• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.116-124
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• 2019

Background: Ginsenosides are known as the principal pharmacological active constituents in Panax medicinal plants such as Asian ginseng, American ginseng, and Notoginseng. Some ginsenosides, especially the 20(R) isomers, are found in trace amounts in natural sources and are difficult to chemically synthesize. The present study provides an approach to produce such trace ginsenosides applying biotransformation through Escherichia coli modified with relevant genes. Methods: Seven uridine diphosphate glycosyltransferase (UGT) genes originating from Panax notoginseng, Medicago sativa, and Bacillus subtilis were synthesized or cloned and constructed into pETM6, an ePathBrick vector, which were then introduced into E. coli BL21star (DE3) separately. 20(R)-Protopanaxadiol (PPD), 20(R)-protopanaxatriol (PPT), and 20(R)-type ginsenosides were used as substrates for biotransformation with recombinant E. coli modified with those UGT genes. Results: E. coli engineered with $GT95^{syn}$ selectively transfers a glucose moiety to the C20 hydroxyl of 20(R)-PPD and 20(R)-PPT to produce 20(R)-CK and 20(R)-F1, respectively. GTK1- and GTC1-modified E. coli glycosylated the C3-OH of 20(R)-PPD to form 20(R)-Rh2. Moreover, E. coli containing $p2GT95^{syn}K1$, a recreated two-step glycosylation pathway via the ePathBrich, implemented the successive glycosylation at C20-OH and C3-OH of 20(R)-PPD and yielded 20(R)-F2 in the biotransformation broth. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that rare 20(R)-ginsenosides can be produced through E. coli engineered with UTG genes.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.1-21
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• 2021

Panax species have gained numerous attentions because of their various biological effects on cardiovascular, kidney, reproductive diseases known for a long time. Recently, advanced analytical methods including thin layer chromatography, high-performance thin layer chromatography, gas chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with tandem ultraviolet, diode array detector, evaporative light scattering detector, and mass detector, two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography, high speed counter-current chromatography, high speed centrifugal partition chromatography, micellar electrokinetic chromatography, high-performance anion-exchange chromatography, ambient ionization mass spectrometry, molecularly imprinted polymer, enzyme immunoassay, 1H-NMR, and infrared spectroscopy have been used to identify and evaluate chemical constituents in Panax species. Moreover, Soxhlet extraction, heat reflux extraction, ultrasonic extraction, solid phase extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, pressurized liquid extraction, enzyme-assisted extraction, acceleration solvent extraction, matrix solid phase dispersion extraction, and pulsed electric field are discussed. In this review, a total of 219 articles published from 1980 to 2018 are investigated. Panax species including P. notoginseng, P. quinquefolius, sand P. ginseng in the raw and processed forms from different parts, geographical origins, and growing times are studied. Furthermore, the potential biomarkers are screened through the previous articles. It is expected that the review can provide a fundamental for further studies.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.372-379
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• 2022

This study investigated the effect of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) extract on improving blood triglycerides according to the extraction solvent using 3T3-L1 cells. Lemon balm was extracted with water (MOW100), 70% ethanol (MOE70), 50% ethanol (MOE50), and 30% ethanol (MOE30). To verify its efficacy on improving blood triglycerides, cell viability, lipid accumulation, triglyceride (TG) content, and expressions of protein kinase A (PKA), adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL), hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL), perilipin, and CGI-58 proteins were evaluated. Cytotoxicity was not evident up to an extract concentration of 1 mg/mL. Lipid accumulation and TG content were decreased in a concentration-dependent manner compared to their levels in the control group. When the MOW100 extract was applied at a concentration of 0.2 mg/mL, an inhibitory effect was evident, with lipid accumulation inhibited by 21.3% and TG content reduced by 32.7%. PKA phosphorylation and ATGL HSL and CGI-58 levels were increased. The data indicate that lemon balm extract obtained using water is more efficacious than extracted with ethanol. The aqueous extract shows potential in triglyceride control through lipolysis and lowering triglyceride levels.

• Carbon letters
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• v.28
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• pp.111-115
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• 2018

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.291-306
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• 2020

The noise from the elevated lines of rail transit has become a growing problem. This paper presents a new method for the rapid prediction of the structure-borne noise from steel or composite bridges, based on the receptance and Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA), which is essential to the study of the generation mechanism and the design of a low-noise bridge. First, the vertical track-bridge coupled vibration equations in the frequency domain are constructed by simplifying the rail and the bridge as an infinite Timoshenko beam and a finite Euler-Bernoulli beam respectively. Second, all wheel/rail forces acting upon the track are computed by taking a moving wheel-rail roughness spectrum as the excitation to the train-track-bridge system. The displacements of rail and bridge are obtained by substituting wheel/rail forces into the track-bridge coupled vibration equations, and all spring forces on the bridge are calculated by multiplying the stiffness by the deformation of each spring. Then, the input power to the bridge in the SEA model is derived from spring forces and the bridge receptance. The vibration response of the bridge is derived from the solution to the power balance equations of the bridge, and then the structure-borne noise from the bridge is obtained. Finally, a tri-span continuous steel-concrete composite bridge is taken as a numerical example, and the theoretical calculations in terms of the vibration and noise induced by a passing train agree well with the field measurements, verifying the method. The influence of various factors on wheel/rail and spring forces is investigated to simplify the train-track-bridge interaction calculation for predicting the vibration and noise from steel or composite bridges.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.87-95
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• 2011

