• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.315-321
• /
• 2010

Malassezia furfur is an important causal factor for seborrheic dermatitis. Nowadays, the drugs available to treat this fungal infection are few. Several studies have documented the biological activity of essential oils. However, its antifungal properties are not completely understood, especially its anti-Malassezia activity. The aim of this study were to evaluate the effect of the plant essential oils on the growth of M. furfur using disk diffusion method and analyze by Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) most active essential oils. In first screening, the 17 plant essential oils have possesses inhibitory activity against M. furfur at 2 mg/mL. Among the plant essential oils, oil of Citrus auranifoli was most active against M. furfur and its activity showed dose dependency. This anti-malassezial activity was high than that of itraconazole at 2 mg/mL. Oil of Citrus auranifolia also was phytochemically examined by GC-MS analysis, its main constituents were identified as limonene, ${\gamma}$-terpinene and terpinolene. It can be concluded that essential oils of Citrus auranifolia may have interesting applications to control fungal-derived diseases.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.373-378
• /
• 2010

Studies on standardization and quality upgrade of nuruk which is a basic component in brewing are required to increase the quality level of Korean traditional rice wines and to develop the technology for practical use of it. It is important to isolate best strains, to improve the properties and effectively preserve them for brewing industry. In this study, 16 commercial nuruk samples were obtained from the commercial markets located in Chungcheong areas in Korea. 174 fungal strains were isolated from the samples on DG18 medium using a dilution plating method and then screened for enzyme activity and acid production. The active strains were identified based on the morphological characteristics and ITS sequence analysis. Out of 174 strains, 12 strains showed high amylase activity. Especially, Rhizopus sp. CN084, CN174, Aspergillus sp. CN161 and Mycocladus sp. CN042 showed high saccharogenic power and dextrinogenic enzyme activity on cooked wheat bran medium. On the other hand, Aspergillus sp. CN010, CN161, Rhizopus sp. CN105, CN168 and Rhizomucor sp. CN088 produced high acid production on the same medium. Our results showed that the active strains may be used as microbial sources for nuruk starter with good quality in brewing.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.427-432
• /
• 2005

This study was performed to investigate the effect of natural plant extracts on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity and the free radical scavenging activity. The methanolic extracts of plants were tested for AChE inhibitory activity using Ellman's colorimetric method in 96-welled microplates and antioxidant activity as the scavenging effect of 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl radical (DPPH). The results showed that AChE activities were inhibited (about 20-30%) in whole plant extract of Daucus carota var. sativa, Hypericum erectum and Fragaria yezoensis. AChE activities were inhibited (about 32-34%) in stems extract of Gingko biloba and leaves extract of Rhododendrondron yedoensa var. poukhanense. Fruit extract of Zanthoxylum schinifolium inhibited (about 18%) AChE activity. And the DPPH scavenging effects as antioxidant activity were similar to L-ascorbic acid in whole plant extract of Fragaria yezoensis and fruits extract of Comus officinalis.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.343-351
• /
• 2017

Plant extracts were screened for antifungal activity against major plant pathogens, Botrytis sp., Collectotrichum sp., Alternaria sp. and Cylindrocarpon sp. using 96-well microdilution method. Among the 662 methanol extracts from 401 plant species, 36 extracts showed complete inhibition of spore germination against at least one of four pathogenic fungi. Extracts of Morus alba twig and Sophora flavescens root showed minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) at $1,250{\mu}g/ml$ against Botrytis sp.. Extracts of Chloranthus japonicus root showed MIC at $1,250{\mu}g/ml$ against Collectotrichum sp.. Extracts of Glycyrrhiza uralensis aerial part, Inula helenium root and Menispermum dauricum root showed MIC between 625 and $1,250{\mu}g/ml$ against Alternaria sp.. G. uralensis aerial part and I. helenium root showed MIC at $1,250{\mu}g/ml$ against Cylindrocarpon sp.. Specifically, the extracts of Agrimonia pilosa root, Angelica tenuissima root, Asarum sieboldii root, Campsis grandifolia leaf and twig, Cnidium officinale root, Dictamnus dasycarpus root, G. uralensis aerial part, I. helenium root and M. alba twig completely inhibited spore germination at lower than $5,000{\mu}g/ml$ against all of four pathogenic fungi. Two methanol extracts from G. uralensis aerial part and M. alba twig may used as a candidate to develop into effective disease management materials in plant cultivation.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.173-181
• /
• 2003

