• BMB Reports
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• v.54 no.12
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• pp.614-619
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• 2021

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is a highly aggressive cancer. HBV X protein (HBx), one of four HBV gene products, plays pivotal roles in the development and metastasis of HCC. It has been reported that HBx induces liver cancer cell migration and reorganizes actin cytoskeleton, however the molecular basis for actin cytoskeleton reorganization remains obscure. In this study, we for the first time report that HBx promotes actin polymerization and liver cancer cell migration by regulating calcium modulated protein, calmodulin (CaM). HBx physically interacts with CaM to control the level of phosphorylated cofilin, an actin depolymerizing factor. Mechanistically, HBx interacts with CaM, liberates Hsp90 from its inhibitory partner CaM, and increases the activity of Hsp90, thus activating LIMK1/cofilin pathway. Interestingly, the interaction between HBx and CaM is calcium-dependent and requires the CaM binding motif on HBx. These results indicate that HBx modulates CaM which plays a regulatory role in Hsp90/LIMK1/cofilin pathway of actin reorganization, suggesting a new mechanism of HBV-induced HCC metastasis specifically derived by HBx.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.115-123
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• 2023

In this paper, we report and discuss the semi-permanently hydrophilic (SPH) treatment of polyester fabric using plasma polymerization and oxidation based on atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (APDBD) technology. SiO_xC_y(-H) was coated on polyester fabric using Hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane (HMCTSO) as a precursor, and then plasma oxidation was performed to change the upper layer of the thin film to SiO₂-like. The degradation of hydrophilicity of the SPH polyester fabrics was evaluated by water contact angle (WCA) and wicking time after repeated washing. The surface morphology of the coated yarns was observed with scanning electron microscopy, and the presence of the coating layer was confirmed by measuring the Si peak using energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. The WCA of the SPH polyester fabric increased to 50 degrees after 30 washes, but it was still hydrophilic compared to the untreated fabric. The decrease in hydrophilicity of the SPH fabric was due to peeling of the SiO_xC_y(-H) thin film coated on polyester yarns.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.299-309
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• 1999

The composite resin, due to its esthetic qualities, is considered the material of choice for restoration of anterior teeth. With respect to shade control, the direct-placement resin composites offer some distinct advantages over indirect restorative procedures. Visible-light-cured (VLC) composites allow dentists to match existing tooth shades or to create new shades and to evaluate them immediately at the time of restoration placement. Optimal intraoral color control can be achieved if optical changes occurring during application are minimized. An ideal VLC composite, then, would be one which is optically stable throughout the polymerization process. The shade guides of the resin composites are generally made of plastic, rather than the actual composite material, and do not accurately depict the true shade, translucency, or opacity of the resin composite after polymerization. So the numerous problems associated with these shade guides lead to varied and sometimes unpredictable results. The aim of this study was to assess the color changes of current resin composite restorative materials which occur as a result of the polymerization process and to compare the color differences between the shade guides provided with the products and the actual resin composites before- and after-polymerization. The results obtained from this investigation should provide the clinician with information which may aid in improved color match of esthetic restoration. Five light activated, resin-based materials (${\AE}$litefil, Amelogen Universal, Spectrum TPH VeridonFil-Photo, and Z100) and shade guides were used in this study. Three specimens of each material and shade combination were made. Each material was condensed inside a 1.5mm thick metal mold with 10mm diameter and pressed between glass plates. Each material was measured immediately before polymerization, and polymerized with Curing Light XL 3000 (3M Dental products, USA) visible light-activation unit for 60 seconds at each side. The specimens were then polished sequentially on wet sandpaper. Shade guides were ground with polishing stones and rubber points (Shofu) to a thickness of approximately 1.5mm. Color characteristics were performed with a spectrophotometer (CM-3500d, Minolta Co., LTD). A computer-controlled spectrophotometer was used to determine CIELAB coordinates ($L^*$, $a^*$ and $b^*$) of each specimen and shade guide. The CIELAB measurements made it possible to evaluate the amount of the color difference values (${\Delta}E{^*}ab$) of resin composites before the polymerization process and shade guides using the post-polishing color of the composite as a control, CIE standard D65 was used as the light source. The results were as follows. 1. Each of the resin composites evaluated showed significant color changes during light-curing process. All the resin composites evaluated except all the tested shades of 2100 showed unacceptable level of color changes (${\Delta}E{^*}ab$ greater than 3.3) between pre-polymerization and post-polishing state. 2. Color differences between most of the resin composites tested and their corresponding shade guides were acceptable but those between C2 shade of ${\AE}$litefil and IE shade of Amelogen Universal and their respective shade guides exceeded what is acceptable. 3. Comparison of the mean ${\Delta}E{^*}ab$ values of materials revealed that Z100 showed the least overall color change between pre-polymerization and post-polishing state followed by ${\AE}$litefil, VeridonFil-Photo, Spectrum TPH, and Amelogen Universal in the order of increasing change and Amelogen Universal. Spectrum TPH, 2100, VeridonFil-Photo and ${\AE}$litefil for the color differences between actual resin and shade guide. 4. In the clinical environment, the shade guide is the better choice than the shade of the actual resin before polymerization when matching colors. But, it is recommended that custom shade guides be made from resin material itself for better color matching.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.41 no.9
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• pp.663-669
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• 2004

Mullite and cordierite, which were stable oxides having excellent thermal and chemical characteristics, were widely used as an engineering and electronic materials. However, thermal shock resistance of the mullite was detriorated, and strength of the cordierite was also reduced at high temperatures. The mullite-cordierite composite powders were synthesized for solving these problems in this study. The mullite-cordierite composite powders were manufactured by the solution-polymerization method using mixtures of fused silica, aluminium nitrate, magnesium nitrate, and PVA. Crystallinity, phase formation, density, and surface area of the synthesis powders were characteristics. Fine mullite-cordlerite composite powders were successfully synthesized at 1300$^{\circ}C$ and their surface areas were about 20㎡/g after planetary milling for 1h. With increasing the milling time, surface area increased to 23 ㎡/g for 4h ana 24㎡/g for 8h.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.1076-1081
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• 2012

