• Macromolecular Research
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.408-415
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• 2006

Temperature-dependent, wide-angle, x-ray diffraction (WAXD) patterns and infrared (IR) spectra were measured for biodegradable poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and its copolymers, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) P(HB-co-HHx) (HHx=2.5, 3.4, 10.5, and 12 mol%), in order to explore their crystal and lamellar structure and their pattern of C-H...O=C hydrogen bonding. The WAXD patterns showed that the P(HB-co-HHx) copolymers have the same orthorhombic system as PHB. It was found from the temperature-dependent WAXD measurements of PHB and P(HB-co-HHx) that the a lattice parameter is more enlarged than the b lattice parameter during heating and that only the a lattice parameter shows reversibility during both heating and cooling processes. These observations suggest that an interaction occurs along the a axis in PHB and P(HB-co-HHx). This interaction seems to be due to an intermolecular C-H...O=C hydrogen bonding between the C=O group in one helical structure and the $CH_3$ group in the other helical structure. The x-ray crystallographic data of PHB showed that the distance between the O atom of the C=O group in one helical structure and the H atom of one of the three C-H bonds of the $CH_3$ group in the other helix structure is $2.63{\AA}$, which is significantly shorter than the sum of the van der Waals separation ($2.72{\AA}$). This result and the appearance of the $CH_3$ asymmetric stretching band at $3009 cm^{-1}$ suggest that there is a C-H...O=C hydrogen bond between the C=O group and the $CH_3$ group in PHB and P(HB-co-HHx). The temperature-dependent WAXD and IR measurements revealed that the crystallinity of P(HB-co-HHx) (HHx =10.5 and 12 mol%) decreases gradually from a fairly low temperature, while that of PHB and P(HB-co-HHx) (HHx = 2.5 and 3.5 mol%) remains almost unchanged until just below their melting temperatures. It was also shown from our studies that the weakening of the C-H...O = C interaction starts from just above room temperature and proceeds gradually increasing temperature. It seems that the C-H...O=C hydrogen bonding stabilizes the chain holding in the lamellar structure and affects the thermal behaviour of PHB and its copolymers.

• The Korean Journal of Rheology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.82-90
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• 1999

Electrorheological(ER) fluid is a material that shows the dramatic change of rheological properties under an electric field and responds reversibly in a few milliseconds. ER fluid's response to an electric field along with its fast switching capability allows ER devices to be precisely controlled. The real application with ER fluid, however, has many limitations to be overcome; temperature fluctuation, moisture, dust, aggregation, precipitation, and low yield stress, for example. The magnitude and the characteristics of yield stress of ER fluid plays an important role in practical applications. In this research, a dynamic simulation on the squeezing flow of the ER fluid was carried out. Numerical simulation on isolated chains was performed to find out the effect of hydrodynamic and electrostatic force depending on the chain location, the squeezing rate, and the chain structure. Suspension model that is composed of a large number of particles was also investigated. The increase of normal stresses as well as the existence of a yield stress at an earlier stage could be observed, and the effective control of the normal stresses could be achieved at an optimal condition of the hydrodynamic force and the electrostatic force.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.205-210
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• 2013

Lumazine protein is a fluorescent protein isolated from the bioluminescent bacteria of Photobacterium species. To generate minimal size of lumazine protein with possessing fluorescent characteristic, the gene coding for the wild type N-terminal domain of lumazine protein (N-LumP 118) containing amino acids up to 118 from Photobacterium leiognathi was produced. In addition, the genes coding for the variant proteins of N-LumP 118, replaced with one tryptophan amino acid (N-LumP 118 V41W, S48W, T50W, D64W, and A66W), were also constructed by Polymerase Chain Reaction and Site Directed Mutagenesis. These proteins were expressed in Escherichia coli by transformation with recombinant plasmids and purified by 6X-His tagging system. Spectroscopic studies have show that the purified proteins are capable of binding to the fluorescent ligand 6,7-dimethyl-8-ribityllumazine, resulted in showing of fluorescent characteristic with the minimal size of protein. From these studies, the mutant proteins containing single tryptophan amino acid residue, possessing its own intrinsic flouophore character at the different position, will be able to the use as a probe for further studies to deduce their three dimensional structure and the binding modes.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.277-288
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• 2017

A probabilistic risk analysis of levee system estimates the overall level of flood risk associated with the levee system, according to a series of possible flood scenarios. It requires the uncertainty analysis of all the risk components, including hydrological, hydraulic and geotechnical parts computed by employing MCMC (Markov Chain Monte Carlo), MCS (Monte Carlo Simulation) and FOSM (First-Order Second Moment), presents a joint probability combined each probability. The methodology was applied to a 12.5 km reach from upstream to downstream of the Gangjeong-Goryeong weir, including 6 levee reaches, in Nakdong river. Overtopping risks were estimated by computing flood stage corresponding to 100/200 year high quantile (97.5%) design flood causing levee overflow. Geotechnical risks were evaluated by considering seepage, slope stability, and rapid drawdown along the levee reach without overflow. A probability-based compound risk will contribute to rising effect of safety and economic aspects for levee design, then expect to use the index for riverside structure design in the future.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.221-225
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• 2016

