• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.209-216
• /
• 2013

This study focused on a comprehensive and detailed interpretation for the springtime air quality influenced by both artificial (particulate matter (PM) and asbestos) and biological (pollen) sources in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. An intensive measurement of PM was conducted at four characteristic sites (i.e., a heavy traffic area, a residential area, an industrial area, and a desolate area) in the Fukuoka Prefecture during spring of 2007. Analysis of major ionic species in $PM_{2.5}$ was performed by an Ion Chromatography, and asbestos and pollen were identified by Scanning Electron Microscopy with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX). $PM_{2.5}$ concentration ($65.3{\mu}gm^{-3}$) measured in an industrial area (site C) was extraordinarily high compared to those monitored in other areas; it greatly exceeded the Japan's $PM_{2.5}$ criteria (a daily average of $35{\mu}gm^{-3}$). NOAA's HYSPLIT dispersion model suggests that this high level of $PM_{2.5}$ monitored at site C is unlikely to affect the Asian continent. The ambient concentrations of $PM_{2.5}$-related anions ($NH_4{^+}$, $NO_3{^-}$, and $SO_4{^{2-}}$) and their relative contributions to $PM_{2.5}$ were also investigated in four study areas. The concentrations of these major water-soluble ions exhibit not only strong spatial dependence but also different ratios to each other. Asbestos fiber (crocidolite and amosite) concentration values changed in the range of 2.5 to 14.4 f per liter of air. The number of pollen grains showed that Cedar ranked higher in concentration than other types of pollen, with the maximum concentration at site A.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.15 no.6
• /
• pp.375-380
• /
• 1987

D-$\alpha$-Amino-$\varepsilon$-carpolactam racemase (EC 5.1.1) and L-$\alpha$-amino-$\varepsilon$-caprolactam hydrolase (EC 3.5.2) were fractionated from cell-free extracts of Alcaligenes eutrophus A52 using ammonium sulfate precipitation and DEAE-cellulose ion exchange chromatography. It was made sure that D-$\alpha$-amino-$\varepsilon$-caprolactam was converted to L-$\alpha$-amino-$\varepsilon$-caprolactam by racemase, and then hydrolyzed into L-lysine by hydrolase in Alcaligenes eutrophus A52. For the conversion of D-$\alpha$-amino-$\varepsilon$-caprolactam into L-lysine by cell-free extracts of Alcaligenes eutrophus A52, the optimum temperature and pH were 6$0^{\circ}C$ and 8.5 respectively. The results showed that 0.5% D-$\alpha$-amino-$\varepsilon$-caprolactam was converted to L-lysine at 55$^{\circ}C$ for 10 hr with a conversion rate of 98% by cell-free extracts containing 3.1mg of protein.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Tobacco Science
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.39-44
• /
• 2009

Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is present in both the particulate and vapor phase of cigarette mainstream smoke. It is one of the 44 harmful substances on Hoffmann's list and is known to be a major ciliatoxic agent in cigarette mainstream smoke. Typically the determination of HCN in cigarette mainstream smoke has been done through colorimetric and electrochemical techniques, such as UV-spectrophotometry (UV), continuous flow analyzer (CFA), ion chromatography (IC) and capillary GC-ECD. In particular, CFA commonly has been using analysis hydrogen cyanide in cigarette smoke and the basic principle is pyridine-pyrazolone reaction. In this study, the more optimized analytical method is suggested isonicotinic acid-pyrazolone reaction method than previous pyridine-pyrazolone reaction method, a commonly used method for the determination of cyanide in water and air, by CFA. Sample collection was optimized by trapping particulate and vapor phase of smoke separately. The optimum NaOH concentration of the trapping solution was shown to be 0.2 M. HCN was stable up to 6 hours in this concentration but only 3 hours in 0.1 M solution. The sensitivity of this method was fairly good and it might be used in analysis of HCN in cigarette mainstream smoke.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.355-361
• /
• 2007

Cotyledons of perilla6 were cultured on MS medium containing 0.5 mg/l NAA and 0.5 mg/l BA for 7 weeks. The activity of perilla peroxidase was observed to increase following culture stages as assessed by peroxidase assay. A peroxidase (POD) was purified from perilla tissue cultured on MS medium for 7 weeks. The peroxidase was purified using ion exchange and gel nitration chromatography. The perilla peroxidase had a molecular mass of 30 kDa by SDS-PAGE. We showed that the N-terminal amino acid sequence of this protein shared 67% identity with the tea peroxidase. As indicated by SDS-PAGE, the banding pattern of the 30 kDa polypeptide present in total soluble protein from perilla tissue was increased following culture stages. Immunoblot analysis indicated that perilla peroxidase protein appeared after 3 weeks of perilla tissue culture, and continued to increase with extended duration of tissue culture for at least 7 weeks.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.60 no.3
• /
• pp.257-263
• /
• 2017

