• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.59-67
• /
• 2018

A xylanolytic and cellulolytic anaerobic bacterium strain CtC72 was isolated from cattle rumen liquor. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain CtC72 shared only 97.78% homology with its nearest phylogenetic affiliate Actinomyces ruminicola, showing its novelty. The strain could grow on medium containing xylan, carboxymethyl cellulose and avicel producing $CO_2$, acetate, and ethanol as major fermentation products. The whole genome analysis of the strain CtC72 exhibited a broad range of carbohydrate-active enzymes required for the breakdown and utilization of lignocellulosic biomass. Genes related to the production of ethanol and stress tolerance were also detected. Further there were several unique genes in CtC72 for chitin degradation, pectin utilization, sugar utilization, and stress response in comparison with Actinomyces ruminicola. The results show that the strain CtC72, a putative novel bacterium can be used for lignocellulosic biomass based biotechnological applications.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.60 no.4
• /
• pp.351-355
• /
• 2017

Tolaasin, peptide toxin produced by Pseudomonas tolaasii, causes a brown blotch disease on the cultivated mushrooms. Tolaasin peptides form membrane pores and disrupt cellular membrane structure. Molecular actions of tolaasin consist of the aggregation of peptide molecules, binding to the cell membrane, and formation of membrane pores. Therefore, the inhibitions of any of these actions are able to suppress the blotch disease. We have isolated and identified several tolaasin inhibitors (named tolaasin inhibitory factors, TIF) from food additives. TIFs were able to suppress the blotch-formation by the pathogen inoculated to the mushrooms. In this study, TIFs were incubated under various conditions and their activities for the inhibition of tolaasin-induced hemolytic activity were investigated. Since TIFs are unsaturated carbon compounds, they were sensitive to the air exposure and light irradiation. In the anaerobic conditions, TIFs were stable and their activities were decreased by 10% for three months. However, near 90% of TIF activity was suppressed by two weeks in the presence of air and sun light. Temperature did not show any significant effects on the activity of TIF, since storages at 5, 25, $45^{\circ}C$ did not show any difference. Therefore, for the stable storage of TIF compounds, container should be designed to be dark and air-tight.

• Macromolecular Research
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.22-30
• /
• 2007

High water vapor permeable coating materials were prepared by blending aqueous poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) solution with waterborne polyurethane-urea (WBPU) dispersions synthesized by prepolymer mixing process. Stable WBPU/PVA dispersions were achieved at PVA content below 30 wt%. As the water soluble polymer PVA content increased, the number and density of total micro-pores (tunnel-like/isolated micro-pores) formed after the dissolution of PVA in water increased, and the water vapor permeability of coated Nylon fabric also increased significantly. Using WBPU/water soluble polymer PVA blends as a coating material and then dissolving PVA in water was confirmed to be an effective method to obtain prominent breathable fabrics.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.56 no.5
• /
• pp.591-596
• /
• 2012

Preparation of $AlPMo_{12}O_{40}$ (AlPMo) salts, supported on mesostructured SBA-15 silica, by the reaction deposition strategy causes the formation of isolated AlPMo nanocrystals inside the nanotubular channels. The remarkable characteristic of the SBA-15 structure is that all the cylindrical pores are connected by some small channels. This makes the whole pore system in SBA-15 three-dimensional. We have used 2D hexagonal SBA-15 silicas as hard templates for the nanofabrication of AlPMo salt nanocrystal. The oxidation of alcohols occurs effectively and selectively with $H_2O_2$ as the oxidant. AlPMo salt nanocrystal was used as the catalyst.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.39 no.1
• /
• pp.71.1-71.1
• /
• 2014

To investigate physical properties of Solar pores, we use SDO/HMI data from 2010 to 2013. For this, we select single and isolated pores from the active region (Axx, Bxo, Bxi and Bxc-type) listed in Solar Region Summary. Pore is defined by connected pixels satisfying the intensity threshold from pixel of minimum intensity. We try to obtain area, intensity, magnetic field, and Doppler velocity of pores from HMI data. After removing the effects of orbital motion of the SDO satellite and differential rotation of the Sun, we identify that significant daily variations of Doppler velocity with non-zero ordinates still remain in the umbral region, and the artifact is quite dependent on the strength of magnetic field and radial component of velocity of SDO satellite. In this study we develope empirical model to remove the artifact. A preliminary result on the elimination of the artifact will be presented.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.918-929
• /
• 2015

Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) is being used more widely, and the biological contributions involved in MEOR need to be identified and quantified for the improvement of field applications. Owing to the excellent interfacial activity and the wide distribution of producing strains in oil reservoirs, lipopeptides have proved to be an essential part of the complex mechanisms in MEOR. In this study, crude lipopeptides were produced by a strain isolated from an indigenous community in an oil reservoir. It was found that crude lipopeptides can effectively reduce the IFT (interfacial tension) to 10^-1~10^-2 mN/m under high salinity without forming stable emulsions, and the wettability of natural sandstone can be enhanced (Amott index, from 0.36 to 0.48). The results of core flooding experiments indicate that an additional 5.2% of original oil in place can be recovered with a 9.5% reduction of injection pressure. After the shut-in period, the wettability of the core, the reduction of injection pressure, and the oil recovery can be improved to 0.63, 16.2% and 9.6%, respectively. In the microscopic flooding experiments, the crude oil in membrane, cluster, and throat states contribute nearly 90% in total of the additional oil recovery, and the recovery of membranestate oil was significantly enhanced by 93.3% after shut in. Based on the results in macro and pore scale, the IFT reduction and the wettability alteration are considered primary contributors to oil recovery, while the latter was more dominant after one shut-in period.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.126-129
• /
• 2013

We have fabricated an ordered Ni nanodot structure using an alumina mask prepared via 2-step anodization technique under phosphoric acid. We have formed a porous structure with average pore size of 279 nm on $2{\mu}m$ thick alumina film and the thermal deposition of thin Ni film though the mask led to the formation of ordered Ni nanodot structure with an average dot size of 293 nm, following the pore structure on the mask. We further investigated the magnetic properties of the nanodot structure by measuring the hysteresis curve at room temperature. When compared to the magnetic properties of a continuous Ni film, we observed the decrease in the squareness and the increase in coercivity along the magnetization easy axis, due to the isolated nanodot structure. Our study suggests that the ordered nanodot structure can be easiy fabricated with thin film deposition technique using anodized alumina mask as a mask.

• Macromolecular Research
• /
• v.11 no.5
• /
• pp.368-374
• /
• 2003

Porous scaffolds composed of gelatin and polysaccharides such as hyaluronic acid and $\beta$-glucan were prepared by using the freeze-drying method after cross-linking with l-ethyl-(3-3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC). The scaffold had an inter-connected pore structure with the sufficient pore size for use as a support for the growth of fibroblasts. Results for the contact angle and cell attachment confirmed that high gelatin content in a mixture was suitable for cellular attachment and distribution in two- or three-dimensional fibroblast cultures. However, the addition of polysaccharides aroused the synergistic effects of morphologic and mechanical property of gelatin-based scaffolds. To prepare the artificial dermis for the wound dressing to mimic the normal human dermal skin, fibroblasts were isolated from a child's foreskin, and cultured in gelatin-based scaffolds. An in vivo study showed that the artificial dermis containing the fibroblasts enhanced the wound healing rate and re-epithelialization of a full-thickness skin defect rather than the acellular scaffold after one week.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.246-251
• /
• 2003

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is composed of the brain capillaries, which are lined by endothelial cells displaying extremely tight intercellular junctions. Several attempts at creating an in vitro model of the BBB have been met with moderate success as brain capillary endothelial cells lose their barrier properties when isolated in cell culture. This may be due to a lack of recreation of the in vivo endothelial cellular environment in these models, including nearly constant contact with astrocyte foot processes. This work is motivated by the hypothesis that growing endothelial cells on one side of an ultra-thin, highly porous membrane and differentiating astrocyte or astrogliomal cells on the opposite side will lead to a higher degree of interaction between the two cell types and therefore to an improved model. Here we describe our initial efforts towards testing this hypothesis including a procedure for membrane fabrication and methods for culturing endothelial cells on these membranes. We have fabricated a 1 $\mu\textrm{m}$ thick, 2.0 $\mu\textrm{m}$ pore size, and 55% porous membrane with a very narrow pore size distribution from low-stress silicon nitride (SiN) utilizing techniques from the microelectronics industry. We have developed a base, acid, autoclave routine that prepares the membranes for cell culture both by cleaning residual fabrication chemicals from the surface and by increasing the hydrophilicity of the membranes (confirmed by contact angle measurements). Gelatin, fibronectin, and a 50/50 mixture of the two proteins were evaluated as potential basement membrane protein treatments prior to membrane cell seeding. All three treatments support adequate attachment and growth on the membranes compared to the control.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.159-163
• /
• 2008

The goal of this study is to investigate the effect and potential of three-dimensional Co-culture of BMSCs (bone marrow stromal Cells) and NP (nucleus pulposus) Cells on the differentiation of BMSCs into NP-like Cells. The NP Cells and BMSCs were isolated and cultured from New Zealand White rabbits. The isolated NP Cells and BMSCs were prepared in different alginate beads. Those two types of beads were separated by a track-etched membrane of $3\;{\mu}m$ pore in a 6-well culture plate. No growth factors were used. In addition to these, NP and BMSC were cultured in the beads independently for control. The number of Cells in Co-culturing system was half of those in two control groups. Proliferation and production of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) were evaluated along with histological observation. The GAG production rate(GAG contents/Cell) of Co-cultured BMSCs were much higher than that of BMSCs cultured alone. The total amounts of GAG produced by BMSCs in Co-culturing system were larger than those produced by BMSCs in control group and were comparable with those produced by NP alone even the number of each Cell was half of BMSCs in Co-culturing system. This study showed the potential of differentiation of BMSCs into NP-like Cells through three-dimensional Co-culture system even without any chemical agents.