• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.76 no.1
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• pp.33-40
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• 1987

Simulated acid rain (pH 4.0, pH 2.0) containing sulfuric and nitric acid in the ratio of 60:40 (chemical equivalent basis) diluted with underground water, and underground water (pH 6.5) as control were treated on potted Pines koraiensis seeds during the growing season (May 1 to August 31) in 1985. The regime of artificial acid rain, in terms of spray frequency and amount per plot, was simulated on the basis of climatological data averaged for 30 years of records. The seedling growth, contents of chemical substances in needles and chemical properties of the tested soil were compared among the various pH levels of acid rain on October 31, 1985. Following results were obtained. 1. With decreasing pH levels of acid rain, S and $K_2O$ contents in leaf tissue were increased, but MgO and $P_2O_5$ contents were decreased. 2. Soil pH was dropped, and exchangeable aluminum content in the tested soil was dramatically increased as the pH levels of acid rain decreased. 3. Exchangeable calcium, magnesium, potassium contents, and base saturation degree of the soil were significantly decreased with decreasing pH levels of acid rain. 4. Sulfate concentrations in the soil were significantly increased as rain pH decreased, but total nitrogen and available phosphate contents were not influenced by acid rain.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.348-358
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• 2008

Objective : The aim of this experimental study was to investigate the anti-diarrhea effects of Jisa-tang using mice and guinea pigs. Methods : We feed Jisa-tang to mice and guinea pigs to investigate its effects for anti-diarrhea action. We observed its actions on gastrointestinal smooth muscles, on the transportability of small and large intestines, on diarrhea induced by castor oil and magnesium sulfate, and on enteropooling by castor oil and prostaglandin $E_2(PGE_2)$. Results : 1. Jisa-tang showed alleviation, depending on the density, only on the contraction of mice's gastrointestinal smooth muscles induced by histamine. 2. The transportability of the small intestine was not significantly constrained by Jisa-tang. However, the enhancement of pyridostigmine-induced transportability of he small intestine was significantly constrained in the group administered 900mg/kg of Jisa-tang (p<0.05). 3. The transportability of large intestine was significantly constrained in the group administered 1,800mg/kg of Jisa-tang. 4. Jisa-tang showed significant anti-diarrhea effects on diarrhea induced by castor oil and by $MgSO_4$ in the group administered 1,800mg/kg of Jisa-tang. 5. Significant reduction of effects of enteropooling induced by caster oil and by prostaglandin $E_2$ were observed only in the group administered 1,800mg/kg of Jisa-tang. Conclusions : We conclude that Jisa-tang has advantageous effects on drug-induced diarrhea and will contribute to the development of diarrhea treatment through further related studies.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.33-36
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• 2000

A small-scale epidemiological survey was undertaken during 1997-1998 on the residents along the Osib-chon (Stream), Samchok-shi (City), Kangwon-do (Province), to evaluate the status of Metagonimus yokogawai infection. A total of 165 fecal samples was collected and examined by cellophane thick smear and formalin-ether sedimentation techniques. The egg Positive rate of M. yokogawai was 29.7%, showing a remarkable difference between males (46.6%) and females (16.3%). To obtain the adult flukes of M. yokogawai, 11 egg positive persons were treated with praziquantel and purged with magnesium sulfate. A total of 242,119 adult flukes (average 22,010 per person, 367 119,650 in range) was collected from diarrheic stools, all of which were identified as M. yokogawai. The results show that M. yokogawai is still highly endemic in this area.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.7-10
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• 2001

Nonactin is the parent compound of a group of ionophore antibiotics, that known as the macrotetrolides. In previous report, in th course of screening superoxide radical-generating compounds from microbial sources, we first screened Streptomyces viridochromogenes JM-4151 that produces nonactin. It was proved that nonactin is superoxide radical-producing compound. In present study, we examined the optimal culture conditions of nonacin. Th optimal culture conditions for nonactin production were as follows: 1% soluble starch, 1% yeast extract, 0.2% ammonium nitrate, 0.06% magnesium sulfate, 0.2% calcium carbonate, initial pH 7.0 at 28$^{\circ}C$ for 96 h. The highest nonactin production was achieved in the production medium of initial pH7.0 at 28$^{\circ}C$ for 96h. The threshold level of dissolved oxygen was found to be above 33.2% at 28$^{\circ}C$ when 1% soluble starch was used as a carbon source. These results suggest that S. viridochromogenes JM-4151 might be a possible strain for industrial nonactin producer.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.767-769
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• 2013

