Naringenin (NAR) as one of the flavonoids observed in grapefruit has been reported to exhibit an anti-cancer activity. Activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) is associated with apoptosis in human colon cancer cells. This study was performed to investigate the molecular mechanism by which NAR stimulates ATF3 expression and apoptosis in human colon cancer cells. NAR reduced the cell viability and induced an apoptosis in human colon cancer cells. ATF3 overexpression increased NAR-mediated cleaved PARP, while ATF3 knockdown attenuated the cleavage of PARP by NAR. NAR increased ATF3 expression in both protein and mRNA level, and increased the luciferase activity of ATF3 promoter in a dose-dependent manner. The responsible region for ATF3 transcriptional activation by NAR is located between -317 and -148 of ATF3 promoter. p38 inhibition blocked NAR-mediated ATF3 expression, its promoter activation and apoptosis. The results suggest that NAR induces apoptosis through p38-dependent ATF3 activation in human colon cancer cells.
Activating Transcription Factor 3 ; Apoptosis* ; Cell Survival ; Citrus paradisi ; Colon* ; Colonic Neoplasms* ; Flavonoids ; Humans* ; Luciferases ; RNA, Messenger ; Transcriptional Activation

Kahweol as a coffee-specific diterpene has been reported to induce apoptosis in human cancer cells. Although some molecular targets for kahweol-mediated apoptosis have been elucidated, the further mechanism for apoptotic effect of kahweol is not known. Activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) has been reported to be associated with apoptosis in colorectal cancer. The present study was performed to investigate the molecular mechanism by which kahweol stimulates ATF3 expression and apoptosis in human colorectal cancer cells. Kahweol increased apoptosis in human colorectal cancer cells. It also increased ATF3 expression through the transcriptional activity. The responsible cis-element for ATF3 transcriptional activation by kahweol was CREB located between −147 to −85 of ATF3 promoter. ATF3 overexpression increased kahweol-mediated cleaved PARP, while ATF3 knockdown attenuated the cleavage of PARP by kahweol. Inhibition of ERK1/2 and GSK3β blocked kahweol-mediated ATF3 expression. The results suggest that kahweol induces apoptosis through ATF3-mediated pathway in human colorectal cancer cells.
Activating Transcription Factor 3* ; Apoptosis* ; Coffee* ; Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Humans* ; Transcriptional Activation

Byproducts in lignocellulose hydrolysates, namely sodium formate (1 to 5 g/L), sodium acetic (2.5 to 8.0 g/L), furfural (0.2-2 g/L), 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF, 1 to 1.0 g/L) or vanillin (0.5 to 2 g/L) were used to evaluate their effects on ethanol fermentation by Issatchenkia orientalis HN-1 using single factor test and the response surface central composite experiment. Results showed that most of the byproducts had no obvious inhibition on the production of ethanol, except for the addition of 2 g/L vanillin or 1 g/L of 5-HMF, which reduced the ethanol production by 20.38% and 11.2%, respectively. However, high concentration of some byproducts in lignocellulose hydrolysates, such as sodium formate (1 to 5 g/L), sodium acetic (2.5 to 8.0 g/L), furfural (0.2 to 2 g/L) and vanillin (0.5 to 2 g/L) inhibited the growth of I. orientalis HN-1 significantly. Compared with the control, the dry cell weight of I. orientalis HN-1 decreased by 25.04% to 37.02%, 28.83% to 43.82%, 20.06% to 37.60% and 26.39% to 52.64%, respectively, when the above components were added into the fermentation broth and the fermentation lasted for 36 h. No significant interaction effect of the various inhibitors (sodium formate, sodium acetic, furfural and vanillin) except for vanillin single factor on the ethanol production was observed based on the central composite experiments. The concentrations of byproducts in most lignocellulose hydrolysates were below the initial inhibition concentration on ethanol production by Issatchenkia orientalis HN-1, which indicated that Issatchenkia orientalis HN-1 can be used for ethanol production from lignocellulose hydrolysates.
Ethanol ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Furaldehyde ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; Lignin ; chemistry ; Saccharomycetales ; metabolism

