• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.96-104
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• 2020

Objectives: Oleanolic acid, a minor element of ginsenosides, and its derivatives have been shown to have cytotoxicity against some tumor cells. The impact of cytotoxic effect of oleanolic acid 3-acetate on ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells and endometrial cancer HEC-1A cells were examined both in vivo and in vitro to explore the underlying mechanisms. Methods: Cytotoxic effects of oleanolic acid 3-acetate were assessed by cell viability, phosphatidylserine exposure on the cell surface, mitochondrial release of cytochrome C, nuclear translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor, depolarization of mitochondrial transmembrane potential (∆Ψ_m), and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In vivo inhibition of tumor growth was also assessed with xenografts in immunocompromised mice. Results: Oleanolic acid 3-acetate exhibited potent cytotoxicity toward SKOV3 and HEC-1A cells by decreasing cell viability in a concentration-dependent manner. Importantly, oleanolic acid 3-acetate effectively suppressed the growth of SKOV3 cell tumor xenografts in immunocompromised mice. Furthermore, oleanolic acid 3-acetate induced apoptotic cell death as revealed by loss of ∆Ψ_m, release of cytochrome c, and nuclear translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor with a concomitant activation of many proapoptotic cellular components including poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, Bcl-2, and caspases-8, caspase-3, and caspase-7. Oleanolic acid 3-acetate, however, caused a decrease in ROS production, suggesting the involvement of an ROS-independent pathway in oleanolic acid 3-acetate-induced apoptosis in SKOV3 and HEC-1A cells. Conclusion: These findings support the notion that oleanolic acid 3-acetate could be used as a potent anticancer supplementary agent against ovarian and endometrial cancer. Oleanolic acid 3-acetate exerts its proapoptotic effects through a rather unique molecular mechanism that involves an unconventional ROS-independent but mitochondria-mediated pathway.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2011

Insect lysozymes are basic, cationic proteins synthesized in fat body and hemocytes in response to bacterial infections and depolymerize the bacterial cell wall. The c-type lysozyme of the insect Spodoptera litura (SLLyz) is a single polypeptide chain of 121 residues with four disulfide bridges and 17 rare codons and is approximately 15 kDa. The full-length SLLyz cDNA is 1039 bp long with a poly(A) tail, and contains an open reading frame of 426 bp long (including the termination codon), flanked by a 54 bp long 5' UTR and a 559 bp long 3' UTR. As a host for the production of high-level recombinant proteins, E. coli is used most commonly because of its low cost and short generation time. However, the soluble expression of heterologous proteins in E. coli is not trivial, especially for disulfide-bonded proteins. In order to prevent inclusion body formation, GST was selected as a fusion partner to enhance the solubility of recombinant protein, and fused to the amplified products encoding mature SLLyz. The expression vector pGEX-4T-1/rSLLyz was then transformed into E. coli BL21(DE3)pLysS for soluble expression of rSLLyz, and the soluble fusion protein was purified successfully. Inhibition zone assay demonstrated that rSLLyz showed antibacterial activity against B. megaterium. These results demonstrate that the GST fusion expression system in E. coli described in this study is efficient and inexpensive in producing a disulfide-bonded rSLLyz in soluble, active form, and suggest that the insect lysozyme is an interesting system for future structural and functional studies.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.914-920
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• 2000

When the charge-trap type SONOS(polysilicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-semiconductor) cells are used to flash memory, the tunneling program/erase condition to minimize the generation of interface traps was investigated. SONOSFET NVSM(Nonvolatile Semiconductor Memory) cells were fabricated using 0.35 ㎛ standard memory cell embedded logic process including the ONO cell process, based on retrograde twin-well, single-poly, single metal CMOS(Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) process. The thickness of ONO triple-dielectric for the memory cell is tunnel oxide of 24 $\AA$, nitride of 74 $\AA$, blocking oxide of 25 $\AA$, respectively. The program mode(V$\_$g/=7, 8, 9 V, V$\_$s/=V$\_$d/=-3 V, V$\_$b/=floating) and the erase mode(V$\_$g/=-4, -5, -6 V, V$\_$s/=V$\_$d/=floating, V$\_$b/=3 V) by MFN(Modified Fowler-Nordheim) tunneling were used. The proposed programming condition for the flash memory of SONOSFET NVSM cells showed less degradation(ΔV$\_$th/, S, G$\_$m/) characteristics than channel MFN tunneling operation. Also, the program inhibit conditins of unselected cell for separated source lines NOR-type flash memory application were investigated. we demonstrated that the phenomenon of the program disturb did not occur at source/drain voltage of 1 V∼12 V and gate voltage of -8 V∼4 V.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.429-429
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• 2007

