• Title/Summary/Keyword: Biological Engineering

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Asymmetric Sythesis of Unnatural L-Amino Acids Using Thermophilic Aromatic L-Amino Acid Transaminase

  • Cho, Byung-Kwan;Seo, Joo-Hyun;Kim, Ju-Han;Lee, Chang-Soo;Kim, Byung-Gee
    • Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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    • v.11 no.4
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    • pp.299-305
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    • 2006
  • Aromatic L-amino acid transaminase is an enzyme that is able to transfer the amino group from L-glutamate to unnatural aromatic ${\alpha}-keto$ acids to generate ${\alpha}-ketoglutarate$ and unnatural aromatic L-amino acids, respectively. Enrichment culture was used to isolate thermophilic Bacillus sp. T30 expressing this enzyme for use in the synthesis of unnatural L-amino acids. The asymmetric syntheses of L-homophenylalanine and L-phenylglycine resulted in conversion yields of >95% and >93% from 150 mM 2-oxo-4-phenylbutyrate and phenylglyoxylate, respectively, using L-glutamate as an amino donor at $60^{\circ}C$. Synthesized L-homophenylalanine and L-phenylglycine were optically pure (>99% enantiomeric excess) and continuously pre-cipitated in the reaction solution due to their low solubility at the given reaction pH. While the solubility of the ${\alpha}-keto$ acid substrates is dependent on temperature, the solubility of the unnatural L-amino acid products is dependent on the reaction pH. As the solubility difference between substrate and product at the given reaction pH is therefore larger at higher temperature, the thermophilic transaminase was successfully used to shift the reaction equilibrium toward rapid product formation.

Effects of the Fluorination of Activated Carbons on the Chromium Ion Adsorption (활성탄소의 불소화가 크롬이온 흡착에 미치는 영향)

  • Kim, Min-Ji;Jung, Min-Jung;Choi, Suk Soon;Lee, Young-Seak
    • Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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    • v.26 no.1
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    • pp.92-98
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    • 2015
  • In this study, phenol-based activated carbons (ACs) were fluorinated at various fluorine partial pressures (0.01~0.03 MPa) and the $Cr^{6+}$ ion adsorption of fluorinated ACs was investigated. According to BET and XPS results, the specific surface area and total pore volume of fluorinated ACs increased by 24.7 and 55.8%, respectively, and fluorine functional groups were introduced to AC surface. The most optimized condition of $Cr^{6+}$ ion adsorption was confirmed at the fluorine partial pressure of 0.02 MPa. And also the removal efficiency of $Cr^{6+}$ ion was up to 98% at 300 mg/L of the initial concentration, and these results showed an approximately three-fold increase compared to that of using untreated ACs. Furthermore, the $Cr^{6+}$ ion adsorption of fluorinated ACs was completed in less than 30 min in contrast with untreated ACs, which was expected to be an increase of the affinity between $Cr^{6+}$ ions and ACs surfaces by fluorination.

Effects of the Graphene Oxide on Glucose Oxidase Immobilization Capabilities and Sensitivities of Carbon Nanotube-based Glucose Biosensor Electrodes (그래핀 옥사이드가 탄소나노튜브기반 바이오센서 전극의 포도당 산화효소 담지능및 민감도에 미치는 영향)

  • Park, Mi-Seon;Kim, Do Young;Jung, Min-Jung;Lee, Young-Seak
    • Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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    • v.26 no.1
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    • pp.47-52
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    • 2015
  • To improve both the GOD immobilization capability and sensitivity of MWCNTs-based biosensor electrode, the electrode was prepared by adding different quantities of GO. The addition of GO increased hydrophilicity and the surface free energy of electrodes for glucose sensing as well as the dispersion of MWCNTs. In addition, the GOD immobilization capability was enhanced and the sensitivity was improved up to $121{\mu}A\;mM^{-1}$ even though having a high $K_m$ value (0.105) when adding 0.05 g GO to 0.05 g MWCNTs. These experimental results were attributed to the fact that the improvement in dispersion stability for MWCNTs, hydrophilicity, and surface free energy of electrode surface due to the addition of GO affected GOD immobilization capability.

