• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.3163-3172
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• 2010

In this work, a novel method to synthesis of an acrylic superabsorbent hydrogel was reported. In the two stage hydrogel synthesis, first copolymerization reaction of acrylonitrile (AN) and acrylamide (AM) monomers using ammonium persulfate (APS) as a free radical initiator was performed. In the second stage, the resulted copolymer was hydrolyzed to produce carboxamide and carboxylate groups followed by in situ crosslinking of the polyacrylonitrile chains. The results from FTIR spectroscopy and the dark red-yellow color change show that the copolymerization, alkaline hydrolysis and crosslinking reactions have been do take place. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) verifies that the synthesized hydrogels have a porous structure. The results of Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis showed that the average pore diameter of the synthesized hydrogel was 13.9 nm. The synthetic parameters affecting on swelling capacity of the hydrogel, such as AM/AN weight ratio and hydrolysis time and temperature, were systematically optimized to achieve maximum swelling capacity (330 g/g). The swollen gel strength of the synthesized hydrogels was evaluated via viscoelastic measurements. The results indicated that superabsorbent polymers with high water absorbency were accompanied by low gel strength. The swelling of superabsorbent hydrogels was also measured in various solutions with pH values ranging from 1 to 13. Also, the pH reversibility and on-off switching behavior makes the hydrogel as a good candidate for controlled delivery of bioactive agents. Finally, the swelling of synthesized hydrogels with various particle sizes obey second order kinetics.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.332-346
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• 2008

S-glutathionylation is a reversible post-translational modification that continues to gain eminence as a redox regulatory mechanism of protein activity and associated cellular functions. Many diverse cellular proteins such as transcription factors, adhesion molecules, enzymes, and cytokines are reported to undergo glutathionylation, although the functional impact has been less well characterized. De-glutathionylation is catalyzed specifically and efficiently by glutaredoxin (GRx, aka thioltransferase), and facile reversibility is critical in determining the physiological relevance of glutathionylation as a means of protein regulation. Thus, studies with cohesive themes addressing both the glutathionylation of proteins and the corresponding impact of GRx are especially useful in advancing understanding. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and redox regulation are well accepted as playing a role in inflammatory processes, such as leukostasis and the destruction of foreign particles by macrophages. We discuss in this review the current implications of GRx and/or glutathionylation in the inflammatory response and in diseases associated with chronic inflammation, namely diabetes, atherosclerosis, inflammatory lung disease, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease, and in viral infections.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.11
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• pp.959-965
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• 2015

Inducible and reversible gene silencing in desired types of cells is instrumental for deciphering gene functions using cultured cells or in vivo models. However, efficient conditional gene knockdown systems remain to be established. Here, we report the generation of an inducible expression system for short hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeted to PTEN, a well-documented dual-specificity phosphatase involved in tumor suppression and ontogenesis. Upon induction by doxycycline (DOX), the reverse tetracycline transcriptional activator (rtTA) switched on the concomitant expression of GFP and a miR-30 precursor, the subsequent processing of which released the embedded PTEN-targeted shRNA. The efficacy and reversibility of PTEN knockdown by this construct was validated in normal and neoplastic cells, in which PTEN deficiency resulted in accelerated cell proliferation, suppressed apoptosis, and increased invasiveness. Transgenic mice harboring the conditional shRNA-expression cassette were obtained; GFP expression and concurrent PTEN silencing were observed upon ectopic expression of rtTA and induction with Dox. Therefore, this study provides novel tools for the precise dissection of PTEN functions and the generation of PTEN loss of function models in specific subsets of cells during carcinogenesis and ontogenesis.

• Journal of the Korean Graphic Arts Communication Society
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2010

The physicochemical characteristics, adhesion power, and conservation of imported tapes repairing documents that consisted of adhesive, carrier, and masking were investigated. Materials related to pressure sensitive adhesive produced in domestic companies were examined also. And then, the performance evaluation of prototype manufactured in our laboratory was undertaken. Both the pressure sensitive tapes were compared. The polyacrylate of adhesive agents such as polyacrylate, starch, Glue, and PVA of imported tapes was best. The adhesion strength, power, reversibility, and stability (deterioration) of imported tapes were analyzed. By comparing results of imported tapes, two adhesive agents were selected finally. The carriers of imported tapes are made of one of papers, cotton sheets, and felts. Major carrier material was a paper. The jutes, conifers, and hardwoods were main ingredient of papers. The durability of Hangi($18{\pm}2g/m^2$) was one and half times superior to imported one.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.503-510
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• 2015

