• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.163-171
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• 2009

Subcritical crack growth is one of the main causes of time-dependent fracturing in rock. In the present study, we investigated subcritical crack growth in rock in distilled water (pH = 5.7) and in an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOHaq, pH = 12), comparing the results to those in air. We also investigated the effect of the pH in an aqueous environment. We used andesite and granite for all our tests. We determined the relationship between the crack velocity and the stress intensity factor using the double-torsion test under conditions of controlled temperature. We showed that crack velocities in water were higher than those in air, in agreement with other research results indicating that crack velocity increases in water. When we compared our results for NaOHaq with those for water, however, we found that the crack velocity at the same stress intensity factor did not change even though the pH of the surrounding environment was different. This result does not agree with the accepted understanding that hydroxide ions accelerate subcritical crack growth in rocks. We concluded that the pH at the crack tip influences subcritical crack growth, and not the bulk pH, which has little effect.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.109-113
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to investigate antioxidative and nitrite scavenging activities of extracts of Cordyceps militaris. Fruiting body and mycelia of artificially cultivated Cordyceps militaris were extracted with water and 70% ethanol. In Cordyceps militaris mycelia, electron donating ability (EDA) of water extract ranged from 37% to 47% and ethanol extract ranged from 57% to 70% at 300∼1,000 ppm. In Cordyceps militaris fruiting body, EDA of water extract and ethanol extract were similar, ranged from 19% to 48% at 300-1,000 ppm. Nitrite scavenging ability (NSA) of extracts measured at various pH (1.2, 3.0, 4.2, 6.0) was the highest at pH 1.2 and decreased with increasing pH, suggesting it is pH dependent. In Cordyceps militaris mycelia, NSA of water extract 1,000 ppm was 23% and that of ethanol extract 1,000 ppm was 37% at pH 17. In Cordyceps militaris fruiting body, NSA of water extract 1,000 ppd was 12% and that of ethanol extract 1,000 ppm was 37% at pH 1.2. EDA and NSA of Cordyceps milituis were higher in extract of mycelia than fruiting beds and higher in ethanol extract than water extract of each part.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.389-397
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• 2001

The effect of sludge digestion on the leaching efficiency of heavy metals from sludge by bioleaching with Thiobacillus thiooxidans MET was investigated. The used sludges were a non- and anaerobically digested. The leaching efficiency of heavy metals was strongly dependent on the pH of the sludge solution rather than the sludge condition and stolid concentration. The lower the pH the more heavy metal was leached from 3.0 of pH. The sequent orders of leaching heavy metals were Zn, Cu, and Cr. Although the buffering capacity of non-digested sludge was similar to anaerobically digested sludge, the pH decrease rate of the anaerobically digested sludge solution was faster than that of the non-digested sludge solution due to the higher sulfur oxidation rate of T. thiooxidans MET in the anaerobically digested sludge. The amount of leached heavy metals from the anaerobically digested sludge showed higher than that of non-digested sludge at the same pH value. This result might be caused by the difference of the insoluble metal types, which were contained in the sludge. An increase in sludge solids concentration decreased the leaching efficiency of heavy metals in the range of solids concentration 10 g/L to 70 g/L. The optimum ratio of S° to sludge stolid was 0.1 in both the sludge. The bioleaching process of heavy metals with T. thiooxidans MET showed the disinfecting effect over 90% as well as the reduction effect in sludge weight of 20%.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.62-69
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• 2005

