• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.305-312
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• 2019

The discovery of nitric oxide (NO) as a major signaling molecule in a number of pathophysiological processes - vasodilation, immune response, platelet aggregation, wound repair, and cancer biology - has led to the development of various exogeneous NO delivery systems. However, the development of ideal delivery system for human body application is still left as a challenge due to its high reactivity and short half-life in physiological condition. In this article, an overview of several nano-structures as potential NO delivery system will be presented, along with their recent research results and biomedical applications. Nano-size delivery system has immense advantages compared to others due to its high surface-to-volume ratio and capability for surface modification; thus, it has been proven to be effective in delivering nitric oxide with enhanced performance. Through this novel nano-structure delivery system, we are expecting to achieve sustained release of nitric oxide within adequate range of concentration, which ensures desired drug effects at the target site. Among different nano-structures, in particular, nanoparticle, microemulsion and nanofilm will be reviewed and compared to each other in respect of nitric oxide release profile. The proposed nano-structures for exogeneous NO delivery have a biological significance in that it can be further utilized in diverse biomedical fields as a highly promising therapeutic method.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.239-249
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• 2020

To find out the cause of the fire blight outbreak in apples and pears of Korea in 2019, we investigated disease appearing situation of thirty fire blight infected orchards, and interviewed farmers to determine the cultivation characteristics. Fire blight occurred mostly in orchards that had infected more than 2 years before. The cause of this were as follows: farmers did not know the symptoms of the disease properly. It is presumed that it has spread from the first occurrence to the surrounding orchards by flower-visiting insects or farmers and to a short distance or a long distance by the same cultivator or co-farmer. These series of processes repeated in the newly spreading area, and then disease reports increased as farmers became aware of fire blight. To minimize the spread of fire blight in Korea, it suggested that thorough education of farmers for early diagnosis and quantitative detection technology that can diagnose even in no symptom showing plants. And chemical or biological spraying systems suitable for domestic cultivation methods, which are producing large fruits, and molecular epidemiological studies of pathogens.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.562-565
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• 2011

In this study, we developed a bioprocess using Clostridium ljungdahlii as a biological catalyst to produce bio-ethanol, and the effect of pH on microbial growth and ethanol production was investigated. From the results of fermentation at various initial pH condition without pH control, pH of fermentation broth decreased to 4.5 within 24 h due to accumulation of by-product acetic acid and both microbial growth and ethanol production were stopped. The experimental result of initial pH 8 showed the highest microbial growth and ethanol production (0.53 g/L), since the pH drop was relatively slow. From the experiment of pH 7 maintained fermentation using pH controllable bioreactor, the maximum cell dry weight of 1.65 g/L and the maximum ethanol concentration of 1.43 g/L were obtained within 24 h. In conclusion, the C. ljungdahlii growth was enhanced by pH maintenance of neutral range, and the ethanol production was also enhanced based on the growth-associated ethanol production characteristics of C. ljungdahlii.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.222-231
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• 2020

To use the external connection implant (EXT) appropriately, the inter-implant distance should be carefully considered during placement, and the bones raised above the implants should be trimmed during the second surgery. The hex abutment is more useful than the non-hex abutment. EXT is particularly useful when the inter-arch space is limited. The tissue level (TL, internal butt connection) implant has a biomechanical advantage of coronal wall thickness and a biological advantage of an inherent transmucosal smooth surface. During TL implant restoration, an abutment can be selected using the abutment and fixture margins with considerations for the inter-arch space. Since no single type of implant can satisfy all the cases, it is necessary to select the appropriate type, considering the occlusal force and the bone condition.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.150-158
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• 2021

Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) refers to acute bleeding inside the intracranial vault. Not only does this devastating disease record a very high mortality rate, but it can also cause serious chronic impairment of sensory, motor, and cognitive functions. Therefore, a prompt and professional diagnosis of the disease is highly critical. Noninvasive brain imaging data are essential for clinicians to efficiently diagnose the locus of brain lesion, volume of bleeding, and subsequent cortical damage, and to take clinical interventions. In particular, computed tomography (CT) images are used most often for the diagnosis of ICH. In order to diagnose ICH through CT images, not only medical specialists with a sufficient number of diagnosis experiences are required, but even when this condition is met, there are many cases where bleeding cannot be successfully detected due to factors such as low signal ratio and artifacts of the image itself. In addition, discrepancies between interpretations or even misinterpretations might exist causing critical clinical consequences. To resolve these clinical problems, we developed a diagnostic model predicting intracranial bleeding and its subtypes (intraparenchymal, intraventricular, subarachnoid, subdural, and epidural) by applying deep learning algorithms to CT images. We also constructed a visualization tool highlighting important regions in a CT image for predicting ICH. Specifically, 1) 27,758 CT brain images from RSNA were pre-processed to minimize the computational load. 2) Three different CNN-based models (ResNet, EfficientNet-B2, and EfficientNet-B7) were trained based on a training image data set. 3) Diagnosis performance of each of the three models was evaluated based on an independent test image data set: As a result of the model comparison, EfficientNet-B7's performance (classification accuracy = 91%) was a way greater than the other models. 4) Finally, based on the result of EfficientNet-B7, we visualized the lesions of internal bleeding using the Grad-CAM. Our research suggests that artificial intelligence-based diagnostic systems can help diagnose and treat brain diseases resolving various problems in clinical situations.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.25-31
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• 2021

In this research, in order to effectively utilize the petroleum residue pitch, it was used as an adsorbent for removal of cesium ion. In this experiment, acid modification (hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid) treatment was performed on the adsorbent to improve the ability to remove low-concentration cesium ions dissolved in water. As a result, when the reaction was performed with 9 M sulfuric acid at 25 ℃ and for 240 min, the removal efficiencies of 1.0 and 2.5 mg/L cesium ions were 66 and 51%, respectively. In addition, as the adsorption time increased in the batch experiment, the removal capacity of 1.0 and 2.5 mg/L cesium ions was improved, and when the adsorption reached for 32 hr, the removal efficiencies were 72 and 68%, respectively. Also, in order to increase the ability to remove the remaining cesium ions, an experiment was performed by temperature change (25, 37, 49 ℃), and 1.0 and 2.5 mg/L cesium ions contained in water under the operating conditions of 49 ℃ and 32 hr showed removal efficiencies of 90 and 81%, respectively. Consequently, these experimental results were intended to be used as an adsorption technology that can economically treat low-concentration cesium ions contained in water.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.90-95
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• 2022

In the present work, biochar was prepared using Achyanthes japonica stem as a by-product of herbal medicine. In order to apply the prepared biochar to water treatment process, the adsorption characteristics of zinc and iron ions dissolved in water were investigated. When the experiments were performed for 2 h to remove 70 and 100 mg/L of zinc ions, the adsorption amounts of 32.3 and 31.0 mg/g were obtained, respectively. It was also found that the adsorption amount of Achyanthes japonica stem biochar for the removal process of zinc ion was three times higher than that of the activated carbon. In addition, when the experiments were performed for 2 h to treat 70 and 100 mg/L of iron ions, high adsorption amounts of 50.1 and 54.3 mg/g were achieved, respectively. In order to further enhance the removal efficiency of zinc and iron ions, a steam activation process was performed on the biochar of Achyanthes japonica stem. As a result, the removal efficiencies of 70 and 100 mg/L of zinc ions increased to 80 and 60%, respectively. Also, the removal efficiencies of 70 and 100 mg/L of iron ions were improved to 100 and 82%, respectively. In addition, when the biochar of Achyanthes japonica stem with a steam activation was compared with the untreated biochar of Achyanthes japonica stem, the specific surface area increased 37.3 times, and the total and macroporpous pore volumes were improved by 28.4 and 136 times, respectively. Therefore, the results can be used for economically and practically adsorbing zinc and iron ions contained in water.

