• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.47 no.2
• /
• pp.137-142
• /
• 2011

$TiO_2$-coated bamboo activated carbon has been prepared and utilized under UV irradiation as a pretreatment method for an effective biodegradation of the recalcitrant polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The anatase $TiO_2$ was successfully coated on the bamboo activated carbon (AC) and it showed the highest photoactivity against methylene blue. In the absence of the PAHs-degrading bacteria PAHs having low molecular weight (i.e., naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, and fluorene) were degraded by 9.8, 76.2, 74.1, and 40.5%, respectively. Higher molecular weight PAHs, however, maintained high residual concentrations of PAHs (400-1,000 ${\mu}g$/L) after the same treatment. On the other hand, the overall concentrations of PAHs became lower than 340 ${\mu}g$/L when the pretreated PAHs were subjected to biodegradation by a PAH-degrading consortium for a week. Herein, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, and pyrene were removed by 29.3, 61.4, 27.0, and 44.3%, respectively, indicating the facilitated potential biodegradation of PAHs. Activated carbon coated with $TiO_2$ appeared to inhibit growth of PAH degraders on the surface of AC, indicating planktonic degraders were dominantly involved in the PAH biodegradation in presence of the $TiO_2$-coated bamboo AC. It was proposed that an effective remediation technology for the recalcitrant PAHs could be developed when an optimum pretreatment process is further established.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.194-204
• /
• 2011

This study was carried out to compare the histopathological differences of liver lesions in carbon tetrachloride ($CCI_4$), dimethylnitrosamine (DMN), thioacetamide (TAA) and bile duct ligation (BDL)-induced rats. $CCl_4$, DMN and TAA were administered intraperitoneally and conducted bile duct ligation for 4 weeks to induce hepatic fibrosis. Indices of liver cell injury (steatosis, hydropic degeneration, bile duct hyperplasia, hemorrhage & hemosiderin deposition), the extent of liver fibrosis (fibrotic area) and the rate of regeneration (number of PCNA-positive cells) were investigated in each group. Liver tissues were stained with hematoxylin-eosin (HE), sirius red, prussian blue and immunostained with ${\alpha}$-smooth muscle actin (${\alpha}$-SMA), transforming growth factor-${\beta}1$ (TGF-${\beta}1$), proliferative cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and quantified using a computerized image analysis system. Liver cell steatosis was significantly increased in $CCl_4$ and TAA groups, and hydropic degeneration and bile duct hyperplasia were significantly increased in TAA and BDL groups when compared with that in normal control, respectively. Fibrosis area was significantly increased in all four groups, especially in $CCl_4$ group. Correlation between ${\alpha}$-SMA and TGF-${\beta}1$ expressions in four groups was good. Hemorrhage area in liver parenchyma was significantly increased in DMN group only when compared with that in normal control, while hemosiderin deposition area was significantly increased in TAA and BDL groups as well as DMN group. The Number of PCNA-positive cells was significantly increased in all four groups, especially in TAA group. These results indicate that the duration and methods of hepatotoxic drug treatment are very important factors to make plans for animal experimentation on the induction of hepatic fibrogenesis in rats.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.531-565
• /
• 2011

All previous studies analyzing multivariate time series data of EUA (European Union Allowance) price commonly used endogenous variables within the four variables and included the period from April to June of 2006 in the analysis, when the price distortion occurred. This study uses graph theory and structural vector error correction model (SVECM) to analyze the daily time series data of the EUA (European Union Allowance) price. As endogenous variables, five variables are considered for the analysis, including prices of crude oil, natural gas, electricity and coal in addition to carbon price. Data period is Phase 2 period (April 21, 2008 to March 31, 2010) to avoid the EUA price distortion of Phase 1 period (2005~2007). Further, the monthly data including the economic variables as endogenous variables are analyzed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2010.02a
• /
• pp.59-59
• /
• 2010