Physicochemical changes in corn starch caused by irradiation were investigated, and irradiated samples were identified. Viscosity, TBA value, Hunter color, and total viable count were measured after irradiation of corn starch. Corn starches from Korea and China were irradiated at 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, and 15 kGy using a $Co^{60}$ irradiator and stored for 9 months at $0^{\circ}C$ and $20^{\circ}C$. Viscosity and specific parameter values decreased in all samples with increasing irradiation dosage at 50 rpm, showing a dose-dependent relationship $(above\;R^2=0.80)$ between non-irradiated and irradiated samples during storage. These results suggest that detection of irradiated corn starches is possible using viscometric method during storage. Total viable count, TBA value, and Hunter color were determined as supplemental indices for measuring viscosities of samples. Total viable count and TBA values showed dose-dependent relationship $(2.5{\sim}15 kGy)$. Differences in viscosity and total viable count, and TBA values among non-irradiated samples showed little changes with the lapse of post-irradiation time, but were still distinguishable for more than 6 months at $0^{\circ}C$ and $20^{\circ}C$ for corn starches from korea and China.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.27 no.12
• /
• pp.1410-1414
• /
• 2017

Escherichia coli tryptophan synthase (TS) contains ${\alpha}_2{\beta}_2$, which catalyzes the final two steps in Trp biosynthesis. A molecular tunnel exists between the two active sites of ${\alpha}$ and ${\beta}$ subunits in TS. Via intersubunit communication, TS increases catalytic efficiency, including substrate channeling. The ${\beta}$ subunit of TS is composed of two domains, one of which, the COMM (communication) domain, plays an important role in intersubunit communication. The ${\alpha}$ subunit has a TIM barrel structure. This protein has functional regions at the C terminal of ${\beta}$ pleated sheets and in its loop regions. Three regions of the ${\alpha}$ subunit (${\alpha}L6$ [${\alpha}-loop$ L6], ${\alpha}L2$, and ${\alpha}L3$) are implicated in intersubunit communication. In the present study, conformational changes in ${\alpha}L6$ were monitored by measuring the sensitivity of mutant proteins in these regions to trypsin. The addition of a ${\alpha}$ subunit-specific ligand, D,L-${\alpha}$-glycerophosphate (GP), partially restored the sensitivity of mutant proteins to trypsin. In contrast, the addition of the ${\beta}$ subunit-specific ligand L-serine (Ser) resulted in varied sensitivity to trypsin, with an increase in PT53 (substitution of Pro with Thr at residue 53) and DG56, decrease in NS104 and wild type, and no change in GD51 and PH53. This finding may be related to several reaction intermediates formed under this condition. The addition of both GP and Ser led to a highly stable state of the complex. The present results are consistent with the current model. The method used herein may be useful for screening residues involved in intersubunit communication.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.239-243
• /
• 2010

Even though clinical use DRE, PSA and TRUS for screening while diagnosing prostate cancer early, however, we cannot achieve to diagnose it accurately by one method. Thus, mutual supplements are strongly required in diagnosis. It means that we should identify relationship between prostate volume and serum PSA under different ages for better diagnosis. The subjects(405 men) visited the department of diagnostic radiology in a general university hospital from January 2008 to December 2008, who was going to take the prostatic evaluation by TRUS. 13 men, who did definite diagnosis of prostate cancer before through biopsy, were excluded in this study. All data were expressed as mean and standard deviations by using SPSS 14.0 package programs and were analyzed by using one-way ANOVA to evaluate the effect of different ages. And Scheffe Post hoc comparison is accomplished in order to make significant difference in prostate volume, PSA and PSAD according to ages. Pearson correlation was used for ages, prostate volume, PSA and PSAD. According to examination, the subjects' prostate volume and serum PSA level increase as person's age. We can see significant difference between group over 70 years and group from 40 and 50 years. Moreover, age, prostate volume and serum PSA have significant positive correlation. Even though we can get variations in serum PSA level by changing prostate volume according to ages, it is worthwhile to mention that more strong association for prostate volume is observed than ages in elevation of serum PSA. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to consider prostate volume weightly when it comes to evaluate for men with elevated PSA level. Finally, TRUS is an excellent extra equipment to diagnose prostate cancer because it can contribute to early diagnose and pertinent treatment of prostate cancer.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.472-476
• /
• 2008

