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This study aimed to investigate the effect of using a combination of ipguk (koji) and zeolite, as an alternative to the traditional nuruk fermented agents and rice and rice husks combination, on off-flavor suppression in solid fermented spirits. In alcohol production from solid fermented mash, the traditional brewing combination (nuruk + rice husks) produced over 1.3 times more alcohol than that obtained using the alternative combination (ipguk + zeolite). The levels of acetic, butyric, isovaleric acids, and methyl mercaptan, the components causing the offensive odor of distilled liquor (25% alcohol), were significantly reduced upon using the alternative combination as compared to that by the traditional combination. The acetic acid level decreased from 99.38 mg/L to 19.34-24.12 mg/L when using the alternative combination. Butyric acid, isovaleric acid, and methyl mercaptan levels decreased from 95.90, 5.37, and 426.78 mg/L, respectively, to undetectable levels. The furfural content decreased up to 4.3 times. In contrast, acetaldehyde levels increased from 228.04 mg/L to 529.74-578.71 mg/L when using the alternative combination. As the moisture content of the solid-fermented mash prepared with the alternative combination increased (from 40 to 55%), the alcohol production also increased proportionally, and the alcohol content of the distillate was elevated (from 37.14 to 43.74%).

To enhance the flavor of solid-state fermented spirits, the effects of powdered milk on the composition of the distillation fractions obtained by two different distillation methods were evaluated. In the solid-state fermented product, the addition of whole milk powder did not affect alcohol production. However, the addition of milk increased the amino acid content and reducing sugar content, and decreased the formic, acetic, and succinic acid contents. Distillation using a microwave was four times faster than distillation using steam; however, the resulting number of fractions was high, with a wide range of alcohol flow rates. After the addition of whole milk powder, the contents of ethyl acetate and ethyl caproate were 2 times and 16-27 times higher, respectively, in the fraction, and the contents of butyric, valeric, and hexanoic acids among the volatile organic acids increased. In addition, the content of furfural, an odor component, increased 3.45 times from 1,393.73 mg/L to 4,801.93 mg/L. The microwave distillation method resulted in a 1.46-fold higher ethyl caproate content in the distillate compared with that obtained by steam distillation. However, as the temperature of the solid-state fermented mash was raised to over 300°C, the content of furfural increased by 3.29 times. These results support the use of milk powder in distilled spirits and may guide the development of optimized methods.

Conventional thermosetting composites exhibit advantageous mechanical properties owing to the use of an autoclave; however, their wide usage is limited by high production costs and long molding times. In contrast, the fabrication of thermoplastic composites involves out-of-autoclave processes that use press equipment. In particular, induction-heating molding facilitates a quicker thermal cycle, reduced processing time, and improved durability of the thermoplastic polymers; thus, the process cost and production time can be reduced. In this study, carbon fiber/polyphenylene sulfide thermoplastic composites were manufactured using induction-heating molding, and the relationships among the process, structure, and mechanical properties were investigated. The composites were characterized using optical and scanning electron microscopy, an ultrasonic C-scan, and X-ray computed tomography. In addition, the composites were subjected to flammability tests. This study provides novel insights into the optimization of thermoplastic composite manufacturing and thermoset composite curing processes.

Among the various welding techniques used to bond thermoplastic composites, induction welding stands out as a fast, clean, and contact-free process that shortens the welding time and prevents the weight increase of mechanical fastening, such as rivets and bolts. In this study, we manufactured polyetheretherketone (PEEK)-resin-based thermoplastic carbon fiber (CF) composite materials at different automated fiber placement laser powers (3569, 4576, and 5034 W) and investigated their bonding and mechanical characteristics after induction welding. The quality of the composite was evaluating using various techniques, including optical microscopy, C-scanning, and mechanical strength measurements, and a thermal imaging camera was used to monitor the surface temperature of the specimen during its processing. The results revealed that the preparation conditions of the polymer/carbon fiber composites, such as the laser power and surface temperature, significantly affect the quality and performance of the induction-welding-bonded composites. A lower laser power during preparation resulted in weaker bonding between components of the composite and yielded samples with a lower shear stress.

