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The growing demands of next-generation applications for high power and energy sources necessitate advances in hierarchically porous carbon-based energy storage materials, which improve the overall kinetics of electrolytic reactions by providing efficient ion and electron transport pathways and facilitate electrolyte infiltration into the electrode during charging/discharging. Herein, we fabricate hierarchically structured porous carbon electrodes (cNPIM), prepared by solution casting of a polymer of intrinsic microporosity (PIM-1) followed by nonsolvent-induced phase separation and carbonization. The obtained material exhibits a considerable surface area (∼2100 m2 g−1), high electrical conductivity (150 S cm−1), high specific capacitances (345, 235, and 195 F g−1 in three-, two-electrode aqueous systems, and two-electrode organic systems, respectively) at 1 A g−1, and an exceptional specific energy of 43.2 W h kg−1 at a specific power of 1.25 kW kg−1, featuring a pore size gradient in the surface normal direction.

This study is aimed to compare whole-spine lateral radiograph (WLR) and cervical lateral radiograph (CLR) in terms of T1 slope visibility and cervical sagittal parameters and to identify the superior imaging modality for assessment of cervical sagittal parameters. We retrospectively reviewed the radiographic data of 60 consecutive adult patients (male-to-female ratio, 38:22; mean age, 55.6 ± 1.3 years) who presented with only neck pain (without radiculopathy or myelopathy). All the patients underwent standing CLR and WLR. The following parameters were measured and analyzed: 1.T1 slope visibility,2.T1 slope,3.C7 slope,4.C0–C2 Cobb angle (CAC0–C2),5.C2–C7 Cobb angle (CAC2–C7), and6.cervical sagittal vertical axis (cSVA). The visibility of the T1 slope was significantly lower with WLR than with CLR (28.3% vs 83.3%, P = .049). The mean CAC2–C7 on WLR was significantly less lordotic than that on CLR (11.2 ± 9.2° vs 14.3 ± 11.3°; P = .01). The mean cSVA was translated more posteriorly on WLR than on CLR (9.9 ± 18.9 mm vs 15.0 ± 13.4 mm, P = .04). However, no significant differences in T1 slope, C7 slope, and CAC0–C2 were found between CLR and WLR. This study shows that standing CLR could provide better visualization of the upper endplate of T1. Furthermore, WLR taken in hands on clavicle position distorted radiographic measurements such as CAC2-C7 and cSVA. Therefore, CLR performed in the standing position seems to allow more-accurate measurements of cervical sagittal parameters.

Carboxylate-functionalized polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) are promising materials for gas separation application. However, highly carboxylate-functionalized PIMs (HCPIMs) have not been reported owing to overlooked intermediate products. Herein, we successfully prepared HCPIMs (∼92 mol % of carboxylic acid group) through a prolonged alkaline hydrolysis process (360 h). HCPIMs were found to be soluble in various organic solvents, such as tetrahydrofuran and dimethyl sulfoxide, and then free-standing HCPIM membranes could be prepared by the common solution casting method. The HCPIM membranes were found to have smaller interchain distances and higher CO2 affinity than original PIM-1 films. For example, small gas molecules, such as carbon dioxide, were effectively separated due to the enhanced diffusivity selectivity combined with the smaller cavity size. Further, strong interactions between carbon dioxide and the carboxylic acid groups increased solubility selectivity. These synergetic effects end...

In this work, we investigated the effects of the flow modifier addition on the rheological behavior and mechanical properties of high-filled polyamide 66 composites prepared from melt compounding. The flow modifiers were prepared from various amine monomers and fatty acids, and their structures were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The synthesized flow modifiers were added simultaneously during melt compounding. The presence of flow modifiers significantly reduced torque in neat polyamide 66 polymer and glass fiber-reinforced polyamide 66 composites, respectively, while the torque during compounding in composites with glass fiber contents of 50 wt% has decreased by approximately 12% after the addition of 1 phr of hexamethylene bis -stearamide indicating the simultaneous enhancement in flowability. The presence of the synthesized flow modifiers in matrix polymers improves flowability of the composites during injection molding without compromising the mechanical properties.

