• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.197-205
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• 2017

Exposure of Jurkat T cell clone (J/Neo cells) to acacetin (5,7-dihydroxy-4'-methoxyflavone), which is present in barnyard millet (Echinochloa esculenta (A. Braun)) grains, caused cytotoxicity, enhancement of apoptotic $sub-G_1$ rate, Bak activation, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (${\Delta}{\Psi}m$), activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3, degradation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, and FITC-Annexin V-stainable phosphatidylserine exposure on the external surface of the cytoplasmic membrane without accompanying necrosis. These apoptotic responses were abrogated in Jurkat T cell clone (J/Bcl-xL) overexpressing Bcl-xL. Under the same conditions, cellular autophagic responses, including suppression of the Akt-mTOR pathway and p62/SQSTM1 down-regulation, were commonly detected in J/Neo and J/Bcl-xL cells; however, formation of acridine orange-stainable acidic vascular organelles, LC3-I/II conversion, and Beclin-1 phosphorylation (Ser-15) were detected only in J/Neo cells. Correspondingly, concomitant treatment with the autophagy inhibitor (3-methyladenine or LY294002) appeared to enhance acacetin-induced apoptotic responses, such as Bak activation, ${\Delta}{\Psi}m$ loss, activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3, and apoptotic $sub-G_1$ accumulation. This indicated that acacetin could induce apoptosis and cytoprotective autophagy in Jurkat T cells simultaneously. Together, these results demonstrate that acacetin induces not only apoptotic cell death via activation of Bak, loss of ${\Delta}{\Psi}m$, and activation of the mitochondrial caspase cascade, but also cytoprotective autophagy resulting from suppression of the Akt-mTOR pathway. Furthermore, pharmacologic inhibition of the autophagy pathway augments the activation of Bak and resultant mitochondrial damage-mediated apoptosis in Jurkat T cells.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.493-500
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• 2013

Gelatin is a collagen-containing thermohydrolytic substance commonly incorporated in cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. This study investigated the antioxidant activity of gelatin by using different reagents, such as 2,2-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline- 6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), 2,2-di (4-tert-octylphenyl)-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and oxygen radical absorbance capacity-fluorescein (ORAC-FL) in a porcine gelatin hydrolysate obtained using gastrointestinal enzymes. Electrophoretic analysis of the gelatin hydrolysis products showed extensive degradation by pepsin and pancreatin, resulting in an increase in the peptide concentration (12.1 mg/mL). Antioxidant activity, as measured by ABTS, exhibited the highest values after 48-h incubation with pancreatin treatment after pepsin digestion. Similar effects were observed at 48 h incubation, that is, 61.5% for the DPPH assay and 69.3% for the ABTS assay. However, the gallic acid equivalent (GE) at 48 h was $87.8{\mu}M$, whereas $14.5{\mu}M$ GE was obtained using the ABTS and DPPH assays, indicating about sixfold increase. In the ORACFL assay, antioxidant activity corresponding to $45.7{\mu}M$ of trolox equivalent was found in the gelatin hydrolysate after 24 h hydrolysis with pancreatin treatment after pepsin digestion, whereas this activity decreased at 48 h. These antioxidant assay results showed that digestion of gelatin by gastrointestinal enzymes prevents oxidative damage.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.171-183
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• 2020

The main objective of this study is the assessment of the ability of limestone mortars to resist to different chemical attacks. The ability of polypropylene (PP) fibres waste used as reinforcement of these concrete materials to enhance their durability is also studied. Crushed sand 0/2 mm which is a fine limestone residue obtained by the crushing of natural rocks in aggregates industry is used for the fabrication of the mortar. The fibres used, which are obtained from the waste of domestic plastic sweeps' fabrication, have a length of 20 mm and a diameter ranging between 0.38 and 0.51 mm. Two weight fibres contents are used, 0.5 and 1%. The durability tests carried out in this investigation included the water absorption by capillarity, the mass variation, the flexural and the compressive strengths of the mortar specimens immersed for 366 days in 5% sodium chloride, 5% magnesium sulphate and 5% sulphuric acid solutions. A mineralogical analysis by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and a visual inspection are used for a better examination of the quality of tested mortars and for better interpretation of their behaviour in different solutions. The results indicate that the reinforcement of limestone mortar by PP fibres waste is an excellent solution to improve its chemical resistance and durability. Moreover, the presence of PP fibres waste does not affect significantly the water absorption by capillarity of mortar nether its mass variation, when exposed to chloride and sulphate solutions. While in sulphuric acid, the mass loss is higher with the presence of PP fibres waste, especially after an exposure of 180 days. The results reveal that these fibres have a considerable effect of the flexural and the compressive behaviour of mortar especially in acid solution, where a reduction of strength loss is observed. The mineralogical analysis confirms the good behaviour of mortar immersed in sulphate and chloride solutions; and shows that more gypsum is formed in mortar exposed to acid environment causing its rapid degradation. The visual observation reveals that only samples exposed to acid attack during 366 days have showed a surface damage extending over a depth of approximately 300 ㎛.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.345-346
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• 2013

