• BMB Reports
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.405-410
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• 1996

Previous studies have shown that transforming growth factor beta ($TGF-{\beta}$) is a potent regulator of cell growth and differentiation. To study the effects of $TGF-{\beta}$ on cell morphology and cytoskeleton reorganization, we conducted a survey using Mv1Lu mink lung epithelial cells with antibodies to cytoskeletal proteins and an extracellular matrix protein. While the untreated cells showed a cuboidal shape of typical epithelia, the Mv1Lu cells displayed a drastic shape change in the presence of $TGF-{\beta}$. This alteration was most prominent when near-confluent cells were treated with $TGF-{\beta}$. Since the morphology alteration is known to be accompanied by the reorganization of cytoskeletal proteins in other cell types, we investigated the intracellular distribution of the three major cytoskeletal structures: microfilaments, microtubules, and intermediate filaments. In the microfilament system, $TGF-{\beta}$ induced new stress fiber formation, which was caused primarily by the polymerization of cytoplasmic G-actin. However, $TGF-{\beta}$ appeared not to induce any significant changes in microtubular structures and vimentin filaments as determined by indirect fluorescence microscopy. Finally we confirmed the rapid accumulation of fibronectin by immunoblot analysis and chased the protein locations by immunofluorescence microscopy.

• ALGAE
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.453-461
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• 2006

This study is intended to clarify the structure and seasonal dynamics of warm tolerant benthic marine algal community in Korea. The species composition and biomass of marine algae at the discharge canal of Wolseong nuclear power plant on the East Coast of Korea were investigated seasonally from February 2001 to October 2005. As a result, 43 species (6 blue-green, 8 green, 9 brown and 20 red algae) of marine algae were found at the discharge canal during the past five years. In general, the number of species observed was abundant during winter to summer and less in autumn. Lyngbya confervoides and Enteromorpha compressa always occurred at the discharge canal during the past five years, and Oscillatoria brevis, Padina arborescens and Caulacanthus ustulatus were common species found more than 80% frequency during the study period. Seasonal fluctuations of mean biomass were 2-659 g dry wt m–2 and dominant species in biomass were Caulacanthus ustulatus (contribution to a total biomass proportion 37%), Enteromorpha compressa (26%) and Padina arborescens (24%). Results showed that, in the floristic composition, the green algae occurred as common algal group at the discharge canal of Wolseong nuclear power plant. In the quantitative aspect, however, the red algae such as Caulacanthus ustulatus and Ahnfeltiopsis flabelliformis appeared as predominant group at the discharge canal, in contrast to Kori nuclear power plant where there was a definite green algal dominance. Differences in algal communities developed at the discharge canals of three nuclear power plants on the East Coast of Korea can probably be related to local environmental factors.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.97-110
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• 2000

To investigate characteristics of water masses and current structures around Noto Peninsula located in south-east coastal region of the East Sea, observation results of CREAMS (Circulations Research of the East Asian Marginal Seas) cruise and data report of oceanographic observation (Japan Meteorological Agency) in June, 1995 and 1996 were used. Water mass showing characteristics of Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) exists over the continental shelf. The depth is shallower than 200m and its width and thickness are 190km and 200m, respectively. Minimum level of dissolved oxygen occurred at the layers of maximum salinity. In the current structure, a noteworthy phenomenon is that the positions of the high-salinity water (more than 34.6 psu) match well with the distributions of the southwestward flow. In June of 1995 and June of 1996, a southwestward flow were separated into two parts along line C and line G. Current directions derived from the temperature and salinity match well with the distributions of the geostrophic currents in the vertical sections. The isothermal lines and the isohaline, which exist horizontally along the coastal area of the Japan, change abruptly at the frontal area of the Noto Peninsula, then turn toward the center of the East Sea. The dynamic depth anomalies centering around the region far northwest of the Noto Peninsula were relatively high, compared to those of other regions. The isopycnic surface (sigma-t, 25.8) existed near the surface in the central part of the East Sea, but, at the depth of 100m, the isopycnic surface was found in the coastal waters.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.126-126
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• 2014

