• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.4 s.50
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• pp.265-275
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• 2006

It is in its infancy to use bacteria as a novel biotechnology for leaching precious and heavy metals from raw materials. The objective of this study was to investigate biogeochemical processes of iron leaching from magnetite reduction by iron-reducing bacteria isolated from intertidal flat sediments, southwestern part of Korea. Microbial leaching experiments were performed using commercial magnetite, Aldrich magnetite, in well-defined mediums with and without bacteria. Water soluble Fe production was determined by ICP analysis of bioleached samples in comparison to uninoculated controls, and the resulting precipitated solids were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The extent of iron leaching from magnetite in the aerobic conditions (Fe = 107 ppm) was higher than that in the anaerobic environments (Fe = 94 ppm). In the anaerobic conditions, Fe(III) in commercial magnetite was also reduced to Fe(II), but no secondary mineral phases were observed. Amorphous iron oxides formed in the medium under aerobic conditions where there was sufficient supply of oxygen from the atmosphere. SEM observation suggests that the reduction process involves dissolution-precipitation mechanisms as opposed to solid state conversion of magnetite to amorphous iron oxides. The ability of bacteria to leach soluble iron and precipitate amorphous iron oxides from crystalline magnetite could have significant implications for biogeochemical processes in sediments where Fe(III) in magnetite plays an important role in the largest pool of electron acceptor as well as the tool as a novel biotechnology for leaching precious and heavy metals from raw materials.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.619-637
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to develop a new program for elementary math-gifted students by using 'Girih Tililng' and apply it to the elementary students to improve their math-ability. Girih Tililng is well known for 'the secrets of mathematics hidden in Mosque decoration' with lots of recent attention from the world. The process of this study is as follows; (1) Reference research has been done for various tiling theories and the theories have been utilized for making this study applicable. (2) The characteristic features of Mosque tiles and their basic structures have been analyzed. After logical examination of the patterns, their mathematic attributes have been found out. (3) After development of Girih tiling program, the program has been applied to math-gifted students and the program has been modified and complemented. This program which has been developed for math-gifted students is called 'Exploring the Secrets of Girih Hidden in Mosque Patterns'. The program was based on the Renzulli's three-part in-depth learning. The first part of the in-depth learning activity, as a research stage, is designed to examine Islamic patterns in various ways and get the gifted students to understand and have them motivated to learn the concept of the tiling, understanding the characteristics of Islamic patterns, investigating Islamic design, and experiencing the Girih tiles. The second part of the in-depth learning activity, as a discovery stage, is focused on investigating the mathematical features of the Girih tile, comparing Girih tiled patterns with non-Girih tiled ones, investigating the mathematical characteristics of the five Girih tiles, and filling out the blank of Islamic patterns. The third part of the in-depth learning activity, as an inquiry or a creative stage, is planned to show the students' mathematical creativity by thinking over different types of Girih tiling, making the students' own tile patterns, presenting artifacts and reflecting over production process. This program was applied to 6 students who were enrolled in an unified(math and science) gifted class of D elementary school in Daejeon. After analyzing the results produced by its application, the program was modified and complemented repeatedly. It is expected that this program and its materials used in this study will guide a direction of how to develop methodical materials for math-gifted education in elementary schools. This program is originally developed for gifted education in elementary schools, but for further study, it is hoped that this study and the program will be also utilized in the field of math-gifted or unified gifted education in secondary schools in connection with 'Penrose Tiling' or material of 'quasi-crystal'.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.100-110
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• 2005

We carried oui a study on the marine environment and distribution of phytoplankton community, such as chlorophyll a, species composition, dominant species and standing crops in the Northern East China Sea during early summer of 2004. According to the analysis of a T-S diagram, three characteristics of water masses were identified. We classified them into the coastal water mass, the cold water mass and the oceanic water mass. The first was characterized by the low temperature and the low salinity originated from China territory, the secondary was characterized by the low temperature, the low salinity and the high density originated from bottom cold water of Yellow Sea, and the third was done by the high temperature and salinity originated from Tsushima warm current. The internal discontinuous layer among them was farmed at the intermediate depth (about $5{\sim}30m$ layer). And the thermal front by upwelling region between the cold water mass and Tsushima warm current appeared in the central parts of the South Sea of Korea. The Phytoplankton community in the surface and stratified layers was a total of 44 species belonging to 26 genera. Dominant species were Prorocentrum triestinum, Scrippsiella trochoidea, Skeletonema costatum & Leptocylindrus mediterraneus. Standing crops of phytoplankton in the surface layer fluctuated between $0.3{\times}10^3$ cells/L and $10.8{\times}10^3$ cells/L. Diatoms appeared mainly in the Tsushima warm current regions, and flagellates occurred in the frontal zone and the low salinity regions where was the transfer areas of Chinese continental coastal waters. Chlorophyll a concentration by controlled phytoflagellate ratio in the South Sea of Korea was high values in the frontal zone and sub-surface layer. It was high concentration in the upwelling and coastal waters regions, but low concentration in the Tsushima warm current regions. The Chl-a maximum layers appeared in the thermochline depth or sub-surface layer lower than thermocline. The phytoplankton production in the South Sea of Korea was controlled by the expanded coastal waters of Chinese Continent which include a high concentrations of nutrients.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.111-118
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• 2016