• Journal of Appropriate Technology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.72-81
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• 2021

Gravity-driven membrane (GDM) filtration system based on the nanofiber membrane was investigated. This system can be operated with little energy demand due to a gravitational pressure-driven filtration and biological fouling control strategy. Moreover, the optimal module configuration based on the high permeance of nanofiber membrane can provide a significantly high water productivity. In order to evaluate its applicability potential, the pilot-scale (3000-5000 L/day) systems with nanofiber membranes were operated in developing countries (Kiribati and Tuvalu). Our results showed that the 14-92 L/(m²×h) of the permeate flux was determined indicating a stabilized water productivity. In addition, the permeate water indicated a high removal rate (more than 99.99%) of turbidity and bacteria. Consequently, the system can provide a stabilized water production with safe permeate water quality during long-term operation. These findings exemplify an effective approach to decentralized drinking water treatment for developing countries.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.63-81
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• 2021

In this study, we investigated the tide-induced flow patterns near the ocean outfall of the Jeju and Bomok Wastewater Treatment Plants (WTP) in Jeju Island by using measurements of Acoustic Doppler Current Meter (ADCP) and a numerical experiment with inserting passive tracer into a regional ocean model. In late spring of 2018, the ADCP measurements showed that tidal currents dominate the flow patterns as compared to the non-tidal components in the outfall regions. According to harmonic analysis, the dominant type of tides is mixed of diurnal and semi-diurnal but predominantly semidiurnal, showing stronger oscillations in the Jeju WTP than those in the Bomok WTP. The tidal currents oscillate parallel to the isobath in both regions, but the rotating direction is different each other: an anti-clockwise direction in the Jeju WTP and a clockwise in the Bomok WTP. Of particular interest is the finding that the residual current mainly flows toward the coastline across the isobath, especially at the outfall of the Bomok WTP. Our model successfully captures the features of tidal currents observed near the outfall in both regions and indicates possibly high persistent pollutant accumulation along the coasts of Bomok.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.348-356
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• 2022

Background: Gintonin is a ginseng-derived exogenous G-protein-coupled lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receptor ligand. Gintonin exerts its neuronal and non-neuronal in vitro and in vivo effects through LPA receptor subtypes. However, it is unknown whether gintonin can bind to the plasma membrane of cells and can transactivate the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor. In the present study, we examined whether gintonin-biotin conjugates directly bound to LPA receptors and transactivated the EGF receptor. Methods: We designed gintonin-biotin conjugates through gintonin biotinylation and examined whether gintonin-biotin conjugate binding sites co-localized with the LPA receptor subtype binding sites. We further examined whether gintonin-biotin transactivated the EGF receptor via LPA receptor regulation via phosphor-EGF and cell migration assays. Results: Gintonin-biotin conjugates elicit [Ca²⁺]_i transient similar to that observed with unbiotinylated gintonin in cultured PC3 cells, suggesting that biotinylation does not affect physiological activity of gintonin. We proved that gintonin-biotin conjugate binding sites co-localized with the LPA1/6 receptor binding sites. Gintonin-biotin binding to the LPA1 receptor transactivates the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor through phosphorylation, while the LPA1/3 receptor antagonist, Ki16425, blocked phosphorylation of the EGF receptor. Additionally, an EGF receptor inhibitor AG1478 blocked gintonin-biotin conjugate-mediated cell migration. Conclusions: We observed the binding between ginseng-derived gintonin and the plasma membrane target proteins corresponding to the LPA1/6 receptor subtypes. Moreover, gintonin transactivated EGF receptors via LPA receptor regulation. Our results suggest that gintonin directly binds to the LPA receptor subtypes and transactivates the EGF receptor. It may explain the molecular basis of ginseng physiology/pharmacology in biological systems.