• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.206-212
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• 2008

The quorum sensing (QS) regulatory network has been the subject of extensive studies during recent years and has also attracted a lot of attention because it both positively and negatively regulates various putative virulence factors, although initially considered to be a specialized system of Vibrio fischeri and related species. In this study, to identify the novel materials which inhibit QS system of microorganisms, extracts of eighteen natural products were tested by bioassay using N-(3-oxohexanoyl)-$_L$-homoserine lactone and N-(3-oxooctanoyl)-$_L$-homoserine lactone synthesized in this experiment and an Agrobacterium tumefaciens NT1 biosensor strain containing a traI::lacZ fusion. The result indicated that the extracts of cabbage, leek, and onion exhibited the QS inhibition activity. Thus, materials contained in the extracts were isolated via recycling preparative HPLC and were purified via a JAIGEL-LS255 column. The common fraction corresponding to a peak of the 83 min point of them quenched the quorum sensing of A. tumefaciens NT1 biosensor strain in ABMM containing X-gal and was designated quorum sensing inhibitor-83 min (QSI-83). The QSI-83 exhibited the heat stability and did not inhibit the growth of A. tumefaciens NTl. Furthermore, thin layer chromatography (TLC) results suggested that these novel materials may be antagonists of N-acyl homoserine lactone or may inhibit the QS autoinducer synthesis by Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.820-825
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• 2010

The functional food components from various Basidiomycota were investigated to improve human intestinal microflora, especially associated with obesity. EtOH extract from Gyrophora esculenta fruit body and Coriolus versicolor judae mycelia showed antimicrobial activities on Eubacterium limosum, Clostridium perfrigens, Clostridium paraputrificum, Clostridium difficile and Clostridium ramosum, and on Bacteroides fragilis, respectively. Although the 80% EtOH extract from G. esculenta fruit body and hot-water extract from C. versicolor judae mycelia did not reduce weight of the rats in the high fat diet, these extracts showed stability at high temperatures and at wide pH ranges. In the rat group of feeding 80% EtOH extract from G. esculanta fruit body, Bifidobacterium spp. were increased and Clostridium spp. and Eubacterium spp. were decreased compared to the high fat feeding group. Also sensory evaluation was carried out for the development of prototype drink product. These results demonstrated the possibilities of C. versicolor judae and G. esculenta as a functional food components to control intestinal microbial flora.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.72-85
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• 2003

The purpose of this study is to establish the basis of the ecological restoration on the limestone mines in Korea, through the research of the revegetation measures of the disturbed slopes in Japanese limestone mines and the analysis of the case of Ibuki and Bukou limestone mines to realize the restoration works successfully. According to the number of mines to carry out the revegetation works increase every year, the revegetation area and amount of planting also go on increasing in Japan. In the small mines the environmental problem is not recognized seriously, but some mines have muchly invested in the revegetation of the damaged land by mines. Ibuki mine in Shiga-gen is practicing the four principles for the restoring of the revegetation in the disturbed slopes by mines. Firstly, the mean slope preserves $37^{\circ}$ in the last rock cut slopes. Secondly, the last rock cut slopes to rehabilitate are covered with the soil dressing 30cm high. Thirdly, the grasses in the mining area are digged up beforehand, and then they are reused to the revegetation works of rock cut slopes. Lastly, from the upper rock cut slopes the revegetation works begin, the process of the above are repeated, as the result, the restoring works will be completed. Upon the ground of these principles, the complex of the original vegetation and the native species seeding, that is, the revegetation technique of Ibuki have established. In the difficult area to revegetate, sodding works, heaping up vegetation-sack, seed-spraying, heaping up soil-sacks and planting works are adapted variously. Bukou mine in Saitama-gen try to maintain the revegetation, the screening and the stability of the enormous mining rock cut slope, and for these works, the activity of 'Chichibu Working Group of Rock Wall for Limestone Mines' contributes largely. The chief technique of the revegetation in Bukou mine is following; after the making the berm on the rock cut slopes, the soil dressing is filled in it, and the trees is planted for the screening of the rock cut slopes. They devide the rock cut slopes into four typical types, and choose the different ways to make the berm and fill the soil dressing in characteristic. Most of the planting trees are consist ofthe native species of Mt. Bukou through the stages of the nursery and transplantation. Not only the revegetation of the demaged land but also the breeding of the conservational plants also are their important business.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2008

Titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) is one of the most researched semiconductor oxides that has revolutionised technologies in the field of environmental purification and energy generation. It has found extensive applications in heterogenous photocatalysis for removing organic pollutants from air and water and also in hydrogen production from photocatalytic water-splitting. Its use is popular because of its low cost, low toxicity, high chemical and thermal stability. But one of the critical limitations of $TiO_2$ as photocatalyst is its poor response to visible light. Several attempts have been made to modify the surface and electronic structures of $TiO_2$ to enhance its activity in the visible light region such as noble metal deposition, metal ion loading, cationic and anionic doping and sensitisation. Most of the results improved photocatalytic performance under visible light irradiation. This paper attempts to review and update some of the information on the $TiO_2$ photocatalytic technology and its accomplishment towards visible light region.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.23-28
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• 2015

Lacquer sap extracted from lacquer trees exhibits good thermal stabilities and antimicrobial properties. To apply these superior properties to functional packaging, polyurushiol (YPUOH) powders were prepared and blended into LDPE (low density polyethylene) to prepare three different LDPE/YPUOH composite films via a twin screw extruder system. Their morphology, thermal and antimicrobial properties as well as barrier properties of the LDPE/YPUOH composite films were thoroughly investigated to find out applicablities of the films as functional packaging materials. Although the interfacial interaction between LDPE and YPUOH was relatively weak, LDPE/YPUOH composite films exhibited good dispersion of YPUOH in LDPE, resulting in the enhanced thermal stability with YPUOH loading. Due to the good antibacterial property of as-prepared YPUOH, LDPE/YUOH composite films also showed an excellent antibacterial activity (R) of 99.9% against E. coli. Furthermore, the moisture barrier property of LDPE/YPUOH composite films increased with increasing YPUOH contents. Incorporating the relatively low amount of YPUOH in LDPE resulted in the apparent enhancement in thermal stabilities, antibacterial and moisture barrier properties, which made them promising candidates as a functional filler for packaging materials.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.196-208
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• 2014

During the life cycle of plants, water deficit leads to an adverse effect on its growth and development. To increase the productivity of crops, overcoming such drought stress is one of the most important issues in the field of plant study. Among plant hormones, the phytohormone, abscisic acid (ABA) plays a crucial role in eliciting resistance to drought stress as well as in multiple developmental processes, such as seed germination, stomatal closure, and seedling growth. Therefore, further understanding of the ABA-mediated signal transduction pathway in plants is an effective strategy to generate drought-tolerant plants. Posttranslational modification, such as phosphorylation and ubiquitination, is an efficient mechanism for plants to acquire quick adaptation against environmental stress conditions since this process directly affects pre-existing signaling components by modulating protein activity and stability. Here, recent reports on ABA signaling are reviewed, especially focusing on ABA transport, perception, signaling, and posttranslational modification in ABA-mediated cellular responses. Also, we present future prospects on how the control of such a mechanism can be applied to generate useful agricultural crops.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.1390-1394
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• 2008

Previously, we found that the transgenic rice plants over-expressing the Arabidopsis $H^+/Ca^{2+}$ antiporter CAX 1 (accession no. U57411) gene accumulated 2.7 to 7.5-fold more calcium in the T3 rice grains as compared to those of control. To examine physiological safety of the $T_3$ rice grains, the effect of the $T_3$ brown rice on change in levels of body weight and white blood cells was compared with that of the control Ilpum brown rice by feeding trial in mice. During the feeding trial for one month, there was no significant difference between two mice groups, which were fed by the $T_3$ brown rice or Ilpum brown rice. There were no detectable differences in their effects on immune functions including plaque-forming unit, peritoneal macrophage number, and NK-cell activity. In addition, biochemical analysis of the blood failed to exhibit any difference between two mice groups. Together, these results suggested that the $T_3$ brown rice, which was produced from a genetically modified organism (GMO), might be safe and possess a potential to be applicable as calcium-fortified feed or food. Long-term safety of the $T_3$ brown rice, however, remains to be elucidated.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.189-194
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• 2015