Opisthorchiasis, a risk factor for cholangiocarcinoma in humans, is of public health importance in Thailand. The Annual Surveillance Reports from Nan and Lampang Provinces, Thailand, for the year 2011 showed an opisthorchiasis prevalence of over 70% by recovery of eggs in the feces. This study investigated whether most cases are actually due to minute intestinal flukes (MIF) rather than Opisthorchis viverrini, as the eggs of both can hardly be differentiated by morphology. Fifty and 100 cases from residents in Nan and Lampang, respectively, had stools positive for eggs initially assumed to be those of O. viverrini. Each patient was given praziquantel at 40 mg/kg in a single dose. After 2 hr, 30-45 ml of the purgative magnesium sulfate was given, and stools were collected up to 4 times sequentially. The stools were examined for adult worms by simple sedimentation. It was found that 39 of 50 cases (78.0%) from Nan Province had Haplorchis taichui, with intensities ranging from 5 to 1,250 with an average of 62 worms/case. Taenia saginata (7 cases) and Enterobius vermicularis (1 case) were other helminths recovered as the co-infectants. In Lampang Province, H. taichui was recovered from 69 cases (69.0%). The number of flukes recovered ranged from 1 to 4,277, with an average of 326 worms/case. Four cases had Phaneropsolus bonnei, and 10 T. saginata as the co-infectants. Adult specimens of O. viverrini were not recovered from any stool. Clearly, MIF infection, especially haplorchiasis, is more common in northern Thailand. These findings should encourage the Public Health Office to employ more specific tools than Kato's method for surveillance of opisthorchiasis in Thailand.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.86-94
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• 1999

Alkaline peroxide bleaching of chemi-mechanical pulp is a very complicated system where various process factors affect the bleacing performance and pulp properties. Traditional onefactor-at a time method is ineffective and costly infinding the optimal bleaching conditions. In this study, statistical experimental design and multiple regression method wre used to investigated the interactions among various bleaching factors and to find out the possbile maximal brightness development during one stage alkaline peroxide bleacing of TMP. The TMP was made from 10% Korean red pine and 90% Korean spruce and had an initial brightness of 54.5% ISO. the TMP was pretreated with EDTA(0.5% on O.D. pulp, 3% pulp consistency, 30$^{\circ}C$ for 60 minutes) and bleached in a 2 L Mark V Quantum Reactor at 750 rmp, 7.5% of bleaching consistency and with 0.05% magnesium sulfate addition. The ranges of chemical factors studied , based on oven-ried pulp, were 1-5% for hydrogen peroxide, 1-4% for sodium hydroxide and 1-4% for sodium silicate. The rages of reaction temperature and time were 50-90$^{\circ}C$ and 40-180minutes respectively. Interactions of hydrogen peroxide with alkali , time with temperature ature, alkali with time and silicate with temperature were found to be significant which means that hydrogen peroxide bleaching will be favored at stable concentration of perhydroxyl ion, relatively short time and low temperature, and high level of silicate. Mathematical model which has good predictability for target brightness in one stage peroxide bleaching can also be established easily. Base ion the model, maximal brightness of 70% ISO was found to at 50$^{\circ}C$ and 50 minutes by chemical additions of 5% for hydrogen peroxide, 3.2-3.4% for sodium hydroxide and 4% for silicate based on O.D. pulp. However, this result might not be suitable for situation where furnishes are different from ours, or different pretreatment is used, or bleaching carried out at different pulp consistency. In these cases it will be good to re-investigate the process by a similar methodology as was used in this study.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.1096-1104
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• 2014

