• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.688-695
• /
• 1999

Biodegradation of the reactive dye, Remazol Black B was investigated in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket(UASB) reactor. Important parameters studied include dye concentration(20-60 mg/L), glucose concentration as a co-substrate(1,000-3,000 mg/L), hydraulic retention time(3-24 hr), and influent pH(6.0-8.0). Under most conditions tested, the molecules of Black B were degraded readily and completely according to HPLC chromatograms. However, the color removal efficiency based on spectroscopic measurement was always approximately 75%. This suggests that the degradation products have some color intensity corresponding to 25% of the original dye molecules. The maximum influent dye concentration which satisfies the legal discharge limit of color intensity of 400 ADMI was 13 mg/L. and the highest removal rate at this dye concentration was 104 mg/L${\cdot}$day.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.25 no.11
• /
• pp.1255-1264
• /
• 2015

Cnidium officinale, a traditional herb, has diverse beneficial pharmacological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, and antiangiogenesis effects. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of apoptosis by C. officinale are poorly defined. The present study investigated the proapoptotic effects of water, ethanol, and methanol extract of C. officinale (WECO, EECO, and MECO, respectively) in human leukemia U937 cells. The antiproliferative activity of EECO was higher than that of WECO and MECO. The antiproliferative effect of EECO treatment in U937 cells was associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death, including increased populations of annexin-V positive cells, the formation of apoptotic bodies, DNA fragmentation, and increased numbers of cells with a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP, Δψm). EECO-induced apoptotic cell death was associated with upregulation of death receptor 4 (DR4) and down-regulation of cellular inhibitor of apoptosis protein-1 (cIAP-1), Bcl-2, and total Bid. The EECO treatment also induced the proteolytic activation of caspases (-3, -8, and -9), and degradation of caspase-3 substrate proteins, such as poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), β-catenin, and phospholipase C-γ1 (PLCγ1). In addition, the EECO treatment effectively activated the adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathway. However, compound C, a specific inhibitor of AMPK, significantly reduced EECO-induced apoptosis. These results indicate that AMPK is a key regulator of apoptosis in response to EECO in human leukemia U937 cells.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.21 no.8
• /
• pp.1109-1119
• /
• 2011

In the present study, the pro-apoptotic effects of methanol extract of Prunus mume fruits (MEPM) in human leukemia U937 cells were investigated. It was found that exposure to MEPM resulted in growth inhibition in a concentration-dependent manner by inducing apoptosis. The induction of apoptotic cell death in U937 cells by MEPM was correlated with a down-regulation of inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family, such as X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) and survivin, anti-apoptotic Bcl-2, up-regulation of FasL and cleavage of Bid. MEPM treatment also induced the proteolytic activation of caspase-3, caspase-8 and caspase-9, and degradation of caspase-3 substrate proteins, such as poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and ${\beta}$-catenin. In addition, apoptotic cell death induced by MEPM was significantly inhibited by z-DEVD-fmk, a caspase-3 specific inhibitor, which demonstrates the important role of caspase-3 in the apoptotic process by MEPM in U937 cells. Taken together, these findings suggest that P. mume extracts may be a potential chemotherapeutic agent for the control of human leukemia cells and further studies will be needed to identify the active compounds.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.9
• /
• pp.3723-3727
• /
• 2015

The p53 tumor suppressor protein is a principal mediator of growth arrest, senescence, and apoptosis in response to a broad array of cellular damage. p53 is a substrate for the ubiquitin-proteasome system, however, the ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (E2s) involved in p53 ubiquitination have not been well studied. UBE2Q1 is a novel E2 ubiquitin conjugating enzyme gene. Here, we investigated the effect of UBE2Q1 overexpression on the level of p53 in the MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cell line as well as the interaction between UBE2Q1 and p53. By using a lipofection method, the p53 mutated breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-468, was transfected with the vector pCMV6-AN-GFP, containing UBE2Q1 ORF. Western blot analysis was employed to verify the overexpression of UBE2Q1 in MDA-MB-468 cells and to evaluate the expression level of p53 before and after cell transfection. Immunoprecipitation and GST pull-down protocols were used to investigate the binding of UBE2Q1 to p53. We established MDA-MB-468 cells that transiently expressed a GFP fusion proteins containing UBE2Q1 (GFP-UBE2Q1). Western blot analysis revealed that levels of p53 were markedly lower in UBE2Q1 transfected MDA-MB-468 cells as compared with control MDA-MB-468 cells. Both in vivo and in vitro data showed that UBE2Q1 co-precipitated with p53 protein. Our data for the first time showed that overexpression of UBE2Q1can lead to the repression of p53 in MDA-MB-468 cells. This repression of p53 may be due to its UBE2Q1 mediated ubiquitination and subsequent proteasome degradation, a process that may involve direct interaction of UBE2Q1with p53.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.127-136
• /
• 1990

