• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.30 no.5
• /
• pp.239-244
• /
• 2015

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is caused by microbial imbalance of the vaginal ecosystem and overgrowth of anaerobic bacteria. The antibiotic treatment often results in very high recurrence of BV because it disturbs the vaginal ecosystem. The high recurrence rates suggest a need for alternative therapeutic methods and probiotics are being recognized as alternative or additional treatment method for BV. The purpose of this study was to investigate how human vaginal isolates of Lactobacillus spp. inhibit the BV-associated pathogen Gardnerella vaginalis. Results show that selected strains significantly reduced the viability of G. vaginalis. Among these selected strains KLB410 and KLB416 were further selected based on acid/bile tolerance and identified through 16S rRNA gene sequencing being Lactobacillus plantarum. Further studies are underway to demonstrate that the selected strain can be applied as potential probiotics for recovering vaginal ecosystem.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
• /
• 1996.06c
• /
• pp.947-952
• /
• 1996

The effect of fluctuating temperature on the respiration of vegetables has been investigated. Spinach was selected as the experimental material because of its high respiratory activity and kept under the condition that temperature changed alternately at low and high levels every 4 hours. The low-high level temperature combination was set in $1-10^{\circ}C,{\;}1-20^{\circ}C{\;}and{\;}1-30^{\circ}C$. Respiration was evaluated in terms of quantity of $CO_2$ evolved from spinach. The evolution rate of $CO_2$ was determined by a change in its concentration. The evaluation rate of $CO_2$ followed closely the temperature change. In the temperature combinations at $1-10^{\circ}C{\;}and{\;}1-20^{\circ}C$, the relationship between $CO_2$ evolution rate and temperature was found to be able to express by Arrhenius law, while at $1-30^{\circ}C$, it did not obey the law.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.12 no.5
• /
• pp.826-828
• /
• 2002

In our previous studies, we have cloned and characterized a gene region from Bradyrhizobium japonicum ,which is involved in the synthesis of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In this study, we have expanded the sequence analysis of the region and found an additional open reading frame (orf), which appeared to be divergently transcribed from the rfaF gene. Sequence alignment of the orf revealed a significant similarity with rfaD genes of Salmonella typhimurium , Escherichia coli, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. These genes encode a heptose-6-epimerase, which catalyzes the interconversion of ADP -D -glycerol-D-manno-heptose to ADP-L-glycero-D-manno-heptose. This divergent organization of the rfaF and rfaD genes is different from that of other Gram-negative bacteria where two genes form an operon. A rfaD- mutant of E. coli was successfully transformed with plasmid constructs containing the rfaD gene of B. japonicum. Novobiocin sensitivity test showed that the rfaD gene from B. japonicum could complement the rfaD mutation in E. coli, which confirms the functionality of the cloned B. japonicum gene.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.43-47
• /
• 2007

The polydiacethylene (PDA) is known to change its color by mechanical shear. The shear-induced color transition has been reported with elastomer or film type of PDA. In this paper, we newly investigated the transition with liposome type of PDAs in polymeric solutions. The liposomes were dispersed in Poly(vinyl alcohol) 2% + Sodium borate 1%, Poly(vinyl alcohol) 15% and Hyaluronic acid 1% (PVA/B, PVA, HA). The shear stress was continuously imposed to each solution by stress control type rheometer with coni-cylinder fixture. The degree of color transition was quantified with the characteristic absorbance peak at 540 nm (blue) and 640 nm (red). As a result, PDA liposome in PVA/B solution changed the color from blue to red upon increasing the magnitude of shear (from 0 to 100 Pa) and the duration of shear-imposed time (from 0 to 5400 sec). Meanwhile, PDA liposome in HA or PVA solution did not noticeably change the color, even though the low shear viscosities of the solutions were kept almost constant. This color transition of PDA liposome is expected to measure the magnitude of shear, and to distinguish different responses of polymeric solutions to the applied shear.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.147-156
• /
• 2007

The orientation and deformation of polymer chains in a confined channel flow has been investigated. The polymer chain was modeled as a Finitely Extensible Nonlinear Elastic (FENE) dumbbell. The Brownian configuration field method was extended to take the interaction between the flow and local chain dynamics into account. Drag and Brownian forces were treated as anisotropic in order to reflect the influence of the wall in the confined flow. Both Poiseuille flow and 4 : 1 contraction flow were considered. Of particular interest was molecular tumbling of polymer chains near the wall. It was strongly influenced by anisotropic drag and high shear close to the wall. We discussed the mechanism of this particular behavior in terms of the governing forces. The dumbbell configuration was determined not only by the wall interaction but also by the flow type of the geometric origin. The effect of extensional flow on dumbbell configuration was also discussed by comparing with the Poiseuille flow.