Tolaasin is a pore-forming peptide toxin produced by Pseudomonas tolaasii and causes a brown blotch disease by disrupting membrane structures of cultivated mushrooms. The mechanism and characteristics of tolaasin pore formation are not known in detail; however, tolaasin pores have been demonstrated in the artificial lipid bilayer. Since the tolaasin pore appeared less frequently and unstable in lipid bilayer, a mismatch between the length of tolaasin pore and the thickness of lipid membrane had been suggested. Therefore, tolaasin-induced hemolyses were measured by the additions of phospholipids composed of various fatty acids with different carbon numbers. When phosphatidylethanolamines made with two decanoic acids (C10:0, 1,2-didecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine; DDPE), myristic acids (C14:0, 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine), and stearic acids (C18:0, 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine) were added to the buffer containing RBCs and tolaasin peptides, DDPE facilitated the tolaasin-induced hemolysis while the other two phospholipids showed no effects. At various concentrations of DDPE, the tolaasin-induced hemolysis was stimulated as a dose-dependent manner. The phospholipids composed of mediumchain fatty acids stabilize the tolaasin pore probably by binding between the pore structure and membrane phospholipids and making the membrane thickness thinner around the pore. These results showed that tolaasin molecules make more stable pores in the membrane made with phospholipids composed of medium length fatty acids, suggesting that the length of tolaasin pore is a little shorter than the thickness of RBC membrane.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.327-333
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• 2005

Dihydroxy-acid dehydratase (DHAD, 2,3-dihydroxy-acid hydrolyase, EC 4.2.1.9) is one of the key enzymes involved in the biosynthetic pathway of the branched chain amino acid isoleucine and valine. Although the enzyme have been purified and characterized in various mesophiles including bacteria and eukarya, the biochemical properties of DHAD has bee not yet reported from hyperthermophilic archaea. In this study, we cloned, expressed, and purified a DHAD homologue from the thermoacidophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus P2, which grows optimally at $80\;^{\circ}C$ and pH 3, in E. coli. Characterization of the recombinant S. solfataricus DHAD (rSso_DHAD) revealed that it is the dimeric protein with a subunit molecular weight of 64,000 Da in native structure. rDHAD showed the highest activity toward 2,3-dihydroxyisovaleric acid among 17 aldonic acid substrates Interestingly, this enzyme also displayed 50 % activities toward some pentonic acids and hexonic acids when compared with the activity of this enzyme to the natural substrate. Moreover, rSso_DHAD indicated relatively higher activity toward D-gluconate than any other hexonic acids tested in substrates. $K_m$ and $V_{max}$ values of rSso_DHAD were calculated as $0.54\;{\pm}\;0.04\;mM$ toward 2,3dihydroxyisovalerate and $2.42\;{\pm}\;0.19\;mM$ toward D-gluconate, and as $21.6\;{\pm}\;0.4\;U/mg$ toward 2,3-dihydroxyisovalerate and $13.8\;{\pm}\;0.4\;U/mg$ toward D-gluconate, respectively. In the study for biochemical properties, the enzyme shows maximal activity between $70^{\circ}C$ and $80^{\circ}C$, and the pH range of pH 7.5 to 8.5. The half life time at $80^{\circ}C$ was 30 min. A divalent metal ion, $Mn^{2+}$, was only powerful activators, whereas other metal ions made the enzyme activity reduced. $Hg^{2+}$, organic mercury, and EDTA also strongly inhibited enzyme activities. Particularly, the rSso_DHAD activity was very stable under aerobic condition although the counterparts reported from mesophiles had been deactivated by oxygen.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1880-1893
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• 2015

