• Title/Summary/Keyword: Biological aspect

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Comparison of Biological Characteristics on the Organic Waste-treated Lysimeter Soil by RFLP, PLFA, and CLSU (RFLP, PLFA, CLSU를 이용한 폐기물연용토양의 토양미생물 특성 평가 비교)

  • Jang, Kab-Yeul;Weon, Hang-Yeon;Lee, Kang-Hyo;Kwon, Sun-Ik;Kong, Won-sik;Suh, Jang-sun;Sung, Jae-Mo
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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    • v.41 no.6
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    • pp.415-418
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    • 2008
  • The application of sludge wastes into agricultural fields has been increasing annually in Korea. In particular, sewage sludge application has been widely accepted in decades. Sewage sludge application aid in the recycling of essential nutrients and act as a source of organic matter improving the structure and water-holding properties of the soil. The efficient use of sludge wastes, however, requires an individual assessment of waste products. This study assessed the biological characteristics of organic waste-treated lysimeter soils and develop its indicator to assess the soil health of organic waste-treated lysimeter soils. Several analytical techniques more recently developed such as restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA), and community level substrate utilization (CLSU) fingerprints allow for detailed analyses of soil microbial communities. PLFA and RFLP was, therefore, used in the study to characterize the microbial communities in soil without the need to isolate individual fungi and bacteria. PLFA, RFLP and CLSU have been utilized to assess microbial characteristics of the lysimeter soils with four different sludge wastes for eight consecutive years. Each of these methods was analyzed for a different aspect of soil microbial characteristics. The study would disclose those methods yielded highly reproductive results for each soil and allow distinguishing the soils based on the structures of specific geneand PLFA-pools more than CLSU fingerprints. PLFA methods, especially, revealed the same relative similarities of the treated soils based on cluster analysis of the biological characteristics. Pig manure compost-treated soil, however, was only the same relative resemblance among the three methods. These results indicated that PLFA easily assessed the biological soil characterization.

Effects of Soil Amendments on the Early Growth and Heavy Metal Accumulation of Brassica campestris ssp. Chinensis Jusl. in Heavy Metal-contaminated Soil (중금속 오염 토양에서 안정화제가 청경채의 초기 생육과 중금속 흡수량에 미치는 영향)

  • Kim, Min-Suk;Koo, Namin;Kim, Jeong-Gyu;Yang, Jae-E.;Lee, Jin-Su;Bak, Gwan-In
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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    • v.45 no.6
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    • pp.961-967
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    • 2012
  • There have been many studies about efficiency of amendments for heavy metal stabilization through chemical assessment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of several soil amendments (lime, agric-lime, dolomite, steel slag, fly ash and acid mine drainage sludge) on heavy metals stabilization through not only chemical but also biological assessments (phytotoxicity test) in abandoned mining area soil. In order to achieve the goal, we conducted preliminary screening experiment targeting 12 types of crop plants such as radish, young radish, chinese cabbage, winter grown cabbage, cabbage, bok choy, chicory, crown daisy, carrot, chives, spinach, and spring onion. The results of inhibition rates of early plant growth in metal-contaminated soil against non-contaminated soil and the correlations between inhibitions items showed that the bok choy was appropriate specie with respect to confirm the effect of several amendments. Several amendment treatments on contaminated soil brought about the changes in the root and shoot elongation of bok choy after 1 week. Agric-lime, dolomite and steel slag treatments showed the great efficiency of reducing on mobility of heavy metals using chemical assessment. But in contrary, these treatments resulted in the reduction of root and shoot elongation and only AMD sludge increased that of elongation, significantly. When considering both chemical and biological assessments, AMD sludge could be recommended the compatible amendment for target contaminated soil. In conclusion, biological assessment was also important aspect of decision of successful soil remediation.