The possibility of DNA comet assay as a rapid method for screening the irradiated vegetables and grains was evaluated. Vegetables (spring onion, garlic, and tomato) irradiated at $0{\sim}3$ kGy and grains (rice flour and black soybean) irradiated at $0{\sim}9$ kGy were used as samples. Optimum DNA comet assay conditions, such as elution, sedimentation of suspension, and lysis time of cell, were established. The optimum conditions for vegetables were 10 min for the elution time, 0 min for the sedimentation time, and 5 min for the lysis time. The optimum conditions for grains were 15 min for the elution time, 60 min for the sedimentation time, and 30 min for the lysis time. For the food application of DNA comet assay, it was possible to screen various food samples irradiated at the following doses: spring onion at 2 kGy, garlic at 3 kGy, tomato at 1 kGy, rice flour at 9 kGy, and black soybean at 3 kGy. Each sample showed different forms and sizes in DNA comet. Therefore, further studies on various methods using comet shape, concentration, or area in DNA comet assay are necessary.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.24-31
• /
• 2004

A cold mix asphalt (CMA) treatment process was proposed as a tool to recycle soils contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. Experimental studies were conducted to characterize performances of the CMA process in treating soils contaminated with diesel or diesel compounds. From the screening experiments, it was found that performances of five types of asphalt emulsions that contained a cationic or an anionic or a nonionic surfactant were not substantially different. In consideration of higher affinity for soils and higher sorption coefficients obtained, an emulsion containing Lauryl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chloride (LDBAC) was selected as a promising asphalt emulsion for treating diesel-contaminated soils. When the asphalt emulsion LDBAC was applied to treat three compounds that originated from diesel, the removal efficiencies obtained in the order of decreasing efficiencies were as follows: docosane > pentadecane > undecane. Leaching experiments on the specimen formulated by the emulsion LDBAC found that the selected treatment method could treat soils with diesel concentrations as high as 10,000 mg/kg. Leaching of the diesel from the specimen was controlled by diffusion for the first four days and then leaching rate diminished substantially. The latter behavior was characterized as depletion, which represents that the contaminant released amounts to more than $50\%$ of the total amount of the contaminant that can be leached. The amounts of three diesel compounds leached from the specimen in the order of decreasing amount were undecane, pentadecane, and docosane. The curing of the soil contaminated with pentadecane was relatively slow.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2013.08a
• /
• pp.99-99
• /
• 2013

In this talk, I will present two research works in progress, which are: i) mapping of piezoelectric polarization and associated charge density distribution in the heteroepitaxial InGaN/GaN multi-quantum well (MQW) structure of a light emitting diode (LED) by using inline electron holography and ii) in-situ observation of the polarization switching process of an ferroelectric Pb(Zr1-x,Tix)O3 (PZT) thin film capacitor under an applied electric field in transmission electron microscope (TEM). In the first part, I will show that strain as well as total charge density distributions can be mapped quantitatively across all the functional layers constituting a LED, including n-type GaN, InGaN/GaN MQWs, and p-type GaN with sub-nm spatial resolution (~0.8 nm) by using inline electron holography. The experimentally obtained strain maps were verified by comparison with finite element method simulations and confirmed that not only InGaN QWs (2.5 nm in thickness) but also GaN QBs (10 nm in thickness) in the MQW structure are strained complementary to accommodate the lattice misfit strain. Because of this complementary strain of GaN QBs, the strain gradient and also (piezoelectric) polarization gradient across the MQW changes more steeply than expected, resulting in more polarization charge density at the MQW interfaces than the typically expected value from the spontaneous polarization mismatch alone. By quantitative and comparative analysis of the total charge density map with the polarization charge map, we can clarify what extent of the polarization charges are compensated by the electrons supplied from the n-doped GaN QBs. Comparison with the simulated energy band diagrams with various screening parameters show that only 60% of the net polarization charges are compensated by the electrons from the GaN QBs, which results in the internal field of ~2.0 MV cm-1 across each pair of GaN/InGaN of the MQW structure. In the second part of my talk, I will present in-situ observations of the polarization switching process of a planar Ni/PZT/SrRuO3 capacitor using TEM. We observed the preferential, but asymmetric, nucleation and forward growth of switched c-domains at the PZT/electrode interfaces arising from the built-in electric field beneath each interface. The subsequent sideways growth was inhibited by the depolarization field due to the imperfect charge compensation at the counter electrode and preexisting a-domain walls, leading to asymmetric switching. It was found that the preexisting a-domains split into fine a- and c-domains constituting a $90^{\circ}$ stripe domain pattern during the $180^{\circ}$ polarization switching process, revealing that these domains also actively participated in the out-of-plane polarization switching. The real-time observations uncovered the origin of the switching asymmetry and further clarified the importance of charged domain walls and the interfaces with electrodes in the ferroelectric switching processes.