• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.914-919
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• 2006

We investigated the catechin content in green tea leaf (GTL) and green tea seed (GTS), the antiproliferative and detoxifying phase II enzyme-inducing activities of the methanolic (80%, v/v) extracts from GTL and GTS. GTL and GTS contained $8,685{\pm}1,061$ and $108{\pm}32\;{\mu}g/g$ epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), $11,486{\pm}506$ and $116{\pm}72\;{\mu}g/g$ epigallocatechin (EGC), $3,535{\pm}308$ and $821{\pm}95\;{\mu}g/g$ epicatechin gallate (ECG), and $1,429{\pm}177$ and $37{\pm}44\;{\mu}g/g$ epicatechin (EC), respectively. The methanolic extract of GTS showed a greater increase in quinone reductase activity and antiproliferation potential against mouse hepatoma cells than GTL extract did. GTS treatment resulted in the accumulation at sub-G1 phase of mouse hepatoma hepa1c1c7 cells as assessed by flow cytometry. Enhancement of phase II enzyme activity by GTS extract was shown to be mediated, directly or indirectly, via interaction with the antioxidant response element (ARE) sequence in the genes encoding the phase enzymes. As the catechin content in GTS was significantly lower than that in GTL, components other than catechins appear to be responsible for the anticarcinogenic activity of the seed. In summary, these results suggest that the 80% methanolic extract of GTS deserves further study to evaluate its potential as an anticarcinogenic agent and to investigate its mechanism of action.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.3559-3567
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• 2016

Background: In recent years, there has been considerable research on recycling of agro-industrial waste for production of bioactive compounds. The food processing industry produces large amounts of citrus peels that may be an inexpensive source of useful agents. Objective: The present work aimed to explore the phytochemical content, antioxidant, anticancer, antiproliferation, and antigenotxic activities of lemon, grapefruit, and mandarin peels. Materials and Methods: Peels were extracted using 98% ethanol and the three crude extracts were assessed for their total polyphenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and antioxidant activity using DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl). Their cytotoxic and mitogenic proliferation activities were also studied in human leukemia HL-60 cells and mouse splenocytes by CCK-8 assay. In addition, genotoxic/antigenotoxic activity was explored in mouse splenocytes using chromosomal aberrations (CAs) assay. Results: Lemon peels had the highest of TPC followed by grapefruit and mandarin. In contrast, mandarin peels contained the highest of TFC followed by lemon and grapefruit peels. Among the extracts, lemon peel possessed the strongest antioxidant activity as indicated by the highest DPPH radical scavenging, the lowest effective concentration 50% ($EC_{50}=42.97{\mu}g\;extract/mL$), and the highest Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC=0.157). Mandarin peel exhibited moderate cytotoxic activity ($IC_{50}=77.8{\mu}g/mL$) against HL-60 cells, whereas grapefruit and lemon peels were ineffective anti-leukemia. Further, citrus peels possessed immunostimulation activity via augmentation of proliferation of mouse splenocytes (T-lymphocytes). Citrus extracts exerted non-cytotoxic, and antigenotoxic activities through remarkable reduction of CAs induced by cisplatin in mouse splenocytes for 24 h. Conclusions: The phytochemical constituents of the citrus peels may exert biological activities including anticancer, immunostimulation and antigenotoxic potential.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.236-242
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• 2008

Invertase (${\beta}$-D-fructofuranosidase; EC 3.2.1.26) catalyzes the conversion of sucrose into glucose and fructose and is involved in an array of important processes, including phloem unloading, carbon partitioning, the response to pathogens, and the control of cell differentiation and development. Its importance may have caused the invertases to evolve into a multigene family whose members are regulated by a variety of different mechanisms, such as pH, sucrose levels, and inhibitor proteins. Although putative invertase inhibitors in the Arabidopsis genome are easy to locate, few studies have been conducted to elucidate their individual functions in vivo in plant growth and development because of their high redundancy. In this study we assessed the functional role of the putative invertase inhibitors in Arabidopsis by generating transgenic plants harboring a putative invertase inhibitor gene under the control of the CaMV35S promoter. A transgenic plant that expressed high levels of the putative invertase inhibitor transcript when grown under normal conditions was chosen for the current study. To our surprise, the stability of the invertase inhibitor transcripts was shown to be down-regulated by the phytohormone ABA (abscisic acid). It is well established that ABA enhances invertase activity in vivo but the underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. Our results thus suggest that one way ABA regulates invertase activity is by down-regulating its inhibitor.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.99-110
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• 2018