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by molds, such as Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium, that have adverse effects on animals and humans. Aflatoxin, ochratoxin, zearalenone, fumonisin and deoxynivalenol are the mycotoxins of greatest agro-economic importance and cause acute disease called mycotoxicoses. Mycotoxicosis in poultry birds results in decreased meat/egg production, immunosuppressant, and hepatotoxicosis. Some of toxins or their metabolites may be retained in animal or human tissues and induce health problems. This study was designed to develop a sensitive liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the simultaneous detection and quantification of mycotoxins, such as aflatoxin $B_1$, aflatoxin $M_1$, ochratoxin A, zearalenone, fumonisin B and deoxynivalenol, in chicken liver and kidney tissues. The mycotoxins were extracted and purified using modified QUECHERS methods, separated by LC and detected by an electrospray ionisation interface (ESI) and tandem MS. Good precision and linearity were observed for most of six mycotoxins. The recovery test for each mycotoxin in liver and kidney tissues mostly indicated good average recovery rates between 80.94% and 98.10% and the coefficient of variation mostly under 13.78%, except for aflatoxin $M_1$ and fumonisin $B_1$. The limit of detection (LOD) for six mycotoxins was $7.6{\sim}145.79{\mu}g/kg$ in liver tissues and $6.07{\sim}197.20{\mu}g/kg$ in kidney tissues. The quantification limits (LOQ) for 6 mycotoxins were in the range $23.04{\sim}441.78{\mu}g/kg$ in liver tissues and $18.40{\sim}597.59{\mu}g/kg$ in kidney tissues, respectively. The developed multi-mycotoxin method in this study permits simultaneous, simple, and rapid determination of several co-existing mycotoxins in chicken liver and kidney tissues.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.136-141
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• 2013

Lowering tree height has been a key practice for efficient management of persimmon orchards. This experiment was conducted to assess whether fertilization rates could be reduced after lowering the tree height by heavy pruning. Twelve-year-old 'Uenishiwase' persimmon trees were lowered to 2 m from over 3 m by severe dormant pruning, and then conventional fertilization rate was applied to some trees in April (N 224 g, $P_2O_5$ 172 g, and $K_2O$ 172 g per tree), June (N 112 g and $K_2O$ 99 g per tree), and October (N 112 g and $K_2O$ 99 g per tree). At the same time, 1/3 or 2/3 of the conventional rate and none were applied to other trees, respectively. Non-application decreased shoot length and reduced number of unnecessary secondary shoots by 39% compared with the conventional rate, not affecting yield and weight, color, firmness, and soluble solids of fruits. No significant difference was also found in the yield and the fruit characteristics among the trees fertilized with different rates. Concentrations of soluble sugars, starch, N, and K of dormant shoots in March of the following year were not significantly changed by the different treatments of the previous year. There was no significant difference of shoot growth and yield among the treatments the following year when the same fertilization rate was supplied to all the trees. Results indicated that fertilization rate could be reduced to less than 1/3 of conventional rate to save the cost and stabilize shoot vigor when tree height is lowered by severe pruning.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.53-62
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• 2017

