• KSBB Journal
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.499-509
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• 1995

PU.1, a tissue-specific transcription activator, binds to a purine-rich sequence(5'-GAGGAA-3') called PU box. The PU.1 cDNA consists of an open reading frame of 816 nucleotides coding for 272 amino acids. The amino terminal end is highly acidic, while the carboxyl terminal end is highly basic. Transcriptional activation domain is located at the amino terminal end, while DNA binding domain is located at the carboxyl terminal end. Activation of PU.1 transcription factor is supposed to be accomplished by the phosphorylation of serine residue(s). There exist 22 serines in the PU.1. Five(the 41, 45, 132$.$133, and 148th) of the serines(plausible phosphorylation site by casein kinase II), are the primary targets of interest in elucidating the molecular mechanism(s) of the action of the PU.1 gene. In this study, PU.1 cDNA coding for the five serine residues(41th AGC, 45th AGC, 132$.$133th AGC$.$TCA, and 148th TCT), was mutated to alanine codon(41th GCC, 45th GCC, 132$.$133th GCC$.$GCA, and 1481h GCT), respectively, by Splicing-Overlapping-Extension(SOE) using Polymerase Chain Reaction(PCR). And each mutated cDNA fragments was ligated into pBluescript KS＋ digested with HindIII and Xba I, to generate mutant clones named pKKS41A, pRKS45A, pMKS132$.$133A, and pMKS148A. The clones will be informative to study the "Structure and Function" of the immu-nologically important gene, PU.1.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.63-71
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• 2015

Moisturizers are the most prescribed products in dermatology. Treatment with moisturizers aims to maintain skin integrity and overall well-being by providing a healthy appearance. Moisturizers perform very important functions in baby care; however, there are few studies on the effects of moisturizers on the skin of infants. To investigate the effects of moisturizers on the skin of healthy full-term infants and toddlers, thirty-one healthy, full-term, 6- to 36-month-old infants and toddlers without any dermatologic conditions received moisturizer applied to the whole body except the eyes and diaper area after bathing twice daily for 4 weeks. Clinical assessments were conducted before treatment, immediately after the treatment period, and 1 and 4 weeks after treatment. At all visits, skin hydration, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), skin pH, and skin roughness were measured, the skin surface was photographed, and any adverse events were recorded. After using moisturizer, skin hydration significantly increased and TEWL and roughness significantly decreased. The skin pH was modified to mildly acidic and the skin surface was visually smoother than before treatment. There were no statistical significant differences of effects of moisturizers according to age and sex, and adverse events were not observed. The results of moisturizer application on the skin were increased skin hydration, recovery of barrier function, balancing skin pH within a mildly acidic range, and increasing the smoothness of the skin surface for 4 weeks.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.253-261
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to investigate the aflatoxin $B_1$ binding of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from Korean traditional soybean paste and to evaluate the effect of incubation conditions and physico-chemical factors on the binding ability of LAB to this mutagen. The amount of aflatoxin $B_1$ bound by Enterococcus faecium DJ22, Lactobacillus fermentum DJ35, Lactobacillus rhamnosus DJ42, and Lactobacillus pentosus DJ47 was strain specific with the percent bound ranging from 19.3% to 52.1%. However, Enterococcus faecalis DJ14, Lactobacillus panis DJ29, and Pediococcus halophilus DJ50 strains did not exhibit any of the binding ability to aflatoxin $B_1$. For most strains, the binding ability was significantly affected by the environmental conditions such as the aflatoxin $B_1$ level, incubation time and temperature, and the initial cell count of LAB. The stability of the aflatoxin $B_1$-bacteria complexes was significantly more unstable after washing. In addition, the binding stability between viable and nonviable cells was not statistically significant. Treatment with heating, acidic pH, ${\alpha}$-amylase, protease, lysozyme, or sodium metaperiodate caused a significant (P<0.05) decrease in aflatoxin $B_1$ binding for the tested strains, suggesting that carbohydrates or proteins in the cell walls may be involved in aflatoxin $B_1$ binding ability. Since the aflatoxin $B_1$ binding of LAB was significantly reduced (P<0.05) by the pretreatment of the urea, the binding force observed in this study may have resulted from hydrophobic interaction.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.227-236
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• 1986

