• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국진공학회 2014년도 제46회 동계 정기학술대회 초록집
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• pp.318.2-318.2
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• 2014

The high contact resistance is still one of the major issues to be resolved in CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells. CdTe/Metal Schottky contact induced a high contact resistance in CdS/CdTe solar cells. It has been reported that the work function of CdTe thin film is more than 5.7 eV. There has not been a suitable back contact metal, because CdTe thin film has a high work function. In a few decades, some buffer layer was reported to improve a back contact problem. Buffer layers which are Te, $Sb_2Te_3$, $Cu_2Te$, ZnTe:Cu and so on was inserted between CdTe and metal electrode. A formed buffer layers made a tunnel junction. Hole carriers which was excited in CdTe film by light absorption was transported from CdTe to back metal electrode. In this report, we reported the variation of solar cell performance with different buffer layer at the back contact of CdTe thin film solar cell.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제12권5호
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• pp.849-853
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• 2002

Metal ions have an adverse effect on anaerobic digestion. In an acetate degradation test of upflow of anaerobic sludge blanket granules with $Cu^{2+}$, not all of the acetate that disappeared was stoichiometrically converted to methane. In the presence of 400 mg/g-VSS (volatile suspended solids) $Cu^{2+}$, only 26% of the acetate consumed was converted to methane. To study acetate conversion by other anaerobic microorganisms, sulfate and nitrate reductions were investigated in the presence of $Cu^{2+}$ Sulfate and nitrate reductions exhibited more resistance to $Cu^{2+}$than methanogenesis, and the granules reduced 2.2 mM and 5.4 mM of nitrate and sulfate, respectively, in the presence of 400 mg/g-VSS copper ion. However, the acetate degraded by sulfate and nitrate reductions was only 24% of the missing acetate that could have been stoichiometrically converted to $CO_2$. Accordingly, 76% of the acetate consumed appeared to have been converted to other unknown compounds.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• 제27권2호
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• pp.246-253
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• 2004

The prevalence, genotype for antibiotic resistance and antibiotic susceptibility of vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) were determined. And molecular typings of the Enterococcus faecium isolates were analyzed. Prevalence of VRE in chickens, healthy children and intensive care unit (ICU) patients was 41.6％,7.9％, and 20.4％, respectively. Forty out of 54 isolates from chicken intestines, and 9 out of 11 from ICU patients were identified as Enterococcus faecium. Eleven out of 13 isolates from non-hospitalized young children were E. gallinarium. Twelve strains of E. faecalis were isolated from chicken intestines. The gene for the antibiotic resistance in E. faecium, and E. faecalis was vanA, while that in E. gallinarium was vanC1. E. faecium isolates were resistant to most of antibiotics except ampicillin and gentamicin. Molecular typing of the E. faecium strains obtained by pulse field gel electrophoresis and repetitive sequence-based PCR suggest that VRE transmit horizontally from poultry to humans, especially young children, via the food chains in Korea.

• Animal cells and systems
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.1-8
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• 2011

Perturbation of metabolism with increased expression of lipogenic enzymes is a common characteristic of human cancers, including prostate cancer. In the present work the overexpression of stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) in LNCaP cells led to increased mRNA levels of fatty acid synthase (FAS) and acetyl-CoA-carboxylase-a, whereas micro RNA-mediated silencing of SCD inhibited the expression of these lipogenic genes in LNCaP cells. Treatment with the FAS-specific inhibitor cerulenin inhibited SCD induction of LNCaP cell proliferation. In addition, a transient transfection assay revealed the capability of cerulenin to suppress SCD and dihydrotestosterone induction of androgen receptor transcriptional activity. Furthermore, overexpression of SCD in LNCaP cells produced marked resistance to ceramide-induced cell death with reduced poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage. In contrast, silencing of SCD expression increased Bax protein in LNCaP cells. Furthermore, addition of ceramide to SCD knockdown LNCaP cells increased cell death and caspase-3 activity with drastic increase of PARP cleavage. Together, the data indicate that SCD may provide resistance of prostate cancer cells to ceramide-induced cell death.

