• KSBB Journal
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.328-336
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• 1999

A green microalga, Chlorella vulgaris UTX 259, was cultivated in a bench-scale raceway pond. During the culture, 15%(v/v) $CO_2$ was supplied and industrial wastewater discharged from a steel-making plant was used as a culture medium. In a small scale culture bottle, the microalga grew up to 1.8 g $dm^{-3}$ of cell concentration and ammonia was completely removed from the wastewater with an yield coefficient of 25.7 g dry cell weight $g^{-1}\;NH_3-N$. During the bottle-culture, microalga was dominant over heterotrophic microorganisms in the culture medium. Therefore, the amount of carbon dioxide fixation could be estimated from the change of dry cell weight. In a semi-continuous operation of raceway pond with intermittent lighting (12 h light and 12 h dark), increase of dilution rate resulted in increase of the ammonia removal rate as well as the $CO_2$ fixation rate but the ammonia removal efficiency decreased. Ammonia was not completely removed from the medium (wastewater) of raceway pond which was operated in a batch mode under a light intensity up to 20 klux. The incomplete removal of ammonia was believed due to insufficient light supply. A mathematical model, capable of predicting experimental data, was developed in order to simulate the performance of the raceway pond under the light intensity of sun during a bright daytime. Simulation results showed that the rates of $CO_2$ fixation and ammonia removal could be enhanced by increasing light intensity. According to the simulation, 80 mg $dm^{-3}$ of ammonia in the medium could be completely removed if the light intensity was over 60 klux with a continuous lighting. Under the optimal operating condition determined by the simulation, the rates of carbon dioxide fixation and ammonia removal in the outdoor operation of raceway pond were estimated as high as $24.7 g m^{-2} day^{-1}$ and $0.52 g NH_3-N m^{-2} day^{-1}$, respectively.

• Clean Technology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.349-353
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• 2014

Succinic acid is an important precursor in industries producing biopolymers, pharmaceutical and food additives and green solvents. However, due to the high price of petroleum and the global $CO_2$ emission, the biological production of succinic acid from renewable biomass is a novel process due to the fixation of $CO_2$ into succinate during fermentation. In this study, aqueous two phase systems based on imidazolium ionic liquids/$K_2HPO_4$ were used as an effective separation and concentration process for succinic acid. Experimental results show that aqueous two phase systems can be formed by adding appropriate amount of imidazolium ionic liquids to aqueous $K_2HPO_4$ solutions in the presence of succinic acid. It can be found that the ability of imidazolium ionic liquids for phase separation followed the order [HMIm][Br]${\fallingdotseq}$[OMIm][Br]>[BMIm][Br]>[EMIm][Br]. The maximum value of extraction efficiency for succinic acid was about 90% and the amount of coextracted water into top phase is proportional to the chain length of cation in imidazolium ionic liquids. It was concluded that the aqueous two phase systems composed of imidazolium ionic liquids/$K_2HPO_4$ was effective for the selective extraction and concentration of succinic acid.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.616-621
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• 2008

Osseointegration is a result of bone formation and bone regeneration processes, which takes place at the interface between bone and implant, and it indicates a rigid fixation that can be stably maintained while functional loading is applied inside the oral cavity as well as after implant placement. Although many researches were carried out about osseointegration mechanism, but cellular and molecular events have not been clarified. With recent development of molecular biology, some researches have examined biological determinants, such as cytokine, growth factors, bone matrix proteins, during osseointegration between bone and implant surface, other researches attempted to study the ways to increase bone formation by adhering protein to implant surface or by inserting growth factors during implant placement. Cellular research on the reaction of osteoblast especially to surface morphology (e.g. increased roughness) has been carried out and found that the surface roughness of titanium implant affects the growth of osteoblast, cytokine formation and mineralization. While molecular biological research in dental implant is burgeoning. Yet, its results are insignificant. We have been studying the roles of growth factors during osseointegration, comparing different manifestations of growth factors by studying the effect of osseointegration that varied by implant surface. Of many growth factors, $TGF-{\beta}$, IGF-I, BMP2, and BMP4, which plays a significant role in bone formation, were selected, and examined if these growth factors are manifested during osseointegration. The purpose of this article is to present result of our researches and encourage molecular researches in dental implant.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.306-312
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• 2014

