• Toxicological Research
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.221-229
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• 2018

Tenofovir nanoparticles are novel therapeutic intervention in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection reaching the virus in their sanctuary sites. However, there has been no systemic toxicity testing of this formulation despite global concerns on the safety of nano drugs. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the toxicity of Tenofovir nanoparticle (NTDF) on the liver and kidney using an animal model. Fifteen adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats maintained at the animal house of the biomedical resources unit of the University of KwaZulu-Natal were weighed and divided into three groups. Control animals (A) were administered with normal saline (NS). The therapeutic doses of Tenofovir (TDF) and nanoparticles of Tenofovir (NTDF) were administered to group B and C and observed for signs of stress for four weeks after which animals were weighed and sacrificed. Liver and kidney were removed and fixed in formal saline, processed and stained using H/E, PAS and MT stains for light microscopy. Serum was obtained for renal function test (RFT) and liver function test (LFT). Cellular measurements and capturing were done using ImageJ and Leica software 2.0. Data were analysed using graph pad 6, p values < 0.05 were significant. We observed no signs of behavioural toxicity and no mortality during this study, however, in the kidneys, we reported mild morphological perturbations widening of Bowman's space, and vacuolations in glomerulus and tubules of TDF and NTDF animals. Also, there was a significant elevation of glycogen deposition in NTDF and TDF animals when compared with control. In the liver, there were mild histological changes with widening of sinusoidal spaces, vacuolations in hepatocytes and elevation of glycogen deposition in TDF and NTDF administered animals. In addition to this, there were no significant differences in stereological measurements and cell count, LFT, RFT, weight changes and organo-somatic index between treatment groups and control. In conclusion, NTDF and TDF in therapeutic doses can lead to mild hepatic and renal histological damage. Further studies are needed to understand the precise genetic mechanism.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.250-250
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• 2012

Recently, multiferroic materials have attracted much attention due to their fascinating fundamental physical properties and potential technological applications in magnetic/ferroelectric data storage systems, quantum electromagnets, spintronics, and sensor devices. Among single-phase multiferroic materials, $BiFeO_3$, in particular, has received considerable attention because of its very interesting magnetoelectric properties for application to spintronics. Enhanced ferromagnetism was found by Fe-site ion substitution with magnetic ions. In this study, $BiFe_{1-x}Ni_xO_3$ (x=0 and 0.05) bulk ceramic compounds were prepared by solid-state reaction and rapid sintering. High-purity $Bi_2O_3$, $Fe_3O_4$ and NiO powders were mixed with the stoichiometric proportions, and calcined at $450^{\circ}C$ for 24 h to produce $BiFe_{1-x}Ni_xO_3$. Then, the samples were directly put into the oven, which was heated up to $800^{\circ}C$ and sintered in air for 20 min. The crystalline structure of samples was investigated at room temperature by using a Rigaku Miniflex powder diffractometer. The Raman measurements were carried out with a Raman spectrometer with 514.5-nm-excitation Ar+-laser source under air ambient condition on a focused area of $1-{\mu}m$ diameter. The field-dependent magnetization and the temperature-dependent magnetization measurements were performed with a vibrating-sample magnetometer. The x-ray diffraction study demonstrates the compressive stress due to Ni substitution at the Fe site. $BiFe_{0.95}Ni_{0.05}O_3$ exhibits the rhombohedral perovskite structure R3c, similar to $BiFeO_3$. The lattice constant of $BiFe_{0.95}Ni_{0.05}O_3$ is smaller than of $BiFeO_3$ because of the smaller ionic radius of Ni3+ than that of Fe3+. The field-dependent magnetization of $BiFe_{0.95}Ni_{0.05}O_3$ exhibits a clear hysteresis loop at 300 K. The magnetic properties of $BiFe_{0.95}Ni_{0.05}O_3$ were improved at room temperature because of the existence of structurally compressive stress.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.223-227
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• 2014