Graphene is a 2-D sheet of $sp^2$-bonded carbon arranged in a honeycomb lattice. This material has attracted major interest, and there are many ongoing efforts in developing graphene devices because of its high charge mobility and crystal quality. Therefore clear understanding of the substrate effect and mechanism of synthesis of graphene is important for potential applications and device fabrication of graphene. In a published paper in J. Phys. Chem. C (2008), the effect of substrate on the atomic/electronic structures of graphene is negligible for graphene made by mechanical cleavage. However, nobody shows the interaction between Ni substrate and graphene. Therefore, we have studied this interaction. In order to studying these effect between graphene and Ni substrate, We have observed graphene synthesized on Ni substrate and graphene transferred on $SiO_2$/Si substrate through Raman spectroscopy. Because Raman spectroscopy has historically been used to probe structural and electronic characteristics of graphite materials, providing useful information on the defects (D-band), in-plane vibration of sp2 carbon atoms (G-band), as well as the stacking orders (2D-band), we selected this as analysis tool. In our study, we could not observe the doping effect between graphene and Ni substrate or between graphene and $SiO_2$/Si substrate because the shift of G band in Raman spectrum was not occurred by charge transfer. We could noticed that the bonding force between graphene and Ni substrate is more strong than Van de Waals force which is the interaction between graphene and $SiO_2$/Si. Furthermore, the synthesized graphene on Ni substrate was in compressive strain. This phenomenon was observed by 2D band blue-shift in Raman spectrum. And, we consider that the graphene is incommensurate growth with Ni polycrystalline substrate.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.301-307
• /
• 2011

Optimal culture conditions of Spirulina platensis NIES 39 have been established using different types of light sources. Several types of photobioreactors were designed and the increase of biomass, the amount of $CO_2$, fixation and the production of chlorophyll content were studied. The result revealed that the input conditions of a 10 min period per 4 h at the condition of 5% $CO_2$ and 0.1 vvm, were excellent in the growth. The growth showing the maximum biomass accumulation is limited to 1.411 g/L when using the fluorescent bulb and the low powered surface mount device (SMD) type LEDs which were equipped-inside in the photobioreactor. However, the biomass exceeded up to 1.758 g/L level when a high powered red LED (color temperature : 12000 K) photobioreactor system was used. The $CO_2$ fixation speed and rate were increased. Although the total production of chlorophyll content undergoes a proportional increase in the biomass, the net content per dry cell weight (DCW) showed the higher production with a blue LED (color temperature : 7500 K) light than that of any other wavelengths. The carbon dioxide loss was marked as 0.15% of the inlet gas (5% $CO_2/Air$, v/v) at the maximum biomass culture condition.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.213-219
• /
• 2023

The wetland ecosystem has a key role in climate change and can capture and store carbon long-term as blue carbon. Currently, the Republic of Korea and People's Republic of China are preparing for the UNESCO World Natural Heritage Phase II inscription, and cross-border cooperation among the two Koreas and the People's Republic of China is expected in term of the coastal wetland in the Yellow Sea region. However, there is a lack of research on the importance of coastal wetland in the Yellow Sea region for migratory bird habitats, roosting sites, feeding grounds, and stop-over sites. Thus, this study focused on the coastal wetland of the Yellow Sea region, including the southwestern coastal wetlands in the Republic of Korea, the Yancheng National Nature Reserve in the People's Republic of China designated as UNESCO World Natural Heritage, and the Mundok Migratory Bird Reserve in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which is listed on the Tentative List. The cooperation for ecosystem conservation between the two Koreas and China was analyzed. The importance of coastal wetlands in the Yellow Sea region as habitats for migratory birds, roosting sites, feeding grounds, and stop-over sites, significant characteristics of Yellow Sea coastal wetlands, and conditions for cooperation among three countries, were analyzed. The direction of ecosystem conservation cooperation for coastal wetlands in the Yellow Sea region in this study will be developed into Pan-Yellow Sea conservation.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.7-11
• /
• 2022