Removal of 4-chlorophenol (4CP) by natural manganese dioxide (NMD) catalyzed reaction was investigated in this study. Tests were also carried out to evaluate the effects of pH and natural organic matter (NOM) on the degradative oxidation of 4CP. Experimental results proved that NMD was effective for the removal of 4CP. Extensive kinetic analysis suggests that overall oxidation of 4CP by NMD is second-order reaction, the first-order with respect to 4CP, and the first-order with respect to NMD, respectively. Also, 4CP oxidation rates on the Mn-oxide surfaces were highly dependent upon experimental conditions such as pH, initial concentration of 4CP or NMD, and existence of humic acid. As pH increased above PZC of NMD, the reaction rate of 4CP was decreased, due to the low affinity of 4CP on NMD at high pH. At pH lower than PZC of NMD, reaction rate of 4CP was also decreased. It was considered that humic acid was involved in the oxidative coupling reaction of 4CP by NMD, resulting in the enhanced degradation rate of 4CP. This study proved that natural manganese oxide can be effectively applied for the removal of chlorophenols in aqueous phase.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.506-512
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to improve release rate and bioavailability of nateglinide formulation. Polymorphism selection and particle size control were performed to enhance formulation dissolution rate, and a pH modifier was included in the formulation to overcome pH-dependent solubility of nateglinide. The enhanced dissolution rate was characterized by using a dissolution test. The results showed that H-type raw material had a higher dissolution rate than that of B-type raw material. There was 6.2% difference in dissolution between the two materials at 60 min. With regard to particle size, raw material with a $1.13{\mu}m$ particle size showed a 20% faster release rate than that of raw material with a $2.28{\mu}m$ particle size. Furthermore, fumaric acid was included in formulation as a pH modifier. That addition produced a greater than 50% improvement in dissolution rate. In conclusion, dissolution rate of nateglinide can be enhanced by optimizing its polymorphism and particle size; moreover, a synergistic effect on the enhancement of dissolution rate is obtained by including fumaric acid, a pH modifier, in the formulation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.663-669
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• 2008

The solvent-tolerant bacterium Enterobacter sp. VKGH12 is capable of utilizing n-butanol and contains an $NAD^+$-dependent n-butanol dehydrogenase (BDH). The BDH from n-butanol-grown Enterobacter sp. was purified from a cell-free extract (soluble fraction) to near homogeneity using a 3-step procedure. The BDH was purified 15.37-fold with a recovery of only 10.51, and the molecular mass estimated to be 38 kDa. The apparent Michaelis-Menten constant ($K_m$) for the BDH was found to be 4 mM with respect to n-butanol. The BDH also had a broad range of substrate specificity, including primary alcohols, secondary alcohols, and aromatic alcohols, and exhibited an optimal activity at pH 9.0 and $40^{\circ}C$. Among the metal ions studied, $Mg^{2+}$ and $Mn^{2+}$ had no effect, whereas $Cu^{2+},\;Zn^{2+}$, and $Fe^{2+}$ at 1 mM completely inhibited the BDH activity. The BDH activity was not inhibited by PMSF, suggesting that serine is not involved in the catalytic site. The known metal ion chelator EDTA had no effect on the BDH activity. Thus, in addition to its physiological significance, some features of the enzyme, such as its activity at an alkaline pH and broad range of substrate specificity, including primary and secondary alcohols, are attractive for application to the enzymatic conversion of alcohols.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.159-165
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• 2006

To determine the anticancer effect of D-amygdalin (D-mandelinitrole-${\beta}$-D-gentiobioside) in human chronic myeloid leukemia cells K562, we profiled the gene expression between amygdalin treatment and control groups. Through 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, the cytotoxicity of D-amygdalin was $57.79{\pm}1.83%$ at the concentration of 5 mg/mL for 24 h. We performed cDNA microarray analysis and compared the gene expression profiles between D-amygdalin (5 mg/mL, 24 h) treatment and control groups. Among the genes changed by D-amygdalin, we paid attention to cell cycle-related genes, and particularly cell cycle regulator genes; because arrest of cell cycle processing was ideal tactic in remedy for cancer. In our data, expressions of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1B (p27, Kip1) (CDKN1B), ataxia telangiectasia mutated (includes complementation groups A, C, and D) (ATM), cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1C (p57, Kip2) (CDKN1C), and CHK1 checkpoint homolog (CHEK1, formally known as CHK1) were increased, while expressions of cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), cell division cycle 25A (CDC25A), and cyclin E1 (CCNE1) were decreased. The pattern of these gene expressions were confirmed through RT-PCR. Our results showed that D-amygdalin might control cell cycle regulator genes and arrest S phase of cell cycle in K562 cells as the useful anticancer drug.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.2076-2086
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• 2016