We purified an ∼6.4-kDa antimicrobial peptide from an acidified gill extract of the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas , by cation-exchange and C 18 reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The identified peptide was composed of 54 amino acids and had a molecular weight of 6484.6 Da. Comparison of the amino acid sequence and molecular weight with those of other known proteins or peptides revealed that the peptide had high identity with the 60S ribosomal protein L29, and so was named cgRPL29. The full-length cgRPL29 cDNA of the Pacific oyster comprised 325-bp, including a 5'-untranslated region (UTR) of 100-bp, a 3′-UTR of 57-bp, and an open reading frame of 168-bp encoding 55 amino acids, with a Met residue at the N-terminus. The cgRPL29 mRNA tissue distribution suggested that it is constitutively expressed in a non-tissue-specific manner. Secondary structural prediction and homology modeling indicated cgRPL29 have an unordered structure containing two partial α-helical regions. This is to our knowledge the first report of the antimicrobial effect of the 60S ribosomal protein L29 from marine invertebrates.

Ship collision avoidance involves helping ships find routes that will best enable them to avoid a collision. When more than two ships encounter each other, the procedure becomes more complex since a slight change in course by one ship might affect the future decisions of the other ships. Two distributed algorithms have been developed in response to this problem: Distributed Local Search Algorithm (DLSA) and Distributed Tabu Search Algorithm (DTSA). Their common drawback is that it takes a relatively large number of messages for the ships to coordinate their actions. This could be fatal, especially in cases of emergency, where quick decisions should be made. In this paper, we introduce Distributed Stochastic Search Algorithm (DSSA), which allows each ship to change herintentionin a stochastic manner immediately after receiving all of the intentions from the target ships. We also suggest a new cost function that considers both safety and efficiency in these distributed algorithms. We empirically show that DSSA requires many fewer messages for the benchmarks with four and 12 ships, and works properly for real data from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) in the Strait of Dover.

The multifunctional properties of 2D boron nitride nanoflakes (BNNFs) in gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) are presented. A small addition (0.5 wt%) of BNNFs into the GPE substantially improves all the advantageous properties of the GPE including ionic conductivity, Li+ transference number, mechanical modulus, and dendrite-suppressing capability, thereby enabling high performance lithium metal batteries.

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, motile and rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated RA2-7T, was isolated from a mussel (Mytilus edulis) collected from the South Sea, South Korea, and subjected to a taxonomic study using a polyphasic approach. Strain RA2-7T grew optimally at 20 °C, at pH 7.0–8.0 and in the presence of 2.0–3.0 % (w/v) NaCl. The phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain RA2-7T belonged to the genus Colwellia . Strain RA2-7T exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 98.3, 98.0 and 97.5 % to the type strains of Colwellia sediminilitoris , Colwellia aestuarii and Colwellia polaris , respectively, and of 94.5–96.5 % to the type strains of the other species of the genus Colwellia . Strain RA2-7T contained Q-8 as the predominant ubiquinone and summed feature 3 (C16 : 1 ω7c and/or C16 : 1 ω6c) and C16 : 0 as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids detected in strain RA2-7T were phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine. The DNA G+C content of strain RA2-7T was 39.0±0.04 mol% and its DNA–DNA relatedness values with the type strains of C . sediminilitoris , C. aestuarii and C. polaris were 14–19 %. Differential phenotypic properties, together with its phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, revealed that strain RA2-7T is separated from recognized species of the genus Colwellia . On the basis of the data presented, strain RA2-7T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Colwellia , for which the name Colwellia mytili sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is RA2-7T (=KCTC 52417T=NBRC 112381T).

NAD(P)-dependent steroid dehydrogenase-like (NSDHL), an essential enzyme in human cholesterol synthesis and a regulator of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) trafficking pathways, has attracted interest as a therapeutic target due to its crucial relevance to cholesterol-related diseases and carcinomas. However, the development of pharmacological agents for targeting NSDHL has been hindered by the absence of the atomic details of NSDHL. In this study, we reported two X-ray crystal structures of human NSDHL, which revealed a detailed description of the coenzyme-binding site and the unique conformational change upon the binding of a coenzyme. A structure-based virtual screening and biochemical evaluation were performed and identified a novel inhibitor for NSDHL harboring suppressive activity towards EGFR. In EGFR-driven human cancer cells, treatment with the potent NSDHL inhibitor enhanced the antitumor effect of an EGFR kinase inhibitor. Overall, these findings could serve as good platforms for the development of therapeutic agents against NSDHL-related diseases.