Compared to yellow dust coming from China or particulate matter created naturally in spring due to Total Suspended Particulate(TSP), particulate matter in winter season have much more serious effect on human body as they penetrate cell membranes. Although such particulate matter are becoming a social issue, there are no concrete plans on how to reduce them. Air-purifying plants are limited in maintaining the indoor air quality of large area because it is usually difficult to quantify their performance. In order to improve this, a bio-filter that can be connected to air conditioner is suggested as an option. This study seeks to improve air conditioning model-based monitoring method for bio-filters from prior studies and objectify correlations between applied vegetation and growing environment into quantitative indicators. By doing so, this study seeks to provide criteria on plants applied to artificial soil-based vegetation bio-filters and basic information to set air-conditioning features. The study results confirmed significant tendency on the growing stability of each purifying plant in mechanical air-conditioning environment. Among three models selected for bio-filter vegetation models, epipremnum aureum showed high performance in quantitative indicators, including soil moisture, EC, and leaf temperature, etc., indicating that it would assure the highest growing stability in this test air-conditioning environment.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.429-435
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• 1999

An adenosine 5'-monophosphate deaminase (AMP aminohydrolase, EC 3.5.4.6) was purified to homogeneity from the cell-free extract of Saccharomyces cerevisiae DKCTC7248. The molecular mass of subunit was estimated to be 80 kDa on SDS-PAGE, and that of the holoenzyme was shown to be 240 kDa by gel filtration. The isoelectric point of the enzyme (AMP deaminase D) was determined to be 6.2. The AMP deaminase D was specific towards AMP with an apparent $K_m$ value of 4.1 mM and a Hill coefficient, $n_H$, of 2.2. Both ATP and ADP were positive allosteric effectors of the AMP deaminase D: The apparent $K_{m}$ was decreased to 1.6 mM and 3.3 mM in the presence of 0.1 mM ATP and ADP, respectively, lowering $n_{H}$ to 1.0. Univalent cations like $K^+, Na^+ and Li^ +$ activated the enzyme but some divalent cations such as $Cu^{ 2+} and Cd^{2+}$ showed strong inhibitory effects. This enzyme displayed optimum activity at $30^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.0. In addition, it was stable up to $45^{\circ}C$ and over a wide pH range(pH 5.5-9.0). Amino acid sequences of its N-terminal region were analyzed to be ADYKMQMFADDA.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.231-236
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• 2011

The polyacrylate/multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) composites were prepared and investigated for the application as a counter electrode in solar cell. The electrical conductivity of the composites was increased with increasing MWNT content and with the thickness of the sheet. The surface resistivity value of the composite at 50 wt% loading of MWNT was 0.36 ${\Omega}$/sq. The thermal decomposition temperature of the composites was also increased with the MWNT contents, and the increase of $15^{\circ}C$ was observed at the composite of polyacrylate/MWNT (50/50, w/w). The increase of storage modulus of the composites was observed, especially at the higher temperature compared to polyacrylate. The dimensional change of polyacrylate decreased over $20^{\circ}C$, but that of the composite increased linearly with the temperature. The morphology of the composites stands for the good dispersion of MWNT into the polyacrylate matrix.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.3567-3572
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• 2010

