• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.12-20
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• 2022

Pongamia (Pongamia pinnata L.) as a source of non-edible oil, is potential tree species for biodiesel production. For several reasons, both technical and economical, the potential of P. pinnata is far from being realized. The exploitation of genetic diversity for crop improvement has been the major driving force for the exploration and ex situ/in situ conservation of plant genetic resources. However, P. pinnata improvement for high oil and seed production is not achieved because of unsystematic way of tree improvement. Performance of P. pinnata planted by Karnataka Forest Department was assessed based on yield potential by collecting 157 clones out of 264 clones established by Karnataka Forest Department research wing under different research circles/ranges. It was evident that the all the seed and pod traits were significantly different. Further, selection of superior germplasm based on oil and pod/seed parameters was achieved by application of Mahalanobis statistics and Tocher's technique. On the basis of D² values for all possible 253 pairs of populations the 157 genotypes were grouped into 28 clusters. The clustering pattern showed that geographical diversity is not necessarily related to genetic diversity. Cluster means indicated a wide range of variation for all the pod and seed traits. The best cluster having total oil content of more than 34.9% with 100 seed weight of above 125 g viz. Cluster I, II, III, IX, XV, XIX, XXI, XXIII, XXVI and XXVII were selected for clonal propagation.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.6403-6407
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• 2012

Detoxifying enzymes are present in most epithelial cells of the human gastrointestinal tract where they protect against xenobiotics which may cause cancer. Induction of examples such as glutathione S-transferase (GST) and its thiol conjugate, glutathione (GSH) as well as NAD(P)H: quinoneoxidoreductase (NQO1) facilitate the excretion of carcinogens and thus preventing colon carcinogenesis. Pterostilbene, an analogue of resveratrol, has demonstrated numerous pharmacological activities linked with chemoprevention. This study was conducted to investigate the potential of pterostilbene as a chemopreventive agent using the HT-29 colon cancer cell line to study the modulation of GST and NQO1 activities as well as the GSH level. Initially, our group, established the optimum dose of 24 hours pterostilbene treatment using MTT assays. Then, effects of pterostilbene ($0-50{\mu}M$) on GST and NQO1 activity and GSH levels were determined using GST, NQO1 and Ellman assays, respectively. MTT assay of pterostilbene ($0-100{\mu}M$) showed no cytotoxicity toward the HT-29 cell line. Treatment increased GST activity in the cell line significantly (p<0.05) at 12.5 and $25.0{\mu}M$. In addition, treatment at $50{\mu}M$ increased the GSH level significantly (p<0.05). Pterostilbene also enhanced NQO1 activity significantly (p<0.05) at $12.5{\mu}M$ and $50{\mu}M$. Hence, pterostilbene is a potential chemopreventive agent capable of modulation of detoxifiying enzyme levels in HT-29 cells.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.641-646
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• 2008

In this research, recovery of high quality organics from excess activated sludge and its potential as a external carbon sources for BNR process was studied. By simultaneous treatment of alkali and ozone, TSS concentration was reduced by 32%, and RBDCOD fraction was increased by 76.2%, and major constitute of produced organic were acetic acid and propionic acid. Also, nitrogen and phosphorus were greatly solubilized. However, because acid-hydrolyzable phosphorus(AHP) was major part of solubilized phosphorus, $NH_4{^+}-N$ and $PO_4{^3}-P$ concentration were insufficient for effective formation of crystal like as MAP(Magnesium Ammonium Phosphate) and hydroxyapatite. By placing BPR reactor before alkali-ozone treatment reactor, $PO_4{^3}-P$ concentration in pretreated sludge was increased by 1.8 times, and improved potential of phosphorus recovery by crystallization. In experiment of crystallization, hydroxyapatite formation was more easily applied than MAP. By hydroxyapatite formation, $SCOD/PO_4-P$ ratio was greatly increased from 32.7 at control to 141.9 at $Ca^{2+}/PO{_4}^{3-}-P$ mole ratio of 2.4. The results based on this study indicated that the proposed system configuration has potential to reduce the excess sludge production, to recover phosphorus in usable forms as well as utilize organics as a external carbon source in BNR process.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.227-239
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• 2018