In this study, graphite nanoplatelets (GNPs), known as a thermally conductive and anisotropic carbon material, was used with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as matrix, which is a hydrophilic and biodegradable polymer. In order to expect enhanced thermal conductivity, silver nanoparticle-decorated graphite nanoplatelets (Ag-GNPs) were fabricated by adding silver acetate as a precursor using ‘mix-and-heat’ method. Polyvinyl alcohol composite films containing pristine GNPs and Ag-GNPs were prepared using solution casting method. The prepared composite films were uniaxially stretched to induce the filler alignment along the stretching direction as well as the strain-induced crystallization in polymer chains. The effects of the particle size of GNPs, the silver nanoparticle on the surface of GNPs, and the stretching ratios on the thermal conductivity of the composite films were investigated.

Graphene oxides coated by tannic acid (GOT) can be obtained easily by the self-polymerization of tannic acid in basic buffer solution on a graphene oxide surface. Polyamide reverse osmosis nanocomposite membranes containing GOT in the active layer were prepared by the interfacial polymerization using an organic solution containing trimesoyl chloride and an aqueous solution containing m -phenylene diamine and GOT. The polyamide membrane containing GOT (PA-GOT) showed significantly improved performances such as water flux, chlorine resistance, and antimicrobial properties, compared to the polyamide membrane without any additives and the polyamide membranes containing only tannic acid and/or graphene oxide. These high performances of PA-GOT membrane could be ascribed to a various of advantageous properties of GOT such as improved hydrophilicity, oxidative stress capability, barrier property, and compatibility with the polymer matrix.

The present invention relates to a method for detecting a stand-alone operation of a grid-connected photovoltaic parallel inverter. More specifically, the method prevents application of external disturbances in a parallel operation of the inverter to prevent a negative effect on the power quality of the inverter while enhancing the stand-alone operation detection performance. Accordingly, the method includes the steps of: detecting an angular frequency () of each output voltage from a phase locked loop (PLL) unit while executing a D-Q conversion operation on outputs of the inverter connected to a solar power generation system; measuring a frequency error () in a specific frequency band after removing a noise component in each frequency in a band pass filter (BPF) unit; and increasing the frequency error () to reflect an invalid current increase amount (gain(Kpf)) on an invalid current command value (id-ref) to increase an invalid current when the frequency error () exceeds a preset zero-band range.

A Gram-stain-negative, non-flagellated, non-spore-forming bacterial strain motile by gliding, designated RSS1-6T, was isolated from a golden sea squirt Halocynthia aurantium and its taxonomic position was investigated by using a polyphasic approach. Strain RSS1-6T grew optimally at 30-37 °C and in the presence of 1.0-4.0 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain RSS1-6T fell within the clade comprising species of the genus Tenacibaculum, clustering with the type strains of Tenacibaculum discolor, Tenacibaculum litoreum and Tenacibaculum gallaicum with which it exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 98.5-99.5 %. Strain RSS1-6T contained MK-6 as the predominant menaquinone and iso-C15 : 0, iso-C17 : 0 3-OH and summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c) as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids of strain RSS1-6T were phosphatidylethanolamine, two unidentified lipids, one unidentified aminophospholipid and one unidentified glycolipid. The DNA G+C content was 32.5 mol% and the mean DNA-DNA relatedness values with the type strains of T. discolor, T. litoreum and T. gallaicum were 17.3-25.2 %. The differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, revealed that strain RSS1-6T is separated from other recognized species of the genus Tenacibaculum. On the basis of the data presented, strain RSS1-6T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Tenacibaculum, for which the name Tenacibaculum ascidiaceicola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is RSS1-6T ( = KCTC 42702T = NBRC 111225T).

