• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.464-472
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• 1996

The mechanism of thin-film formation by Ionized Cluster Beam Deposition(ICBD) was investigated. A simulation program based on the Monte-Carlo method was developed in order to investigate the effects of the acceleration voltage, substrate temperature, activation energy for the surface migration, and critical nuclei size on grain size and surface roughness. Studies of the effect of kinetic energy of clusters on the film formation processes revealed that high acceleration voltage enhanced the surface-migration of adatoms and made it easier for an epitaxial film to be formed. The relaxation time of kinetic energy of adatoms increased with the substrate temperature, which in turn increased the grain size of the crystalline film. This effect was more clearly distinguished when the critical nuclei size was large. The surface-migration activation energy was found to affect the interaction between the adatoms and the substrate and thus the relaxation time of kinetic energy. Investigations of the surface roughness revealed that the acceleration voltage, the substrate temperature, and the surface-migration activation energy exerted a collective effect on the morphology of the film surface.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.322-329
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• 2007

The interaction of oxygen with the ordered $Ni_3Al(111)$ alloy surface at 800 K and 1000 K has been investigated using LEED, STM, HREELS, UPS, and PAX. The clean $Ni_3Al(111)$ surface exhibits a "$2{\times}2$" LEED pattern corresponding to the ordered bulk-like terminated surface structure. For an adsorption of oxygen at 800 K, LEED shows an unrelated oxygen induced superstructure with a lattice spacing of $2.93\;{\AA}$ in addition to the ($1{\times}1$) substrate spots. The combined HREELS and the UPS data point to an oxygen chemisorption on threefold aluminum sites while PAX confirms an islands growth of the overlayer. Since such sites are not available on the $Ni_3Al(111)$ surface, we conclude the buildup of an oxygen covered aluminum overlayer. During oxygen exposure at 1000 K, however, we observe the growth of ${\gamma}'-Al_2O_3$ structure on the reordered $Ni_3Al(111)$ substrate surface. This structure has been identified by means of HREELS and STM. The HREELS data will show that at 800 K the oxidation shows a very characteristic behavior that cannot be described by the formation of an $Al_2O_3$ overlayer. Moreover, the STM image shows a "Strawberry" structure due to the oxide islands formation at 1000 K. Conclusively, from the oxygen interaction with $Ni_3Al(111)$ alloy surface at 800 K and 1000 K an islands growth of the aluminum oxide overlayer has been found.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.40 no.10
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• pp.1447-1452
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• 2011

Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) isoforms were partially purified from oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) using various chromatography techniques, and their characteristics of heat stability, substrate affinity, optimum pH, and optimum temperature were investigated. Three PPO isoforms named PO-I, PO-II-1, and PO-II-2 were partially purified from oyster mushroom. The molecular weight of PO-II-1 was 70 kDa and PO-I and PO-II-2 were less than 6 kDa each. Characterization was carried out using a PPO isoform partially purified by hydrophobic interaction chromatography. Optimum temperature was $55^{\circ}C$ and optimum pH 5.0. However, the PPO was inactivated at neutral pH or by heating at $80^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, while the 40% PPO still remained active after heating at $60^{\circ}C$ for 45 min. The PPO isoform showed the highest substrate affinity to chlorogenic acid and pyrogallol, in which KM values were 1.01 and 2.06 mM, respectively. Therefore, these results suggested that the mushrooms should be stored at a pH higher than 7.0 and at a low temperature to prevent enzymatic browning.

• The Korean Journal of Ceramics
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.138-142
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• 2000

Thin film $LiNbO_3$MFS (metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor) capacitor showed improved characteristics such as low interface trap density, low interaction with Si substrate, and large remanent polarization. This paper reports ferroelectric $LiNbO_3$thin films grown directly on p-type Si (100) substrates by 13.56 MHz RF magnetron sputtering system for FRAM (ferroelectric random access memory) applications. RTA (rapid thermal anneal) treatment was performed for as-deposited films in an oxygen atmosphere at $600^{\circ}C$ for 60sec. We learned from X-ray diffraction that the RTA treated films were changed from amorphous to poly-crystalline $LiNbO_3$which exhibited (012), (015), (022), and (023) plane. Low temperature film growth and post RTA treatments improved the leakage current of $LiNbO_3$films while keeping other properties almost as same as high substrate temperature grown samples. The leakage current density of $LiNbO_3$films decreased from $10^{-5}$ to $10^{-7}$A/$\textrm{cm}^2$ after RTA treatment. Breakdown electric field of the films exhibited higher than 500 kV/cm. C-V curves showed the clockwise hysteresis which represents ferroelectric switching characteristics. Calculated dielectric constant of thin film $LiNbO_3$illustrated as high as 27.9. From ferroelectric measurement, the remanent polarization and coercive field were achieved as 1.37 $\muC/\textrm{cm}^2$ and 170 kV/cm, respectively.

• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.105-110
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• 2006

We have screened 766 strains of fungi from the BIOTEC Culture Collection (BCC) for xylanases working in extreme pH and/or high temperature conditions, the so-called extreme xylanases. From a total number of 32 strains producing extreme xylanases, the strain BCC7928, identified by using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence of rRNA to be a Marasmius sp., was chosen for further characterization because of its high xylanolytic activity at temperature as high as $90^{\circ}C$. The crude enzyme possessed high thermostability and pH stability. Purification of this xylanase was carried out using an anion exchanger followed by hydrophobic interaction chromatography, yielding the enzyme with >90% homogeneity. The molecular mass of the enzyme was approximately 40 kDa. The purified enzyme retained broad working pH range of 4-8 and optimal temperature of $90^{\circ}C$. When using xylan from birchwood as substrate, it exhibits $K_m$ and $V_{max}$ values of $2.6{\pm}0.6\;mg/ml$ and $428{\pm}26\;U/mg$, respectively. The enzyme rapidly hydrolysed xylans from birchwood, beechwood, and exhibited lower activity on xylan from wheatbran, or celluloses from carboxymethylcellulose and Avicel. The purified enzyme was highly stable at temperature ranges from 50 to $70^{\circ}C$. It retained 84% of its maximal activity after incubation in standard buffer containing 1% xylan substrate at $70^{\circ}C$ for 3 h. This thermostable xylanase should therefore be useful for several industrial applications, such as agricultural, food and biofuel.

• BMB Reports
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.59-70
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• 2012

Carbon catabolite repression (CCR) is a key regulatory system found in most microorganisms that ensures preferential utilization of energy-efficient carbon sources. CCR helps microorganisms obtain a proper balance between their metabolic capacity and the maximum sugar uptake capability. It also constrains the deregulated utilization of a preferred cognate substrate, enabling microorganisms to survive and dominate in natural environments. On the other side of the same coin lies the tenacious bottleneck in microbial production of bioproducts that employs a combination of carbon sources in varied proportion, such as lignocellulose-derived sugar mixtures. Preferential sugar uptake combined with the transcriptional and/or enzymatic exclusion of less preferred sugars turns out one of the major barriers in increasing the yield and productivity of fermentation process. Accumulation of the unused substrate also complicates the downstream processes used to extract the desired product. To overcome this difficulty and to develop tailor-made strains for specific metabolic engineering goals, quantitative and systemic understanding of the molecular interaction map behind CCR is a prerequisite. Here we comparatively review the universal and strain-specific features of CCR circuitry and discuss the recent efforts in developing synthetic cell factories devoid of CCR particularly for lignocellulose-based biorefinery.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 1998

Background: The role of nitric oxide(NO) in analgesia from opioids is controversial. On the one hand, IV morphine analgesia is enhanced by IV injection of NO synthase inhibitors. On the other hand, IV morphine results in increased release of NO in the spinal cord. There have been no behavioral studies examining the interaction between IV morphine and intrathecal injection of drugs which affect NO synthesis. Method: Rats were prepared with chronic lumbar intrathecal catheters and were tested withdrawal latency on the hot plate after 3~5 days of surgery. Antinociception was determinined in response to a heat stimulus to the hind paw before and after IV injection of morphine, 2.5 mg/kg. Twenty minutes after morphine injection, rats received intrathecal injection of saline or the NO synthase inhibitors, L-NMMA or TRIM, the NO scavenger, PTIO, or the NO synthase substrate, L-Arginine. Intrathecal injections, separated by 15 min, were made in each rats and measurements were obtained every 5 min. Result: Mophine produced a 60~70% maximal antinociceptive response to a heat stimulus in all animals for 60 min in control experiments. Intrathecal injection of idazoxane decreased antinociception of IV morphine. The NO synthase inhibitors and the NO scavenger produced dose-dependent decreases in antinociceptive effect of morphine, whereas saline as a control group and L-Arginine as the NO substrate had no effect on antinociception of morphine. Conclusion: The present study supports the evidences that systemic morphine increase the nitrite in cerebrospinal fluid and dorsal horn. These data suggest that the synthesis of NO in the spinal cord may be important to the analgesic effect of IV morphine and increased NO in spinal cord has different action from the supraspinal NO.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.1782-1788
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• 2007

