• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.139-144
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• 2002

Sterols play two major roles in plants: a bulk component in biological membranes and precursors of plant steroid hormones. Physiological effects of plant steroids, brassinosteroids (BRs), include cell elongation, cell division, stress tolerance, and senescence acceleration. Arabidopsis mutants that carry genetic defects in BR biosynthesis or its signaling display characteristic phenotypes, such as short robust inflorescences, dark-green round leaves, and sterility. Currently there are more than 100 dwarf mutants representing 7 genetic loci in Arabidopsis. Mutants of 6 loci, dwf1/dim1/cbb1, cpd/dwf3, dwf4, dwf5, det2/dwf6, dwf7 are rescued by exogenous application of BRs, whereas bri1/dwf2 shares phenotypes with the above 6 loci but are resistant to BRs. These suggest that the 6 loci are defective in BR biosynthesis, and the one locus is in BR signaling. Biochemical analyses, such as intermediate feeding tests, examining the levels of endogenous BR, and molecular cloning of the genes revealed that dwf7, dwf5, and dwf1 are defective in the three consecutive steps of sterol biosynthesis, from episterol to campesterol via 5-dehydroepisterol. Similarly, det2/dwf6, dwf4, and cpd /dwf3 were shown to be blocked in D$^4$reduction, 22a-hydroxylation, and 23 a-hydroxylation, respectively. A signaling mutant bril/dwf2 carries mutations in a Leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase. Interestingly, the bri1 mutant was shown to accumulate significant amount of BRs, suggesting that signaling and biosynthesis are dynamically coupled in Arabidopsis. Thus it is likely that transgenic plants over-expressing the rate-limiting step enzyme DWF4 as well as blocking its use by BRIl could dramatically increase the biosynthetic yield of BRs. When applied industrially, BRs will boost new sector of plant biotechnology because of its potential use as a precursor of human steroid hormones, a novel lead compound for cholesterol-lowering effects, and a various application in plant protection.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.21
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• pp.9319-9325
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• 2014

Alkaloids are the most extensively featured compounds of natural anti-tumor herbs, which have attracted much attention in pharmaceutical research. In our previous studies, a mixture of major three alkaloid components (5, 6-dihydrobicolorine, 7-deoxy-trans-dihydronarciclasine, littoraline) from Hymenocallis littoralis were extracted, analyzed and designated as AHL. In this paper, AHL extracts were added to human liver hepatocellular cells HepG-2, human gastric cancer cell SGC-7901, human breast adenocarcinoma cell MCF-7 and human umbilical vein endothelial cell EVC-304, to screen one or more AHL-sensitive tumor cell. Among these cells, HepG-2 was the most sensitive to AHL treatment, a very low dose ($0.8{\mu}g/ml$) significantly inhibiting proliferation. The non-tumor cell EVC-304, however, was not apparently affected. Effect of AHL on HepG-2 cells was then explored. We found that the AHL could cause HepG-2 cycle arrest at G2/M checkpoint, induce apoptosis, and interrupt polymerization of microtubules. In addition, expression of two cell cycle-regulated proteins, CyclinB1 and CDK1, was up-regulated upon AHL treatment. Up-regulation of the Fas, Fas ligand, Caspase-8 and Caspase-3 was observed as well, which might imply roles for the Fas/FsaL signaling pathway in the AHL-induced apoptosis of HepG-2 cells.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 1988

