• Macromolecular Research
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.404-410
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• 2008

In order to obtain 'value added products' from polypropylene (PP)/waste ground rubber tire powder (WGRT) composites, PP/WGRT microcellular foams were prepared via supercritical carbon dioxide. The effects of blend composition and processing condition on the cell size, cell density and relative density of PP/WGRT micro-cellular composites were studied. The results indicated that the microcellular structure was dependent on blend composition and processing condition. An increased content of waste ground rubber tire powder (WGRT) and maleic anhydride-grafted styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS-g-MA) reduced the cell size, and raised the cell density and relative density, whereas a higher saturation pressure increased the cell size, and reduced the cell density and relative density. With increasing saturation temperature, the cell size increased and the relative density decreased, whereas the cell density initially increased and then decreased.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.333-337
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• 2010

Combining cell- and gene-based therapy is a promising therapeutic strategy in regenerative medicine. The aim of this study was to develop genetically modified mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) aggregates using a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel micro-well array technique. Stable PEG hydrogel micro-well arrays with diameters of 200 to $500\;{\mu}m$ were fabricated and used to generate genetically engineered MSC aggregates. Rat bone marrow-derived MSCs were transfected with a green fluorescent protein (GFP) plasmid as a reporter gene, and aggregated by culturing in the PEG hydrogel micro-well arrays. The resultant cell aggregates had a mean diameter of less than $200\;{\mu}m$, and maintained the mesenchymal phenotype even after genetic modification and cell aggregation. Transplantation of MSC aggregates that are genetically modified to express therapeutic or cell-survival genes may be a potential therapeutic approach for regenerative medicine.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.1577-1582
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• 2010

A 20 wt % Pt/C is fabricated and characterized for use as the cathode catalyst in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). By using the polyol method, the fabrication process is optimized by modifying the carbon addition sequence and precursor mixing conditions. The crystallographic structure, particle size, dispersion, and activity toward oxygen reduction of the as-prepared catalysts are compared with those of commercial Pt/C catalysts. The most effective catalyst is obtained by ultrasonic treatment of ethylene glycol-carbon mixture and immediate mixing of this mixture with a Pt precursor at the beginning of the synthesis. The catalyst exhibits very uniform particle size distribution without agglomeration. The mass activities of the as-prepared catalyst are 13.4 mA/$mg_{Pt}$ and 51.0 mA/$mg_{Pt}$ at 0.9 V and 0.85 V, respectively, which are about 1.7 times higher than those of commercial catalysts.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.317-321
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• 2019

We investigated the characteristics of nano crystalline silicon(nc-Si) thin-film solar cells on graphite substrates. Amorphous silicon(a-Si) thin-film solar cells on graphite plates show low conversion efficiency due to high surface roughness, and many recombination by dangling bonds. In previous studies, we deposited barrier films by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition(PECVD) on graphite plate to reduce surface roughness and achieved ~7.8 % cell efficiency. In this study, we fabricated nc-Si thin film solar cell on graphite in order to increase the efficiency of solar cells. We achieved 8.45 % efficiency on graphite plate and applied this to nc-Si on graphite sheet for flexible solar cell applications. The characterization of the cell is performed with external quantum efficiency(EQE) and current density-voltage measurements(J-V). As a result, we obtain ~8.42 % cell efficiency in a flexible solar cell fabricated on a graphite sheet, which performance is similar to that of cells fabricated on graphite plates.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.269-277
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• 1996

Bacteriocins are proteins produced by a heterogeneous group of bacteria that have a bactericidal effect on closely related organisms. Recently, bacteriocins from lactic acid bacteria and other food-related organisms have been the subject of much research because of their potential as food biopreservatives. Various modifications of agar plate diffusion assays are the most widely used methods even though the limitations of such assays are generally recognized. The ability to obtain a concentrated crude preparation on bacteriocin by optimizing production parameters greatly simplifies recovery of bacteriocin on subsequent purification steps. Some studies performed to optimize bacteriocins have been purified to homogeneity, and the amino acid sequences of many of these purified bacteriocins have been determined. Obtaining characterization data on purified bacteriocin will minimize the risk of overlapping of research and confusion on identification of these compounds. Several me-chanisms leading to cell death have been hypothesized. These include depletion of the proton motive force(PMF) across the cell membrane: RNase and/or DNase activity within the sensitive cell; and pore formation and lysis of sensitive cells at the cell membrane.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.42-47
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• 2009

In this paper we propose a microfluidic chip that measures the mechanical stiffness of cell membrane using impedance measurement. The microfluidic chip is composed of PDMS channel and a glass substrate with electrode. The proposed device uses patch-clamp technique to capture and deform a target cell and measures impedance of deformed cells. We demonstrated that the impedance increased after the membrane stretched and blocked the channel.