Background: Predicting the potential habitat of plants in arid regions, especially for medicinal ones, is very important. Although Pergularia tomentosa is a key species for medicinal purposes, it appears in very low density in the arid rangelands of Iran, needing an urgent ecological attention. In this study, we modeled and predicted the potential habitat of P. tomentosa using maximum entropy, and the effects of environmental factors (geology, geomorphology, altitude, and soil properties) on some characteristics of the species were determined. Results: The results showed that P. tomentosa was absent in igneous formation while it appeared in conglomerate formation. In addition, among geomorphological units, the best quantitative characteristics of P. tomentosa was belonged to the conglomerate formation-small hill area (plant aerial parts = 57.63 and root length = 30.68 cm) with the highest electrical conductivity, silt, and $CaCO_3$ content. Conversely, the species was not found in the mountainous area with igneous formation. Moreover, plant density, length of roots, and aerial parts of the species were negatively correlated with soil sand, while positive correlation was observed with $CaCO_3$, EC, potassium, and silt content. The maximum entropy was found to be a reliable method (ROC = 0.91) for predicting suitable habitats for P. tomentosa. Conclusion: These results suggest that in evaluating the plant's habitat suitability in arid regions, contrary to the importance of the topography, some environmental variables such as geomorphology and geology can play the main role in rangeland plants' habitat suitability.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.233-240
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• 2014

An in vitro study on cariogenic potential of four over-the-counter nutritional supplements for children was performed. The experimental groups were four over-the-counter nutritional supplements. The positive control group was 10% sucrose solution (S), and the negative control group was artificial saliva (T). The pH of each group, the buffering capacities, acid production, the microhardness changes of the bovine teeth specimens were measured. The pH of all experimental groups were lower than critical pH 5.5 where enamel demineralization starts. The buffering capacity of the Hama Vitamin Pharm (Hamsoa Pharm Co., Korea) was highest, and the Smart Chewable Vitamin A (JW Pharm Co., Korea) had the lowest buffering capacity. The reduction rates of the pH of the experimental groups were significantly higher than that of the negative control group (p < 0.05). The microhardness of enamel of all experimental groups and the positive control group significantly decreased. In contrast, the microhardness of enamel of the negative control group significantly increased after experiment (p < 0.05). The reduction rate of the microhardness of enamel of the Hama Vitamin Pharm (Hamsoa Pharm Co., Korea) was significantly higher and Hikid Plus (Sanga Pharm Co., Korea) was significantly lower than the other experimental groups.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 1994

Single crystals of the superionic conductor ${\beta}-Ag_3SI$ were prepared by thermal treatmentr from the reactant mixture of AgI and $Ag_2S$. The growing single crystals were made to spherical shape of $200{mu}m$ in diameter. The detailed structures analyses revealed that $Ag^+$ in ${\beta}-Ag_3SI$ distribute on 12h site of 4-coordination inpreference to 3c site of 6-coordination. The effective one-particle potential (o.p.p.). of $Ag^+$ along [110] direction was evaluated from the probability density function(p.d.f.) Activation energy calculated from the o.p.p. curve has been found to be 0.012 eV for the diffusion of $Ag^+$ on (001) plane in the ${\beta}-Ag_3SI$ structure.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.706-709
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• 2002

Bacterial bioluminescence has been known to be a highly valuable reporter system for its potential application as an effective and simple environmental monitoring method for toxic compounds. In this short report, we constructed a streptomycetes-Escherichia coli shuttle vector-containing bioluminescence system and evaluated its potential application for toxic compounds monitoring. The luxAB biolurninescence genes from Vibrio harveyi were cloned into a streptornycetes-E. coli shuttle vector (named pESK004) and functionally expressed in Streptomyces lividans. The recombinant S. lividans containing pESK004 exhibited an optimal biolurninescence at the optical density ($OD_{600\;nm}$) of 0.4-0.5 and aldehyde concentration of 0.005%. When the recombinant bioluminescence streptomycetes was exposed to a toxic compound such as heavy metals, chlorinated phenols, or pesticides, the bioluminescence was decreased proportionally to the concentration of toxic compound in the assay mixture. The $EC_{50}$ (effective concentration to decrease 50% of the bioluminescence prior to exposure) values in the recombinant biolurninescence streptomycetes for mercury, 2,4-dichlorophenol, and malathion were measured at 2.2 ppm, 144.0 ppm, and 82.4 ppm, respectively. The degree of sensitivity and specificity pattern toward these toxic compounds characterized in this recombinant bioluminescence streptomycetes were unique when compared with previously reported bacterial bioluminescence systems, and this revealed that a recombinant bioluminescence streptomycetes might provide an alternative or complementary system for potential environmental monitoring.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.538-546
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• 2024

