Y2O3–H3BO3:Eu3+ powders are synthesized using a mechanical alloying method, and their photoluminescence (PL) properties are investigated through luminescence spectrophotometry. For samples milled for 300 min, some Y2O3 peaks ([222], [440], and [622]) and amorphous formations are observed. The 300-min-milled mixture annealed at 800°C for 1 h with Eu = 8 mol% has the strongest PL intensity at every temperature increase of 100°C (increasing from 700 to 1200°C in 100°C increments). PL peaks of the powder mixture, as excited by a xenon discharge lamp (20 kW) at 240 nm, are detected at approximately 592 nm (orange light, 5Do → 7F1), 613 nm, 628 nm (red light, 5Do → 7F2), and 650 nm. The PL intensity of powder mixtures milled for 120 min is generally lower than that of powder mixtures milled for 300 min under the same conditions. PL peaks due to YBO3 and Y2O3 are observed for 300-min-milled Y2O3–H3BO3 with Eu = 8 mol% after annealing at 800°C for 1 h.

We developed a Amylose magnetic beads (AMBs) based detection system for high efficient separation, concentration and detection of E. coli O157:H7 in real sample. AMBs were synthesized by amylosucrase from Deinococcus geothermalis (DgAS) with iron-oxide nanoparticle (NP). The design of amylose magnetic beads (AMBs) have studied by an enzymatic synthesis with optimized reaction condition such as substrate, sucrose, and iron-oxide NP. AMBs have specific feature. AMBs decorated with functional fusion protein, which consists in a maltose binding protein (MBP) and a streptococcal protein G (SPG). Amylose chains has maltose, thus MBP-SPG binds to the AMB. In addition, SPG specifically binds to the Fc part of antibody. That was used as a linker to immobilize antibody to the surface of AMBs. The resulting AMBs were efficiently separated and concentrated target bacteria, E. coli O157:H7. Concentrated sample is qualitatively analyzed by PCR. Our studies demonstrated that AMB-based PCR significantly reduced the limitation of detection as low as 10 1 CFU/mL, compared to that of conventional PCR. The principle of this system can be served as a high efficiency for detection method of any pathogenic bacteria. In addition, AMBs and MBP-SPG cross-linker protein developed in this study is expected to be applicable to the portable food based biological processing monitoring system.

본 연구에서는 촉매 상 H2O2 전환에 의해 건식산화제가 생성되었으며, 이를 이용한 NO 산 화 공정에 대한 연구를 진행하였다. 건식산화제를 생성하기 위한 H2O2 촉매 전환에 관한 실험을 수행 한 결과, Mn계 촉매의 성능이 가장 우수하였으며, 이를 통해 생성된 건식산화제를 NO 산화공정에 주 입하여 다양한 운전조건에서 NO 산화특성을 조사하였다. 그 결과, H2O2 주입량, 산화반응온도, 그리고 공간속도가 NO 산화율에 크게 영향을 미치는 것을 확인하였다. 그리고, 산화반응온도와 H2O2 주입량 이 증가할수록 NO 산화효율이 증가하였으며, 공간속도가 증가할수록 NO 산화효율이 감소하였다.

We observe ten known 22GHz H2O maser galaxies during February 19–22, 2011 using the 21 m Tamna telescope of the Korean VLBI Network and a new wide-band digital spectrometer. Simultaneously we searched for 43GHz SiO v = 1, 2, J = 1–0 maser emission. We detect H2O maser emission towards five sources (M 33, NGC 1052, NGC 1068, NGC 4258, M 82), with non-detections towards the remaining sources (UGC 3193, UGC 3789, Antennae H2O-West, M 51, NGC 6323) likely due to sensitivity. Our 22GHz spectra are consistent with earlier findings. Our simultaneous 43GHz SiO maser search produced non-detections, yielding – for the first time – upper limits on the 43GHz SiO maser emission in these sources at a 3  sensitivity level of 0.018K–0.033K (0.24 Jy–0.44 Jy) in a 1.75 km s−1 velocity resolution. Our findings suggest that any 43GHz SiO masers in these sources (some having starburst-associated H2O kilomasers) must be faint compared to the 22GHz H2O maser emission.