In this study, it was investigated about the variation of luminance properties in LED backlight with geometrical shape such as prism or lens shape on the light-entering face. Generally, LED light source has the loss in backlight system because it has horizontal direction light. PMMA(Poly-Methyl-Meta-Acrylate) is used LGP(Light-Guide-Plate) in conventional backlight system. PMMA has low refraction angle. so that. horizontal direction light was not used in backlight system. The addition of geometrical shape in light-entering face in LGP improves the luminance characteristics because it prevents horizontal direction light generation in light-entering-face. Prism or lens shape in same pitch disposition was almost same without these treatment such as the value of 1% rising. Besides. It is particular that the gap of these shape such as the value of 0.407~0.22mm prevents horizontal direction light, so then it contributes luminance rising at 5.6%.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.138-147
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• 2021

The overproduction of reactive nitrogen species (RNS) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) causes oxidative damage to neuronal cells, leading to the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, we determined the nitric oxide radical (NO), hydroxyl radical (·OH), and superoxide anion radical (O₂^-) scavenging activities of apigenin. Our results showed that apigenin exhibited remarkable, concentration-dependent ·OH, O₂^-, and NO radical scavenging activities. Particularly, apigenin indicated the strongest ·OH radical scavenging activity with 93.38% in the concentration of 100 µM. Furthermore, we also investigated the protective effects of apigenin against hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)-induced oxidative stress in SH-SY5Y cells. The H₂O₂ treatment resulted in a significant decrease in cell viability, as well as an increase in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and ROS production compared with the H₂O₂-nontreated SH-SY5Y cells. However, the cell viability significantly increased in the apigenin-treated group, as well as inhibited ROS generation and LDH release compared with the H₂O₂-induced control group. To elucidate the protective mechanisms of apigenin against oxidative stress in SH-SY5Y, we analyzed the apoptosis-related protein expression. The apigenin treatment resulted in the downregulated expression of apoptosis-related protein markers, such as cytochrome C, cleaved caspase-3, poly (ADP)-ribose polymerase (PARP), and B-cell lymphoma 2-associated X (Bax), as well as the upregulated expression of anti-apoptosis markers such as B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2). In this study, we report that apigenin exhibits a neuroprotective effect against oxidative stress in SH-SY5Y cells. These results suggest that apigenin may be considered as a potential agent for neurodegenerative disease prevention.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.107-113
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• 2020

Here we report the long-term stability of polymer:nonfullerene solar cells which were stored under dark and indoor light condition. The polymer:nonfullerene solar cells were fabricated using bulk heterojunction (BHJ) layers of poly[(2,6-(4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl) thiophen-2-yl)-benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene))-alt-(5,5-(1',3'-di-2-thienyl-5',7-bis(2-ethylhexyl)benzo[1',2'-c:4',5'-c']dithiophene-4,8-dione))] (PBDB-T) and 3,9-bis(6-methyl-2-methylene-(3-(1,1-dicyanomethylene)-indanone))-5,5,11,11-tetrakis(4-hexylphenyl)-dithieno[2,3-d:2',3-d']-s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b']dithiophene (IT-M). To investigate their long-term stability, the PBDB-T:IT-M solar cells were stored in an argon-filled glove box. One set of the fabricated solar cells was completely covered with an aluminum foil to prevent any effect of light, whereas another set was exposed to indoor light. The solar cells were subjected to a regular performance measurement for 40 weeks. Results revealed that the PBDB-T:IT-M solar cells underwent a gradual decay in performance irrespective of the storage condition. However, the PBDB-T:IT-M solar cells stored under indoor light condition exhibited relatively lower power conversion efficiency (PCE) than those stored under the dark. The inferior stability of the solar cells under indoor light was explained by the noticeably changed optical absorption spectra and dark spot generation, indicative of degradations in the BHJ layers.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.523-546
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• 2022