본 연구는 기업의 연차보고서에 포함된 주주서한(CEO’s letter to shareholders)에서 드러나는 최고 경영자의 tone at the top(경영자의 윤리적 성향, 이하 TAT )이 회계투명성에 미치는 영향을 조사하는 것을 그 목적으로 한다. 구체적으로 연차보고서 혹은 지속가능보고서의 경영자 주주서한에서 드러나는 경영자의 말을 분석하여, 경영자가 조직에 이식하려는 TAT를 추출하고 그것이 회계투명성에 미치는 영향 여부를 살펴보았다. 최고경영자의 주주서한에서 최고 경영자의 TAT를 파악하기 위해 본 연구는 Windows기반의 언어분석 프로그램인 DICTION을 사용하였다. DICTION이 산정한 5가지 마스터변수들(master variables), “확실성(certainty)”, “낙관주의(optimism)”, “활동성(activity)”, “현실주의(realism)” 그리고 “공통성(commonality)”의 점수를 최고 경영자의 TAT 측정치로, 재량적 발생액을 재무보고의 질, 즉 회계투명성의 대용치로 보았다. 이를 기초로 확실성, 낙관주의, 활동성은 회계투명성에 부정적인 영향을, 현실주의와 공통성은 긍정적인 영향을 예상하는 5가지의 가설을 설정하였다. 2003년부터 2015년까지의 기간 중에 국내 유가증권시장 상장기업 중 최고경영자의 주주서한을 확보할 수 있는 84개 기업/연을 대상으로 5가지 가설을 검증하였다. 분석결과 최고 경영자들이 공통성(commonality), 즉 집단의 합의된 가치, 상호협력을 강조하고 이해관계자들과 좋은 유대를 구축하려는 분위기를 리드할수록 재무보고의 투명성이 개선되는 것으로 나타났다. 하지만 최고 경영자의 확실성(certainty)”, “낙관주의(optimism)”, “활동성(activity)”, “현실주의(realism)” 등을 강조하는 태도는 재무보고 투명성 개선에 유의한 영향을 미치지 못하는 것으로 나타났다. 본 논문은 다음과 같은 점에서 공헌점을 가진다. 첫째, 경영자를 견제하는 기업지배구조 중심의 회계투명성 연구의 초점을 경영자 자신 쪽으로 전환한 연구라는 점에서 선행연구와 차별화 된다. 둘째, 비감사정보인 경영자의 말(narratives)에서 파악한 TAT가 재무보고의 투명성에 영향을 미칠 수 있다는 점을 발견한 연구라는 점에서 학계 및 감사 실무에 함의가 있다.

Saururus chinensis has long been widely used in oriental folk medicines to treat diseases. In the current study, organic solvent fractions obtained from the main methanolic extract of S chinensis were evaluated for their antioxidative and related physiological activities. The antioxidant activity of the fractions was measured using DPPH free radical scavenging activity, increased in a dose-dependent manner, and the ED?? of the ethyl acetate fractions exhibited a value of 12.84 ㎍/㎖ higher than 27.22 ㎍/㎖ compared to the BHT. Also, the cell viability of S. chinensis on H₂O₂-induced HDF cell death (IC??) showed the highest cell viability of 89.39% in 50 ㎍/㎖ of ethyl acetate fraction and 67.98% of visible cell survival rate in n-butanolic fraction. Meanwhile, all fractions of the S. chinensis extract led to a slight down regulation of the mRNA expression of fibulin-5, which is related to skin elasticity, and the ethyl acetate fraction having high antioxidant activity showed a markedly inhibitory effect on chick embryonic angiogenesis using the CAM assay. These results suggest that the ethyl acetate fraction of S. chinensis extract could be a good material in therapeutic application for antioxidant and related anti-angiogenesis activities.

In this study, a substrate-bias assisted 2-step pulse programming method is proposed for realizing 4-bit/1-cell operation of the SONOS memory. The programming voltage and time are considerably reduced by this programming method than a gate-bias assisted 2-step pulse programming method and CHEI method. It is confirmed that the difference of 4-states in the threshold voltage is maintained to more than 0.5 V at least for 10-year for the multi-level characteristics.

Piezoelectric (PZT) can be used as a sensor to measure the pressure changes in the flow passages after being utilized as an actuator in inkjet print-head. Monitoring the sensing signal from the PZT, one can distinguish a good jetting from malfunction of jetting including the failure of ejection. Because the surface of ink is vulnerably exposed to the air at the nozzle orifice, unstable jetting easily leads to form an air pocket at the nozzle exit, which causes to stop jetting drops any longer. As a result, the air bubble entrapped on the flow passage or any malfunction of jetting leads to changes in the residual oscillation of the PZT from that in the normal jetting condition. In this study, a scanning device for detecting bad performing nozzles for a print-head of 256 nozzles in a period of less then 0.5 s has been developed to check the jetting condition in intermittent printing period. The PZT sensing signal was measured right after the voltage waveform is applied to the print-head and compared to the reference sensing signal of the standard jetting condition.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have specific properties, including electrical and thermal conductivity, great strength, and rigidity, that allow them to be used in many fields. However, this increasing contact with humans and the environment is also raising health and safety concerns. Thus, research on the safety of CNTs has attracted much interest, including a comparison of the toxic effects of asbestos and carbon nanotubes, due to their physical similarity of a high aspect ratio (length/diameter). Nonetheless, there has not yet been a toxicogenomic comparison. Therefore, to examine toxicogenomic effects, the 50% growth inhibition (GI(50)) concentration was determined for multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and asbestos (crocidolite) and found to be approximately 0.0135 and 0.066%, respectively, in the case of 24-h treatment of normal human bronchial epithelia (NHBE) cells. Using these GI(50) concentrations, NHBE cells were then treated with MWCNTs and asbestos for 6 and 24 h, followed by a DNA microarray analysis. Among 31,647 genes, 1,201 and 1,252 were up-regulated by both asbestos and MWCNTs after 6 and 24 h of exposure, respectively. Meanwhile, 1,977 and 1,542 genes were down-regulated by both asbestos and MWNCTs after 6 and 24 h of exposure, respectively. In particular, the asbestos and MWCNTs both induced an over twofold up- and down-regulated expression of 12 mesothelioma-related genes and 22 lung cancer-related genes when compared with the negative control. Plus, the genes induced by the MWCNT exposure were expressed in the brain, lungs, epithelium, liver, and colon.

