• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1354-1360
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• 2018

The aim of this study was to develop a simple, environmentally friendly synthesis of silver nanoparticles (SNPs) without the use of chemical reducing agents by exploiting the extracellular synthesis of SNPs in a culture supernatant of Bacillus thuringiensis CH3. Addition of 5 mM $AgNO_3$ to the culture supernatant at a ratio of 1:1 caused a change in the maximum absorbance at 418 nm corresponding to the surface plasmon resonance of the SNPs. Synthesis of SNPs occurred within 8 hr and reached a maximum at 40-48 hr. The structural characteristics of the synthesized SNPs were investigated by various instrumental analysis. FESEM observations showed the formation of well-dispersed spherical SNPs, and the presence of silver was confirmed by EDS analysis. The X-ray diffraction spectrum indicated that the SNPs had a face-centered cubic crystal lattice. The average SNP size, calculated using DLS, was about 51.3 nm and ranged from 19 to 110 nm. The synthesized SNPs exhibited a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against a variety of pathogenic Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and yeasts. The highest antimicrobial activity was observed against C. albicans, a human pathogenic yeast. The FESEM observations determined that the antimicrobial activity of the SNPs was due to destruction of the cell surface, cytoplasmic leakage, and finally cell lysis. This study suggests that B. thuringiensis CH3 is a potential candidate for efficient synthesis of SNPs, and that these SNPs have potential uses in a variety of pharmaceutical applications.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.245-265
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• 2019

Biotope, which represents the characteristic habitats of living organisms, need to be identified as essential for the efficient creation and sustainable management of urban ecosystems. This study was carried out to provide the basic information for ecological urban planning by analyzing types and attributes of the biotop established throughout the whole area of the Pohang city, a representative industrial city in Korea. The biotop established in Pohang city is composed of 12 types including forests (coniferous, deciduous, and mixed forests), agricultural fields (rice paddy and upland field), green facilities, river, reservoir, bare ground, residential area, public facilities, commercial area, industrial area, roads, and schools. As a result of analyzing the properties according to biotop types, industrial, commercial and residential areas, which represent urban areas, was dominated by introduced vegetation. Moreover the introduced vegetation is usually composed of exotic plants or modified forms for landscape architecture and horticulture rather than native plants, which reflects ecological property of both region and site. As the distance from the urban center increases, the agricultural field showed a form of typical farmland, whereas the closer it is, the more form of greenhouse farming. Natural green spaces were divided into riparian vegetation established along the stream and forest vegetation. Forest vegetation is consisted of secondary forests (seven communities) and plantations (three communities). The urban landscape of Pohang city is dominated by the industrial area. Among them, the steel industry, which occurs large amounts of heat pollution and carbon dioxide, occupies a large proportion. On the other hand, green space is very insufficient in quantity and inferior in quality. This study proposed several restoration plans and further, a green network, which ties the existing green spaces and the green space to be restored as a strategy to improve the environmental quality in this area.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.318-331
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• 2019

In this study, comparative analysis is performed on the long-term persisted warm eddies that were generated in 2003 (WE03) and in 2014 (WE14) over the East Sea using the HYCOM reanalysis data. The overshooting of the East Korea Warm Current (EKWC) was appeared during the formation period of those warm eddies. The warm eddies were produced in the shallow Korea Plateau region through the interaction of the EKWC and the sub-polar front. In the interior of the both warm eddies, a homogeneous water mass of about $13^{\circ}C$ and 34.1 psu were generated over the upper 150 m depth by the winter mixing. In 2004, the next year of the generation of the WE03, the amount of the inflow through the western channel of the Korea Strait was larger, while the inflow was lesser than its climatology during 2015 corresponding to the development period of the WE14. The above results suggest that the heat and salt are supplied in the warm eddies through the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC), however the amount of the inflow through the Korea Strait has negligible impact on the long-term persistency of the warm eddies. Both of the warm eddies were maintained more than 18 months near Ulleung island, while they have no common feature on the pathways. In the vicinity of the Ulleung basin, large and small eddies are continuously created due to the meandering of the EKWC. The long-term persisted warm eddies in the Ulleung Island seem to be the results of the interaction between the pre-existed eddies located south of the sub-polar front and fresh eddies induced by the meanderings of the EKWC. The conclusion is also in line with the fact that the long-term persisted warm eddies were not always created when the overshooting of the EKWC was appeared.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.95-101
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• 2019

Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of various primers on the microtensile bond strength (${\mu}TBS$) of resin cements to cobalt-chromium (Co-Cr) dental casting alloy. Materials and methods: Four adhesive primers (Universal primer, Metal primer II, Alloy primer, and Metal/Zirconia primer) and two resin cements (Panavia F2.0, G-CEM LinkAce) were tested. One hundred fifty Co-Cr beams were prepared from Co-Cr ingots via casting ($6mm\;ength{\times}1mm\;width{\times}1mm\;thick$). The metal beams were randomly divided into ten groups according to the adhesive primers and resin cements used; the no-primer groups served as the control (n = 15). After sandblasting with aluminum oxide ($125{\mu}m$ grain), the metal and resin cements were bonded together using a silicone mold. Prior to testing, all metal-resin beams were examined under stereomicroscope, and subjected to the ${\mu}TBS$ test. The mean value of each group was analyzed via one-way ANOVA with Tukey's test as post hoc (${\alpha}=.05$) using SPSS software. Results: The mean ${\mu}TBS$ of all groups was ranged from 20 to 28 MPa. There is no statistically significant difference between groups (P > .05). Mixed failure, which is the combination of adhesive and cohesive failures, is the most prevalent failure mode in both the Panavia F2.0 and G-Cem LinkAce groups. Conclusion: The ${\mu}TBS$ of all tested groups are relatively high; however, the primers used in this study result in no favorable effect in the ${\mu}TBS$ of Panavia F2.0 and G-Cem LinkAce resin cement to Co-Cr alloy.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.116-125
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• 2020

Objectives : Self-poisoning is the leading cause of visits to the emergency departments after a suicide attempts. This study is aimed to compare the patient characteristics according to the category of drugs ingested by the patients who attempted suicide. Methods : All medical charts were retrospectively reviewed from patients who visited the emergency center, at Seoul Medical Center, due to intentional self-poisoning from April of 2011 to July of 2019. We investigated the information regarding the subtype and quantity of the intoxication drug, how it was obtained, suicidal history, and psychiatric history, as well as, sociodemographic information. Variables were compared between prescription drug (PD) and non-prescription drug (NPD) poisoning groups. Results : The mean age of the NPD poisoning group was significantly lower than that of the PD poisoning group. The patient ratio of those enrolled in national health insurance and living with spouses were significantly higher in the NPD poisoning group. Compared to the NPD poisoning group, the PD poisoning group had a higher incidence of mental illnesses, underlying diseases and ratio of involuntary visit to the emergency department. Among the prescription drugs, the benzodiazepine poisoning group had a higher rate of self-prescription than the non-poisoning group, while the zolpidem poisoning group had a higher rate of the using someone else's prescription than other drugs. Each single drug poisoning group (benzodiazepine, zolpidem, and antidepressant single-agent) had a higher rate of no mental illness than each of the mixed-poisoning group. Conclusions : Guidelines for regulating non-prescription drugs are needed as a matter of suicide prevention. Also, this study suggests that clinicians need to be careful when issuing prescriptions and should suicidal risk according to patients' characteristics, duration of follow-up and type of drug packaging.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.873-880
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• 2020

After pre-treatment of oyster shells according to particle size (0 ~ 1, 1 ~ 2, 2 ~ 5 mm) and pyrolysis temperature (400(P400), 500(P500), 600(P600), 800(P800)℃), changes in the properties of sediments mixed with pre-treated oyster shells were investigated. The primary component of the oyster shell was changed from CaCO3 to CaO at temperatures above 700℃. The Ca2+ concentration in P800 was 790 mg/L, which was 2 ~ 3 times higher than those in the control and other experimental samples. Ca2+ elution significantly increased at the pyrolysis temperature over than 600℃. In oyster shells pyrolyzed over 600℃, the pH of the pore water increased by 0.1 ~ 0.5, due the hydrolysis of CaO formed by the pyrolysis of CaCO3. The PO4-P of the overlying and pore water in P600 and P800 were 0.1 ~ 0.2 mg/L lower than those of the control. The increased pH and elution of Ca2+ from oyster shells should suppress the upwelling of PO4-P from the sediment. Based on the above results, it was confirmed that the pyrolysis temperature of oyster shells influenced NH3-N and PO4-P concentrations in the sediment; however, the particle size of oyster shells had little effect. The results of this study can be used as a foundation for research on the use of pyrolyzed oyster shells to improve low-contamination coastal benthic environments.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.618-629
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to optimize the fermentation condition of black bean by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and to evaluate the quality characteristics of fermented black bean. Lactobacillus plantarum SU22 isolated from kimchi was selected as a starter for the fermentation of black bean because the strain exhibited strong antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria and did not produce biogenic amines or a carcinogenic enzyme, β-glucuronidase. Fermentation was performed with broth containing puffed black bean (PBB) inoculated with 1% (v/v) of L. plantarum SU22 at 37℃ for 48h. The viable cell count of LAB was over 9 Log CFU/mL in PBB (20%) broth fermented with L. plantarum SU22. Fermentation of alcalase-treated PBB (20%) broth with L. plantarum SU22 was found to be the optimal condition, increasing viable cell count of LAB up to 10.30 Log CFU/mL. Under the optimal condition, the total polyphenol content (94.02 mg GAE/g) and DPPH radical scavenging activity (92.50%) were significantly increased, compared to non-fermented control (87.74 mg GAE/g, 83.14%).

