Comparative Analysis of the Total Factor Productivity of Manufacturing in Northeast Asian Metropolitan Areas

We compare and analyze the total factor productivity of the manufacturing industries in the major metropolitan areas of South Korea, China, and Japan. This study can contribute to the economic cooperation among these countries by analyzing their productivity growth and evaluating their relative competitiveness. Statistical data from manufacturing industries are used to analyze five metropolitan areas. The manufacturing industries are classified into 10 sectors, and two different time periods (before and after 1997, when the foreign currency crisis began in Korea) are examined. The results in terms of the development and competitiveness of the manufacturing industries in Korea, China, and Japan will be useful in establishing promotional strategies.     

Flower bud abscission triggered by the anther in the Asiatic hybrid lily

It is not well documented which floral parts may trigger the onset of tepal or petal senescence and or flower bud abscission. Asiatic hybrid (Lilium × elegans Thunb.) ‘Red Carpet’ lily flowers were selected as a model to study this relationship because the various floral organs of a lily flower can be easily dissected and collected for physiological studies. We hypothesized that anther is the organ that triggers flower bud abscission. Ethanol-soluble sucrose, fructose, and glucose were analyzed in the tepal, anther, filament, and pistil. The analysis was conducted on flower buds weighing 1.5 g (small buds) and 3.9 g (large buds). The sucrose content in the anthers of small buds remained high when cut flowers were held at 21 °C for 5 d, suggesting that sucrose is not hydrolyzed into fructose and glucose. However, in large buds, sucrose was not detected when flowers were held at 21 °C for 5 d. The respiration rate of small buds (2.06 g) was high (2000-3000 mg/kg fw) when the tepals were removed and the anther remained attached to the filament, but was low (less than 400 mg/kg fw) in large buds approaching anthesis. Ethylene was produced only in small buds (1.42 g) when the anthers were present. Radioactive ¹⁴C sucrose applied to the cut end of the pedicel was translocated rapidly to the anther at harvest, but was not translocated to the anther when abscission was induced by keeping flower buds at 21 °C. Ethylene detected in small flower buds possibly was stimulated by physiological changes resulting from the lack of assimilates available to the anther and the lack of sucrose hydrolysis occurring in the anther. The absence of sucrose hydrolysis in the anther and lack of translocation of sucrose from the filaments to the anther in small buds may be factors that contribute to flower bud abscission in ‘Red Carpet’ lily.     

Soil Metagenome of Tropical White Sand Heath Forests in Borneo:What Functional Traits Are Associated with an Extreme Environment Within the Tropical Rainforest?

White sand heath forests (WS) or kerangas, an unusual variant of tropical forests in Borneo, characterized by open scrubby vegetation, low productivity, and distinctive plant species composition and soil microbial community, are regarded as a stressful low-pH and/or nutrient environment. We investigated whether the functional soil metagenome also shows a predicted set of indicators of stressful conditions in WS. Based on stress-tolerant strategies exhibited by larger organisms, we hypothesized that genes for stress tolerance, dormancy, sporulation, and nutrient processing are more abundant in the soil microbiota of WS. We also hypothesized that there is less evidence of biotic interaction in white sand soils, with lower connectivity and fewer genes related to organismic interactions. In Brunei, we sampled soils from a WS and a normal primary dipterocarp forest, together with an inland heath, an intermediate forest type. Soil DNA was extracted, and shotgun sequencing was performed using Illumina HiSeq platform, with classification by the Metagenomics Rapid Annotation using Subsystem Technology (MG-RAST). The results, on one hand, supported our hypothesis (on greater abundance of dormancy, virulence, and sporulation-related genes). However, some aspects of our results showed no significant difference (specifically in stress tolerance, antibiotic resistance, viruses, and clustered regularly interspaced short palindrome repeats (CRISPRs)). It appears that in certain respects, the extreme white sand environment produces the predicted strategy of less biotic interaction, but exhibits high soil microbiota connectivity and functional diversity.     

种子引发处理对无籽西瓜幼苗生长的影响和对细菌性果斑病菌消毒的效果

 种子出苗率低和传带细菌性果斑病菌是制约三倍体无籽西瓜生产的主要原因。本试验利用KMnO₄、CuSO₄和ZnSO₄的不同浓度溶液对无籽西瓜种子进行不同时间引发处理, 通过滤纸发芽试验, 观测其对种子发芽和幼苗生长的促进作用;借助平板法测定引发溶液对细菌性果斑病菌FC247的抑制作用, 免疫凝聚试纸条和传统PCR检测引发处理对种子人工接菌FC247的消毒效果。结果表明:0.1% CuSO₄溶液引发处理4 h和0.2% ZnSO₄溶液引发处理24 h, 分别比未引发处理的无籽西瓜种子发芽率提高71.1%和73.3%, 并能显著提高发芽整齐度和幼苗素质;同时, 引发溶液对细菌性果斑病菌有显著抑制作用, 并对人工接菌种子表现出-定程度的消毒效果。     

