• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.998-1003
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• 2014

Aspartate aminotransferase (AST; E.C. 2.6.1.1), a vitamin B6-dependent enzyme, preferentially promotes the mutual transformation of aspartate and ${\alpha}$-ketoglutarate to oxaloacetate and glutamate. It plays a key role in amino acid metabolism and has been widely recommended as a biomarker of liver and heart damage. Our study aimed to evaluate the extensive preparation of AST and its application in quality control in clinical laboratories. We describe a scheme to express and purify the 6His-AST fusion protein. An optimized sequence coding AST was synthesized and transformed into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) strain for protein expression. Ideally, the fusion protein has a volumetric productivity achieving 900 mg/l cultures. After affinity chromatography, the enzyme activity of purified AST reached 150,000 U/L. Commutability assessment between the engineered AST and standard AST from Roche suggested that the engineered AST was the better candidate for the reference material. Moreover, the AST showed high stability during long-term storage at $-20^{\circ}C$. In conclusion, the highly soluble 6His-tagged AST can become a convenient tool for supplying a much better and cheaper standard or reference material for the clinical laboratory.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2020.12a
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• pp.75-84
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• 2020

Modular construction is a construction method whereby prefabricated volumetric units are produced in a factory and are installed on site to form a building block. The construction productivity can be substantially improved by the manufacturing and assembly of standardized modular units. 3D printing is a computer-controlled fabrication method first adopted in the manufacturing industry and was utilized for the automated construction of small-scale houses in recent years. Implementing 3D printing in the fabrication of modular units brings huge benefits to modular construction, including increased customization, lower material waste, and reduced labor work. Such implementation also benefits the large-scale and wider adoption of 3D printing in engineering practice. However, a critical issue for 3D printed modules is the loading capacity, particularly in response to horizontal forces like wind load, which requires a deeper understanding of the building structure behavior and the design of load-bearing modules. Therefore, this paper presents the state-of-the-art literature concerning recent achievement in 3D printing for buildings, followed by discussion on the opportunities and challenges for examining 3D printing in modular construction. Promising 3D printing techniques are critically reviewed and discussed with regard to their advantages and limitations in construction. The appropriate structural form needs to be determined at the design stage, taking into consideration the overall building structural behavior, site environmental conditions (e.g., wind), and load-carrying capacity of the 3D printed modules. Detailed finite element modelling of the entire modular buildings needs to be conducted to verify the structural performance, considering the code-stipulated lateral drift, strength criteria, and other design requirements. Moreover, integration of building information modelling (BIM) method is beneficial for generating the material and geometric details of the 3D printed modules, which can then be utilized for the fabrication.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.63-77
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• 2024

Yield monitoring systems have become integral to precision agriculture, providing insights into the spatial variability of crop yield and playing an important role in modern harvesting technology. This paper aims to review current research trends in yield monitoring systems, specifically designed for non-grain crops, including cabbages, radishes, potatoes, and tomatoes. A systematic literature survey was conducted to evaluate the performance of various monitoring methods for non-grain crop yields. This study also assesses both mass- and volume-based yield monitoring systems to provide precise evaluations of agricultural productivity. Integrating load cell technology enables precise mass flow rate measurements and cumulative weighing, offering an accurate representation of crop yields, and the incorporation of image-based analysis enhances the overall system accuracy by facilitating volumetric flow rate calculations and refined volume estimations. Mass flow methods, including weighing, force impact, and radiometric approaches, have demonstrated impressive results, with some measurement error levels below 5%. Volume flow methods, including paddle wheel and optical methodologies, yielded error levels below 3%. Signal processing and correction measures also play a crucial role in achieving accurate yield estimations. Moreover, the selection of sensing approach, sensor layout, and mounting significantly influence the performance of monitoring systems for specific crops.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.172-176
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• 1996

