Removal of static electricity on polyimide film surface by O2 or Ar cold plasma etching

Cold plasma of O₂ or Ar was irradiated on hydrophobic Kapton surface to attenuate or remove the electrostatic potential. A measurement on charge dissipation speed clarifies the obscure effect of plasma. These consequences reveal that O₂ plasma etching is more effective than Ar plasma. After 30 days, the dissipation speed of accumulated charge on initially etched sample has not changed under summar season.     

Preparation and acid dye adsorption behavior of polyurethane/chitosan composite foams

We prepared a series of polyurethane(PU)/chitosan composite foams with different chitosan content of 5∼20 wt% and investigated their adsorption performance of acid dye (Acid Violet 48) in aqueous solutions with various dye concentrations and pH values. It was observed that PU/chitosan composite foams exhibited well-developed open cell structures. Dye adsorption capacities of the composite foams increased with the increment of chitosan content in composite foams, because amine groups of chitosan serve as the binding sites for sulfonic ions of acid dyes in aqueous solutions. In addition, dye adsorption capacities of composite foams were found to increase with decreasing the pH value, which stems from the fact that the enhanced chemisorption between protonated amine groups of chitosan and sulfonic ions of acid dye is available in acidic solutions. The dye adsoption kinetics and equilibrium isotherm of the composite foams were well described with the pseudo-second order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity (q _max) for the PU/chitosan composite foams with 20 wt% chitosan content is evaluated to be ca. 30 mg/g.     

Estimation of fire severity by use of Landsat TM images and its relevance to vegetation and topography in the 2000 Samcheok forest fire

The severity of the 2000 Samcheok forest fire was classified by using Landsat TM images, and the effects of vegetation structures and topographic conditions on fire severity were analyzed. The estimated normalized difference vegetation index differences between the pre and post-fire Landsat TM images were used as the criteria in determining the levels of fire severity–low, moderate, and extreme. According to the results from fire severity estimation, of the 10,600 ha forest stands, 28% was severely damaged by crown fires, 38% was moderately damaged, and the remaining 34% was damaged slightly by surface fires. The overall accuracy of the fire severity classification was 83% (Kappa coefficient = 0.76). The results of χ ²-tests showed that fire severity differed significantly with the vegetation and topographic conditions as follows. The coniferous stands, compared with the mixed and broad-leaved, were more vulnerable to fire damage; the higher the slope of fire sites, the greater the fire damage; the south was the most vulnerable aspect; fire severity of coniferous forest stands increased with increasing elevation. However, in the study area it was found that fire severity of broad-leaved forest stands were negatively related to the elevation of the corresponding fire sites and affected more by vegetation conditions rather than by topographic conditions.     

Prediction of internal bond strength in a medium density fiberboard process using multivariate statistical methods and variable selection

This paper presents new data mining-based multivariate calibration models for predicting internal bond strength from medium density fiberboard (MDF) process variables. It utilizes genetic algorithms (GA) based variable selection combined with several calibration methods. By adopting a proper variable selection scheme, the prediction performance can be improved because of the exclusion of non-informative variable(s). A case study using real plant data showed that the calibration models based on the process variables selected by GA produced better performance than those without variable selection, with the exception of the radial basis function (RBF) neural networks model. In particular, the calibration model based on supervised probabilistic principal component analysis (SPPCA) yielded better performance (only when using GA) than partial least squares (PLS), orthogonal-PLS (O-PLS), and radial basis function neural networks models. The SPPCA model benefits most from the use of GA-based variable selection in this case study. N. André and H.-W. Cho equally contributed to this work.     

Dry-jet wet spinning of polyhydroxyamide fibers

A high molecular weight polyhydroxyamide (PHA) solution in N, N-dimethyl acetamide (DMAc) was prepared from 3,3′-dihydroxybenzidine and isophthalic chloride (IPC), which was used for spinning PHA fiber. Before spinning, the diffusion property of DMAc into various coagulants was examined. The fiber was well formed in coagulants such as water/ethanol with a composition of 5/5, ethanol, and ethanol/isopropanol with a composition of 7/3 and 5/5. However, the PHA fiber spun in the water/ethanol mixture contained voids. After the fiber spun in ethanol was annealed at over 350°C, the ultimate stress and initial modulus of the fiber increased from 75.5 MPa and 3.22 GPa to 369 MPa and 29.5 GPa, respectively. These properties of the PHA fiber spun by the dry spinning method were also enhanced, attaining 154 MPa and 5.56 Gpa, respectively.     