• BMB Reports
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• 제55권7호
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• pp.342-347
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• 2022

Defense priming allows plants to enhance their immune responses to subsequent pathogen challenges. Recent reports suggested that acquired resistances in parental generation can be inherited into descendants. Although epigenetic mechanisms are plausible tools enabling the transmission of information or phenotypic traits induced by environmental cues across generations, the mechanism for the transgenerational inheritance of defense priming in plants has yet to be elucidated. With the initial aim to elucidate an epigenetic mechanism for the defense priming in plants, we reassessed the transgenerational inheritance of plant defense, however, could not observe any evidence supporting it. By using the same dipping method with previous reports, Arabidopsis was exposed repeatedly to Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato DC3000 (Pst DC3000) during vegetative or reproductive stages. Irrespective of the developmental stages of parental plants that received pathogen infection, the descendants did not exhibit primed resistance phenotypes, defense marker gene (PR1) expression, or elevated histone acetylation within PR1 chromatin. In assays using the pressure-infiltration method for infection, we obtained the same results as above. Thus, our results suggest that the previous observations on the transgenerational inheritance of defense priming in plants should be more extensively and carefully reassessed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제34권6호
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• pp.1276-1286
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• 2024

The environment has been identified as an origin, reservoir, and transmission route of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Among diverse environments, freshwater environments have been recognized as pivotal in the transmission of ARGs between opportunistic pathogens and autochthonous bacteria such as Aeromonas spp. In this study, five environmental strains of Aeromonas spp. exhibiting multidrug resistance (MDR) were selected for whole-genome sequencing to ascertain their taxonomic assignment at the species-level and to delineate their ARG repertoires. Analyses of their genomes revealed the presence of one protein almost identical to AhQnr (A. hydrophila Qnr protein) and four novel proteins similar to AhQnr. To scrutinize the classification and taxonomic distribution of these proteins, all Aeromonas genomes deposited in the NCBI RefSeq genome database (1,222 genomes) were investigated. This revealed that these Aeromonas Qnr (AQnr) proteins are conserved intrinsic resistance determinants of the genus, exhibiting species-specific diversity. Additionally, structure prediction and analysis of contribution to quinolone resistance by AQnr proteins of the isolates, confirmed their functionality as quinolone resistance determinants. Given the origin of mobile qnr genes from aquatic bacteria and the crucial role of Aeromonas spp. in ARG dissemination in aquatic environments, a thorough understanding and strict surveillance of AQnr families prior to the clinical emergence are imperative. In this study, using comparative genome analyses and functional characterization of AQnr proteins in the genus Aeromonas, novel Aeromonas ARGs requiring surveillance has suggested.

• 전기화학회지
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.49-56
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• 2014

탄소가 코팅된 일산화규소(C-coated SiO) 전극에서 전해질 첨가제로서 lithium bis(oxalato)borate(LiBOB)의 영향을 조사하였다. 전해질 조성은 1.3M $LiPF_6$/ethylene carbonate (EC), fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC), diethyl carbonate (DEC) (5:25:70 v/v/v)이며, 여기에 LiBOB을 0.5 wt.% 첨가한 것과 첨가하지 않은 2가지 전해질을 사용하였다. LiBOB을 첨가하지 않은 전해질에서 C-coated SiO 전극은 초기에 저항이 작은 피막이 형성되어 결정질의 $Li_{15}Si_4$를 형성할 때까지 합금화가 진행되며 동시에 큰 부피 변화를 보였다. 따라서 입자의 균열이 발생하고, 전극의 저항이 증가하여 충방전이 진행됨에 따라 용량이 빠르게 감소하였다. 반면에 LiBOB이 첨가된 전해질에서는 초기에 LiBOB의 환원분해에 의해 저항이 큰 피막이 형성되어, 합금화 반응이 원활히 진행되지 못하였다. 따라서 결정질 $Li_{15}Si_4$도 생성되지 못하였고, 결과적으로 부피변화도 적게 발생하므로 입자의 균열과 전극 저항의 증가도 적게 나타났다. 이러한 효과로 싸이클 후반부에서 용량감소가 적었고, 싸이클 성능도 좋은 결과를 보였다. 반면 피막 저항에 의한 영향이 줄어드는 $45^{\circ}C$ 에서는 LiBOB 첨가에 관계없이 합금화 반응이 유사하게 진행되며 비슷한 싸이클 성능을 나타내었다.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• 제44권3호
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• pp.208-219
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• 2017