Effect of culture conditions such as pH, temperature, agitation speed and oxygen transfer rate on xylitol production from xylose by Candide parapsilosis ATCC 21019 mutant was investigated in a jar fermentor. The initial concentration of xylosr was fixed at 50 g/l in this experiment. When pH was increased, cell growth and xylose consumption rate were increased, but maximum xylitol production was shown in the range of pH 4.5 and 5.5 with a yield of 0.68 g/g-xylose. The optimal temperature for xylitol production was determined to be $30^{\circ}C$. Considering the importance of dissolved oxygen tension, for xylitol production, the effect of oxygen transfer rate coefficient $(k_La)$ on fermentation parameters was carefully evaluated in the range of $20{\sim}85\;hr{-1}\;of\;k_La$ (corresponding to $100{\sim}300$rpm of agitation speed). The xylitol production was maximized at $30\;hr^{-1}\;of\;k_La$(150 rpm). A higher oxygen transfer rate supported better cell growth with lower xylitol yield. It was determined that maximum xylitol concentration, xylitol yield and productivity was 35.8 g/l, 71.6% and $0.58\;g/l{\sim}hr^{-1}$, respectively, at $30\;hr^{-1}\;of\;k_La$ In order to further increase xylitol productivity, ferementation using the concentrated biomass(20 g/l) was carried out at the conditions of pH 4.5, $30^{\circ}C$ and $30\;hr\;1$ of oxygen transfer rate. The final xylitol concentration of 40 g/l was obtained at 18 hours of culture time. From this result, it was calculated that xylitol yield was 80ft on the basis of xylose consumption and volumetric productivity was $2.22\;g/l{\sim}hr$ which was increased by $3{\sim}4$ fold compared with $0.5{\sim}0.7\;g/l-hr$ obtained in a normal fermentation condition.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.250-258
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• 1988

Lipases are well known as the enzymes which catalyze the hydrolysis of ester bonds combining aliphatic chains and glycerol on mono-, di- and triglycerides. Their reactions are characterized by be-ing heterogeneous and catalyzing the water-insoluble substrates. This property has been one of the Hurdles which delayed the application of lipases in fats and oils industry, However, with the development of biological reaction system of which organic solvent is introduced in part or whole as the reaction media, enzymatic manipulation of fats and oils is attracting increasing attention from the academic and industrial sectors. Trials in two-phase system and reversed micellar system to produce fatty acids through enzymatic hydrolysis of triglycerides preyed to be efficient in respect to volumetric productivity, fat hydrolysis rate, product separation, etc. In organic solvent system lipases have been found to have the ability to catalyze aminolysis, transesterification, esterification, thiotransesterification and oximolysis that are virtually impossible to catalyze in water. The organic solvent system is being extensively used in interesterifying glycerides to produce a fat with the modified physical and chemical nature.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.291-297
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• 2018

Vertical farming systems offer many advantages in urban spaces. They have also been proposed as an engineering solution to increase the productivity per unit area of cultivated land by extending crop production in the vertical dimension. However, soil water retention is a major constraint affecting the plant environment. This study analyzed the effects of growth environment of Tropaeolum majus and Fragaria spp., on the vertical farming system, by using four different types of cover material types including sphagnum moss (Control), a shading net (S.N.), multi-layered fabric (M.L.F.), and non-woven fabric (N.W.F.). The volumetric soil moisture contents and plant characteristics were investigated from May to September 2014. Plant materials were individually cultivated in hanging baskets measuring $30{\times}17{\times}17cm$, filled with a mixture of soil and perlite, and placed at 1.5m height. Each treatment was performed in quadruplicate and consisted of five plants, amounting to a total of 20 plants. The analysis indicated that different covers were associated with multiple functions and soil water retention improvements may have a positive impact on the vertical farming system. The difference in soil water retention increased in the following order: M.L.F. > Control > N.W.F. > S.N.. Furthermore, the differences in plant height and survival rate increased in the following order: M.L.F. > Control > N.W.F. > S.N. Therefore, M.L.F yielded satisfactory good response for the vertical farming system of cover materials. Our results clearly demonstrate that vertical spaces represent an attractive alternative to urban farming and suggest that further increases in yield may be achieved via different cover materials in vertical farming using hanging baskets.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.200-206
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• 2005