The influence of various concentrations of the standard fertilizer on the performance of seedling grafts tomato was investigated using coconut coir containing root media. Two different formulations of coir dust (CO) with perlite (PL) and vermiculite (VM) (5:5 and 7:3 mixtures of CO + VM and CO + PL, v/v) were used as growing media. Five variations (0, 0.1, 1, 2, 4x conc.) of a standard fertilizer (SF) containing (mg · L−1) 190 N, 54.5 P2O5, 149 K2O, 542 CaO, 24.3 MgO, 19.5 S, and micronutrients in pre-plant fertilizers were used for seedling growth before grafting. The root stock (cultivar J3B Strong) and scion (cultivar Sunmyung) were grown in 50 cell (volume 33 cc) and 105 cell (volume 18 cc) trays, respectively. Both were fertilized once a week with the N concentrations of 50, 120, and 200 mg · L−1 (using 14-00-14 and 20-10-20 commercial analysis fertilizers alternately) in stages 2, 3, and 4, respectively. At 31 days after sowing, seedling plants of both the root stock and scion were excised above the soil line, trimmed, and used for seedling grafting. The cut grafted plants were planted into the 50-cell pack trays (cell volume 33 cc) and incubated for 7 days inside a plastic tunnel under a shade cloth for callusing and adventitious root formation. After an additional 7 days of gradual acclimatization with lower humidity, the rooted grafted plants began to receive fertilizer treatments once a week. When examined 31 days after sowing, the highest weights of the root stock seedlings were obtained with the 2x SF solution in CO + PL mix (4.1 g/seedling) and 1x SF solution in CO + VM mix (5.0 g/seedling). The electrical conductance (EC) of the soil extracts for the two treatments were 3.85 and 1.94 dS · m−1, respectively. Fresh weights of the grafted plants (Sunmyung/J3B Strong) grown in CO + VM and CO + PL mixes were not significantly different from each other when measured 13 days after grafting. Elevated plug-phase fertilizer levels in CO + PL mix resulted in an increase of fresh weights from the grafted plants in 13 days. However, substrate EC (5.19 dS · m−1) at 4x SF solution in CO+PL mix was much higher than that recommended for plug seedling production. Grafted plants were tolerant to high salinity. Fresh weights of grafted plants were higher when grown with 200 mg · L−1N in CO + PL mix or 100 mg · L−1 N CO + VM mix than other treatments. The substrate ECs of the two treatments were 3.85 and 1.94 dS · m−1, respectively. Grafted plants grew well when exposed to elevated substrate salt concentrations. Results of this experiment suggest that the production of high quality tomato seedling grafts is possible with salt concentrations much higher than that recommended for plug seedling production. The optimum fertilizer concentration, however, must be determined separately for a given root medium mixture containing coconut coir.

With the increased production and widespread use of nanomaterials, human and environmental exposure to nanomaterials is inevitably increasing. Therefore, this study monitored the possible exposure to nanoparticles at workplaces that manufacture nano-TiO(2) and nano-silver. To estimate the potential exposure of workers, personal sampling, area monitoring, and real-time monitoring using a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) and dust monitor were conducted at workplaces where the workers handle nanomaterials. The gravimetric concentrations of TiO(2) ranged from 0.10 to 4.99 mg/m(3), which were lower than the occupational exposure limit 10 mg/m(3) set by the Korean Ministry of Labor or American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). Meanwhile, the silver metal concentrations ranged from 0.00002 to 0.00118 mg/m(3), which were also lower than the silver dust 0.1 mg/m(3) and silver soluble compound 0.01 mg/m(3) occupational exposure limits set by the ACGIH. The particle number concentrations at the nano-TiO(2) manufacturing workplaces ranged from 11,418 to 45,889 particles/cm(3) with a size range of 15-710.5 nm during the reaction, although the concentration decreased to 14,000 particles/cm(3) when the reaction was stopped. The particle concentrations at the TiO(2) manufacturing workplaces increased during the reactor and vacuum pump operations, and during the collection of the synthesized TiO(2) particles. Similarly, the particle concentrations at the silver nanoparticle manufacturing workplaces increased when the sodium citrates were weighed or reacted with the silver nitrates, and during the cleaning of the workplace. The number of silver nanoparticles in the samples obtained from the workplace manufacturing silver nanoparticles using induced coupled plasma ranged from 57,789 to 2,373,309 particles/cm(3) inside the reactor with an average size of 20-30 nm and 535-25,022 particles/cm(3) with a wide range of particle sizes due to agglomeration or aggregation after the release of nanoparticles into the workplace air. In contrast, the silver nanoparticles manufactured by the wet method ranged from 393 to 3526 particle/cm(3) with an average size of 50 nm. Thus, when taken together, the TiO(2) and silver nanoparticle concentrations were relatively lower than existing occupational exposure limits.