InGaN material is being studied increasingly as a prospective material for solar cells. One of the merits for solar cell applications is that the band gap energy can be engineered from 0.7 eV for InN to 3.4 eV for GaN by varying of indium composition, which covers almost of solar spectrum from UV to IR. It is essential for better cell efficiency to improve not only the crystalline quality of the epitaxial layers but also fabrication of the solar cells. Fabrication includes transparent top electrodes and surface texturing which will improve the carrier extraction. Surface texturing is one of the most employed methods to enhance the extraction efficiency in LED fabrication and can be formed on a p-GaN surface, on an N-face of GaN, and even on an indium tin oxide (ITO) layer. Surface texturing method has also been adopted in InGaN-based solar cells and proved to enhance the efficiency. Since the texturing by direct etching of p-GaN, however, was known to induce the damage and result in degraded electrical properties, texturing has been studied widely on ITO layers. However, it is important to optimize the ITO thickness in Solar Cells applications since the reflectance is fluctuated by ITO thickness variation resulting in reduced light extraction at target wavelength. ITO texturing made by wet etching or dry etching was also revealed to increased series resistance in ITO film. In this work, we report a new way of texturing by deposition of thickness-optimized ITO films on ITO nano dots, which can further reduce the reflectance as well as electrical degradation originated from the ITO etching process.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.325-331
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• 2003

3-Nitropropionic acid (3-NP) inhibits electron transport in mitochondria, leading to a metabolic failure. In order to elucidate the mechanism underlying this toxicity, we examined a few biochemical changes possibly involved in the process, such as metabolic inhibition, generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), DNA strand breakage, and activation of Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Exposure of SK-N-BE(2)C neuroblastoma cells to 3-NP for 48 h caused actual cell death, while inhibition of mitochondrial function was readily observed when exposed for 24 h to low concentrations (0.2${\sim}$2 mM) of 3-NP. The earliest biochemical change detected with low concentration of 3-NP was an accumulation of ROS (4 h after 3-NP exposure) followed by degradation of DNA. PARP activation by damaged DNA was also detectable, but at a later time. The accumulation of ROS and DNA strand breakage were suppressed by the addition of glutathione or N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), which also partially restored mitochondrial function and cell viability. In addition, inhibition of PARP also reduced the 3-NP-induced DNA strand breakage and cytotoxicity. These results suggest that oxidative stress and activation of PARP are the major factors in 3-NP-induced cytotoxicity, and that the inhibition of these factors may be useful in protecting neuroblastoma cells from 3-NP-induced toxicity.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.793-800
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• 2005

We isolated and identified microorganisms from the aerial environment of domestic museums. The fungi, Penicillium spp., Alternaria spp., and Cladosporium spp. were isolated in many museums. It seems that these fungi are related to biological degradation of textile remains. A total of 14 kinds of bacterial strains were isolated: Acinetobacter spp., Pseudomonas spp., Neisseria spp., Alcaligenes spp., Shigella spp., Klebsiella spp., Corynebacterium spp., Aerococcus spp., Bacillus spp., Micrococcus spp., Citrobacter spp., Erwinia spp., Salmonella spp., and Providencia spp. Acinetobacter spp., Pseudomonas spp., Neisseria spp., and Alcaligenes spp. were the predominate bacteria found in samples with a variety of bacteria. This suggests that there is a relationship between bacteria and the damage of textile remains. In the museum, we isolated Alternaria spp, Geotrichum spp., Penicillium spp. Acinetobacter spp., Pseudomonas spp., Alcaligenes spp. from the entrance, exhibit hall and storage, but they were found in smaller number and species in the exhibit cases and paulownia cases. We concluded that paulownia cases were not influenced by the microorganisms because of quality of care provided by the museum staff. Corynebacterium spp., and Bacillus spp. were not detected at the entrance and exhibit hall but were detected in paulownia cases. It is presumed that those bacteria did not flow in from outside, but resulted from contaminants in paulownia cases. In the distribution of microorganisms associated with textile remains, more fungi were detected than bacteria. Acinetobacter spp., Pseudomonas spp., and Neisseria spp., were isolated from silk items. Penicillium spp. and Cladosporium spp. were isolated in the silk and hump items. Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium spp. were isolated from the cotton items. On the other hands, there were no fungi strains in the wool items. Most of the isolated strains from textile remains were aerial microorganisms from the museum environment. These results suggest that textile remains were apt to contaminated by contact with the air.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2001