Black pine barks from the southern region of Korea were extracted using pressurized hot water and the water soluble extracts were then separated in a stepwise fashion using a variety of solvents, column chromatography (CC), thin layer chromatography (TLC), and high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The antioxidant activities of each fraction and the active compounds were determined based on the radical scavenging activities of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), reductive potential of ferric ion, and total phenol contents. A DPPH test showed that the half maximal effective concentration ($EC_{50}$ value : $6.59{\pm}0.31\;{\mu}g/mL$) of the ethyl acetate fraction (ca. 0.67%) was almost the same as that of the control compounds and inversely proportional to the value of the total phenol contents. The cell viability of the water extracts was confirmed by methyl thiazol-2-yl-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) with enzyme linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA). Catechin, epicatechin, quercetin and ferulic acid were isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction as active compounds and identified by nuclear magnetic resonance. The antioxidant activity as value of DPPH of each of the separated compounds was lower than the ethyl acetate fraction, and ferulic acid was the lowest among these compounds.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.310-317
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• 2012

A jute fiber surface was modified with argon gas in a cylinder type RF plasma generator to enhance the interfacial bond strength and to optimize the plasma treatment condition. The plasma power, gas pressure, and treat time were varied to figure out any effect of those parameters on the morphology and mechanical strength of jute fibers, and the interfacial bond strength for a model composite with polypropylene resin. As the severity of plasma treatment was increased, the surface of jute fibers became rougher. Gas pressure was less effective in roughening of the surface compared with those of treat time and plasma power. Approximately 25% drop in tensile strength of jute fibers was observed for the parameters of treat time and plasma power, while little deterioration was found for gas pressure, with increasing the severity. Based on the interfacial shear strength (IFSS), the optimum plasma treatment condition was determined to be treat time of 30 s, plasma power of 40 W, and gas pressure of 30 mTorr.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.213-220
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• 2010

To examine the potential of Terminalia chebula as a whitening agent, we measured antioxidant activity using DPPH$\cdot$, ABTS${\cdot}^+$ assays and ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays, and depigmenting activity using B16F10 melanoma cells. The intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level was monitored by $H_2DCFDA$ fluorescence labeling, and melanin contents in B16F10 melanoma cells by 960 $J/m^2$ dose of UVA-induced oxidative stress. The radical-scavenging activities of T. chebula extract (TCE) were measured in terms of $EC_{50}$ values using DPPH$\cdot$, ABTS${\cdot}^+$ assays and FRAP value were 280.0 ${\mu}g/mL$, 42.2 ${\mu}g/mL$ and 113.1 ${\mu}mol$ $FeSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O/g$, respectively. We found that ROS and melanin concentrations were reduced by TCE treatments of 25 ${\mu}g/mL$ under UVA-induced oxidative stress. Tyrosinase activity and melanin contents in $\alpha$-melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH)-induced melanoma cells both decreased dose-dependently in the treatment groups. TCE similarly reduced melanogenesis in B16F10 melanoma cells stimulated by $\alpha$-MSH as compared to arbutin as a positive control. T. chebula may prove to be a useful therapeutic agent for hyperpigmentation and an effective component in skin whitening and.or lightening cosmetics.

• Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry
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• v.68
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• pp.161-167
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• 2018

In this study, transition metal coated carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were synthesized and applied as anode materials of Li secondary batteries. CNFs/Ni foam was immersed into 0.01 M transition metal solutions after growing CNFs on Ni foam via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. Transition metal coated CNFs/Ni foam was dried in an oven at $80^{\circ}C$. Morphologies, compositions, and crystal quality of CNFs-transition metal composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy (Raman), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. Electrochemical characteristics of CNFs-transition metal composites as anodes of Li secondary batteries were investigated using a three-electrode cell. Transition metal/CNFs/Ni foam was directly employed as a working electrode without any binder. Lithium foil was used as both counter and reference electrodes while 1 M $LiClO_4$ was employed as the electrolyte after it was dissolved in a mixture of propylene carbonate:ethylene carbonate (PC:EC) at 1:1 volume ratio. Galvanostatic charge/discharge cycling and cyclic voltammetry measurements were taken at room temperature using a battery tester. In particular, the capacity of the synthesized CNFs-Fe was improved compared to that of CNFs. After 30 cycles, the capacity of CNFs-Fe was increased by 78%. Among four transition metals of Fe, Cu, Co and Ni coated on carbon nanofibers, the retention rate of CNFs-Fe was the highest at 41%. The initial capacity of CNFs-Fe with 670 mAh/g was reduced to 275 mAh/g after 30 cycles.