Functional efficacy analysis of Angelica gigas Nakai on chicken myoblast cells through cell‐based in vitro assay

The value‐added products in livestock industry is one of the key issues in order to maximize the revenue and to create a new business model. Numerous studies have suggested application of herbal plants as feed additives to increase health, productivity, and/or high‐quality product in livestock. In this study, the first experiment was designed to develop in vitro evaluation system by using primary chicken myoblast (pCM) cells isolated from pectoralis major of 10‐day‐old male embryos. Subsequently, to evaluate effects of Korean Danggui Angelica gigas Nakai (AGN), we optimized the concentration of AGN root extract for treatment of primary pCM cells. After the treatment of AGN root extract, we compared proliferation and differentiation capacity, and also examined the gene expression. In the second experiment, the next generation sequencing analysis was performed to compare the different patterns of the global gene expression in pCM cells treated with AGN extract. Three up‐regulated (pancreas beta cells, fatty acid metabolism and glycolysis) and one down‐regulated (adipogenesis) gene sets were characterized suggesting that the AGN extract affected the metabolic pathways for the utilization of fat and glucose in chicken muscle cells. Furthermore, we validated the expression patterns of the up‐regulated genes (GCLC, PTPN6, ISL1, SLC25A13, TGFBI, and YWHAH) in the AGN‐treated pCM cells by quantitative RT‐PCR. These results demonstrated that the treatment of AGN extract decreased proliferation and differentiation of pCM cells, and affected the metabolic pathways of glucose and fatty acids. Moreover, AGN extract derived from byproducts such as stem and leaf also showed the reduced proliferation patterns on AGN‐treated pCM cells. Taken together, pCM cell‐based in vitro assay system could be primarily and efficiently applied for evaluating the biofunctional efficacy of various feed additive candidates.     

Comparative study of the developmental competence of cloned pig embryos derived from spermatogonial stem cells and fetal fibroblasts

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSC) are promising resources for genetic preservation and restoration of male germ cells in humans and animals. However, no studies have used SSC as donor nuclei in pig somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). This study investigated the potential for use of porcine SSC as a nuclei donor for SCNT and developmental competence of SSC‐derived cloned embryos. In addition, demecolcine was investigated to determine whether it could prevent rupture of SSC during SCNT. When the potential of SSC to support embryonic development after SCNT was compared with that of foetal fibroblasts (FF), SSC‐derived SCNT embryos showed a higher (p < .05) developmental competence to the blastocyst stage (47.8%) than FF‐derived embryos (25.6%). However, when SSC were used as donor nuclei in the SCNT process, cell fusion rates were lower (p < .05) than when FF were used (61.9% vs. 75.8%). Treatment of SSC with demecolcine significantly (p < .05) decreased rupture of SSC during the SCNT procedure (7.5% vs. 18.8%) and increased fusion of cell‐oocyte couplets compared with no treatment (74.6% vs. 61.6%). In addition, SSC‐derived SCNT embryos showed higher blastocyst formation (48.4%) than FF‐derived embryos without (28.4%) and with demecolcine treatment (17.4%), even after demecolcine treatment. Our results demonstrate that porcine SSC are a desirable donor cell type for production of SCNT pig embryos and that demecolcine increases production efficiency of cloned embryos by inhibiting rupture of nuclei donor SSC during SCNT.     

