made of 80% frozen horse mackerel + 20% commercial binder meal was also included in the experiment. The proportions of the major protein ingredients in three experimental EP diets were as follows: WFM diet, 100% WFM; SM diet, 70% WFM + 30% SM; BAIFA‐M? diet, 70% WFM + 30% BAIFA‐M?. The experiment was divided into three periods according to fish size: period I, initial weight of 20.2 ± 3.6 g (mean ± SD); period II, initial weight of 57.6 ± 4.7 g (mean ± SD); period III, initial weight of 96.3 ± 6.9 g (mean ± SD). There were no significant differences in weight gain, feed efficiency ratio, thermal‐unit growth coefficient, specific growth rate, haemoglobin, or haematocrit among fish that were fed the four diets during all three periods. However, fish that were fed the MP diet had a lower survival rate than the fish that were fed the other three EP diets for all periods. These results strongly suggest that EP diets could be developed to replace MP diet for the grow‐out stage of production of Korean rockfish without adverse effects on growth performance.     

Variation and correlation analysis of flavonoids and carotenoids in Korean pigmented rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars

Flavonoids and carotenoids of pigmented rice ( Oryza sativa L.), including five black cultivars and two red cultivars, from Korea were characterized to determine the diversity among the phytochemicals and to analyze the relationships among their contents. Black cultivars were higher in flavonoids and carotenoids than the red and white cultivars. The profiles of eight phytochemicals identified from the rice grains were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) to evaluate the differences among cultivars. PCA could fully distinguish between these cultivars. The Heugjinjubyeo (BR-1) and Heugseolbyeo (BR-2) cultivars were separated from the others based on flavonoid and carotenoid concentrations. Flavonoid contents had a positive correlation with carotenoid contents among all rice grains. The BR-1 and BR-2 cultivars appear to be good candidates for future breeding programs because they have simultaneously high flavonoid and carotenoid contents.     

Attenuation of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) inhibition in MCF-10A cells by c9,t11-conjugated linoleic acid

The protective effect of c9,t11-conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on the inhibition of gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) was examined in a human mammary epithelial cell line (MCF-10A) treated with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), relative to t10,c12-CLA isomer. TPA inhibited GJIC in a dose-dependent and reversible manner and was associated with connexin 43 phosphorylation. Pretreatment of 20 μM c9,t11-CLA for 24 h prior to 60 nM TPA for 1 h prevented the inhibition of GJIC by reducing the phosphorylation of connexin 43 via suppressing extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK1/2) activation. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation by TPA was attenuated by c9,t11-CLA. The efficacy of c9,t11-CLA in protecting inhibition of GJIC, connexin 43 phosphorylation, and ROS production was superior to that of t10,c12-CLA. These results suggest that c9,t11-CLA, including t10,c12-CLA, prevents the carcinogenesis of MCF-10A cells by protecting down-regulation of GJIC during the cancer promotion stage, and lack of their toxicities could be an excellent indicator for the chemoprevention of breast cancer.     

Electron spin resonance and luminescence spectroscopic observation and kinetic study of chemical and physical singlet oxygen quenching by resveratrol in methanol

Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy and near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence spectroscopy were performed to observe singlet oxygen quenching by resveratrol. Resveratrol greatly decreased the 2,2,6,6-Tetramethyl-4-piperidone-N-oxyl radical signal as determined by ESR spectroscopy. Resveratrol also efficiently decreased luminescence emission at 1268 nm as studied with a NIR spectrofluorometer, showing positive evidence of singlet oxygen quenching by resveratrol. The total singlet oxygen quenching rate constant (kr+kq) of resveratrol in methanol was determined to be 2.55×10(7) M(-1) s(-1). The singlet oxygen chemical quenching rate constant (kr) of resveratrol was calculated by measuring its reaction rate with singlet oxygen relative to that of α-terpinene in the same solution under light illumination. The kr value of resveratrol was 1.15×10(6) M(-1) s(-1). The percent partition of chemical quenching over total singlet oxygen quenching (kr×100)/(kr+kq) for resveratrol was 5.11%. The results showed that resveratrol quenches singlet oxygen almost exclusively through the mechanism of physical quenching. Resveratrol showed a protective activity similar to that of BHA on the methylene blue sensitized photooxidation of α-terpinene. This unambiguously explains the mechanism of how resveratrol protects tissues and cells in biological systems or important nutrients in food systems against their photosensitized oxidations.     

大落差管道的一些技术问题

针对大落差成品油管道静压过高和动压过大的技术问题，结合郑州－成都成品油管道的实际情况，提出了具体的解决措施。在正常输送过程中，采用变径管设计，以解决动压过大的技术问题，分析了变径管设计的的水力计算结果。由于管道所经过的地区高差较大，为降低静压，停输时进行静压截断，低流量时采用间歇输送。并对防止不满流现象提出了具体措施。     

Energy utilisation in germ-free and conventional chicks fed diets containing sorbose

1. In experiment 1, growing conventional (CV) chicks were fed on diets containing graded amounts (0, 100, 200 and 300 g/kg diet) of sorbose from 4 to 14 d. Protein, fat and energy deposition were determined after carcase analysis. The values for growth, food efficiency, metabolisable energy (ME) and fat and energy depositions declined as the dietary sorbose content increased. 2. In experiment 2, the performances of germ-free (GF) and CV chicks fed on diets with (100 g sorbose/kg diet) or without sorbose were investigated. On both diets, body weight gain, food consumption and protein accumulation in GF chicks were significantly higher than those in CV birds. No significant differences were observed between the dietary treatment except for ME values, which were significantly lower for the sorbose diet. 3. It is suggested that dietary sorbose decreased energy utilisation, and that the microbial contribution to the utilisation of dietary sorbose was negligible in the chicken.