• BMB Reports
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.422-428
• /
• 2004

Raw-starch-digesting $\alpha$-amylase (Amyl III) was purified to an electrophoretically pure state from the extract of a koji culture of Aspergillus awamori KT-11 using wheat bran in the medium. The purified Amyl III digested not only soluble starch but also raw corn starch. The major products from the raw starch using Amyl III were maltotriose and maltose, although a small amount of glucose was produced. Amyl III acted on all raw starch granules that it has been tested on. However, it was considered that the action mode of the Amyl III on starch granules was different from that of glucoamylase judging from the observation of granules under a scanning electron microscope before and after enzyme reaction, and also from the reaction products. Glucoamylase (GA I) was also isolated and it was purified to an electrophoretically pure state from the extract. It was found that the electron micrographic features of the granules after treatment with the enzymes were quite different. A synergistic effect of Amyl III and GA I was observed for the digestion of raw starch granules.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.12 no.5
• /
• pp.501-521
• /
• 2013

This paper is concerned with static and dynamic shape control of a laminated Bernoulli-Euler beam hosting a uniformly distributed array of resistively interconnected piezoelectric patches. We present an analytical one-dimensional model for a laminated piezoelectric beam with material discontinuities within the framework of Bernoulli-Euler and extent the model by a network of resistors which are connected to several piezoelectric patch actuators. The voltage of only one piezoelectric patch is prescribed: we answer the question how to design the interconnected resistive electric network in order to annihilate lateral vibrations of a cantilever. As a practical example, a cantilever with eight patch actuators under the influence of a tip-force is studied. It is found that the deflection at eight arbitrary points along the beam axis may be controlled independently, if the local action of the piezoelectric patches is equal in magnitude, but opposite in sign, to the external load. This is achieved by the proper design of the resistive network and a suitable choice of the input voltage signal. The validity of our method is exact in the static case for a Bernoulli-Euler beam, but it also gives satisfactory results at higher frequencies and for transient excitations. As long as a certain non-dimensional parameter, involving the number of the piezoelectric patches, the sum of the resistances in the electric network and the excitation frequency, is small, the proposed shape control method is approximately fulfilled for dynamic load excitations. We evaluate the feasibility of the proposed shape control method with a more refined model, by comparing the results of our one-dimensional calculations based on the extended Bernoulli-Euler equations to three-dimensional electromechanically coupled finite element results in ANSYS 12.0. The results with the simple Bernoulli-Euler model agree well with the three-dimensional finite element results.

• Journal of IKEEE
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.305-312
• /
• 2011

A primary interest of this work is to develop an efficient and powerful repetitive pulser system for the application of ultra wide band generation. The important component of the pulser system is a small-sized coaxial type spark gap with planar electrodes filled with SF6 gas. A repetitive switching action by the coaxial spark gap generates two consecutive pulses in less than a microsecond with rise times of a few hundred picoseconds (ps). A set of several parameters for the repetitive switching of the spark gap is required to be optimized in charging and discharging systems of the pulser. The parameters in the charging system include a circuit scheme, circuit elements, the applied voltage and current ratings from power supplies. The parameters in the discharging system include the spark gap geometry, electrode gap distance, gas type, gas pressure and the load. The characteristics of the spark gap discharge, such as breakdown voltage, output current pulse and recovery rate are too dynamic to control by switching continuously at a high pulse repetition rate (PRR). This leads to a low charging efficiency of the spark gap system. The breakthrough of the low charging efficiency is achieved by a parallel operation of two spark gaps system. The operational behavior of the two spark gaps system is presented in this paper. The work has focused on improvement of the charging efficiency by scaling the PRR of each spark gap in the two spark gaps system.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.33-38
• /
• 2009

