• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.216-222
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• 2004

In a previous paper, the ogdH gene that encodes 2-oxoglutarat dehydrogenase was isolated from Salmonella typhimurium. The catalytic N-terminal region in the enzyme was found to be very specific for the Salmonella species. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to detect S. typhimurium in food sources using primers designed for OGDH-l and OGDH-2 which were based on the salmonella-specific region of the ogdH gene. A simple polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection method was developed to detect low numbers of S. typhimurium in a chicken meat microbial consortium. Using the ogdH-specific primers under stringent amplification conditions and for gene probe analysis, fewer than 100 colony-forming units (CFUs) were detectable when pure cultures were employed. When the PCR assay was run on S. typhimurium-contaminated meat contents, only the positive meat samples containing as few as 200 CFUs reacted to the assay. The method employed for sample processing is simple and it was determined to provide a sensitive means of detecting trace amounts of S. typhimurium-specific sequences in the presence of mixed meat microbial populations. When compared with six representative intestinal gram-negative bacterial strains in foods, including Vibrio parahaemolyticus, V. vulnificus, Enterobacter cloacae, E. coli O157:H7, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Proteus sp., S. typhimurium had a unique and distinct PCR product (796 bp). In conclusion, the two OGDH primers were found to be rapid and sensitive detectors of Salmonella spp for the PCR method.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.1175-1181
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• 2013

The aim of this paper is to design and evaluate a high concentration, high penetration unipolar corona ionizer. The electrostatic characteristics in terms of voltage-current relationships of the present ionizer in the discharge zones for positive and negative coronas were discussed. Using ion current measurement, the concentration and penetration of ions were evaluated at corona voltages across the needle electrodes between 1 and 4 kV, flow rates between 1 and 5 L/min, and an operating pressure of 1 atm. In the discharge zone of the ionizer, the highest ion concentrations were found to be about $1.71{\times}10^{14}$ and $5.09{\times}10^{14}\;ions/m^3$ for positive and negative coronas, respectively. At the outlet of the ionizer, it was found that the highest ion concentration was about $1.95{\times}10^{13}$ and $1.91{\times}10^{13}\;ions/m^3$ for positive and negative coronas, respectively. The highest ion penetration for positive and negative coronas through the ionizer was found to be about 98 % and 33 %, respectively. The $N_it$ product for positive and negative coronas was also found to $1.28{\times}10^{13}$ and $7.43{\times}10^{13}\;ions/m^3s$, respectively. From the findings, this ionizer proved to be particularly useful as an aerosol charger for positive and negative charge before the detector in an electrical aerosol detector.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.257-264
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• 2009

A $\beta$-agarase gene, agaB34, was functionally cloned from the genomic DNA of a marine bacterium, Agarivorans albus YKW-34. The open reading frame of agaB34 consisted of 1,362 bp encoding 453 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence, consisting of a typical N-terminal signal peptide followed by a catalytic domain of glycoside hydrolase family 16 (GH-16) and a carbohydrate-binding module (CBM), showed 37-86% identity to those of agarases belonging to family GH-16. The recombinant enzyme (rAgaB34) with a molecular mass of 49 kDa was produced extracellularly using Escherichia coli $DH5{\alpha}$ as a host. The purified rAgaB34 was a $\beta$-agarase yielding neoagarotetraose (NA4) as the main product. It acted on neoagarohexaose to produce NA4 and neoagarobiose, but it could not further degrade NA4. The maximal activity of rAgaB34 was observed at $30^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.0. It was stable over pH 5.0-9.0 and at temperatures up to $50^{\circ}C$. Its specific activity and $k_{cat}/K_m$ value for agarose were 242 U/mg and $1.7{\times}10^6/sM$, respectively. The activity of rAgaB34 was not affected by metal ions commonly existing in seawater. It was resistant to chelating reagents (EDTA, EGTA), reducing reagents (DTT, $\beta$-mercaptoethanol), and denaturing reagents (SDS and urea). The E. coli cell harboring the pUC18-derived agarase expression vector was able to efficiently excrete agarase into the culture medium. Hence, this expression system might be used to express secretory proteins.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.51-64
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• 2014