Shiga toxins (Stxs), some of the most important virulence factors in enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7, are known to be induced and released by various environmental cues, such as DNA damage responses and stress-inducing chemicals. In order to investigate the possible effects of growth media on Stxs expression, we analyzed the growth kinetics and expression of Stxs (Stx1 and 2) in cells grown in Luria-Bertani (LB) and E. coli (EC) media, which are widely used for EHEC O157:H7. Through direct plating and quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), it was revealed that, when EHEC O157:H7 was grown in EC medium, the total bacterial count was reduced significantly and the stx1 transcription was greatly increased during the stationary growth phase than that in LB. Here we report that bile salts and lactose, which are the two only components in EC medium that are absent in LB, function as negative and positive regulatory signals, respectively, for the transcription of both stx1 and stx2. Indeed, stx transcription was significantly increased (~5.7 and ~21.8 fold for stx1 and stx2, respectively; p < 0.05) in an EC medium lacking bile salts when compared to the normal EC. In contrast, EHEC O157:H7 grown in an EC medium lacking lactose did significantly decrease these transcriptions (~93.5 and ~4.3 fold for stx1 and stx2, respectively; p < 0.05). Consistently, stx transcription was drastically increased in an LB medium supplemented with lactose, implying that lactose might be an environmental trigger for the expression of Stxs.

Traditionally, Centella asiatica leaf extracts are used to treat neurodegenerative diseases in India. Centella asiatica is reportedly used to enhance memory and treat dementia, but its promoting effect on neural stem cell differentiation has not been studied yet. In the present study, we investigated whether or not Centella asiatica leaf extracts act on neuronal precursor cells and neuronal cell lines to induce neuronal differentiation, neurite outgrowth, and neuroprotection. The neurogenesis-promoting potential of Centella asiatica leaf extracts was determined by differentiation assay on neural stem cells isolated from mouse embryos and PC12 cell lines. To understand the contribution of specific neural cell types towards increase after Centella asiatica treatment, neural stem cells were differentiated into various neural subtypes and checked by Western blotting using neural cell lineage-specific antibody markers. Neuroprotective activity of Centella asiatica was analyzed in PC12 cells exposed to 100 μM of H2O2. Cell growth was analyzed by MTT assay while cell death was analyzed by Western blotting detection of apoptosis-related proteins. Cells treated with Centella asiatica had significantly longer primary and secondary neurites as well as a higher number of neurites per cell compared to control cells. Expression levels of TUBBIII, TH, NF, and BDNF increased upon Centella asiatica treatment, suggesting that Centella asiatica has a neurogenesis-promoting effect. Centella asiatica also inhibited oxidative stress-induced neural cell damage through regulation of apoptosis- and cell cycle-related proteins. Thus, leaf extracts of Centella asiatica might promote neurogenesis, neuroregeneration, and neuroprotection in the context of neurodegenerative diseases.

본 연구는 마늘의 물추출물(AGE)의 E. coli O157:H7,S. typhimurium, 그리고 S. aureus에 대한 항균효과를 조사하였다. AGE의 E. coli O157:H7, S. typhimurium, and S.aureus에 대한 최소억제농도(MIC)는 각각 24, 48 그리고 24 mg/mL이었으며, 최소살균농도(MBC)는 모든 균에 대하여 96 mg/mL이었다. AGE 24 mg/mL을 E. coli O157:H7에 투여하고 배양 24시간 후에, 균의 증식이 무처리 대조군과 비교하여 유의성 있게 감소하였다(p < 0.01). 그러나 AGE 24 mg/mL을 S. aureus에 투여하고 배양 24시간 후에, 대조군과 비교하여 유의성 있는 균의 증식억제 효과가 나타나지 않았으나, AGE 96 mg/mL을 투여한 경우에서는 배양 24시간 후에 대조군과 비교하여 유의성 있는 균의 증식억제가 나타났다(p < 0.01). AGE 48 (p < 0.05)과 96 mg/mL (p < 0.001)을 S. typhimurim에 투여하고 24시간배양 후에, 대조군과 비교하여 통계적으로 유의성 있는 균의 증식억제 효과가 나타났다. 본 연구의 결과로부터, 마늘의 물추출물은 항생제와 화학적 식품보존제의 대체제로서 사용이 가능할 것으로 사료된다.

The aim of study was to investigate the virulence profile of Escherichia coli O157:H7 bacteriophages isolated from sewage and livestock stools. Among 23 E. coli O157:H7 bacteriophages, 14 strains were isolated from sewage and 9 were from animal stools collected from 10 livestock farms in Korea. For each bacteriophage DNA sample, the presence of stx1, stx2, eae, aafII, ial, elt, estI, estII, astA, afa, and cnf was examined by polymerase chain reaction. The detection rate of eae, stx2, estI, astA, and ial was 100%, 69.6%, 13.0%, 13.0%, 8.7%, respectively. While all E. coli O157:H7 bacteriophages isolated from stools carried eae+stx2, stx2+eae, eae+astA, eae, stx2+eae+estI, eae+estI, stx2+eae+ial, and eae+ial were observed in bacteriophages isolated from sewage. As several plasmid-carrying virulence factors (estI, astA, and ial) were found in E. coli O157:H7 bacteriophages obtained from sewage and stools, the microbial safety of bacteriophages should be investigated in further study.