Clinical and molecular biological aspect of the hyaluronidases: basis and clinical overview for oriental medical application

  • Kim, Cheorl-Ho;Lee, Dong-Gyu;Jang, Jun-Hyouk;Kim, Jong-De;Nam, Kyung-Soo;Kim, Jeong-Joong;Park, Jong-Kun;Choo, Young-Kug;Kim, Hyung-Min;Lee, Young-Choon
    • Advances in Traditional Medicine
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    • v.1 no.1
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    • pp.8-27
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    • 2000
  • Components of extracellular matrix and the matrix-degrading enzymes are some of the key regulators of tumor metastasis and angiogenesis. Hyaluronic acid (HA), a matrix glycosaminoglycan, is known to promote tumor adhesion and migration, and its small fragments are angiogenic. Until now, we have compared levels of hyaluronidase, an enzyme that degrade HA, in normal adult prostate, benign prostate hyperplasia and prostate cancer tissues and in conditioned media from epithelial explant cultures, using a substrate (HA)-gel assay and ELISA-like assay (Kim et al., unpublished results). The present review described an overall characterization of hyaluronidases and its application to human diseases. The hyaluronidases are a family of enzymes that have, until recently, deed thorough explication. The substrate for these enzymes, hyaluronan, is becoming increasingly important, recognized now as a major participant in basic processes such as cell motility, wound healing, embryogenesis, and implicated in cancer progression. And in those lower life forms that torment human beings, hyaluronidase is associated with mechanisms of entry and spread, e.g. as a virulence factor for bacteria, for tissue dissection in gas gangrene, as a means of treponema spread in syphilis, and for penetration of skin and gut by nematode parasites. Hyaluronidase also comprises a component of the venom of a wide variety of organisms, including bees, wasps, hornets, spiders, scorpions, sh, snakes and lizards. Of particular interest is the homology between some of these venom hyaluronidases and the enzyme found in the plasma membrane of mammalian spermatozoa, attesting to the ancient nature of the conserved sequence, a 36% identity in a 300 amino acid stretch of the enzyme protein. Clearly, hyaluronidase is of biological interest, being involved in the pathophysiology of so many important' human disorders. Greater effort should be made in studying this family of enzymes that have, until recently, been overlooked. Also, oriental medical application of the hyaluronidase will be discussed with respect to inhibition and suppression of inflammation and malignacy.

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Evaluating Proper CO2 Concentrations in CA Storage of Fuji Apple using CFD Analysis (CFD 해석을 통한 후지 사과 CA 저장고 내의 적정 CO2 농도 조성 검토)

  • Lee, Sang-Ik;Hong, Se-Woon;Choi, Won;Kim, Rack-woo;Lee, In-bok
    • Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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    • v.60 no.3
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    • pp.71-81
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    • 2018
  • $CO_2$ concentration has a significant effect on quality of cold-stored apples. High indoor $CO_2$ concentrations above 10,000 ppm cause the browning of apples and result in economic loss for farmers. The purpose of this study is to evaluate $CO_2$ concentrations and their distribution in a controlled atmosphere (CA) storage and provide better structural designs to improve the $CO_2$ environment using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The CFD model was developed for a real CA storage for apples and applied to investigate the effect of changing the inlet and outlet locations and the aspect ratio of the floor of the CA storage on the spatial distributions of $CO_2$ concentration and the browning of the apples. The lowest $CO_2$ concentrations in existing CA storage with a high aspect ratio of the floor were achieved from the combination of the inlet located at the top of the right side and the outlet located at the bottom of the left side. In modified CA storage with a low aspect ratio, the combination of the inlet and outlet located at top and bottom of left side respectively achieved the lowest $CO_2$ concentrations. The proposed case enhanced the storage performance by reducing total browned apples by 3.6% in storage duration of 210 days. This study is expected to reduce the browning damages of apples in CA storage, and thus greatly prevent economic losses.

Assessing the Influence of Topographic Factors on the Distribution of Aporia crataegi (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) in Northeast Asia Using a MaxEnt Modeling Approach (기후변화에 따른 상제나비의 잠재적 분포에 대한 지형요소의 영향 평가)