A Gram-stain-negative, non-spore-forming, non-flagellated and coccoid, ovoid or rod-shaped bacterial strain, RA1-3T, was isolated from a sea squirt (Halocynthia roretzi) collected from the South Sea, South Korea, and subjected to a taxonomic study using a polyphasic approach. Strain RA1-3T grew optimally at 25 °C, at pH 7.0-8.0 and in the presence of 2.0-3.0 % (w/v) NaCl. Neighbour-joining, maximum-likelihood and maximum-parsimony phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain RA1-3T clustered with the type strains of three species of the genus Octadecabacter, showing 97.54-98.41 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity. Sequence similarities to other recognized species were less than 96.97 %. Strain RA1-3T contained Q-10 as the predominant ubiquinone and C18 : 1ω7c as the major fatty acid. The major polar lipids of strain RA1-3T were phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, one unidentified aminolipid and one unidentified lipid. The DNA G+C content of strain RA1-3T was 56 mol% and DNA-DNA relatedness values with the type strains of Octadecabacter temperatus, Octadecabacter antarcticus and Octadecabacter arcticus were 13-24 %. The differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, revealed that strain RA1-3T is separated from other recognized species of the genus Octadecabacter. On the basis of the data presented, strain RA1-3T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Octadecabacter, for which the name Octadecabacter ascidiaceicola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is RA1-3T ( = KCTC 42605T = CECT 8868T).

There is a great deal of research interest regarding substitutes for antibiotics because of various obstacles to the efficacy and use of antibiotics. We isolated and analyzed diversity of microbiota which exhibited antibacterial activity against 23 pathogenic bacteria, to develop alternative agent of antibiotics. By investigating the microbiota from rocks on the seashore, we characterized and obtained various antibacterial material-producing bacteria. Thirty-one isolates belong to four genera and seven species, according to 16S rDNA sequence analysis, showed antibacterial activities against 23 pathogenic bacteria. The Identity of 16S rDNA sequences indicated three species of Bacillus, one species of Paenibacillus, one species of Pseudomonas and two species of Enterobacter. Two isolates were similar to Bacillus aerophilus, four isolates were similar to Bacillus pumilus, seven isolates were similar to Bacillus safensis, 15 isolates were similar to Paenibacillus polymyxa, respectively. In addition, one isolate was similar with Pseudomonas poae, one isolate was similar to Enterobacter asburiae, and one isolate was similar to Enterobacter ludwigii, respectively. Variations of antibacterial activity and level among the same species were indicated the diverse strains of isolates. Vibrio vulnificus showed the highest degree of growth inhibition by 29 isolates. Further studies regarding antibacterial materials and bacteria suggest that development of probiotic strains or alternative agents to antibiotics.

Generally, the rate making is made by the fundamental principle that it should be fairly differentiated in accordance with risk magnitude of insured objects. But the natural insurance is currently rated by city, country and district, which are recognized as rating units and it does not provide any reasonable discriminatory based on risk magnitude. Therefore, only those who possess the high-risked objects of insurance are strongly likely to be insured and it may also cause the problem of adverse-selection. To solve this problem, the single rate of current city, county and district is specified by six zones, depending on the size of inundation depth, as the homogeneous risk. It then suggests another way of calculating the rate making by using insurable value and loss cost of the zonal object of insurance. Then this study applied this method into calculating the zonal rates of Buk-Gu of Ulsan metropolitan city, and so on. Through making a comparison single rate with zonal rate, we confirmed the actual applicability of using this study.

Generally, it is a fundamental principle of the rate making which should be fairly discriminatory in accordance with risk level of insured objects. However, the current greenhouse(vinyl greenhouse) insurance is estimated and applied by a single rate of current city, county and district unit and it is not fairly discriminatory by the risk level of greenhouse(vinyl greenhouse). In this case, only farmers who possess the high-risk greenhouse(vinyl greenhouse) are likely to be insured and it may cause an adverse selection problem. Therefore, this study classified the current single rate of city, county and district into four rating units, depending on the degree of risk of greenhouse(vinyl greenhouse) and also calculated a mean damage ratio in each class. It suggested a differentiated rate method, applying the calculated mean damage ratio. As using the method in this study, it calculated rates of Andong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do and four other city, county and district units. It confirmed the actual applicability of the method through making a comparison analysis of the single rate.