Heterosis or hybrid vigor describes a phenomenon that superior phenotypes compared to the two parents are observed in the heterozygous $F_1$-hybrid plants. Identification and characterization of heterosis-related genes (HRGs) will facilitate hybrid breeding in crops. To identify HRGs in Brassica rapa, we analyzed transcriptome profiling using a Br300K microarray in non-heading Chinese cabbage at three developmental stages. A large number of genes were differentially expressed in $F_1$ hybrids and non-additive expression was prominent. Genes that are expressed specifically for $F_1$ hybrid at all three stages were Brassica-specific uncharacterized genes and several defense-related genes. Expression of several photosynthesis- and stress-related genes were also $F_1$ hybrid-specific. Thirteen NBS-LRR class genes showed high and specific expression in $F_1$ hybrid Shulu: some of them were characterized as defense genes in Arabidopsis, but most have not been. Further characterization of these defense-related genes in Brassica species and its application will be helpful for understanding the role of defense responses in heterosis. In addition, results obtained in this study will be valuable to develop molecular markers for heterosis and disease resistance in B. rapa.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제22권10호
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• pp.1324-1329
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• 2012

Phosphomannomutase (ManB) is involved in the biosynthesis of GDP-mannose, which is vital for numerous processes such as synthesis of carbohydrates, production of alginates and ascorbic acid, and post-translational modification of proteins. Here, we discovered that a deletion mutant of manB (BG101) in Streptomyces coelicolor (S. coelicolor) showed higher sensitivity to bacteriostatic chloramphenicol (CM) than the wild-type strain (M145), along with decreased production of CM metabolites. Deletion of manB also decreased the mRNA expression level of drug efflux pumps (i.e., cmlR1 and cmlR2) in S. coelicolor, resulting in increased sensitivity to CM. This is the first report on changes in antibiotic sensitivity to CM by deletion of one glycolysis-related enzyme in S. coelicolor, and the results suggest different approaches for studying the antibiotic-resistant mechanism and its regulation.

• Oncology Letters
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• 제41권1호
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• pp.711-717
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• 2019

In attempting to identify effective anticancer drugs from natural products that are harmless to humans, we found that the gomisin J from Schisandra chinensis fruit has anticancer activity. Schisandra chinensis fruits are used in traditional herbal medicine and gomisin J is one of their chemical constituents. In the present study, we examined the anticancer activity of gomisin J in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines and in MCF10A normal cell line, in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. Our data revealed that gomisin J exerted a much stronger cytotoxic effect on MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells than on MCF10A normal cells. Gomisin J suppressed the proliferation and decreased the viability of MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells at relatively low (<10 ㎍/ml) and high (>30 ㎍/ml) concentrations, respectively. Our data also revealed that gomisin J induced necroptosis, a programmed form of necrosis, as well as apoptosis. Notably, gomisin J predominantly induced necroptosis in MCF7 cells that are known to have high resistance to many pro-apoptotic anticancer drugs, while MDA-MB-231 exhibited a much lower level of necroptosis but instead a higher level of apoptosis. This data indicated the possibility that it may be used as a more effective anticancer drug, especially in apoptosis-resistant malignant cancer cells. In an extended study, gomisin J exhibited a strong cytotoxic effect on all tested various types of 13 cancer cell lines, indicating its potential to be used against a wide range of different types of cancer cells.