Simultaneous time monitoring observations of H2O 616 − 523, SiO J = 1–0, 2–1, 3–2, and 29SiO v = 0, J = 1–0 lines are carried out in the direction of the Mira variable star TX Cam with the Korean VLBI Network single dish radio telescopes. For the first time, the H2O maser emission from TX Cam is detected near the stellar velocity at five epochs from April 10, 2013 (Ø = 3.13) to June 4, 2014 (Ø = 3.89) including minimum optical phases. The intensities of H2O masers are very weak compared to SiO masers. The variation of peak antenna temperature ratios among SiO v = 1, J = 1–0, J = 2–1, and J = 3–2 masers is investigated according to their phases. The shift of peak velocities of H2O and SiO masers with respect to the stellar velocity is also investigated according to observed optical phases. The H2O maser emission occurs around the stellar velocity during our monitoring interval. On the other hand, the peak velocities of SiO masers show a spread compared to the stellar velocity. The peak velocities of SiO J = 2–1, and J = 3–2 masers show a smaller spread with respect to the stellar velocity than those of SiO J = 1–0 masers. These simultaneous observations of multi-frequencies will provide a good constraint for maser pumping models and a good probe for investigating the stellar atmosphere and envelope according to their different excitation conditions.

The objective of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial effects of carvacrol (CV) against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7) strains in milk. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) of CV against S. aureus and E. coli O157:H7 were determined. In addition, bactericidal kinetics and antimicrobial activity of CV against the aforementioned pathogens in milk over a period of 2 weeks were investigated. CV exhibited antibacterial activity against both foodborne pathogens tested. The MIC and MBC of CV against S. aureus were 15.0 and 20 mg/mL, respectively, whereas those against E. coli O157:H7 were 16.0 and 32 mg/mL, respectively. In time-kill assays, CV at MBC reduced the number of S. aureus and E. coli O157:H7 in milk to undetectable levels within 24 hr. The antibacterial effects of CV persisted for 14 days without any loss of activity. Results of this study suggest that CV has a potential antibacterial activity against foodborne pathogens such as S. aureus and E. coli O157:H7 in milk.

Programmed cell death or apoptosis is associated with changes in K+ concentration in many cell types. Recent studies have demonstrated that two-pore domain K+ (K2P) channels are involved in mouse embryonic development and apoptotic volume decrease of mammalian cells. In cerebellar granule neurons that normally undergo apoptosis during the early developmental stage, TASK-1 and TASK-3, members of K2P channels, were found to be critical for cell death. This study was performed to identify the role of K+ channels in the H2O2-induced or cryo-induced cell death of mouse and bovine embryos. Mouse and bovine two-cell stage embryos (2-cells) exposed to H2O2 for 4 h suffered from apoptosis. The 2-cells showed positive TUNEL staining. Treatment with high concentration of KCl (25mM) inhibited H2O2-induced apoptosis of 2-cells by 19%. Cryo-induced death in bovine blastocysts showed positive TUNEL staining only in the cells near the plasma membrane. Cryoprotectant supplemented with 25 mM KCl reduced apoptosis slightly compared to cryoprotectant supplemented with 5 mM KCl. However, the combination of antioxidants (β-mercaptoethanol) with 25 mM KCl significantly decreased the rate of H2O2-induced and cryo-induced apoptosis compared to treatments with only antioxidants or 25 mM KCl. These results show that blockage of K+ channel efflux for a short-time reduces H2O2- and cryo-induced apoptosis in mouse and bovine embryos. Our findings suggest that apoptosis in mouse and bovine embryos might be controlled by modulation of K+ channels which are highly expressed in a given cell type.

Previously, we demonstrated the presence of a second copy of LPS myristoyl transferase in enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7, an important zoonotic diarrheagenic food-borne pathogen; the pO157-encoded ecf (an eae-conserved fragment) and the chromosomally-encoded lpxM (also referred to as msbM) genes. Although both genes share the same function as an LPS myristoyl transferase, the pO157-encoded ecf is thermoregulated via an intrinsically curved DNA while the chromosomal lpxM is regulated by the PhoP/Q two component regulatory system. However, it is unclear why E. coli O157: H7 carries two copies of LPS myristoyl transferase that are differentially regulated. In this study, a whole genome-scale transcriptome specific to E. coli O157:H7 was carried out for identification of the genes differentially expressed in the amyristoylated E. coli O157:H7. The results identified a total of 110 EHEC genes that were up- or down-regulated in the amyristoylated E. coli O157:H7 strain, including genes associated with virulence (26.36%), metabolism (20.91%), transport (10.91%), signal transduction (4.55%), genetic information processing (3.64%), stress response (2.73%), regulatory function (2.73%), motility/adherence (3.64%), cell envelope (2.73%), cell division (1.82%) and ORFs of unknown function (17.27%). Of particular interest, the expression of LEE pathogenicity island genes was significantly influenced by LPS structural defects.