• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.2771-2775
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• 2011

Poly-ethylenedioxypyrrole (PEDOP) coated thiolated multiwall carbon nanotubes palladium nanoparticles (MWCNTs-Pd) modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) [PEDOP/MWCNTs-Pd/GCE] for the determination of hydroquinone (HQ) and it’s isomer catechol (CA) were synthesized and compared with bare GCE and thiolated multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs-SH/GCE). The modification could be made by simple processes on a GCE with MWCNTs-Pd covered by PEDOP in a 0.05 M tetrabutylammonium perchlorate (TBAP)/MeCN solution system. A well-defined peak potential evaluation of the oxidation of hydroquinone to quinone at 0.05 V (vs. Ag/AgCl), and electrochemical reduction back to hydroquinone were found by cyclic voltammetry (CV) in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) at pH 7.4. Peak current values increased linearly with increasing hydroquinone contents. The peak separation between the anodic and cathodic peaks at the PEDOP/MWCNTs-Pd/GCE was ${\Delta}Ep$ = 40 mV for HQ and ${\Delta}Ep$ = 70 mV for CA, resulting in a higher electron transfer rate. Moreover, good reproducibility, excellent storage stability, a wide linear range (0.1 ${\mu}M$ - 5 mM for HQ and 0.01 ${\mu}M$ - 6 mM for CA), and low detection limits ($2.9{\times}10^{-8}$ M for HQ and $2.6{\times}10^{-8}$ M for CA; S/N = 3) were determined using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and amperometric responses; this makes it a promising candidate as a sensor for determination of HQ and CA.

• Advances in Energy Research
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.97-106
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• 2013

This study designs and tests a photovoltaic system with distributed maximum power point tracking (DMPPT) methodology using a field programmable gate array (FPGA) controller. Each solar panel in the distributed PV system is equipped with a newly designed DC/DC converter and the panel's voltage output is regulated by a FPGA controller using PI control. Power from each solar panel on the system is optimized by another controller where the quadratic maximization MPPT algorithm is used to ensure the panel's output power is always maximized. Experiments are carried out at atmospheric insolation with partial shading conditions using 4 amorphous silicon thin film solar panels of 2 different grades fabricated by Chi-Mei Energy. It is found that distributed MPPT requires only 100ms to find the maximum power point of the system. Compared with the traditional centralized PV (CPV) system, the distributed PV (DPV) system harvests more than 4% of solar energy in atmospheric weather condition, and 22% in average under 19% partial shading of one solar panel in the system. Test results for a 1.84 kW rated system composed by 8 poly-Si PV panels using another DC/DC converter design also confirm that the proposed system can be easily implemented into a larger PV power system. Additionally, the use of NI sbRIO-9642 FPGA-based controller is capable of controlling over 16 sets of PV modules, and a number of controllers can cooperate via the network if needed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.167-179
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• 2023

The rifampicin-resistant strain E9-302 of Edwardsiella ictaluri strain 669 (WT) was generated by continuous passage on BHI agar plates containing increasing concentrations of rifampicin. E9-302 was attenuated significantly by 119 times to zebrafish Danio rerio compared to WT in terms of the 50% lethal dose (LD₅₀). Zebrafish vaccinated with E9-302 via intraperitoneal (IP) injection at a dose of 1 × 10³ CFU/fish had relative percentage survival (RPS) rates of 85.7% when challenged with wild-type E. ictaluri via IP 14 days post-vaccination (dpv). After 14 days of primary vaccination with E9-302 via immersion (IM) at a dose of 4 × 10⁷ CFU/ml, a booster IM vaccination with E9-302 at a dose of 2 × 10⁷ CFU/ml exhibited 65.2% RPS against challenge with wild-type E. ictaluri via IP 7 days later. These results indicated that the rifampicin-resistant attenuated strain E9-302 had potential as a live vaccine against E. ictaluri infection. A previously unreported amino acid site change at position 142 of the RNA polymerase (RNAP) β subunit encoded by the gene rpoB associated with rifampicin resistance was identified. Analysis of the whole-genome sequencing results revealed multiple missense mutations in the virulence-related genes esrB and sspH2 in E9-302 compared with WT, and a 189 bp mismatch in one gene, whose coding product was highly homologous to glycosyltransferase family 39 protein. This study preliminarily explored the molecular mechanism underlying the virulence attenuation of rifampicin-resistant strain E9-302 and provided a new target for the subsequent study of the pathogenic mechanism of E. ictaluri.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.7.1-7.14
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• 2022

