• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 1995

The mechanical properties and structure of degummed silk fiber stretched after being treated with 8M LiBr aqueous solution were investigated. The mechanical properties of degummed silk fiber were depended upon the treatment temperature of 8M LiBr aqueous solution. That is, the strength and elongation had a tendancy to increase with the temperature, whereas the Young's modulus tended to decrease. The X-ray diffraction pattern showed that the crystalline orientation was disordered by 8$0^{\circ}C$ treatment neverthless destruction of the crystallites did not occur. rho silk fiber could be successfully stretched up 160% under the condition of 8M LiBr aqueous solution at 80 * after immersed for 1hr. For the highly stretched sample(160%), the tensile strength and Young's modulus were significantly improved in spite of lower elongation at break. According to the examination of X-ray diffraction pattern and SEM, the orientation tends to be occured more and more with stretching ratio. From the DSC thermograms, it shows that the thermal decomposition behavior was different between untreated and treated specimen with 8M LiBr aqueous solution. The maximun endothermic peak of thermal decomposition tends to increase to high temperature with the increase of stretching ratio.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.6-10
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• 2017

Dissolution of Antheraea yamamai silkworm cocoon was carried out in various solvent systems with various dissolving conditions including dissolution salts, salt concentration, dissolving temperature, and time. General chaotropic salt for Bombyx mori silk fibroin does not work for A. yamamai silkworm cocoon. Lithium bromide 9.3 M at $100^{\circ}C$ also does not work to dissolve wild silkworm cocoon. However, 9 M of lithium thiocyanate treatment at $100^{\circ}C$ induced 100% dissolution of wild silkworm cocoon. But it could not be dissolved lower than $60^{\circ}C$. Like lithium thiocyanate, less than $60^{\circ}C$ treatment with molten calcium nitrate 4 hydrate could not dissolve wild silkworm cocoon. As the dissolution temperature increased up to $100^{\circ}C$, the solubility of wild one was reached over 90%. SDS-PAGE showed broad tailing stream pattern that means the molecule of wild silk was depolymerized with dissolution temperature and time. From the above results, the best chaotropic salt for A.yamamai silkworm cocoon is calcium nitrate 4 hydrate.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.58-64
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• 2000

This study was designed to investigate the effects of silk fibroin powder (Mw 500) on oxidative stress and membrane fluidity in liver membranes of rats. Sprague-Dawley (SD) male rats (160$\pm$10g) were fed basic diet (control group), and experimental diets (SEP-2.5 and SFP-5.0 groups) added 2.5 and 5.0 g/kg BW/day for 6 weeks. Cholesterol levels resulted in a significant decrease (12.1% and 9.0%, respectively) in the liver mitochondria and microsomes of SEP-5.0 group compared with control group. Membrane fluidity as significantly increased (16.1% and 16.5%, 5.8% and 17.4%) in the liver mitochondria and microsomes were significantly inhibited (16.1% and 18.3%, 8.1% and 15.1%, respectively) at the SFP-2.5 and SEP-5.0 groups compared with control group. Induced oxygen radicals (BOR) in liver mitochondria and microsomes were significantly inhibited (16.1% and 18.3%, 8.1% and 15.1%, respectively) at the SFP-2.5 and SEP-5.0 groups compared with control group. Induced oxygen radicals (IOR) in liver microsomes were significantly inhibited (17.0% and 26.6%, respectively) at the SFP-2.5 and SFP-5.0 groups compared with control group, but IOR in liver mitochondria was significantly inhibited about 12.3% at the SWP-400 group only compared with control group. Lipid peroxide (LPO) levels were significantly decreased (8.3% and 18.0%, 13.4% and 18.4%, respectively) in the liver mitochondria and microsomes of SFP-2.5 and SFP-5.0 groups compared with control group. Oxidized protein (OP) levels were dose-dependently decreased (5.4% and 11.6%, 19.0% and 24.4%, respaectively) in the iver mitochondria and microsomes of SFP-2.5 and SFP-5.0 groups compared with control group. These results suggest that administration of SFP may play an effective role in attenuating an oxidative stress and increasing a membrane fluidity in liver membranes.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.213-219
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• 2009

