• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제26권5호
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• pp.891-899
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• 2016

The recently isolated aniline-degrading bacterium Pseudomonas migulae AN-1 was tagged with green fluorescent protein (GFP) to investigate its bioaugmentation potential against aniline-contaminated groundwater through microcosm experiments. The survival and cellular response of GFP-tagged AN-1 introduced in a lab-scale aquifer corresponded directly with aniline consumption. During the process, the GFP-tagged AN-1 biomass increased from 7.52 × 10⁵ cells/ml to 128 × 10⁵ cells/ml and the degradation rate of aniline was 6.04 mg/l/h. GFP-tagged AN-1 was moderately hydrophobic (41.74%-47.69%) when treated with 20-100 mg/l aniline and exhibited relatively strong hydrophobicity (55.25%-65.78%) when the concentration of aniline was ≥100 mg/l. The membrane permeability of AN-1 increased followed by a rise in aniline below 100 mg/l and was invariable with aniline above 100 mg/l. Pyrosequencing analysis showed that the relative abundance of Proteobacteria (accounted for 99.22% in the non-bioaugmentation samples) changed to 89.23% after bioaugmentation with GFP-tagged AN-1. Actinobacteria increased from 0.29% to 2.01%, whereas the abundance of Firmicutes barely changed. These combined findings demonstrate the feasibility of removing aniline in aquifers by introducing the strain AN-1 and provide valuable information on the changes in the diversity of dominant populations during bioaugmentation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제26권10호
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• pp.1774-1780
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• 2016

Vegetative insecticidal proteins (Vips) are insecticidal proteins synthesized by Bacillus thuringiensis during the vegetative stage of growth. In this study, Vip3Aa protein, obtained by in vitro expression of the vip3Aa gene from B. thuringiensis WB5, displayed high insecticidal activity against Spodoptera litura aside from Spodoptera exigua and Helicoverpa armigera. Bioassay results showed that the toxicity of Vip3Aa protein against S. litura larvae statistically decreased along with the increase of the age of the larvae, with LC₅₀ = 2.609 ng/cm² for neonatal larvae, LC₅₀ = 28.778 ng/cm² for first instar larvae, LC₅₀ = 70.460 ng/cm² for second instar larvae, and LC₅₀ = 200.627 ng/cm² for third instar larvae. The accumulative mortality of 100% larvae appeared at 72 h for all instars of S. litura larvae, when feeding respectively with 83.22, 213.04, 341.40, and 613.20 ng/cm² of Vip3Aa toxin to the neonatal and first to third instar larvae. The histopathological effects of Vip3Aa toxin on the midgut epithelial cells of S. litura larvae was also investigated. The TEM observations showed wide damage of the epithelial cell in the midgut of S. litura larvae fed with Vip3Aa toxin.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제68권4호
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• pp.475-483
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• 2018

Square tubular columns are commonly used in moment resisting frames, while through-diaphragm connection is the most typical configuration detail to connect the H-shaped beam to the column. However, brittle fracture normally occurs at the complete joint penetration weld between the beam flange and the through-diaphragm due to the stress concentration caused by the geometrical discontinuity. Accordingly, three improved types of through-diaphragm are presented in this paper to provide smooth force flow path comparing to that of conventional connections. Tensile tests were conducted on four specimens and the results were analyzed in terms of failure modes, load-displacement response, yield and ultimate capacity, and initial stiffness. Furthermore, strain distributions on the through-diaphragm, the beam flange plate, and the column face were comprehensively evaluated and discussed. It was found that all the proposed three types of improved through-diaphragm connections were able to reduce the stress concentration in the welds between the beam flange and the through-diaphragm. Furthermore, the stress distribution in connection with longer tapered through-diaphragm was more uniform.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제26권4호
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• pp.648-658
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• 2016

Preservation of fresh algae plays an important role in algae seed subculture and aquaculture. The determination and examination of the changes of cell viability, composition, and bacterial species during storage would help to take suitable preservation methods to prolong the preservation time of fresh algae. Nostoc flagelliforme is a kind of edible cyanobacterium with important herbal and dietary values. This article investigated the changes of bacterial species and biochemical characteristics of fresh N. flagelliforme concentrate during natural storage. It was found that the viability of cells decreased along with the storage time. Fourteen bacteria strains in the algae concentrate were identified by PCR-DGGE and were grouped into four phyla, including Cyanobacteria, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. Among them, Enterococcus viikkiensis may be a concern in the preservation. Eleven volatile organic compounds were identified from N. flagelliforme cells, in which geosmin could be treated as an indicator of the freshness of N. flagelliforme. The occurrence of indole compound may be an indicator of the degradation of cells.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제28권11호
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• pp.1850-1858
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• 2018