  • Kim, Tae-Geun;Cho, YoungHo;Song, Kyo-Hong;Park, YoungJun;Oh, Jang-Geun
    • Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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    • v.49 no.2
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    • pp.142-146
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    • 2016
  • The purpose of this study is to evaluate topographic characteristics revealed in the predicted distribution areas of Aporia crataegi, according to climate change. Towards this end, this study compared the differences of topographic factors, such as altitude, mountain slope and the aspect of slope, in the distribution areas with different potential inhabitation possibilities of the Aporia crataegi. The inhabitation possibilities of the Aporia crataegi were different, according to altitude and topographic slope, and the inhabitation possibility is judged to be affected more by the topographic conditions including altitude and mountain slope than by the aspect of slope. Especially, the inhabitation possibility of the Aporia crataegi was higher in the higher altitude area, as time goes on furthermore. The reason is that the current climate environment, which is suitable for the potential inhabitation of the Aporia crataegi, is forecast to be formed with an area with high altitude. Although the difference in the aspect of slope was not statistically significant according to inhabitation possibility, the reason why the inhabitation possibility of the Aporia crataegi varies in the mainly southeast slope is conjectured to be derived from the warmer heat environmental condition to grow from a larva into an imago. The result drawn in this study is expected to be utilized as basic data to establish a policy soundly preserving and managing the habitat of biospecies in consideration of climate change and topographic conditions in the natural ecosystem field by using the already built up various biological resources information.

Influence on Amputee Gait by the Ankle Joint Alignment (발목관절 조절각도가 절단환자의 보행에 미치는 영향)

  • Jang, Yun-Hui;Yang, Gil-Tae;Im, Song-Hak;Mun, Mu-Seong;Kim, Yeong-Ho
    • Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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    • v.19 no.4
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    • pp.403-416
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    • 1998
  • Socket pressure distributions with gait analysis of a trnsfemoral and a transtibial prostheses were measured in order to assess an optimal socket fitting and function. Ankle joint was aligned by the neutral and the dorsi/plantar flexed positions. Compared to dorsi and plantar flexed positions of ankle joint, cadence and walking speed increased with the neutral ankle joint alignment. Other gait parameters were close to the normative data with the neutral ankle joint alignment. For the transfemoral amputee, dorsiflexed alignment of the ankle joint created high pressure on the lateral aspect of the socket, on the other hand, plantarflexed alignment resulted in increased pressure on the medial aspect of the socket. For the transtibial amputee, dorsiflexed alignment of the ankle resulted in high pressure on the antero-lateral aspect of the socket during mid-stance, but apltarflexion of the ankle joint showed slight increases in pressure at the same location in the socket. The present study clearly demonstarted that malalignment of a prosthesis results in localized increasesing pressure within the socket. Proper slignment of the prosthesis is required in order to acquire an appropriate socket-limb interface as well as the proper gait.

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Seed-dependent Accelerated Fibrillation of ${\alpha}$-Synuclein Induced by Periodic Ultrasonication Treatment

  • Kim, Hyun-Jin;Chatani, Eri;Goto, Yuji;Paik, Seung-R.
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.17 no.12
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    • pp.2027-2032
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    • 2007
  • [ ${\alpha}$ ]-Synuclein is the major component of Lewy bodies and responsible for the amyloid deposits observed in Parkinson's disease. Ordered filamentous aggregate formation of the natively unfolded ${\alpha}$-synuclein was investigated in vitro with the periodic ultrasonication. The ultrasonication induced the fibrillation of ${\alpha}$-synuclein, as the random structure gradually converted into a ${\beta}$-sheet structure. The resulting fibrils obtained at the stationary phase appeared heterogeneous in their size distribution, with the average length and height of $0.28\;{\mu}m{\pm}0.21\;{\mu}m$ and $5.6\;nm{\pm}1.9\;nm$, respectively. After additional extensive ultrasonication in the absence of monomeric ${\alpha}$-synuclein, the equilibrium between the fibril formation and its breakdown shifted to the disintegration of the preexisting fibrils. The resulting fragments served as nucleation centers for the subsequent seed-dependent accelerated fibrillation under a quiescent incubation condition. This self-seeding amplification process depended on the seed formation and subsequent alterations in their properties by the ultrasonication to a state that accretes the monomeric soluble protein more effectively than their reassociation of the seeds back to the original fibrils. Since many neurodegenerative disorders have been considered to be propagated via the seed-dependent amyloidosis, this study would provide a novel aspect of the significance of the seed structure and its properties leading to the acce]erated amyloid formation.