Biological evaluation of neopeptins isolated from a Streptomyces strain

BACKGROUND: Microbial secondary metabolites are a rich source of antifungal agents and have merit as alternatives to synthetic fungicides. To develop disease control agents against powdery mildew, the lipopeptide antibiotic neopeptins were identified from the culture broth of a Streptomyces sp., and in vivo control efficacy of the compounds was evaluated on cucumber plants under glasshouse conditions. RESULTS: The Streptomyces sp. KNF2047 antagonistic against powdery mildew development in cucumber plants was isolated from a soil sample. Antifungal compounds were purified from the culture broth and identified as neopeptin A and B. In vitro microtitre assays revealed the inhibitory activities of the compounds in the range 128-512 microg mL(-1) against the mycelial growth of Alternaria mali, Botrytis cinerea, Cladosporium cucumerinum, Colletotrichum lagenarium, Didimella bryoniae and Magnaporthe grisea. Although neither compound showed remarkable in vitro antifungal activity against other plant pathogenic fungi, a mixture of neopeptins (484 mg of neopeptin A and 290 mg of neopeptin B per gram of partially purified powder) showed potent protective and curative activity against cucumber powdery mildew in vivo. The disease control activity of the neopeptins at a concentration of 2.4 mg L(-1) was 92.1%, which was similar to that of the commercial fungicide fenarimol (89.3% at 63 mg L(-1)) and that of the commercial biocontrol agent Actinovate (67.4% at 2 x 10(7) cfu L(-1)). CONCLUSION: Neopeptin mixtures isolated from Streptomyces sp. KNF2047 showed potent disease control activity against powdery mildew development on cucumber plants. .     

Isolation and antifungal activity of lignans from Myristica fragrans against various plant pathogenic fungi

BACKGROUND: In a search for plant extracts with potent in vivo antifungal activity against various plant diseases, we found that treatment with a methanol extract of Myristica fragrans Houttyn (nutmeg) seeds reduced the development of various plant diseases. The objectives of the present study were to isolate and determine antifungal substances from My. fragrans and to evaluate their antifungal activities. RESULTS: Three antifungal lignans were isolated from the methanol extract of My. fragrans seeds and identified as erythro-austrobailignan-6 (EA6), meso-dihydroguaiaretic acid (MDA) and nectandrin-B (NB). In vitro antimicrobial activity of the three lignans varied according to compound and target species. Alternaria alternata, Colletotrichum coccodes, C. gloeosporioides, Magnaporthe grisea, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Acidovorax konjaci and Burkholderia glumae were relatively sensitive to the three lignans. In vivo, all three compounds effectively suppressed the development of rice blast and wheat leaf rust. In addition, EA6 and NB were highly active against the development of barley powdery mildew and tomato late blight, respectively. Both MDA and NB also moderately inhibited the development of rice sheath blight. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to demonstrate the in vitro and in vivo antifungal activities of the three lignans from My. fragrans against plant pathogenic fungi.     

Evaluation of novel adjuvant Eimeria profilin complex on intestinal host immune responses against live E. acervulina challenge infection

The effects against avian coccidiosis of two novel adjuvants, Quil A/cholesterol/dimethyl dioctadecyl ammonium bromide/Carbopol (QCDC) and QCDC/Bay R1005 (R)/cytosine-phosphate-guanosine (CpG) oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG ODN [T]) (QCDCRT) emulsified with profilin, a conserved Eimeria recombinant protein, were determined in broiler chickens. Chickens were subcutaneously immunized with isotonic saline (control group), profilin (P), profilin emulsified with QCDC (P-Q), or profilin with QCDCRT (P-QR) at 2 and 9 days post-hatch and orally challenged with 1.0 x 10(4) sporulated oocysts of Eimeria acervulina (EA) at 7 days postimmunization. All profilin-immunized groups showed increased body weight gain when compared to the control group, and the P-QR group had significantly higher body weight gain than did those of the P and P-Q groups following EA challenge infection. All groups immunized with profilin showed significantly decreased intestinal lesions compared with the control group, with the P-QR group showing the lowest intestinal lesions among the profilin-treated groups. Finally, the P-QR group showed greater CD4+/CD8+ and TCR1+/TCR2+ splenocytes and higher antiprofilin serum antibody titers compared with the P and P-Q (or both) groups following EA challenge infection. These results further suggest that vaccination of chickens with profilin, in combination with the QCDCRT adjuvant, may provide a novel control strategy against EA infection in commercial flocks.