The 23S rRNA gene PCR-RFLP used for characterization of porcine intestinal spirochete isolates

Using three reference strains of Brachyspira hyodysenteriae (B204, B234, B169), one B. pilosicoli (P43/6/78), one B. murdochii (56-150), one B. intermedia (PWS/A), one B. innocens (B256) and ten Korean isolates, PCR-RFLP analysis of DNA encoding 23S rRNA was performed to establish a rapid and accurate method for characterizing porcine intestinal spirochetes. Consequently, B. hyodysenteriae and B. pilosicoli revealed different restriction patterns; however, the other three species shared the same pattern. These findings are not consistent with a prior report. Differences in 23S rRNA gene sequences, between two B. murdochii strains, 56-150 and 155-20, were observed. These results indicate that 23S rRNA PCR-RFLP could be used as an identification method for pathogenic Brachyspira spp. (B. hyodysenteriae and B. pilosicoli) as well as an epidemiological tool for characterizing spirochetes isolated from swine.     

Variation in stem infections caused by aggressive and non-aggressive isolates of Leptosphaeria maculans on Brassica napus var. oleifera

Development of stem cankers in seedlings of Brassica napus var. oleifera inoculated with Leptosphaeria maculans was studied in growth cabinets. As the pathogen progressed from the petiole into the stem, hyphae invaded parenchyma cells for the first time, initiating a necrotrophic phase which resulted in the formation of a lesion. Ultimate containment of the pathogen was associated with a sequence of host reactions including lignification, cambium formation and callose deposition at the perimeter of the lesion. Two isolates of L. maculans differed in the pattern of stem infection. One was confined to the cortex and the other passed through the leaf gap into the pith. Variation in response between cultivars Rapora, Primor and Jet Neuf modified these two colonization patterns but did not eliminate the main differences. There were qualitative and quantitative differences in host cell reactions. The significance of these findings is discussed in relation to differences in resistance of the cultivars in the field.     

Closed-Circuit Liquid Injection Isoflurane Anesthesia in the Horse

Six horses were administered isoflurane anesthesia by liquid injection into a closed breathing circuit according to the square root of time model. The unit dose (UD) was calculated using Lowe's formula to provide an end-tidal concentration of 1.3%, or the minimum alveolar concentration of isoflurane. The mean UD was 4.2 ±; 0.2 mL. The mean end-tidal isoflurane concentration (ET_1SO) for each interval after injection, and the peak and minimum concentrations for each injection interval, did not change beginning with the second injection, indicating that the square root of time model accurately predicted isoflurane uptake in the horse. Mean ET_iso measured for the interval after the first injection was 0.68 ± 0.06%, which was significantly (p < .05) lower than the mean concentration after all subsequent injections (1.1 ± 0.1%). Mean peak end-tidal concentration was 1.1 ± 0.25% after the first injection and 1.7 ± 0.26% for all other injections. Mean minimum end-tidal concentration was 0.77 ± 0.13% for all injection periods. This model proved to be an acceptable technique for administration of isoflurane anesthesia to horses.     

Change in weed control studies of rice paddy fields in Korea

This paper was reviewed on the research status of weed control according to cultivating patterns of rice in Korea. Weed control study in a nursery bed was chiefly carried out to control the species of barnyardgrass at the times of machine transplanting. Propanil and nitrofen were applied successfully in wet-nursery beds, and chlornitrofen and pyrazolate/butachlor were also successfully applied in protected semi-irrigated rice nursery beds in the 1970s. Sequential application of herbicides in the mid-1980s has resulted in the end of hand weeding. In machine transplanting, basic research such as the selection of herbicides was conducted in the early 1970s, and its related research including crop injury, seedling age, and reaction of cultivars were done in the late 1970s to early 1980s. Effects of the continuous application of herbicides and its methods of labor saving for rice cultivation were studied in the mid to late 1980s. When the rice planting methods were newly established, such as transplanting when seedlings were 10-days-old and direct seeding from the early 1990s, weed control research relating to herbicides was carried out (e.g. herbicide registration, crop injury, water management, appropriate application time, and neighboring application with insecticide). Weed control for the dill seeding of fields in wetted and reclaimed saline land have been experimented with, particularly in terms of the physio-ecological characteristics and the control of problematic weeds, and the resistance of weeds to herbicides was also investigated systematically.