• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
• /
• v.36 no.5
• /
• pp.24-32
• /
• 2008

Artificial brown-rot decay was induced to two wood species, Pinus densiflora and Pinus radiata. A modified direct inoculation method was used and the decay indicators of mass loss and two compressive mechanical properties, maximum compressive strength (MCS) and compressive stiffness, were estimated over the period of 8 weeks of fungal exposure. Measurable mass loss occurred 2 weeks after the fungal attack, with 15% to 22% of the loss occurring 8 weeks after fungal exposure with Fornitopsis palustris and Gloeophyllurn trabeurn. Mechanical properties proved to be far more sensitive than mass loss detection: approximately five to six times by quantity. Of the two mechanical properties, MCS was more sensitive to and consistent with progressive brown-rot decay. An ultrasonic test was performed to determine the feasibility and accuracy of this method for nondestructive detection of brown-rot decay. The ultrasonic test is highly sensitive at qualitative detection of the early stages of brown-rot decay.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.55 no.11
• /
• pp.553-558
• /
• 2022

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is dangerous cancer that often evades early detection because it is asymptomatic and an effective detection method is lacking. For people with chronic liver inflammation who are at high risk of developing HCC, a sensitive detection method for HCC is needed. In a meta-analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas pan-cancer methylation database, we identified a CpG island in the USP44 promoter that is methylated specifically in HCC. We developed methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting (MS-HRM) analysis to measure the methylation levels of the USP promoter in cell-free DNA isolated from patients. Our MS-HRM assay correctly identified 40% of patients with early-stage HCC, whereas the α-fetoprotein test, which is currently used to detect HCC, correctly identified only 25% of early-stage HCC patients. These results demonstrate that USP44 MS-HRM analysis is suitable for HCC surveillance.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.136-141
• /
• 2008

Fecal contaminations on poultry carcasses, not easily discemable by human eyes, are potential harbor sites of pathogenic Escherichia Coli (E. coli O157:H7). Development of sensitive detection methods for fecal contamination is essential to ensure safe production of poultry products. Fluorescence has been shown to be very sensitive in detecting fecal and other biological substances that can harbor pathogens. In this study, fluorescence excitation-emission spectra of poultry fecal matter were compared with spectra for poultry skin and meat. Results indicated that the combinations of fluorescence intensities at the wavelength of 520 nm, 579 nm, 625 nm, and 635 nm with 411 nm excitation showed above 97% accuracy for differentiation of the contaminants from poultry tissues. Excitation and emission bands determined could be used for constructing a real-time fluorescence imaging device for detection of harmful residues on poultry carcasses.

• Journal of Korean Port Research
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.373-378
• /
• 2000

Oil spill in sea water is the most frequent and significant problem of marine pollution. As an early detection sensor of the pollution, an activated carbon coated quartz crystal is prepared and examined for its performance of detection sensitivity and stability. Powdered activated carbon and phenol resin is coated on the surface of the sensor and the sensor is baked for an hour. Adsorption of acetone dissolved in water and salt water is measured using frequency shift of quartz crystal at different concentrations of solute material. The outcome indicates that the sensor preparation is adequate and the measurement of solute concentration is stable and sensitive enough to be implemented on the monitoring of solute concentration is stable and sensitive enough to be implemented in the monitoring of organic pollution of sea water.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.25 no.11
• /
• pp.1782-1786
• /
• 2015

A new improved PCR method has been developed for the rapid, reliable, and sensitive detection of Venturia nashicola, a destructive pathogen of scab disease in Japanese pear. The translation elongation factor-1 alpha gene-derived PCR primers specifically amplified a 257-bp-sized DNA band of the target gene from the genomic DNA of V. nashicola. No amplicon was produced from the genomic DNA of other Venturia spp. and reference fungal species tested. With the high detection limit of 10 fg DNA content, our real-time method could be used for the quarantine inspection and field monitoring of V. nashicola.