Effect of Boric Acid Treatment on the Electrochemical Properties of the Phenol-Based Activated Carbon (페놀계 활성탄소의 전기화학 특성에 미치는 붕산 처리의 영향)

  • Jung, Min-Jung;Yu, Hye-Ryeon;Lee, Dayoung;Lee, Young-Seak
    • Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.201-207
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    • 2013
  • In this study, the surface of a phenol based activated carbon (AC) used as an electrode in an electric double layer capacitor was modified via boric acid treatment for the capacitance investigation. The effect of boric acid treatment on electrochemical performance was also investigated. The AC surface functional groups ratio of quinone-like (O=C) which is electrochemical active functional groups was increased after the boric acid treatment. And, boric acid treated AC showed an increase in the specific surface area, total pore volume, and micropore volume. In case of optimum boric acid treated AC, its specific capacitance increased by 20% in comparison to that of untreated AC. These results demonstrate that a boric acid treated carbon surface-based electric double layer capacitor electrode effectively enhances specific capacitance.

Classification of Transient Signals in Ocean Background Noise Using Bayesian Classifier (베이즈 분류기를 이용한 수중 배경소음하의 과도신호 분류)

  • Kim, Ju-Ho;Bok, Tae-Hoon;Paeng, Dong-Guk;Bae, Jin-Ho;Lee, Chong-Hyun;Kim, Seong-Il
    • Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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    • v.26 no.4
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    • pp.57-63
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    • 2012
  • In this paper, a Bayesian classifier based on PCA (principle component analysis) is proposed to classify underwater transient signals using $16^{th}$ order LPC (linear predictive coding) coefficients as feature vector. The proposed classifier is composed of two steps. The mechanical signals were separated from biological signals in the first step, and then each type of the mechanical signal was recognized in the second step. Three biological transient signals and two mechanical signals were used to conduct experiments. The classification ratios for the feature vectors of biological signals and mechanical signals were 94.75% and 97.23%, respectively, when all 16 order LPC vector were used. In order to determine the effect of underwater noise on the classification performance, underwater ambient noise was added to the test signals and the classification ratio according to SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) was compared by changing dimension of feature vector using PCA. The classification ratios of the biological and mechanical signals under ocean ambient noise at 10dB SNR, were 0.51% and 100% respectively. However, the ratios were changed to 53.07% and 83.14% when the dimension of feature vector was converted to three by applying PCA. For correct, classification, it is required SNR over 10 dB for three dimension feature vector and over 30dB SNR for seven dimension feature vector under ocean ambient noise environment.

Synthesis and Characterization of Biodegradable Elastic Hydrogels Based on Poly(ethylene glycol) and Poly(${\varepsilon}-caprolactone$) Blocks

  • Im, Su-Jin;Choi, You-Mee;Subramanyam, Elango;Huh, Kang-Moo;Park, Ki-Nam
    • Macromolecular Research
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    • v.15 no.4
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    • pp.363-369
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    • 2007
  • Novel biodegradable elastic hydrogels, based on hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymer blocks, were synthesized via the radical crosslinking reaction of diacrylates of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and poly(${\varepsilon}-caprolactone$) (PCL). PEG and PCL diols were diacrylated with acryloyl chloride in the presence of triethylamine, with the reaction confirmed by FT-IR and $^1H-NMR$ measurements. The diacrylate polymers were used as building-blocks for the syntheses of a series of hydro gels, with different block compositions, by simply varying the feed ratios and molecular weights of the block components. The swelling ratio of the hydrogels was controlled by the balance between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymer blocks. Usually, the swelling ratio increases with increasing PEG content and decreasing block length within the network structure. The hydrogels exhibited negative thermo-sensitive swelling behavior due to the coexistence of hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymer components in their network structure, and such thermo-responsive swelling/deswelling behavior could be repeated using a temperature cycle, without any significant change in the swelling ratio. In vitro degradation tests showed that degradation occurred over a 3 to 8 month period. Due to their biodegradability, biocompatibility, elasticity and functionality, these hydrogels could be utilized in various biomedical applications, such as tissue engineering and drug delivery systems.