Study on Cooling Characteristics of the Tunnel Type Pressure Pre-Cooling System

  • Lee W. O.;Yun H. S.;Lee K. W.;Jeong H.;Cho K. H.;Cho Y. K.;Lee J. H.
    • Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
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    • v.4 no.2
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    • pp.58-65
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    • 2003
  • An understanding of the cooling requirements of horticultural commodities begins with adequate knowledge of their biological responses. All fresh horticultural products are living organisms, carrying on the many biological processes that are essential to the maintenance of life. The pre-cooling is essential technique for the construction of cold chain system, which is necessary to maintain marketing quality of fresh produces during the transportation and distribution. The purpose of this study is to develop the pressure cooling tunnel using conveyer for the reduction of labor and improvement of pre-cooling efficiency. Performance of developed facility was tested for the strawberries, tomatoes and Chinese cabbages. Cooling ratio as a result of pre-cooling efficiency was 1.57, 1.56 and 1.32 for strawberries, tomatoes, and Chinese cabbages respectively. Cooling ratio decreased with increasing the distance of heat conduction from surface to center. The cooling ratio of Chinese cabbages was lower than that of fruit because of its head and leaf. In aspect of cooling uniformity, there was no significant difference of final temperature among inlet, outlet and middle layers of cold air in fresh produces. After pre-cooling treatment, quality changes were measured for the weight loss, Vit. C content, and titratable acidity. The quality of pre-cooling treatment was better than that of non-treatment and was kept on well during long-term storage.

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The Effects of the Thera Band Exercise Program on Bone Mineral Density and Health Promotion Behaviors in Elderly Women (세라밴드 운동 프로그램이 여성노인의 골밀도와 건강증진행위에 미치는 효과)

  • Kim, Joo Hyun;Hyun, Hye Jin;Ahn, Mi Hyang;Choi, Eun Young;Ko, Ga Yeon;Park, Bock Soon
    • Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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    • v.15 no.3
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    • pp.147-153
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    • 2013
  • Purpose: This study was conducted in order to closely examine the effects on bone mineral density and health promotion behaviors following the intervention of a 20-week Thera band exercise program targeting elderly women. Methods: This study is a pseudo-experimental research with a pre-and-post design in a single group that examined the effects after the intervention of Thera Band Exercise for 20 weeks targeting 31 elderly women over 60 years of age who visit a Senior Welfare Center located in K city. It analyzed subjects' general characteristics using error and percentage, health promotion behavior, and a bone density aspect using the mean and standard deviation, as well as a change in the health promotion behavior and bone density, before and after exercise with Paired t-test by using the SPSS 18.0 program. Results: The effect of the Thera band exercise program on bone mineral density was reduced (t=8.140, p<.001) gradually after 20 weeks of exercise compared to the pre-exercise period. The health promotion behavior before and after exercise showed the significantly increasing outcomes (t=3.26, p=.003). Conclusion: There is a limitation to a direct rise in bone mineral density with the use of Thera band exercise intervention in the elderly. A change in health promotion behavior before and after exercise increased significantly. Thus, it was confirmed that taking exercise leads to a gradual rise in health promotion behavior. Hence, it understood that continuous exercise is useful and brings about a positive change in promoting health maintenance in elderly women.

Application of Chaotic Analysis to Electroencephalography : Preliminary Study (혼돈 이론을 이용한 뇌파 분석에 대한 기초 연구)

  • Park, Hae Jeong;Park, Kwang Suk;Kwon, Jun Soo
    • Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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    • v.2 no.2
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    • pp.257-265
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    • 1995
  • The object of this study is to apply a chaotic signal analysis method to the EEG research, especially in the aspect of neuropsychiatry, and to get some inspection of the chaotic phenomena according to the brain sites and subjects. We have acquired 21 channel EEG data and one EOG according to the international 10-20 system and calculated the correlation dimension. The subject groups are schizophrenics, bipolar disorder, major depression and normal control. They were all awoke and eye-closed. We have found no distinctive features from our experiments except temporal regions have slightly higher correlation dimension. There is also no specific distinctions between groups. We conjecture that these results are mainly because the subjects were not well controlled. EEG dimension may change in accordance with to the age, sex, medication and the time data were selected to calculate. We have also considered some conditions for a better and more objective research of chaotic analysis to EEG research. Better conditioning and standardizing the calculation of correlation dimension is necessary for the application of the chaotic analysis to neuropsychiatry.

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