• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
• /
• v.38 no.6
• /
• pp.357-363
• /
• 2008

Penetration rate of large molecule through skin is very low due to the barrier effect of stratum corneum. Novel microneedle treatment device with roll was designed for transdermal delivery of large molecular drugs such as vaccine and protein drugs. The permeation rates of FITC labelled bovine serum albumin (FITC-BSA) as a model protein were determined using modified Franz diffusion cell and hairless mouse skin which were treated by hydrogel or solution containing FITC-BSA. Fluorescent spectrophotometer was used to analyze the concentration of FITC-BSA. Microscope using fluorescent filter was used to capture the image and location of FITC-BSA in the skin. We confirmed that permeation rate of BSA was increased with the treatment by microneedle and was increased by the increasing frequency of treatment. Furthermore, the permeation rate observed from hydrogel treated skin was significantly higher than that from solution treated skin.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.87-96
• /
• 2014

In the present study, a yeast species isolated from CETP, Vellore, Tamilnadu was identified as Cryptococcus sp. VITGBN2 based on molecular techniques and was found to be a potent producer of acidic diacetate sophorolipid in mineral salt media containing vegetable oil as additional carbon source. The chemical structure of the purified biosurfactant was identified as acidic diacetate sophorolipid through GC-MS analysis. This sophorolipid was used as a stabilizer for synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZON). The formation of biofunctionalized ZON was characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, XRD, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The antimicrobial activities of naked ZON and sophorolipid functionalized ZON were tested based on the diameter of inhibition zone in agar well diffusion assay, microbial growth rate determination, protein leakage analysis, and lactate dehydrogenase assay. Bacterial pathogen Salmonella enterica and fungal pathogen Candida albicans showed more sensitivity to sophorolipid biofunctionalized ZON compared with naked ZON. Among the two pathogens, S. enterica showed higher sensitivity towards sophorolipid biofunctionalized ZON. SEM analysis showed that cell damage occurred through cell elongation in the case of S. enterica, whereas cell rupture was found to occur predominantly in the case of C. albicans. This is the first report on the dual role of yeast-mediated sophorolipid used as a biostabilizer for ZON synthesis as well as a novel functionalizing agent showing antimicrobial property.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.167-176
• /
• 2013

A novel bioactive molecule produced by Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki Bn1 (Bt-Bn1), isolated from a common pest of hazelnut, Balaninus nucum L. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), was determined, purified, and characterized in this study. The Bt-Bn1 strain was investigated for antibacterial activity with an agar spot assay and well diffusion assay against B. cereus, B. weinhenstephenensis, L. monocytogenes, P. savastanoi, P. syringae, P. lemoignei, and many other B. thuringiensis strains. The production of bioactive molecule was determined at the early logarithmic phase in the growth cycle of strain Bt-Bn1 and its production continued until the beginning of the stationary phase. The mode of action of this molecule displayed bacteriocidal or bacteriolytic effect depending on the concentration. The bioactive molecule was purified 78-fold from the bacteria supernatant with ammonium sulfate precipitation, dialysis, ultrafiltration, gel filtration chromatography, and HPLC, respectively. The molecular mass of this molecule was estimated via SDS-PAGE and confirmed by the ESI-TOFMS as 3,139 Da. The bioactive molecule was also determined to be a heat-stable, pH-stable (range 6-8), and proteinase K sensitive antibacterial peptide, similar to bacteriocins. Based on all characteristics determined in this study, the purified bacteriocin was named as thuricin Bn1 because of the similarities to the previously identified thuricin-like bacteriocin produced by the various B. thuringiensis strains. Plasmid elution studies showed that gene responsible for the production of thuricin Bn1 is located on the chromosome of Bt-Bn1. Therefore, it is a novel bacteriocin and the first recorded one produced by an insect originated bacterium. It has potential usage for the control of many different pathogenic and spoilage bacteria in the food industry, agriculture, and various other areas.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.867-872
• /
• 2011

For the prolonged delivery and sustained release rates of low molecular weight drugs, poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microparticles containing the drug SKL-2020 have been investigated. On increasing polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) concentration (from 0.2% to 5%), the size of microparticles decreased (from $48.02{\mu}m$ to $10.63{\mu}m$) and more uniform size distribution was noticeable due to the powerful emulsifying ability of PVA. A higher drug loading (from 5% to 20%) caused a larger concentration gradient between 2 phases at the polymer precipitation step; this resulted in decreased encapsulation efficiency (from 34.19% to 25.67%) and a greater initial burst (from 61.71% to 70.05%). SKL-2020-loaded PLGA microparticles prepared with different fabrication conditions exhibited unique release patterns of SKL-2020. High PVA concentration and high drug loading led to an initial burst effect by rapid drug diffusion through the polymer matrix. Since PLGA microparticles enabled the slow release of SKL-2020 over 1 week in vitro and in vivo, more convenient and comfortable treatment could be facilitated with less frequent administration. It is feasible to design a release profile by mixing microparticles that were prepared with different fabrication conditions. By this method, the initial burst could be repressed properly and drug release rate could decrease.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
• /
• 2010.11a
• /
• pp.658-663
• /
• 2010

With petroleum reserves dwindling, interest has been increasing worldwide in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FT) as a method of producing synthetic liquid fuels and chemicals from coal, natural gas or biomass. In general, FT synthesis is operated through the gas phase fixed-bed reaction system. Recently, there are lots of study in supercritical fluid due to unique characteristics such as the quick diffusion of reactant gas, effective removal of reaction heat, and the in-situ extraction of high molecular weight hydrocarbon, such as wax. In this study, our major aim is to obtain a deeper insight into the effect of the type of support on the reaction performance over a supported cobalt catalyst in a fixed bed reactor.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers
• /
• v.16 no.6
• /
• pp.146-152
• /
• 2007

