• KSBB Journal
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.269-273
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• 2004

A simple, fast and reproducible quantitative analysis method for sugar concentration composed in oligosaccharide mixture was developed. Two glass TLC plates were prepared per sample. After dipping one plate into the copper bicinchoninate reagent and the other plate into 5% sulfuric acid solution, both plates were baked in microwave oven until sugar spots were developed or the surface temperature of TLC plate becomes 60 to 70 $^{\circ}C$. The corrective factor values [F value =(the value of total sugar concentration converted as glucose unit/the value of reducing sugar concentration converted as glucose unit)/(polymerization degree of sugar)] of different molecular weight sugars were determined. Within the concentration of 0.25∼1.0 $\mu\textrm{g}$ in each sample loaded, the fructose-F (corrective factor value of fructose) was 0.45, yet for the higher concentration (2.5∼7.5 $\mu\textrm{g}$) fructose-F was 1.0. In case of glucose, in the range of 0.5∼7.5 $\mu\textrm{g}$, glucose-F was same as fructose-F, 1.0. However, as the molecular weight of sugar was increased, the F values were decreased in both maltodextrin and isomaltodextrin oligosaccharides in 0.5∼7.5 $\mu\textrm{g}$ of each sample loaded. Interestingly, F values were equal for the same molecular weight sugars, although the structures were different from each other. Using F value of each sugar, we could determine and compare the exact total sugar concentration of different molecular weight maltooligosaccharide and isomaltooligosaccharide. We also could determine if the unknown sugar was a reducing or non-reducing compound by using optimized TLC with microwave oven method.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.271-281
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• 2014

The physicochemical properties of clay minerals have been investigated at the atomistic to nano scale. The microscopic studies are often challenging to perform by using experimental approaches alone. In particular, hydroxyl groups of octahedral sheets in 2:1 clay minerals have been hypothesized to impact the sorption process of metal cations; however, X-ray based techniques alone, a common tool for mineral structure examination, cannot properly test the hypothesis. The current study has examined whether computational mineralogy techniques can be applied to examine the hydroxyl structures of clay minerals. Based on quantum-mechanics and molecular-mechanics computational methods, geometry optimizations were carried out for representative dioctahedral and trioctahedral phyllosilicate minerals. Both methods well reproduced the experimental lattice parameters; however, for structural distortion occurring in the tetrahedral or octahedral sheets, molecular mechanics showed significant deviations from experimental data. The orientation angle of the hydroxyl with respect to (001) basal plane is determined by the balance of repulsion between the hydroxyl proton and Si cations of tetrahedral sites; the quantum-mechanics method predicted $25-26^{\circ}$ for the angle, whereas the angle predicted by the molecular-mechanics method was much higher by $10^{\circ}$ (i.e., $35^{\circ}$). These results demonstrate that computational mineralogy techniques are a reliable tool for clay mineral studies and can be used to further elucidate the roles of hydroxyls in metal sorption process.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.315-324
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• 2005

Pain is an unpleasant sensation experienced when tissues are damaged. Thus, pain sensation in some way protects body from imminent threat or injury. Peripheral sensory nerves innervated to peripheral tissues initially respond to multiple forms of noxious or strong stimuli, such as heat, mechanical and chemical stimuli. In response to these stimuli, electrical signals for conducting the nociceptive neural signals through axons are generated. These action potentials are then conveyed to specific areas in the spinal cord and in the brain. Sensory afferent fibers are heterogeneous in many aspects. For example, sensory nerves are classified as $A{\alpha}$, $-{\beta}$, $-{\delta}$ and C-fibers according to their diameter and degree of myelination. It is widely accepted that small sensory fibers tend to respond to vigorous or noxious stimuli and related to nociception. Thus these fibers are specifically called nociceptors. Most of nociceptors respond to noxious mechanical stimuli and heat. In addition, these sensory fibers also respond to chemical stimuli [Davis et al. (1993)] such as capsaicin. Thus, nociceptors are considered polymodal. Recent advance in research on ion channels in sensory neurons reveals molecular mechanisms underlying how various types of stimuli can be transduced to neural signals transmitted to the brain for pain perception. In particular, electrophysiological studies on ion channels characterize biophysical properties of ion channels in sensory neurons. Furthermore, molecular biology leads to identification of genetic structures as well as molecular properties of ion channels in sensory neurons. These ion channels are expressed in axon terminals as well as in cell soma. When these channels are activated, inward currents or outward currents are generated, which will lead to depolarization or hyperpolarization of the membrane causing increased or decreased excitability of sensory neurons. In order to depolarize the membrane of nerve terminals, either inward currents should be generated or outward currents should be inhibited. So far, many cationic channels that are responsible for the excitation of sensory neurons are introduced recently. Activation of these channels in sensory neurons is evidently critical to the generation of nociceptive signals. The main channels responsible for inward membrane currents in nociceptors are voltage-activated sodium and calcium channels, while outward current is carried mainly by potassium ions. In addition, activation of non-selective cation channels is also responsible for the excitation of sensory neurons. Thus, excitability of neurons can be controlled by regulating expression or by modulating activity of these channels.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.100-107
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• 2003

