• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.99-107
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• 2011

Background: Calcification is the most frequent cause of clinical failure of bioprosthetic tissues fabricated from GA-fixed porcine valves or bovine pericardium. A multi-factorial approach using different mechanisms was recently developed to reduce the calcification of bioprosthetic tissues. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the synchronized synergism of using L-arginine and $NaBH_4$, compared with ethanol and L-lysine, in glutaraldehyde treated porcine pericardium from the standpoint of calcification and tissue elasticity. Materials and Methods: Porcine pericardium was fixed at 0.625% GA (7 days at room temperature after 2 days at $4^{\circ}C$). An interim step of ethanol (80%; 1 day at room temperature) or L-lysine (0.1 M; 2 days at $37^{\circ}C$) or L-arginine (0.1 M; 2 days at $37^{\circ}C$) was followed by completion of the GA fixation. A final step of NaBH4 (0.1 M; 2 days at room temperature) was followed. Their tensile strength, thickness, and thermal stability were measured. Treated pericardia were implanted subcutaneously into three-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats for 8 weeks. Calcium content was assessed by atomic absorption spectroscopy and histology. Results: L-arginine and $NaBH_4$ pretreatment ($1.81{\pm}0.39$ kgf/5 mm p=0.001, $0.30{\pm}0.08$ mm p<0.001) significantly increased tensile strength and thickness compared with the control ($0.53{\pm}0.34$ kgf/5 mm, $0.10{\pm}0.02$ mm). In a thermal stability test, L-arginine and $NaBH_4$ pretreatment ($84.25{\pm}1.12^{\circ}C$, p=0.023) caused a significant difference from the control ($86.25{\pm}0.00^{\circ}C$). L-lysine and $NaBH_4$ pretreatment ($183.8{\pm}42.6$ ug/mg, p=0.804), and L-arginine and $NaBH_4$ pretreatment ($163.3{\pm}27.5$ ug/mg, p=0.621) did not significantly inhibit calcification compared to the control ($175.5{\pm}45.3$ ug/mg), but ethanol and $NaBH_4$ pretreatment did ($38.5{\pm}37.3$ ug/mg, p=0.003). Conclusion: The combined pretreatment using L-arginine and $NaBH_4$ after GA fixation seemed to increase the tensile strength and thickness of porcine pericardium, fixed with GA. Additionally, it seemed to keep thermal stability. However it could not decrease the calcification of porcine pericardium fixed with GA. $NaBH_4$ pretreatment seemed to decrease the calcification of porcine pericardium fixed with GA, but only with ethanol.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.122-127
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• 2006

The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of membrane fouling caused by soluble organic materials in a membrane bioreactor process. For the removal of filterable organic materials (FOC) smaller than $1{\mu}m$, coagulants and activated carbon were added. A membrane bioreactor using a submerged $17{\mu}m$ metal sieve was operated in laboratory scale to examine the possibility of membrane fouling control. As the dosage of GAC and coagulant increased, the residual FOC concentration decreased and the permeate flow rate increased markedly. The permeate flux increased with an increased PACl addition at the range from 0 to 50 mg/l. At coagulant dosage of 27mg/l, the removal of FOC was about 46% and the flux increased to 3.5 times compared to the case without PACl addition. The permeate flux increased gradually with an increase in GAC dosage. At GAC dosage of 50mg/L, the permeate flux was about 2 times higher compared that for raw water. The particle in the range of $0.1{\sim}1.0{\mu}m$ were removed effectively by the addition of GAC and coagulant. Higher osage of GAC and coagulant, led to higher removal of FOC. A different set of experiments was also performed to investigate the effect of pretreatment on the permeation ability of MBR system using the metal sieve membrane. After 40 hours of operation, the permeate flux was about 1,000 ($L/m^2-hr$), which is 20 times higher compared to the results in literature. It is likely that combined pretreatment using coagulant and activated carbon was the most effective to resolve membrane fouling problems. Moreover, the continuous operations could be successful by applying this pretreatment method.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.639-645
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• 2008