Enzymatic catalysis has been pursued extensively in a wide range of important chemical processes for their unparalleled selectivity and mild reaction conditions. However, enzymes are usually costly and easy to inactivate in their free forms. Immobilization is the key to optimizing the in-service performance of an enzyme in industrial processes, particularly in the field of non-aqueous phase catalysis. Since the immobilization process for enzymes will inevitably result in some loss of activity, improving the activity retention of the immobilized enzyme is critical. To some extent, the performance of an immobilized enzyme is mainly governed by the supports used for immobilization, thus it is important to fully understand the properties of supporting materials and immobilization processes. In recent years, there has been growing concern in using polymeric materials as supports for their good mechanical and easily adjustable properties. Furthermore, a great many work has been done in order to improve the activity retention and stabilities of immobilized enzymes. Some introduce a spacer arm onto the support surface to improve the enzyme mobility. The support surface is also modified towards biocompatibility to reduce non-biospecific interactions between the enzyme and support. Besides, natural materials can be used directly as supporting materials owning to their inert and biocompatible properties. This review is focused on recent advances in using polymeric materials as hosts for lipase immobilization by two different methods, surface attachment and encapsulation. Polymeric materials of different forms, such as particles, membranes and nanofibers, are discussed in detail. The prospective applications of immobilized enzymes, especially the enzyme-immobilized membrane bioreactors (EMBR) are also discussed.

• BMB Reports
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.96-101
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• 2012

Urea-based nitrogen fertilizer was widely utilized in maize production, but transporters involved in urea uptake, translocation and cellular homeostasis have not been identified. Here, we isolated three maize aquapoin genes, ZmNIP2;1, ZmNIP2;4 and ZmTIP4;4, from a cDNA library by heterogous complementation of a urea uptake-defective yeast. ZmNIP2;1 and ZmNIP2;4 belonged to the nodulin 26-like intrinsic proteins (NIPs) localized at plasma membrane, and ZmTIP4;4 belonged to the tonoplast intrinsic protein (TIPs) at vacuolar membrane. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed that ZmNIP2;1 was expressed constitutively in various organs while ZmNIP2;4 and ZmTIP4;4 transcripts were abundant in reproductive organs and roots. Expression of ZmTIP4;4 was significantly increased in roots and expanded leaves under nitrogen starvation, while those of ZmNIP2;1 and ZmNIP2;4 remained unaffected. Functions of maize aquapoin genes in urea transport together with their distinct expression manners suggested that they might play diverse roles on urea uptake and translocation, or equilibrating urea concentration across tonoplast.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.115-120
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• 2016

This paper presents how LOS (Level of Service) of connectivity at railway stations is developed. Based on interview surveys to railway users at 56 railway stations, the catchment areas for railway is defined and MOE (Measures of Effectiveness) is also developed. The MOE is determined to be the weighted access time (min) and LOS "D" was set up between 45 mins and 60 mins. The 56 railway stations is evaluated based on this MOE and most of them is found to be below LOS "E". Finally some guideline for improving the LOS of accessibility. They are an expansions of accessibility facility, an expansion of bus route, an improvement of congestion roads, and expansions of parking lots for automobile users.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.75 no.4
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• pp.477-485
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• 2020

Finite element (FE) model based structural damage detection (SDD) methods play vital roles in effectively locating and quantifying structural damages. Among these methods, structural model updating should be conducted before SDD to obtain benchmark models of real structures. However, the characteristics of updating parameters are not reasonably considered in existing studies. Inspired by the l_∞ norm regularization, a novel anti-sparse representation method is proposed for structural model updating in this study. Based on sensitivity analysis, both frequencies and mode shapes are used to define an objective function at first. Then, by adding l_∞ norm penalty, an optimization problem is established for structural model updating. As a result, the optimization problem can be solved by the fast iterative shrinkage thresholding algorithm (FISTA). Moreover, comparative studies with classical regularization strategy, i.e. the l₂ norm regularization method, are conducted as well. To intuitively illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, a 2-DOF spring-mass model is taken as an example in numerical simulations. The updating results show that the proposed method has a good robustness to measurement noises. Finally, to further verify the applicability of the proposed method, a six-storey aluminum alloy frame is designed and fabricated in laboratory. The added mass on each storey is taken as updating parameter. The updating results provide a good agreement with the true values, which indicates that the proposed method can effectively update the model parameters with a high accuracy.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.75 no.4
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• pp.415-424
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• 2020

Recently, many structural damage detection (SDD) methods have been proposed to monitor the safety of structures. As an important modal parameter, mode shape has been widely used in SDD, and the difference of vectors was adopted based on sensitivity analysis and mode shapes in the existing studies. However, amplitudes of mode shapes in different measured points are relative values. Therefore, the difference of mode shapes will be influenced by their amplitudes, and the SDD results may be inaccurate. Focus on this deficiency, a multi-strategy SDD method is proposed based on the included angle of vectors and sparse regularization in this study. Firstly, inspired by modal assurance criterion (MAC), a relationship between mode shapes and changes in damage coefficients is established based on the included angle of vectors. Then, frequencies are introduced for multi-strategy SDD by a weighted coefficient. Meanwhile, sparse regularization is applied to improve the ill-posedness of the SDD problem. As a result, a novel convex optimization problem is proposed for effective SDD. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method, numerical simulations in a planar truss and experimental studies in a six-story aluminum alloy frame in laboratory are conducted. The identified results indicate that the proposed method can effectively reduce the influence of noises, and it has good ability in locating structural damages and quantifying damage degrees.