${\delta}$-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is a compound which is widely present in the biosphere and plays an important role in the living body as an intermediate of the tetrapyrrole compound biosynthesis pathway that leads to heme in mammals and chlorophyll in plants. ALA is of interest as a biodegradable mediator, a growth regulator, a precursor of heme proteins, and an effective agent used in therapy of cancer. It has been recently reported that ALA is commonly used in dermatology, due to good effects of skin therapy. Although for the last few decades a substantial amount of research has been focused on the elucidation of the mechanism of ALA and the improvement of its therapeutic activity, it's effect on the cell functions and growth was not cleared. Here, we identified that ALA treatment could attenuate cell proliferation of HEK293T and HaCaT cells. In addition, ALA treatement could induce apoptosis of HeLa cells. These results suggest that apoptosis induced by ALA treatment might be responsible for inhibition of cell proliferation. These results propose the possibility of the improved therapeutic strategy making ALA one of the effective drugs used in human cancers.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.539-544
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• 2020

A three-dimensional (3D) porous polyaniline (PANI) film was fabricated by a combined photo-and soft-lithography technique based on a large-area nanopillar array, followed by a controlled chemical dilute polymerization. The as-obtained 3D PANI film consisted of hierarchically interconnected PANI nanofibers, resulting in a 3D hierarchical nanoweb film with a large surface and open porous structure. Using electrochemical measurements, the resulting 3D PANI film was demonstrated as a flexible pH sensor electrode, exhibiting a high sensitivity of 60.3 mV/pH, which is close to the ideal Nernstian behavior. In addition, the 3D PANI electrode showed a fast response time of 10 s, good repeatability, and good selectivity. When the 3D PANI electrode was measured under a mechanically bent state, the electrode exhibited a high sensitivity of 60.4 mV/pH, demonstrating flexible pH sensor performance.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.65-68
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• 2005

The effect of crystal orientation and microstructure on the mechanical properties of $TaN_x$ was investigated. $TaN_x$ films were grown on $SiO_2$ substrates by ultrahigh vacuum unbalanced magnetron sputter deposition in mixed $Ar/N_2$ discharges at 20 mTorr (2.67 Pa) and at $350^{\circ}C$. Unlike the Ti-N system, in which TiN is the terminal phase, a large number of N-rich phases in the Ta-N system could lead to layers which had nano-sized lamella structure of coherent cubic and hexagonal phases, with a correct choice of nitrogen fraction in the sputtering mixture and ion irradiation energy during growth. The preferred orientations and the micro-structure of $TaN_x$ layers were controlled by varing incident ion energy $E_i\;(=30eV\~50eV)$ and nitrogen fractions $f_{N2}\;(=0.1\~0.15)$. $TaN_x$ layers were grown on (0002)-Ti underlayer as a crystallographic template in order to relieve the stress on the films. The structure of the $TaN_x$ film transformed from Bl-NaCl $\delta-TaN_x$ to lamellar structured Bl-NaCl $\delta-TaN_x$ + hexagonal $\varepsilon-TaN_x$ or Bl-NaCl $\delta-TaN_x$ + hexagonal $\gamma-TaN_x$ with increasing the ion energy at the same nitrogen fraction $f_{N2}$. The hardness of the films also increased by the structural change. At the nitrogen fraction of $0.1\~0.125$, the structure of the $TaN_x$ films was changed from $\delta-TaN_x\;+\;\varepsilon-TaN_x\;to\;\delta-TaN_x\;+\;\gamma-TaN_x$ with increasing the ion energy. However, at the nitrogen fraction of 0.15 the film structure did not change from $\delta-TaN_x\;+\;\varepsilon-TaN_x$ over the whole range of the applied ion energy. The hardness increased significantly from 21.1 GPa to 45.5 GPa with increasing the ion energy.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.301-310
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• 2006