Three types of Kochujang(soybean-red pepper paste) were prepared with glutinous rice flour (group A), glutinous rice grain (group B) or the mixture of flour and grain (group C) to investigate some chemical composition, enzyme activities and the texture during aging period. 'There were no remarkable differences in the contents of moisture, crude protein, crude fat, minerals and alcohols, titrable acidity and pH among the tested groups. Amino nitrogen content, acidic protease and saccharogenic amylase activities were measured to be higher values for group A whereas reducing sugar content higher values for group B. All tested groups contained Ca, Cu, K, Mn, Mg, P and Fe, particularly higher amount of K but a trace of Cu, Mn and Fe. All tested groups showed higher content of aspartic acid, glutamic acid, cystine, proline and lower content of histidine and valine 60 days after the preparation. The total free amino acid content was 16.49 mg/g for group A, 13.68 mg/g for group B and 15.84 mg/g for group C. The measurement of texture showed high values of hardness and adhesiveness with group A immediately after the preparation and with group B at the end of aging. Cohesiveness and springiness were high with group A while low with group B throughout aging period.

• Clean Technology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.220-228
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• 2010

Four Keggin-type heteropolyacids, $H_nXM_{12}O_{40}$(X = P and Si, M = W and Mo) that were substituted with heteroatom and polyatom were applied to the dehydration reaction of fructose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). The results showed that the acid became stronger when the heteroatom and polyatom were substituted with P and W than the cases of Si and Mo, respectively. However, the amount of acidic sites increased with the decrease in the acid strength, resulting in the change of the catalytic activity of heteropolyacids in the dehydration reaction. The experimental results revealed that four different heteropolyacids produced similar amounts of HMF via the dehydration reaction of fructose due to the counterbalancing effect between the amount of active sites, which is related to the catalytic activity of heteropolyacids, and the softness of polyanion. In addition, it was observed that the prepared heteropolyacids showed good structural stability after heat treatment at $200^{\circ}C$.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.155-162
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• 1996

Hyperkeratinization is a dermatologic disorder, which is due to the increase of corneocyte cohesion force. Glycolic acid, an alpha hydroxy acid(AHA), has been used to breakdown the hyperkeratinization processes. However, it has a problem of skin irritation when applied topically, due to the strong acidity especially in high concentration. A molecular optimization of glycolic acid has been tried to reduce the skin irritation by the way of prodrug formation. Ethyl glycolate was synthesized by the esterification of glycolic acid with ethanol in acidic conditions in the presence of sulfuric acid, and examined under the spectroscopic trials, such as UV, IR, $^1H$-NMR, and GC-MS. The physicochemical and biopharmaceutical properties of the prodrug were also evaluated. Through the toxicological tests of both skin irritation and eye mucous irritation, it has been proved that ethyl glycolate was less irritant than glycolic acid, since the pH value of synthetic prodrug was higher than that of glycolic acid. In the penetration test through nude mouse skin by diffusion cell, ethyl glycolate was continuously hydrolyzed to glycolic acid, which was assayed form the receptor compartment. It was obtained that the penetrated amount of ethyl glycolate was five times higher than that of glycolic acid. These results suggest that ethyl glycolate might be a successful prodrug of glycolic acid to reduce the skin irritation and to increase the skin penetration as well.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.2643-2647
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• 2011

Efficient ditopic receptor, uranyl(II) N,N'-(ethylenedioxy)benzenebis(salicylideneimine) (3) for beryllium ion has been obtained upon functionalization of 1,2-ethylenedioxybenzene (1) with a uranyl-salphen (salphen = N,N'-phenylenebis(salicylideneimine)) unit. Binding affinities of the receptor, 3 in AN-DMSO (v/v 95:5) solution have been measured for alkali and alkaline earth metal ions by conductometry comparing 1. The results showed that both monotopic 1 and ditopic receptor 3 were selective for $Be^{2+}$ ions over other cations, while especially 3 that can complex both with cations (coordinated to basic oxygen of ethylenedioxybenzene) and anions (coordinated to the Lewis acidic uranyl center) results in an increase of the stability constants by a factor of $10^{2.42}$ with respect to 1. Furthermore, the $Be^{2+}$-3 interactions are demonstrated by $^1H$ NMR experiments in highly polar solvent medium, DMSO-$d_6$. Higher selectivities were also observed for $Be^{2+}$ when the ditopic receptor, 3 was incorporated into PVC membranes and tested as ion selective electrodes at neutral pH.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.621-631
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• 2018