Recently, Hanmi Gemological Institute & Laboratory (HGI) had an opportunity to examine 5 transparent synthetic moissanite. The round brilliants ranged from 0.93 to 0.96 ct and had a colorless, pink, yellow, blue, and red color. Advanced testing results, including Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy, identified all the specimens as synthetic moissanite. Under the microscope, all samples except the colorless were confirmed to be a synthetic moissanite coated with a colored film. EDXRF chemical analysis detected very weak X-ray fluorescence peak characteristics of Ca, Ti, and Co in the colored samples. These features were not detected in the colorless sample. Raman spectroscopy investigation was unable to detect the 1332 cm^-1 (produced by sp³ bonding of carbon atoms) or the ~1550 cm^-1 (produced by graphite-related sp² bonding) peak in the colorless sample. The SEM image of the colorless sample showed no indication of a coating. The TEM image of the colorless sample revealed the presence of a 3~8 nm thick layer on the moissanite. Moreover, from the corresponding STEM Z-contrast image combined with the energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) line profiles and EDX elemental maps, this layer was estimated to be carbon, silicon and oxygen.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.16 no.11
• /
• pp.1799-1808
• /
• 2006

A food-grade integration vector based on site-specific recombination was constructed. The 5.7-kb vector, pIMA20, contained an integrase gene and a phage attachment site originating from bacteriophage A2, with the ${\alpha}$-galactosidase gene from Lactobacillus plantarum KCTC 3104 as a selection marker. pIMA20 was also equipped with a controllable promoter of nisA ($P_{nisA}$) and a signal peptide-encoding sequence of usp45 ($SP_{usp45}$) for the production and secretion of foreign proteins. pIMA20 and its derivatives mediated site-specific integration into the attB-like site on the Lactococcus lactis NZ9800 chromosome. The vector-integrated recombinant lactococci were easily detected by the appearance of blue colonies on a medium containing $X-{\alpha}-gal$ and also by their ability to grow on a medium containing melibiose as the sole carbon source. Recombinant lactococci maintained these traits in the absence of selection pressure during 100 generations. The ${\alpha}-amylase$ gene from Bacillus licheniformis, lacking a signal peptide-encoding. sequence, was inserted downstream of $P_{nisA}\;and\;SP_{usp45}$ in pIMA20, and the plasmid was integrated into the L. lactis chromosome. ${\alpha}-Amylase$ was successfully produced and secreted by the recombinant L. lactis, controlled by the addition and concentration of nisin.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.18 no.8
• /
• pp.1408-1415
• /
• 2008

To produce polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) from inexpensive substrates by bacteria, vegetable-oil-degrading bacteria were isolated from a rice field using enrichment cultivation. The isolated Pseudomonas sp. strain DR2 showed clear orange or red spots of accumulated PHA granules when grown on phosphate and nitrogen limited medium containing vegetable oil as the sole carbon source and stained with Nile blue A. Up to 37.34% (w/w) of intracellular PHA was produced from corn oil, which consisted of three major 3-hydroxyalkanoates; octanoic (C8:0, 37.75% of the total 3-hydroxyalkanoate content of PHA), decanoic (C10:0, 36.74%), and dodecanoic (C12:0, 11.36%). Pseudomonas sp. strain DR2 accumulated up to 23.52% (w/w) of $PHA_{MCL}$ from waste vegetable oil. The proportion of 3-hydroxyalkanoate of the waste vegetable-oil-derived PHA [hexanoic (5.86%), octanoic (45.67%), decanoic (34.88%), tetradecanoic (8.35%), and hexadecanoic (5.24%)] showed a composition ratio different from that of the corn-oil-derived PHA. Strain DR2 used three major fatty acids in the same ratio, and linoleic acid was the major source of PHA production. Interestingly, the production of PHA in Pseudomonas sp. strain DR2 could not occur in either acetate- or butyrate-amended media. Pseudomonas sp. strain DR2 accumulated a greater amount of PHA than other well-studied strains (Chromobacterium violaceum and Ralstonia eutropha H16) when grown on vegetable oil. The data showed that Pseudomonas sp. strain DR2 was capable of producing PHA from waste vegetable oil.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.357-362
• /
• 2015

A novel $TiO_2$-Coconut Shell Powder Composite (TCSPS), prepared by the controlled sol-gel method with subsequent heat treatment, was evaluated as an innovative photocatalytic absorbent for the removal of methylene blue. Optimal preparation conditions of TCSPC were obtained by a response surface methodology and a central composite design model. As compared with the results obtained from one-factor-at-a-time experiments, the values were approximated to the nearest condition of these values and the following experimental parameters were set as the optimum : $600^{\circ}C$ calcination temperature and 20 g of coconut shell powder loading amount.