Electric power which is the energy source of economy and industries requires long distance transportation due to regional difference between its production and consumption, and it is supplied through the multi-loop transmission and distribution system. Prior to its actual use, electric power flows through several transformations by voltage transformers in substations depending on the characteristics of each usage, and a transformer has the structure consisting of the main body, winding wire, insulating oil and bushings. A transformer fire that breaks out in substations entails the primary damage that interrupts the power supply to houses and commercial facilities and causes various safety accidents as well as the secondary economic losses. It is considered that causes of such fire include the leak of insulating oil resulting from the destruction of bottom part of bushings, and the chain reaction of fire due to insulating oil that reaches its ignition point within 1 second. The smoke detector and automatic fire extinguishing system are established in order to minimize fire damage, but a difficulty in securing golden time for extinguishing fire due to delay in the operation of detector and release of gas from the extinguishing system has become a problem. Accordingly, this study was carried out according to needs of active mechanism to prevent the spread of fire and block the leak of insulating oil, in accordance with the importance of securing golden time in extinguishing a fire in its early stage. A bushings fireproof structure was developed by applying the high temperature shape retention materials, which are expanded by flame, and mechanical flame cutoff devices. The bushings fireproof structure was installed on the transformer model produced by applying the actual standards of bushings and flange, and the full scale fire test was carried out. It was confirmed that the bushings fireproof structure operated at accurate position and height within 3 seconds from the flame initiation. It is considered that it could block the spread of flame effectively in the event of actual transformer fire.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.134-144
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• 2003

A rhizobacterium Pseudomonas cholororaphis O6 produced several secondary metabolites, such as phenazines, protease, and HCN that may be involved in inhibition of the growth of phytopathogenic fungi. In field study, P. chlororaphis O6 treatment on wheat seed suppressed root rot disease caused by Fusarium culmorum. The major organic acids of cucumber root exudates were fumaric acid, malic acid, benzoic acid, and succinic acid. Glucose and fructose were major monosaccharides in cucumber root exudates. The total amount of organic acids was ten times higher than that of the sugars. P. chlororaphis O6 grew well on cucumber root exudates. The dctA gene of P. chlororaphis O6 consisted of a 1,335 bp open reading frame with a deduced amino acid sequence of 444 residues, corresponding to a molecular size of about 47 kD and pI 8.2. The deduced dctA sequence has ten putative transmembrane domains, as expected of a membrane-embedded protein. Our results indicated that organic acids in cucumber root exudates may play an important role in providing nutrient source for root colonization of biological control bacteria, and the dctA gene of P. chlororaphis O6 may be an important bacterial trait that is involved in utilization of root exudates.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2019.04a
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• pp.21-22
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• 2019

Melanin is a mixture of pigmented biopolymers synthesized by epidermal melanocytes that determine the skin, eye, and hair colors. Melanocytes produce two different kinds of melanin, eumelanin (dark brown/black insoluble pigments found in dark skin and dark hair and pheomelanin (lighter red/yellow). The biological role of melanin is to prevent skin damage by ultraviolet (UV) radiation. However, the overproduction or deficiency of melanin synthesis could lead to serious dermatological problems, which include melasma, melanoderma, lentigo, and vitiligo. Therefore, regulating melanin production is important to prevent the pigmentation disorders. Myanmar has a rich in natural resources. However, the chemical constituents of these natural resources in Myanmar have not been fully investigated. In the effort to search for compounds with anti-melanin deposition activity from Myanmar natural resources, five plants were collected in Myanmar. Extracts of these collected five plants were tested for anti-melanin deposition activity against a mouse melanoma cell line (B16-F10) induced with ${\alpha}$-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (${\alpha}$-MSH) and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX), and their anti-melanin deposition activities were compared with the positive control, arbutin. Among the tested extracts, the CHCl3 extracts of the Premna serratifolia (syn: P. integrifolia) wood showed anti-melanin deposition activities with IC50 values of $81.3{\mu}g/mL$. Hence, this study aims to identify secondary metabolites with anti-melanin deposition activity from P. serratifolia wood of Myanmar. P. serratifolia belongs to the Verbenaceae family and is widely distributed in near western sea coast from South Asia to South East Asia, which include India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka. People in Tanintharyi region located in the southern part of Myanmar utilize the P. serratifolia, Sperethusa crenulata, Naringi crenulata, and Limonia acidissima as Thanaka, traditional cosmetics in Myanmar. Thanaka is applied in the form of paste onto skins to make it smooth and clear, as well as to prevent wrinkles, skin aging, excessive facial oil, pimples, blackheads, and whiteheads. However, the chemical constituents responsible for their cosmetic properties are yet to be identified. Moreover, the chemical constituents of P. serratifolia was almost uncharacterized. Investigation of the P. serratifolia chemical constituents is thus an attractive endeavor to discover new anti-melanin deposition active compounds. The investigation of the chemical constituents of the active CHCl3 extract of P. serratifolia led to isolation of four new lignoids, premnan A (1), premnan B (2), taungtangyiol C (3), and 7,9-dihydroxydolichanthin B (4), together with premnan C (5) (assumed to be an artifact), one natural newlignoid,(3R,4S)-4-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-ylcarbonyl)-3-[(R)-1-(1,3-benzo dioxol-5-yl)-1-hydroxy methyl]tetrahydro-2-furanone (6), and five known compounds (7-11)1,2). The structures of all isolated compounds were determined on the basis of their spectroscopic data and by comparison with the reported literatures. The absolute configurations of 1-3 and 5 were also determined by optical rotation and circular dichroism (CD) data analyses1). The anti-melanin deposition activities of all the isolated compounds were evaluated against B16-F10 cell line. 7,9-Dihydroxydolichanthin B (4) and ($2{\alpha},3{\alpha}$)-olean-12-en-28-oic acid (11) showed strong anti-melanin deposition activities with IC50 values of 18.4 and $11.2{\mu}M$, respectively, without cytotoxicity2). On the other hand, compounds 1-3, 5, and 7 showed melanogenesis enhancing activities1). To better understand their anti-melanin deposition mechanism, the effects of 4 and 11 on tyrosinase activities were investigated. The assay indicated that compounds 4 and 11 did not inhibit tyrosinase. Furthermore, we also examined the mRNA expression of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF), tyrosinase (TYR), tyrosinase-related protein-1 (TRP-1), and tyrosinase-related protein-2 (TRP-2). Compounds 4 and 11 down-regulated the expression of Tyr and Mitf mRNAs, respectively. Although the P. serratifolia wood has been used as traditional cosmetics in Myanmar for centuries, there are no scientific evidences to support its effectiveness as cosmetics. Investigation of the anti-melanin deposition activity of the chemical constituents of P. serratifolia thus provided insight into the effectiveness of the P. serratifolia wood as a cosmetic agent.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.74-81
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• 2022