Crystallization experiments were performed by addition of various amino acids into biomineralization mixture of calcium carbonate. Liquid-liquid reaction of calcium carbonate was investigated by mixing calcium chloride, sodium carbonate and additives such as silk fibroin, asparagine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid and glycine. Also, the effects of reaction time, pH and solution concentration were observed. Analysis of crystals was done by FE-SEM, XRD, FT-IR equipments. FE-SEM was used in order to analyze morphology and crystal size. XRD was used to measure peak intensities and presence of $CaCO_3$ crystal. Two kinds of crystals were confirmed by FT-IR spectrum. Crystal distribution with reaction time was identified with measured peak areas of XRD and FT-IR data.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.67-81
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• 2021

This study aimed to conduct tree-ring dating and analysis of the materials used for the wooden coffins excavated from the ruins of Sipjeong-dong, Incheon. The tree species for the 10 wooden coffin materials was identified as pine. For accurate tree-ring measurement, the cross section was polished using sandpaper. The annual ring width was measured with an accuracy of 0.01 mm. Since the five materials were consistent with each other in dendrochronology, a representative annual ring chronology of 83 years was prepared. The prepared representative annual ring chronology was compared with the standard annual ring chronology, and the outermost ring of the wooden coffin was confirmed to correspond to the year 1575, suggesting that the wooden coffin was produced in the late 16th century. In addition, microscopic observation and FT-IR analysis revealed that the fibers attached to the surface of the wooden coffin were fibroin (Silk), and infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Py-GC/MS analysis showed that the paint left on the surface of the wooden coffin was lacquer.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.44-49
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• 2015

We characterized tissue specific-expressed genes in the posterior silk gland of Bombyx mori using by the Annealing Control Primer based differential display-PCR manner. In this study, we isolated 34 differentially expressed PCR amplicons, which one of these was identified as a novel transcript named as ACP-16 (366 bp), its expression was observed only in the posterior silk glands by Northern blot analysis. To determine promoter region of the ACP-16, we isolated and analyzed a phage DNA having 1.7 kb-long genome DNA including the open reading flame and 5'- upstream untranslated region of the ACP-16 gene from a genomic DNA library. We have estimated a promoter region of the ACP-16 gene by a web promoter prediction engine, which locates -750 ~ -165 from translation initiation site (ATG, +1). ACP-16 gene is necessary to more studies about critical biological role in order to apply the silkworm's transgenic system.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.32-40
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• 1992

Many studies have been carried out on the graft finishing in order to improve the quality of silk fiber. Various vinyl monomers, for instance, styrene, methylmethacrylate, 2-hydroxyeth-ylmethacrylate and methacrylamide, have been used practically up to date. Among these monomers, methacrylamide has been applied as the most favourable monomer onto silk fibers in recent years. The polymerization mechanism about styrene- and methylmethacrylate-grafted silk fiber has been studied by many researchers. They proposed that free radicals were formed and vinyl monomers were polymerized in silk fibroin by graft polymerization mechanism, while active sites were varied by the types of monomer and initiator as well as by the reaction condition. In general. there is another Opinion that monomers are polymerized and impregnated in the internal side of the fiber by homopolymerization, which has not been proved experimentally yet More than 10 years have been passed since methacrylamide was applied on the silk fiber, and at the present time most finishings are being achieved by methacrylamide. However, no attention has been paid to the polymerization mechanism of the methacrylamide-treated silk fiber yeL In this paper, the treatments of methacrylamide on silk fibers were studied in aqueous solution using potassium persulfate as an initiator. The polymerization mechanism of the methacrylamide-treated silk fibers was investigated and analyzed on the basis of the results of infrared spectroscopy, amino acid analysis and scanning electron microscopy. From the results of these instrumental analyses, it can be suggested that polymerization mechanism about the methacrylamide-treated silk fibers is not performed by graft polymerization which has been accepted generally in styrene and methylmethacrylate-grafted silk fibers. The different mechanism is supposed to be due to the difference in monomer types, initiator types and treatment conditions.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.231-239
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• 2020