• Proceedings of the Korea Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry Conference
• /
• 2009.10a
• /
• pp.79-84
• /
• 2009

Understanding the polymer adsorption in particle/binder/solvent system is important to achieve successful film products. While most of the reported work has dealt with the suspension microstructure, a few studies have focused on film formation. We investigated the effect of adsorption on film formation through measurement of adsorption amount in suspension and stress development in drying film with respect to mixing time ($t_m$). All of the adsorption amount (PVA), characteristic stress ($\sigma_{ch}$) exhibited similarities expressed by the form of $1-e^{t_m/{\tau}}$. The porous and non-unifonn dried film at short tm became close-packed and uniform with longer $t_m$. We found that polymer adsorption plays the key role in film fonnation as it introduces steric repulsion in suspension and suppresses the flocculation during solvent evaporation. We also found that the mixing time for the saturated polymer adsorption is the important variable to acquire the consolidated and uniform film microstructure.

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.31-40
• /
• 2014

The production of astaxanthin in the microalga Haematococcus pluvialis has been investigated using a sequential methodology based on the application of two types of statistical designs. The employed preliminary experiment was a fractional factorial design $2^6$ in which the factors studied were: excessive irradiance and nitrate starvation, phosphate deficiency, acetate supplementation, salt stress, and elevated temperature. The experimental results indicate that the amount of astaxanthin accumulation in the cells can be enhanced by excessive irradiance and nitrate starvation whereas the other factors tested did not yield any enhancement. In the subsequent experiment, a central composite design was applied with four variables, light intensity, nitrate, phosphate, and acetate, at five levels each. The optimal conditions for the highest astaxanthin production were found to be $1040{\mu}E/(m^2{\cdot}s)$ light intensity, 0.04 g/L nitrate, 0.31 g/L phosphate, 0.05 g/L acetate concentration.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.34 no.11
• /
• pp.3322-3326
• /
• 2013

A series of hybrid molecules between (${\alpha}$)-lipoic acid (ALA) and benzyl piperazines were synthesized and their in vitro cholinesterase [acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE)] inhibitory activities were evaluated. Even though the parent compounds did not show any inhibitory activity against cholinesterase (ChE), all hybrid molecules showed BuChE inhibitory activity. Some hybrid compounds also displayed AChE inhibitory activity. Specifically, ALA-1-(3-methylbenzyl)piperazine (15) was shown to be an effective inhibitor of both BuChE ($IC_{50}=2.3{\pm}0.7{\mu}M$) and AChE ($IC_{50}=30.31{\pm}0.64{\mu}M$). An inhibition kinetic study using compound 15 indicated a mixed inhibition type. Its binding affinity ($K_i$) value to BuChE is $2.91{\pm}0.15{\mu}M$.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.213-225
• /
• 2016

To reduce attrition in drug development, it is crucial to consider the development and implementation of translational phenotypic assays as well as decipher diverse molecular mechanisms of action for new molecular entities. High-throughput fluorescence and confocal microscopes with advanced analysis software have simplified the simultaneous identification and quantification of various cellular processes through what is now referred to as high-content screening (HCS). HCS permits automated identification of modifiers of accessible and biologically relevant targets and can thus be used to detect gene interactions or identify toxic pathways of drug candidates to improve drug discovery and development processes. In this review, we summarize several HCS-compatible, biochemical, and molecular biology-driven assays, including immunohistochemistry, RNAi, reporter gene assay, CRISPR-Cas9 system, and protein-protein interactions to assess a variety of cellular processes, including proliferation, morphological changes, protein expression, localization, post-translational modifications, and protein-protein interactions. These cell-based assay methods can be applied to not only 2D cell culture but also 3D cell culture systems in a high-throughput manner.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.2 no.4
• /
• pp.204-210
• /
• 2011

Thin film electrodes have been intensively studied for active materials and current collectors to enhance the electrochemical performance. Here, porous structures of nickel-based oxide films, consisting of nickel oxide and copper (II) oxide, which was derived from the copper substrate during the annealing process, were deposited on metallic copper foils. The half-cell tests revealed excellent capacity retention after $80^{th}$ charge/discharge cycles. Some films showed an excess of the theoretical capacity of nickel oxides, which mainly originate from partially oxidized copper substrates during annealing. These results exhibit that both a preparation method of an active materials and partially oxidized current collectors could be important roles to apply thin film electrodes.