Endophytes are microorganisms that live in the internal tissues of plants without harming the host plants. In this symbiotic relationship, the host plants provide nutrients and shelter to the endophytes, in turn, endophytes can promote the growth of host plants and act as a biological control agents against plant pathogens. Plant-microbe interactions like this are noted for natural methods for sustainable agriculture and environmental conservation. However, in spite of the infinite potential, there are only a few reports on the endophytes present in ginseng. In this study, we isolated and identified the endophytes from Panax ginseng seeds and evaluated the biological activities (IAA production ability, nitrogen fixation ability, phosphate solubilization capacity, siderophore production ability, and antifungal activities) of the endophyte isolates. Eight different endophytes were identified by 16S rRNA sequencing. Most of the endophytes have antibiotic and plant growth promoting (PGP) activities. Particularly, PgSEB5-37E have the highest antibiotic activity, both PgSEB5-37B and PgSEB5-37H have high PGP traits such as an abilities to produce IAA, solubilize phosphate and fix nitrogen. These results indicated that the endophytes from P. ginseng seeds may have applicable value to many industries. In order to use the isolated endophytes, quantitative analysis and field tests are needed to be performed.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.262-271
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• 2008

Natural abundances of stable isotopes of nitrogen and carbon (${\delta}^{15}N$ and ${\delta}^{13}C$) are being widely used to study N and C cycle processes in plant and soil systems. Variations in ${\delta}^{15}N$ of the soil and the plant reflect the potentially variable isotope signature of the external N sources and the isotope fractionation during the N cycle process. $N_2$ fixation and N fertilizer supply the nitrogen, whose ${\delta}^{15}N$ is close to 0%o, whereas the compost as. an organic input generally provides the nitrogen enriched in $^{15}N$ compared to the atmospheric $N_2$. The isotope fractionation during the N cycle process decreases the ${\delta}^{15}N$ of the substrate and increases the ${\delta}^{15}N$ of the product. N transformations such as N mineralization, nitrification, denitrification, assimilation, and the $NH_3$ volatilization have a specific isotope fractionation factor (${\alpha}$) for each N process. Variation in the ${\delta}^{13}C$ of plants reflects the photosynthetic type of plant, which affects the isotope fractionation during photosynthesis. The ${\delta}^{13}C$ of C3 plant is significantly lower than, whereas the ${\delta}^{13}C$ of C4 plant is similar to that of the atmospheric $CO_2$. Variation in the isotope fractionation of carbon and nitrogen can be observed under different environmental conditions. The effect of environmental factors on the stomatal conductance and the carboxylation rate affects the carbon isotope fractionation during photosynthesis. Changes in the environmental factors such as temperature and salt concentration affect the nitrogen isotope fractionation during the N cycle processes; however, the mechanism of variation in the nitrogen isotope fractionation has not been studied as much as that in the carbon isotope fractionation. Isotope fractionation factors of carbon and nitrogen could be the integrated factors for interpreting the effects of the environmental factors on plants and soils.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.240-246
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• 2006

Cyanobacteria are present abundantly in rice fields and are important in helping to maintain rice fields fertility through nitrogen fixation. Many rice fields soil contain a high density of cyanobactera, and over 50% of cyanobacterial genera that are in existence in rice paddy fields are heterocystous filamentous forms. A total of 142 isolates of heterocystous filamentous cyanobacteria were screened from 100 soil samples taken from rice paddy fields in 10 different locations across Korea, classified according to their morphological characteristics under light microscopy, and their susceptibly to fungicides examined. The collected blue-green alga were classified into a total of 14 genera, including seven genera of filamentous cyanobacteria and seven genera of nonfilamentous cyanobacteria. In particular, 142 heterocystous filamentous cyanobacteria were isolated and classified into six genera, including Anabaena, Nostoc, Calothrix, Cylindrospermum, Nodularia, Scytomena, and Tolypotrix. Yet, over 90% of the heterocystous filamentous cyanobacteria isolated from the rice paddy fields belonged to two genera: Anabaena and Nostoc. The response of 129 $N_2-fixing$ cyanobacterial isolates, 53 Anabaena and 76 Nostoc, to 10 fungicides was then investigated. The results showed that the Nostoc spp. were more tolerant of the ten tested fungicides than the Anabaena spp., and among the ten tested fungicides, benomyl showed the highest acute toxicity to Anabaena spp. and Nostoc spp. In conclusion, although benomyl is a very useful agent to control phytopathogenic fungi, the application of this fungicide to rice fields should be considered because of its toxicity to the heterocystous filamentous cyanobacteria.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.21 no.5_1
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• pp.465-473
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• 1998