Many benefits of silk protein fibroin (SPF) have been suggested in biomedical applications; and notably, significant SPF effects have been observed for metabolic syndromes that are directly linked to insulin resistance, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Based on our previous findings, we believe that SPF from spiders exhibits outstanding glucose-lowering effects in diabetic BKS.Cg-m+/+Lepr^db mice. In order to evaluate the dietary effects of SPF in diabetic animals, we generated several lines of transgenic rice (TR) that expresses SPF, and the feeding of TR-SPF to diabetic animals decreased blood glucose levels, but did not change insulin levels. Western blot analyses of hepatic proteins showed that AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) expression and phosphorylation both decreased in TR-SPF-fed groups, compared with controls. This finding suggests that the glucose-lowering effects in this diabetic animal model might be AMPK-independent. In contrast, six-transmembrane protein of prostate 2 (STAMP2) was upregulated after TR-SPF exposure. Together with STAMP2, the Akt protein phosphorylation increased after TR-SPF exposure, which indicates that STAMP2 leads to Akt phosphorylation and thus increases insulin sensitivity in hepatocytes. Importantly, the hepatic steatosis that was seen in the liver of diabetic mice was remarkably alleviated in TR-SPF-fed mice. Hepatocytes that were immunopositive for STAMP2 were overwhelmingly observed in hepatic tissues from TR-SPF-fed mice compared to the control. Taken together, these results suggest that feeding diabetic mice with TR-SPF upregulates STAMP2 expression and increases Akt phosphorylation in hepatic tissues and thus potentially alleviates insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.293-298
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• 2010

Purpose: The objective of the present study was to determine the capability of electrospun silk fibroin as a biomaterial template for bone formation when mixed with nano-hydoxyapatite in vivo. Materials and Methods: Ten New Zealand white rabbits were used for this study and bilateral round shaped defects were formed in the parietal bone (diameter: 8.0 mm). The electrospun silk fibroin was coated by nano-hydroxyapatite and grafted into the right parietal bone (experimental group). The left side (control group) did not receive a graft. The animals were sacrificed at 6 weeks and 12 weeks, humanly. The microcomputerized tomogram (${\mu}CT$) was taken for each specimen. Subsequently, they were undergone decalcification and stained for the histological analysis. Results: The average value of all measured variables was higher in the experimental group than in the control at 6 weeks after the operation. BMC in the experimental group at 6 weeks after operation was $48.94{\pm}19.25$ and that in the control was $26.17{\pm}16.40$ (P = 0.027). BMD in the experimental group at 6 weeks after operation was $324.59{\pm}165.24$ and that in the control was $173.03{\pm}120.30$ (P = 0.044). TMC in the experimental group at 6 weeks after operation was $19.50{\pm}6.00$ and that in the control was $10.52{\pm}6.20$ (P = 0.011). TMD in the experimental group at 6 weeks after operation was $508.88{\pm}297.57$ and that in the control was $273.54{\pm}175.91$ (P = 0.06). Gross image of both groups showed higher calcification area at 12 weeks than them in 6 weeks. The average value of ${\mu}CT$ analysis was higher at 12 weeks than that in 6 weeks in both groups. BMC in the experimental group at 12 weeks after operation was $51.21{\pm}8.81$ and that in the control was $33.47{\pm}11.13$ (P = 0.010). BMD in the experimental group at 12 weeks after operation was $323.39{\pm}21.54$ and that in the control was $197.75{\pm}76.23$ (P = 0.012). TMC in the experimental group at 12 weeks after operation was $21.44{\pm}5.30$ and that in the control was $13.31{\pm}4.17$ (P = 0.008). TMD in the experimental group at 12 weeks after operation was $524.47{\pm}19.37$ and that in the control was $299.60{\pm}136.20$ (P = 0.016). Conclusion: The rabbit calvarial defect could be successfully repaired by electrospun silk nano-fiber combined with nano-hydroxyapatite.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.23-27
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• 2004

We were investigated the cognitive ability enhancement in rats using B. mori fibroin molecular controlled hydrolysate by preparative recycle HPLC system. Also, some of its physicochemical properties and free amino acid components were investigated, too. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum are measured different pattern between high (HF) and low (LF) molecular controlled B. mori fibroin samples, respectively. The in vitro test by neuron primary cell culture are showed dependent on molecular weight (Mw) of B. mori fibroin in the order of LF > MF > HF, too. However, the memorial effects in rats by in vivo test are large dependent molecular weight on that maximum 50% than control. Also, the memorial effect was higher than the enzymatic relative and acid hydrolysate, which was 50.0$\pm$2.1 and 25.9$\pm$0.32%, respectively.