The fleshy shrimp, Fenneropenaeus chinensis, is the family of Penaeidae and one of the most economically important marine culture species in Korea. However, its genetic characteristics have never been studied. In this study, a total of 240 wild F. chinensis individuals were collected from four locations as follows: Narodo (NRD, n = 60), Beopseongpo (BSP, n = 60), Chaesukpo (CSP, n = 60), and Cheonsuman (CSM, n = 60). Genetic variability and the relationships among four wild F. chinensis populations were analyzed using 13 newly developed microsatellite loci. Relatively high levels of genetic variability (mean allelic richness = 16.87; mean heterozygosity = 0.845) were found among localities. Among the 52 population loci, 13 showed significant deviation from the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. Neighbor-joining, principal coordinate, and molecular variance analyses revealed the presence of three subpopulations (NRD, CSM, BSP and CSP), which was consistent with clustering based on genetic distance. The mean observed heterozygosity values of the NRD, CSM, BSP, and CSP populations were 0.724, 0.821, 0.814, and 0.785 over all loci, respectively. These genetic variability and differentiation results of the four wild populations can be applied for future genetic improvement using selective breeding and to design suitable management guidelines for Korean F. chinensis culture.

Unintentional islanding results in safety hazards, reliability, and many other issues. Therefore, the islanding detection of a power conditioning system of a distributed generation, such as a grid-connected photovoltaic inverter, is a key function for standard compliance. Currently, many anti-islanding schemes have been examined, but existing anti-islanding schemes have poor power quality and non-detection zone issues. Therefore, this study analyzes the non-detection zone in a more deliberate manner than the existing analysis of the non-detection zone and proposes a new anti-islanding scheme, which has negligible power quality degradation and no non-detection zone. Simulation and experimental results validate that the proposed scheme shows much better performance than other existing schemes.

Seaweeds have valuable pharmacological properties attributed to the presence of various bioactive compounds. In this study, the phytochemical composition and antioxidant activity of various crude extracts of Hypnea musciformis were determined. Phytochemical screening, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis were performed to identify the chemical composition of the crude extracts. Antioxidant activity was assayed by total antioxidant capacity for phosphomolybdenum, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2-Azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) and reducing power (RP) assays. The various extracts contained terpenoid, saponin, phlobatannin, cardiac glycosides, phenolics and flavonoids at varying concentrations. FT-IR results confirmed the presence of phenols, carboxylic acid, ketones, ethers, aromatics, amides and sulfonates. GC-MS of organic extracts showed that the extracts contain numerous high and low molecular weight compounds. Methanol extract showed the highest phenolic content and antioxidant activity measured by different assays such as phosphomolybdenum (8.2 mg ascorbic acid equivalent), DPPH (79.34%), ABTS (80.21%) and RP (2.36 absorbance at 700 nm) followed by butanol, chloroform and ethyl acetate. Furthermore, methanol and butanol extracts inhibited radical-induced DNA damage. Practical Applications Hypnea musciformis is widely known source for carrageenan but phytochemical composition and functional activities of this seaweed have not been well studied. Extraction of functional compound depends on solvent and method employed. Results found that the extract showed the presence of diversified phytochemical composition with its potent antioxidant activity at varying degrees. Our results can be used in the future to identify, isolate and characterize the specific compounds responsible for antioxidant activity.

A Gram-stain-negative, non-motile, aerobic and ovoid or rod-shaped bacterium, designated MA4-5T, was isolated from ark shell (Scapharca broughtonii) collected from the South Sea, South Korea. The novel strain grew optimally at 25 °C, at pH 7.0–8.0 and in the presence of 2.0 % (w/v) NaCl. Neighbour-joining and maximum-likelihood phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain MA4-5T forms a coherent cluster with the type strains of Roseovarius albus, Roseovarius aestuarii and Roseovarius nubinhibens, sharing 97.0–99.2 % sequence similarity. It exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 93.1–96.1 % to the type strains of other Roseovarius species. Strain MA4-5T contained Q-10 as the predominant ubiquinone and C18 : 1ω7c as the major fatty acid. The major polar lipids of strain MA4-5T were phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, one unidentified aminolipid and one unidentified lipid. The DNA G+C content of strain MA4-5T was 53.8 mol% and its mean DNA–DNA relatedness values with the type strains of R. albus, R. aestuarii and R. nubinhibens were 11–26 %. Differential phenotypic properties, together with phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, indicated that strain MA4-5T is separate from recognized species of the genus Roseovarius. On the basis of the data presented, strain MA4-5T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Roseovarius, for which the name Roseovarius scapharcae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MA4-5T ( = KCTC 42703T = NBRC 111226T).