This paper proposes a hologram data compression scheme that uses the existing image/video compression techniques, in which the existing techniques are modified appropriately to fit to the characteristics of hologram. In this paper we use CGH as the hologram data. The proposed scheme uses the generation characteristics of a CGH to consist of a pre-processing, spatial segmentation of a CGH, frequency-transformation with 2D-DCT (2-dimensional discrete cosine transform), and motion estimation and residual image generation in the frequency-domain. It uses H.264/AVC, the lossless compressor BinHex, and a linear quantizer that we have made. From the experiments the proposed scheme showed the image quality of about 25.4 dB at the compression ratio of 10:1 and about 16.5dB at 90:1 compression ratio.

The cabbage butterfly (Artogeia rapae) antimicrobial peptide hinnavinII as a member of cecropin family is synthesized as 37 residues in size with an amidated lysine at C-terminus and shows the humoral immune response to a bacterial invasion. In this work, a synthetic gene for hinnavinII-38-Asn (HIN) with an additional amino acid asparagine residue containing amide group at C-terminus was cloned into pET-32a(+) vector to allow expression of HIN as a Trx fusion protein in Escherichia coli strain BL21 (DE3) pLysS. The resulting expression level of the fusion protein Trx-HIN could reach 15-20% of the total cell proteins and more than 70% of the target proteins were in soluble form. The fusion protein could be purified successfully by HiTrap Chelating HP column and a high yield of 15 mg purified fusion protein was obtained from 80 ml E. coli culture. Recombinant HIN was readily obtained by enterokinase cleavage of the fusion protein followed by FPLC chromatography, and 3.18 mg pure active recombinant HIN was obtained from 80 ml culture. The molecular mass of recombinant HIN determined by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer is 4252.084 Da which matches the theoretical mass (4252.0 Da) of HIN. Comparing the antimicrobial activities of the recombinant hinnavinII with C-amidated terminus to that without an amidated C-terminus, we found that the amide of asparagine at C-terminus of hinnavinII improved its potency on certain microorganism such as E. coli, Enterobacter cloacae, Bacillus megaterium, and Staphylococcus aureus.

The antibacterial peptide hinnavin II, isolated from the cabbage butterfly Artogeia rapae, is synthesized with an amidated lysine 37 residue at C-terminus. Glycine-extended native hinnavin II (hinnavin II-38-Gly, hin II) gene with 114 bp coding region was cloned in the expression vector pET-32a (+) to construct a fusion expression plasmid and transformed into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) pLysS. The recombinant fusion protein Trx-hin II was expressed in soluble form, purified successfully by Ni2+-chelating chromatography, and cleaved by enterokinase to release recombinant hin II (rhin II). Purification of the rhin II was achieved by reversed-phase FPLC, and 2.45 mg pure active rhin II was obtained from 800 mL E. coli culture. The molecular mass of the rhin II determined by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry is consistent with the theoretical molecular mass of 4,195.0 Da. The purified rhin II showed antimicrobial activities against tested E. coli K 12, E. coli BL21 (DE3), Enterobacter cloacae, Bacillus megaterium, and Staphylococcus aureus. The application of this expression/purification approach represents a fast and efficient method to prepare milligram quantities of hinnavin II in its biologically active form.

In this paper, an arc current controller was designed for the interruption of arc fault currents occurred in a low voltage network. Arc in an electrical network represents the characteristics of low current, high impedance, and high frequency. Conventional controllers do not have arc current interrupt functions. Thus, an arc current controller was designed for the interruption of arc fault currents.

This study performs an electrochemical experiment to quantitatively evaluate the corrosion resistance performance in a Zn-Al thermal metal spraying method and produces corrosion current density according to the type of corrosion resistance methods. In the results of the calculation, the corrosion membrane produced in a Zn-Al thermal metal spraying method showed voltage differences more than 300 mV and that demonstrated enough corrosion performance with the corrosion resistance reaction of base materials and proper Zn-Al ratio, such as 50:50. Also, the results exhibited that the corrosion speed in a Zn-Al thermal metal spraying method was 0.66 time faster than that of the zinc galvanizing method in the estimation based on the standard of corrosion resistance service years in a zinc galvanizing method (JIS H 8641).

The lysozyme II gene of cabbage butterfly Artogeia rapae was cloned from fat body of the larvae injected with E. coli and its nucleotide sequence was determined by the RACE‐PCR. It has an open reading frame of 414 bp nucleotides corresponding to 138 amino acids including a signal sequence of 18 amino acids. The estimated molecular weight and the isoelectric point of the lysozyme II without the signal peptide were 13,649.38 Da and 9.11, respectively. The A. rapae lysozyme II (ARL II) showed the highest identity (81 %) in the amino acid sequence to Manduca sexta lysozyme among other lepidopteran species. The two catalytic residues (Glu32 and Asp50) and the eight Cys residue motifs, which are highly conserved among other c‐type lysozymes in invertebrates and vertebrates, are also completely conserved. A phylogenetic analysis based on amino acid sequences indicated that the ARL II was more closely related to M. sexta, Hyphantria cunea, Heliothis virescens, and Trichoplusia ni lysozymes. The ARL II ge...