Glucosamine (GlcN) is widely used in the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries. Currently, GlcN is mainly produced by traditional multistep chemical synthesis and acid hydrolysis, which can cause severe environmental pollution, require a long prodution period but a lower yield. The aim of this work was to develop a whole-cell biocatalytic process for the environment-friendly synthesis of glucosamine (GlcN) from N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc). We constructed a recombinant Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis strains as efficient whole-cell biocatalysts via expression of diacetylchitobiose deacetylase ($Dac_{ph}$) from Pyrococcus furiosus. Although both strains were biocatalytically active, the performance of B. subtilis was better. To enhance GlcN production, optimal reaction conditions were found: B. subtilis whole-cell biocatalyst 18.6 g/l, temperature $40^{\circ}C$, pH 7.5, GlcNAc concentration 50 g/l and reaction time 3 h. Under the above conditions, the maximal titer of GlcN was 35.3 g/l, the molar conversion ratio was 86.8% in 3-L bioreactor. This paper shows an efficient biotransformation process for the biotechnological production of GlcN in B. subtilis that is more environmentally friendly than the traditional multistep chemical synthesis approach. The biocatalytic process described here has the advantage of less environmental pollution and thus has great potential for large-scale production of GlcN in an environment-friendly manner.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.196-202
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• 2016

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology has previously been used by water industry to treat high salinity wastewater. In this study, an anoxic-oxic biofilm-membrane bioreactor (AOB-MBR) system has been developed to treat mustard tuber wastewater of 10% salinity (calculated as NaCl). To figure out the effects of operating conditions of the AOB-MBR on membrane fouling rate ($K_V$), response surface methodology was used to evaluate the interaction effect of the three key operational parameters, namely time interval for pump (t), aeration intensity ($U_{Gr}$) and transmembrane pressure (TMP). The optimal condition for lowest membrane fouling rate ($K_V$) was obtained: time interval was 4.0 min, aeration intensity was $14.6 m^3/(m^2{\cdot}h)$ and transmembrane pressure was 19.0 kPa. And under this condition, the treatment efficiency with different influent loads, i.e. 1.0, 1.9 and $3.3kgCODm^{-3}d^{-1}$ was researched. When the reactor influent load was less than $1.9kgCODm^{-3}d^{-1}$, the effluent could meet the third discharge standard of "Integrated Wastewater Discharge Standard". This study suggests that the model fitted by response surface methodology can predict accurately membrane fouling rate within the specified design space. And it is feasible to apply the AOB-MBR in the pickled mustard tuber factory, achieving satisfying effluent quality.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제34권3호
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• pp.827-830
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• 2013

Investigation of an organic extract of the fruits Schisandra wilsoniana led to the isolation of two new highly oxygenated nortriterpenoids, named schilancidilactones V-W (1-2). Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic evidence. Compounds 1-2 feature a double bond between C-7 and C-8 compared with related known nortriterpenoids isolated from the genus Schisandra. Compounds 1 and 2 were tested for their anti-HIV-1 activities and cytotoxicity. The results revealed that compounds 1 and 2 showed moderate anti-HIV-1 activities with $EC_{50}$ 3.05 and 2.87 ${\mu}g/mL$, respectively, and compound 1 showed high cytotoxicity against KB and MDA-MB-231 cell with $IC_{50}$ values of 3.18 and 5.22 ${\mu}M$, respectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권8호
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• pp.1706-1713
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• 2020

Functionally gradient material (FGM) is promisingly effective in mitigating the thermal stress between plasma facing materials (PFM) and structural materials. However, the corresponding research with respect to W/V FGM has not been reported yet. In this work, we firstly report the successful fabrication of W/V FGM by a combined technology of mechanical alloying (MA) and spark plasma sintering (SPS). The microhardness and microstructure of the consolidated sample were both investigated. W/V stacks show significantly enhanced microhardness (>100%) compared with pure W plate, which is beneficial to the integral strength of the hybrid structure. Furthermore, we clarify that the different ductility of W and V should be carefully considered, otherwise W/V powder might aggregate and lead to the formation of compositional segregation, and simultaneously unmask the impact of V proportion on the distribution of second phase in W-V binary alloy system. This work provides an innovative approach for obtaining W-V connections with much better performance.

• BMB Reports
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• 제45권4호
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• pp.247-252
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• 2012

Although previous studies have demonstrated that BMP9 is highly capable of inducing osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells, the molecular mechanism involved remains to be fully elucidated. In this study, we showed that BMP9 simultaneously promotes the activation of Smad1/5/8, p38 and ERK1/2 in C3H10T1/2 cells. Knockdown of Smad4 with RNA interference reduced nuclear translocation of Smad1/5/8, and disrupted BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation. BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation was blocked by p38 inhibitor SB203580, whereas enhanced by ERK1/2 inhibitor PD98059. SB203580 decreased BMP9-activated Smads singling, and yet PD98059 stimulated Smads singling in C3H10T1/2 cells. The effects of inhibitor were reproduced with adenovirus expressing siRNA targeted p38 and ERK1/2, respectively. Taken together, our findings revealed that Smads, p38 and ERK1/2 are involved in BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation. Also, it is noteworthy that p38 and ERK1/2 may play opposing regulatory roles in mediating BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation of C3H10T1/2 cells.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제31권9호
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• pp.2603-2606
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• 2010

Novel soluble triazoleimide oligomers terminated with arylacetylene terminated were synthesized by the Cu(I)-catalysed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition polymerization of diazides and imide-containing dialkyne. Several molecular weight triazoleimide oligomers were prepared from diazide and dialkyne monomers with different stoichiometric combinations. The curing behaviors of the oligomers were tested by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The thermal properties of the cured products were evaluated by DSC and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). These cured oligomers showed the glass transition temperature of about $225-235^{\circ}C$ and the decomposition temperature (at 5% weight loss) of about $385-393^{\circ}C$ in nitrogen.