We isolated and characterised a cDNA encoding the aspartic protease cathepsin E (CTSE) in Korean rose bitterling, Rhodeus uyekii. The full-length Rhodeus uyekii CTSE (RuCTSE) cDNA (1396 bp) contains an open reading frame of 1218 bp, encoding 405 amino acids. Alignment of multiple CTSE protein sequences revealed that two of the aspartyl protease active site residues and a disulphide bond were well-conserved among the other CTSE sequences. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that RuCTSE is most closely related to freshwater fish cathepsin E. RuCTSE is widely expressed in the liver, spleen, ovary, testis, brain, eye, intestine, muscle, fin, stomach, and kidney. This first report of teleost CTSE will provide important information related to the identification of other cathepsin E genes in various fish species and will serve as a useful molecular tool to help clarify biological activities in other teleosts.

A 64-year-old man was treated with sunitinib as a first-line therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma. He was given oral sunitinib in cycles of 50 mg once daily for 2 weeks followed by a week off. During the 5th week of treatment right upper quadrant pain developed, but this resolved spontaneously during the 6th week (off treatment). However, on the 8th week of treatment, he was admitted to hospital because the acute right upper quadrant pain recurred with nausea, vomiting, and fever. Acute acalculous cholecystitis was then diagnosed by ultrasonography and CT. In addition, his laboratory findings indicated disseminated intravascular coagulation. Accordingly, sunitinib therapy was discontinued and broad-spectrum antibiotics initiated. He subsequently recovered after emergent percutaneous cholecystostomy. His Naranjo Adverse Drug Reaction Probability Scale score was 7, indicaing a probable association of the event with sunitinib. Suspicion of sunitinib-related acute cholecystitis is required, because, although uncommon, it can be life-threatening.

Controlling the anisotropy of two-dimensional materials with orientation-dependent heat transfer characteristics is a possible solution to resolve severe thermal issues in future electronic devices. We demonstrate a dramatic enhancement in the in-plane thermal conductivity of stretchable poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanohybrid films containing small amounts (below 10 wt %) of hexagonal boron nitride ( h-BN) nanoplatelets. The h-BN nanoplatelets were homogeneously dispersed in the PVA polymer solution by ultrasonication without additional surface modification. The mixture was used to prepare thermally conductive nanocomposite films. The in-plane thermal conductivity of the resulting PVA/ h-BN nanocomposite films increased to 6.4 W/mK when the strain was increased from 0 to 100% in the horizontal direction. More specifically, the thermal conductivity of a PVA/ h-BN composite film with 10 wt % filler loading can be improved by up to 32 times as compared to pristine PVA. This outstanding thermal conductivity value is significantly larger than that of materials currently used in in-plane thermal management systems. This result is attributed to the anisotropic alignment of h-BN particles in the PVA chain matrix during stretching, enhancing phonon conductive paths and hence improving the thermal conductivity and thermal properties of PVA/ h-BN nanocomposite films. These polymer nanocomposites have low cost as the amount of expensive conductive fillers is reduced and can be potentially used as high-performance materials for thermal management systems such as heat sink and thermal interface materials, for future electronic and electrical devices.

We developed a solution-processable, thin, and high-dielectric polyurea-based organic gate insulator for low-voltage operation and high performance of organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs). A 60 nm-thick polyurea thin film exhibited a high dielectric constant of 5.82 and excellent electrical insulating properties owing to strong hydrogen bonding. The hydrogen bonding of the synthesized polyurea was confirmed using infrared spectroscopy and was quantitatively evaluated by measuring the interactive force using atomic force microscopy. Moreover, the effect of hydrogen bonding of polyurea on the insulating properties was systematically investigated through the combination of various monomers and control of the thickness of the polyurea film. The dinaphtho[2,3-b:2′,3′-f]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene-based OTFTs with the polyurea gate insulator showed excellent thin-film transistor (TFT) performance with a field-effect mobility of 1.390 cm2/V·s and an on/off ratio of ∼105 at a low operation voltage below 2 V. In addit...