Two pathways of ammonium assimilation and glutamate biosynthesis have been identified in microorganisms. One pathway involves the NADP-linked glutamate dehydrogenase, which catalyzes the amination of 2-oxoglutarate to form glutamate. An alternative pathway involves the combined activities of glutamine synthetase, which aminates glutamate to form glutamine, and glutamate synthase, which transfers the amide group of glutamine to 2-oxoglutarate to yield two molecules of glutamate. We have cloned the large subunit of the glutamate synthase (GOGAT) from Salmonella typhimurium by screening the expression of GOGAT and complementing the gene in E. coli GOGAT large subunit-deficient mutants. Three positive clones (named pUC19C12, pUC19C13 and pUC19C15) contained identical Sau3AI fragments, as determined by restriction mapping and Southern hybridization, and expressed GOGAT efficiently and constitutively using its own promoter in the heterologous host. The coding region expressed in Escherichia coli was about 170 kDa on SDS-PAGE. This gene spans 4,732 bases, contains an open reading frame of 4,458 nucleotides, and encodes a mature protein of 1,486 amino acid residues (Mr =166,208). The EMN-binding domain of GOGAT contains 12 glycine residues, and the 3Fe-4S cluster has 3 cysteine residues. The comparison of the translated amino acid sequence of the Salmonella GOGAT with sequences from other bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Shigella flexneri, Yersinia pestis, Vibrio vulnificus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa shows sequence identity between 87 and 95%.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.37-57
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• 2009

Objectives : This study was performed to investigate the effects of fermented Ephedra sinica (FMH) nano-extract compared Ephedra sinica (MH) on 3T3 L1 cell viability, lipid and glycometabolism, Obes rats' behavior and state-trait anxiety. Methods and materials : Each of 6 rats was divided into a normal diet, HFD, MH, and FMH. We fed a HFD group of rats a high fat diet and administered normal saline for 8 weeks. And we fed an experimental group of rats a high fat diet and administered an extract of Ephedra sinica and fermentated Ephedra sinica for 8 weeks. At the end of the experiment, the rats were sacrificed to determine their chemical composition. Ephedra sinica and fermentated Ephedra sinica was examined in effects of 3T3 L1 cell viability, lipid and glycometabolism, rats' behavior and state-trait anxiety. Results : 1. Ephedra sinica and fermentated Ephedra sinica didn't induce cytotoxicity at 3L3 L1 cell. 2. Fermentated Ephedra sinica by Lactococcus confusus inhibit $PPAR-{\gamma}$ activation and promote $TNF-{\alpha}$ activation. 3. In MH and FMH group, the body weight and FER decrease occured significantly than in HFD group. 4. No side effect of Ephedra sinica appeared in FMH group, so fermentated Ephedra sinica have a capacity of anti-anxiety. 5. Serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol and creatine of HFD+Ephedra sinica, HFD+LO group were decreased compared with that of HFD group. Decreasing rates of sample group was significant(p<0.05). 6. In both MH and FMH group serum HDL was increased(P>0.05). 7. In MH group only TG was decreased, but in FMH group total cholesterol, TG, and glucose were decreased(P>0.05). Conclusions : Fermentated Ephedra sinica by Lactococcus confusus was superior to Ephedra sinica in capacity of anti-obesity. Further fermentated Ephedra sinica have no Ephedra sinica's side effect.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.241-241
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• 2008