A cellulolytic strain Y2 was isolated from soil obtained in the Canadian Alpine region. The isolate was identified as Paenibacillus sp. Y2 by 16S rRNA sequencing. When grown in LB medium supplemented with carboxymethyl-cellulose (CMC), CMCase production increased to 122.0% of that observed in LB without CMC. Culture supernatant was concentrated by ultrafiltration and 80% ammonium sulfate precipitates were separated by Hi-Trap Q and CHT-II chromatography. The purified enzyme (EG-PY2) showed a homogeneous single band and the molecular mass was estimated to be 38 kDa by SDS-PAGE. Optimum pH and temperature of the enzyme were 4.5 and $30^{\circ}C$, respectively. The half-life of enzyme activity at 50 was 140.7 min, but the enzyme was drastically inactivated within 5 min at $55^{\circ}C$. The enzyme was highly activated to 135.7 and 126.7% by 5.0 mM of $Cu^{2+}$ or $Mg^{2+}$ ions, respectively, and moderately activated by $Ba^{2+}$ and $Ca^{2+}$ ions, whereas it was inhibited to 76.8% by $Fe^{2+}$, and to ${\leq}50%$ by $Mn^{2+}$, $Co^{2+}$, $Zn^{2+}$, and EDTA. The enzyme was activated to 211.5% in the presence of 0.5 M of NaCl and greatly tolerant to 3.15M of NaCl. The enzyme showed 2.98 times higher ${\beta}$-glucanase activity than CMCase activity. Based on these results, it can be concluded that EG-PY2 is an acidophilic, cold-active, and halotolerant endoglucanase. The authors suggest it is considered to be useful for various industrial applications, such as, fruit juice clarification, acidic deinking processes, high-salt food processing, textile and pulp industries, and for biofuel production from seaweeds.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
• /
• v.29 no.5
• /
• pp.418-423
• /
• 2006

Tabanus anticoagulant protein (TAP) was isolated from the whole body of the tabanus, Tabanus bivittatus, using three purification steps (ammonium sulfate fractionation, gel filtration on Bio-Gel P-60, and ion exchange chromatography on DEAE Sephadex gel). The purified TAP, with a molecular weight of 65 kDa, was assessed to be homogeneous by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and an isoelectric point of 7.9 was determined by isoelectric focusing. The internal amino acid sequence of the purified protein was composed of Ser-Leu-Asn-Asn-Gln-Phe-Ala-Ser-Phe-lle-Asp-Lys-Val-Arg. The protein was activated by $Cu^{2+}\;and\;Zn^{2+}$, and the optimal conditions were found to be at pH $3\sim6\;and\;40\sim70^{\circ}C$. Standard coagulation screen assays were used to determine thrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time. Chromogenic substrate assays were performed for thrombin and factor Xa activity. TAP considerably prolonged human plasma clotting time, especially activated partial thromboplastin time in a dose-dependent manner; it showed potent and specific antithrombin activity in the chromogenic substrate assay. Specific anti-factor Xa activity in TAP was not detected. Overall, this result suggested that TAP has significant anticoagulant activity on blood coagulation system.

• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.147-159
• /
• 2011

A high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometric method was developed to determine simultaneously eight marker constituents of Forsythiae fructus, and subsequently applied it to classify its two botanical origins. The marker compounds of Forsythia suspensa were phillyrin, pinoresinol, phillygenin, lariciresinol and forsythiaside; those of F.viridissima were arctiin, arctigenin and matairesinol. Separation of the eight analytes was achieved on a phenyl-hexyl column (150${\times}$2.0 mm i.d., 3 ${\mu}M$) using gradient elution with the mobile phase: (A) 10% acetonitrile in 0.5% acetic acid, (B) 40% aqueous acetonitrile. A few fragment ions specific to the types of lignans, among the product ions generated by collisonally induced dissociation (CID) of molecular ion clusters, such as [M-H]$^-$ or [M+OAc]$^-$ were used not only for fingerprinting analysis but for the quantification of each epimer by using multiple-reaction monitoring mode. It was shown good linearity ($r^2{\geq}$ 0.9998) over the wide range of all analytes; intra- and inter-day precisions (RSD, %) were within 9.14% and the accuracy ranged from 84.3 to 115.1%. The analytical results of 40 drug samples, combined with multivariate statistical analyses - principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) - clearly demonstrated the classification of the test samples according to their botanical origins. This method would provide a practical strategy for assessing the authenticity or quality of the herbal drug.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Tobacco Science
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.125-131
• /
• 2007