Cinnamaldehyde is a natural compound extracted from cinnamon bark essential oil, acclaimed for its versatile properties in both pharmaceutical and agricultural fields, including antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities. Although potential of cinnamaldehyde against plant pathogenic bacteria like Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae causative agents of crown gall and bacterial canker diseases, respectively has been documented, in-depth studies into cinnamaldehyde's broader influence on plant pathogenic bacteria are relatively unexplored. Particularly, Pectobacterium spp., gram-negative soil-borne pathogens, notoriously cause soft rot damage across a spectrum of plant families, emphasizing the urgency for effective treatments. Our investigation established that the Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) of cinnamaldehyde against strains P. odoriferum JK2, P. carotovorum BP201601, and P. versatile MYP201603 were 250 ㎍/ml, 125 ㎍/ml, and 125 ㎍/ml, respectively. Concurrently, their Minimum Bactericidal Concentrations (MBCs) were found to be 500 ㎍/ml, 250 ㎍/ml, and 500 ㎍/ml, respectively. Using RNA-sequencing analysis, we identified 1,907 differentially expressed genes in P. carotovorum BP201601 treated with 500 ㎍/ml cinnamaldehyde. Notably, our results indicate that cinnamaldehyde upregulated nitrate reductase pathways while downregulating the citrate cycle, suggesting a potential disruption in the aerobic respiration system of P. carotovorum during cinnamaldehyde exposure. This study serves as a pioneering exploration of the transcriptional response of P. carotovorum to cinnamaldehyde, providing insights into the bactericidal mechanisms employed by cinnamaldehyde against this bacterium.

• The Journal of Natural Sciences
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 1999

Electrochemical behaviors of $Sm^3+$-ARS complexes has been investigated by d.c.polarography, differential pulse polarography and cyclic voltammetry. $Sm^3+$forms 1 : 3 adsorptive complexes with ARS.The reduction potential of complex wave $(P_2)$ shifted more negatively than the ligand wave $(P_1)$. The linear calibration curves of decreasing $P_1$ and increasing $P_2$ is obtained when $Sm^3+$ concentration varies from TEX>$2{\times}10^{-6}$ M to $3.2{\times}10^{-5}$ M.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.116-124
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• 2019

The rapid development of the poultry industry has led to the production of large amounts of manure, which produce substances like hydrogen sulfide ($H_2S$) that contribute to odor pollution. $H_2S$ is a highly undesirable gas component and its removal from the environment is therefore necessary. Sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB) are widely known to remove contaminating $H_2S$ due to their ability to oxidize reduced sulfur compounds. In this study, three potential SOB (designated AH18, AH25, and AH28) that were previously isolated from a hot spring in Malaysia were identified by 16S rRNA gene analysis. Laboratory-scale biological deodorization experiments were conducted to test the performance of the three isolates-in the form of pure or mixed cultures, with the cells immobilized onto alginate as a carrier-in reducing the $H_2S$ from chicken manure. On the basis of 16S rRNA phylogenetic analysis, isolate AH18 was identified as Pseudomonas sp., whereas isolates AH25 and AH28 were identified as Achromobacter sp. The most active deodorizing isolate was AH18, with an $H_2S$ reduction rate of 74.7% (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the reduction rates for isolates AH25 and AH28 were 54.2% and 60.8% (p > 0.05), respectively. However, the $H_2S$ removal performance was enhanced in the mixed culture, with a reduction rate of 81.9% (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the three potential SOB isolates were capable of reducing the $H_2S$ from chicken manure in the form of a pure culture immobilized on alginate, and the reduction performance was enhanced in the mixed culture.