P450 1A2 is responsible for the metabolism of clinically important drugs and the metabolic activation of environmental chemicals. Genetic variations of P450 1A2 can influence its ability to perform these functions, and thus, this study aimed to characterize the functional significance of three P450 1A2 allelic variants containing nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (P450 $1A2^*8$, R456H; $^*15$, P42R; $^*16$, R377Q). Variants containing these SNPs were constructed and the recombinant enzymes were expressed and purified in Escherichia coli. Only the P42R variant displayed the typical CO-binding spectrum indicating a P450 holoenzyme with an expression level of ~ 170 nmol per liter culture, but no P450 spectra were observed for the two other variants. Western blot analysis revealed that the level of expression for the P42R variant was lower than that of the wild type, however the expression of variants R456H and R377Q was not detected. Enzyme kinetic analyses indicated that the P42R mutation in P450 1A2 resulted in significant changes in catalytic activities. The P42R variant displayed an increased catalytic turnover numbers ($k_{cat}$) in both of methoxyresorufin O-demethylation and phenacetin O-deethylation. In the case of phenacetin O-deethylation analysis, the overall catalytic efficiency ($k_{cat}/K_m$) increased up to 2.5 fold with a slight increase of its $K_m$ value. This study indicated that the substitution P42R in the N-terminal proline-rich region of P450 contributed to the improvement of catalytic activity albeit the reduction of P450 structural stability or the decrease of substrate affinity. Characterization of these polymorphisms should be carefully examined in terms of the metabolism of many clinical drugs and environmental chemicals.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.21-34
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• 2013

Permanent Scatterer InSAR (PSInSAR) technique extracts permanent scatterers exhibiting high phase stability over the entire observation period and calculates precise time-series deformation at Permanent Scatterer (PS) points by using single master interferograms. This technique is not a good method to apply on nature environment such as forest area where permanent scatterers cannot be identified. Another muti-temporal Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), Small BAseline Subset (SBAS) technique using multi master interferograms with short baselines, can be effective to detect deformation in forest area. However, because of the error induced from phase unwrapping, the technique sometimes fails to estimate correct deformation from a stack of interferograms. To overcome those problems, we introduced new multi-temporal InSAR technique, called Temporarily Coherence Point InSAR (TCPInSAR), in this paper. This technique utilizes multi master interferograms with short baseline and without phase unwrapping. To compare with traditional multi-temporal InSAR techniques, we retrieved spatially changing deformation because PSs have been found enough in forest area with TCPInSAR technique and time-series deformation without phase unwrapping error. For this study, we acquired ERS-1 and ERS-2 SAR dataset on Augustine volcano, Alaska and detected deformation in study area for the period 1992-2005 with SBAS and TCPInSAR techniques.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.508-514
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• 2009

This study investigated the production of catalase from Bul-kyo soil bacteria through fermentation process. Isolation and selection of bacteria was performed through chemical and physiological analysis. Catalases were produced from bacteria which belong to 3 different species (Bacillaceae bacterium BKBChE-1, Bacillus sp. BKBChE-2, Bacillus flexus BKBChE-3) confirmed by using 16S rDNA sequence method. The catalases were found to be stable in the temperature range of $30^{\circ}C-60^{\circ}C$ for BKBChE-1, BKBChE-2 and BKBChE-3 and also in the pH range of 9.0-12.0 for BKBChE-1 and BKBChE-3. Long-term stability of the catalases was about 20 days at $4^{\circ}C$. However, BKBChE-2 has kept its activity over 30 days at $4^{\circ}C$.