Previously, the Artogeia rapae lysozyme II (ARLII) gene was isolated and its complete nucleotide sequence was determined by RACE-PCR from fat body of larvae injected with Escherichia coli. In the present study, the ARLII gene was expressed by using a baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS). The expression level of recombinant (r)ARLII protein was optimized by varying virus titer and time-course of infection. The optimum protein expression conditions were infection of the cells at a multiplicity of infection of 10, and harvest at 84 h post-infection. Under these conditions, we estimated the amount of rARLII produced in the BEVS to be 10 mg/mL. rARLII was purified from cell-conditioned media using cation exchange column and reversed-phase FPLC methods. Purified rARLII was able to form a clear zone in a lysoplate assay against Micrococcus luteus. The lytic activity was estimated to be 1.53 times higher than that of hen egg white lysozyme (HEWLZ) under the same conditions. The optimum temperature for the lytic activity of the rARLII was 50°C, and its temperature dependency was greater than that of HEWLZ at low temperatures (

Hinnavins, together with lysozymes, are the main types of antibacterial peptides/proteins previously isolated from the larval haemolymph of the cabbage butterfly, Artogeia rapae as part of the humoral immune response to a bacterial invasion. One of these antibacterial peptides, named hinnavin II, was purified and characterized after cDNA cloning. The purified hinnavin II was more active against Gram negative than against Gram positive bacteria. Hinnavin II also showed a powerful synergistic effect on the inhibition of bacterial growth with purified lysozyme. The cDNA has a total length of 186 bp with a 114 coding region. The deduced protein sequence contains 38 amino acids with a coding capacity of 4142.8 Da. The result of a multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis with Clustal W indicated that mature hinnavin II showed an approximately 78.9% amino acid sequence identity with cecropin A and originated from a group containing mostly lepidopteran cecropins.

Protein nanoarrays are addressable ensembles of nano-scale protein domain on solid surfaces. This method can serve as a useful platform for ultraminiaturized bioanalysis. In this study, we investigated single molecular nanopatterning and molecular interaction of proteins that were immobilized on Prolinker surface of gold-coated silicon wafer by using dip-pen nanolithography (DPN) method. Contact force and humidity were optimized at 0.01 nN and 80%, respectively. The domain features of protein nanoarrays were developed at the contact time of 5 s. The optimized conditions for the nanoarray process were applied to create protein nanoarray using integrin alpha(v)beta3 and angiogenin. Constructed protein nanoarrays using integrin alpha(v)beta3 have single molecular monolayer with regular domain shape (height 15 +/- 5 nm). The changed height value due to the single molecular interaction between integrin alpha(v)beta3 and vitronectin was approximately 30 +/- 5 nm on Prolinker surface as measured with atomic force microscopy tip. Taken together, these results suggest that protein nanoarray on Prolinker surface fabricated by well-controlled DPN process can be used to analyze single molecular interaction of protein.

ProteoChip has been developed as a novel protein microarray technology. So far it has been applied in new lead screening and molecular diagnosticsand we expect its role to grow in the field of biology. Here, we investigated the application of ProteoChip for the study of differential pro- tein expression profiles in angiogenin-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Antibody microarrays constructed by immobilizing 60 distinct antibodies against signal-transducing proteins on ProteoChip base plates were used to analyze the expression pat- tern of cell-signaling proteins in HUVECs treated with angiogenin. The antibody microarray approach showed that angiogenin induced the up- and down-regulation of several cellular reg- ulators related with cell proliferation. Changes in the expression of signaling proteins determined by antibody microarray were validated by Western blot analysis. In this experiment, ten up-regu- lated proteins and six down-regulated proteins were identified and confirmed by immunoblot analysis. Taken together, these data suggest that antibody microarrays using ProteoChip technol- ogy can be a powerful tool for high-throughput analysis of proteomes in biological samples.

Repellent efficacies of two natural aroma compounds, citronella and citronellal, against mosquitoes, Culex pipiens pallens, were evaluated both in field and in vitro. In vitro, the experiment was conducted with three controlled bands impregnated with 30% citronella extract, 15% citronella extract and 30% citronellal extract, and with bands impregnated 30% citronella in field. Data was obtained by the means of counting numbers bitten by mosquitoes per unit time, namely human bait method. Percentage repellencies of above three controlled bands were calculated at 86%, 73%, and 78%, respectively in vitro, and 80% in field, showing high repellent effectiveness against mosquitoes. This estimation was also confirmed by t-test compared between control group and each experimental group.

The increasing problem of antibiotic resistance among pathogenic bacteria requires development of new antimicrobial agents. For the purpose of this study, a cDNA encoding hinnavin II-α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (hin/MSH) hybrid was chemically synthesized, annealed, and then cloned into transfer vector pBacPAK 9 for expression in Sf21 insect cells. Recombinant hin/MSH (rhin/MSH) hybrid was efficiently produced in baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) as a hybrid peptide. The antibacterial activity of the rhin/MSH hybrid was compared to that of the recombinant hinnavin II (rhin), using inhibition zone and overlay assay. This new recombinant hybrid peptide may serve as an attractive candidate for powerful novel class of antimicrobial pharmaceuticals.