To improve the growth inhibitory activity against the shoot and root of rice plant (Oryza sativa L) and barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli), a series of N-substituted phenyl-3,4-dimethylmaleimdes derivatives as substrates were synthesized and then their the inhibitory activities of protoporphyrinogen oxidase (1.3.3.4), protox were measured. The quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) between structures and the inhibitory activities were studied quantitatively using the 2D-QSAR method. And also, molecular sharp similarity between the substrate derivatives and protogen, substrare of protox enzyme were studied. The activities of the two plants indicated that barnyard grass had a higher activity than the rice plant and their correlation relationships have shown in proportion for each. Accordingly, the results of SARs suggest that the electron donating groups as $R_2=Sub.X$ group will bind to phenyl ring because the bigger surface area of negative charged atoms in the substrate molecule derivatives may increase to the higher the activity against barnyard grass. Based on the molecular shape similarity, when the derivatives and protogen, subsbrate of protox enzyme were superimposed by atom fitting, the similarity indices (S) were above 0.8 level but the correlation coefficients (r) between S values and the activities showed not good.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.161-172
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• 2017

Clay minerals play a major role in the geochemical cycles of metals in the Critical Zone, the Earth surface-layer ranging from the groundwater bottom to the tree tops. Atomistic scale research of the very fine particles can help understand the fundamental mechanisms of the important geochemical processes and possibly apply to development of hybrid nanomaterials. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can provide atomistic level insights into the crystal structures of clay minerals and the chemical reactivity. Classical MD simulations use a force field which is a parameter set of interatomic pair potentials. The ClayFF force field has been widely used in the MD simulations of dioctahedral clay minerals as the force field was developed mainly based on dioctahedral phyllosilicates. The ClayFF is often used also for trioctahedral mineral simulations, but disagreement exits in selection of the interatomic potential parameters, particularly for Mg atom-types of the octahedral sheet. In this study, MD simulations were performed for trioctahedral clay minerals such as brucite, lizardite, and talc, to test how the two different Mg atom types (i.e., 'mgo' or 'mgh') affect the simulation results. The structural parameters such as lattice parameters and interatomic distances were relatively insensitive to the choice of the parameter, but the vibrational power spectra of hydroxyls were more sensitive to the choice of the parameter particularly for lizardite.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.151-162
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• 2019

Todorokite, a tunnel-structured manganese oxide, can contain cations within the relatively large nanopores created by the $3{\times}3$ Mn octahedra. Because todorokite is poorly crystalline and found as aggregates mixed with other phases of Mn oxides in nature, the coordination structure of cations in the nanopores is challenging to fully characterize in experiment. In the current article, we report the atomistic coordination structures of $Mg^{2+}$ ions in todorokite tunnel nanopores using the classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. In experiment, $Mg^{2+}$ is known to occupy the center of the nanopores. In our MD simulations, 60 % of $Mg^{2+}$ ions were located at the center of the nanopores; 40 % of the ions were found at the corners. All $Mg^{2+}$ located at the center formed the six-fold coordination with water molecules, just as the ion in bulk aqueous solution. $Mg^{2+}$ ions at the corners also formed the six-fold coordination with not only water molecules but also Mn octahedral surface oxygens. The mean squared displacements were calculated to examine the dynamic features of $Mg^{2+}$ ions in the one-dimensional (1D) nanopores. Our MD simulations indicate that the dynamic features of water molecules and the cations observed in bulk aqueous solution are lost in the 1D nanopores of todorokite.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.12
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• pp.1940-1950
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• 2021

