• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.65-71
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• 2013

Despite of the various merits of soil pavement, it has not been widely adapted because portland cement was conventionally used as soil stabilizer to improve the mechanical properties such strength parameters. Recently, natural soil stabilizer(NSS) were developed and virtually adopted to several case of soil pavement construction under control of heavy metal pollution compared to cement-used cases. However, the application of natural soil stabilizer is not settled yet, and empirical design have been widely adopted. In this study, therefore, the strength parameter of soil-NSS mixture was estimated by some triaxial compression tests, CU-test. From the tests, the relationship between curing period and strength parameter such as internal friction and effective cohesion was examined. As a result, effective cohesion of dredged clay and granite soil increased as curing time is increased. However, internal friction is almost same result in all soil type used in this study.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.262-270
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• 2014

BACKGROUND: Coal combustion bottom ash(BA) has high carbon and calcium content, and alkaline pH, which might improve nutrient cycling in soil related to microbial enzyme activities as it is used as soil amendment. However, it contains heavy metals such as copper(Cu), manganese (Mn), and zinc(Zn), which could cause heavy metals accumulation in soil. Compost might play a role that stabilize BA. The objective of this study was to evaluate effect of combined application of BA and compost as soil amendment on heavy metals concentration, enzyme activities, chemical properties, and crop yield in upland soil. METHODS AND RESULTS: BA was applied at the rate of 0, 20, 40, and 80 Mg/ha under different rate of compost application (0 and 30 Mg/ha) in radish (Raphanus sativus var) field. Combined application of BA and compost more improved chemical properties such as pH, EC, OM, total nitrogen, available phosphate, and exchangeable cations of soil than single application of BA. Water soluble Mn and Zn concentration in soil significantly decreased with increasing application rate of BA. Decrease in those metals concentration was accelerated with combined application of BA and compost. Urease and dehydrogenase activities significantly increased with increasing application rate of BA. Phosphotase activities were not affected with single application of BA but increased with combined application of BA and compost. Radish yield was not affected by application rate of BA. CONCLUSION: From the above results, combined application of BA and compost could be used as soil amendment to improve chemical properties and enzyme activities of soil without increase in heavy metal concentration and decrease in crop yield in upland soil.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.55-63
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• 2008

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the selective death of motor neurons. Mutations in the SOD1 gene are responsible for a familial form of ALS (FALS). Although many studies suggest that mutant SOD1 proteins are cytotoxic, the mechanism is not fully understood. To investigate the role of mutant SOD1 in FALS, human SOD1 genes were fused with a PEP-1 peptide in a bacterial expression vector to produce in-frame PEP-1-SOD fusion proteins (wild type and mutants). The expressed and purified PEP-1-SOD fusion proteins were efficiently transduced into neuronal cells. Neurones harboring the A4V, G93A, G85R, and D90A mutants of PEP-1-SOD were more vulnerable to oxidative stress induced by paraquat than those harboring wild-type proteins. Moreover, neurones harboring the mutant SOD proteins had lower heat shock protein (Hsp) expression levels than those harboring wild-type SOD. The effects of the transduced SOD1 fusion proteins may provide an explanation for the association of SOD1 with FALS, and Hsps could be candidate agents for the treatment of ALS.

• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
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• v.7
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• pp.153-163
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• 1989

The activity changes and biochemical properties of ${\beta}$-gal in tomato fruits during ripening were investigated. The total activity was increased during ripening and three isoenzymes (${\beta}$-gal I, II and III) were purified through DEAE Sephadex A-50 and Sephadex G-100 column chromatography. The activities of ${\beta}$gal isoenzymes (${\beta}$-gal I, II and III) during ripening were 69.8, 31.8 and 170.0 units in mature green phase, while those were 48.7, 88.4 and 136.8 units in Red phase, respectively. As the ripening proceeded the activities of ${\beta}$-gal I and III were some what decreased but the activity of ${\beta}$-gal II was incresed more than 2.8 fold. The optimum pH of ${\beta}$-gal I, II and III were 3.9, 4.2 and 3.9 and the optimum temperature of those were $60^{\circ}C$, $56^{\circ}C$ and $60^{\circ}C$, respectively. All isoenzymes were stable at pH 3.6~6.0 and lost their activity about 50% when it heated at $55^{\circ}C$ for 5 minute. $Mg^{{+}{+}}$-activated the three isoenzymes but $Ca^{{+}{+}}$ and SDS inhibited about 30~40%. $Hg^{{+}{+}}$ inhibited completely. The km value of ${\beta}$-gal I, II and III was 0.36mM, 0.63mM and 0.45mM, reaction rate was rapidly increased until the concentration of substrate was $6.0{\times}10^{-5}M$.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.56-66
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• 2016