• BMB Reports
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.443-450
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• 1995

Cloned staphylococcal peptidoglycan hydrolase was used in determining the physiological characteristics of peptidoglycan hydrolase. This enzyme hydrolyzed the bacterial cell walls and released the N-terminal alanine, but not the reducing groups. This cloned gene product was localized in the cytoplasm of transformed Escherichia coli. Activity gels indicated the enzyme had an Mr of about 54,000, which was consistent with the deduced Mr from sequencing of the cloned gene. The activity bound to CM-cellulose but not DEAE-cellulose resin, indicating it as a basic protein. Enhanced enzyme activity in a low concentration of cations, and inhibited enzyme activity in a solution with dissolved phospholipids, suggested that the activity and the availability of this basic protein may be regulated between negatively charged and positively charged cellular molecules. The activity against boiled crude cell wall was much greater than against purifed cell wall, suggesting protein associated with crude cell wall may aid in the binding of the peptidoglycan hydrolase The cloned peptidoglycan hydrolase showed positive activity on whole cells of some lysostaphin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci. The cloned enzyme may be an alternative for lysostaphin for lysis of staphylococci.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.99-103
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• 2002

Taurine has a neuroprotective action from oxidative stress in neural cell. In the present study, we studied taurine transport under basal and stressed conditions in conditionally immortalized rat brain capillary endothelial cell line (TR-BBB13) in vitro. The uptake of[$^3{H}$]taurine in the TR-BBB13 was increased by time-dependently and dependent on both Na$^{+}$ and Cl/ sup -/. Furthermore, $\beta$-alanine strongly inhibited the uptake of [TEX>$^3{H}$]taurine in the TR-BBB13. To study the effcts of oxidative stress on taurine transport, we used diethyl maleate (DEM) and lipopolysccharide (LPS). Diethyl maleate (DEM, $300\Mu\textrm{M}$) significantly reduced uptake of [TEX>$^3{H}$]taurine by time-dependently until 8 hr exposure in TR-BBB 13. But, the [TEX>$^3{H}$]taurine uptake was not changed by lipopolysccharide (LPS, 10 ng/ml) in TR-BBB13.3.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.sup1
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• pp.126-129
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• 2008

Renal cell carcinoma is the most common histological type of renal malignancy, predominant in men and the primary treatment modality of this tumor is surgery. The role of diagnostic imaging in the management of this tumor is the evaluation of extent of disease as well as the detection and characterization of renal mass. US has long been a routine screening tool for kidney but tomographic imaging modalities such as CT and MRI begin to be also commonly used these days. On the other hand, the sensitivity of $^{18}F-FDG-PET$ in detection of renal mass is relatively low because of inherent limitation caused by FDG excretion pathway despite avid uptake of FDG to tumor cell per se. Many studies revealed FDG PET scan could play an important role in detection of metastatic lesions although the sensitivity for the detection of primary lesion is not so high. Furthermore, development of PET/CT scanner will make it possible to expand the indication of FDG PET scan in this malignancy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Biotechnology Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.371-374
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• 2005

In our previous work in transcriptional regulation of sugar, expression of genes encoding putative glycosyl hydrolases in Arabidopsis was induced by sugar starvation. They were annotated as b-galactosidase (At5g56870), ${\beta}-xylosidase$ (At5g49360) and ${\beta}-glucosidase$ (At3g60140), which belong to glycosyl hydrolase family that has a catalytic domain of polysaccharides. From the primary structure of deduced amino acid sequence, they were predicted to localize to cell wall. Further investigation of these cell wall hydrolases implicated that cell wall polysaccharides provide metabolizable sugars to nutrient allocation under sugar starvation.