Strategic bundling of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices among themselves works together as an entire HRM system rather than individual HRM practices to achieve organizational objectives. The bundles of HR practices support the effectiveness of one another assuming the effectiveness of any practice depends on other practices in place. It is said that the greater the total degree of bundling among the various components of HRM policies and practices, the more will be the organizational outcomes. Realizing these facts, this study aimed to explore the level of strategic bundling and examined the impact of such bundling on organizational performance to the publicly listed companies of Nepal. This empirical study is based on description and exploratory design for which data collected through the questionnaire based on 5-point liker scale. Total population of the study at the time of data collection are 234 organizations publicly listed in Stock Exchange of Nepal. Questionnaire is distributed to all organizations listed, response received from 105 organizations, as a unit of analysis, which is fairly good response. The study of strategic bundling of HRM practices perhaps the first study in Nepal, found that only 32 percent organizations have followed high bundling HR practices and these high bundling organizations are significantly different with low bundling organizations. Business organizations are trying to practice being close association of HRM policies and practices within them except labor relation with employee participation and business strategies. Supporting to the international literature, strategic bundling of HRM practices among themselves shows statistically significant effects on quality of product or services, labor productivity, financial performance, employee satisfaction, rate of innovation, employee commitment and market share.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.4
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• pp.693-724
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• 2021

The in-vitro meat is a novel concept in food biotechnology comprising field of tissue engineering and cellular agriculture. It involves production of edible biomass by in-vitro culture of stem cells harvested from the muscle of live animals by self-organizing or scaffolding methodology. It is considered as efficient, environmental friendly, better ensuring public safety and nutritional security, as well as ethical way of producing meat. Source of stem cells, media ingredients, supply of large size bioreactors, skilled manpower, sanitary requirements, production of products with similar sensory and textural attributes as of conventional meat, consumer acceptance, and proper set up of regulatory framework are challenges faced in commercialization and consumer acceptance of in-vitro meat. To realize any perceivable change in various socio-economic and environmental spheres, the technology should be commercialized and should be cost-effective as conventional meat and widely accepted among consumers. The new challenges of increasing demand of meat with the increasing population could be fulfill by the establishment of in-vitro meat production at large scale and its popularization. The adoption of in-vitro meat production at an industrial scale will lead to self-sufficiency in the developed world.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.54-59
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• 2021

Bergenia ciliata (Family: Saxifragaceae) is a folklore remedy for the treatment of various ailments in Asian countries. Bergenin (1) has been isolated as an active constituent in many studies, however, the amount of bergenin has not been determined in all parts of the plant. A simple RP-HPLC method was developed to determine the amount of bergenin in methanol extracts of leaves, rhizomes and roots of the plant. Separation was achieved on an Agilent Eclipse XDB-C18 column maintained at 25 ℃ using isocratic solvent system (water: methanol: acetic acid; 62.5:37:0.5 v/v/v) adjusted at pH 2 0 at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. and detected at 275 nm. Correlation coefficient (0.9952) showed linearity of concentration (5-200 ㎍/mL) and response. The values of LOD (0.00947 ㎍/mL) and LOQ (0.02869 ㎍/mL) indicated that method was sensitive. The recovery of bergenin was 99.99-100% indicating accuracy of method. The methanol extract of rhizomes contained higher amount of bergenin (19.4%) than roots (9.2%) and leaves (6.9%). It is concluded that methanol extract of rhizomes is a better source of bergenin than other parts of the plant. The findings are useful for standardization of bergenin containing extracts and herbal preparations.

• Anatomy and Cell Biology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.552-561
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• 2023

The endocrinology of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and its predisposing factors have been studied extensively while its skeletal effects have received negligible research despite this being a global disease. The cellular and molecular association between proximal humeral fractures and T2D has not been fully elucidated. We aimed to study bone cell quantities and immunolabel osteogenic and antiosteogenic cytokines. The study used 12-week-old rats (23 males) consisting of 8 Sprague Dawley (SD) and 15 Zucker Diabetic Sprague Dawley (ZDSD). Weekly mass measurements were taken while fasting blood glucose levels were recorded every 2 weeks with oral glucose tolerance tests conducted once every 4 weeks. Upon termination at the age of 28 weeks, humeri were fixed in 10% buffered formalin, prior to decalcification in ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. The bone samples were then processed in ascending grades of alcohol using an automatic processor before embedding in paraffin wax. Sections were cut at 5 ㎛ thickness in a series for Haematoxylin and Eosin stain, and immunohistochemistry was performed with the anti-tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), anti-alkaline phosphatase (ALP), anti-bone morphogenetic protein 3 (BMP3), anti-transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1), anti-aged glycation end product (AGE) antibodies in the sequence. ZDSD rats had more adipocytes, BMP3 and AGEs expression with higher numbers of TRAP positive osteocytes and fewer ALP cells although no differences were found in TGFβ1 immunopositivity. We also found that T2D increases the number of AGEs immuno-positive cells, as well as its extracellular expression, thus providing a conducive environment for the interaction of the osteogenic cytokine and its antagonist to suppress osteoblastogenesis. ZDSD groups had higher adipocyte numbers therefore increased marrow adiposity in T2D.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.13-26
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• 2024