The objectives of this research are to (1) observe changes in particle size distribution due to formation of microflocs during coagulation process (2) identify the membrane fouling potential on cross flow system (3) investigate the mechanism of membrane fouling. The rate of flux decline for the hydrophobic membrane was significantly greater than for the hydrophilic membrane, regardless of pretreatment conditions. The pretreatment of the raw water significantly reduced the fouling of the UF membrane. Also, the rate of flux decline for the hydrophobic membrane was considerably greater than for the hydrophilic membrane. Applying coagulation process before membrane filtration showed not only reducing membrane fouling, but also improving the removal of dissolved organic materials that might otherwise not be removed by the membrane. That is, during the mixing period, substantial changes in particle size distribution occurred under rapid and slow mixing condition due to the simultaneous formation of microflocs and NOM precipitates. Therefore, combined pretreatment using coagulation not only improved dissolved organics removal efficiency but also flux recovery efficiency.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.228-232
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• 2016

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of pretreatment with transdermal estradiol ($E_2$) compared to oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) on controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) response in normal responders undergoing fresh in vitro fertilization (IVF)-embryo transfer (ET) cycles. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed of normal responders undergoing fresh IVF-ET cycles who received pretreatment with transdermal $E_2$ versus OCPs prior to fresh IVF-ET. The total days of ovarian stimulation, total dosage of gonadotropins, total number of oocytes, and mature oocytes retrieved were noted. Pregnancy outcomes after ET were also recorded. Results: A total of 2,092 patients met the inclusion criteria: 1,057 and 1,035 patients in the transdermal $E_2$ and OCP groups, respectively. Patients in the OCP group had a longer duration of COS ($10.7{\pm}1.63days$, p< 0.01) than the $E_2$ group ($9.92{\pm}1.94days$). Patients in the OCP group also required higher cumulative doses of gonadotropins ($2,657.3{\pm}1,187.9IU$) than those in the $E_2$ group ($2,550.1{\pm}1,270.2IU$, p= 0.002). No statistically significant differences were found in the total and mature oocytes retrieved or in the rates of biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, spontaneous miscarriage, and live birth between the groups. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that compared to OCPs, pretreatment with transdermal $E_2$ is associated with a shorter duration of ovarian stimulation and lower gonadotropin utilization, without compromising the oocyte yield or pregnancy outcomes in normal-responder patients undergoing fresh IVF.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.344-349
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• 2013

Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) combined with multivariate analysis was used to discriminate the geographical origin of Alisma orientale from Korea (n=94) and China (n=72). Two-thirds of samples were selected randomly for the training set, and one-third of samples for the test set. Second derivative was used for the pretreatment of NIR spectra. Partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models correctly discriminated 100% of the Korean and Chinese A. orientale samples. These results demonstrate the potential use of NIR spectroscopy combined with multivariate analysis as a rapid and accurate method to discriminate A. orientale according to their geographical origin.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.22 no.1 s.56
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• pp.49-55
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• 2007

Three kind of ASE (Accelerated Solvent Extraction) and SPMDs (Semi-Permeable Membrane Devices) combined methods (ASE-SPMDs, ASE-accelerated SPMDs and SPMDs without extraction) and general Soxhlet-GPC were compared each other for the analysis of PCDD/FS in sediment. The average recovery rate of three types ASE and SPMDs combined methods (108.1%) were higher than that of the Soxhlet-GPC (79.5%) for three samples in each method using surrogate internal standards. The average coefficient of variation (10%, $2.1{\sim}25.2%$) for each congener of PCDD/Fs shows the reasonable results. Total PCDD/Fs concentrations after SPMDs without extraction were quite low, but those after ASE-SPMDs and ASE-accelerated SPMDs methods were close to the Soxhlet-GPC. Thus, the ASE-SPMDs and ASE-accelerated SPMDs methods are considered as the excellent pre-treatments method because they need less solvent and time without quality degradation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.567-571
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• 2016