To investigate the effects of waste sludge from antibiotic fermentation on the growth of young radish and chemical properties of soil, five levels of fertilizer, control (recommended fertilizer, $N-P_2O_5-K_2O=160-59-104$ kg/ha), AS(control + sludge 1,000 kg/ha), AC(control + conventional compost 1,000 kg/ha), SNS(control - subtracting 30% N of sludge + sludge 1,000 kg/ha) and SNC(control - subtracting 30% N of conventional compost + conventional compost 1,000 kg/ha) were applied and radish was grown twice with same treatments on May and August in 1998. Germination rate and early growth of young radish grown with AS and SNS were lower than those grown in control and with AC, SNC. This negative effects by adding the sludge in the early growth seemed to be caused by damage of ammonia gas released during degradation of the sludge in soil. However, yield of young radish showed no significant difference among all the treatments including the AS and SNS at the 1st and 2nd experiment, and these suggested that the latter half of growth of young radish was accelerated by adding the sludge. Contents of T-N in young radish and inorganic N in soil showed a tendency to increase by adding the sludge while antibiotic substance, cephalosporin-C, was not detected in plant material and soils after harvest of young radish in both experiments. Consequently, waste sludge from antibiotic fermentation, which contains high levels of organic matter and nitrogen could be used as an useful resource in agriculture.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.150-159
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• 2011

The need of securing the stability and extending service lives by efficient maintenance of deteriorated tunnels for several decades has been increased. The stability and the usability of conventional tunnels can be decreased by change of physical properties of the surrounding ground, geometrical properties of the tunnel, an underground water level, environmental conditions, oxidation of lining and the breakdown of constituent materials. In respect of a long-term view, it is need to check all sorts of degradation, the degree of damage and durability to improve the serviceability and to come up with measures to maintain effectively. This paper is about study to analyze the stability of conventional tunnels(American Steel Support Method. ASSM). Three tunnels are chosen in those built in the 1930s and 1960s and the locations of tunnels are selected variously(ChungCheong, GyungBuk, GangWon, Jeolla, etc.) to secure reliability of this study. The state of repair and reinforcement of linings, cracks, and thickness and strength of lining of conventional tunnels in service are researched, compared and analyzed. The crack gauge, the GPR, the schmitt hammer was used for the crack investigation, cavitation, the strength respectively. By using these, the comparative analysis for conventional tunnels was conducted. As a result, there are more cracks in tunnels built in the 1930s than those of tunnels built in the 1960s, and lining strength of the 1930s is higher than those of the 1960s. The thickness of lining in tunnels built in the 1960s is higher than those in tunnels built in the 1930s. In proportion to thickness, cavitation occurred more frequently in tunnels built in the 1960s compared to those in tunnels built in the 1930s.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.651-658
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• 2012

This paper concentrates on the evaluation of microcracks in thermal damaged concrete on the basis of the nonlinear ultrasonic modulation technique. Since concrete structure exposed to high temperature accompanies the development of microcracks due to the physical and chemical changes from temperature and exposed time, the adoption of nonlinear approach is required. Instead of using the conventional ultrasonic nondestructive methods which have the limitation in evaluating excessive microcracks, accordingly, a nonlinear ultrasonic modulation method which shows better sensitivity in quantifying microcracks is introduced. Upon the analysis for the modulation of ultrasonic wave and low frequency impact to measure the nonlinearity parameter, which can be used as an indicator of thermal damage, the verification processes for the introduced technique are followed: SEM investigation and permeable pore space test are performed to characterize thermally induced microcracks in concrete, and ultrasonic pulse velocity tests are performed to confirm the outstanding sensitivity of nonlinear ultrasonic modulation technique. In advance, compressive strength of thermal damaged concrete is measured to represent the effect of microcracks on performance degradation. Correlation studies between experimental data and measured data show that nonlinear ultrasonic modulation technique can effectively be used to quantify thermally induced microcracks, and to estimate the compressive strength of thermally damaged concrete.

• 보존과학연구
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• s.34
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• pp.20-29
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• 2013

Paper, textile and wood materials are mainly consisted of cellulose. Cellulose is high molecule and make up the strong crystalline structure by hydrogen bonds. In particular, the polymerization degree of cellulose are closely related to the strength of fiber, and the permanence. the useful life of fiber, also depends on the degradation of this substance. The viscosity of cellulose is considered to be an important indicator of fiber damage in high molecule polymers. The viscosity measurements with CED solution is used to measure the molecular weight and the degree of polymerization of cellulose. Cellulose viscosity of wood fibers is measured with TAPPI standard method T230. However, TAPPI standard method T230 is difficult to completely dissolving the cellulose of high molecular weight and large degree of polymerization, such as Korea traditional papers and fabrics made with mulberry, ramie, cotton fibers. In this study, The high viscosity of hanji and fabric was measured with TAPPI standard method T254. T254 method is that the cellulose specimen with the proper amount of weaker (0.167M CED) solution, and completely dissolved with the stronger (1.0M CED) solution. It was found that cellulose with high degree of polymerization was dissolved more easily in general CED method.