• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.50-58
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• 2018

Elephant garlic (Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum), which belongs to the Alliaceae family along with onion and garlic, has a flavor and shape similar to those of normal garlic but is not true garlic. Additionally, its properties are largely unknown, and its processing and product development have not been reported. In this study, we focused on using elephant garlic to produce a new type of vinegar, for which the market is rapidly growing because of its health benefits. First, we evaluated the effects of elephant garlic addition on acetic acid fermentation of rice wine by Acetobacter pasteurianus. In contrast to normal garlic, for which 2% (w/v) addition completely halted fermentation, addition of elephant garlic enabled slow but successful fermentation of ethanol to acetic acid. Metabolite analysis suggested that sulfur-containing volatile compounds were less abundant in elephant garlic than in normal garlic; these volatile compounds may be responsible for inhibiting acetic acid fermentation. After acetic acid fermentation, vinegar with elephant garlic did not have any sulfur-containing volatile compounds, which could positively contribute to the vinegar flavor. Moreover, the amino acid profile of the vinegar suggested that nutritional and sensory properties were more enhanced following addition of elephant garlic. Thus, elephant garlic may have applications in the development of a new vinegar product with improved flavor and quality and potential health benefits.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.40 no.12
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• pp.769-776
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• 2016

In this study, a numerical simulation of a vanadium redox flow battery was investigated for reactions involving an electrochemical species using comprehensive conservation laws and a kinetic model. For a 3-D geometry of the cell, the distributions of electric potential, vanadium concentration, overpotential, and ohmic loss were calculated. The cell temperature and initial vanadium ion concentration were set as variables. The voltage and electrochemical loss were calculated for each variable. The effects of each variable's impact on the electrochemical performance of a vanadium redox flow battery was numerically analyzed using the calculated overpotential in the electrode and the ohmic loss in the electrolyte phase. The cell temperature increased from $20^{\circ}C$ to $80^{\circ}C$ when the voltage efficiency decreased from 89.34% to 87.29%. The voltage efficiency increased from 88.65% to 89.25% when the vanadium concentration was changed from $1500mol/m^3$ to $3000mol/m^3$.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.43-54
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• 2017

This paper analyzes the performance of two three-leg inverters and a five-leg inverter and proposes the optimal operation conditions in applying the five-leg inverter for the train propulsion system. The five-leg inverter offers a saving of two switches compared with the standard two three-leg inverters and it is possible to control two three-phase motors independently by using a control board. All of these features lead to a potential reduction in capital cost and miniaturization of system. In this paper, first, the analysis of the existing motor control method and PWM method for two-traction motor drive of urban railway is implemented. Next, the operation principle and performance of five-leg inverter is introduced. Through the analysis, when it applies the same motor control method and the same PWM method for three-leg inverter and five-leg inverter, the characteristic of motor's speed and torque is compared.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.102-102
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• 2016

Water, which is most abundant in Earth surface and very closely related to all forms of living organisms, has a simple molecular structure but exhibits very unique physical and chemical properties. Even though tremendous effort has been paid to understand this nature's core substance, there amazingly still lefts much room for scientist to explore its novel behaviors. Especially, as the scale goes down to nano-regime, water shows extraordinary properties that are not observable in bulk state. One of such interesting features is the formation of nanoscale bubbles showing unusual long-term stability. Nanobubbles can be spontaneously formed in water on hydrophobic surface or by decompression of gas-saturated liquid. In addition, the nanobubbles can be generated during electrochemical reaction at normal hydrogen electrode (NHE), which possibly distorts the standard reduction potential at NHE as the surface nanobubble screens the reaction with electrolyte solution. However, the real-time evolution of these nanobubbles has been hardly studied owing to the lack of proper imaging tools in liquid phase at nanoscale. Here we demonstrate, for the first time, that the behaviors of nanobubbles can be visualized by in situ transmission electron microscope (TEM), utilizing graphene as liquid cell membrane. The results indicate that there is a critical radius that determines the long-term stability of nanobubbles. In addition, we find two different pathways of nanobubble growth: i) Ostwald ripening of large and small nanobubbles and ii) coalescence of similar-sized nanobubbles. We also observe that the nucleation and growth of nanoparticles and the self-assembly of biomolecules are catalyzed at the nanobubble interface. Our finding is expected to provide a deeper insight to understand unusual chemical, biological and environmental phenomena where nanoscale gas-state is involved.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.139.1-139.1
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• 2016