In this study, catalyst was made through incipient wetness method using palladium (Pd) as noble metal, indium (In) as secondary metal, and montmorillonite (MK10) and Al pillared montmorillonite (Al-MK10) as supporters. The nitrate reduction rate of the catalysts was measured by batch experiments where H2 gas was used as reducing agent and formic acid as pH controller. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were all used to determine the elemental distribution of Pd, In, Al, and Si on catalysts. It was observed that Al pillaring increased the Al/Si elemental composition ratio and point of zero charge of MK10, but decreased its BET specific surface area and pore volume. The nitrate reduction rate of Al-MK10 Pd/In was 2.0 ~ 2.5 times higher than that of MK10 Pd/In using artificial groundwater (GW) in ambient temperature and pressure. Nitrate reduction rates in GW were 1.2 ~ 1.7 times lower than those in distilled deionized water (DDW). Nitrate reduction rates in acidic conditions were higher than those in neutral condition in both GW and DDW. The amount of produced NH3-N over degraded NO3- at acid conditions was lower than that of neutral condition. Even though the leaching of Pd after reaction was measured in DDW it was not detected when both Al-MK10 Pd/In and MK10 Pd/In were used in GW. The modification of montmorillonite as a supporter significantly increased the reductive catalytic activities of nitrates. However, the ratio of producing ammonia by-products to degraded nitrates in ambient temperature and pressure was similar.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.287-295
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• 2022

Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) is efficiently transmitted in a semi-persistent manner by the brown citrus aphid (Toxoptera citricida (Kirkaldy)). Currently, the most sensitive method for detecting plant viruses in insect vectors is reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). In this study, the elongation factor-1 alpha (EF-1α) gene and acidic p0 ribosomal protein (RPAP0) gene were confirmed to be suitable reference genes for RT-qPCR normalization in viruliferous T. citricida aphids using the geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper tools. Then the relative CTV titer in aphids (T. citricida) at different post-acquisition feeding times on healthy plants was quantified by RT-qPCR using EF-1α and RPAP0 as reference genes. The relative CTV titer retained in the aphids gradually decreased with increasing feeding time. During the first 0.5 h of feeding time on healthy plants, the remaining CTV titer in aphids showed about 80% rapid loss for the highly transmissible isolate CT11A and 40% loss for the poorly transmissible isolate CTLJ. The relative CTV titer in aphids during more than 12 h post-acquisition times for CT11A was significantly lower than at the other feeding times, which is similar to the trend found for CTLJ. To our knowledge, this is the first report about the relative titer variation of CTV remaining in T. citricida at different post-acquisition feeding times on healthy plants.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.403-415
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• 2023

This study aimed to isolate and identify L-(+)-lactic acid-producing bacteria from tree barks collected in Thailand and evaluate the potential strain as probiotics. Twelve strains were isolated and characterized phenotypically and genotypically. The strains exhibited a rod-shaped morphology, high-temperature tolerance, and the ability to ferment different sugars into lactic acid. Based on 16S rRNA gene analysis, all strains were identified as belonging to Weizmannia coagulans. Among the isolated strains, BKMTCR2-2 demonstrated exceptional lactic acid production, with 96.41% optical purity, 2.33 g/l of lactic acid production, 1.44 g/g of lactic acid yield (per gram of glucose consumption), and 0.0049 g/l/h of lactic acid productivity. This strain also displayed a wide range of pH tolerance, suggesting suitability for the human gastrointestinal tract and potential probiotic applications. The whole-genome sequence of BKMTCR2-2 was assembled using a hybridization approach that combined long and short reads. The genomic analysis confirmed its identification as W. coagulans and safety assessments revealed its non-pathogenic attribute compared to type strains and commercial probiotic strains. Furthermore, this strain exhibited resilience to acidic and bile conditions, along with the presence of potential probiotic-related genes and metabolic capabilities. These findings suggest that BKMTCR2-2 holds promise as a safe and effective probiotic strain with significant lactic acid production capabilities.