• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.89-96
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• 2012

The rate of photosynthesis (A) of leaves from 10 plant species (6 evergreen and 4 deciduous) of the family Fagaceae was measured using a portable photosynthesis analyzer, to examine which species take up $CO_2$ most efficiently. Of the evergreen species, the photosynthetic rate of Castanopsis cuspidata var. sieboldii was highest, and remained above 82.1~106.4 ${\mu}mol\;kg^{-1}s^{-1}$ from July to November. Of the deciduous species, the photosynthetic rate of Quercus acutissima was higher than that of the other three species, and remained high at 83.5~116.6 ${\mu}mol\;kg^{-1}s^{-1}$ from September to November. The photosynthetic rate of the 10 species was positively correlated with stomatal conductance (gs) and transpiration rate (E). However, there was no correlation between photosynthetic rate and intercellular $CO_2$ concentration ($C_i$), although there was a positive correlation just in three species (Q. gilva, Q. acutissima and Q. glauca). These results suggest that the $CO_2$ fixation capacity of C. cuspidata var. sieboldii, an evergreen species, and Q. acutissima, a deciduous species, is significantly higher than that of the other species examined, and that photosynthesis is regulated by both stomatal conductance and transpiration. Therefore, C. cuspidata var. sieboldii and Q. acutissima may be valuable for the evaluation of carbon uptake in urban green spaces as well as in afforested areas.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.125-132
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• 1997

Cisplatin, a platinum-complex, is currently one of the most effective compounds used in the treat-ment of solid tumors. However, its use is limited by severe side effects such as renal toxicity. Our platinum-based drug discovery program is aimed at developing drugs capable of diminishing toxicity and improving selective cytotoxicity. We synthesized new Pt (II) complex analogue containing 1,2-diaminocyclohexane (DACH) as carrier ligand and 1,2-bis (diphenylphosphino) ethane (DPPE) as a leaving group. Furthermore, nitrate was added to improve the solubility. A new series of [Pt(cia-DACH)(DPPE)] . $2NO_3$ (PC) was synthes-ized and characterized by their elemental analysis and by various spectroscopic techniques [infrared (IR), $_{13}$carbon nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)] .PC demonstrated acceptable and significant antitumor activity against SKOV-3 and OVCAR-3 human ovarian carcinoma cell lines as compared with that of cisplatin. The cytotoxicity of PC in normal cells was found quite less than that of cisplatin using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), ($^3$H)thymidine uptake and glucose consumption tests in rabbit renal proximal tubular cells, human renal cortical cells and tissues. In conclusion, PC is considered to be more selective cytotoxicity toward human ovarian cancer cells than normal human/rabbit kidney cells.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.17-22
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• 2006

The baculovirus expression system is a powerful method for producing large amounts of the human erythrocyte-type glucose transport protein, heterologously. Characterization of the expressed protein is expected to show its ability to transport sugars directly. To achieve this, it is a prerequisite to know the properties of the endogenous sugar transport system in Spodoptera frugiperda Clone 21 (Sf21) cells, which are commonly employed as a host permissive cell line to support the baculovirus replication. The Sf21 cells can grow well on TC-100 medium that contains 0.1% D-glucose as the major carbon source, strongly suggesting the presence of endogenous glucose transport system. However, unlike the human glucose transport protein that has a broad substrate and inhibitor specificity, very little is known about the nature of the endogenous sugar transport system in Sf21 cells. In order to characterize further the inhibitor recognition properties of the Sf21 cell transporter, the ability of phloretin, cytochalasin B and D-fructose to inhibit 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2dGlc) transport was examined by measuring inhibition constants $(K_i)$. The $K_i's$ for reversible inhibitors were determined from plots of uptake versus inhibitor concentration. The 2dGlc transport in the Sf21 cells was very potently inhibited by phloretin, the aglucone of phlorizin with a $K_i$ similar to the value of about $2{\mu}M$ reported for inhibition of glucose transport in human erythrocytes. However, the Sf21 cell transport system was found to differ from the human transport protein in being much less sensitive to inhibition by cytochalasin B (apparent $K_i$ approximately $10\;{\mu}M$). In contrast, It is reported that the inhibitor binds the human erythrocyte counterpart with a $K_d$ of approximately $0.12\;{\mu}M$. Interestingly, the Sf21 glucose transport system also appeared to have high affinity for D-fructose with a $K_i$ of approximately 5mM, contrasting the reported $K_m$ of the human erythrocyte transport protein for the ketose of 1.5M.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.712-719
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• 2016