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the effects of maize straw treated with calcium oxide (CaO) and various moisture, on the composition and molecular structure of the fiber, and gas production by fermentation in an in vitro rumen environment. Methods: The experiment used 4×3 Factorial treatment. Maize straws were treated with 4 concentrations of CaO (0%, 3%, 5%, and 7% of dry straw weight) and 3 moisture contents (40%, 50%, and 60%). Scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy were employed to measure the surface texture, secondary molecular structure of carbohydrate, and calcium (Ca) content of the maize straw, respectively. The correlation of secondary molecular structures and fiber components of maize straw were analyzed by CORR procedure of SAS 9.2. In vitro rumen fermentation was performed for 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h to measure gas production. Results: Overall, the moisture factor had no obvious effect on the experimental results. Neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber, acid detergent lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose contents decreased (p<0.05) with increasing concentrations of CaO treatment. Surface and secondary molecular structure of maize straw were affected by various CaO and moisture treatments. NDF had positive correlation (p<0.01) with Cell-H (H, height), Cell-A (A, area), CHO-2-H. Hemicellulose had positive correlation (p<0.01) with Lignin-H, Lignin-A, Cell-H, Cell-A. Ca content of maize straw increased as the concentration of CaO was increased (p<0.01). Gas production was highest in the group treated with 7% CaO. Conclusion: CaO can adhere to the surface of the maize straw, and then improve the digestibility of the maize straw in ruminants by modifying the structure of lignocellulose and facilitating the maize straw for microbial degradation.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.153-159
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• 2021

In recent years, polymer membranes, which are actively used in various industrial fields, have the advantage of being able to impart unique properties through the control of chemical structures and physical properties in the film-fabrication process, as well as through fabricating blend membranes mixed with various materials. In this study, the solubility parameter, which can be used as an index of miscibility with other materials, was calculated using molecular dynamics using a silkworm (Bombyx mori) silk polymer which has a wide potential to be used as an eco-friendly natural material. When the solubility parameter of polyvinylalcohol (PVA), which is also environmentally friendly and biocompatible, was calculated by molecular dynamics and compared with each other, it was confirmed that the two polymer materials had similar solubility parameter values. In conclusion, it was theoretically proved that the two polymers could blend well with each other, which was confirmed through experiments.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.249-257
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• 2022

The adsorption equilibria of nitrogen on a region of nanoporous carbonaceous adsorbent with local molecular orientation (LMO) were calculated by grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation at 77.16 K. Regions of LMO of identical size were arranged on a regular lattice with uniform spacing. Microporosity was predominately introduced to the model by removing successive out-of-plane domains from the regions of LMO and tilting pores were generated by tilting the basic structure units. This pore structure is a more realistic model than slit-shaped pores for studying adsorption in nanoporous carbon adsorbents. Their porosities, surface areas, and pore size distributions according to constrained nonlinear optimization were also reported. The adsorption in slit shaped pores was also reported for reference. In the slit shaped pores, a clear hysteresis loop was observed in pores of greater than 5 times the nitrogen molecule size, and in capillary condensation and reverse condensation, evaporation occurred immediately at one pressure. In the LMO pore model, three series of local condensations at the basal slip plane, armchair slip plane and interconnected channel were observed during adsorption at pore sizes greater than about 6 times the nitrogen molecular size. In the hysteresis loop, on the other hand, evaporation occurred at one or two pressures during desorption.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.371-381
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• 2023

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), used in a variety of products in modern society, are hormone-like substances that cause various diseases. Humans are exposed to EDCs through their inclusion in pesticides, plastics, cosmetics, detergents, and drugs. Bisphenol A (BPA), one of the representative endocrine disruptors, is an estrogen-like substance that has been widely used commercially in plastic and epoxy resins. BPA is a chemical that can disrupt the endocrine system, leading to reduced reproductive function, obesity, cancer, and neurodevelopmental disorders. Since the adverse health effects of BPA began to be reported the use of BPA has been regulated worldwide. Various alternatives to BPA have been widely used worldwide; representatively, bisphenol S (BPS) and bisphenol F (BPF) are the most commonly used in commercial contexts. BPS and BPF may cause endocrine-disrupting effects like those of BPA due to their similar chemical structures. Recent studies have reported that BPS and BPF disrupt the neurodevelopmental process and cause neurodevelopmental disorders. Therefore, future studies will be required for safety verification of BPA alternatives and the development of new alternatives to BPA for brain health. In this review, we reviewed the effects of BPA and the alternatives, BPS and BPF, on the nervous system.