In this paper, the experimental study was carried out for the removal of olive oil in wastewater by the use of Biological Fluidized Bed(BFB) with the reticulated polypropylene sheets as media. The nonbiodegradable olive oil, one of the animal and vegitable oil, was used bacause of the relative simplicity of constitution. Biological degraciability and removal characteristics of emulsified olive oil were studied by batch and continuous experiments respectively. From the results of batch experiments, it was observed that the emulsified olive oli used in BFB reactor was absorbed by media and sludge in about 12 hours, and degradation of the absorbed olive oli was mostly completed for 24 hours. The functional relationship of Michaelis-Menten's Enzyme reaction equation exists between oil concentration and maximum specific rate of olive oil. From the continuous experiments for the removal of olive oil using BFB reactor, it was proved that the substrate removal rate coefficient $k=0.004d^{-1}$, which is the first order kinetics. It was apperared that oxygen utlization coefficients for synthesis(a') and endogeneous respiration(b') of microorganisms in the reactor are respectively 0.85mg $O_2/mg$ $COD_{cr}$ and 0.011mg $O_2/mg$ BVS. day.

• Herbal Formula Science
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.51-68
• /
• 2017

Objectives : Oxidative stress due to excessive accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is one of the risk factors for the development of several chronic diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases. Methods : In the present study, we investigated the protective effects of cheongnoemyeongsin-hwan (CNMSH) against oxidative stress‑induced cellular damage and elucidated the underlying mechanisms in neuronal-derived SH-SY5Y cells. Results : Our results revealed that treatment with CNMSH prior to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) exposure significantly increased the SH-SY5Y cell viability, indicating that the exposure of the SH-SY5Y cells to CNMSH conferred a protective effect against oxidative stress. CNMSH also effectively attenuated H2O2‑induced comet tail formation, and decreased the phosphorylation levels of the histone ${\gamma}H2AX$, as well as the number of apoptotic bodies and Annexin V‑positive cells. In addition, CNMSH exhibited scavenging activity against intracellular ROS generation and restored the mitochondria membrane potential (MMP) loss that were induced by H2O2, suggesting that CNMSH prevents H2O2‑induced DNA damage and cell apoptosis. Moreover, H2O2 enhanced the cleavage of caspase-3 and degradation of poly (ADP-ribose)-polymerase, a typical substrate protein of activated caspase-3, as well as DNA fragmentation; however, these events were almost totally reversed by pretreatment with CNMSH. Furthermore, CNMSH increased the levels of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), which is a potent antioxidant enzyme, associated with the induction of nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2). According to our data, CNMSH is able to protect SH-SY5Y cells from H2O2-induced apoptosis throughout blocking cellular damage related to oxidative stress through a mechanism that would affect ROS elimination and activating Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway. Conclusions : Therefore, we believed that CNMSH may potentially serve as an agent for the treatment and prevention of neurodegenerative diseases caused by oxidative stress.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2010.08a
• /
• pp.176-176
• /
• 2010

One of the critical issues for applications of flexible organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) for flexible electronic systems is the electrical stabilities of the OTFT devices, including variation of the current on/off ratio (Ion/Ioff), leakage current, threshold voltage, and hysteresis under repetitive mechanical deformation. In particular, repetitive mechanical deformation accelerates the degradation of device performance at the ambient environment. In this work, electrical stability of the pentacene organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) employing multi-stack hybrid encapsulation layers was investigated under mechanical cyclic bending. Flexible bottom-gated pentacene-based OTFTs fabricated on flexible polyimide substrate with poly-4-vinyl phenol (PVP) dielectric as a gate dielectric were encapsulated by the plasma-deposited organic layer and atomic-layer-deposited inorganic layer. For cyclic bending experiment of flexible OTFTs, the devices were cyclically bent up to 105 times with 5mm bending radius. In the most of the devices after 105 times of bending cycles, the off-current of the OTFT with no encapsulation layers was quickly increased due to increases in the conductivity of the pentacene caused by doping effects from $O_2$ and $H_2O$ in the atmosphere, which leads to decrease in the Ion/Ioff and increase in the hysteresis. With encapsulation layers, however, the electrical stabilities of the OTFTs were improved significantly. In particular, the OTFTs with multi-stack hybrid encapsulation layer showed the best electrical stabilities up to the bending cycles of $10^5$ times compared to the devices with single organic encapsulation layer. Changes in electrical properties of cyclically bent OTFTs with encapsulation layers will be discussed in detail.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2014.02a
• /
• pp.293-293
• /
• 2014