Background Although satisfactory mid- to long-term results of rotational acetabular osteotomy for early osteoarthritis secondary to acetabular dysplasia have been reported, there is still controversy about the long-term effects of this surgery in more advanced osteoarthritis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the radiographic progression of osteoarthritic changes after rotational acetabular osteotomy in acetabular dysplasia according to the preoperative Tönnis grade and evaluate its effects after minimum 10-year follow-up. Methods We performed 71 consecutive rotational acetabular osteotomies in 64 patients with symptomatic acetabular dysplasia between November 1984 and April 2005. Of these, 46 hips (four hips with Tönnis grade 0, 30 with grade 1, and 12 with grade 2) whose clinical and radiographic findings were available after minimum 10-year follow-up were evaluated in this study. The mean age at the time of surgery was 39.0 years (range, 18 to 62 years) and the average follow-up duration was 17.3 years (range, 10.0 to 27.7 years). Clinical and radiographic evaluations were performed according to the preoperative Tönnis grade. Results The average Harris hip score improved from 71.8 (range, 58 to 89) to 85.1 (range, 62 to 98). The radiographic parameters also improved in all Tönnis grades after the index surgery. Although the improvement of radiographic parameters was not different between preoperative Tönnis grades, the incidence of osteoarthritic progression was significantly different between grades (zero in Tönnis grade 0, four in Tönnis grade 1, and 10 in Tönnis grade 2; p < 0.001). The mean age at the time of surgery was also significantly older in osteoarthritic progression patients (p < 0.002). Kaplan-Meier survivorship analysis, with radiographic progression of osteoarthritis as the endpoint, predicted a 10-year survival rate of 100% in Tönnis grade 0, 85.7% in Tönnis grade 1, and 14.3% in Tönnis grade 2 (p < 0.001). Conclusions The outcome of rotational acetabular osteotomy in most hips with Tönnis grade 0 and 1 was satisfactory after an average of 17 years of follow-up. The incidence of osteoarthritic progression was higher in Tönnis grade 2 and older age. Our results support that early joint preserving procedure is essential in the case of symptomatic dysplastic hips.

We evaluated the outcome in 21 patients having acetabular fractures who had been treated with a 2 mm-braided cable, alone (n = 6), or together with plate and screws. Reduction with a fracture gap of less than 2 mm was achieved in 20 cases. The operation lasted an average of 3 (1.5-4.8) hours. The average blood loss was 1.4 (1.3-2.8) L. No intraoperative complication occurred in relation to surgery. Postoperative complications included 2 cases each of posttraumatic arthritis and avascular necrosis of the femoral head. After a mean follow-up of 4 (2-8) years, the clinical outcome was excellent in 13, good in 3, fair in 3 and poor in 2, and the radiographic outcome was excellent in 10, good in 6, fair in 1 and poor in 4. We believe that cable fixation is a useful technique since the indirect reduction requires a limited exposure, avoids penetration of the screw into the joint, and improves fixation in patients with osteoporosis.

The authors reviewed 10 patients with subcapital fractures associated with extensive osteonecrosis of the femoral head and distinguished these fractures from traumatic femoral neck fractures The mean age of the patients was 52 years (range, 36-68 years). Nine patients were younger than 60 years. Eight patients had risk factors for osteonecrosis. Necrosis was extensive and involved nearly the whole femoral head. Fracture occurred at the junction between a necrotic bone and reparative bone and extended downward through the reparative interface to the healthy inferior cortex of the femoral neck. Patients experienced hip pain that was aggravated gradually during a period of 1 to 24 weeks before diagnosis of the fracture. In all patients, the opposite femoral head was involved with osteonecrosis. In two femoral heads, slight collapse or subchondral fracture (crescent sign) also was observed. No patient had a history of precipitating trauma. In patients younger than 60 years with a subcapital fracture, fracture associated with extensive osteonecrosis of the femoral head should be suspected when a history of trauma is not obvious, when the opposite hip shows findings of osteonecrosis, and when the patient has a risk factor of osteonecrosis. In these fractures, osteosynthesis rarely should be considered because of the high failure rate caused by additional progression of extensive osteonecrosis and the probability of nonunion.

We have characterized full-length cDNAs encoding two isoforms of agriusin, cecropin D-like antibacterial peptide, present in the hemolymph of the immunized Agrius convolvuli larvae. The cloned cDNAs of agriusins 1 and 2 contain 331 and 329 bp, respectively. The nucleotide sequencing of cDNAs showed that they encode 62 amino acids, whose mature portion was deduced to consist of 38 amino acid residues with over 94% sequence identity. In the sequence homology search, mature agriusin 1 showed over 86 and 71% amino acid sequence homology with bactericidin 4 from Manduca sexta and cecropin D from Hyalophora cecropia, respectively. Since it was demonstrated from the deduced amino acid sequences that the C-terminal residues of agriusins are followed by a Gly residue, two types of synthetic agriusin 1 (syn-agriusin 1 amide and acid) were prepared to verify if natural agriusin 1 is C-terminally amidated. From acid-urea PAGE and reversed phase HPLC profiles to compare two synthetic peptides, we could confirm that the C-terminal amino acid residue of natural agriusin 1, like several cecropins so far identified, is amidated. Finally, our antibacterial assay performed with two syn-agriusins 1 revealed that there is little difference between antibacterial activities of both peptides against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 45:149–155, 2000. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Two molecular species of apolipophorin‐III (apoLp‐III) were purified from the last instar larval hemolymph of Galleria mellonella by gel permeation chromatography (Sephadex G‐100), ion exchange chromatography (DE‐52), heat treatment (901 for 30min) and Mono S FPLC, and were named apoLp‐III‐a and apoLp‐III‐b, respectively. They were indistinguishable by SDS‐PAGE but could be separated by native PAGE. The molecular mass of apoLp‐III determined by SDS‐PAGE was approximately 18kDa. The N‐terminal amino acid sequence of apoLp‐lll‐b revealed high similarities with the apoLp‐III from Manduca sexta.

