Effects of collected road dusts on cell viability, inflammatory response, and oxidative stress in cultured human corneal epithelial cells.

Most studies on the adverse effects of air pollution have focused on respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and there are relatively few studies on eye diseases following exposure of ambient particulate matter (PM). Epidemiological and clinical researches correlating the eye and PMs have recently received attention. PMs are complex mixture of particles that vary in chemical composition and size. This study investigated the influence of collected road dust on cell viability, inflammatory responses, and oxidative stress in human corneal epithelial cells. The collected road dust was classified with respect to aerodynamic diameter and solubility. Exposure concentration was calculated based on the particle deposition rate. We observed a dose-dependent decrease in cell viability at total PM2.5 and PM10. The pellet fractions of total PM2.5 and PM10 mainly contributed to the mitochondrial activity. Although both total PM2.5 and PM10 did not change the membrane integrity, the supernatant fractions significantly affected cell membrane integrity. Both total and fractions induced nitric oxide production and interleukin 8 expression. In addition, total PM2.5 and PM10 increased the oxidative stress; the pellet fractions of total PM2.5 and PM10 also induced higher oxidative stress. However, there was no significant difference between the cellular responses of total PM2.5 and PM10. We observed that the effects of collected road dust on cellular responses were strongly dependent on their concentration and solubility.

Hanwoo cattle: origin, domestication, breeding strategies and genomic selection.

Hanwoo (Korean cattle) is the native, taurine type of cattle breed of Korea and its history as a draft animal dates back to 5000 Years. In earlier times Hanwoo was used extensively for farming, transportation. Over the period of time, Hanwoo has changed to be meat type cattle. Full-scale production of Hanwoo as meat-type cattle has occurred since 1960s with the rapid growth of the Korean economy. Hanwoo is one of the most economically important species in Korea as it is a significant source of nutrition to the Korean people. Hanwoo beef is the most cherished food of Korea. One of the main goals of researchers is to increase the meat quality, quantity and taste of the beef. In this review we describe the origin, domestication of Hanwoo cattle and breeding program initiated from 1980's. Moreover the advent of technological advancement had provided us a platform to perform genome wide selection on economic traits and its implementation into traditional breeding programs.