Natural mineral water is generally quite different from ordinary drinking water due to its original nature and various properties. The complexity of natural mineral water requires, therefore, not only to identify its nature and proper characteristics, but also to classify them by a reasonable scientific basis of comparison. The study was concentrated on a possible classification technique to natural mineral waters by their constitutions and physico-ehemical properties. The classification was carried out by the computation of such numerical parameters as ionic equivalent percentage, electrolytic conductance or mobility, ionic molecular weight, molecular concentration, equivalent conductivity and degree of ionization in consideration of the determinative criteria as follows -particular single element or molecule -major components of natural waters as bicarbonate, sulphate, chloride,caloride, calcium, magnesium, and sodium -moleculat concentration related to blood osmotic pressure -water temperature at emergence from spring -contents of free carbon dioxide (CO2) -pH value of water -total dissolved solids or salts (NaCl) The results obtained proved out to be clearly distinguhhable from ordinary drinking water as far as concern natural mineral water as an example on the subject -simple water -bicarbonate-predominating water -cold spring -carbonated-non gaseous water -weak alkaline water -non saline water Putting these various results together, the sample turned out to be a kind of natural mineral water that can be used as a drinking water if microbiologically safe.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.224-229
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• 1993

GABA transminase (4-aminobutyrate aminotransferase), which catalyzes the breakdown of the major inhibitory neurotransmitter, GABA, in mammalian brain, was inactivated by preincubation with the mycotoxin patulin. The time course of the reaction was significantly affected by the substrate .alpha.-ketoglutarate, which aforded complete protection against the loss of catalytic activity. The recovery from the inhibition of patulin by the addition of dithiothreitol (DTT) supports that patulin reacts with the sulfhydryl residue in the catalytic domain of the enzyme. The reconstitution of the reduced enzyme and apoenzyme with pyridoxal-5-P(PLP) was inhibited by another mycotoxin, penicilic acid. This mycotoxin may interact with lysyl residue of the enzyme. Therefore, it is postulated that the critical sulfhydryl and lysyl residues in the catalytic domain of the enzyme react with mycotoxin patulin and penicillic acid, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.99-104
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• 1993

Two strains of the gram-negative acetic acid bacteria, Acetobacter sp. strain CS2- AND CS5, were isolated form the traditional raw rice wine vinegar of Haenam area. The strains oxidized ethanol to acetic acid and over-oxidized acetate and lactate to $CO^{2}$ and $H ^{2}$O. They produced 2-ketogluconic acid from glucose but did not produce .gamma.-pyrones from glucose and dihydroxyacetone from glycerol. The CS strains possessed ubiquinone-9 as a major isoprenoid quinone and contained straight-chain $C_{18 :1}$, $_C{16 : 0}$, and $C _{14 : 0}$ fatty acids. The DNA base composition of the CS2 and CS5 strains was 56.2 and 57.3 mole% G + C, respectively. The isolates were grown well on methanol, gluconate, erythritol, raffinose, dulcitol and xylitol as sole sources of carbon and energy which are different from those of other Acetobacter species and producedd acid from sucrose, glycerol, fructose, inositol, mannitol, and ribose.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.163-170
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• 2002

In this paper, silk fibroin (SF)/polyurethane (PU) blend films were fabricated to develop a new biomaterial for biomedical applications. These blend films were prepared using formic acid as a cosolvent, and structural characteristics and properties of blend films were investigated. FTIR results suggested that there was no specific interaction between SF and PU, implying molecular immiscibility in SF/PU blend films. Furthermore, it was revealed by XRD method that the crystalline region of blend components was not perturbed by counterpart polymers. The degree of phase separation of SF/PU blend films was diminished by increasing PU content in blend. Especially, the blend with 70% content of PU showed no evidence of macro-phase separation in SEM observation. However, SF/PU blend (70/30) was revealed to be phase-separated in a lower dimension confirmed by DMTA measurement. TGA result showed that thermal decomposition temperature of blend film was slightly decreased compared to those of SF and PU polymer itself, Though mechanical properties of SF/PU blend films were not good enough due to the solvent, blood compatibility of PU can be enhanced markedly by mixing with SF for SF/PU blend film.