Label-free biomolecular assay based localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of noble metal nanoparticles enables simple and rapid detection with the use of simple equipment. Nanosized metal nanoparticles exhibit a strong absorption band when the incident light frequency is resonant with the collective oscillation of the electrons, which is known as the LSPR. Here we demonstrate localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) substrates such as plasmonic Au nanodisks fabricated by a nanoimprinting process and gold nanorod-immobilized surfaces and their applications to highly sensitive and/or label-free biosensing. To increase detection sensitivity various bioreceptors weree designed. A single chain variable fragment (scFv) was used as a receptor to bind C-reactive protein (CRP). The results of this effort showed that CRP in human serum could be quantitatively detected lower than 1 ng/ml. Aptamers, which were immobilized on gold nanorods, were used to detect mycotoxins. The specific binding of ochratoxin A (OTA) to the aptamer was monitored by the longitudinal wavelength shift of LSPR peak in the UV-Vis spectra resulting from the changes of local refractive index near the GNR surface induced by accumulation of OTA and G-quadruplex structure formation of the aptamer. According to our results, OTA could be quantitatively detected lower than 1 nM level. Additionally, aptamer-functionalized GNR substrate was quite robust and can be regenerated many times by rinsing at 70 OC to remove bound target. During seven times of washing steps, the developed OTA sensing system could be reusable. Moreover, the proposed biosensor exhibited selectivity over other mycotoxins with an excellent recovery for detection in grinded corn samples, suggesting that the proposed LSPR based aptasensor plays an important role in label-free detection of mycotoxins.

• Atmosphere
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.273-286
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• 2010

The northeast part of China(hereafter Manchuria) is one of Asian dust source regions along with Gobi, Inner Mongolia and Loess Plateau. In this study, a geographical survey over the area was carried out to determine its soil characteristics in June 2009. It revealed that some parts of the area, especially near Keerchin desert, consist of alkali clay soil mixed up with sand. Manchuria, where is a vast cornfield, can be a potential source region of Asian dust from fall to following spring after harvesting. The frequency of Asian dust over the region from 1996 to 2009 was examined using 3-hourly GTS SYNOP data and it showed that the occurrence of Asian dust over the region is high in the springtime. It was also revealed that snow cover is the key parameter affecting on the frequency through the analysis of NCEP reanalysis data. To scrutinize the path and structure of Asian dust from Manchuria, the event on 3~4 April 2008 and 25 January 2010 were intensively investigated with regard to features of synoptic weather patterns, satellite imagery, airstream, naked eye-observations, concentrations of PM10, 2.5 and 1.0. For this case, the Asian dust from the area reached to Korea less than a day. However, the duration time of the dust in Korea was short (< 7 hours). The average of hourly PM10 reached up to $340{\mu}g/m^{3}$ at Baengnyeondo during the period. The high PM2.5 and PM1.0 concentrations were also observed at several sites in Korea, indicating that air pollutants could be transported along with the dust.

• Atmosphere
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.221-228
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• 2010

Aerosol particles with different size-cuts ($PM_{10}$, $PM_{2.5}$, and $PM_{1.0}$) were collected at Gosan Superstation on Jeju Island from August 2007 to June 2008. Mean concentrations of $PM_{10}$, $PM_{2.5}$ and $PM_{1.0}$ were $29.28{\mu}gm^{-3}$, $17.83{\mu}gm^{-3}$, and $14.30{\mu}gm^{-3}$, respectively. Soluble ions comprised 45.7%, 53.9%, and 60.3% of the total mass of $PM_{10}$, $PM_{2.5}$, and $PM_{1.0}$, respectively. While sulfate was the most dominant species of fine mode ($PM_{1.0}$), nitrate was enriched in coarse mode ($PM_{1.0-10}$). When the concentrations of coarse mode particles were greatly increased, nitrate tended to be enhanced in coarse mode with high calcium but low sulfate concentrations. During the high $PM_{1.0}$ events, however, nitrate was increased with sulfate at fine mode. Particularly, nitrate concentrations were substantially enhanced during high particle episodes, leading high ratios of nitrate to sulfate in air under northwest wind during wintertime. On the other hand, the levels of nitrate were lower than those of sulfate at average particle concentrations. The backward air mass trajectories indicated that nitrate concentrations were elevated in air arriving Gosan passing through Santung peninsula or near South Korea.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.125-148
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• 2017

This study analyzed the community structure of macrobenthic organisms in the subtidal area suffering under the influence of thermal discharge from the Uljin nuclear power plant during 2012-2013 and reviewed the temporal change in the faunal composition of the macrobenthic community using data from previous studies since the start of the plant operation in 1989. A total of 319 species were collected in 2012-2013, with a mean density of $3,330ind./m^2$ and a mean biomass of $131.96g/m^2$. These results were similar to those obtained in 2006-2007. The dominant species were not different from each other before and after the power plant operations began, but the faunal density near the power plant drainage port was significantly higher compared to those densities obtained from other stations. Spiophanes bombyx and Polydora sp., which is known as a pollution indicator species, was dominant only in the drainage port area. The study area consisted of two subregions with different macrobenthic communities depending on the water depth, which was similar to the results of the 2006-2007 survey. The macrobenthic community structures before and after the operation of the power plant in the coastal area were not changed, but there were seasonal differences in the long-term macrobenthic community structure which were strongly related to the thermal discharge from the power plant.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.17-22
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• 2017