An active micro-mixer, which was composed of an oscillating micro-stirrer in the microchannel to provide rapid, effective mixing at high flow, rates was analyzed. The effects of molecular diffusion and disturbance by the stirrer were considered with regard to two types of mixer models: the simple straight microchannel and microchannel with an oscillating stirrer. Two types of mixer models were studied by analyzing mixing behaviors such as their interaction after the stirrer. The mixing was calculated by Lattice Boltzmann methods using the D2Q9 model. In this study, the time-averaged mixing index formula was used to estimate the mixing performance of time-dependent flow. The mixing indices of the two models compared. From the results, it was found that the mixer with an oscillating stirrer was much more enhanced and stabilized. Therefore, an optimum design for a dynamic micro-mixer with an oscillating stirrer was performed using Taguchi method in order to obtain a robust solution. The design parameters were established as the frequency, the length and the angle of the stirrer and the optimal values were determined to be 2, 0.8D and ${\pm}75^{\circ}$, respectively. It was found that the mixing index of the optimal design increased 80.72% compared with that of the original design.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers
• /
• v.17 no.5
• /
• pp.95-100
• /
• 2008

An active micro-mixer, which is composed of an oscillating micro-stirrer in the micro-channel to provide effective mixing was optimized. The effects of molecular diffusion and disturbance by the stirrer were considered with regard to two types of mixer models: the simple straight micro-channel and micro-channel with an oscillating stirrer. Two types of mixer models were studied by analyzing mixing behaviors such as their interaction after the stirrer. The mixing was calculated by Lattice Boltzmann methods using the D2Q9 model. In this study, the time-averaged mixing index formula was used to estimate the mixing performance of time-dependent flow. The mixing indices of the two models were compared. From the results, it was found that the mixer with an oscillating stirrer was much more enhanced and stabilized. Therefore, an approximate optimization of an active micro-mixer with an oscillating stirrer was performed using Kriging method with OLHD(Optimal Latin Hypercube Design) in order to determine the optimal design variables. The design parameters were established as the frequency, the length and the angle of the stirrer. The optimal values were obtained as 1.0346, 0.66D and $\pm45^{\circ}$, respectively. It was found that the mixing index of the optimal design increased by 88.72% compared with that of the original design.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.105-114
• /
• 2013

Lots of orders of special vessels and offshore plants for developing the resources in deepwater have been increased in recent. Because the most of accidents on those structures are caused by fire and explosion, many researchers have been investigated quantitatively to predict the cause and effect of fire and explosion based on both experiments and numerical simulations. The first step of the evaluation procedures leading to fire and explosion is to predict the dispersion of flammable or toxic material, in which the released material mixes with surrounding air and be diluted. In particular turbulent mixing, but density differences due to molecular weight or temperature as well as diffusion will contribute to the mixing. In the present paper, the numerical simulation of hydrogen dispersion inside a simple-shaped offshore structure was performed using a commercial CFD program, ANSYS-CFX. The simulated results for concentration of released hydrogen are compared to those of experiment and other simulation in Jordan et al.(2007). As a result, it is seen that the present simulation results are closer to the experiments than other simulation ones. Also it seems that the hydrogen dispersion is closely related to turbulent mixing and the selection of the turbulence model properly is significantly of importance to the reproduction of dispersion phenomena.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.15-21
• /
• 2011

With petroleum reserves dwindling, interest has been increasing worldwide in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FT) as a method of producing synthetic liquid fuels and chemicals from coal, natural gas or biomass. In general, FT synthesis is operated through the gas phase fixed-bed reaction system. Recently, there are lots of study in supercritical fluid due to unique characteristics such as the quick diffusion of reactant gas, effective removal of reaction heat, and the in-situ extraction of high molecular weight hydrocarbon, such as wax. In this study, our major aim is to obtain a deeper insight into the effect of the type of support on the reaction performance over a supported cobalt catalyst in a fixed bed reactor.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.44 no.9
• /
• pp.627-636
• /
• 2021

The three-dimensional organization of chromatin and its time-dependent changes greatly affect virtually every cellular function, especially DNA replication, genome maintenance, transcription regulation, and cell differentiation. Sequencing-based techniques such as ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, and Hi-C provide abundant information on how genomic elements are coupled with regulatory proteins and functionally organized into hierarchical domains through their interactions. However, visualizing the time-dependent changes of such organization in individual cells remains challenging. Recent developments of CRISPR systems for site-specific fluorescent labeling of genomic loci have provided promising strategies for visualizing chromatin dynamics in live cells. However, there are several limiting factors, including background signals, off-target binding of CRISPR, and rapid photobleaching of the fluorophores, requiring a large number of target-bound CRISPR complexes to reliably distinguish the target-specific foci from the background. Various modifications have been engineered into the CRISPR system to enhance the signal-to-background ratio and signal longevity to detect target foci more reliably and efficiently, and to reduce the required target size. In this review, we comprehensively compare the performances of recently developed CRISPR designs for improved visualization of genomic loci in terms of the reliability of target detection, the ability to detect small repeat loci, and the allowed time of live tracking. Longer observation of genomic loci allows the detailed identification of the dynamic characteristics of chromatin. The diffusion properties of chromatin found in recent studies are reviewed, which provide suggestions for the underlying biological processes.