Recently most of A/V devices are being adopted hi-tech of A VRCP and changed to mobile environment. AVRCP is designed to provide a standard interface to control A/V devices, hi-fi equipment, or others to allow a single remote control or other device to control all the A/V equipment to which a user has access. It may be used in concert with A2DP or VDP. The AVRCP defines two roles, that of a controller and target device. In AVRCP, the controller translates the detected user action to the A/V control signal, and then transmits it to a remote Bluetooth enabled device. It can be small and mixed mobile devices using bluetooth technologies. The functions available for a conventional infrared remote controller can be realized in this protocol. The remote control described in this protocol is designed specifically for A/V control only. We designed new DSP using Adaptive Acoustic Echo Canceller for bluetooth hands free based this AVRCP standard specifications.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
• /
• v.47 no.2
• /
• pp.361-373
• /
• 2020

Integrins such as lymphocyte function-associated antigen -1 (LFA-1) have an essential role in T cell immunity. Integrin activation, namely, the transition from the inactive conformation to the active one, takes place when an intracellular signal is generated by specific receptors such as T cell receptors (TCRs) and chemokine receptors in T cells. In an effort to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying the TCR-mediated LFA-1 activation, we had previously established a high-throughput cell-based assay and screened a chemical library deposited in the National Institute of Health in the United States. As a result, several hits had been isolated including HIKS-1 (Benzo[b]thiophene-3-carboxylic acid, 2-[3-[(2-carboxyphenyl) thio]-2,5-dioxo-1-pyrrolinyl]-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-,3-ethyl ester). In an attempt to reveal the mode of action of HIKS-1, in this study, we did drug affinity responsive target stability (DARTS) assay finding that HIKS-1 interacted with the IQ motif containing GTPase activating protein 1 (IQGAP1), a 189 kDa multidomain scaffold protein critically involved in various signaling mechanisms. Furthermore, the cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA) provided compelling evidence that HIKS-1 also interacted with IQGAP1 in vivo. Taken together, it can be concluded that HIKS-1 interferes with the TCR-mediated LFA-1 activation by interacting with IQGAP1 and thereby disrupting the signaling pathway for LFA-1 activation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.97-106
• /
• 1970

Radiation accidents which occured in the A.E.R.I. during last ten years are described (table 1). It seemed to the authors that some of these accidents were considered to be hazardous to man body and associated installations. This report deals with the following four major accidents involving body contamination incidents that our health physicists have been experienced. 1. Over-exposures (up to 130 rem) to the total body due to the mismanipulation in the Cobalt-60 gamma irradiation facility. 2. Floor surface contamination (up to 13 mrad/hr) and its spread out due to the mishandling of radioiodine contained in the bottle. 3. Body surface contamination and 0.36 uCi radioactivity accumulated in the thyroid gland of a worker due to the inhalation of gaseous iodine-131. 4. A void capsule due to the leakage out of the radium therapeutic source (3mg\ulcorner) These accidents were treated by definitely prompt action to protect the workers and associated installations from any radiation hazards and every possible efforts were made to confine the spread of radioactive contamination as small area as possible by means of elaborate decontamination work and monitoring.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.1-12
• /
• 1993

The Preventive effect of the saponin fraction of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer against hyperchole- sterolemia was demonstrated by assaying the cholesterol and triacylglyceride level of the blood serum and liver of rats fed high-cholesterol diet with and/or without ginsenoside. To understand the mechanism of the preventive action of ginsenoside, ginsenoside effect on LDL receptor binding ability, cholesterol level, and cAMP level of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells cultured under various conditions were examined. When LDL (20 $\mu$g/ml) was added to the culture medium for CHO cell culture, LDL receptor binding activity of the cell was suppressed down to 58% of that of normal group. Ginsenosides at 10--2% and 10-3% level (w/v) were shown to exert an appreciable stimulatory effect on CHO cell LDL receptor activity, which partially overcame the suppression due to the presence of LDL (20 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml) in the medium. Ginsenosides also reduced the increased cholesterol level of test group almost to that of normal group, and it increased cAMP level, which was usually reduced to 55% of that of the normal group due to the presence of LDL in the medium. Comparison of Kd and Bmax value of CHO cells cultured under different conditions revealed that this stimulation was due not to the receptor's binding affinity but to its number. Addition of ginsenoside (10-2%) decreased the uptake of taurocholic acid as much as 20% at the actively transporting everted ileal sacs, but it failed to form a large mixed micelles with taurocholic acid, which was one of the proposed mechanisms by which ginsenoside inhibits bile acid reabsorption. From the above results, it seemed likely that ginsenoside prevented hypercholestrolemia by decreasing cholesterol level in cells thereby relieving the inhibition of LDL receptor synthesis by cholesterol and also by inhibiting bile acid reabsorption from the small intestine.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.37 no.11
• /
• pp.795-803
• /
• 2014