$\small{L}$-Asparaginase from gram-positive bacteria has been poorly explored. We conducted recombinant overexpression and purification of $\small{L}$-asparaginase from Staphylococcus sp. OJ82 (SoAsn) isolated from Korean fermented seafood to evaluate its biotechnological potential as an antileukemic agent. SoAsn was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) with an estimated molecular mass of 37.5 kDa, determined using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Consistent with asparaginases in gram-negative bacteria, size-exclusion chromatography determined SoAsn as a homodimer. Interestingly, the optimal temperature of SoAsn was $37^{\circ}C$ and over 90% of activity was retained between $37^{\circ}C$ and $50^{\circ}C$, and its thermal stability range was narrower than that of commercial E. coli $\small{L}$-asparaginase (EcAsn). Both SoAsn and EcAsn were active between pH 9 and 10, although their overall pH-dependent enzyme activities were slightly different. The $K_m$ value of SoAsn was 2.2 mM, which is higher than that of EcAsn. Among eight metals tested for enzyme activity, cobalt and magnesium greatly enhanced the SoAsn and EcAsn activity, respectively. Interestingly, SoAsn retained more than 60% of its activity under 2 M NaCl condition, but the activity of EcAsn was reduced to 48%. Overall, the biochemical characteristics of SoAsn were similar to those of EcAsn, but its kinetics, cofactor requirements, and NaCl tolerance differed from those of EcAsn.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.1517-1526
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• 2018

Investigating bacterial diversity and its metabolic capabilities is crucial for interpreting the ecological patterns in a desert environment and assessing the presence of exploitable microbial resources. In this study, we evaluated the spatial heterogeneity of physicochemical parameters, soil bacterial diversity and metabolic adaptation at meter scale. Soil samples were collected from two quadrats of a desert (Thar Desert, India) with a hot, arid climate, very little rainfall and extreme temperatures. Analysis of physico-chemical parameters and subsequent variance analysis (p-values < 0.05) revealed that sulfate, potassium and magnesium ions were the most variable between the quadrats. Microbial diversity of the two quadrats was studied using Illumina bar-coded sequencing by targeting V3-V4 regions of 16S rDNA. As for the results, 702504 high-quality sequence reads, assigned to 173 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at species level, were examined. The most abundant phyla in both quadrats were Actinobacteria (38.72%), Proteobacteria (32.94%), and Acidobacteria (9.24%). At genus level, Gaiella represented highest prevalence, followed by Streptomyces, Solirubrobacter, Aciditerrimonas, Geminicoccus, Geodermatophilus, Microvirga, and Rubrobacter. Between the quadrats, significant difference (p-values < 0.05) was found in the abundance of Aciditerrimonas, Geodermatophilus, Geminicoccus, Ilumatobacter, Marmoricola, Nakamurella, and Solirubrobacter. Metabolic functional mapping revealed diverse biological activities, and was significantly correlated with physicochemical parameters. The results revealed spatial variation of ions, microbial abundance and functional attributes in the studied quadrats, and patchy nature in local scale. Interestingly, abundance of the biotechnologically important phylum Actinobacteria, with large proposition of unclassified species in the desert, suggested that this arid environment is a promising site for bioprospection.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.158-163
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• 2011

Background: Although a brachial plexus block can be used to provide anesthesia and analgesia for upper extremity surgery, its effects using $MgSO_4$ on postoperative pain management have not been reported. The aim of this study was to evaluate brachial plexus block using $MgSO_4$ on postoperative analgesia. Methods: Thirty-eight patients who were scheduled to undergo upper extremity surgery were randomly allocated into two groups: patients receiving axillary brachial plexus block with 0.2% ropivacaine 20 ml and normal saline 2 ml (group S) or 0.2% ropivacaine 20 ml and $MgSO_4$ 200 mg (group M). Before extubation, the blocks were done and patient controlled analgesia was started, and then, the patients were transported to a postanesthetic care unit. The postoperative visual analogue scale (VAS), opioid consumption, and side effects were recorded. Results: The two groups were similar regarding the demographic variables and the duration of the surgery. No differences in VAS scores were observed between the two groups. There was no statistically significant difference in opioid consumption between the two groups. Nausea was observed in three patients for each group. Conclusions: Axillary brachial plexus block using $MgSO_4$ did not reduce the level of postoperative pain and opioid consumption.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.119-123
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• 1980

Culture conditions of yellow pigment in Monascus sp. were studied. According to the studies of culture conditions optimum condition was found to be pH 4.5, 3 days of incubation with 3% of sucrose as carbon source, 0.2 ％ of yeast extract as nitrogen source and 75m1 of medium in the 500m1 erlenmyer flask by rotary shaking (rpm 180) at 180 r.p.m. Effective levels of inorganic compounds were found to be 0.25 % of potassium phosphate monobasic and 0.1 ％ of Magnesium sulfate.