• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.577-585
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• 2014

A series of experiments using atmospheric-pressure non-thermal plasma coupled with transition metal catalysts were performed to remove ethylene from agricultural storage facilities. The non-thermal plasma was created by dielectric barrier discharge, which was in direct contact with the catalyst pellets. The transition metals such as Ag and $V_2O_5$ were supported on ${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$. The effect of catalyst type, specific input energy (SIE) and oxygen content on the removal of ethylene was examined to understand the behavior of the hybrid plasma-catalytic reactor system. With the other parameters kept constant, the plasma-catalytic activity for the removal of ethylene was in order of $V_2O_5/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ > $Ag/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ > ${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ from high to low. Interestingly, the rate of plasma-catalytic ozone generation was in order of $V_2O_5/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ > ${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ > $Ag/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$, implying that the catalyst activation mechanisms by plasma are different for different catalysts. The results obtained by varying the oxygen content indicated that nitrogen-derived reactive species dominated the removal of ethylene under oxygen-lean condition, while ozone and oxygen atoms were mainly involved in the removal under oxygen-rich condition. When the plasma was coupled with $V_2O_5/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$, nearly complete removal of ethylene was achieved at oxygen contents higher than 5% by volume (inlet ethylene: 250 ppm; gas flow rate: $1.0Lmin^{-1}$; SIE: ${\sim}355JL^{-1}$).

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.66
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• pp.311-319
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• 2023

Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) is the main structural component of the caveolae on the plasma membrane, which regulates various cellular processes, including cell growth, differentiation, and endocytosis. Although a recent study demonstrated that Cav-1 might be involved in diabetes-associated inflammation, its exact role in the intestine was unclear. In this study, we examined the intestinal expression of Cav-1 in diabetic conditions. We also investigated its effect on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation by expressing this protein in human intestinal Caco-2 cells lacking Cav-1. We observed that increased Cav-1 levels and decreased expression of tight junction proteins affected intestinal permeability in high-fat diet-induced diabetic mice. When Caco-2 cells were treated with LPS, Cav-1 enhanced the NF-κB signaling. Moreover, LPS reduced the expression of tight junction proteins while it increased cell-cell permeability and reactive oxygen species generation in Caco-2 cells and this effect was amplified by cav-1 overexpression. LPS treatment promoted phosphorylation of tyrosine-14 (Y14) on Cav-1, and the LPS-induced NF-κB signaling was suppressed in cells expressing non-phosphorylatable Cav-1 (tyrosine-14 to phenylalanine mutant), which reduced intestinal barrier permeability. These results suggest that Cav-1 expression promotes LPS-induced inflammation in Caco-2 cells, and phosphorylation of Y14 on Cav-1 might contribute to the anti-inflammatory response in LPS-induced NF-κB signaling and cell permeability.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.35-48
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• 2021

In this study, the assessment of field applicability of in-situ remediation of nitrate-contaminated groundwater located in Yesan-gun was performed. Zero-valent iron/bio composite media injected PRB (Permeable Reactive Barrier) and monitoring well were installed in the contaminated groundwater site and monitored main remediation indicators during the PRB operation. Nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, Fe ion, TOC, and turbidity were analyzed and the diversity and population of microorganism in the PRB installed site were investigated for the verification of effect of injected PRB. In the study site where is an agricultural area, a river flows from west to east that forms a river boundary and the southern area has an impermeable sector. It was found that nitrate flows into the river, which is similar as groundwater flow. Simulation result for the fate of nitrate in groundwater showed steady state of nitrate arrived after 3~5 years passed. However, it is just to consider current conditions with no additional input of contaminant source, if additional input of contaminant source occurs contamination dispersion and time for steady state are expected to be increased. The monitoring results showed that Fe ion, TOC and turbidity in groundwater were not clearly changed in concentration after PRB installation, which indicates adaptability of the injected PRB for remediation of groundwater with no additional harmful effect to water quality. The concentration of nitrate maintained less than 5mg/L until 42 days after PRB installation and recovered its initial concentration after 84 days passed and showed termination of reactivity of injected zero-valent iron/bio composite media for removal nitrate. Nitrite and ammonia ions found after installation of PRB indicates reductive removal of nitrate. And the outstanding increase of microorganism diversity and population of Betaproteobacteria Class which includes denitrification microorganism explains biologically reductive removal of nitrate in injected PRB.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.495-504
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• 2015

This work investigated the characteristics of a packed-bed plasma reactor system and the performances of the plasma reactors connected in series or in parallel for the decomposition of ethylene. Before the discharge ignition, the effective capacitance of the ${\gamma}$-alumina packed-bed plasma reactor was larger than that of the reactor without any packing, but after the ignition the effective capacitance was similar to each other, regardless of the packing. The energy of electrons created by plasma depends mainly on the electric field intensity, and was not significantly affected by the gas composition in the range of 0~20% (v/v) oxygen (nitrogen : 80~100% (v/v)). Among the various reactive species generated by plasma, ground-state atomic oxygen and ozone are understood to be primarily involved in oxidation reactions, and as the electric field intensity increases, the amount of ground-state atomic oxygen relatively decreases while that of nitrogen atom increases. Even though there are many parameters affecting the performance of the plasma reactor such as a voltage, discharge power, gas flow rate and residence time, all parameters can be integrated into a single parameter, namely, specific input energy (SIE). It was experimentally confirmed that the performances of the plasma reactors connected in series or in parallel could be treated as a function of SIE alone, which simplifies the scale-up design procedure. Besides, the ethylene decomposition results can be predicted by the calculation using the rate constant expressed as a function of SIE.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.518-524
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• 2013

This study investigated the degradation of taste-and-odor compounds and toxins using dielectric barrier discharge plasma. The degradation of taste-and-odor compounds was conducted on geosmin and 2-methyl isoborneol (2-MIB), and the toxins investigated were microcystin-LR (MC-LR), microcystin-RR (MC-RR), microcystin-YR (MC-YR) and anatoxin-a. Largely depending on the type of gas fed to the plasma reactor, the degradation efficiencies of the taste-and-odor compounds decreased in order of oxygen (100%) > dry air (96%) > nitrogen (5%) for geosmin and in order of oxygen (100%) > dry air (94%) > nitrogen (2%) for 2-MIB on the basis of 150 s reaction time. This result suggests that the oxidative reactive species generated during plasma treatment, especially long-lived ozone, are mainly responsible for the degradation of these compounds. When using oxygen as the feed gas, geosmin and 2-MIB were totally degraded within 150 s, microcystins within 10 s, and anatoxin-a within 30 s. It was found that the taste-and-odor compounds and toxins were degraded more rapidly in real lake water than in distilled water.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.191-197
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• 2005

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Tat protein transduction domain (PTD) is responsible for highly efficient protein transduction across plasma membranes. In a previous study, we showed that Tat-Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase (Tat-SOD) can be directly transduced into mammalian cells across the lipid membrane barrier. In this study, we fused the human SOD gene with a Tat PTD transduction vector at its N- and/or C-terminus. The fusion proteins (Tat-SOD, SOD-Tat, Tat-SOD-Tat) were purified from Escherichia coli and their ability to enter cells in vitro and in vivo compared by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. The transduction efficiencies and biological activities of the SOD fusion protein with the Tat PTD at either terminus were equivalent and lower than the fusion protein with the Tat PTD at both termini. The availability of a more efficient SOD fusion protein provides a powerful vehicle for therapy in human diseases related to this anti-oxidant enzyme and to reactive oxygen species.