Morphotropic phase boundary (MPB), which is a special boundary that separates two or multiple different phases in the phase diagram of some ferroelectric ceramics, is an important concept in identifying physics that includes piezoelectric responses. MPB, which had not been discovered in organic materials until recently, was discovered in poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene (P(VDF-TrFE)), resulting from a molecular approach. The piezoelectric coefficient of P(VDF-TrFE) in this MPB region was achieved up to -63.5 pC N^-1, which is about two times as large as the conventional value of -30 pC N^-1 of P(VDF-TrFE). An order-disorder arrangement greatly affects the rise of the piezoelectric effect and the ferroelectric, paraelectric and relaxor ferroelectric of P(VDF-TrFE), so the arrangement and shape of the polymer chain is important. In this review, we investigate the origin of negative longitudinal piezoelectric coefficients of piezoelectric polymers, which is definitely opposite to those of common piezoelectric ceramics. In addition to the mainly discussed issue about MPB behaviors of ferroelectric polymers, we also introduce the consideration about polymer chirality resulting in relaxor ferroelectric properties. When the physics of ferroelectric polymers is unveiled, we can improve the piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties of ferroelectric polymers and contribute to the development of next-generation sensor, energy, transducer and actuator applications.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.84-91
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• 2003

In this study, the three species (Populus euramericana, Pinus densiflora and Quercus variabilis) were cut to difference (0, 0.15, 0.3, 0.45 mm) between the size of tip and that of root of the finger (DSTR) and jointed with poly vinyl acetate (PVA) and resorcinol-phenol resin (RPR). We described the relationship between the bending strength properties of finger DSTR and the acoustic emission (AE) generated during the bending test. The results were as follows: The AE generation time of finger-jointed specimens with RPR adhesive was earlier than that with PVA adhesive. The AE cumulative event count of finger-jointed specimens with RPR adhesive continuously increased with increasing load and the event count was much more than that with PVA adhesive. Also, the AE cumulative event count for resorcinol-phenol resin adhesive obtained from low load level was abundant. The AE wave in finger-jointed specimens with RPR adhesive could be detected in the below proportional limit load. Therefore, AE signals from bending test are useful for the estimation of strength in finger DSTR specimens.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.224-229
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• 2024

Quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QD-LEDs) are emerging as next-generation displays owing to their high color purity, wide color gamut, and solution processability. Enhancing the efficiency of QD-LEDs involves preventing non-radiative recombination mechanisms, such as Auger and interfacial recombination. Generally, ZnO serves as the electron transport layer, which is known for its higher mobility compared to that of organic semiconductors and can lead to excessive electron injection. Some of the injected electrons pass through the quantum dot emissive layer and undergo non-radiative recombination near or within the organic hole transport layer (HTL), resulting in HTL degradation. Therefore, the implementation of electron blocking layers (EBLs) is essential; however, studies on all-solution-processed inverted InP QD-LEDs are limited. In this study, poly(9-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) is introduced as an EBL to mitigate HTL degradation and enhance the emission efficiency of inverted InP QD-LEDs. Using a single-carrier device, PVK was confirmed to effectively inhibit electron overflow into the HTL, even at extremely low thicknesses. The optimization of the PVK thickness also ensured minimal disruption of the hole-injection properties. Consequently, a 1.5-fold increase in the maximum luminance was achieved in the all-solution-processed inverted InP QD-LEDs with the EBL.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.961-968
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• 2011

The formation of reactive lipid aldehydes, 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE) is shown to be derived from fatty acid hydroperoxides through the oxidative process. Among its known effects in cytotoxicity, HNE has been implicated in apoptotic cell death. To delineate its putative role as a potential mediator, we investigated the mechanism by which HNE induces apoptosis of endothelial cells (ECs). The anti-proliferative effects of HNE were tested through MTT assay after exposure to various concentrations ($5\sim15\;{\mu}M$) of HNE. We observed apoptotic bodies with propidium iodide staining, and measured the HNE induction of endothelial apoptosis by flow cytometry assay. We observed that cells exposed to HNE for 24 hr resulted in increased poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage and up-regulation of Bax. Data on the HNE action strongly indicated the involvement of reactive species, namely, intracellular ROS, nitrite, and peroxynitrite. To obtain evidence on the implication of ROS and peroxynitrite in HNE-induced apoptosis, a ROS scavenger, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), and a peroxynitrite scavenger, penicillamine, were tested. Results clearly indicate that the induction of apoptosis by HNE was effectively inhibited by NAC and penicillamine. Based on the present data, we conclude that the endothelial apoptosis induced by HNE involves both ROS generation and peroxynitrite activity. Our new data could lead to a redefinition of HNE action on apoptosis in ECs.