In this study, Pseudomonas R0-14, which was isolated from Arctic soil samples, showed a clear halo when grown on M9 medium agarose plates containing olive oil-rhodamine B as substrate, suggesting that it expressed putative lipase(s). A putative lipase gene, lipR, was cloned from R0-14 by genome walking and Touchdown PCR. lipR encodes a 562-amino-acid polypeptide showing a typical α/β hydrolase structure with a catalytic triad consisting of Ser₁₅₃-Asp₂₀₂-His₂₆₀ and one α-helical lid (residues 103-113). A phylogenetic analysis revealed that LipR belongs to the lipase subfamily I.3. LipR was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli, purified, and biochemically characterized. Recombinant LipR exhibited its maximum activity towards p-nitrophenyl butyrate at pH 8.5 and 60℃ with a K_m of 0.37 mM and a k_cat of 6.42 s^-1. It retained over 90% of its original activity after incubation at 50℃ for 12 h. In addition, LipR was activated by Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Ba²⁺, and Sr²⁺, while strongly inhibited by Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Mn²⁺, and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. Moreover, it showed a certain tolerance to organic solvents, including acetonitrile, isopropanol, acetone, methanol, and tert-butanol. When algal oil was hydrolyzed by LipR for 24 h, there was an enrichment of n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, including eicosapentaenoic acid (1.22%, 1.65-fold), docosapentaenoic acid (21.24%, 2.04-fold), and docosahexaenoic acid (36.98%, 1.33-fold), and even a certain amount of diacylglycerols was also produced. As a result, LipR has great prospect in industrial applications, especially in food and/or cosmetics applications.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.209-220
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• 1995

The nuclear matrix was isolated from Misgumus mizolepis liver nuclei by low salt extraction and restriction enzyme treatment. The structure was digested with proteinase K. After centrifugation, matrix attachment regions (MARs) were obtained by RNase treatment and phenol-chloroform extraction. The result leads to the appearance of smeared bands in the range of about 0.3-15 kb. pURY19 vector was constructed by inserting 2.13 kb Eco47 III fragment of the yeast uracil 3 gene into the unique Ssp I site of pUC19 plasmid vector as a selection marker. This vector is unable to be maintained in Sacrharomyces cerevisiae by itself since it cannot replicate as an extrachromosomal element. Using this system, we attempted cloning the ARS (autonomously replicating sequence) from M. mizelepis to develop an efficient expression vector for the transgenic fish. pURY19N_{l-62}$ were constructed by inserting MARs in pURY19 plasmid vector and transformation of E. coli $DH5\alpha$. Replication origins (ARS) of M. mizolepis were isolated, which enabled the vector to replicate autonomously in S. cerevisiae. The cloned DNA fragments were sequenced by Sanger's dideoxy-chain termination method. All clones were AT-rich. $pURY19N_6$, one of the clones, expecially contained ARS consensus sequence, Topoisomerase II consensus, near A-box and T-box.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.38-45
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• 2007

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a representative dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) and has contaminated substance environments including soil and groundwater due to leakage and careless. DNPAL, has been treated by surfactant-enhanced aquifer remediation (SEAR). After application of SEAR, groundwater contains still surfactant as well as little amount of residual TCE. Permeable reactive barrier using zero-valent iron (ZW) is a very effective technology to treat the residual TCE in groundwater. In this study, the effect of the residual surfactant on the reductive dechlorination of residual TCE was investigated using ZVI. Mixed surfactant composed of nonioinic surfactant and cationic surfactant was used as a residual surfactant because of toxicity and enhancement of dechlorination rate. Structure of surfactant affected significantly the decrhlorination rate of TCE. Mixed surfactant system with relatively short polyethylene oxide (PEO) chain in nonionic surfactant, cationic surfactant did not affect TCE dechlorination rate. However, mixed surfactant system with relatively long PEO chain in nonionic surfactant shows that TCE dechlorination rate was significantly dependent on fraction of cationic surfactant and HLB of nonionic surfactant. Cationic surfactant with trimethyl ammonium group enhanced reductive dechlorination rate compared to that surfactant with pyridinium group.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.328-337
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• 2017

Objective: An experiment was conducted to determine the relationship between the KAP11.1 and the regulation wool fineness. Methods: In previous work, we constructed a skin cDNA library and isolated a full-length cDNA clone termed KAP11.1. On this basis, we conducted a series of bioinformatics analysis. Tissue distribution of KAP11.1 mRNA was performed using semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. The expression of KAP11.1 mRNA in primary and secondary hair follicles was performed using real-time PCR (real-time polymerase chain reaction) analysis. The expression location of KAP11.1 mRNA in primary and secondary hair follicles was performed using in situ hybridization. Results: Bioinformatics analysis showed that KAP11.1 gene encodes a putative 158 amino acid protein that exhibited a high content of cysteine, serine, threonine, and valine and has a pubertal mammary gland) structural domain. Secondary structure prediction revealed a high proportion of random coils (76.73%). Semi-quantitative RT-PCR showed that KAP11.1 gene was expressed in heart, skin, and liver, but not expressed in spleen, lung and kidney. Real time PCR results showed that the expression of KAP11.1 has a higher expression in catagen than in anagen in the primary hair follicles. However, in the secondary hair follicles, KAP11.1 has a significantly higher expression in anagen than in catagen. Moreover, KAP11.1 gene has a strong expression in inner root sheath, hair matrix, and a lower expression in hair bulb. Conclusion: We conclude that KAP11.1 gene may play an important role in regulating the fiber diameter.