The study was conducted to investigate the influences of food service employees' job burnout, job engagement, and workplace safety perception on their job satisfaction. A survey was administered on 589 school food service employees in Gyeongbuk from December 5, 2005 to February 18, 2006. The final response rate was 71% (N = 416); the data were analyzed using SPSS Windows (ver. 12.0). A majority of the respondents were females (99.0%) and 40 years old or older (75.3%); 84% were temporary contract-based or irregular workers. Among the job burnout dimensions, exhaustion (2.98 +/-0.59) was rated higher than cynicism (2.33 +/-0.54), while professional efficacy level (3.61 +/-0.47) was relatively high. In terms of job engagement, the means of absorption (3.67 +/-0.49) and dedication (3.65 +/-0.52) were higher than that of vigor (3.22 +/-0.46). A systematic environmental level (3.15 +/-0.58) was lower than safety knowledge level (3.63 +/-0.49) among the workplace safety statistics, whereas the anxiety level (3.25 +/-0.74) was relatively high. The food service staff were more satisfied with 'supervisors' and 'co-workers' than with 'pay' and 'promotion'. A hierarchial regression analysis revealed that dedication, absorption, systematic environment, and safety knowledge were significant factors to increase job satisfaction and exhaustion which significantly decreased their job satisfaction.
Absorption ; Adult ; Anxiety ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Female ; Food Services* ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Humans ; Job Satisfaction*

In order to learn the enzymatic hydrolysis characteristics of steam-explosion pretreated corn straw by cellulase, the effects of substrate concentration, cellulase concentration and temperature were determined. The kinetics of the hydrolysis reaction could be described with the Michealis-Menten equation, and the hydrolysis reaction obeyed the classical first-order reaction rate in the first three hours. In the condition of 45 degrees C and pH 5.0 and the stirring rate 120 r/min, the Michealis constant (Km) and maximum rate (Vm) for 1.2 FPU/mL of cellulase were 11.71 g/L and 1.5 g/(L x h). The kinetic model, including the parameters such as substrate concentration, enzymatic concentration and temperature, was suit for the hydrolysis reaction under the temperature range from 30 degrees C-50 degrees C.
Catalysis ; Cellulase ; chemistry ; Hydrolysis ; Kinetics ; Plant Stems ; Steam ; Zea mays

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of emotional labor and communication competence on geriatric nursing in nurses-related stress in nurses caring for older patients. Methods: The sample consisted of 147 general hospital nurses. Data were analyzed through the SPSS/WIN 21.0 program using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and multiple regression. Results: The factors of emotional labor (β=.38, p<.001)and positive communication competence (β=-.20, p=.021) had the greatest influence on the level of stress related to geriatric nursing in nurses caring for older patients. The total explanatory power was 20.3%. Conclusion It was found that emotional labor and communication competence were influencing factors in the stress related to geriatric nursing. Therefore, to improve nurses’ stress related to geriatric nursing, strategies to manage the emotional labor, and to strengthen and develop positive communication competence need to be developed.

Naringenin (NAR) as one of the flavonoids observed in grapefruit has been reported to exhibit an anti-cancer activity. However, more detailed mechanism by which NAR exerts anti-cancer properties still remains unanswered. Thus, in this study, we have shown that NAR down-regulates the level of cyclin D1 in human colorectal cancer cell lines, HCT116 and SW480. NAR inhibited the cell proliferation in HCT116 and SW480 cells and decreased the level of cyclin D1 protein. Inhibition of proteasomal degradation by MG132 blocked NAR-mediated cyclin D1 downregulation and the half-life of cyclin D1 was decreased in the cells treated with NAR. In addition, NAR increased the phosphorylation of cyclin D1 at threonine-286 and a point mutation of threonine-286 to alanine blocked cyclin D1 downregulation by NAR. p38 inactivation attenuated cyclin D1 downregulation by NAR. From these results, we suggest that NAR-mediated cyclin D1 downregulation may result from proteasomal degradation through p38 activation. The current study provides new mechanistic link between NAR, cyclin D1 downregulation and cell growth in human colorectal cancer cells.
Alanine ; Cell Line ; Cell Proliferation ; Citrus paradisi ; Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Cyclin D1* ; Down-Regulation* ; Flavonoids ; Half-Life ; Humans ; Phosphorylation ; Point Mutation