We investigated the increased risk of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) caused by the combined use of antibiotics and an immunosuppressive drug in a mouse model. Our data showed that an approximate return to pretreatment conditions of gut microbiota occurred within days after cessation of the antibiotic treatment, whereas the recovery of gut microbiota was delayed with the combined treatment of antibiotics and dexamethasone, leading to an increased severity of CDI. An alteration of gut microbiota is a key player in CDI. Therefore, our data implied that immunosuppressive drugs can increase the risk of CDI through the delayed recovery of altered gut microbiota.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.227-234
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• 2009

In this research, a retrofitting process, which consists of a pretreatment system (coagulation) for dye wastewater combined with a biological nutrient system (MLE process using media), for a sewage treatment plant that has to treat dye wastewater efficiently with domestic wastewater were developed and a pilot plant was operated for verifying adoptability and performance of the developed advanced process for dye wastewater. From the results of the pilot plant operation, BOD 52.9%, $COD_{Cr}$ 55.9%, and color 71.3% were removed in pretreatment of coagulation process and the biodegradability of dye wastewater was improved to $0.32{\sim}0.59BOD/COD_{Cr}$ of the coagulated wastewater from $0.29{\sim}0.43BOD/COD_{Cr}$ of the raw dye wastewater. The final effluent concentrations were BOD of 8 mg/L, $COD_{Cr}$ of 43 mg/L, $COD_{Mn}$ of 18 mg/L, T-N of 8 mg/L, and T-P of 1.3 mg/L, respectively. Color was removed from 1655 to 468 unit by coagulation and then to 123 unit by MLE process. The HPLC analysis of aromatic amines in wastewater showed that decolorization was achieved by cometabolism while aromatic amines were produced by cleavage of azo bonds under anaerobic conditions and these products were removed in an aerobic tank subsequently. Nitrification rates of attached and suspended microorganisms were evaluated comparatively and the acclimating conditions of bacteria on media were validated by the scanning electron microscope.

• The Journal of Natural Sciences
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.71-78
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• 1993

Five $F_1$ hybrids of radish(Raphanus sativus L.) were used in the study for induction of microspore derived embryos. Anthers from the mid-uninucleate to early bicellular stage were inoculated on the modified B5 medium and modified Nitch-Nitch medium supplemented with several growth regulators. The efficiency of anther culture was dspendent on the genotype of donor plants and we obtained various culture efficiency from different genotypes. Induction of embryos from microspore was best result on Nitsch-Nitsch media supplemented with 0.1mg/l NAA and 0.05mg/l BAP. Heat treatments of anthers at $35^{\circ}C$-2days and combined with pretreatment of $4^{\circ}C$ for 2, 8, 12 and 16days . Among the treatments, $35^{\circ}C$-2 days treatment combined with $4^{\circ}C$-2days pretreatment treatment were the most effective in developing embryos from microspores.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.269-276
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• 1995

An experimental research was conducted in order to study the treatability of municipal landfill leachate using a combined physio-chemical and biological treatment. The leachate was obtained from Nanjido landfill site in Seoul. Several sets of bench-scale sequencing batch reactor(SBR) and physic-chemical reactors were used as experimental apparatus. This experiment lasted for about 2 years. The results are as follows: 1. The characteristics of Nanjido landfill leachate were pH 7.4~8.2, BOD 79~450mg/L, COD 998~1460mg/L, $NH_3-N$ 1380~3412mg/L, 7-P 2.6~7.0mg/L, color 890~1992 unit, and heavy metals are a very small amount. 2. Either physio-chemical or biological treatment of Landfill leachate alone did not work well. So for the adequate treatment of leachate, it was necessary to deal with the physio-chemical pretreatment before biological treatment. And it was found that both electrolysis and ozone treatment are better pretreatments of leachate than others. 3. In this study, landfill leachate was effectively processed by two step : first by electrolysis pretreatment, and secondly by SBR treatment. Thus, the study showed considerable substrate removal of raw leachate, even though the rate of COD removal depended on HRT.