Understanding N mineralization dynamics in soil is essential for efficient nutrient management. An anaerobic incubation experiment was conducted to examine N mineralization potential and N mineralization rate of the organic amendments with different C:N ratio in paddy soil. Inorganic N in the soil sample was measured periodically under three temperature conditions ($20^{\circ}C$, $25^{\circ}C$, $30^{\circ}C$) for 90 days. N mineralization was accelerated as the temperature rises by approximately $10%^{\circ}C^{-1}$ in average. Negative correlation ($R^2=0.707$) was observed between soil inorganic N and C:N ratio, while total organic carbon extract ($R^2=0.947$) and microbial biomass C ($R^2=0.824$) in the soil were positively related to C:N ratio. Single exponential model was applied for quantitative evaluation of N mineralization process. Model parameter for N mineralization rate, k, increased in proportion to temperature. N mineralization potential, $N_p$, was very different depending on C:N ratio of organic input. $N_p$ value decreased as C:N ratio increased, ranged from $74.3mg\;kg^{-1}$ in a low C:N ratio (12.0 in hairy vetch) to $15.1mg\;kg^{-1}$ in a high C:N ratio (78.2 in rice straw). This result indicated that the amount of inorganic N available for crop uptake can be predicted by temperature and C:N ratio of organic amendment. Consequently, it is suggested that the amount of organic fertilizer application in paddy soil would be determined based on temperature observations and C:N ratio, which represent the decomposition characteristics of organic amendments.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.457-463
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• 2011

This study was carried out to compare the toxicity of nano and micrometer particles with Cu and Zn on soil microbial community and metal uptake of buck wheat. In microcosm system, soil was incubated for 14 days after soil aliquots were artificially contaminated with 1,000 mg/kg Cu, Zn nano and micro particles, respectively. After then, buck wheat was planted in incubating soils and non incubating soils. After 14 days, we compared bioaccumulation of metal, and microbial carbon substrate utilization patterns between incubating soils and non-incubating soils. The enrichment factor (EF) values of incubating samples were greater than non-incubating soils. Dehydrogenase activity had been inhibited by Cu and Zn nanoparticles in non-incubating soil, as well as it had been inhibited by Zn micro particles in incubating soils. Results of biolog test, it was not significant different between nano particles and micro particles. It cannot be generalized that nanoparticles of metal are always more toxic to soil microbial activity and diversity than micrometer-sized particles and the toxicity needs to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.295-303
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• 2015

Considering to Energy Storage System (ESS) is a global trend In order to reduce global warming and carbon emissions. South Korea has announced various policies to vitalize the development and uptake of renewable energy. South Korea is planning the cumulative capacity of ESS of two million kW in 2020. According to the government support and development of technology companies, the battery of ESS prices are expected to fall gradually. In this paper, we develop a planning model that take into account the supply expansion of technology of ESS and prices. Based on planning model, we analyze the cost of ESS linked with wind power and the revenue for trading electricity and renewable energy certifications.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.19-33
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• 2013

Microalgae are receiving an increasing attention because of their potential use as $CO_2$ capture method and/or as feedstock for biofuels production. On the other hand the current microalgae-based technology is still not widespread since it is characterized by technical and economic constraints that hinder its full scale-up. In such contest the growth kinetics of Nannochloris eucaryotum (a relatively unknown marine strain) in batch and semi-batch photobioreactors is quantitatively investigated with the aim of obtaining the corresponding kinetic parameters suitable for process engineering and its optimization. In particular the maximum growth rate was evaluated to be 1.99 $10^{-3}\;h^{-1}$. Half saturation concentrations for nitrates ($K_N$) and phosphates uptake ($K_P$) were evaluated as 5.4 $10^{-4}\;g_N\;L^{-1}$ and 2.5 $10^{-5}\;g_P\;L^{-1}$, respectively. Yield factors for nitrogen ($Y_N$) and phosphorus ($Y_P$) resulted to be 5.9 $10^{-2}\;g_N\;g^{-1}$ biomass and 6.0 $10^{-3}\;g_P\;g^{-1}{_{biomass}}$, respectively. The possibility of using 100% (v/v) $CO_2$ gas as carbon source is also evaluated for the first time in the literature as far as N. eucaryotum is concerned. The strain showed a good adaptability to high concentrations of dissolved $CO_2$ as well as to low pH. The lipid content under 100% $CO_2$ is about 16.16 %wt $wt^{-1}$ and the fatty acid methyl esters composition of the extracted oil is in compliance with the European regulation for quality biodiesel.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2018