Dry ice is a solid form of carbon dioxide and is commonly used in everyday life to keep food or medicine cold. In South Korea, there have been rare cases of carbon dioxide asphyxiation and poisoning from dry ice, though there have been no reports of its use in suicide. In the first case, a man was found lying down dead and left a large amount of dry ice in his room. In the second case, a man died by tying a belt around his neck after placing a plastic bag filled with dry ice over his head. The third death was by placing a large amount of dry ice in a large rubber basin in his room and filling it with water. Dry ice itself is mostly harmless, but if it is not handled carefully in a confined space, it can cause accidents due to accidental oxygen deprivation. Its easy availability in everyday life also means it is likely to be misused for suicidal purposes. Investigators should consider the potential for asphyxiation or poisoning incidents if they discover dry ice or its packaging at the forensic scene.

To improve microbial lipid production, we inserted mTn-lacZ/leu2 into Trichosporon fermentans 2.1368-Leu(-) to obtain high lipid production mutants. By observing the LacZ chromogenic change, the positive reaction between Cerulenin (inhibitor of fatty acid synthase) and phosphate vanillin, a higher lipid-producing mutant 2.1368-Leu(-)-7 grown on corn-stalk hydrolysate was obtained. The lipid content of this mutant reached 38.30% (8.97% higher than that of the control) and the lipid production rate was 8.35% (20.63% higher than that of the control). The rate of sugar utilization was 77%, meaning that 100 g corn-stalk could be converted to 8.32 g lipid. The study provided an effective method for microbial lipid production by using cheap raw materials for biodiesel.
3-Isopropylmalate Dehydrogenase ; genetics ; Biofuels ; DNA Transposable Elements ; genetics ; Fermentation ; Lac Operon ; genetics ; Lipids ; biosynthesis ; Mutagenesis, Insertional ; Mutation ; Plant Stems ; metabolism ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins ; genetics ; Trichosporon ; genetics ; metabolism ; Zea mays ; metabolism

High-concentration sugars production from stover is an important perspective technology for the cellulosic ethanol industrialization. Fed-batch process is an effective way to achieve this goal in the fermentation industry. In this study, based on fed-batch process, high-concentration sugars were produced from pretreated corn stover by enzymatic hydrolysis. After being pretreated by the dilute sulphuric acid, the impacts of the ratio of solid raw material to liquid culture, the content of supplementary materials and the refilling time on the saccharification rate were investigated. Results showed that the initial ratio of solid raw material to liquid culture was 20% (W/V) and the initial concentrations of enzymes for xylanase, cellulose and pectinase were 220 U, 6 FPU, and 50 U per gram of substrates, respectively. After 24 hours and 48 hours, 8% pretreated corn stovers were added respectively together with the additions of xylanase (20 U) and cellulose (2 FPU) per gram of substrates. After 72 hours, the final concentration of reducing sugar was increased to 138.5 g/L from 48.5 g/L of the non fed-batch process. The rate of enzyme hydrolysis of the raw material was 62.5% of the thoretical value in the fed-batch process. This study demonstrated that the fed-batch process could significantly improve the concentration of reducing sugar.
Batch Cell Culture Techniques ; methods ; Carbohydrates ; analysis ; Cellulase ; metabolism ; Cellulose ; metabolism ; Endo-1,4-beta Xylanases ; metabolism ; Ethanol ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Hydrolysis ; Plant Stems ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Zea mays ; chemistry