A bacterium with high productivity of poly-$\gamma$-glutamic acid (PGA) was isolated from the traditional Korean seasoning, ChungKookJang. The 16s ribosomal RNA sequence of isolated strain showed 97.6, 98.9 and $90.3{\%}$ of similarity to those of Bacillus sp. WL-3, Bacillus subtilis; ENV1 and B amy-loliquefaciens (T), respectively. Accordingly, this bacterium was identified as a Bacillus sp. However, some biochemical characteristics of this strain were different from those of B. subtilis: D-xylose fermentation and glycogen utility were negative. Maximum production of PGA was achieved when it was grown aerobically in a culture medium containing glutamic acid ($3{\%}$) and fructose ($4{\%}$) as carbon sources. The volumetric yield of PGA reached up to 27 g/l in the optimum culture medium. These results suggest that the present strain can be applicable for industrial purposes such as a prototype strain for food or cosmetics industry.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.525-532
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• 2020

A continuous fermentation process was carried out to enhance hyaluronic acid (HA) production using Streptococcus zooepidemicus cells. During the 1st stage continuous operation from 8 h with a dilution rate of 0.029/h (D1), HA was produced in the range of 7.5-10 g/l. During the 2nd stage from 44 h with a dilution rate of 0.036/h (D2), HA production (8.28 g/l) was initially reduced to a small extent due to increase of dilution rate from D1 to D2, and then a new pseudo-steady state was formed within a few hours with a concurrent small variations of HA production. The HA amount produced during the latter part of the 2nd stage was stably maintained in the range of 8.28-9.48 g/l, about 4.7% less amount compared to the 1st stage. Due to 24% increase of dilution rate from D1 to D2, however, maximum volumetric productivity (DP) amounting to 0.341 g/l/h was obtained at 96 h during the 2nd stage. This maximum productivity obtained from the continuous culture turned out only a small increase (3%) as compared to the corresponding batch fermentation. However, it should be noted that, in the case of batch process, one run typically consists of serial stages of growth culture plus one final production culture. This implies that, if the continuous fermentation that practically needs no dead time necessary for the multi-stage growth cultures is run for longer period, the total amount of the accumulated HA would be far greater than the amount obtained from the corresponding batch culture performed for the identical period.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.344-357
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• 2020

Strain improvement and bioprocess development were undertaken to enhance hyaluronic acid(HA) production by Streptococcus zooepidemicus cells. Using a high-yielding mutant strain, statistical medium optimization was carried out in shake flask cultures, resulting in 52% increase in HA production (5.38 g/l) at the optimal medium composition relative to the parallel control cultures. For sufficient supply of dissolved oxygen (DO), which turned out to be crucial for enhanced production of HA, agitation system and speed were intensively investigated in 5 L bioreactor cultures. Increase in oxygen mass transfer coefficient (k_La) through increment of agitation speed (rpm) and 35% expansion of diameter of the newly-designed impellers showed significantly positive effects on HA production. By installing an expanded Rushton-turbine impeller for efficient break-down of sparged air, and an extended marine impeller above the Rushton-turbine impeller for efficient mixing of the air-born viscous fermentation broth, maximum amount of HA (9.79 g/l) was obtained at 450 rpm, 1.8 times higher level than that of the corresponding flask culture. Subsequently, the possibility of bioprocess scale-up to a 50 L bioreactor was investigated. Despite almost identical maximum HA production (9.11 vs 9.25 g/l), the average HA volumetric productivity (r_p) of the 50 L culture turned out only 74% compared to the corresponding 5 L culture during the exponential phase, possibly caused by shear damages imposed on the producing cells at the high stirring in the 50 L culture. The scale-up process could be successfully achieved if a scale-up criterion of constant oxygen mass transfer coefficient (k_La) is applied to the 50 L pilot-scale bioreactor system.