Ground-level ozone ($O_3$) can be a menace for vegetation, especially in Asia where $O_3$ levels have been dramatically increased over the past decades. To ensure food security and maintain forest ecosystem services, such as nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration and functional diversity of soil biota, in the over-populated Asia, environmental standards are needed. To set proper standards, dose-response relationships should be established from which critical levels are derived. The predictor of the response in the dose-response relationship is an $O_3$ metric that indicates the dose level to which the plant has been exposed. This study aimed to review the relevant scientific literature and summarize the $O_3$ metrics used worldwide to provide insights for Asia. A variety of $O_3$ metrics have been used, for which we discuss their strengths and weaknesses. The most widely used metrics are based only on $O_3$ levels. Such metrics have been adopted by several regulatory agencies in the global. However, they are biologically irrelevant because they ignore the plant physiological capacity. Adopting AOT40 ($O_3$ mixing ratios Accumulated Over the Threshold of $40nmol\;mol^{-1}$) as the default index for setting critical levels in Asia would be a poor policy with severe consequences at national and Pan-Asian level. Asian studies should focus on flux-based $O_3$ metrics to provide relevant bases for developing proper standards. However, given the technical requirements in calculating flux-based $O_3$ metrics, which can be an important limitation in developing countries, no-threshold cumulative exposure indices like AOT0 should always accompany flux-based indices.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.189-195
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• 2005

Several models predict large and potentially abrupt ocean circulation changes due to anthropogenic greenhouse-gas emissions. These circulation changes drive-in the models-considerable oceanic oxygen trend. A sound estimate of the observed oxygen trends can hence be a powerful tool to constrain predictions of future changes in oceanic deepwater formation, heat and carbon dioxide uptake. Estimating decadal scale oxygen trends is, however, a nontrivial task and previous studies have come to contradicting conclusions. One key potential problem is that changes in the historical observation network might introduce considerable errors. Here we estimate the likely magnitude of these errors for a subset of the available observations in the Southern Ocean. We test three common data analysis methods south of Australia and focus on the decadal-scale trends between the 1970's and the 1990's. Specifically, we estimate errors due to sparsely sampled observations using a known signal (the time invariant, temporally averaged, World Ocean Atlas 2001) as a negative control. The crossover analysis and the objective analysis methods are for less prone to spatial sampling location biases than the area averaging method. Subject to numerous caveats, we find that errors due to sparse sampling for the area averaging method are on the order of several micro-moles $kg^{-1}$. for the crossover and the objective analysis method, these errors are much smaller. For the analyzed example, the biases due to changes in the spatial design of the historical observation network are relatively small compared to the tends predicted by many model simulations. This raises the possibility to use historic oxygen trends to constrain model simulations, even in sparsely sampled ocean basins.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.231-236
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• 2010

This study was to fabricate the porous poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microparticles with anthocyanin (as a model antioxidant) for pulmonary drug delivery. The highly porous PLGA microparticles were prepared by the waterin-oil-in-water ($W_1/O/W_2$) multi-emulsion method, followed by the decomposition of ammonium bicarbonate (AB) in $W_1$ phase to the base of ammonia, carbon dioxide and water vapor at $50^{\circ}C$, making a porous structure in PLGA microparticles. Herein, hyaluronate (HA), a viscous polysaccharide, was incorporated in the porous microparticles for sustained anthocyanin release. In in vitro release studies, the anthocyanin release from the porous microparticles with HA continued up to 24 hours, while the porous microparticles without HA released 80 wt.% of encapsulated anthocyanin within 2 hours. In addition, these microparticle are expected to be effectively deposited at a lung epithelium due to its high porosity (low density) and avoid alveolar macrophage's uptake in the lung due to its large particle size. We believe that this system has a great pharmaceutical potential as a long acting antioxidant for relieving the oxidative stress in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).