This paper describes the design of new method of propagation delay measurement in micro and nanostructures during characterization of ASIC standard library cell. Providing more accuracy timing information about library cell to the design team we can improve a quality of timing analysis inside of ASIC design flow process. Also, this information could be very useful for semiconductor foundry team to make correction in technology process. By comparison of the propagation delay in the CMOS element and result of analog SPICE simulation. It was implemented as digital IP core for semiconductor manufacturing process. Specialized method helps to observe the propagation time delay in one element of the standard-cell library with up-to picoseconds accuracy and less. Thus, the special useful solutions for VLSI schematic to parameters extraction, basic cell layout verification, design simulation and verification are announced., {"references":["S. Maggioni, A. Veggetti, A. Bogliolo, L. Croce, \"Random sampling for\non-chip characterization of standard cell propagation delay\", in\nProceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Quality Electronic\nDesign, 24-26 March 2003, pp. 41- 45.","Churayev S.O., Matkarimov B.T., Paltashev T.T., \"On-chip\nMeasurements of Standard-Cell Propagation Delay\", Proceedings of\nIEEE East-West Design & Test Symposium (EWDTS-09), September\n18-21 2009, Moscow. 2009. pp. 93-95.","S. K. Thompson, Sampling, 2nd Edition, Wiley, 2002.","Extrapolation Methods. Theory and Practice by C. Brezinski and M.\nRedivo Zaglia, North-Holland, 1991."]}

Growth promoters including hormonal substances and antibiotics are used legally and illegally in food producing animals for the growth promotion of livestock animals. Hormonal substances still under debate in terms of their human health impacts are estradiol-17β, progesterone, testosterone, zeranol, trenbolone, and melengestrol acetate (MGA) . Many of the risk assessment results of natural steroid hormones have presented negligible impacts when they are used under good veterinary practices. For synthetic hormonelike substances, ADIs and MRLs have been established for food safety along with the approval of animal treatment. Small amounts of antibiotics added to feedstuff present growth promotion effects via the prevention of infectious diseases at doses lower than therapeutic dose. The induction of antimicrobial resistant bacteria and the disruption of normal human intestinal flora are major concerns in terms of human health impact. Regulatory guidance such as ADIs and MRLs fully reflect the impact on human gastrointestinal microflora. However, before deciding on any risk management options, risk assessments of antimicrobial resistance require large-scale evidence regarding the relationship between antimicrobial use in food-producing animals and the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance in human pathogens. In this article, the risk profiles of hormonal and antibacterial growth promoters are provided based on recent toxicity and human exposure information, and recommendations for risk management to prevent human health impacts by the use of growth promoters are also presented.

Objectives : The antimicrobial activity of silver nanoparticles has resulted in their widespread use in many consumer products. Yet, despite their many advantages, it is also important to determine whether silver nanoparticles may represent a hazard to the environment and human health. Methods : Thus, to evaluate the genotoxic potential of silver nanoparticles, in vivo genotoxicity testing (OECD 474, in vivo micronuclei test) was conducted after exposing male and female Sprague-Dawley rats to silver nanoparticles by inhalation for 90 days according to OECD test guideline 413 (Subchronic Inhalation Toxicity: 90 Day Study) with a good laboratory practice system. The rats were exposed to silver nanoparticles (18 nm diameter) at concentrations of 0.7 × 10 6 particles/cm 3 (low dose), 1.4 × 10 6 particles/cm 3 (middle dose), and 2.9 × 10 6 particles/cm 3 (high dose) for 6 hr/day in an inhalation chamber for 90 days. The rats were killed 24 hr after the last administration, then the femurs were removed and the bone marrow collected and evaluated for micronucleus induction. Results : There were no statistically significant differences in the micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes or in the ratio of polychromatic erythrocytes among the total erythrocytes after silver nanoparticle exposure when compared with the control. Conclusion : The present results suggest that exposure to silver nanoparticles by inhalation for 90 days does not induce genetic toxicity in male and female rat bone marrow in vivo .

Fibulin-5 is a widely expressed, integrin-binding extracellular matrix protein that mediates endothelial cell adhesion and scaffolds cells to elastic fibers. To investigate anti-angiogenesis activities and context-specific activities on responsive cells of recombinant fibulin-5 (rfibulin-5) expressed in Escherichia coli, the cDNA of fibulin-5 cloned from a human placenta cDNA library was inserted into the pET32a (+) vector to allow fibulin-5 expression as a Trx fusion protein. The fusion protein Trx-fibulin-5, expressed as insoluble inclusion bodies, was solubilized and its resulting expression level reached to 15% of the total cell protein. The Trxfibulin-5 was purified effectively by N(2+)-chelating chromatography and then identified by Western blotting analysis with an anti-His tag antibody. The purified Trx-fibulin-5 was refolded by dialysis against redox reagents, and the rfibulin-5 released from the fusion protein by enterokinase cleavage was purified using a RESOURCE RPC column. The final purified rfibulin-5 effectively inhibited angiogenesis in chicken embryos in a dose-dependent manner through a chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay. Additionally, rfibulin-5 potently suppressed in vitro proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells, but stimulated that of human dermal fibroblasts. The expression and in vitro refolding of rfibulin-5 resulted in production of an active molecule with a yield of 2.1 mg/L.