Brassica napus, an oil crop that produces rapeseed oil, is an allotetraploid (AACC, 2n = 38) produced by natural hybridization between B. rapa and B. oleracea. In this study, microspore was cultured using the F₁ developed from a cross between 'EMS26' line with high oleic acid content and 'J8634-B-30' lines. The flower bud size showing the nuclear development at the late uninucleate and binucleate stage with high embryogenesis rate was 2.6 ~ 3.5 mm. Microspores were cultured using only this size and after then most microspore embryo developed into secondary embryos and then regeneration plants obtained from the developed multilobe. The analysis of the ploidy of the plants revealed that 66.7% and 27.8% of the total lines were tetraploids and octoploids, respectively. The sizes of stomatal cells in tetraploids, octoploids, and diploids were 25.5, 35.6, and 19.9 ㎛, respectively, indicating that ploidy level was positively correlated with cell size. Furthermore, 62 tetraploid doubled haploid (DH) lines were selected. The average oleic acid (C18:1) and linolenic acid (C18:3) concentrations of DH were 72.3% and 6.2%, respectively. Oleic acid and linolenic acid concentrations exceeded the two parental values in 5 and 14 DH lines, respectively, suggesting that these two fatty acids had transgressive segregation. Therefore, the DH population can be utilized for the biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids in rapeseed and related genes. It can also be used as a breeding material for varieties with high oleic acid concentrations.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.510-522
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• 2022

In this study, to biosynthesize PHA with properties more similar to polypropylene, a Bacillus sp. EMK-5020 strain that biosynthesized poly (3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) was isolated from soil. Bacillus sp. EMK-5020 strain biosynthesized PHBV containing 1.3% 3-hydroxyvalerate (3HV) using reducing sugar contained in Makgeolli lees enzymatic hydrolysate (MLEH) as a single carbon source. As the amount of propionic acid, which was added as a second carbon source, increased, the content of 3HV also increased. PHBV containing up to 48.6% of 3HV was synthesized when 1.0 g/l of propionic acid was added. Based on these results, the strain was cultured for 72 hr in a 3 l fermenter using reducing sugar in MLEH (20 g/l) and propionic acid (1 g/l) as the main and secondary carbon sources, respectively. As a result, 6.4 g/l DCW and 50 wt% of PHBV (MLEH-PHBV) containing 8.9% 3HV were biosynthesized. Through gel permeation chromatography and thermogravimetric analysis, it was confirmed that the average molecular weight and the decomposition temperature of MLEH-PHBV were 152 kDa and 273℃, respectively. In conclusion, the Bacillus sp. EMK-5020 strain could biosynthesize PHBV containing various 3HV fractions when MLEH and propionic acid were used as carbon sources, and PHBV-MLEH containing 8.9% 3HV was confirmed to have higher thermal stability than standard PHBV (8% 3HV).