Simulation of Effects of Swine Manure Application Rates on Nitrate Concentration in Runoff, Indiana, USA

  • Lim, Kyoung-Jae;Engel, Bernard A.;Jeon, Ji-Hong;Jones, Don;Sutton, Alan L.;Ok, Yang-Sik;Kim, Ki-Sung;Choi, Joong-Dae
    • Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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    • v.28 no.1
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    • pp.38-46
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    • 2009
  • Livestock manure is an important source of nutrients for crop production. However, farmers typically do not know the exact nutrient values for livestock manure. In many instances, manure has been viewed as a waste, and as a result it is applied close to the source resulting in over application of nutrients. Thus, the goal of nutrient application has often been applied to reduce the application expense rather than to maximize crop income. This results in wasted money and potentially negative impacts on water quality. Several livestock manure management scenarios were created based on agronomic nutrient requirements using the Utilization of Animal Manure as a Plant Nutrient (AMANURE) software to investigate water quality impacts with the National Agricultural Pesticide Risk Analysis (NAPRA) WWW modeling system. Application of manure at agronomic rates can result in high nitrate-nitrogen losses for some soil types, especially when applied in late fall. The application of manure at an agronomic rate does not necessarily equate to adequate water quality protection, and farmers must take care applying manure at agronomic rates, because nitrate-nitrogen loss potential varies spatially and temporarily. Nutrient loss probability maps for Indiana at 5%, 10%, 25%, and 50% values were created to demonstrate potential water quality impacts when livestock manure is applied to cropland at agronomic rates. The NAPRA WWW system coupled with AMANURE can be used to identify site-specific livestock manure management plans that are environmentally sound and agronomically appropriate.

Preparation of Cadmium-free Buffer Layers for CIGS Solar Cells (CIGS 태양전지용 Cd-Free 버퍼층 제조)

  • Moon, Jee Hyun;Kim, Ji Hyeon;Yoo, In Sang;Park, Sang Joon
    • Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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    • v.25 no.6
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    • pp.577-580
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    • 2014
  • Indium hydroxy sulfide ($In(OH)_xS_y$) as a cadmium (Cd)-free buffer layer for $CuInGaSe_2$ (CIGS) solar cells was prepared by the chemical bath deposition (CBD) and the reaction time was optimized. The band gap energy and transmittance data alongside the thickness results from the direct observation with focused ion beam system (FIB) could be a powerful tool for optimizing the conditions. In addition, X-ray diffractometer (XRD), X-ray photoelectron microscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were also employed for the layer characterization. The results indicated that the optimum reaction time for $In(OH)_xS_y$ buffer layer deposition by CBD was 20 min at $70^{\circ}C$ under the conditions employed. At the optimum conditions, the buffer layer thickness was near 57 nm and the band gap energy was 2.7 eV. In addition, it was found that there was no XPS peak shift in between the buffer layers deposited on molybdenum (Mo)/glass and that on CIGS layer.

Development of National Scale Environmental & Geographical Information System for Supporting Exposure Assessment (노출평가를 위한 전국규모의 환경지리지형정보 시스템 개발)

  • Kim, Jong-Ho;Kim, Mi-Sug;Kwak, Byeong-Kyu;Yoo, Hong-Suk;Shin, Chi-Bum;Yi, Jong-Heop
    • Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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    • v.28 no.10
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    • pp.1082-1089
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    • 2006
  • This study describes a methodology to develop a environmental and geographical information system for managing a national scale which is supports the environmental fate modeling. This system was developed via the integration of environmental and geographical information database(DB) and the DB usage software. For the sound environmental management, the DB were constructed by extracting the geometrical figures-such as points, polylines, and/or polygons-based on the geographical information previously developed in Korea. Then it was connected with the environmental information. Based on the Visual Basic Complier, the software can be a useful tool for visualizing the DB, for searching the environmental & geographical information, and supporting the environmental fate modeling.

Characteristics of Water Separation for Oil-Water Mixture in a FWKO Vessel (FWKO 유수분리공정을 이용한 오일-물 혼합물의 분리특성)

  • Kwon, Soon-Chul;Park, Kun-YIk;Yoon, Sung-Min;Kim, Joo-Yeon;Park, Chan-Young;Bae, Wi-Sup;Rhee, Young-Woo
    • Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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    • v.49 no.6
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    • pp.823-828
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    • 2011
  • Characteristics of water separation in a FWKO(Free Water Knok Out) vessel was investigated to remove water from oil-water mixture. Decane, toluene, and asphalt were used as model oils. Preliminary experiments were carried out for decane in a prototype FWKO vessel. Based on the results of preliminary experiments, the prototype vessel was modified and its performance was evaluated by using toluene. The effects of experimental variables on the separation of oil-water mixture were evaluated in terms of separation efficiency. The experimental variables include water cut(water ratio), number of baffles, residence times, and operation temperatures. The optimum conditions of water separation were found to be 0.8 water cut, 3 baffles, 1,200 sec, and $45^{\circ}C$.