A new embryonic cell line (OFEC-17FEN) derived from olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus was developed. OFEC-17FEN cells were subcultured for

An antimicrobial peptide with 55 amino acid residues was purified by C18 reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) from foot extract of the hard-shelled mussel, Mytilus coruscus. This peptide showed strong antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, as well as fungi. The purified peptide was determined to have a molecular mass of 6202 Da by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrophotometry (MALDI-TOF/MS). The identified 20-amino acid sequence of the purified peak by Edman degradation shared 100% identity with the N-terminal regions of mytichitin-1, mytichitin-2, mytichitin-3, mytichitin-4, mytichitin-5, and chitinase-like protein-1, and so was named mytichitin-CBD. The cDNA of mytichitin-CBD was cloned and sequenced by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The mRNA transcripts were mainly detected in foot tissue, and they were up-regulated and peaked at 4 h after bacterial infection. We constructed and expressed recombinant mytichitin-CBD protein which displayed antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative bacteria Gram-positive bacteria and the fungus as well as anti-parasitic activity against scuticociliates. The results of this study demonstrate that the peptide isolated from M. coruscus is related to the innate immune system of this marine invertebrate and is a possible alternative to antibiotics.

A 5.6 kDa antimicrobial peptide (AMP) was purified from acidified gill extract of the pen shell, Atrina pectinata, by cation exchange and C18 reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography. Comparison of the amino acid sequences and molecular weight of this peptide with those of other known AMPs revealed that it had high sequence homology with that of cgMolluscidin or hdMolluscidin; it was designated apMolluscidin. apMolluscidin comprises 59 amino acid residues containing several dibasic residue repeats and sequence repeats such as Lys-Lys and Lys-Gly. apMolluscidin exhibited potent antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive bacteria including Bacillus subtilis (minimal effective concentration [MEC], 2.1 μg/mL), and Gram-negative bacteria including E. coli D31 (MEC, 0.5 μg/mL), without hemolytic activity. However, it did not show any activity against fungi such as Candida albicans. Secondary structure prediction suggested that it might form two helical regions and have an amphipathic structure. Full-length apMolluscidin cDNA contained 812 base pairs (bp), including a 5′-untranslated region (UTR) of 82 bp, a 3′-UTR of 547 bp, and a coding sequence of 183 bp encoding 60 amino acids (containing Met). Furthermore, qPCR analyses revealed that the mature peptide translated from apMolluscidin mRNA is expressed in a tissue-specific manner in locations such as the gill and siphon. These results indicate that apMolluscidin might be related to the innate immune defense system of abalone and may not act directly on the bacterial membrane. This is the first report of an AMP from the pen shell with a fully identified amino acid sequence.

A Gram-stain-negative, non-motile, aerobic and rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated RA3-3-1T, was isolated from splendid alfonsino (Beryxsplendens) collected from the North Pacific Ocean. Strain RA3-3-1T grew optimally at 25 °C, at pH 7.0–8.0 and in the presence of 1.0–3.0 % (w/v) NaCl. The neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain RA3-3-1T belonged to the genus Bizionia , clustering with the type strain of Bizionia fulviae . Strain RA3-3-1T exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities of 98.7, 97.6 and 97.3 % to the type strains of B. fulviae , Bizionia paragorgiae and Bizionia saleffrena , respectively, and of 95.5–96.4 % to the type strains of the other Bizionia species. Strain RA3-3-1T contained MK-6 as the predominant menaquinone and anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C16 : 0 3-OH, summed feature 3 (C16 : 1 ω7c and/or C16 : 1 ω6c), iso-C17 : 0 3-OH, iso-C15 : 0 and C17 : 0 2-OH as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids detected in strain RA3-3-1T were phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified lipid and one unidentified aminolipid. The DNA G+C content of strain RA3-3-1T was 34.1 mol% and its DNA–DNA relatedness values with the type strains of B. fulviae , B. paragorgiae and B. saleffrena were 12–29 %. Differential phenotypic properties, together with its phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, revealed that strain RA3-3-1T is separate from recognized species of the genus Bizionia . On the basis of the data presented, strain RA3-3-1T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Bizionia , for which the name Bizionia berychis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is RA3-3-1T (=KCTC 62140T=NBRC 113024T).