Due to its capacity to address urgent environmental challenges connected to urbanization and stormwater management, pervious concrete, a sustainable and innovative material, has attracted a lot of attention recently. The aim of this study was to find the engineering characteristics of pervious concrete made from recycled aggregate (RA) at various aggregate-to-cement ratios (A/C) and the addition of 5% (by weight of total aggregate) of both natural and recycled fine aggregate to produce a very sustainable concrete product for a variety of applications. The three distinct aggregate-to-cement ratios, 6, 5, and 4, were used to produce pervious concrete using recycled aggregate in the research approach. The ratio of water to cement (w/c) was maintained at 0.3. Pervious concrete was created using single-sized recycled aggregate that passed through a 12.5 mm sieve and was held on a 9.5 mm sieve, as well as natural and recycled sand that passed through a 4 mm sieve. The production of twelve distinct concrete mixtures resulted in the testing of each concrete sample for dry density, abrasion resistance, compressive and splitting tensile strengths, porosity, and water permeability. A statistical method called GLM-ANOVA was also used to assess the characteristics of pervious concrete made using recycled aggregate. According to the experimental results, lowering the aggregate-to-cement ratio enhances the pervious concrete's overall performance. Additionally, a modest amount of fine aggregate boosts mechanical strength while lowering void content and water permeability. However, it was noted that such concretes' mechanical qualities were adversely affected to some extent. The results of this study offer insight into the viability of using recycled aggregates in order to achieve both structural integrity and environmental friendliness, which helps to optimize pervious concrete compositions.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.112-117
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• 2008

This experiment was carried out to obtain the basic information on processing for product of high quality goods in Artemisia capillaris. We investigated antioxidant and antimicrobial activities by harvesting date and plant parts in Artemisia capillaris. Contents of total polyphenol compounds and flavonoids were the highest in leaf, followed by capitulum and stem. Leaf on June 30 contained 76.7 mg/g DW total phenolic compounds and 78.2 mg/g DW flavonoids. As $RC_{50}$ value, that was, the concentration of sample required for 50% reduction of DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-l-picrylhydrazyl) absorbance, was very low as $5.42\;{\mu}g$ in leaf on June 30, antioxidant activity was the highest. In addition, $RC_{50}$ of BHA, BHT and ${\alpha}-tocopherol$ were $3.09\;{\mu}g$, $24.30{\mu}g$ and $2.87{\mu}g$, respectively. And capitulum had antimicrobial activities against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter aerogenes, Citrobacter freundii, Vibrio vulnificus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. By the way, leaf and stem rarely had antimicrobial activity. Antimicrobial activities of capitulum according to harvesting date were very various. Capitulum on August 30 had the highest antimicrobial activities against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio vulnificus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and on July 30 against Enterobacter aerogenes, Citrobacter freundii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.14
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• pp.5923-5931
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• 2015

Background: Registry data from four major public hospitals indicate trends over three decades from 1980 to 2010 in treatment and survival from colorectal cancer with distant metastases at diagnosis (TNM stage IV). Materials and Methods: Kaplan-Meier product-limit estimates and Cox proportional hazards models for investigating disease-specific survival and multiple logistic regression analyses for indicating first-round treatment trends. Results: Two-year survivals increased from 10% for 1980-84 to 35% for 2005-10 diagnoses. Corresponding increases in five-year survivals were from 3% to 16%. Time-to-event risk of colorectal cancer death approximately halved (hazards ratio: 0.48 (0.40, 0.59) after adjusting for demographic factors, tumour differentiation, and primary sub-site. Survivals were not found to differ by place of residence, suggesting reasonable equity in service provision. About 74% of cases were treated surgically and this proportion increased over time. Proportions having systemic therapy and/or radiotherapy increased from 12% in 1980-84 to 61% for 2005-10. Radiotherapy was more common for rectal than colonic cases (39% vs 7% in 2005-10). Of the cases diagnosed in 2005-10 when less than 70 years of age, the percentage having radiotherapy and/or systemic therapy was 79% for colorectal, 74% for colon and 86% for rectum (&RS)) cancers. Corresponding proportions having: systemic therapies were 75%, 71% and 81% respectively; radiotherapy were 24%, 10% and 46% respectively; and surgery were 75%, 78% and 71% respectively. Based on survey data on uptake of offered therapies, it is likely that of these younger cases, 85% would have been offered systemic treatment and among rectum (&RS) cases, about 63% would have been offered radiotherapy. Conclusions: Pronounced increases in survivals from metastatic colorectal cancer have occurred, in keeping with improved systemic therapies and surgical interventions. Use of radiotherapy and/or systemic therapy has increased markedly and patterns of change accord with clinical guideline recommendations.