Generally, the contribution of crop-intake pathway (CIP) is remarkable in human health assessment (HHA) of heavy metal contamination. Although the crop exposure concentrations (Cp) should directly be used for calculating the average daily dose (ADD) of CIP, the soil exposure concentration (Cs) multiplied by soil-crop bio-concentration factor (BCF) has frequently been used instead of using Cp values. Thus, the BCF values are significant in the HHA, and care should be taken to ensure the reasonable acquisition of BCF values. Meanwhile, the BCF values are known to be significantly affected by analytical methods. Nevertheless, they have been calculated from the concentrations of soil and crop analyzed by only one method: total digestion (aqua regia extraction). For this reason, this study was initiated to seek appropriate soil analysis methods for effective computation of the ADD of CIP. The concentrations of 5 metal contaminants (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) in 127 soil samples obtained from 4 abandoned metal mine areas were analyzed by several methods including total digestion and partial digestions using 0.1/1 N HCl, 1M $NH_4NO_3$, 0.1 M $NaNO_3$, and 0.01M $CaCl_2$. The heavy metal concentrations in 127 crop samples (rice grains) were analyzed by total digestion as well. Using the concentrations of soils and crops, the BCF values of each contaminant were calculated according to the kind of soil extraction methods applied. Finally, the errors between Cp and $C_s{\times}BCF$ were computed to evaluate the relevance of each method. The results indicate that the partial extraction using 0.1 N and 1 N HCl was superior or equivalent to total digestion. In addition, the 0.1M $NaNO_3$ method combined with total digestion is recommended for improving the reliability of BCF values.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.35-41
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• 2003

The on-site sewage sludge vermicomposting equipment was designed and evaluated on the batch and continuous tests. The vermicomposting equipment was designed to consider the mechanization as well as automation. Especially, the automatic controls of water content and temperature and the mechanization of the sludge feeding and cast separating were the important factors. In terms of changes in chemical characteristics when the equipments for experiments are operated continuously, the ORP, EC, $NH_3-N$ and $NO_3-N$ were found to be higher before and after treatment. In addition, it was found that changes in properties were low. Furthermore, the $NO_3-N$ concentration of the humus produced after treatment was found to be higher than the $NH_3-N$ concentration showing that it was appropriate based on the recycling criteria.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.325-337
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• 2013

The size-fractionated aerosol samples have been collected at Gosan Site of Jeju Island during the spring season of 2010, in order to examine the chemical composition characteristics of the Asian Dust and Non-Asian Dust particles. The concentrations of ${HCO_3}^-$, Al, and nss-$Ca^{2+}$ in $PM_{10}$ had tremendously increased during the heavy Asian Dust (March 20, 2010). The concentration ratios of Asian Dust to Non-Asian Dust for the soil species (nss-$Ca^{2+}$, ${HCO_3}^-$, Al, Fe, Ti, Mn) were 12.2~30.7, meanwhile those for the anthropogenic species (nss-${SO_4}^{2-}$, ${NH_4}^+$, ${NO_3}^-$, $K^+$, Zn, Pb, and Cu) were 2.9~7.8. During the heavy Asian Dust event, the concentration increase of ${NO_3}^-$ in $PM_{2.5}$ were much more apparent than those of nss-${SO_4}^{2-}$ and ${NH_4}^+$, and the soil species (nss-$Ca^{2+}$ and ${HCO_3}^-$) showed much higher concentration increase. The neutralization factor of $NH_3$ was higher than that of $CaCO_3$. However, the neutralization factor of $CaCO_3$ in $PM_{10}$ was exceptionally high during the heavy Asian Dust, showing the evidence of heavy migration of soil particles. From the study for size fractionated particles, it was found that nss-${SO_4}^{2-}$ and ${NH_4}^+$ were mostly distributed in fine particle mode, on the other hand, ${NO_3}^-$ existed evenly in both fine and coarse particle modes, and the soil species (nss-$Ca^{2+}$, Al, Fe, etc.) were mainly in the latter mode. During the heavy Asian Dust, in particular, the concentrations of ${NH_4}^+$, nss-${SO_4}^{2-}$, $K^+$, Zn, and Pb had increased in coarse particle mode as well.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1944-1953
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• 2015