Oxidative stresses, such as reactive oxygen species, reactive electrophilic species, reactive nitrogen species, and reactive chlorine species, can damage cellular components, leading to cellular malfunction and death. In response to oxidative stress, bacteria have evolved redox-responsive sensors that enable them to simultaneously monitor and eradicate potential oxidative stress. Specifically, redox-sensing transcription regulators react to oxidative stress by means of modifying the thiol groups of cysteine residues, functioning as part of an efficient survival mechanism for many bacteria. In general, oxidative molecules can induce changes in the three-dimensional structures of redox sensors, which, in turn, affects the transcription of specific genes in detoxification pathways and defense mechanisms. Moreover, pathogenic bacteria utilize these redox sensors for adaptation and to evade subsequent oxidative attacks from host immune defense. For this reason, the redox sensors of pathogenic bacteria are potential antibiotic targets. Understanding the regulatory mechanisms of thiol-based redox sensors in bacteria will provide insight and knowledge into the discovery of new antibiotics.

Vinyl addition polymers of substituted norbornene (NB) monomers possess very high glass-transition temperatures, making them useful in diverse applications; however, until very recently, the lack of an applicable living polymerization chemistry has precluded the synthesis of such polymers with controlled architecture, or copolymers with controlled sequence distribution. In the present work, block and random copolymers of NB monomers bearing hydroxyhexafluoroisopropyl and n-butyl substituents (HFANB and BuNB) are synthesized via living vinyl addition polymerization, using (η3-allyl)Pd(i-Pr3P)Cl activated by [Li(OEt2)2.5]B(C6F5)4 as the initiator. Both series of polymers are cast into the selective skin layers of thin film composite (TFC) membranes, and these organophilic membranes are investigated for the concentration of n-butanol from dilute aqueous solution via pervaporation. The block copolymers show well-defined microphase-separated morphologies, both in bulk and as the selective skin layers on TFC me...

Thioredoxin is a multifunctional antioxidant enzyme that belongs to the reductase family. In this study, we cloned and characterized thioredoxin 1 cDNA from the Korean rose bitterling Rhodeus uyekii (RuTrx). The full-length RuTrx cDNA consists of 674 bp with a 324 nt open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 107 aa protein. The deduced RuTrx amino acid sequence indicated a characteristic redox active site, (31)WCGPC(35). Pairwise alignment revealed RuTrx amino acid identity (55.1%-83.2%) with orthologs from various species of mammalia, amphibia, fish and bird. Phylogenetic analysis was conducted to determine the evolutionary position of RuTrx. Expression analysis showed that RuTrx transcripts were present in all of the tissues examined, and was high in the hepatopancreas of R. uyekii. During early development, the expression of RuTrx transcripts was increased. Recombinant RuTrx protein (rRuTrx) was tested for its capacity to serve as an antioxidant enzyme using a metal-catalyzed oxidation (MCO) system. The ability of rRuTrx to protect against supercoiled DNA cleavage due to oxidative nicking increased in a dose-dependent manner. In Raw264.7 cells, Dihydroethidium (DHE) staining for ROS production indicated the antioxidant activity of rRuTrx. Together, these findings suggest that RuTrx may play a role in maintaining the redox state balance in Korean rose bitterling R. uyekii.

A Gram-negative, aerobic, non-spore-forming, motile and ovoid or rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated MA2-16T, was isolated from ark shell (Scapharca broughtonii) collected from the South Sea, South Korea. Strain MA2-16T was found to grow optimally at 30°C, at pH 7.0–8.0 and in the presence of 2.0% (w/v) NaCl. Neighbour-joining, maximum-likelihood and maximum-parsimony phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain MA2-16T clustered with the type strain of Sedimentitalea nanhaiensis. The novel strain exhibited a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity value of 97.1% to the type strain of S. nanhaiensis. In the neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree based on gyrB sequences, strain MA2-16T formed an evolutionary lineage independent of those of other taxa. Strain MA2-16T contained Q-10 as the predominant ubiquinone and C18:1 ω7c and 11-methyl C18:1 ω7c as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids of strain MA2-16T were phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, an unidentified aminolipid and an unidentified lipid. The DNA G+C content of strain MA2-16T was 57.7 mol% and its DNA-DNA relatedness values with the type strains of S. nanhaiensis and some phylogenetically related species of the genera Leisingera and Phaeobacter were 13–24%. On the basis of the data presented, strain MA2-16T is considered to represent a novel genus and novel species within the family Rhodobacteraceae, for which the name Aliisedimentitalea scapharcae gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MA2-16T (=KCTC 42119T =CECT 8598T).