For the purpose of development of the latex suitable for latex modified concrete, experimental researches on the preparation of carboxylated styrene butadiene latex by the method of the two-step emulsion polymerization and application to concrete were performed. Sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate and sodium salt of lauryl sulfonate were selected as anionic emulsifiers, and nonylphenoxy poly(ethyleneoxy) ethanols (n=10, 20, 40) as latex stabilizer. Potassium persulfate and sodium bisulfite were used as redox initiator, besides $Na_2HPO_4$ and $K_2CO_3$ as electrolytes. Polymerization recipe of latex suitable for latex modified concrete were suggested from the experimental researches on the effects of anionic emulsifiers and their concentration on the polymerization stability, and the effect of electrolytes concentration on the particle size of latex. Physical properties, such as slump, air contents, compressive and flexural strength, of latex prepared by suggested polymerization recipe were examined. The experimental results showed that latex modified concrete satisfied the quality standards in slump and air contents. Furthermore, it was turned out that the compressive and the flexural strength of latex modified concrete with 28 days curing time showed appreciably improvements.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.603-608
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• 2005

The molded macroporous poly (glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) rods produced by a facile molding process were polymerized in situ within a tubular mold, chromatographic column ($4.6{\times}100mm$) by free radical polymerization. It was complemented by epoxy derivatized monolithic column and chemical modification of the epoxide groups with the sulphuric acid. By variation of the polymerization conditions, such as the ratio of the monomers, the porogen (pore generating material), and the temperature, the pore size could be varied, so the retention time of the samples may be adjusted. For the mixture of caffeine and tryptophan in the prepared monolithic column, the influences of polymerization material compositions to the efficiency, selectivity, and resolution of the monolithic column were investigated.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.346-352
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• 2015

Polyalphaolefin (PAO) is a synthetic lubricant that is superior to mineral-based lubricants in the terms of physical and chemical characteristics such as low pour point, high viscosity index (VI), and thermal and oxidation stability. Several kinds of PAOs have been synthesized by using 1-pentene, 1-hexene, 1-octene, or 1-dodecene as monomer with three kinds of aluminum-based Lewis acid catalysts via cationic polymerization. The control of the catalytic performance and physical properties of PAO such like molecular weight, kinematic viscosity, pour point, and viscosity index was done by changing polymerization parameters. The alkyl aluminum halide-based catalysts show better catalytic activity than that of the conventional $AlCl_3$ catalyst. The microstructure of PAO was investigated by means of TOF-MS (time of flightmass spectroscopy) analysis in order to elucidate the correlation between the performances of the lubricant (VI, pour point) and the molecular structure of PAO. The VI of PAO increases with increases in the carbon number of ${\alpha}$-olefin. In other words, the performances of PAO as a lubricant strongly depended on the branch length of PAO.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.606-612
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• 2013

Glycidol-poly(lactide) (Gly-PLA) were synthesized via L-lactide ring opening polymerization with glycidol as an initiator and $Al(O-i-Pr)_3$ catalyst. The structure of Gly-PLA was analyzed and successfully confirmed by 1H NMR. The OH group of glycidol in Gly-PLA was absent according to the $^1H$ NMR analysis, indicating that the terminal OH group of glycidol successfully served as an initiator in the L-lactide polymerization. The solution and bulk polymerizations of L-lactide with glycidol were performed to examine the effect of L-lactide/glycidol molar ratio, polymerization temperature and time on the molecular characteristics of Gly-PLA. The conversion and molecular weight increased with an increase in L-lactide/glycidol molar ratio. Gly-PLA showed the bimodal type DSC curve. The low $T_m$ peak of low molecular weight reduced but the high $T_m$ peak of high molecular weight increased as L-lactide/glycidol molar ratio increased.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.128-134
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• 1999

Steel tire cords were coated via RF plasma polymerization of acetylene and butadiene gas in order to enhance adhesion to rubber compounds. Adhesion of tire cords was measured by TCAT and T-test as a function of type of gas, plasma powder, treatment time, gas pressure and Ar gas etching. Some samples were subjected to aging study in distilled water at $80^{\circ}C$ for a period of 7 days. After testing, tire cords were analysed by SEM to elucidate the adhesion mechanism. The highest adhesion values were obtained at 20W, 2min and 25mtorr for acetylene plasma polymerization, and l0W, 4min, 25mtorr for butadiene plasma polymerization. However, Ar plasma etching did not affect adhesion, while the adhesion of tire cords increased rather than decreased, contrary to expectations. It was not possible to elucidate failure mode by SEM, owing to the rough surface of the tire and the thin plasma polymer coating layer.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.60-69
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• 2011

The various types of PBA/PMMA composite latexes were prepared by $2.1\;{\mu}m$ PBA seeded batch and seeded semi-continuous dispersion polymerization. The morphology of the PBA/PMMA composite latexes by seeded batch process was found to be closely dependant on the weight ratios of methanol/water in polymerization medium and of PBA seed/MMA at the second stage. In general, egg, snowman, confetti, peanut-like nonspherical composite latex particles were formed with increasing amount of water and MMA as a result of the occurrence of the phase separation between PBA seed and PMMA. The morphology of the PBA/PMMA composite latexes by seeded semi-continuous process was controlled by the addition time of MMA, especially, spherical shaped core(PBA)/shell(PMMA) composite latex particles were prepared under the monomer-starved condition at the second stage.