This study was carried out to investigate the developmental process of plant community during the secondary succession and changes of soil properties in the burned areas lapsed 28 years after the forest fire in Mt.Palgong. The forest fire occurred on March, 1969 and the red pine (pinus densiflora) forest and its floor vegetation were burned down. The results are summarized as follows: the floristic composition of burned and unburned areas were composed of 49 and 48 species of vascular plants, respectively. The dominant species based on SDR4 of the burned sites were Lespedeza maximowicxii(87.75), Carex humilis (62.94), Rhododendron schippenbachii(55.78) and Miscanthus sinensis var.purpurascens (51.94). In contrast, Pinus densiflora (81.17), Quercus serrata (53.58)m Carex humilis (53.11) and Miscanthus sinenis var. purpuracens (52.42) were dominant in the unburned area. The biological spectra showed the $H-D_1-R_5-e$ type in both areas. The indices of similarity (CCs) between the two areas were 0.80. Degree of succession (DS) was 734 in the burned area and 809 in the unburned area. The species diversity (H) and evenness indices (e) in the burned and unburned areas were 2.05, 2.13 and 0.53, 0.55, respectively. Dominance index (C) in the burned and unburned areas were 0.30 and 0.32, respectively. Soil properties such as soil pH, content of organic matter, total nitrogen, total carbon, exchangeable potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium in burned area were comparatively higher than those of unburned area. Monthly changes of soil properties were of little significance except for some cases. These results suggest that there was relationship between trend of vegetation recovery and the changes of soil properties after the forest fire. Mixed forestation of fire-resistant species and nitrogen fixation species will be effective for reforestation after the forest fire.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.288-312
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• 1998

In Korea, chemical fertilizers and agricultural chemicals have had a significant impact on food production and these are today thought to be an indispensable part of modern agriculture. On the other hand, socioeconomical and IMF and WTO status in Korea are constant reminders of the vulnerability of our fossil fuel dependent agriculture. A new crop production system to improve economic, environmental and production efficiency must be exploited. Our particular concern has been given to an integrated cropping system involving recycling of crop residues, soil and N management, biological N fixation and multipurpose legumes. As a new integrated crop production system, a no-till direct-sown rice-vetch relaying cropping system has been proposed in this paper. The formulation of this system is based on the conception that N fertilizers being neither limitlessly available nor affordable, the current high-input crop production systems have produced troubled results severe labour shortage ill rural areas, balance of payment, environmental degradation and reduction of human health far exceed economic concerns. A natural and logical consequence is that long-term sustainability of agricultural systems must rely on the use and effective management of internal resources. Based on the information obtained throughout a series of experiments last years we have proved that the no-till direct-sown rice-vetch relaying cropping system dictates biological alternative which can augment, and in some cases replace, N fertilizers. Comprehensive discussions were made for the proposed system and it concluded that the system can offer an economically attractive and ecologically sound means of reducing external nitrogen input and improving the quality and quantity of internal resources, and consequently improving the farmers as well as the national returns.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.149-155
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• 1985

590 strains of Rhizobia were isolated from root nodules of the legumes collected at 223 sites in Korea. According to their host specificities they were classified into R. japonicum(218 strains), R. phaseoli(101 strains), R. trifolii(97 strains), R. meliloti(4 strains), R. leguminosarium(1 strain), Rhizobium species(101 strains), and unidentified species(159 strains). 3 potent strains R-138, R-168, and R-214 of R. japonicum have been selected based on the infectivity to soybean cultivar and effeciency of nitrogen fixation. It was observed that the fast-growing strains of R. japonicum contained 1 to 4 plasmids of M.W. of 35-300 Md. However, plasmids were hardly detected for the slow-growing strains.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.41-49
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• 2015

Free or pedicled vascularized fibular grafts (VFG) are useful for the reconstruction of large skeletal defects, particularly in cases of scarred or avascular beds, or in patients with combined bone and soft tissue defects. Compared to non-VFG, VEG, which contains living osteocytes and osteoblasts, maintains its own viability and serves as good osteoconductive and osteoinductive graft. Due to its many structural and biological advantages, the free fibular osteo- or osteocutaneous graft is considered the most suitable autograft for the reconstruction of long bone defects in the injured extremity. The traditional indication of VFG is the long bone and soft tissue defect, which cannot be reconstructed using a conventional operative method. Recently, the indications have been widely expanded not only for defects of midtibia, humerus, forearm, distal femur, and proximal tibia, but also for the arthrodesis of shoulder and knee joints. Because of its potential to allow further bone growth, free fibular epiphyseal transfer can be used for the hip or for distal radius defects caused by the radical resection of a tumor. The basic anatomy and surgical techniques for harvesting the VFG are well known; however, the condition of the recipient site is different in each case. Therefore, careful preoperative surgical planning should be customized in every patient. In this review, recently expanded surgical indications of VFG and surgical tips based on the author's experiences in the issues of fixation method, one or two staged reconstruction, size mismatching, overcoming the stress fracture, and arthrodesis of shoulder and knee joint using VFG are discussed with the review of literature.