• Hwankyungkyoyuk
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.100-106
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• 1991

Environmental professional education in Korea has been mostly concentrated on the scientific and technological approaches to environmental problems. Many undergraduate majors in environmental engineering or sciences are designed to produce more technical manpowers in environmental fields. Most graduate schools on the environment also place an emphasis on teaching the technical aspects of environmental problems. Some environmental administration related courses, such as environmental law, environmental administration, environmental policy, environmental economics, environmental impact assessments, etc. are partically reflected in some curricula of very limited graduate or undergraduate environment majors. However, teaching environmental administration related courses in science or engineering major institutions has not been successfully carried out so far because lack of interests in such courses by most students and the shortage of competent teachers as well. Furthermore, those courses are not widely accepted by the departments of law, political science, public administration, etc. because their major interests are not in the environment-oriented. Environmental problems cannot be solved by the technical approach along. They should be systematically dealt with through interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary approaches, including natural and social sciences covering all relevant disciplines. in this respect, undergraduate environmental education should preferably cover broader courses on the environment, and the education for environmental professionals, including environmental administration specialists, is preferably handled by graduate schools offering many specialty area courses. Education for environmental administration specialist at graduate level is urgently needed in order to supply the competent manpower at government, business, and private organization levels dealing with environmental administration related problem. This is a new challenging area and the education for such specialists will become more important in the near future than technical manpowers which we ate now concentrating on their education.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.75-83
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• 2017

Many parts of problems in livestock industry today are associated with organic dust. Endotoxin and toxic gasses on the surface of dust and dust itself can cause aesthetic displeasure and respiratory disease. It also reduces livestock productivity by suppressing immunity of animals and carrying microbes causing animal disease. However, dust level of cattle farm was rarely reported in Korea, and regulation for cattle farm worker does not exist. In this paper, dust concentration and environmental condition were regularly monitored in a commercial Korean native cattle farm. The measurement was conducted according to location and working activities. From the measurement, distribution of dust concentration was affected by wind environment, as the result of natural ventilation. TMR mixer was a major source of dust in target cattle house. The maximum inhalable dust concentration was 637.8 times higher than exposure limit as feed dropped into the TMR mixer. It was expected that dust generation could be affected by particle size and drop height of feed. This study suggests potential risk of dust in cattle farm, and necessity for latter study. Effect of aerodynamic condition and TMR processing should be investigated for dust reduction study.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.237-243
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• 2020

Listeria sp. is one of the pathogenic bacteria causes the infection listeriosis, through mainly raw food such as fishery food, dairy food and vegetables. Listeria sp. is a Gram-positive, non-spore-forming, motile, and facultative anaerobic bacterium. Because of the tolerance of Listeria sp. to low temperature and high salt concentration, it is very difficult to prevent them contaminated in the food, which do not require heating, especially, such as raw fishery products. So prevention and removal of bacterial contamination at the food manufacturing stage is the best method. In this study, therefore, several natural products including Psidium guajava and Geranium thunbergii were screened to investigate the antibacterial activity against Listeria sp., with expectation of fewer side effects and fewer resistance problems. Significant effects of two extracts were confirmed by well diffusion assay, MIC assay, and growth inhibition assay. P. guajava and G. thunbergii showed MIC values at 64-256 ㎍/mL meaning strong antibacterial activities against 6 kind of Listeria sp. tested. And the growth of Listeria sp. in the liquid media was actually inhibited by the addition of these two extracts.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Sciences Society Conference
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• 2020.10a
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• pp.218-218
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• 2020

Astaxanthin, a natural antioxidant carotenoid, has been thought to provide health benefits by decreasing the risk of oxidative stress?related diseases. In the present study, we investigated the effect of an astaxanthin during the autophagic cell death induced by bisphenol A (BPA) which is known major environmental pollutants. We found that astaxanthin significantly blocked the autophagic cell death via inhibition of intracellular Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in normal human dermal fibroblasts. Astaxanthin significantly inhibited the phosphorylation mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) responsible for the expression of LC3-II and Beclin-1 in BPA-treated normal human dermal fibroblasts. We suggest that astaxanthin blocks autophagic cell death induced by BPA via the inhibition of ROS-mediated signaling events in human dermal fibroblasts.