The iLOV protein belongs to a family of blue-light photoreceptor proteins containing a light-oxygen-voltage sensing domain with a noncovalently bound flavin mononucleotide (FMN) as its chromophore. Owing to advantages such as its small size, oxygen-independent nature, and pH stability, iLOV is an ideal candidate over other reporter fluorescent proteins such as GFP and DsRed. Here, for the first time, we describe the feasibility of applying LOV domain-based fluorescent iLOV as a metal sensor by measuring the fluorescence quenching of a protein with respect to the concentration of metal ions. In the present study, we demonstrated the inherent copper sensing property of the iLOV protein and identified the possible amino acids responsible for metal binding. The fluorescence quenching upon exposure to Cu²⁺ was highly sensitive and exhibited reversibility upon the addition of the metal chelator EDTA. The copper binding constant was found to be 4.72 ± 0.84 µM. In addition, Cu²⁺-bound iLOV showed high fluorescence quenching at near physiological pH. Further computational analysis yielded a better insight into understanding the possible amino acids responsible for Cu²⁺ binding with the iLOV protein.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.281-285
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• 2011

We investigated the effects of tunneling current on scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images of 1-octanethiol (OT) and 1-decanethiol (DT) self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). At a low tunneling current, the domain boundaries and ordered alkanethiol molecules were clearly resolved. As the tunneling current was increased at a constant bias voltage, however, the STM images showed disordered structures of the OT and DT SAMs. As the tunneling current was reduced back to low values, the ordered structures of the alkanethiol molecules reappeared. The reversibility of the process suggests that the sulfur head groups did not rearrange under any of the tunneling current conditions. On the basis of our observations, which are inconsistent with the standard model for STM imaging of molecules on metal surfaces, we consider the STM imaging mechanism in terms of a two-region tunneling junction model.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.1733-1737
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• 2009

A new cathode material based on Li$Ni_{0.8}Co_{0.15}Al_{0.05}O_2$ (LNCA)/polyaniline (Pani) composite was prepared by in situ self-stabilized dispersion polymerization in the presence of LNCA. The materials were characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Electrochemical properties including galvanostatic charge-discharge ability, cyclic voltammetry (CV), capacity, cycling performance, and AC impedance were measured. The synthesized LNCA/Pani had a similar particle size to LNCA and exhibited good electrochemical properties at a high C rate. Pani (the emeraldine salt form) interacts with metal-oxide particles to generate good connectivity. This material shows good reversibility for Li insertion in discharge cycles when used as the electrode of lithium ion batteries. Therefore, the Pani coating is beneficial for stabilizing the structure and reducing the resistance of the LNCA. In particular, the LNCA/Pani material has advantageous electrochemical properties.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.151-156
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• 2018

In this paper, an efficient reversible watermarking algorithm is proposed. By using the proposed algorithm, it is possible to increase the amount of copyright-related information to be embedded in cover image. Depending on the spatial locality and surface characteristics, it is possible to precisely predict the pixel value using neighboring pixels. If the predicted pixel value almost the same as the pixel value of the cover image, the differential value between the predicted pixel value and the pixel value of cover image is very small. So, the frequency is increased greatly at the peak point of histogram of difference sequence. Thus, it is possible to increase greatly the amount of secret data to be embedded in cover image. The experimental results show that the proposed watermarking algorithm is superior to the previous algorithms.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.163-167
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• 2011

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, $NAD^+$, and its reduced form, NADH, play important roles as coenzymes in many enzymatic reactions. Electrochemical methods for $NAD^+$ or NADH detection or generation are drawn attention because it can provide the simple and low cost platform with fairly good sensitivity. In this study, the polysiloxane viologen polymer/diaphorase/hydrophilic polyurethane (PSV/DI/HPU) modified electrodes were simply prepared and demonstrated for bio-electrocatalytic $NAD^+$ sensors. The electrodes were co-immobilized with diaphorase and polysiloxane viologen polymer as an electron mediator followed by the overcoating with HPU membrane. The mixture of the enzyme and the electron mediator was well stabilized within HPU membrane and exhibited good reversibility and stability. The sensitivity was 0.2 $nA{\cdot}{\mu}M^{-1}$ and the detection limit was 28 ${\mu}M$ with a response time of 50 s ($t_{90%}$). The capability for NADH sensor was also observed on the PSV/DI/HPU electrode.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.423-427
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• 2013

We present the preparation and characteristics of liquid-phase sensors based on nano-porous silicon multilayer structures for determination of organic content in gasoline. The principle of the sensor is a determination of the cavity-resonant wavelength shift caused by refractive index change of the nano-porous silicon multilayer cavity due to the interaction with liquids. We use the transfer matrix method (TMM) for the design and prediction of characteristics of microcavity sensors based on nano-porous silicon multilayer structures. The preparation process of the nano-porous silicon microcavity is based on electrochemical etching of single-crystal silicon substrates, which can exactly control the porosity and thickness of the porous silicon layers. The basic characteristics of sensors obtained by experimental measurements of the different liquids with known refractive indices are in good agreement with simulation calculations. The reversibility of liquid-phase sensors is confirmed by fast complete evaporation of organic solvents using a low vacuum pump. The nano-porous silicon microcavity sensors can be used to determine different kinds of organic fuel mixtures such as bio-fuel (E5), A92 added ethanol and methanol of different concentrations up to 15%.