Seven CNT (carbon nanotube) handling workplaces were investigated for exposure assessment. Personal sampling, area sampling, and real-time monitoring using an SMPS (scanning mobility particle sizer), dust monitor, and aethalometer were performed to characterize the mass exposure, particle size distribution, and particle number exposure. No workplace was found to exceed the current ACGIH (American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists) TLVs (threshold limit values) and OELs (occupational exposure levels) set by the Korean Ministry of Labor for carbon black (3.5 mg/m 3 ), PNOS (particles not otherwise specified; 3 mg/m 3 ), and asbestos (0.1 fiber/cc). Nanoparticles and fine particles were most frequently released after opening the CVD (chemical vapor deposition) cover, followed by catalyst preparation. Other work processes that prompted nanoparticle release included spraying, CNT preparation, ultrasonic dispersion, wafer heating, and opening the water bath cover. All these operation processes could be effectively controlled with the implementation of exposure mitigation, such as engineering control, except at one workplace where only natural ventilation was used.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have specific physico-chemical and electrical properties that are useful for telecommunications, medicine, materials, manufacturing processes and the environmental and energy sectors. Yet, despite their many advantages, it is also important to determine whether CNTs may represent a hazard to the environment and human health. Like asbestos, the aspect ratio (length:diameter) and metal components of CNTs are known to have an effect on the toxicity of carbon nanotubes. Thus, to evaluate the toxic potential of CNTs in relation to their aspect ratio and metal contamination, in vivo and in vitro genotoxicity tests were conducted using high-aspect-ratio (diameter: 10–15 nm, length: ~10 μm) and low-aspect-ratio multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs, diameter: 10–15 nm, length: ~150 nm) according to OECD test guidelines 471 (bacterial reverse mutation test), 473 (in vitro chromosome aberration test), and 474 (in vivo micronuclei test) with a good laboratory practice system. To determine the treatment concentration for all the tests, a solubility and dispersive test was performed, and a 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) solution found to be more suitable than distilled water. Neither the high- nor the low-aspect-ratio MWCNTs induced any genotoxicity in a bacterial reverse mutation test (~1,000 μg/plate), in vitro chromosome aberration test (without S9: ~6.25 μg/ml, with S9: ~50 μg/ml), or in vivo micronuclei test (~50 mg/kg). However, the high-aspect-ratio MWCNTs were found to be more toxic than the low-aspect-ratio MWCNTs. Thus, while high-aspect-ratio MWCNTs do not induce direct genotoxicity or metabolic activation–mediated genotoxicity, genotoxicity could still be induced indirectly through oxidative stress or inflammation.

The increasing problem of antibiotic resistance among pathogenic bacteria requires novel strategies for the construction of multiple, joined genes of antimicrobial agents. The strategy used in this study involved synthesis of a cDNA-encoding hinnavin II/alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (hin/MSH) hybrid peptide, which was cloned into the pET32a (+) vector to allow expression of the hybrid peptide as a fusion protein in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The resulting expression of fusion protein Trx-hin/MSH could reach up to 20% of the total cell proteins. More than 50% of the target protein was in a soluble form. The target fusion protein from the soluble fraction, Trx-hin/MSH, was easily purified by Ni(2+)-chelating chromatography. Then, enterokinase cleavage effectively cleaved the Trx-hin/MSH to release the recombinant hin/MSH (rhin/MSH) hybrid peptide. After removing the contaminants, we purified the recombinant hybrid peptide to homogeneity by reversed-phase FPLC and obtained 210 mg of pure, active rhin/MSH from 800 ml of culture medium. Antimicrobial activity assay demonstrated that rhin/MSH had a broader spectrum of activity than did the parental hinnavin II or MSH against fungi and Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. These results suggest an efficient method for producing high-level expression of various kinds of antimicrobial peptides that are toxic to the host, a reliable and simple method for producing different hybrid peptides for biological studies.

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) nanocomposites reinforced with a very small quantity of modified carbon nanotube (CNT) were prepared by melt compounding using a twin-screw extruder. The introduction of carboxylic acid groups on the surfaces of the nanotube leads to the enhanced interactions between the nanotube and the polymer matrix through hydrogen bonding formation. The thermal stability, mechanical, and rheological properties of the PET nanocomposites are strongly dependent on the interfacial interactions between the PET and the modified CNT as well as the dispersion of the modified CNT in the PET. The introduction of the nanotube can significantly influence the non-isothermal crystallization behavior of the PET nanocomposites. This study demonstrates that a very small quantity of the modified CNT can substantially improve the thermal stability and mechanical properties of the PET nanocomposites, depending on the dispersion of the modified CNT and the interfacial interactions between the polymer matrix and the modified CNT. POLYM. COMPOS., 2010. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers