• Toxicological Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 2007

Amygdalin is a cyanogenic glycoside which is commonly found in almonds, bamboo shoots, and apri-cot kernels, and peach kernels. Amygdalin was first hydrolysed into prunasin, then degraded into cyanohydrin by sequential two-stage mechanism. The objective of this study was to examine the amygdalin decomposition and cyanide formation at various in vitro conditions, including acid, enzyme and anaerobic microbes (AM) in human feces (HF). In acid hydrolysis mimicking gastric environment, amygdalin was degraded to cyanide up to 0.2% in specific pH. In contrast, enzyme assay showed higher cyanide generation either by ${\beta}$-glucosidase, or by incubation with microbe. In conclusion, we are convinced of cyanide generation are occurred mainly by microbiological activities of the gut flora up to 41.53%. After ingestion with some staff, the degree and site of degradation in an organism is a key parst of regulatory decision making of that staff.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.98-101
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• 2003

The Alkali-Aggregate Reaction (AAR) may cause a serious failure in the concrete structures. Several researchers in some nations have performed the continuous studies to prevent failure of a concrete structures by the AAR distress as well as the studies to manifest the mechanism. The ASTM Standards to prevent failure by potential AAR aggregates were established in 1950. The KS F2545 and KS F 2546 were established to test the susceptibility of aggregate to potential AAR in 1982. But the researches on the AAR have not been performed affluently in Korea because the distress due to AAR has seldom been reported officially. In this study, the Chemical Method and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used to verifying the cause of the pattern crack on the surface and internal crack in the plain concrete pavement. It can be concluded that the distress of a specific site in plain concrete pavement was mainly due to AAR, and the chemical method and SEM may be the effective tools for verifying the cause of AAR distresses.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.171-177
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• 2000

Metal hydride used as hydrogen storage material usually needs the activating process to store the hydrogen at high temperature or high pressure. In general as the particle size of metal hydride becomes smaller, approached to the micro, furthermore, nano scale, storage ability and reaction kinetics are reported to be increased, because the specific surface is extremely increased. But the experimental results demonstrated that the optimum particle size is existed for the best absorbing performance, opposite to the usual expectation. This results from the particles to be come amorphous with their approaching to micro and nano scale, in the storage site within the metal hydride lattice is decreased, which is proved by XRD and SEM.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.374-378
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• 1997

Glutathione S-transferase (GST) was purified from Pseudomonas sp. DJ77, and its N-terminal sequence was determined to be MKLFISPGACSL. A specific tyrosyl residue in the vicinity of the N terminus is conserved in all the known cytosolic GSTs and has been shown to function as a catalytic residue in $\alpha$, $\mu$, $\pi$ class GSTs from mammals. However, Pseudomonas sp. DJ77 GST has the Phe-4 and Ile-5 instead of Tyr in N-terminus. Its replacement with tyrosine did not significantly affect the enzyme activity. Results from in vitro biochemical analyses were confirmed by the in vivo activity-based CDNB growth inhibition analyses. Our results clearly indicate that GST of Pseudomonas sp. DJ77 has a novel reaction mechanism different from that of mammalian GSTs.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.128-136
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• 2014

Alginates are linear acidic polysaccharides composed with (1-4)-linked ${\alpha}$-L-guluronic acid and ${\beta}$-Dmannuronic acid. Alginate can be degraded by diverse alginate lyases, which cleave the alginate using a ${\beta}$-elimination reaction and produce unsaturated uronate oligomers. A gene for a polyMG-specific alginate lyase possessing a novel structure was previously identified and cloned from Stenotrophomonas maltophilia KJ-2. Homology modeling of KJ-2 polyMG-specific alginate lyase showed it belongs to the PL6 family, whereas three Azotobacter vinelandii polyMG lyases belong to the PL7 family of polysaccharide lyases. From $^1H$-NMR spectra data, KJ-2 polyMG lyase preferably degraded the M-${\beta}$(1-4)-G glycosidic bond than the G-${\alpha}$(1-4)-M glycosidic bond. Seventeen mutants were made by site-directed mutagenesis, and alginate lyase activity was analyzed. Lys220Ala, Arg241Ala, Arg241Lys, and Arg265Ala lost alginate lyase activity completely. Arg155Ala, Gly303Glu, and Tyr304Phe also lost the activity by 60.7-80.1%. These results show that Arg155, Lys220, Arg241, Arg265, Gly303, and Tyr304 are important residues for catalytic activity and substrate binding.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.1-11
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• 2001

New technologies will have a large impact on the discovery of new herbicide site of action. Genomics, combinatorial chemistry, and bioinformatics help take advantage of serendipity through tile sequencing of huge numbers of genes or the synthesis of large numbers of chemical compounds. There are approximately $10^{30}\;to\;10^{50}$ possible molecules in molecular space of which only a fraction have been synthesized. Combining this potential with having access to 50,000 plant genes in the future elevates tile probability of discovering flew herbicidal site of actions. If 0.1, 1.0 or 10% of total genes in a typical plant are valid for herbicide target, a plant with 50,000 genes would provide about 50, 500, and 5,000 targets, respectively. However, only 11 herbicide targets have been identified and commercialized. The successful design of novel herbicides depends on careful consideration of a number of factors including target enzyme selections and validations, inhibitor designs, and the metabolic fates. Biochemical information can be used to identify enzymes which produce lethal phenotypes. The identification of a lethal target site is an important step to this approach. An examination of the characteristics of known targets provides of crucial insight as to the definition of a lethal target. Recently, antisense RNA suppression of an enzyme translation has been used to determine the genes required for toxicity and offers a strategy for identifying lethal target sites. After the identification of a lethal target, detailed knowledge such as the enzyme kinetics and the protein structure may be used to design potent inhibitors. Various types of inhibitors may be designed for a given enzyme. Strategies for the selection of new enzyme targets giving the desired physiological response upon partial inhibition include identification of chemical leads, lethal mutants and the use of antisense technology. Enzyme inhibitors having agrochemical utility can be categorized into six major groups: ground-state analogues, group specific reagents, affinity labels, suicide substrates, reaction intermediate analogues, and extraneous site inhibitors. In this review, examples of each category, and their advantages and disadvantages, will be discussed. The target identification and construction of a potent inhibitor, in itself, may not lead to develop an effective herbicide. The desired in vivo activity, uptake and translocation, and metabolism of the inhibitor should be studied in detail to assess the full potential of the target. Strategies for delivery of the compound to the target enzyme and avoidance of premature detoxification may include a proherbicidal approach, especially when inhibitors are highly charged or when selective detoxification or activation can be exploited. Utilization of differences in detoxification or activation between weeds and crops may lead to enhance selectivity. Without a full appreciation of each of these facets of herbicide design, the chances for success with the target or enzyme-driven approach are reduced.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.805-810
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• 2007

Molecular recognition for a specific cation depending on the change of the oxidation state of the metal catalyst component contained in the hydrogel network has been studied in a self-oscillating hydrogel. The selfoscillating hydrogels are synthesized by the copolymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm), lead methacrylic acid (Pb(MAA)2), and Ru(bpy)3 2+ monomer as a metal catalyst component. The recognition for a specific cation (in this study, Ca2+ has been used) is characterized by the adsorbed amount of Ca2+ into the gel. The recognition of the gels for Ca2+ is higher at the temperature below the LCST, and also higher at the oxidized state than at reduced state of the metal catalyst component which corresponds to a more swollen state. Moreover, a propagating wave induced by a periodic change of the oxidation state with the diffusion phenomena in the oscillating hydrogel shows a possibility for temporal and site-specific molecular recognition due to the local swelling of the gel.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.252-254
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• 2004

The mutant tryptophan synthases at $\alpha$Asp$^{56}$ have low catalytic activities. The enzymes were treated with $\alpha$ and $\beta$ subunit-specific ligands in the presence of L-serine and indoline. It was shown that the cations resulted in changes of absorbance patterns among the proteins, while glycerophosphate showed similar pattern of absorbance. The glycerophosphate binds to the active site of $\alpha$ subunit so that $\alpha$Asp$^{56}$ may not be involved in the allosteric control with the active site of $\alpha$ subunit occupied by substrate. The results suggest that $\alpha$Asp$^{56}$ may playa role in the step of a series of reaction occurring without bound substrates in the active site of asubunit.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.329-333
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• 2001

Evaluation on the diagnostic performances of urease test and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of Helicobacter species infection in dogs has rarely been performed in research with site-specific situations, although assessing diagnostic tests is an essential part prior to its practical use in a variety of clinical settings. The clinical value of a diagnostic test may be misjudged and comparisons between different tests may yield misleading conclusions when high within-patient correlations are present. We applied a conceptually simple statistical approach to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of urease test and PCR for detection of Helicobacter species infection in dogs. This approach assumes that responses from three different sampling sites within an animal are correlated where unit for statistical analysis is the site rather than the animal. The sensitivity and specificity of urease test was 0.74% (95% confidence interval, 0.64-0.84) and 0.87 (95% CI, 0.67-1.00), respectively. For PCR, the sensitivity was 0.95(95% CI, 0.89-1.00) and specificity 0.90 (95% CI, 0.70-1.00). Two tests were almost equally specific. Urease test, however, has a lower diagnostic accuracy and thus should only be used after careful validation in terms of sensitivity.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.41-52
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• 2021

NiO and Co3O4-doped porous La(CoNi)O3 perovskite oxides were prepared from excess Ni addition by a hydrothermal method using porous silica template, and characterized as bifunctional catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) for Zn-air rechargeable batteries in alkaline solution. Excess Ni induced to form NiO and Co3O4 in La(CoNi)O3 particles. The NiO and Co3O4-doped porous La(CoNi)O3 showed high specific surface area, up to nine times of conventionally synthesized perovskite oxide, and abundant pore volume with similar structure. Extra added Ni was partially substituted for Co as B site of ABO3 perovskite structure and formed to NiO and Co3O4 which was highly dispersed in particles. Excess Ni in La(CoNi)O3 catalysts increased OER performance (259 mA/㎠ at 2.4 V) in alkaline solution, although the activities (211 mA/㎠ at 0.5 V) for ORR were not changed with the content of excess Ni. La(CoNi)O3 with excess Ni showed very stable cyclability and low capacity fading rate (0.38 & 0.07 ㎶/hour for ORR & OER) until 300 hours (~70 cycles) but more excess content of Ni in La(CoNi)O3 gave negative effect to cyclability.