• Journal of Magnetics
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.30-33
• /
• 2008

A highly sensitive, giant magnetoresistance-spin valve (GMR-SV) biosensing device with high linearity and very low hysteresis was fabricated by photolithography. The detection of magnetic nanoparticles and Fe-hemoglobin inside red blood cells using the GMR-SV biosensing device was investigated. When a sensing current of 1 mA was applied to the current electrode in the patterned active devices with an area of $2{\times}6{\mu}m^2$, the output signals were about 13.35 mV. The signal from even one drop of human blood and nanoparticles in distilled water was sufficient for their detection and analysis.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.35 no.11
• /
• pp.3195-3198
• /
• 2014

An ultra-sensitive detection method for small molecules such as antibiotics was developed using ICP-MS with magnetic and $TiO_2$ nanoparticles. Since most of the antibiotics are too small to employ a sandwich-type extraction through an immunoreaction, a non-specific platform was employed, in which the target was extracted by magnetic separation, followed by tagging with $TiO_2$ nanoparticles of 11.2 nm for ICP-MS measurement. The detection limit for salinomycin obtained from spiked serum samples was $0.4ag\;mL^{-1}$ (${\pm}10.3%$), which was about $1.5{\times}10^6$ times lower than that of LC-MS/MS and about $1.2{\times}10^{11}$ times better than that of ELISA. Such an excellent sensitivity enabled us to study the toxicity of antibiotics exposed to human beings by determining them in serum.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.19-22
• /
• 2014

Here we report a highly sensitive and stable detection of $NAD^+$ and NADH by the electrode on which diaphorase (DI) is covalently immobilized in viologen polymer network. The network is prepared by the covalent formation of the structure by mixing propylamine viologen (PAV), poly(ethylene glycol)(400) diglycidyl ether (PEGDGE), an diaphorase (DI). The PAV/PEGDGE/DI modified electrode has the sensitivity of $0.02nA{\cdot}{\mu}M$ and the detection limit of $3{\mu}M$ with a response time of 2 s ($t_{90%}$) for NADH sensing.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2013.08a
• /
• pp.87-87
• /
• 2013

The interface between nanomaterials and biosystems is emerging as one of the broadest and most dynamic areas of science and technology, bringing together biology, chemistry, physics and many areas of engineering, biomedicine. The combination of these diverse areas of research promised to yield revolutionary advances in healthcare, medicine, and life science. For example, the creation of new and powerful nanosensors that enable direct, sensitive, and rapid analysis of biological and chemical species can advance the diagnosis and treatment of disease, discovery and screening of new drug molecules. Nanowire based sensors are emerging as a powerful and general platform for ultrasensitive and multiplex detection of biological and chemical species. Here, we present the studies about noble metal nanowire sensors that can be used for sensitive detection of a wide-range of biological and chemical species including nucleic acids, proteins, and toxic metal ions. Moreover, the optical and electrochemical applications of noble metal nanowires are introduced. Noble metal nanowires are successfully used as plasmonic antennas and nanoelectrodes, thereby provide a pathway for a single molecule sensor, in vivo neural recording, and molecular injection and detection in a single living cell.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.1-6
• /
• 2013

Tetanus is a specific infectious disease, which is often associated with catastrophic events such as earthquakes, traumas, and war wounds. The obligate anaerobe Clostridium tetani is the pathogen that causes tetanus. Once the infection of tetanus progresses to an advanced stage within the wounds of limbs, the rates of amputation and mortality increase manifold. Therefore, it is necessary to devise a rapid and sensitive point-of-care detection method for C. tetani so as to ensure an early diagnosis and clinical treatment of tetanus. In this study, we developed a detection method for C. tetani using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay, wherein the C. tetani tetanus toxin gene was used as the target gene. The method was highly specific and sensitive, with a detection limit of 10 colony forming units (CFU)/ml, and allowed quantitative analysis. While detecting C. tetani in clinical samples, it was found that the LAMP results completely agreed with those of the traditional API 20A anaerobic bacteria identification test. As compared with the traditional API test and PCR assay, LAMP detection of C. tetani is simple and rapid, and the results can be identified through naked-eye observation. Therefore, it is an ideal and rapid point-of-care testing method for tetanus.