Background: Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) infection is a primary cause of livestock diarrhea. Therefore, effective vaccines are needed to reduce the incidence of ETEC infection. Objectives: Our study aimed to develop a multivalent ETEC vaccine targeting major virulence factors of ETEC, including enterotoxins and fimbriae. Methods: SLS (STa-LTB-STb) recombinant enterotoxin and fimbriae proteins (F4, F5, F6, F18, and F41) were prepared to develop a multivalent vaccine. A total of 65 mice were immunized subcutaneously by vaccines and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). The levels of specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) and pro-inflammatory cytokines were determined at 0, 7, 14 and 21 days post-vaccination (dpv). A challenge test with a lethal dose of ETEC was performed, and the survival rate of the mice in each group was recorded. Feces and intestine washes were collected to measure the concentrations of secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA). Results: Anti-SLS and anti-fimbriae-specific IgG in serums of antigen-vaccinated mice were significantly higher than those of the control group. Immunization with the SLS enterotoxin and multivalent vaccine increased interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) concentrations. Compared to diarrheal symptoms and 100% death of mice in the control group, mice inoculated with the multivalent vaccine showed an 80% survival rate without any symptom of diarrhea, while SLS and fimbriae vaccinated groups showed 60 and 70% survival rates, respectively. Conclusions: Both SLS and fimbriae proteins can serve as vaccine antigens, and the combination of these two antigens can elicit stronger immune responses. The results suggest that the multivalent vaccine can be successfully used for preventing ETEC in important livestock.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.15-31
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• 2024

The antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine sulphate (HCQ) has taken much attention during the first COVID-19 pandemic phase for the treatment of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) patients. Hence it is interest to study the electrochemical properties and photocatalytic degradation of the HCQ drug. Copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles, graphene oxide (GO) and CuO/GO NC (nanocomposite) modified carbon paste electrodes (MCPE) are used for the detection of HCQ in an aqueous medium. Electrochemical behaviour of HCQ (20 μM) was observed using CuO/MCPE, GO/MCPE and CuO/GO NC/MCPE in 0.1 M phosphate buffer at pH 7 with a scan rate of 20 to 120 mV s^-1 by cyclic voltammetry (CV). Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) of HCQ was performed for 0.6 to 16 μM HCQ. The CuO/GO NC/MCPE showed a reasonably good sensitivity of 0.33 to 0.44 μA μM cm^-2 with LOD of 69 to 92 nM for HCQ. Furthermore, the CuO/GO NC was used as a catalyst for the photodegradation of HCQ by monitoring its UV-Vis absorption spectra. About 98% was degraded in about 34 min under visible light and after 4 cycles it was 87%. The improved photocatalytic activity may be attributed to decrease in bandgap energy and enhanced ability for the electrons to migrate. Thus, CuO/GO NC showed good results for both sensing and degradation applications as well as reproducibility.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.1539-1545
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• 2007

An experiment was conducted using 20 male buffalo calves to study the effect of vitamin E and selenium supplementation on their immune response and plasma ${\alpha}$-tocopherol and selenium status. These buffalo calves (10-12 months old, average body weight $75.30{\pm}2.20 $ kg) were randomly allotted to four treatments on the basis of their body weights and were fed on wheat straw and concentrate mixture to meet their nutrient requirements of 500 g/d body weight gain. The buffalo calves were fed either a control diet (neither supplemented with Se nor VE) or diets supplemented with Se at 0.3 ppm (+Se), DL-alpha tocopheryl acetate at 300 IU (+VE), and both DL-alpha tocopheryl acetate at 300 IU and Se at 0.3 ppm (+Se+VE). These experimental diets were fed for 180 days. Blood samples were collected at day 0 and subsequently at 45 day intervals up to 180 days of experimental feeding to monitor plasma ${\alpha}$-tocopherol and Se concentrations. To assess humoral immune response, all calves were sensitized with formalin inactivated Pasteurella multocida antigen at 135 days of experimental feeding and blood was collected on 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days post vaccination (DPV) to measure antibody production using indirect ELISA. Cell mediated immune response of calves was assessed after 180 days of experimental feeding by in vivo delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction using phytohaemaglutinin-P (PHA-P) as a mitogen. Results revealed that feeding of VE and Se improved the plasma levels of these nutrients. Plasma levels of Se were affected by supplementation of both VE (p<0.001) and Se (p<0.001); however, no interaction ($Se{\times}VE$) was observed. Supplementation of Se improved the humoral immune response (p<0.008), whereas, VE showed a tendency towards improvement in cell mediated immune response (p<0.064). It was concluded that vitamin E and Se supplementation improved the status of these micronutrients and humoral immune response in buffalo calves.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.37 no.10
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• pp.881-887
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• 1993

A cobalt(II) ion-selective carbon-paste electrode (CPE) was constructed with ${\iota}$-sparteine. Cobalt(II) ion in aqueous solution was chemically deposited through the complexation with ${\iota}$-sparteine onto the CPE. The surface of CPEs were characterized by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry in an acetate buffer solution, separately. Exposure of the CPEs to an acid solution could regenerate surface to reuse it for the deposition. In more than 5 deposition / measurement / regeneration cycles, the response was reproducible and linear up to $5.0{\times}10^{-6}$M with linear sweep voltammetry. The peaks at 0.17V / 0.27V were correspond to the redox of Co(II)-SP complex deposited on CPE. The anodic peak of which appeared after scan over the cathodic peak of 0.17 V to more negative scan. In case of using the differencial pulse voltammetry (DPV), we have obtained the linear response $2.0{\times}10^{-7}$M with relative standard deviation ${\pm}5.6%$. The detection limit was $1.0{times}10^{-7}$M for 20 minutes of the deposition. We have also investigated the interference effect of various metal ions, which are expected to form the complex with the ligand on the electrode.