Multiferroic materials are of great interest because of its potential applications in the design of devices combining magnetic, electronic and optical functionalities. Among various multiferroic materials, $BiFeO_3$(BFO) is known to be one of the intensively focused mainly due to the possibility of multiferroism at device working temperature (> $200^{\circ}C$). However, leakage current and weak polarization resulting from oxygen deficiency and crystalline defect should be resolved. Furthermore the magnetic ordering of pure BFO mainly prefers to have antiferromagnetic coupling. Up to now many attempts have been performed to improve the ferromagnetic and the ferroelectric properties of BFO by doping. In this work, we investigated the effects of Ni substitution on the multiferroism of bulk BFO. Four BFO samples (a pure BFO and three Ni-doped BFO's; $BiFe_{0.99}Ni_{0.01}O_3$, $BiFe_{0.98}Ni_{0.02}O_3$ and $BiFe_{0.97}Ni_{0.03}O_3$) were synthesized by the standard solid-state reaction and rapid sintering technique. The XRD results reveal that Ni atoms are substituted into Fe-sites and give rise to phase transition of cubic to rhombohedal. By using vibrating sample magnetometer and standard ferroelectric tester, the multiferroic properties at room temperature were characterized. We found that the magnetic moment of Ni-doped BFO turned out to be maximized for 3% of Ni dopant.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.2683-2688
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• 2016

A salt compound of a curcumin analogue, potassium pentagamavunon-0 (K PGV-0) has been synthesized to improve solubility of pentagamavunon-0 which has been proven to have anti-proliferative effects on several cancer cells. The purpose of this study was to investigate cytotoxic activity and metastasis inhibition by K PGV-0 alone and in combination with achemotherapeutic agent, doxorubicin (dox), in breast cancer cells. Based on MTT assay analysis, K PGV-0 showed cytotoxic activity in T47D and 4T1 cell lines with $IC_{50}$ values of $94.9{\mu}M$ and $49.0{\pm}0.2{\mu}M$, respectively. In general, K PGV-0+dox demonstrated synergistic effects and decreased cell viability up to 84.7% in T47D cells and 62.6% in 4T1 cells. Cell cycle modulation and apoptosis induction were examined by flow cytometry. K PGV-0 and K PGV-0+dox caused cell accumulation in G2/M phase and apoptosis induction. Regarding cancer metastasis, while K PGV-0 alone did not show any inhibition of 4T1 cell migration, K PGV-0+dox exerted inhibition. K PGV-0 and its combination with dox inhibited the activity of MMP-9 which has a pivotal role in extracellular matrix degradation. These results show that a combination of K PGV-0 and doxorubicin inhibits cancer cell growth through cell cycling, apoptosis induction, and inhibition of cell migration and MMP-9 activity. Therefore, K PGV-0 may have potential for development as a co-chemotherapeutic agent.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.146-149
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• 2018

BACKGROUND: Selenium is an essential element for all life forms but can be toxic above certain narrow levels. Prevalent forms of selenium in oxic environment are selenium oxyanions such as selenite and selenate, which may be contaminants in soils and water bodies. Bacterial reduction of more mobile selenium species (selenite or selenate) to less mobile elemental selenium may suggest a benign solution for alleviating toxicity and bioavailability of the selenium species. METHODS AND RESULTS: A facultative anaerobic bacterium, Citrobacter strain SE4-1 was isolated from the contaminated stream sediments and found to effectively reduce selenite to elemental selenium. Aqueous phase of selenite was analyzed by inductively couple plasma spectroscopy and the precipitated sphere-shaped elemental selenium was observed by transmission electron microscopy. CONCLUSION: The bacterial strain SE4-1 isolated in this study suggests a potential role in biogeochemical cycle of selenium by the selenite reduction in the stream environment, and potentials for biotechnological applications to reduceselenium concentrations in selenium-contaminated systems such as wastewater, soil, and groundwater.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.204-211
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• 2015