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.155-161
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• 2021

This study was attempted to investigate natural materials with antimicrobial activity and to apply as natural preservatives in cosmetics. The disc diffusion method was used to search for nine species of natural antibacterial material for three species of skin pathogenic bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and Candida albicans. As a result of measuring the size of inhibition zone, Rhus Semialata gall (Gallnut) extract, Oak vinegar, and ε-polylysine were showed strongest antibacterial activities (> 10 mm). The Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) of gallnut and oak vinegar ranged from 10 to 20 mg/mL and from 20 to 40 mg/mL against five human skin pathogens. The MBC of ε-polylysine ranged from 0.5 to 2 mg/mL in fungus. The synergic effect of gallnut extract/oak vinegar mixture and gallnut extract/ε-polylysine mixture were evaluated by checkerboard test. Compared to when used alone, the MBC of gallnut extract/oak vinegar mixture were at 4 times lower concentration against E. coli, C. albicans, and A. brasiliensis. Also Furthermore, the MBC of gallnut extract/ε-polylysine mixture were at 4 times lower concentration against C. albicans and A. brasiliensis. It was confirmed that the combination of gallnut extract with oak vinegar or ε-polylysine resulted in synergistic antibacterial effect against three human skin pathogens. Thus, it is expected that gallnut extract and natural product mixture can not only demonstrate antibacterial synergies, but also be applied in cosmetics as a natural preservative system with a wide antibacterial spectrum.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.54-63
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• 2021

Vanadium and tungsten can be obtained by separating/recovering the leaching solution from a spent SCR DeNO_X catalyst using the soda roasting-water leaching process. Therefore, in this study, the adsorption/desorption mechanism of vanadium and tungsten in an ion-exchange column was investigated using Lewatit MonoPlus MP 600, a strong basic anion exchange resin. The operating conditions for the separation of vanadium and tungsten in the ion-exchange column was intended to present. By conducting a continuous adsorption experiment in a pH 8.5 solution, the adsorption capacity of vanadium and tungsten was found to be 44.75 and 64.92 mg/(g of resin), respectively, which showed that the adsorption capacity of tungsten was larger than that of vanadium because of the difference in ion charge. Vanadium has a higher affinity for MP 600 than tungsten. Consequently, as the vanadium-containing solution is eluted through the ion exchange resin onto which tungsten is adsorbed, the adsorbed tungsten is exchanged with vanadium and desorbed. A continuous experiment was performed with a solution of vanadium and tungsten prepared at the same concentration as the spent SCR DeNO_X catalyst leachate. The adsorption capacity of vanadium was found to be 48.72 mg/(g of resin) and 80% of the supplied vanadium was adsorbed; in contrast, almost no tungsten was adsorbed. Therefore, vanadium and tungsten were separated effectively. The ion exchange resin was treated with 2 M HCl at 15 mL/h, and 97.7% of the vanadium(99% purity) could be desorbed. After desorption, NH₄Cl was added to precipitate ammonium polyvanadate at 90℃ and recover 93% of the vanadium.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.24-31
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• 2022

Petroleum-based plastics are used for various purposes and pose a significant threat to the earth's environment and ecosystem. Many efforts have been taken globally in different areas to find alternatives. As part of these efforts, this study manufactured alginate-based polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) blended films by casting from an aqueous solution prepared by mixing 10 wt% petroleum-based PVA with biodegradable, marine biomass-derived alginate. Glutaraldehyde was used as a cross-linking agent, and cardanol, an alkyl phenol-based bio-oil extracted from cashew nut shell, was added in the range of 0.1 to 2.0 wt% to grant antibacterial activity to the films. FTIR and TGA were performed to characterize the manufactured blended films, and the tensile strength, degree of swelling, and antibacterial activity were measured. Results obtained from the FTIR, TGA, and tensile strength test showed that alginate, the main component, was well distributed in the PVA by forming a matrix phase. The brittleness of alginate, a known weakness as a single component, and the low thermal durability of PVA were improved by cross-linking and hydrogen bonding of the functional groups between alginate and PVA. Addition of cardanol to the alginate-based PVA blend significantly improved the antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli. The antibacterial performance was excellent with a death rate of 98% or higher for S. aureus and about 70% for E. coli at a contact time of 60 minutes. The optimal antibacterial activity of the alginate-PVA blended films was found with a cardanol content range between 0.1 to 0.5 wt%. These results show that cardanol-containing alginate-PVA blended films are suitable for use as various antibacterial materials, including as food packaging.