Fungal cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes catalyze versatile monooxygenase reactions and play a major role in fungal adaptations owing to their essential roles in the production avoid metabolites critical for pathogenesis, detoxification of xenobiotics, and exploitation avoid substrates. Although fungal CYP-dependent biotransformation for the selective oxidation avoid organic compounds in yeast system is advantageous, it often suffers from a shortage avoid intracellular NADPH. In this study, we aimed to investigate the use of bacterial glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) for the intracellular electron regeneration of fungal CYP monooxygenase in a yeast reconstituted system. The benzoate hydroxylase FoCYP53A19 and its homologous redox partner FoCPR from Fusarium oxysporum were co-expressed with the BsGDH from Bacillus subtilis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae for heterologous expression and biotransformations. We attempted to optimize several bottlenecks concerning the efficiency of fungal CYP-mediated whole-cell-biotransformation to enhance the conversion. The catalytic performance of the intracellular NADPH regeneration system facilitated the hydroxylation of benzoic acid to 4-hydroxybenzoic acid with high conversion in the resting-cell reaction. The FoCYP53A19+FoCPR+BsGDH reconstituted system produced 0.47 mM 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (94% conversion) in the resting-cell biotransformations performed in 50 mM phosphate buffer (pH 6.0) containing 0.5 mM benzoic acid and 0.25% glucose for 24 h at $30^{\circ}C$. The "coupled-enzyme" system can certainly improve the overall performance of NADPH-dependent whole-cell biotransformations in a yeast system.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.775-781
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• 2002

The T-type amino acid transporter 1 (TATI) is a Na$^{+}$-independent amino acid transporter which selectively trans- ports aromatic amino acids subserving the amino acid transport system T. To understand the transport properties of aromatic amino acids by human TAT1 (hTATl ), we have examined the hTATl -mediated aromatic amino acid transports using a Xenopus laeuis oocyte expression system. When expressed in Xenopin laeuis oocytes, hTATl induced L- [$^{14}$ C]tryptophan transport which was not dependent on Na$^{+}$ or Cl$^{[-10]}$ in the medium. Uptake was time-dependent and exhibited a linear dependence on incubation time up to 30 min. The L- ($^{14}$ C)tryptophan uptake was highly inhibited by L-isomers of tryptophan, tyrosine and phenylalanine, whereas other L-amino acids did not inhibit hTATl -mediated L- ($^{14}$ C)tryptophan uptake. The hTATl induced the relatively low-affinity transport of aromatic amino acids such as L- ($^{14}$ C)tryptophan, L- ($^{14}$ C)tyrosine and L- ($^{14}$ C)phenylalanine (Km values: 450～750 $\mu$M), consistent with the properties of classical amino acid transport system T. The L- ($^{14}$ C)tryptophan uptake did not show any remarkable pH dependence within the pH range of 5.5 to 8.5. The time-dependent efflux of L- ($^{14}$ C)tryptophan was detected from the oocytes expressing hTATl, which was not affected by the presence or absence of L-tryptophan in the extracellular medium, indicating that hTATl-mediated transport is due to the facilitated diffusion. Expression of hTATl in Xenopu laevis oocytes induced the transport of tryptophan, tyrosine and phenylalanine, indicating that hTATl is a transporter subserving system T These results suggest that hTATl has essential roles in the absorption of aromatic amino acids from epithelial cells to the blood stream. Hecause hTATl is proposed to be crucial to the efficient absorption of aromatic amino acids from intestine and kidney, its defect such as blue diaper syndrome could be involved in the disruption of aromatic amino acid transport.ort.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.48-52
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• 2005

This study was investigated to determine the antimicrobial activity of ethanol extract of green tea, and of solvent fractionated ethanol extract on Escherichia coli O157:H7. MIC value of ethanol extracts and solvent fractionated ethanol extract (hexane, ethyl-acetate, chloroform and water) were $2000{\mu}g/ml,\;0,\;500{\mu}g/ml,\;2000{\mu}g/ml,\;1000{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. The antimicrobial activity of ethyl acetate fraction against E. coli O157 :H7 ranged from $250-2000{\mu}g/disk$. The antimicrobial activity was significantly increased as concentration dependent. When E. coli O157:H7 was pH-adjusted TSB containing $1000{\mu}g/ml$ ethyl acetate, E. coli O157:H7 was significantly inhibited at initial pH of 10, whereas the pathogen grew well in the presence of pH 4.5-pH 9. The inhibitory effect of the ethyl acetate fraction on the growth of E. coli O157 :H7 was investigated. Growth of both strain in the tested conditions were rapidly occurred up to 12 h, but no growth was occurred in the presence of $250-1000{\mu}g/mL$ of ethyl acetate fraction for 72 h.