A novel alkaline protease from Streptomyces sp. M30, SapHM, was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, and DEAE-Sepharose chromatography, with a yield of 15.5% and a specific activity of 29,070 U/mg. Tryptic fragments of the purified SapHM were obtained by electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that the gene sapHM contained 1,179 bp, corresponding to 392 amino acids with conserved Asp156, His187, and Ser339 residues of alkaline protease. The first 24 amino acid residues were predicted to be a signal peptide, and the molecular mass of the mature peptide was 37.1 kDa based on amino acid sequences and mass spectrometry. Pure SapHM was optimally active at 80℃ in 50 mM glycine-NaOH buffer (pH 9.0), and was broadly stable at 0-50℃ and pH 4.0-9.0. The protease relative activity was increased in the presence of Ni²⁺, Mn²⁺, and Cu²⁺ to 112%, 113%, and 147% of control, respectively. Pure SapHM was also activated by dimethylformamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, Tween 80, and urea. The activity of the purified enzyme was completely inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, indicating that it is a serine-type protease. The K_m and V_max values were estimated to be 35.7 mg/ml, and 5 × 10⁴ U/mg for casein. Substrate specificity analysis showed that SapH was active on casein, bovine serum albumin, and bovine serum fibrin.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.38 no.7
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• pp.377-386
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• 2016

The purposes of this research are to examine soil pollution in the nation and to explore the contaminated soil management of the public housing agency in public land for residential development. In so doing, the primary and secondary data were utilized, the former made use of the public data annually released by the Korea Ministry of Environment, and the latter relied on a self-administerd questionnaire survey conducted in the staff of the public housing agency, particularly those in charge of soil contamination in large-scale land, housing and urban development projects. The findings reveal that the national concentrations of 21 inorganic and organic soil contaminants (e.g., Cd, Cu, As, Hg, Pb, Cr, Zn, Ni, F, P, PCB, CN, Phenol, BTEX, TPH, TCE, PCE, Benzo(a)pyrene, and pH) in the land were extracted to be well below the risk level designated by the statutory guidance while industrial areas had them at a relatively modest level. In addition, the survey results indicate that the public housing agency didn't establish specific and clear guidelines for soil pollution and its remediation in the residential land development, so that contaminated sites have been primarily remediated by outsourcing companies. As the unexpected occurrence of contaminated sites causes the incurring expenses added to total project budget, the provision of both professional training and on-site manuals with the sufficient information on techniques and methods of soil contamination is critical to promptly and systematically deal with soil pollution.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.71-77
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• 2018

Detection of bloodstains is a very important process in scientific investigations, and luminol is often used for the detection of bloodstains that are not visible. Recently, new preparation methods of blood detection reagents based on luminol (BloodFlareA, B) were developed and reported to have higher active persistence and to be more economical than conventional blood detection reagent, BlueStar forensic. In this paper, we tested the specificity and effect of the BloodFlares (A and B) on DNA and compared them with those of BlueStar forensic. False positive results for the BloodFlares were not observed in semen, saliva, vaginal fluids, urine, sweat, and nasal discharge, but were observed in $CuSO_4$, $FeSO_4$, and bleach solutions, and the observed patterns were similar to those of BlueStar forensic. The effect on DNA was determined by analyzing the DNA yield, degradation index, and DNA profiling. Based on these results, we concluded that the BloodFlares based on luminol do not affect DNA stability and are applicable in forensics.