To withstand ever-changing environmental stresses, plants are equipped with phytohormone-mediated stress resistance mechanisms. Salt stress triggers abscisic acid (ABA) signaling, which enhances stress tolerance at the expense of growth. ABA is thought to inhibit the action of growth-promoting hormones, including brassinosteroids (BRs). However, the regulatory mechanisms that coordinate ABA and BR activity remain to be discovered. We noticed that ABA-treated seedlings exhibited small, round leaves and short roots, a phenotype that is characteristic of the BR signaling mutant, brassinosteroid insensitive1-9 (bri1-9). To identify genes that are antagonistically regulated by ABA and BRs, we examined published Arabidopsis microarray data sets. Of the list of genes identified, those upregulated by ABA but downregulated by BRs were enriched with a BRRE motif in their promoter sequences. After validating the microarray data using quantitative RT-PCR, we focused on RD26, which is induced by salt stress. Histochemical analysis of transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing RD26pro:GUS revealed that the induction of GUS expression after NaCl treatment was suppressed by co-treatment with BRs, but enhanced by co-treatment with propiconazole, a BR biosynthetic inhibitor. Similarly, treatment with bikinin, an inhibitor of BIN2 kinase, not only inhibited RD26 expression, but also reduced the survival rate of the plant following exposure to salt stress. Our results suggest that ABA and BRs act antagonistically on their target genes at or after the BIN2 step in BR signaling pathways, and suggest a mechanism by which plants fine-tune their growth, particularly when stress responses and growth compete for resources.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.51-56
• /
• 2013

From the time the product is manufactured until it is carried and ultimately used, the product is subjected to some form of handling and transportations. During this process, the product can be subjected to many potential hazards. One of them is the damage caused by shocks. In order to design a product-package system to protect the product, the peak acceleration or G force to the product that causes damage needs to be determined. When a corrugated fiberboard box loaded with products is dropped onto the ground, part of the energy acquired due to the action of the gravitational acceleration during the free fall is dissipated in the product and the package in various ways. The shock absorbing characteristics of the packaging cushion materials are presented as a family of cushion curves in which curves showing peak accelerations during impacts for a range of static loads are shown for several drop heights. The new method for determining the shock absorbing characteristics of cushioning materials for protective packaging has been described and demonstrated. It has been shown that cushion curves can be produced by combining the static compression and impact characteristics of the material. The dynamic factor was determined by the iterative least mean squares (ILMS) optimization technique in which the discrepancies between peak acceleration data predicted from the theoretical model and obtained from the impact tests are minimized. The approach enabled an efficient determination of cushion curves from a small number of experimental impact data.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.49-63
• /
• 2020

Municipal governments today are facing increasingly complex issues while resources continue to be constraint but the service quality expectation from citizen is more demanding. They must develop and implement tools that help manage operations more efficiently. While Lean Six Sigma principle and tools have been widely applied to profit organizations, the extant literature has not provided many cases of such application to local governments. This research presents a case study of applying Lean Six Sigma approaches and tools to a municipal government of a small town in USA to improve process efficiency, quality performance, and citizen satisfaction. In this case study, DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Implement, and Control) is used as a tool to define current issues, develop, and measure performance metrics, and recommend action plans. The result of this case study shows that applying the principles and tools of Lean Six Sigma provides an excellent way to improve the process efficiency and quality of providing public work services at a local government.