Hydrogen cyanide(HCN), formed from pyrolysis of various nitrogenous compounds such as protein, amino acids and nitrate in tobacco, is present in both the particulate phase and vapor phase of cigarette smoke. Typically the determination of HCN in cigarette smoke has been done through colorimetric and electrochemical techniques, such as fluorescence spectrometry, UV-spectrophotometry (UV), continuous flow analyzer (CFA), capillary GC-ECD and ion chromatography (IC). Most of these techniques are known to be time-consuming and some of them lack specificity or sensitivity. The available results from both our laboratory and reported literatures for 2R4F Kentucky reference cigarette, smoked under ISO condition, show a relatively wide variation ranging from 100 to 120 ug/cig of HCN. Especially, the precision and accuracy of the analytical results of HCN tend to get worse in low tar cigarettes and under intense smoking condition. In this paper, a more optimized analytical methods than previous ones are suggested. This method shows lower detection limit and has improved precision and accuracy, so it is applicable for wide tar level cigarettes under intense smoking condition as well as under ISO smoking condition. Important features of this method are improved sample collection and quantification systems such as the number of trapping units, volume, temperature and type of trapping solution. To avoid volatilization loss of HCN in analyzing mainstream smoke, it is highly recommended that pH values of trapping solutions should be maintained over 11 and cold traps should be used in collecting mainstream smoke.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
• /
• v.30 no.6
• /
• pp.923-929
• /
• 2010

Colostral whey prepared from colostrum (pooled from first six post-partum milkings) was heated for 10 min at $100^{\circ}C$ Heated colostral whey was incubated with 1% enzymes (protein equivalent basis) for 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min at $50^{\circ}C$. Papain, pepsin, trypsin, and alcalase produced different degrees of hydrolysis (DH), 10.66%, 12.42%, 10.83%, and 25.31%, respectively, at an incubation time of 120 min. The SDS-PAGE reveals that significant amounts of bovine serum albumin (BSA), ${\beta}$-lactoglobulin (${\beta}$-LG), and ${\alpha}$-lactalbumin (${\alpha}$-LA) survived papain digestion. In contrast, pepsin completely removed BSA but not ${\beta}$-LG present in heated colostral whey. Alcalase completely eliminated BSA, ${\beta}$-LG, and ${\alpha}$-LA. This differential hydrolysis was confirmed by reversed-phase HPLC analysis. Using ion-exchange chromatography, fraction-1 (F-1) was obtained from alcalase hydrolysate at a NaCl gradient concentration of 0.25 M. Reversed-phase HPLC chromatograms of alcalase F-1 showed numerous small peaks, which probably indicate that a variety of new peptides were produced. Iron content of alcalase F-1 was 28.94 ppm, which was the highest among all enzyme fractions, whereas iron content of colostral whey was 36.56 ppm. Main amino acids contained in alcalase F-1 were Thr (15.45%), Glu (14.12%), and Ser (10.39%). Therefore, alcalase can be used to generate good iron-binding peptides in heated colostral whey, and the resulting iron-binding peptides could be suitable as a value-added food ingredient for food supplements.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.199-207
• /
• 2015

Solid materials of ammonia sources with SCR have been considered for the application of lean NOx reduction in automobile industry, to overcome complex problems of liquid urea based SCR. These solid materials produce ammonia gas directly with proper heating and can be packaged by compact size, because of high volumetric ammonia density. Among ammonium salts and metal ammine chlorides, calcium ammine chloride was focused on this paper due to low decomposition temperature. In order to make calcium ammine chloride in lab-scale, simple reactor and glove box was designed and built with ammonium gas tank, regulator, and sensors. Basic test conditions of charging ammonia gas to anhydrous calcium chloride are chosen from equilibrium vapor pressure by Van't Hoff plot based on thermodynamic properties of materials. Synthetic method of calcium ammine chloride were studied for different durations, temperatures, and pressures with proper ammonia gas charged, as a respect of ammonia gas adsorption rate(%) from simple weight calculations which were confirmed by IC. Also, lab-made calcium ammine chloride were analyzed by TGA and DSC to clarify decomposition step in the equations of chemical reaction. To understand material characteristics for lab-made calcium ammine chloride, DA, XRD and FT-IR analysis were performed with published data of literature. From analytical results, water content in lab-made calcium ammine chloride can be discovered and new test procedures of water removal were proposed.