A bacterial strain capable of hydrolyzing xylan and locust bean gum (LBG) was isolated from the Saemangeum tideland of Korea. Based on the biochemical properties and the 16S rRNA gene sequence, the isolate YB-30 was identified as Bacillus subtilis. Xylanase productivity was increased effectively when B. subtilis YB-30 was grown in the presence of wheat bran, while mannanase productivity was increased drastically when grown in the presence of konjac or LBG. Particularly, maximum mannanase and xylanase activities were detected in the culture filtrate of media containing 3.5% konjac and 1% wheat bran. Both enzyme productivities reached maximum levels in the stationary growth phase. The culture filtrate exhibited the highest activity at 60℃ and pH 6.0 for mannanase and at 55℃ and pH 5.5 for xylanase, respectively. Both enzymes were not stable at high temperatures and xylanase was less stable than mannanase. In addition, wheat bran was hydrolyzed to liberate reducing sugar to a greater extent than rice bran by the culture filtrate because the wheat bran contained more arabinoxylan than the rice bran. Hence, xylanase and mannanase produced by B. subtilis YB-30 have a potential use as feed additive enzymes.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.556-561
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• 2018

In this study, we performed a microwave sintering (MWS) of $Al_2O_3$ ceramic and $Al_2O_3$-based composites with nominal contents of graphene nanoplatelets (GPLs) of 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8 vol%. The GPL dispersion in N-methyl pyrroleketone was optimized to deagglomerate the GPLs without damaging their structure. Dense composites were then obtained by MWS at $1500^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. The effects of different GPL contents on the phase compositions, microstructures, and mechanical properties of the composites were investigated. The microstructures of the composites became finer with the incorporation of the GPLs. The well-dispersed GPL fillers led to higher sintered densities in the composites. The optimal mechanical properties were achieved with 0.4 vol% GPLs. For this sample, the hardness, fracture toughness, and bending strength were $2000kgf/mm^2$, $6.19MPa{\cdot}m^{1/2}$, and 365.10 MPa, respectively. The addition of GPL could improve the microstructure of the $Al_2O_3$ ceramic and has potential to improve the fracture toughness of the ceramics.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.114-119
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• 2013

Potassium is essential for the proper functioning of the ears. The inner ear's endolymph differs from all other extracellular fluids (in its positive potential) and in the ionic compositions in the various parts of the endolymphatic space. Ion concentration of the endolymph is 150 mM of potassium, which is comparable to the concentrations in other organs. Cisplatin (cis-diamminedichloroplatinum II: CDDP) is one of the most effective anticancer drugs, widely used against various tumors. However, its clinical use is limited by the onset of severe side effects, including ototoxicity and nephrotoxicity. For ototoxicity, a number of evidences in cytotoxic mechanism of cisplatin, including perturbation of redox status, increase in lipid peroxydation, and formation of DNA adduct, have been suggested. Therefore, in this study, the author investigated the relationship between the potassium ions on cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity in HEI-OC1 cells associated with reactive oxygen species (ROS). KCNE1 gene expression by the concentration of intracellular potassium appeared in the plasma membrane and increased the concentration of intracellular potassium. Cisplatin decreased the viability of HEI-OC1 cells, but the KCNE1 gene increased. Also, the KCNE1 gene significantly suppressed generation of intracellular ROS by cisplatin. Western blot analysis showed that the KCNE1 gene increased phase II detoxification enzymes markers such as superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), superoxide dismutase (SOD2), NAD(P)H:quinine oxidoreductases (NQO1), which were associated with the scavenger of ROS. These results suggest that the KCNE1 gene for intracellular potassium concentration ultimately prevents ROS generation from cisplatin and further contributes to protect auditory sensory hair cells from ROS produced by cisplatin.