Macrofore formation in silicon and other semiconductors using electrochemical etching processes has been, in the last years, a subject of great attention of both theory and practice. Its first reason of concern is new areas of macropore silicone applications arising from microelectromechanical systems processing (MEMS), membrane techniques, solar cells, sensors, photonic crystals, and new technologies like a silicon-on-nothing (SON) technology. Its formation mechanism with a rich variety of controllable microstructures and their many potential applications have been studied extensively recently. Porous silicon is formed by anodic etching of crystalline silicon in hydrofluoric acid. During the etching process holes are required to enable the dissolution of the silicon anode. For p-type silicon, holes are the majority charge carriers, therefore porous silicon can be formed under the action of a positive bias on the silicon anode. For n-type silicon, holes to dissolve silicon is supplied by illuminating n-type silicon with above-band-gap light which allows sufficient generation of holes. To make a desired three-dimensional nano- or micro-structures, pre-structuring the masked surface in KOH solution to form a periodic array of etch pits before electrochemical etching. Due to enhanced electric field, the holes are efficiently collected at the pore tips for etching. The depletion of holes in the space charge region prevents silicon dissolution at the sidewalls, enabling anisotropic etching for the trenches. This is correct theoretical explanation for n-type Si etching. However, there are a few experimental repors in p-type silicon, while a number of theoretical models have been worked out to explain experimental dependence observed. To perform ordered macrofore formaion for p-type silicon, various kinds of mask patterns to make initial KOH etch pits were used. In order to understand the roles played by the kinds of etching solution in the formation of pillar arrays, we have undertaken a systematic study of the solvent effects in mixtures of HF, N-dimethylformamide (DMF), iso-propanol, and mixtures of HF with water on the macrofore structure formation on monocrystalline p-type silicon with a resistivity varying between 10 ~ 0.01 $\Omega$ cm. The etching solution including the iso-propanol produced a best three dimensional pillar structures. The experimental results are discussed on the base of Lehmann's comprehensive model based on SCR width.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.30 no.3 s.47
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• pp.427-438
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• 2004

Cosmeceuticals products we not the products simply for moisturizing and protecting skin but the ones for encouraging to make improvements on wrinkles and helping to whiten, tan, and protect skin against ultraviolet light. In a broader sense, they refer to products with aiming to maintain healthy condition of skin such that skin troubles could be improved or aging of skin could be delayed. However, cosmeceuticals should not have any side effects because they are applied to the whole body for a long period of time differing from medical products which are used on specific areas for a short time. The number of such cosmeceuticals has increased from 500 in 2001 to 2300 in 2003. In order to develop and broaden the scope of cosmeceuticals, the concept of cosmetics needs to be changed from caring skin to delaying aging of the skin and reviving cells. For this purpose, high-valued materials should be developed through basic researches related to the biological function of skin, in vivo experiment and reaction of skin in response to various stimuli using biotechnologies and bioengineering methods. At the same time, it should be proceeded to develop new nano materials for overcoming skin barriers and transfer matericals for helping to absorb effective substances and maintaining stability.

• Clean Technology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2018

In this study, Material life cycle evaluation was performed to analyze the environmental impact characteristics of TiN-Zr membrane manufacturing process. The software of MLCA was Gabi. Through this, environmental impact assessment was performed for each process. Transition metal nitrides have been researched extensively because of their properties. Among these, TiN has the most attention. TiN is a ceramic materials which possess the good combination of physical and chemical properties, such as high melting point, high hardness, and relatively low specific gravity, high wear resistance and high corrosion resistance. With these properties, TiN plays an important role in functional materials for application in separation hydrogen from fossil fuel. Precursor TiN was synthesized by sol-gel method and zirconium was coated by ball mill method. The metallurgical, physical and thermodynamic characteristics of the membranes were analyzed by using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermo Gravimetry/Differential Thermal Analysis (TG/DTA), Brunauer, Emmett, Teller (BET) and Gas Chromatograph System (GP). As a result of characterization and normalization, environmental impacts were 94% in MAETP (Marine Aquatic Ecotoxicity), 2% FAETP (Freshwater Aquatic Ecotoxicity), 2% HTP (Human Toxicity Potential). TiN fabrication process appears to have a direct or indirect impact on the human body. It is believed that the greatest impact that HTP can have on human is the carcinogenic properties. This shows that electricity use has a great influence on ecosystem impact. TiN-Zr was analyzed in Eco-Indicator '99 (EI99) and CML 2001 methodology.