Cellulosomes in Clostridium cellulovorans are assembled by the interaction between the repeated cohesin domains of a scaffolding protein (CbpA) and the dockerin domain of enzyme components. In this study, we determined the synergistic effects on cellulosic and hemicellulosic substrates by three different recombinant mini-cellulosomes containing either endoglucanase EngB or endoxylanase XynA bound to mini-CbpA with one cohesin domain (mini-CbpAl), two cohesins (mini-CbpA12), or four cohesins (mini-CbpAl234). The assembly of EngB or XynA with mini-CbpA increased the activity against carboxymethyl cellulose, acid-swollen cellulose, Avicel, xylan, and com fiber 1.1-1.8-fold compared with that for the corresponding enzyme alone. A most distinct improvement was shown with com fiber, a natural substrate containing xylan, arabinan, and cellulose. However, there was little difference in activity between the three different mini-cellulosomes when the cellulosomal enzyme concentration was held constant regardless of the copy number of cohesins in the cellulosome. A synergistic effect was observed when the enzyme concentration was increased to be proportional to the number of cohesins in the mini-cellulosome. The highest degree of synergy was observed with mini-CbpAl234 (1.8-fold) and then mini-CbpAl2 (1.3-fold), and the lowest synergy was observed with mini-CbpAl (1.2-fold) when Avicel was used as the substrate. As the copy number of cohesin was increased, there was more synergy. These results indicate that the clustering effect (physical enzyme proximity) of the enzyme within the mini-cellulosome is one of the important factors for efficient degradation of plant cell walls.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.410-420
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• 2006

The dynamic effects, such as the steering and the screening effects during deposition on an epitaxial growth is studied by kinetic Monte Carlo simulation. In the simulation, we incorporates molecular dynamic simulation to rigorously take the interaction of the deposited atom with the substrate atoms into account, We find three characteristic features of the surface morphology developed by grazing angle deposition: (1) enhanced surface roughness, (2) asymmetric mound, and (3) asymmetric slopes of mound sides, Regarding their dependence on both deposition angle and substrate temperature, a reasonable agreement of the simulated results with the previous experimental ones is found. The characteristic growth features by grazing angle deposition are mainly caused by the inhomogeneous deposition flux due to the steering and screening effects, where the steering effects play the major role rather than the screening effects. Newly observed in the present simulation is that the side of mound in each direction is composed of various facets instead of all being in one selected mound angle even if the slope selection is attained, and that the slope selection does not necessarily mean the facet selection.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.266-269
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• 2013

Hox genes encode transcription factors important for anterior-posterior body patterning at early stages of embryonic development. However, the precise mechanisms by which signal pathways are stimulated to regulate Hox gene expression are not clear. In the previous study, protein kinase B alpha (Akt1) has been identified as a putative upstream regulator of Hox genes, and Akt1 has shown to regulate Gcn5, a prototypical histone acetyltransferase (HAT), in a negative way in mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cells. Since the activity of HAT such as the CBP/p300, and PCAF (a Gcn5 homolog), was down-regulated by Akt through a phosphorylation at the Akt consensus substrate motif (RXRXXS/T), the amino acid sequence of Gcn5 protein was analyzed. Mouse Gcn5 contains an Akt consensus substrate motif as RQRSQS sequence while human Gcn5 does not have it. In order to see whether Akt1 directly binds to Gcn5, immunoprecipitation with anti-Akt1 antibody was carried out in wild-type (WT) mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cells, and then western blot analysis was performed with anti-Akt1 and anti-Gcn5 antibodies. Gcn5 protein was detected in the Akt1 immunoprecipitated samples of MEFs. This result demonstrates that Akt1 directly binds to Gcn5, which might have contributed the down regulation of the 5' Hoxc gene expressions in wild type MEF cells.