An experimental study has been conducted to elucidate the effect of AC electric field on behaviors of laminar lifted flame in nitrogen-diluted methane coflow-jets. Our concerns are focued on the regime to show a decrease in liftoff height, $H_L$ with increasing nozzle exit velocity, $U_O$ (hereafter, $decreasing-H_L$). The $H_L$ with $U_O$ near flame extinction were measured by varying the applied AC voltage, $V_{AC}$ and frequency, $f_{AC}$ in a single electrode configuration. The behavior of $H_L$ with a functional dependency of $V_{AC}$ and $f_{AC}$ was categorized into two regime : (I) $H_L$ decreased for nozzle diameter, D = 1.0 mm, and (II) $H_L$ increased in the increase of $f_{AC}$ for a fixed $V_{AC}$ in a D = 4.0, 8.4 mm. The lifted flames in $decreasing-H_L$ region was unstable in high voltage regimes while the $H_L$ showed a decreasing tendency with $U_O$ except them. Such behaviors in $H_L$ were also characterized by functional dependencies of related physical parameters such as $V_{AC}$, $f_{AC}$, $U_O$, fuel mole fraction ($X_{F.O}$) and D.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.14-27
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• 2006

The proper management of discarded electronic devices (often called electronic-waste) is an emerging issue for solid waste professionals throughout the world because of the large growth of the waste stream, and the content of toxic metals in them, most notably heavy metals such as lead. Notebook computers are becoming one of the major components of discarded computer devices and will continue to increase in the waste stream in the future. While the computers hold great promise for recycling, a substantial amount of this waste is often disposed in municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills. The toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) is commonly used to simulate worse case leaching conditions where a potentially hazardous waste is assumed to be disposed along with municipal solid waste in a landfill with actively decomposing materials overlying an aquifer. The objective of this study was to examine leaching potential of lead from discarded notebook computers using the scale-up TCLP, other standard leaching tests such as California waste extraction test (Cal WET), and the synthetic precipitation leaching procedure (SPLP) and actual landfill leachates as leaching solution. The scale-up TCLP is a modified TCLP (where the device was disassembled and leached in or near entirety) to meet the intent of the TCLP. The results showed that the scale-up TCLP resulted in relatively high lead found in the leachate with an average of 23.3 mg/L. The average level was less than those by the standard TCLP and WET (37.0 mg/L and 86.0 mg/L, respectively), but much greater than those by the SPLP and the extractions with the landfill leachates (0.55 mg/L and 1.47 mg/L, respectively). The pH of the leaching solution and the ability of the organic acids in the TCLP and WET to complex with the lead were identified as major factors that controlled the amount of lead leached from notebook computers. Based on the results obtained by a number of leaching tests in this study, notebook computers may present a potential leaching risk to the environment and human health upon land disposal. However, further investigation is still needed to assess the true risk posed by the land disposal of discarded notebook computers.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.2116-2126
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• 2016

Bacterial biofilms are spatially structured communities that contain bacterial cells with a wide range of physiological states. The spatial distribution and speciation of copper in unsaturated Pseudomonas putida CZ1 biofilms that accumulated 147.0 mg copper per g dry weight were determined by transmission electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray analysis, and micro-X-ray fluorescence microscopy coupled with micro-X-ray absorption near edge structure (micro-XANES) analysis. It was found that copper was mainly precipitated in a $75{\mu}m$ thick layer as copper phosphate in the middle of the biofilm, while there were two living cell layers in the air-biofilm and biofilm-medium interfaces, respectively, distinguished from the copper precipitation layer by two interfaces. The X-ray absorption fine structure analysis of biofilm revealed that species resembling $Cu_3(PO_4)_2$ predominated in biofilm, followed by Cu-Citrate- and Cu-Glutathione-like species. Further analysis by micro-XANES revealed that 94.4% of copper were $Cu_3(PO_4)_2$-like species in the layer next to the air interface, whereas the copper species of the layer next to the medium interface were composed by 75.4% $Cu_3(PO_4)_2$, 10.9% Cu-Citrate-like species, and 11.2% Cu-Glutathione-like species. Thereby, it was suggested that copper was initially acquired by cells in the biofilm-air interface as a citrate complex, and then transported out and bound by out membranes of cells, released from the copper-bound membranes, and finally precipitated with phosphate in the extracellular matrix of the biofilm. These results revealed a clear spatial pattern of copper precipitation in unsaturated biofilm, which was responsible for the high copper tolerance and accumulation of the biofilm.