Over last decade InGaN alloy structures have become the one of the most promising materials among the numerous compound semiconductors for high efficiency light sources because of their direct band-gap and a wide spectral region (ultraviolet to infrared). The primary cause for the high quantum efficiency of the InGaN alloy in spite of high threading dislocation density caused by lattice misfit between GaN and sapphire substrate and severe built-in electric field of a few MV/cm due to the spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations is generally known as the strong exciton localization trapped by lattice-parameter-scale In-N clusters in the random InGaN alloy. Nonetheless, violet-emitting (390 nm) conventional low-In-content InGaN/GaN multi-quantum wells (MQWs) show the degradation in internal quantum efficiency compared to blue-emitting (450 nm) MQWs owing higher In-content due to the less localization of carrier and the smaller band offset. We expected that an improvement of internal quantum efficiency in the violet region can be achieved by replacing the conventional low-In-content InGaN/GaN MQWs with ultra-thin, high-In-content (UTHI) InGaN/GaN MQWs because of better localization of carriers and smaller quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE). We successfully obtain the UTHI InGaN/GaN MQWs grown via employing the GI technique by using the metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. In this work, 1 the optical and structural properties of the violet-light-emitting UTHI InGaN/GaN MQWs grown by employing the GI technique in comparison with conventional low-In-content InGaN/GaN MQWs were investigated. Stronger localization of carriers and smaller QCSE were observed in UTHI MQWs as a result of enlarged potential fluctuation and thinner QW thickness compared to those in conventional low-In-content MQWs. We hope that these strong carrier localization and reduced QCSE can turn the UTHI InGaN/GaN MQWs into an attractive candidate for high efficient violet emitter. Detailed structural and optical characteristics of UTHI InGaN/GaN MQWs compared to the conventional InGaN/GaN MQWs will be given.

• Polymer(Korea)
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.135-142
• /
• 2004

Poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) prepared by emulsion polymerization has broad applications for additives such as paint binder, adhesive for wood and paper due to its low glass transition temperature which help to plasticize substrate resins. Since emulsion polymerization has a disadvantage that surfactant and ionic initiator degrade properties of the product polymer, poly(vinyl acetate-co-butyl acrylate) (VVc-BA) was synthesized using potassium persulfate as catalyst and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as protective colloid to prevent the degradation. The copolymer latex product was internally plasticized and has enhanced colloid stability, adhesion, tensile strength and elongation. During VAc-BA emulsion polymerization, no coagulation and complete conversion occur with the reactant mixture of 0.7wt% potassium persulfate, 15wt% poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA-217), and the balanced monomer that the weight ratio of vinyl acetate to butyl acrylate is 19. As the concentrations of PVA increase, the copolymerization becomes faster and polymer particles are more stable, resulting in enhanced mechanical stability of the VAc-BA copolymer. However, the size of the polymer particles decreases with increasing PVA contents. Properties of the VAc-BA copolymer, such as minimum film formation temperature, glass transition temperature, surface morphology, molecular weight and molecular weight distribution, tensile strength and elongation, were characterized using differential scanning calorimeter, transmission electron microscope and other instruments.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.2037-2042
• /
• 2013

A TCO-less palladium (Pd) catalytic layer on the glass substrate was assessed as the counter electrode (CE) in a dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) to confirm the stability of Pd with the $I^-/I_3{^-}$electrolyte on the DSSC performance. A 90nm-thick Pd film was deposited by a thermal evaporator. Finally, DSSC devices of $0.45cm^2$ with glass/FTO/blocking layer/$TiO_2$/dye/electrolyte(10 mM LiI + 1 mM $I_2$ + 0.1 M $LiClO_4$ in acetonitrile solution)/Pd/glass structure was prepared. We investigated the microstructure and photovoltaic property at 1 and 12 hours after the sample preparation. The optical microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), cyclic voltammetry measurement (C-V), and current voltage (I-V) were employed to measure the microstructure and photovoltaic property evolution. Microstructure analysis showed that the corrosion by reaction between the Pd layer and the electrolyte occurred as time went by, which led the decrease of the catalytic activity and the efficiency. I-V result revealed that the energy conversion efficiency after 1 and 12 hours was 0.34% and 0.15%, respectively. Our results implied that we might employ the other non-$I^-/I_3{^-}$electrolyte or the other catalytic metal layers to guarantee the long term stability of the DSSC devices.